Under Natasha's (or rather, "Natalie's") nonstop "bestie influence," Skadi seemed to develop a strong interest in the concept of "dating." She still couldn't fully understand those complicated "romance techniques," but she did grasp the core idea: "do happy things with Doctor."
So, on a night when the city lights had just begun to glow, Skadi took the initiative and grabbed Takao's hand. Her ice-blue eyes held a rare, clear anticipation as she looked up at him.
"Doctor. Go on a date."
Takao looked at that pure, flawless face—yet one that faintly showed traces of being "taught the wrong things"—and felt both amused and warmly touched. Of course he knew Natasha deserved "credit" for this, but he was happy to cooperate with Skadi's clumsy attempt.
"Sure. Where do you want to go for a date?" Takao asked with a smile.
Skadi tilted her head, trying hard to recall the "romantic location list" Natasha had drilled into her. Then, in a not-so-certain tone, she said, "Broadway… street? Look at lights. Walk."
Takao went along without hesitation. "Alright. Broadway it is."
Broadway at night was dazzling—crowds surging, huge neon signs flickering with hazy light, and street performers drawing rounds of applause. Skadi had changed into an ice-blue knit dress Natasha had picked for her, outlining her lovely figure. Over it, she wore a short white faux-fur jacket, and on her feet were small suede boots. She looked like a delicate doll who didn't know the world—slightly out of place amid all the noise, yet oddly magnetic to passersby.
She held tightly to Takao's arm, curiously taking in everything around her. Her deep red eyes shimmered with novelty under the neon glow.
They walked for a while when Skadi suddenly stopped, as if she'd remembered something important. She released Takao's arm, stepped in front of him, and lifted her face.
"Doctor," she said, working hard to blink—then, in her signature cool, flat tone, she recited what Natasha had taught her, "Is there something… in my eyes? Otherwise, how is it that I can't see… anyone else anymore?"
Takao: "…"
He froze for two seconds, then couldn't hold it in—he almost laughed out loud. This unbearably stiff, ultra-cheesy pickup line delivered in a "reporting work" voice by Skadi created maximum whiplash.
He forced down his laughter, reached out, and gently cupped her face. His thumb brushed the corner of her eye as he put on a serious expression and "inspected" her carefully.
"Let me see… Hmm. Very clean. There's only my reflection in your eyes."
Skadi didn't seem to get the reaction she expected. She blinked in confusion, then proceeded to the next "teaching assignment."
She abruptly leaned in toward Takao, rising onto her toes as she tried to bring her lips near his ear—this was the "whisper temptation" Natasha had described. But because of height and technique issues, it was more like she headbutted Takao's chin with her forehead. Then, right beside his ear, she hurriedly breathed out in a hushed voice:
"Doctor… today, you're very handsome."
The moment she finished, she retreated at once. A faint flush spread across her pale cheeks. Her ice-blue eyes looked at Takao with the expectation of completing a task—and a trace of shyness that was hard to notice.
Takao looked at the girl in front of him—trying so hard to "seduce" him, yet turning temptation into a comedy scene—and his chest filled with an indescribable softness and affection. He reached out and pulled her back into his arms, lowered his head, and pressed a gentle kiss to her smooth forehead.
His voice carried a smile. "My Skadi is beautiful today too. You don't need to learn any of that. You like this—you're the best."
Skadi didn't fully understand, but she could feel Takao's kiss and embrace, and she heard his praise. She was immediately satisfied—like a cat being petted the right way. She leaned into him with ease, tossing all those complicated tricks Natasha had taught her straight out of her mind.
However, this warm, sweet date atmosphere didn't last long.
Suddenly, from several blocks away, a violent explosion thundered through the night! More blasts followed—people screaming, car alarms shrieking! In the distance, firelight and thick smoke rose into view. The chaos spread like a plague as the crowd began to scatter in panicked flight.
"What's going on?" Takao frowned and looked over, not immediately sure which part of the plot this was. Was it Whiplash from Iron Man 2? Or something else?
At the instant he focused his gaze into the distance, a figure in a torn lab coat—its head abnormally huge, proportions wildly mismatched—came tumbling out of a dark side alley like a startled rabbit, and crashed right into the lamppost beside Takao!
The man looked up, revealing a face twisted by terror and some kind of mutation. It was Samuel Sterns—infected by the Hulk's blood, frighteningly intelligent, but already mentally unstable—the future "Leader"!
Sterns was in extreme panic, hunted by the U.S. military while enduring his own ongoing mutation. Seeing that Takao and Skadi didn't look like ordinary people fleeing in terror—especially Takao, who was strangely calm amid the turmoil—he instinctively treated Takao as a potential threat, or… a piece he could control.
"Don't move! Obey my command!" Sterns' eyes, bulging grotesquely from his swollen brain, locked onto Takao. A formless yet intensely invasive psychic energy—like a venomous snake—suddenly stabbed into Takao's mind! He tried to use his mental powers to control Takao, turning him into cover or a human shield!
But at the very moment that foreign psychic energy pierced the surface of Takao's consciousness—
[WARNING! Unknown mental-energy attack detected! Triggering system automatic defense mechanism!]
Takao felt the system interface that had always existed quietly in his mind suddenly erupt with an indescribable radiance—like light from a higher dimension. A cold, absolute will, towering above everything, traveled along the invading psychic energy—at an incomprehensible speed and by an incomprehensible method—instantly tracing back and locking onto the source: Samuel Sterns!
"Ugh—AAAH!!"
Sterns let out a scream so shrill and brutal it barely sounded human. His oversized head looked as if it had been seized in a crushing grip by an invisible giant hand. His eyeballs instantly filled with blood and bulged outward, as though they were about to burst free from their sockets! He felt his consciousness, his thoughts—his very soul—being violently torn apart, pulverized, and erased by an irresistible force!
There was no physical impact. No energy spill.
Under Skadi's wary protection—placing herself in front of Takao—and beneath the crowd's terrified stares, Samuel Sterns remained frozen in a horrified, twisted expression. The light in his protruding eyes vanished. His body swayed, then toppled straight backward with a dull thud, hitting the ground—his breath gone.
His brain—along with the "Leader" abilities he'd only just acquired and hadn't even had time to fully display—was completely, cleanly wiped from this world by the system's automatic counterattack, operating on a level unknown times higher.
Takao snapped out of the shock of the system's automatic retaliation—an instant kill on the Leader, Samuel Sterns. He stared at the corpse on the ground, its head grotesquely huge and its eyes still wide open. His heart was still pounding, lingering fear from that eerie, lethal psychic impact refusing to settle.
"Doctor?" Skadi tugged anxiously at his sleeve. Her ice-blue eyes were full of concern; she could sense the momentary tightening of Takao's mind.
"I'm fine, Titi." Takao patted her hand reassuringly, using the familiar pet name out of habit.
Just then, the system interface in his mind lit up again, and a prompt sounded:
[Detected collectible material: "Hulk Mutant" (Samuel Sterns)]
[Material trait analysis: green, psychic abilities, top-tier scientist]
[Meets preset template. Searching…]
[Template match 1: Fubuki (One Punch Man) — tags: green hair, telekinesis]
[Template match 2: C.C. (Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion) — tags: green hair, GEASS, psychic contract, ageless immortality]
[Template match 3: Mobius (Honkai Impact 3rd) — tags: green hair, top-tier scientist, MANTIS fusion warrior, Infinite Serpent]
(End of Chapter)
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