Lock swept his eyes across the interior of the research chamber. Everything Yamamoto Saru mentioned—every piece of data—was stored on a single USB drive resting atop the central lab table.
If any intruder entered, the surrounding white-coated researchers were under orders to destroy it immediately.
But none of them realized someone had already infiltrated the room.
With Mimesis, Lock's body merged seamlessly into the environment. Even cameras couldn't catch him. He wasn't sure if the spell countered infrared, but in this run-down factory, there wasn't even a proper infrared alarm system.
He stepped only where sound wouldn't betray him.
Held his breath.
Made no disturbance.
A perfect assassin.
"Ice-Make…" Lock pressed his palms together. Magic surged through his arms.
A sudden chill filled the room.
"Hey, is it cold in here?"
"Did someone turn on the incubator's cooling unit?"
"Back up! Back!"
The researchers nearest the rear finally turned and saw the bright blossom of ice-blue light.
Too late.
"Ice-Make: LANCERS!"
A massive magic circle flared before Lock.
An instant later, countless ice spears rained outward, piercing through every researcher present.
Pfft!
Pfft!
Pfft!
The room erupted like a blooming field of grotesque flowers—blood, ice fragments, and torn flesh scattering through the air.
Lock appeared from Mimesis, black eyes cold and devoid of mercy.
After confirming no survivors, he walked over and plucked the USB drive from the table.
It was the first time he had killed. But he felt no panic—just a faint sickness in his gut.
Part of that was because the memories and experience of Grey Fullbuster—an experienced fighter—now lived inside him. Killing no longer overwhelmed him. His mind could bear it.
And besides—
This Hero assignment from the police came with a kill-on-sight directive.
That alone made their urgency clear.
Evolutionary and their Quirk-Enhancement Formula were too dangerous to tolerate.
"This should settle things."
Lock shaped an ice blade and swept it across every test tube on the desk, shattering them in an instant.
Yamamoto had instructed researchers to inject themselves with the strengthening formula if the base was compromised.
Given how terrifying the Flamingo's enhanced form had been—and Iron Shark's—Lock didn't dare leave the option available.
"Wings."
"Godspeed."
"Gale Force."
Three speed spells ignited across his body, and Lock shot through the lab like a bullet.
Kōgūyami and the others were in danger.
The numerical advantage provided by clones and Pixie-Bob's constructs meant nothing against massive clouds of poison gas.
Lock finished clearing the research room and securing the USB.
Now it was time to reinforce them.
…
Meanwhile, Yamamoto Saru stared at the carnage through a monitor feed, collapsing backward in horror.
"Impossible! When did he—how did he get in!?"
Shaking, Yamamoto grasped for his communicator and called Kurogiri. Things had become critical. The research chamber had fallen, and all vital data was now compromised.
But survival mattered more than pride.
Yamamoto only wanted to escape.
"I still have those incomplete Nomu… release them! They can buy me time!"
He grabbed a remote-like device and slammed the red button.
Across the research chamber, cultivation tanks hissed, split open—
—and malformed, incomplete Nomu spilled out.
They roared mindlessly, their unstable bodies heaving, then turned sharply toward the lingering scent of the intruder.
Lock.
…
"Growling?"
Lock stopped mid-flight, wings beating.
He had made a mistake.
He had killed the villains, destroyed the potions…
But they forgot to destroy the cultivation tanks themselves.
He'd assumed anything inside them was inert.
He was wrong.
But he couldn't handle that now.
The others needed him first.
Ahead, he spotted the Winged Man airborne and flew directly into his path.
"Ice-Make: BATTLE AXE!"
A heavy ice axe materialized and carved downward.
Slash!
The Winged Man barely twisted away—only barely.
One wing was severed at the root, blood spraying as he plummeted.
Lock didn't bother finishing him.
A one-winged flyer was already as good as dead.
He surged forward again.
The air ahead was completely purple—thick with poison.
Kōgūyami and Kamui Woods stood their ground, breath held tight, struggling desperately against the rampaging Poison Scorpion.
Not far away, Pixie-Bob lay unconscious.
Blood soaked her costume.
A jagged puncture wound marred her chest.
The situation was critical.
Lock inhaled sharply—magic swirling.
A magic circle spun into existence before his mouth.
"Heavenly Dragon's Roar!"
A dragon's cry thundered through the air.
A violent hurricane blasted upward—not toward the poison cloud, but toward the ceiling.
The cyclone ripped through the metal overhead.
A massive hole tore open.
Silver moonlight flooded the factory.
Fresh air poured in.
The poison gas poured out.
Lock's purpose was simple—
First, dispel the poison!
---
A/N: Advanced Chapters Have Been Uploaded On My Patreon
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