Chapter 814: The Chaos in Budapest

Chapter 814: Chapter 814: The Chaos in Budapest

As if remembering something, Alexei asked again, "By the way, since you already guessed this might happen, didn’t you warn the school? Or are they already somewhat prepared themselves?"

Henry once again became the focus of everyone’s attention. He could only shrug helplessly.

"You told me earlier to warn the X-Men. I gathered the relevant information and sent it to them through an anonymous email.

"I can’t say how seriously they’ll take it. But I’m not going to do anything more that might expose my identity. Those mutants are a huge headache. I’d rather never have anything to do with them."

That statement piqued Alexei’s curiosity.

"If you don’t want anything to do with mutants, then what’s different this time?"

At that, Henry became angry.

"It’s that damn Colonel William Stryker trying to screw me over!"

After briefly recounting what had happened before, Henry stated his position clearly.

"If he’d merely slapped me once and cursed at me, I could’ve swallowed it.

"If I couldn’t get even with him right away, I wouldn’t have bothered wasting any more time on him. But if he tries to destroy me, he can’t blame me for hitting back with the same force. An eye for an eye—that’s something adults should understand."

"So those unlucky American soldiers unknowingly picked a fight with you, the bringer of calamity, and you’re planning to give them a quick death?"

"No. Just the Stryker father and son. The other soldiers count as collateral damage at most. I’m not some bloodthirsty killer. When there’s a problem, I just make sure the people responsible leave this world."

It didn’t matter whether the other American soldiers had committed outrageously evil acts and therefore supposedly deserved to die. Henry’s standard was very simple: he was there for revenge, not to uphold justice or pass judgment on criminals.

The people who had provoked him were clearly identified. William Stryker had conceived the plan, while his son, the illusion master Jason Stryker, had carried it out. If the father and son weren’t going to leave themselves a way out, then Henry would send them on their way. An eye for an eye, fair and reasonable.

Everything else was a minor matter that didn’t concern him. So whether those American soldiers lived or died was up to them; whether Gilgamesh and the others wanted to rescue the mutant children was also up to them.

As long as the father and son didn’t hide somewhere beyond his reach, or someone didn’t jump out and start lecturing him about how killing people was wrong when he was about to act, Henry could accept it all.

Having gradually understood Henry’s core philosophy, Alexei didn’t make as big a fuss as he had during the previous vampire purge.

"Fine. As long as you’ve made up your minds. Besides, it’s not convenient for me to go over there and join in the fun right now."

Henry asked curiously, "Did you find out anything about the Red Room?"

Alexei nodded. ℯℯ𝘭.

"That’s right. I did hear that a woman codenamed Black Widow has been operating secretly. Black Widow is the general designation for the female spies trained by the Red Room.

"If I hadn’t gotten this information, which makes me afraid to leave, I’d probably have already run off to another country. You guys in North America don’t know this, but the vampires and werewolves over here in Europe have been killing each other like crazy lately."

The news about the European vampires immediately piqued Henry’s curiosity as well.

"What happened? I remember that the vampires and werewolves in Europe are sworn enemies. Could they really have abandoned even the most basic rules of the Masquerade?"

"Yeah. But I also discovered something unexpected: there’s a secret organization helping the vampires and werewolves clean up afterward. A lot of the traces left by their battles, as well as ordinary people who get innocently caught up in them, are dealt with by this third-party organization."

"So what happened to make these two hidden supernatural races go this far?"

"Do you know who Michael Corvin is?"

"No. Who is he?"

"A doctor. From what I’ve heard, both the werewolves and vampires are currently searching for this unlucky bastard."

"Will that interfere with your operation? Do you need help?"

"Just take care of your own business. Here in Budapest, those little puppies and bats aren’t enough to cause a super-soldier any trouble."

Seeing the proud look on Alexei’s face through the screen, Henry couldn’t resist teasing him.

"Last time, who was it that sent out a distress signal and cursed up a storm over the communications channel, saying he was finished if reinforcements didn’t arrive?"

"Suka blyat!"

The Red Guardian immediately fired back with an insult.

"By the way, Alexei." Gilgamesh suddenly asked, "Do you think there’ll be any warning signs before the U.S. military makes its move?"

"That school is also the X-Men’s secret base, right? That’s what you said earlier."

Henry nodded, acknowledging Alexei’s point.

"If the target is those children, then the most important thing is how to disperse the X-Men’s combat strength. Once you separate their strongest members and pick them off one by one, what’s left are just little lambs. Herding them or capturing them would be easy.

"So if we see the X-Men’s main combat forces dispersing, that would probably be a sign that the U.S. military is about to launch its surprise attack."

"More or less. Since you can monitor that mutant school, I’m sure the U.S. military can do the same. If the main combat force leaves and the military doesn’t know how to seize such an opportunity, then that commander wouldn’t be unjustly court-martialed, would he?"

"Wouldn’t that mean today?" Gilgamesh said uncertainly.

Henry was stunned.

"What! Really?"

At that moment, Cassandra called out, "C-Ma’am, bring up those two marked recordings and play them."

"Yes, Ms. Cassandra."

The artificial intelligence, ordered around yet again, immediately displayed the two surveillance clips in the corner of the screen.

In one, Cyclops was pushing Professor X’s wheelchair, helping him into a luxury car before driving away. Their destination was unknown. But based on the events of the movies Henry had seen before traveling through time, they were heading to visit Magneto, after which William Stryker would capture them.

The other clip showed the X-Jet, the Blackbird, taking off vertically from the open hangar beneath the basketball court and flying toward an unknown destination. Because of the aircraft’s special surface coating, the Sparrow satellite could only roughly determine that four or five people were aboard. It couldn’t identify them.

The X-Men generally weren’t numerous. Having six or seven of them leave at once was practically equivalent to leaving Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters completely empty.

It really was the perfect opportunity for a U.S. military surprise attack.

"So, Henry, can you get us a vehicle?" Gilgamesh asked the Kryptonian who seemed capable of doing almost anything.

This was yet another example of waiting until the shit had hit the fan before looking for a toilet, and Henry was speechless.

After thinking it over, Henry said seriously, "Buying a truck at the last minute might not get here in time to rescue them.

"If you ask me, we should just steal one. We only need to give those children a vehicle to get around temporarily. Once we reach our destination, we can abandon it by the roadside. The police will naturally help return it to its owner.

"And using an old truck that’s currently in commercial service has another advantage: it’s less likely to attract the U.S. military’s attention and tracking. If the vehicle really gets blown up, we’ll find a way to compensate the unfortunate owner afterward."

Henry overlooked the possibility that if the stolen vehicle was carrying cargo, the owner might incur contractual penalties for delayed delivery. Alternatively, they could find an empty truck, in which case the owner would merely be unable to conduct business for a day or two.

Gilgamesh and the others had no objections to Henry’s terrible idea. They simply asked another question.

"If that’s the case, where do we steal a truck?"

The Spartan warrior, who hadn’t done anything like stealing in a long time, spoke somewhat uncertainly.

"I haven’t stolen anything in a long time. Stealing a truck shouldn’t be too difficult, right?"

Looking at the group, all of them apparently excited by the prospect, Henry sighed.

"Forget it. I’ll do it. Modern trucks don’t use the kind of locks they had in the old days. It’s not some stupid design you can simply pry open and turn with a hidden blade."

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