Killian

From Rosalie's perspective, Mark had seemed to charge toward the hotel just now, but then all the hotel lights had gone out.

By the time the lights came back on, only a minute or two had passed.

Mark was still standing obediently beside her, just as before.

Rosalie began to wonder if her eyes had been playing tricks on her.

"Mom, let's talk about it when we get home!"

Mark shook his head and pulled Rosalie toward the lobby. "It should be fine now. Let's go back to the lobby and take a look first."

He figured the police would be arriving soon.

There had been many casualties in the hotel lobby this time, including a major star like Lucas. Everyone present would definitely have to be questioned by the police.

Staying with the rest of the film crew would keep them from drawing unnecessary attention from the police.

"Ms. Payne, Mark, are you two all right?"

After they entered the lobby, Michael, who had been searching for them along with the other bodyguards, hurried over.

Earlier, he and the other bodyguards and drivers had been waiting in a side hall. By the time they heard the commotion and rushed over, it was already too late.

"Don't worry, we're fine."

Rosalie shook her head. Her face turned slightly pale as she looked at the devastated lobby. "Hurry and help treat the injured!"

"Yes, Ms. Payne."

Michael nodded. After leaving behind two female bodyguards, he led the others forward to help tend to the wounded.

Lucas had indiscriminately attacked more than a dozen people.

Even the lightly injured had broken bones and torn muscles, sprawled on the ground and screaming in agony. The severely injured appeared to have already stopped breathing.

Fortunately, none of the casualties were among the friends Rosalie had introduced to Mark earlier.

They had all gathered around Rosalie as well. After all, with bodyguards around her, she looked like a safer person to stay near.

The people who had been fleeing in every direction gradually regained their senses after the crisis passed.

Some hurriedly pulled out their phones and called the police and emergency services.

"What was going on with that man just now? Why did he suddenly go berserk and attack people? And at the end, it seemed like someone saved me?"

Recalling what had happened, Tony Stark looked grim.

He first went over to carefully check the injuries of his two bodyguards.

Only after seeing that they had merely suffered fractures to their chests and abdomens, and that their injuries were not too serious, did he relax slightly.

Then he quietly ordered, "JARVIS, send me the footage you recorded just now."

"Yes, sir."

As the voice sounded, images flashed across the lenses of the seemingly ordinary glasses on Tony Stark's face.

They showed Mark rushing into the hotel from outside after the lobby lights had gone out.

Tony Stark's glasses integrated infrared imaging, recording, and various other functions, so Mark's face had been captured clearly.

The later battle had not been recorded due to the angle, but Tony Stark could already confirm that Mark had saved him.

"This kid is actually a Mutant, and his X Gene has already awakened?"

Tony Stark looked toward Mark in surprise.

He was certain that the Stark family did not carry the X Gene, so Mark's X Gene must have come from Rosalie.

Mark happened to look at Tony Stark as well. After their gazes met, both looked away.

"I didn't expect Tony Stark to have recorded what happened just now."

Mark had naturally heard the conversation between Tony Stark and JARVIS. He looked somewhat helpless. "Looks like I'll have to make some small electromagnetic interference devices to carry with me after I get back. That way, if I have to fight again in the future, I can avoid being recorded."

Fortunately, the person who had filmed him acting this time was Tony Stark. Given the man's character and principles, he would not expose him.

Just then, Mark's ears twitched slightly as he heard director Louis making a phone call in a corner not far away.

"Didn't you say there wouldn't be any problem with the vial of medicine you gave me?"

Louis had lowered his voice as much as possible, but Mark could still hear the furious panic in his tone.

"What happened?"

A middle-aged man's puzzled voice came from the phone.

"What happened? Lucas is dead—the Lucas you injected with that medicine!"

"He'd been perfectly fine these past few days! Lucas even told me that he felt himself getting stronger and that his body had become much tougher."

"But I never expected that Lucas would suddenly lose control at the celebration tonight and start crazily attacking everyone around him! He killed and injured quite a few people! In the end, for some reason, even he exploded..."

Louis told the person on the other end about what had just happened.

"No, that's impossible. How could this happen? I clearly tested it on chimpanzees already. There shouldn't have been any problem!"

Upon hearing that people had died, the man on the other end also sounded tense and uneasy.

"The police should be here soon! If they find out that Lucas was injected with the medicine you sold me and that's what caused this, then I'm finished!"

Louis's voice trembled, filled with despair.

At the time, he had thought it was something like a stimulant that would allow Lucas to perform more difficult action scenes on set. How could he have imagined such serious consequences?

If the police traced it back to him, even if he did not go to prison, his career would probably be over.

"D-Don't worry. According to our experimental records, forty-eight hours after the injection, there won't be any abnormal chemical residue left in the body. The police shouldn't be able to detect anything."

The man on the other end hurriedly tried to reassure him.

"It had better be that way! Otherwise, I'll tell the police everything about you selling the medicine to me, Killian!"

Louis issued his final threat viciously.

Only after hearing the repeated wail of police sirens outside did he hurriedly end the call.

"Killian? Medicine?"

After listening to Louis's conversation with the other person, Mark finally figured out the man's identity and the reason Lucas had gone berserk.

If his guess was correct, the person speaking with Louis should have been Aldrich Killian, the man in Marvel who had jointly invented the Extremis virus with Maya Hansen.

He was a genius scientist with a disability.

Later, when he sought investment and cooperation from Tony Stark, Tony would ridicule and mock him.

Sensitive and insecure by nature, he would completely turn to darkness, using the Extremis virus—which had originally been meant to heal the sick and save lives—to mass-produce Extremis soldiers in an attempt to rule the world.

His plan would naturally end in failure, and he himself would be killed.

Mark had not expected him to have already begun researching the Extremis virus, nor that he had sold an unfinished Extremis virus treatment to Louis, ultimately causing this tragedy.