"The unsubstantiated eyewitness account from twelve years ago wasn't made up after all... it actually existed!"
But before she could even process what was happening...
"Click!"
A sharp, cracking sound suddenly came from the steel water pipes that had been installed overhead.
What happened...?
Lois's movements suddenly froze.
She then suddenly tilted her head back, instinctively shining the powerful flashlight in her hand upwards.
After decades of exposure to moisture, the bolts on the load-bearing hangers had long since oxidized, and the internal structure crumbled at the slightest touch.
Just now, Lois accidentally stepped on and broke a pneumatic hose that was connected to the main support column below.
The chain reaction of vibrations, coupled with the collapse of the central structure, became the final straw that broke the camel's back!
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The entire load-bearing bracket let out a mournful cry, and then, like dominoes, it began to crack and collapse one after another!
"Knock knock!"
Tens of tons of corroded pipeline, covered with large amounts of cement debris, crashed down into the passage below like a torrential downpour!
Even more critically...
The flammable gas mixture that had accumulated deep within the pipeline network for decades exploded amidst sparks generated by the friction between metal parts!
"Boom!!"
The next second, a blazing, violent orange-red wave of flames shot out from within like a fire dragon, completely blocking the narrow underground passage.
Whirling black smoke and a pungent, acrid smell hit me in the face.
die...
Even Lois, who had experienced countless thrilling moments, felt her blood freeze at this scene.
My hands and feet are cold, and my heart is pounding.
She stiffly turned her head to look.
The narrow walkway was blocked on both sides by fallen steel frames.
A scorching wave of heat swept over her in an instant, and the raging sparks even ignited a spark in her hair.
At this moment!
"Thump--"
A heavy, massive, rusty pipe suddenly began to thud and rattle in the air.
Within their pupils, the terrifying behemoth was plummeting downwards at an astonishing acceleration.
The enormous, oppressive shadow was less than five meters above her in just a few seconds.
Lois closed her eyes and futilely propped herself up with her arms.
She hadn't even written the news as a headline or published it yet, and she hadn't even taken up the editor-in-chief's position...
The mysterious side of this world has not yet been revealed...
She didn't want to die.
The desperate thought had barely formed in my mind when, unexpectedly—
"Dong--"
The restless air trembled eerily, causing the surrounding dust and ash to shake violently.
Lois was in a daze.
A blurry consciousness, a hazy and indistinct vision, yet a bizarre scene suddenly pieced together—
The raging waves, the colossal pipes crashing down with a roar, the flying debris and metal fragments...
In that instant, it was as if divine intervention had struck.
It abruptly suspended in mid-air within a transparent, circular shape.
It's like an invisible giant hand, forcefully keeping these inferior things out.
Firmly held up and pulled, it fell into a suffocating silence, like a specimen nailed to a wooden frame with steel needles.
The next moment.
"Thump!!"
A deep, resounding boom, like the crack of a giant drum, echoed in Lois's ears, followed by a long, drawn-out hum.
"Buzz--"
That supervisor, with a diameter of over half a meter and enough downward momentum to smash a person into mincemeat, just like that...
He was abruptly stopped in mid-air less than half a meter above Lois's head.
What happened?
At this moment, Lois, still shaken, opened her eyes.
But then a long, slender hand with distinct knuckles appeared before her eyes.
The hand barely exerted any force; it simply grasped the tube casually and lifted it up with a nonchalant motion.
The massive object, weighing several tons, was steadily held in mid-air by a single, almost excessively thin hand.
Lois collapsed into the mud, her chest heaving, and looked up as if she were utterly exhausted.
Using the faint remaining light from the fire, she finally made out the figure in front of her.
A slightly faded gray-blue work shirt, sleeves rolled up to the forearms, and wisps of hair floating slowly in the scorching heat.
"You..."
Lois's lips trembled slightly, and her whole body felt cold.
"Click--"
John held the massive steel pipe in his arms, and with his other hand he swept it forward.
An invisible pressure gradually descended.
The surrounding fireworks and collapsing debris were neatly pushed to both sides by this faint ripple.
Then, John's palm trembled slightly.
He gently lifted and pulled the several-ton iron pipe backward.
"Buzz--"
It slammed directly onto a steel beam on one side, producing a loud, muffled thud.
Only then did John slowly lower his arms.
He stood in the filthy black water, looking down at Lois who was slumped on the ground, his brows slightly furrowed.
"... You are even less safety-conscious than I thought, Miss Ryan."
John's voice echoed in the cramped, damp basement:
"Hey, big-shot reporter, this industrial junk pile that's been rusting for over a decade... is it really worth it just for a few meaningless photos?"
At that moment, a cold wind rushed in through the collapsed vent.
Lois sat in the cold, black water, panting heavily.
The intense heart palpitations from surviving the ordeal constantly pounded in her ears.
Cold sweat, a result of surviving the ordeal, trickled down his chin.
Lois stared intently at the man in front of her.
What I just witnessed was definitely not a dream.
He was able to catch several solid steel pipes falling with one hand... without even blinking.
The "miracle child" at the gas station twelve years ago, the layers of eeriness revealed in the case files, the bartender who vehemently denied any involvement and refused to lead the way...
All the puzzle pieces were suddenly put together in that instant.
"It's... you..."
Lois struggled to climb out of the black water, but his weak knees suddenly buckled, and he almost fell to the ground again.
John stood with his hands behind his back, expressionless, watching as he propped himself up on his elbows against the rusty pipe, then awkwardly straightened up.
"I just... saw it!"
Lois leaned against the cold wall, a burning fire gradually igniting in his brown eyes:
"... You did the same thing twelve years ago, didn't you?!"
What exactly are you... Mutant? The military's Super-Soldier Serum? Or... are you really from outer space?!
Super-Soldier Serum?
John astutely grasped this key word from the first half of the sentence.
Serum? Could it be the kind of serum he imagined, similar to Compound V?
Even Satan has appeared in this world, so it's not surprising that he has this kind of power... Maybe he can even be of help?
John had just thought of this when he heard Lois's last words.
No... I just escaped death, how can I be so stubborn?
To put it nicely, that's called being stubborn.
To put it bluntly, he's a fucking idiot.
John had encountered plenty of idiots like that back in Vought.
But without exception, they were all plastered into the wall and embedded in the mud, and no matter how hard he tried to pry them out, he couldn't.
This woman may not have provoked him, but she's definitely a huge problem.
but...
Since this trouble has come knocking on his door, it's not that he can't use it as a convenient pawn, as an opportunity for his first exploration of this world.
"Please come up, Miss Ryan."
John didn't answer her question; he simply turned and walked steadily up the half-collapsed iron staircase.
"The ammonia concentration here is still rising."
If you plan to leave your interview notes as a gift to the coroner before you die, you can stay below and guess.
"..."