The Show Begins!

Xinbo Gongguan, Central City.

Alex had deliberately chosen this location: an industrial district lecture hall, enormous, with a dome-shaped roof like an overturned bowl. Within a ten-kilometer radius, several signal towers had been temporarily modified into electromagnetic pulse towers. Combined with the sonar brainwave disruption Alex had developed, the targeted sonar brainwave disruption devices he had created could be unleashed throughout that ten-kilometer range, directly throwing Danton Black's brain into chaos and destroying his duplicates. If luck was on his side, Danton Black's duplicates would act like funnels, completely absorbing those electromagnetic sonar microwave signals and directly bursting his original body's head.

During several days of research, Alex had discovered something interesting about Danton Black's ability. His numerous duplicates possessed the same brainwaves as him. Moreover, those brainwaves dispersed, spread out, and weakened his own brainwaves, forming a specific frequency that could very easily receive outside interference.

The more duplicates he created, the more readily he would form a funnel to receive the grand feast Alex had prepared for him.

If there were a psychic capable of controlling Danton Black with mental power, they would only need to expend several times less force than controlling an ordinary person to control him and turn him into a dog.

Alex rather regretted that he could not use mind control. Otherwise, he could have acquired a henchman capable of duplication.

"I can do it. Let me."

"Get lost!" Alex's rebuke made the system fall silent.

The chill of late autumn could not conceal the blazing atmosphere at the venue. Nearly every reporter in Central City had gathered there. Whenever a car stopped at Xinbo Gongguan, reporters swarmed forward like bees, encircling the vehicle in anticipation of some heavyweight figure stepping out and giving them an explosive story.

Yet the reporters were destined for disappointment. Alex had deliberately prevented certain heavyweight figures from coming to the venue, such as the American Secretary of Energy, the head of the S.T.A.R. Labs branch, Ferris Air, LexCorp, Wayne Enterprises, and other world-famous corporations and nations, all of whom had expressed enormous interest in and investment intentions toward Controlled Nuclear Fusion.

Alex had turned them all down, arranging to hold confidential discussions with them several days later so they would not need to come here and delay their own work. Of course, many groups still wanted to do Martin Stein a favor, so they had nevertheless sent important personnel from Central City, such as presidents and managers, to support Martin Stein.

Things were gradually slipping further and further beyond Alex's control.

After all, this was not a genuine fundraising opportunity. He had merely used the information about Controlled Nuclear Fusion, disguised himself as Martin Stein, and drawn out The Multiplicity.

Who could have imagined that it would cause such an international uproar, attracting widespread attention from countless nations and coverage from media outlets around the world?

Originally, he had only intended to promote it through Central City media...

Backstage.

In the mirror, Alex had already become a professor in his fifties. His white hair was combed back, several wrinkles lined his forehead, and his straight back filled out a fitted black suit. He drew in a deep breath, doing his best to suck in the belly of a middle-aged man. A neat bow tie rested at his neck, making him look every bit like a deeply learned man past fifty, invigorated by his career with boundless vitality.

Alex perfectly portrayed Martin Stein. He smiled faintly at the mirror, looking vigorous and ruddy-faced, filled with the energetic spirit of a man in his later years. He picked up amber-framed reading glasses from the dressing table and put them on.

These reading glasses could display live feeds from any camera within their lenses, allowing Alex to control the entire venue at any time.

He lightly pressed the communicator in his ear.

"Report positions and equipment."

"Position one ready. Equipment ready."

"Position two ready. Equipment ready."

"Position three ready. Equipment ready."

"Position four ready. Equipment ready."

"Position five ready. Equipment ready."

"Position six ready. Equipment ready."

"Position seven ready. Equipment ready."

"Position eight ready. Equipment ready."

"Position nine..."

"Position ten..."

"Position eleven..."

"Position twelve..."

"No issues in the surveillance room. All monitoring within fifteen kilometers is functioning normally. Body-type and facial comparison searches are underway. No discovery."

"Good. Continue monitoring and remain on standby."

"Yes!"

"Alex, where are you? Are you sure The Multiplicity will appear?"

"Nothing in this world is one hundred percent certain."

"You mobilized over 240 officers to come here. If this fails, well, you can go home."

"No idle chatter on the operations channel!"

Alex cut off the concerned words of the person questioning him. It was Bert, his adoptive father, who had been transferred over to assist Alex.

Neither the police nor Bert knew that the Martin Stein appearing here this time was Alex. If they had known, this situation would never have happened. At the very least, the police would not have allowed Alex to fool around like this.

In the main hall, a red carpet covered the floor and dazzling lights shone overhead. The host had long since warmed up the crowd. As the final attendees took their seats, the scheduled time arrived. After the final round of applause, Alex backstage was led toward the venue by the female emcee. Accompanied by thunderous applause, he formally began his speech.

Direction five.

5433 Xinbo Gong East Street, Starbucks.

Danton Black, dressed in a black trench coat and sunglasses, entered the Starbucks. Leisurely, he ordered a cappuccino, carried it to a corner, and placed his laptop on the table. He opened it, booted it up, connected to the internet, and opened the Central City News Television livestream. Martin Stein was prominently displayed on the screen, delivering his speech with confidence and a glowing complexion.

"The show begins!"

Danton Black gently blew on the little bear-shaped foam atop the cappuccino. He brought his lips close to the cup, took a small sip, and sucked away some of the foam. He slowly exhaled a breath scented with coffee from his throat, then watched the screen with a faintly mocking smile at the corner of his lips.

Surveillance position five.

The computer screen was densely filled with feeds from every camera within several nearby kilometers. The instant Danton Black entered Starbucks, hidden surveillance had detected him. The search system compared his build and appearance against Danton Black's and locked onto his location.

"Sir, Danton Black has appeared inside the Starbucks at 5433 Xinbo Gong East Street."

"Do not act rashly. Continue observing and comparing."

While delivering his speech, Alex faced countless cameras and audience members. Amid the constant flashing of camera lights, he sent a message to the officers at the surveillance position, telling them not to make any rash moves.

Before they could confirm whether it was a duplicate, any action would alert the enemy.

Danton Black and his duplicates were not entirely identical.

The clothes worn by Danton Black's original body would also be replicated through the skin mimicry that formed the duplicates' clothing. However, a duplicate's clothes were a form of skin mimicry, like human hair or nails.

In other words, strictly speaking, Danton Black's duplicates were naked.

Alex had already discovered during the previous pursuit in Lower City that the clothes on Danton Black's duplicates did not flutter freely like fabric. They were relatively stiff. This could be considered one of The Multiplicity's weaknesses.

Outside Xinbo Gongguan, three heavy trucks drove one after another onto the street in front of the building. Inside their cargo compartments, identical Danton Blacks carrying various firearms descended in an endless stream, their cold gazes fixed on Xinbo Gongguan's entrance.