"Very good," Alex muttered, slipping the gun back into its holster.
He turned toward the guard and raised his hand.
The man on duty stammered, "No—"
Before he could finish, a specially designed web shot out, sealing his mouth shut.
More webs followed, binding his entire body in place.
Alex then moved swiftly to the control panel, powering on the system.
Instantly, the surrounding screens lit up.
His fingers flew across the keyboard, eyes locked on the monitors, scanning for anything related to Carl's experiments.
But after a moment, Alex frowned.
Nothing on Carl.
There was data—plenty of it—focused on restoring the super soldier serum. But not a single file tied to Carl.
"What the hell? No data on Carl?"
"Did they change the name? Use a code?" he muttered.
He began filtering for successful or anomalous experiment cases.
The screens flickered violently as data poured in.
Alex's eyes darted with machine-like precision, processing everything in seconds. The motion was so intense it unsettled the researcher nearby, who groaned and squeezed his eyes shut, battling nausea.
"What the hell is this guy doing?!" he thought, overwhelmed by the constant flashing images.
"Can he even see anything at that speed?!"
His stomach churned. "This is enough to cause brain trauma! Damn it!"
Indeed, human optic nerves are sensitive to rapid motion. The strain from sudden visual input sends disruptive signals to the brain, leading to dizziness or worse.
Unable to endure it, the guard shut his eyes and leaned back to recover.
When he opened them again, the madness hadn't stopped.
The images were still cycling violently.
And Alex? Calm and steady, fingers moving, eyes locked onto the chaos.
"What is he?! Not even human?!"
Despite scanning hundreds of files, Alex still found nothing on Luke Cage.
He gritted his teeth.
"Did they delete it? No... even deleted files leave traces."
He launched a deeper probe, running recovery protocols on erased data.
Nothing.
Not a single mention of Luke Cage in the local system.
"This doesn't make sense." He turned to the restrained guard, pulled the web from his mouth, and asked coldly, "Didn't Carl conduct experiments here? Where's the data?"
The man looked miserable. "When you asked me earlier, I wanted to tell you…"
"The hard drive with Carl's data was taken by the warden. He said it was to be destroyed—orders from higher up."
"You just arrived a little too late."
"I tried to say that before, but you sealed my mouth—"
Smack!
Alex slapped him.
"If you'd just spoken faster, I wouldn't have wasted time."
The guard blinked in disbelief.
"You're the one who moved too fast!" he thought bitterly.
Alex ignored the look, his mind elsewhere.
"They destroyed Luke Cage's data… afraid it would fall into the wrong hands. Makes sense."
He paused, then narrowed his eyes.
"But no one deletes something that valuable without a backup."
"If the military is behind this, they'd keep a copy elsewhere. The data here was redundant."
He turned back to the guard. "Who coordinated with the prison? Who's the military contact?"
The guard shrugged helplessly. "Only the warden dealt with them. We're nobodies. We don't know."
"Where's the warden?"
"He lives upstairs, but he went out tonight—he always does that on weekends."
Without a word, Alex knocked him out cold.
"So, the warden holds the key. I need to squeeze it out of him."
He pulled out his phone and dialed Kurt using an encrypted satellite line.
"Boss," came the reply, "what's up?"
"Where's the warden now?"
"I've been tailing prison personnel. He's at a high-end club—looks like he's making a deal."
"A deal." Alex's eyes lit up.
"What kind of man is the warden?"
Kurt answered, "He runs New York Prison with an iron fist. Very connected. He's no small fry."
Alex's mind raced.
"He didn't destroy the data. He's selling it."
"Send me his location."
"On it, boss."
Alex closed the call and stepped toward the elevator.
Ding!
The elevator arrived.
His eyes narrowed.
Suddenly, he sprinted.
From inside, a researcher joked, "Haha, forgot my laptop! You weren't doing anything shady, right?"
The doors began to open—and froze.
Her eyes locked on a black-clad figure charging toward her.
She panicked, hit the close button, and prepared to scream.
Alex raised his hand.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two webs shot out, just as the doors nearly closed.
Bang!
The woman was slammed into the wall and webbed up, her mouth sealed.
"Mm-mm-mm!" she whimpered, thrashing.
Just before the doors closed again, a gloved hand forced them open.
Alex stepped in, muttering, "That was close."
The woman's panic peaked. She fainted.
He paused mid-motion.
"Huh. That worked?"
He poked her. Nothing.
Confirmed she was out cold.
He webbed her securely, then entered the elevator and checked the warden's location.
At a luxurious club in New York's Victorian District…
Known for discretion and excess, this place was invitation-only.
Outside, in a parked car, Kurt observed the building.
"No way I'm getting in without a regular. Maybe Norman could."
Inside, behind the back wall, a figure in a cap and oversized sunglasses slipped through a staff-only door.
Alex entered a bathroom, adjusted his collar, and smirked.
"Who needs an invite?"
At that moment, a lipstick-stained man stumbled into the restroom.
Alex walked out casually.
In the hallway, guests kept their faces hidden. There were no cameras. Privacy here was sacred.
Alex pulled out his phone. Thanks to Kurt's team, a tracking virus had been installed on the warden's device.
He followed the signal.
Private Room
Inside, the warden leaned back, speaking with a suited man.
"So? Interested in what I've got?"
"I hear you collect body enhancement data," the warden continued. "I've got just the thing."
The buyer asked, "What is it?"
"Information on an indestructible superhuman."
"And how do I know it's real?"
The warden grinned. "I'm the warden of New York Prison. My reputation is solid. Ask the middleman."
"What's the price?"
The warden held up two fingers. "Two hundred."
"Thousand?"
"Million."
The man hesitated, then nodded. "Fine."
The warden smiled. "Smart man."
He placed a box on the table. "Hard drive's inside. All the data."
The buyer snapped his fingers.
Bang!
The door burst open.
Armed men in civilian clothes stormed in, weapons raised.
The warden stood, outraged. "What the hell?! Do you know who I am?!"
The buyer pulled out a badge.
Colonel.
He sneered. "General, I knew you couldn't resist. One test and you failed."
"You're under arrest for treason."
He motioned, and soldiers pounced.
"You have no right! I want a phone call!" the warden shouted, struggling as he was cuffed.
Bang!
The door flew open again.
A figure stood in the doorway, brim low, sunglasses huge.
The colonel didn't hesitate. "Shoot!"
Gunfire erupted.