Or maybe Blaine had traveled to the Marvel world for some kind of mission—something? If not, then why was the system hiding things?
This series of questions jolted Blaine awake. He had always believed the Hunter System was the most reliable thing in existence, the one thing he could depend on. But now, discovering these flaws made him doubt everything.
He thought of the three days of missing memory, the mysterious metal on the moon, and Dormammu's words. The Earth hid its own secrets. A chill crept up Blaine's spine.
The more he thought about it, the more terrified he became. A sudden, inexplicable coldness surged through him.
And just as these images flooded his mind, the white ring of light above his head flickered again.
"Forget it. If it's coming, let it come."
"Soldiers come, water floods—my fate is mine to decide."
"At worst, I'll risk my life in the future, but I'll never let whoever's behind this succeed."
Blaine swore this silently.
"System, upgrade my Mind Control to level six."
[Mind Control] Current level: 4.
[Host's Hunter level : A.]
[Applying a forty percent discount. Final price: thirty-six million. Confirm? Yes/No.]
"Yes."
[Ding. Upgrade successful.]
Blaine looked at the string of numbers without reacting. There was a reason he suddenly wanted to upgrade Mind Control.
The jump from Level 4 to Level 6 Mind Control enhanced control strength and increased how many people he could control at once. The specifics were still unknown. But the most important part was that it strengthened his mental power and protected his mind from manipulation. Even Loki's Mind Stone scepter couldn't affect someone with level-five mental defense.
Mental power and the mind were tied to the brain, and memory was stored in the brain's cells. Strengthening both was undoubtedly a way to enhance memory.
That's right—Blaine wanted to see if this could help him retrieve his lost memories. Level five might not be enough, but level six should do it.
The moment the upgrade finished, Blaine didn't waste a second. He teleported back to his bed and braced himself.
"Let's begin."
He closed his eyes and focused his mental power deep into his brain. Mind Control activated—not to control someone else, but to control his own mind, forcing his brain to dig into the places where memory was stored. After a moment, Blaine found himself in a strange, mysterious space.
Suddenly, the mysterious metal from the moon appeared again.
"It's working."
He pushed further. Before he could fully react, the scene shifted. Now he stood somewhere else entirely—a space filled with metal, high-tech, unfamiliar.
"This should be the inside of the metal."
"It's really empty…"
Zlazlazlazla—
Just as Blaine took a step forward, the image shattered. His mind flashed with something like a frozen TV frame—static, noise, a screen full of snow. The abruptness was jarring.
On top of that, a wave of dizziness hit him, and the familiar splitting headache returned without warning.
"Do they really not want me to know?"
It felt like some invisible force was blocking him. But Blaine wasn't the type to retreat. Even if it hurt, he would push through.
He poured more mental power in, as if increasing the dose. The soul pendant on his chest emitted a soft, milky light, trying to soothe his pain and protect him.
The metal scene reappeared—but he was in a different location this time. It looked like a control room inside the metal structure. A narrow metal bridge extended from a doorway into the distance. At the end was a spherical console. Beneath the bridge was endless darkness, a bottomless abyss that even someone with Hawkeye-level night vision couldn't see through. It was reminiscent of Professor X's Cerebro chamber.
But the front of the console wasn't like other ships or bases. There was no giant screen or transparent glass. Instead, an entire wall of strange metal scales—barblike, fish-scale plates—slotted together piece by piece.
Even more unsettling, the "scales" moved, rising and falling like gills breathing.
From this, Blaine was certain: this was a hidden—perhaps abandoned—massive space battleship. With Earth's current level of technology, even ten or a hundred more years wouldn't bring humans anywhere close to constructing something like this.
Who would imagine such an advanced, high-latitude piece of civilization existed on the moon?
Zla Zla Zla Zla—
The scene distorted again. Blaine was forcefully thrown out, pain flooding through his nerves until they reached their limit.
"…Is that all I can remember of those three days?"
Two fragments—coherent, but useless. So what if he knew a battleship existed? What Blaine wanted was the why.
Why was there a battleship on the moon? Who put it there? Why was it buried? What was its purpose? Why stop people from discovering it—and why erase Blaine's memory?
These questions pressed on his chest like a heavy stone.
"Damn it. I don't care if it kills me—I'm going to find out."
He gritted his teeth, forced the pain down, and unleashed his mental power again. Mind Control pushed to its limit. Blaine guessed that if he couldn't push through now, he might never have another chance. Even now, he was already at the edge.
This state lasted a long time—too long. And even Blaine could no longer endure it.
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