Today was the day of the trade. The gang members pulled out their keys, unlocking the cells one by one. They began dragging the captives out, heartlessly herding them toward the transport vehicles.
Everyone knew what was coming. Despair filled the air. Some wailed in agony, some knelt and begged for mercy, and others shouted futile threats. The gang members remained indifferent; they ignored those who cooperated and used electric prods to brutalize those who didn't.
Soon, the thugs arrived at Aurelius Viremont's cell. Jim, the hateful man from before, was among them.
Seeing Aurelius Viremont looking at him, Jim gave a twisted, mocking grin and drew a thumb across his throat in a slit-gesture. But he didn't see the terror he expected. Instead, Aurelius Viremont gave him a bright, sunny smile—an expression so out of place it made Jim's skin crawl with irritation.
"Move it, yellow monkey! Today is your big day!"
Aurelius Viremont replied calmly, "You're right. Today truly is a wonderful day."
Enraged by the backtalk, Jim's expression darkened. He stepped close to Aurelius Viremont and hissed, "You have no idea, do you? I've already spoken to Dr. John. During your organ harvesting, there will be no anesthesia. You're going to die in a world of agony."
Aurelius Viremont gave him a mysterious smile. "I don't think you'll live long enough to see that."
Provoked once more, Jim didn't care where this kid got his sudden courage; he was going to break him. Even if the boss scolded him later, as long as the "merchandise" was alive, the punishment wouldn't be too severe.
He wound up a heavy punch and swung it straight at Aurelius Viremont's face. He hated that handsome face—especially the fake look of calm it wore. Behind him, the other gang members watched with amusement, waiting for the sound of shattering bone and the boy's first scream of despair.
But what happened next froze them in their tracks.
Jim's fist stopped inches from Aurelius Viremont's face. It didn't miss; it simply stopped, unable to move a fraction closer.
At first, the others thought Jim was playing around. They started jeering.
"Jim, quit messing around! The deal is starting. If we're late, the boss will skin you alive!"
"Yeah! Smash his face in already! I want to hear him scream!"
"No... I can't..." Jim stammered, his voice trembling with terror.
He stared at the man before him. Aurelius Viremont's eyes, once dark, had turned into a deep, crystalline sapphire. Even his hair had somehow turned snow-white overnight. Aurelius Viremont was smiling, but the cruel curve of his lips and the mockery in his gaze told Jim everything he needed to know.
A mutant! Jim realized with a jolt of horror.
The other gang members finally sensed something was wrong. They noticed the veins bulging in Jim's arm and his muscles quivering from the strain of pushing with all his might. Strangely, as his hand got closer to Aurelius Viremont, the space seemed to warp and distort, refracting the light like a heat haze.
Something was deathly wrong.
A primal fear gripped them. Watching Aurelius Viremont's indifferent smile, they all instinctively took a step back.
Looking at the sweating thug trying to touch him, Aurelius Viremont offered an encouraging grin. "Come on. Keep going. Just a little more effort and you might actually touch me."
But the moment the words left his lips, Aurelius Viremont's smile vanished. Jim, consumed by the unknown, had tried to turn and bolt.
How could Aurelius Viremont let him escape? He still had a gift to deliver.
Energy surged through Aurelius Viremont's veins, reinforcing his physical frame. With speed invisible to the human eye, he reached out and grabbed Jim's head. With a violent surge of strength, he slammed the man face-first into the concrete floor.
CRACK!
The sound of the impact was sickening. Jim's skull met the ground with a force that knocked him unconscious instantly.
Aurelius Viremont wasn't finished. Using his magically reinforced strength, he began systematically stomping on Jim's limbs. Bones shattered. Flesh was pulverized. A slurry of blood and gristle began to spread across the floor.
The sheer agony of his right arm being crushed woke Jim up. He let out a blood-curdling shriek, thrashing wildly. But his resistance was meaningless. He could only watch in horror as Aurelius Viremont Methodically crushed every limb, turning him into a living wreck.
Aurelius Viremont ignored the broken man. The gift had been delivered; he didn't care if the recipient liked it.
As he turned his icy gaze toward the remaining thugs, they snapped out of their shock. One of them screamed, "His power must have a limit! Otherwise, Jim never would have caught him! Shoot him! Kill him now!"
The gang, battle-hardened and well-trained, immediately raised their rifles and opened fire.
What followed was pure despair.
A hail of bullets froze in mid-air around Aurelius Viremont, wobbling in a strange distortion of space, unable to touch a single thread of his clothes. It was as if the distance between the bullets and the man wasn't a few inches, but an infinite void.
The Limitless Technique.
"How is this possible?! Why isn't it working?!"
"What kind of mutant power is this?!"
Panic took over. They held down their triggers, spraying lead in a frantic, desperate rhythm. Aurelius Viremont didn't even move; he even casually deflected a few stray rounds away from Jim. He didn't want the man to die too quickly. He wanted him to rot in his own agony.
Then, Aurelius Viremont looked at the original thugs and the reinforcements rushing down the hall. He grinned, his lips curling into a sharp, predatory arc. He extended his hands forward, fingers interlaced in a specific, ritualistic grip.
"Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue!"
Energy spiraled in a specific, violent pattern. A terrifying blue vortex manifested in front of Aurelius Viremont, its gravitational pull instantly swallowing every bullet fired his way like a miniature black hole.
Once the output reached its peak...
BOOM!!!
The azure singularity erupted. It tore forward with a deafening roar. Whether it was flesh and blood or reinforced concrete, everything in its path was sucked into the swirling blue light and erased.
When the dust settled, the hallway was empty. Not a single gang member remained. Not even a drop of blood was left behind.