After sending the old bookstore owner on his way, Yuri carried his luggage inside:
The first floor was completely empty. Rob had clearly wanted him to try his hand at running a business; the second floor had already been renovated, and its three hundred square meters were filled with the fitness equipment that had been expelled from the family along with Yuri; a wall divided the third floor into two spaces. The area by the window was obviously Yuri's bedroom, since all his personal belongings were in there.
Glancing down at the first floor, Yuri shook his head as he hefted the chain lock, which weighed at least twenty kilograms. He activated Phastos's shaping and assembly abilities, and within seconds, the chain had become a mechanical combination lock with an antique style and mysterious patterns on its surface.
"This should count as a handicraft, right?"
Yuri set the lock on the iron gate and activated his ability, fusing the two together. Too bad he couldn't alter the properties of materials; otherwise, he could've turned the iron gate into a Vibranium gate in no time—absolutely indestructible, completely unbreakable.
Set combination: 666404666
Yuri peered through the bars at a pair of long, pale legs passing by on the street. Dusk had fallen. Apart from a few three-story buildings with homes above their shops, the lively street was now quiet. Only a few mischievous kids remained, kicking a street ball and refusing to go home.
He let out a breath as he looked across the empty first floor. He'd already decided what sort of business to run: selling handicrafts.
It was just to appease his dad, after all. It didn't matter whether this no-cost business made money; at least he couldn't lose any, right?
Back on the second floor, he switched on the power and plugged in the fitness equipment that needed electricity, starting them up one by one.
Mutants only knew killing and evolving. They had no clear idea of their own abilities, but Yuri was a person now. If he didn't even know what his abilities could do or where their limits lay, could he still call himself a person?
Yuri loaded the long bar with weights. A quick calculation put the total at exactly 2,022 pounds, or 1,011 kilograms—1.011 tons.
Gripping the bar with both hands, Yuri easily lifted the weight that could crush a person to death. After gauging how it felt, he let go with one hand and switched to a single-handed lift.
He raised it twice with ease, then gently set the barbell down. It felt awkward. The equipment he had wasn't nearly enough to test his current strength.
He went to town with his abilities, heavily modifying every piece of equipment in the spacious gym... Half an hour later, the sky outside had gone completely dark, and Yuri had finally finished.
The gym's many kinds of fitness equipment had all vanished, replaced by a weightlifting machine for testing strength, a treadmill for testing speed, a force gauge for testing attack power, and a pile of miscellaneous parts.
After connecting the weightlifting machine to the power, Yuri gripped one of its insulating rods tightly. The thing was essentially an electromagnet: the greater the current, the stronger the attraction between the two iron blocks.
Two tons, three tons, four tons, five tons, six tons, seven tons, eight...!
No matter how hard Yuri tried, he couldn't break past the eight-ton limit. He gradually eased off and lowered the insulating rod. That was pretty good strength. He couldn't match the Hulk or beat Spider-Man, but it was enough to take on Winter Soldier and Black Widow.
Captain America?
That guy was a damn cheat!
Yuri turned on the treadmill and gradually increased his speed after getting into position: 1 m/s, 3 m/s, 5 m/s... 10 m/s, 20 m/s, 40 m/s...
Yuri's legs had become a blur on the belt, their exact movements impossible to make out. A wisp of smoke slowly drifted from the soles of his Nike shoes.
Their owner didn't care about such details. All he could think about was going faster, faster!
70 m/s!
81 m/s!
The rubber belt groaned under the strain, and Yuri gradually slowed down.
81 m/s!
291.6 km/h!
He could run at that speed for a whole day!
"Not bad!"
Yuri took off his shoes. Their soles had melted and warped, giving off a foul smell. He opened the window in disgust and tossed them straight into the trash can by the street.
A few stray cats foraging nearby were startled by the huge shoe sole that whizzed past them. They were about to curse when they met a pair of golden, double-pupiled eyes.
"Meow~"
As if they'd seen something terrifying, the little critters scattered in an instant. They'd probably all have the same nightmare tonight.
Yuri closed the window and gave the nearly ruined treadmill a light slap, making it fall apart into pieces. Then he turned on the force gauge, eyeing the black rubber pad with anticipation.
The force gauge worked on the same principle as the weightlifting machine. Both were essentially electromagnets. The difference was that the force gauge brought two electromagnets together, while the weightlifting machine pulled them apart.
"Thump!"
A muffled impact rang out, and a terrifying number appeared on the force gauge's display: 12.6 tons!
Yuri nodded. He'd only been testing it out just now; now he was ready to get serious.
"Thump!!"
The force gauge wobbled as it displayed a number: 16.9 tons!
He shook out his hand. The rubber pad was still too thin.
"Thump!!"
16.5 tons!
Yuri nodded in satisfaction. His right arm could hit with 17 tons of force, his left with 16.5 tons... With destructive power like that, what building couldn't he tear down?
He switched from fists to legs.
"Thump!!!"
The force gauge let out an unpleasant creak. Its reinforced frame was already at its limit. As Yuri kept reinforcing it, he checked the number on the display: 20.1 tons!
"Thump!!!"
19.2 tons!
Yuri lowered his leg with satisfaction, then looked at the cracked floor on the second story with some concern. It seemed he needed to learn from Phastos and turn his three-story building into an impregnable fortress.
He didn't care about thieves or burglars. He was mainly worried he'd wreck the three-story building he'd just acquired~
Late at night, Yuri slept soundly in bed.
Tony tossed and turned in bed. He'd just replaced the electromagnet in his chest, and he still hadn't gotten used to the strange sensation.
"Yinsen's been shot through the spleen, no question! But why does the medical report say it's only a superficial wound and blood loss?"
Half asleep and half awake, he seemed to be back in that terrifying cave. The man standing with his back to him calmly ordered, "Tony, kill yourself!"
Horrified, he watched himself raise the gun and pull the trigger. In the second before everything went dark, the man slowly turned around, revealing Yuri's handsome face and those impossibly pure white eyes!
"NO! Yuri!"
The dream shattered. Tony woke with a shout. The bedroom lights cast a reassuring glow, and Jarvis's steady voice sounded from all around him. "What's wrong, sir? Would you like me to call Mr. Yuri?"
"NO!"
Tony quickly got out of bed. "Jarvis, don't mention that name in front of me... at least not tonight!"
"Very well, sir. As you wish."
Jarvis complied without complaint. After a pause, he saw Tony get dressed and leave the bedroom, so he asked as usual, "What are you going to do now, sir? Would you like me to arrange your usual bedtime service?"
"Is that really what you think of me, Jarvis?"
Tony strode indignantly into the lab. The lights came on one after another, and the spacious room filled with the atmosphere of high technology. "Create a file. Name it 'Yuri Ambrosius'!"
"As you can see, Jarvis, I just had a nightmare..."
"But I can't guarantee it was only a dream!"
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