The child's cries attracted not only Marcus's attention but also that of the nearby police officers.
The sound of a child crying and calling for help demanded immediate investigation, regardless of the circumstances.
"Hank, go check it out!"
Following Marcus's instructions, Hank rushed toward the house. From his earlier conversation with the old man, he knew many children in the city had been abducted by mutants. He strongly suspected these cries came from kidnapped children.
Accompanied by several police officers, Hank approached the building. To the officers' amazement, he leaped powerfully into the air, easily reaching the second-floor balcony.
Unfortunately, the windows were shut tight and the curtains drawn, making it impossible to see inside.
As he considered how to enter without alerting anyone inside, another burst of crying erupted from within the house.
This time it wasn't just one voice but many children crying in unison, desperately pleading to go home.
'Even if this isn't the mutants' doing, it could be a human trafficking operation!' With that thought, Hank hesitated no longer and smashed through the window with a single punch.
Seeing this, the police below kicked open the front door and stormed into the house.
Inside, numerous children huddled together crying, while a woman stood before them, staring at Hank who had just crashed through the window.
"So they found us after all," she said softly.
Her body seemed to flicker briefly, and suddenly Hank was launched backward as if struck by tremendous force, flying out the way he had come in.
Watching Hank's unexpected ejection, Marcus looked surprised. Given Hank's strength and training, he shouldn't have been so easily overpowered unless caught completely off-guard.
"Seems like Hank's opponent is something special!"
As he spoke, several police officers also flew out of the house. All appeared to have suffered powerful blows, landing on the ground with pained groans.
"Interesting!"
This mysterious opponent piqued Marcus's curiosity. The mutants detained on the bus watched the scene expectantly, hoping Marcus would engage the new threat and give them an opportunity to escape.
Much to their disappointment, Marcus stayed put. Though intrigued by this unknown mutant, he wasn't about to let his five captives slip away.
His eyes filled with void energy, transforming his vision to black and white, allowing him to clearly perceive the unique energies emanating from mutant powers.
Under Marcus's penetrating gaze, the captive mutants shuddered, feeling completely exposed.
As Marcus observed the situation, the woman emerged from the house. She looked at Hank, who was struggling to his feet, and laughed dismissively.
In the next moment, to everyone's bewilderment, Hank appeared to be attacked by invisible forces, driven backward as if being pummeled from all sides.
The onlookers were completely baffled. They saw only the woman smiling slightly while Hank retreated as though being beaten by multiple assailants.
As the recipient of this assault, Hank's confusion matched that of the observers.
He clearly felt punch after punch landing, but couldn't defend against any of them. The attacks seemed to come from everywhere at once, striking him from all directions.
Only Marcus could see what was truly happening: Hank was indeed being attacked by the woman.
A shadowy figure repeatedly burst from her body, struck Hank with incredible speed, then instantly returned to her. The shadow moved so rapidly that ordinary eyes couldn't track it, making Hank appear to be fighting invisible enemies.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A recovered police officer opened fire on the woman, attempting to neutralize this bizarre threat.
Yet the moment shots were fired, the woman appeared directly in front of Hank, effortlessly evading the bullets.
This movement seemed impossible to many witnesses, but Marcus had tracked her trajectory. She had moved to the shadow's position at incredible speed.
Marcus began to understand her ability.
Beyond its offensive capability, the phantom she released must also function like an accelerator, allowing her to move at high velocity along the phantom's path.
Now that he understood her power, Marcus knew how to counter it. He detached the war blade disc from his watch and pressed it lightly. The disc popped from its sheath, extending a razor-sharp blade that Marcus immediately infused with void energy.
"Let's see how you run from this!"
He threw the war blade with precision, sending it hurtling toward the woman at tremendous speed.
Seeing the blade flying toward her, she immediately shifted into her phantom state to avoid the attack.
"That's exactly what I wanted!" Marcus smiled and snapped his fingers. "Bang!"
BOOM!!!
A violent explosion erupted from the flying blade, blasting the woman out of her shadow state mid-movement.
This was Marcus's strategy all along. The blade, infused with void energy, could release that power in an explosive burst when triggered.
The explosion wasn't just powerful—it carried the void energy's ability-suppressing properties, effectively neutralizing her powers.
As the blade returned to Marcus after detonating, Hank realized Marcus had just saved him. Without hesitation, he charged forward and pinned the woman to the ground.
She struggled, but injured by the explosion and temporarily stripped of her abilities, she was no match for Hank's strength. He secured her with borrowed handcuffs and brought her back to the bus.
While Hank's battle concluded, Alex's confrontation with the fish-man was also reaching its end.
Though Alex couldn't see through the steam, he had increased his energy output, using the blasts to superheat the water vapor. The area had effectively become a pressure cooker.
The extreme temperature proved too much for the aquatic mutant. Feeling as though he was being steamed alive, the fish-man eventually collapsed from exhaustion and heat stroke.
Shortly after his opponent fell, the energy blasts from Alex's hands began to weaken until they dissipated entirely.
The extended full-power output had depleted all the energy reserves in his body, leaving him temporarily as vulnerable as any ordinary human.
Though his ability was energy projection, Alex couldn't create energy from nothing. His body stored energy absorbed from his surroundings—light, heat, electromagnetic waves, and other forms of radiation.
This was the first time he had completely drained his reserves, and Alex stared at his hands with curiosity. The sensation of being entirely depleted was entirely new to him.
Eventually, the mist began to clear, revealing the fish-man lying motionless on the ground through the thinning water curtain.
The once-arrogant mutant who had rampaged through the city now lay like a beached fish, completely still.
"Alex, secure that one!" Marcus called out, then turned to Hank. "Go explain to the police that we need to take these mutants with us!"