Chapter 487: Payback

Feeling energised, Damien stood there for a moment, testing his balance before slowly clenching his fists. The strange energy was still circulating through his body, and now that he had become aware of it, he could feel it much more clearly.

There was strength within him.

Not an overwhelming amount. He certainly didn’t feel invincible, nor did he suddenly possess enough power to destroy everything around him. However, compared to the ordinary strength he had possessed only minutes ago, the difference was undeniable.

Damien looked toward the steel bars separating his cell from the corridor.

A thought suddenly entered his mind.

’Could I...?’

He immediately dismissed it. That was ridiculous.

The bars were made of reinforced steel and were designed specifically to prevent inmates from escaping. Even a physically powerful man would struggle to bend them without some kind of tool, let alone with his bare hands.

Still, curiosity continued gnawing at him. Damien glanced around once more.

Nobody was paying attention. Slowly, he approached the bars.

When he reached them, he wrapped his fingers around one of the thick metal rods. The cold steel pressed against his palm, and for a moment he simply stood there, staring at it.

He hesitated. Then he pulled. Nothing happened.

Damien frowned. He tightened his grip and pulled again, this time using more strength. His muscles tensed as he leaned backward, putting his entire body behind the movement.

For a moment, the bar remained completely motionless.

Then a faint metallic sound echoed through the cell.

Creak. Damien froze. His eyes widened.

The sound had been faint, but there was no mistaking it.

He slowly looked at the metal bar before shifting his gaze toward his hands.

"No way."

He tried again.

This time, he put considerably more strength into the movement.

GNNNG—!

The steel groaned. Damien’s eyes nearly bulged from their sockets.

The bar had moved.

He stared at the warped section in disbelief, unable to comprehend what he was seeing. He had expected nothing to happen, yet the reinforced steel had actually bent beneath the force of his hands.

For several seconds, Damien remained frozen. Then he grabbed the bar with both hands.

Something inside him changed.

The disbelief in his expression slowly gave way to excitement.

He pulled with everything he had.

BANG!

The reinforced steel bent outward with a violent metallic groan. The surrounding bars shook from the force, and when Damien finally released them, a gap large enough for a person to pass through had appeared.

Damien stared at the opening.

He couldn’t speak.

His heart was pounding so hard that he could feel it against his chest.

Then, slowly, a grin spread across his battered face.

"Superpowers..."

He laughed quietly, almost unable to believe the words coming from his own mouth.

"Are superpowers actually real?"

Damien looked down at his hands again. Only a short while ago, he had been lying helplessly on the prison floor while three inmates beat him. Now he had bent reinforced steel with nothing but his bare hands.

He flexed his fingers. "Did I just awaken some kind of superpower?"

The realization sent a surge of excitement through him.

His mind immediately began racing through the possibilities. Strength. Regeneration. Some kind of energy. He didn’t know what this strange power was, but he already understood one thing: he was no longer an ordinary human.

And if this power could continue growing...

Damien’s grin widened. He could leave. He could escape Blackridge.

He could return to the outside world, reclaim everything he had lost, and find the people responsible for his downfall.

’Sophie. Stan.’ His expression slowly darkened as their faces surfaced in his mind.

He could find them.

He could make them pay.

But just as quickly as the thought of escape entered his mind, another thought followed.

Damien’s gaze shifted toward the inmates who had beaten him earlier.

The large man was several meters away, sitting with the other two inmates as they casually talked among themselves. None of them seemed to have noticed what Damien had just done.

Damien stared at them for several seconds.

Then his smile slowly returned.

Why leave now?

He rolled his shoulders, testing his body again. The injuries were still present, but the pain had become almost insignificant compared to what it had been earlier. The strange energy continued circulating through him, gradually easing the effects of the beating.

Damien slowly cracked his knuckles.

Crack.

The sharp sound caught the attention of one of the nearby inmates, who glanced in his direction.

Damien began walking.

One step.

Then another.

The three men eventually noticed him approaching.

The large inmate frowned as he looked up.

"What are you looking at?"

Damien didn’t answer. He simply continued walking toward them.

The man’s expression hardened. "Hey."

Damien kept coming.

"Who the hell are you staring at like that?" The other two inmates also rose from their seats. One of them scoffed as he looked Damien over. "Looks like the rich boy didn’t learn his lesson."

The large inmate cracked his neck and stepped forward. "Maybe we need to teach him again."

Several nearby prisoners began paying attention. Conversations gradually died down as more inmates turned toward the confrontation. The sight of Damien willingly approaching the same three men who had just beaten him was enough to spark curiosity.

Damien eventually stopped a few meters away from them.

He looked at the three men in silence.

There was no fear in his eyes anymore.

The large inmate stared back at him with a mixture of confusion and irritation.

Then Damien smiled. It wasn’t the nervous smile of someone trying to hide his fear, nor was it the forced confidence of someone pretending to be brave. It was colder than that.

There was something unsettling in his expression now, something that hadn’t been there before.

"You should have killed me when you had the chance."

The large inmate’s brows furrowed. "What?"

Damien’s smile widened.

He slowly tightened his fists as the strange energy within his body continued circulating through his muscles.

"Because now..."

His eyes hardened as he stared directly at the man who had beaten him only moments earlier.

"...it’s my turn."