Herman was puzzled.
He couldn't figure out what was going on with the assassin in front of him.
He had only been in this world for a week and hadn't made enemies with anyone. How could a professional killer already be after him?
Skye's doing?
Impossible... Even if Skye wanted to swallow Charles' investment for herself, there was no way she could have arranged for an assassin this quickly.
Besides, Herman didn't think Skye had that kind of malice. The real problem was, he couldn't think of anyone else he had even interacted with in this world.
Could Professor Charles have regretted investing? Even then, it wouldn't make sense to send just an ordinary assassin.
"You... how are you still alive?"
The assassin had absolute confidence in her shooting.
In her mind, that bullet should have gone clean through her target's skull. How could he possibly still be standing?
Her eyes dropped to the bullet in Herman's hand. She couldn't believe it—someone catching a bullet?
Impossible. Not even a seasoned pro could do that.
"Ma'am, you may not understand this wor—" Herman started, ready to show off, but before he could finish, the assassin suddenly snapped her arm up.
From her sleeve, the hidden pistol whipped out, and she emptied the magazine straight at him.
So that was her plan.
Her shock earlier had been real, but the look of disbelief had only been a trick to distract him.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The sharp cracks of gunfire filled the air. This time, she watched the bullets rain toward Herman. There was no way he could be that lucky again.
"In your next life, don't be stupid enough to give your enemy another chance!" she sneered, lowering her weapon, ready to walk away coolly.
However—
"What the hell?!"
Her face twisted into horror.
Her pupils shrank to pinpoints.
Now she finally understood why her first shot hadn't killed Herman. It wasn't that her aim had failed.
It was because... he wasn't human at all!
Every bullet she had just fired was floating in midair, inches from his face.
And that wasn't the only thing.
She also realized why her car hadn't been able to move earlier.
The tires weren't touching the ground.
They were hovering, barely a centimeter above the street.
"That was a good suggestion. But I already understood that truth a long time ago." Herman had been casually skimming the assassin's surface thoughts the entire time.
Of course a sneak attack couldn't succeed. That was the advantage of a mind power wielder—always calm, always in control.
"Mutant! You're a mutant!" The assassin wasn't without experience. She immediately screamed out what she thought was the answer.
"Wrong."
Herman wasn't worried about being exposed. He had already disabled every surveillance camera nearby, and the moment the shots rang out, all the pedestrians had scattered far away.
"I surrender! I'll tell you everything!"
The assassin threw down her gun without hesitation and raised her hands. She knew that against a mutant, her so-called assassin skills were nothing but a joke.
"I said... wrong."
Herman had given her one chance, and she hadn't taken it. He felt no guilt for being ruthless now.
His psychic power surged.
The assassin felt invisible forces bind her body. She couldn't move. Her whole frame lifted out of the car, floating helplessly.
"Actually, I'm glad you chose this. After all, I only trust the answers I see with my own eyes."
His words made no sense to her, but it didn't matter. Terror filled her as she drifted closer and closer toward Herman.
Then she saw him smile—a strange, unsettling smile—
And agony exploded in her mind. The pain in her brain was so sharp that her thoughts froze in place.
"The Fraternity?"
Herman had, of course, broken into the assassin's mind—brutally, to the point where her eyes rolled back in pain.
This kind of intrusion was far from pleasant for the victim, but it was the fastest way to dig through someone's memories.
Soon enough, Herman found the answer he wanted. The woman was an assassin from the New York branch of the Fraternity.
That revelation genuinely caught him off guard. He knew the Marvel universe had mutants, but he hadn't expected the Assassin Fraternity to exist here too.
That didn't belong in Marvel at all... Herman had seen Wanted, so he quickly pieced together what was happening.
The Fraternity's assassins.
The Loom of Fate... a so-called divine machine, said to foretell who would endanger the future of the world.
The Fraternity followed the belief of "kill one to save millions," executing targets based on the names the Loom provided.
"So my name showed up on the Loom's execution list?"
Herman found that completely absurd. He was a law-abiding citizen who wouldn't even kill a chicken—how could he possibly end up on the Loom's list?
The Fraternity's leader was supposed to be a black man named Sloan, notorious for abusing his position by slipping in names of his own choosing alongside those the Loom provided.
"But I haven't done anything to offend that guy, have I?" Herman couldn't see why the Loom of Fate would target him.
If the Loom really existed in the Marvel universe, then maybe it did have some mystical effect. But no matter how powerful it was, it couldn't possibly outmatch the Time Stone.
Even the Ancient One, with the Time Stone in hand, hadn't come to declare him a future disaster. So what gave this Loom the authority to call him one?
The most likely explanation, Herman figured, was that Sloan was behind it.
That old schemer was forging divine decrees again!
Herman was convinced.
Still, something didn't add up.
They had no grudge, no bad blood.
So why would Sloan send his assassins after him?
By all logic, it made no sense.
He had only been in this world for seven days. In a way, he was still younger than a newborn here. How on earth could he already be tied to assassins?