Fallen

All the way running—maybe the underground of the orphanage had left too deep a psychological shadow on Pietro, because this time he was moving even faster than before.

The two of them burst out of the orphanage without a moment's pause. Pietro directly delivered Zhang Ye to the driver's seat of the car, even thoughtfully buckling his seatbelt for him.

From Zhang Ye's perspective, there was just a flash of darkness, a flash of light, and a slight jolt. By the time he came to his senses, his hands were inexplicably gripping the steering wheel.

Then—

"Ugh!" The impact from high-speed travel churned his insides. He rolled down the window and stuck his head out.

After a while, Zhang Ye finally recovered from the pain.

"Go, go! Drive, Zhang! What if that crazy woman catches up?" Pietro slapped Zhang Ye's shoulder, urging him impatiently. Even though they had left the orphanage's territory, he still couldn't relax.

"She won't catch up anytime soon. The White Queen without telepathy is like a tiger without teeth—nothing to fear." Zhang Ye rubbed his stomach. "My stomach feels really bloated right now. Is that normal?"

"It's normal. Ordinary people can't handle high-speed movement, so there are some aftereffects. It'll pass in a bit, don't worry." Pietro explained, but he kept glancing back toward the orphanage, clearly not reassured by Zhang Ye's words.

Seeing that, Zhang Ye didn't waste time. He quickly started the car and drove along the main road out of town. "You'll wear this helmet for now. With it, President X won't be able to lock onto your location, and we can destroy the Mutant Prison without anyone knowing."

"Whatever you say, boss." Only when the town was completely out of sight did Pietro finally let out a long breath.

"But you need to tell me everything you can about the Mutant Secret Prison. We don't have much time—war has already started on the other side of the world. We have to add more fuel to the fire before President X reacts, and we need to move faster from now on."

As he spoke, Zhang Ye handed Pietro a flyer he'd found in the car—someone had tucked it under the windshield wiper early that morning.

The flyer clearly marked that the border had spiraled out of control, and other nations had already sounded the war trumpet, painting a picture of a world war breaking out again. At the top of the flyer was the logo of the Next Generation Monastery.

It seemed the person distributing the flyers happened to be a member of the church Emma Frost had founded.

"Don't worry. I'll tell you everything I know, as long as you keep your promise." Pietro glanced at the flyer, then crumpled it into a ball and tossed it aside.

Having lived two lives, Zhang Ye understood the importance of intelligence. If he wanted to accomplish these nearly impossible tasks, information would be his greatest ally.

Take White Queen Emma, for example. If he hadn't known her abilities or gathered more intel about her in this world, he never could have taken the helmet from her, let alone face President X.

Likewise, destroying the Mutant Prison and freeing the mutant prisoners inside required even more intelligence. Not to mention the prison's security level—the prisoners themselves were a double-edged sword.

Used well, they could help him achieve his goals. Used poorly, they might tear him apart the moment he let them out.

That was definitely not the outcome Zhang Ye wanted. So before acting, he needed to gather more intel. Fortunately, the drive from here to Texas would take a while.

Based on Pietro's firsthand experience in the Mutant Prison, Zhang Ye now had a general understanding of the secret prison President X had built, along with many internal details.

For instance, the warden of the Mutant Secret Prison was a hulking man named Fisk. He wasn't just any big guy—he stood over two meters tall, weighed four hundred pounds, and was mostly muscle.

This Fisk corresponded to the villain Zhang Ye remembered from Spider-Man and Matt Murdock's world—Kingpin.

What was surprising was that in other universes, the arrogant overlord of New York's underworld had become a prison warden here. Zhang Ye was a bit shocked when he first heard it, but it made a strange kind of sense.

The prisoners locked up in the Mutant Secret Prison were also familiar faces from Zhang Ye's memory.

There was a man named Samos. When his mutant ability awakened, he accidentally killed his own family with lasers that shot from his eyes. After that, he was blinded and thrown into the Mutant Prison.

There was also a female prisoner named Kitty. She and Pietro were called the "Escape Twins" inside the prison. Pietro relied on his super speed, while Kitty used an even more broken ability—she could convert her body into molecules to phase through objects.

How powerful was that phasing ability? As long as she wanted, no one could kill her—unless they used special methods to force her out, like trapping her underwater.

For her, escaping was basically a piece of cake. But unfortunately, during one escape attempt, her ability suddenly failed as she was passing through her cell bars, fusing her body with the iron of the cage.

A similar fate befell a guy named Armando. His ability allowed him to automatically mutate adaptive traits based on his environment. But during a fire, he was buried under collapsing rubble. When they dug him out, he had become entangled with a steel beam, lost consciousness, and turned into a kind of "vegetative" being.

Then there was a guy named Kurt, locked in an isolation cell. Unlike other mutants, he was a beast-type mutant. These mutants were usually consumed by their animal instincts, becoming bloodthirsty, frenzied, and eventually turning into true beasts.

Kurt was no exception. His appearance was demonic, and his ability was teleportation—supposedly a very powerful mutant power. But by now, there was no reason left in his eyes. He had degenerated into a monster driven by pure savagery.

Listening to Pietro's account, Zhang Ye felt a mix of emotions. Cyclops, Shadowcat, Darwin, Nightcrawler—these people were glorious heroes in another universe.

He let out a heavy sigh and signaled Pietro to stop for now. He turned on the car's audio. Right now, Zhang Ye needed some music to ease the weight on his heart.