After running for a long time, Alex ended up going much farther than he expected, eventually reaching an area of New York that was still devastated from the Chitauri attack, abandoned due to the massive number of Chitauri corpses that had been dumped there.
So Alex knew very few people stayed around here.
It was a place where only people running away or addicts remained, making it the best place for him to stay.
Staying close to his family would only bring more problems, since he had already managed to destroy everything he had.
The real issue now was that he had no money beyond what was in his wallet, and not even a single belonging.
"Damn... I'm screwed..."
But suddenly, Alex stopped when he felt something he had never sensed in his entire life… another cursed energy that didn't come from him.
Realizing what that meant, Alex ran toward the source of that energy, and when he arrived, he saw a ruined building with a Chitauri serpent-like ship collapsed on top of it.
As he looked at the building, he could clearly feel that cursed energy that wasn't his.
Yet at the same time, up close, it also felt like it was his.
He couldn't understand it, so he decided to enter the building.
When he got inside, he noticed the place wasn't completely abandoned.
There had been some kind of reconstruction attempt, but it had likely been abandoned midway.
So Alex began following the cursed energy, and even after searching for almost three hours—including the underground—he couldn't find the source of the signal.
"Did I get it wrong?"
Alex started to question whether he had mistaken it, since he had flooded the entire city with his cursed energy.
Maybe his "radar" had failed with so much energy in the air.
"squelch… gurgle…"
Suddenly, a strange sound came from behind Alex, and when he turned, he saw a bizarre purple worm, wrinkled, nearly two meters wide, with a baby-like face, making strange gurgling noises as it crawled toward him.
"What the hell?"
Looking at the strange purple worm approaching him, Alex didn't really know how to react, so he let it come closer.
When it got close enough, the worm began climbing onto Alex like a spring, wrapping around his body.
Alex allowed it, mainly because he didn't feel like the creature could do anything to harm him.
And also because he didn't sense any hostility from it.
In the end, once the worm finished wrapping itself around him, it rested its head on Alex's shoulder.
When the worm finally settled, it whispered something into Alex's ear that he couldn't understand, which only made him more confused.
But that wasn't what shocked him the most—what truly confused him was the fact that the worm on his shoulder was entirely made of cursed energy.
Alex couldn't understand how or what this thing on his shoulder had been created from, but he knew one thing—this being had clearly been created from his cursed energy.
How or why, he had no idea.
"But how is this possible? I've never seen anything like this in my entire life."
Alex carefully analyzed the purple worm but found nothing.
Just as he was about to give up, something flashed in his mind—something he didn't understand, but still managed to say.
"A curse..."
When Alex said those words, he realized it probably had something to do with Sukuna or Meruem.
Most likely Sukuna.
Because there was no way he should know that name, much less come up with something that fitting, since he had terrible naming sense.
Curious, Alex touched the worm, noticing its texture was viscous and somewhat soft, like a real worm.
While touching the creature, he had a bold idea—he tried to extract the cursed energy from it to see what would happen.
But it didn't work.
It didn't respond, almost as if it wasn't his energy, even though it originally came from him.
"How the hell were you born, buddy?"
Contrary to what he expected, Alex didn't feel disgust toward the worm.
It felt… strangely normal.
Like a dog—just… a worm instead.
It was hard to explain how he felt about the creature.
He didn't hate it, but he didn't exactly like it either.
Ignoring that, Alex looked at the worm wrapped around his torso, avoiding his arms and resting its head on his shoulder.
Instead of removing it, he had the idea of returning it to nature… if that thing even belonged there.
Still, Alex preferred to leave it somewhere like a forest, so no one would try to kill it.
Even without knowing it, he felt it would be wrong for it to die just because someone thought it looked ugly…
Very ugly.
So Alex began leaving the building, heading toward the exit.
But just as he was about to step outside, he sensed multiple presences—many people surrounding the building, their emotions closing in around him.
Alex had just noticed them, which was good, since they had only just arrived and were still organizing themselves.
At first, Alex started to panic, afraid he wouldn't be able to escape…
But then he realized something.
'Why run? I'm clearly stronger!'
Then Alex understood something else.
As long as he had his mother and sister, he had held himself back his entire life.
Not hurting others because his mother would be sad.
Not doing anything that might make her distance herself from him.
But now… he didn't have that anymore.
For the first time, Alex realized he was alone.
"I can't avoid disappointing her anymore… she's probably so afraid of me she won't even want to come near me… you know what, screw it. All this time I was afraid of using my powers because I didn't want to hurt others… so let's test them for real now."
Outside, a large group of soldiers had gathered, preparing for a possible confrontation with what they believed to be a beta-level mutant.
They weren't too worried.
Even if it were an alpha, they still had some confidence they could deal with weaker abilities.
"Charlie, any movement inside the building?"
"No, sir. It's very quiet."
They were there because two reconnaissance agents had been killed while trying to locate the mutant.
Once they discovered he had visible mutations, it wasn't hard to track where he had gone.
But something was wrong.
He had been inside for about three hours, based on their tracking, yet he hadn't left or made any noticeable movement.
"Alright, we hold position a bit longer. If there's no response, we go in. Got it, Charlie?"
"..."
The squad captain laid out the plan, but there was no response on the radio.
Thinking it was just a malfunction, he tried again.
"Charlie, do you copy?"
"No, you idiot. A corpse doesn't talk."
But instead of coming from the radio, the answer came from right behind him.
Startled, the captain turned instantly with trained reflexes, raising his rifle and firing.
"Unfortunately for you, I've learned about Nen."
But instead of a body riddled with bullets, a giant over two meters tall stood there, staring at him.
Four eyes. Two of them different colors.
Emotionless eyes, as if he were looking at nothing more than an insect.
Despite being a trained, heavily armed soldier, he was nothing more than an ant in the giant's eyes.
"You know… I used to think taking a life would be hard…"
Seeing no way to defeat the monster, the captain resorted to something more drastic.
He pulled a grenade, preparing to remove the pin—
But a large hand grabbed his, squeezing hard enough to crush and destroy it instantly.
The giant had moved so fast the captain hadn't even noticed.
"ARGH!!!"
"But it's actually the opposite. It's incredibly easy… feels like I'm just… I don't know… stepping on insects, maybe…"
With one hand useless and panic flooding his mind, the captain pulled his pistol and emptied the magazine into the giant while clutching what remained of his hand.
"I used to be afraid of weapons… but ever since I got my powers, they just feel like noisy toys."
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?! AHHH!"
Out of ammo and unable to endure the pain any longer, the captain shouted in panic.
"Actually, I just want to know why you're after me. Everyone I killed so far said you were the only one who knew."
Hearing that, Karl—the squad captain—froze.
He killed his entire squad?
But how? He hadn't heard a single sound.
There were forty of them.
There was no way someone could kill forty highly trained, heavily armed soldiers without making any noise.
"You don't want to answer… and you know, I recently learned how to torture. So it's better if you tell me what I want to know."
Karl realized he had been so shocked he hadn't responded.
And now… it was too late.
The giant's other hand grabbed his remaining hand and crushed it, sending unbearable pain through his body.
"AAAAHHHH! FINE! I DON'T KNOW MUCH! WE WERE ON A MISSION FOR THE MUTANT RESEARCH INSTITUTE—TO CAPTURE AS MANY MUTANTS AS POSSIBLE!!!"
Hearing that, Alex realized things were much deeper than he thought.
And that this would be a serious headache.
"Alright… so where are these mutants?"
Hearing the question, Karl froze again, a glimpse of a specific group of mutants flashing through his mind.
"I KNEW IT! YOU'RE FROM THE MUTANT BROTHERHOOD, AREN'T YOU?! THAT'S WHY YOU DESTROYED MY SQUAD! YOU AND YOUR FILTHY MUTANT FRIENDS WON'T—"
"Damn… another one."
Alex unleashed a slash that completely dismantled the man, leaving no chance of survival.
From what he gathered, mutants were being hunted… and likely kept somewhere.
And he also made a new discovery.
Only some people could see curses.
For example, the captain hadn't been able to see the worm on Alex's shoulder—
But earlier, another man had seen it… and was terrified.
For Alex, things were becoming complicated.
He didn't know if the worm he had nicknamed Vox was the only curse, or if there were more out there.
And they all seemed dangerous.
The main reason Alex considered curses dangerous was what had happened earlier.
While he was massacring the soldiers, Vox had joined the attack, spitting acid at anyone who got too close to him.
And Vox's acid was so powerful that not even bones were spared.
If Vox was the only one, that was already a problem.
Because Alex didn't know if he could create more.
And if others existed, he had no idea how many there were… or if they would be as "friendly" as Vox.
So this became a major headache for him.
But as bad as that was, it still wasn't worse than the fact that he was now being hunted by the government.
Now, escaping would be the most important thing.
Alex could resist bullets thanks to Nen, which he had just discovered he could use, but he wasn't immune to something like a nuclear explosion.
So for now, he preferred to keep a low profile.
As for Nen, Alex discovered it while he was inside the building.
He suddenly felt something moving inside him, and that turned out to be Nen.
What he understood about it was that it was almost identical to cursed energy, but less unstable—more rigid, harder to move.
Even so, it didn't take him more than two seconds to start controlling it with extreme ease.
And during his tests, he used it on the soldiers, learning a few interesting things about it.
First, it was much more stable and safer to use than cursed energy.
But as a consequence, he couldn't use Nen for his cutting technique.
Second, for some reason, this energy was far better suited for close combat, and reinforcing his body with Nen was significantly more effective.
Third—and the strangest part—if Alex concentrated enough Nen and struck someone, his hand would simply pass through them and then explode them from the inside.
Which was confusing… because if that was really how it worked, why didn't it happen every time?
As always, Alex had thousands of questions and barely any answers.
Tired of digging where there was nothing to find, Alex decided it would be better to find a safer place to stay instead of remaining somewhere he had just been ambushed.
He began walking slowly to another part of the same destroyed area of the city, a place with very little movement aside from a few shady individuals—which he could ignore.
As he walked, he started thinking about this strange energy called Nen.
The moment he realized he could use it, he also knew its name, as if it had been implanted directly into his memory—just like when he discovered what Vox was.
'Could I be remembering things from Sukuna and Meruem?'
Alex didn't know the answer.
But he knew it was better to understand than to remain in the dark, so he simply accepted it—just like everything else that had happened to him this year.
Because if he didn't, he'd just be stuck thinking about things that weren't worth his time.
Meruem is Meruem.
Sukuna is Sukuna.
And Alex is Alex.
There's no mystery in that. No escape from it either.
Looking around for a good hiding place, Alex suddenly had a bizarre idea.
He stopped walking, looked at one of his hands, and began gathering cursed energy.
When his hand was completely covered, he started mixing Nen into it to see what would happen.
What happened next was completely inexplicable.
His hand exploded.
What remained was just bone and a bit of flesh that hadn't been destroyed by the violent reaction between the two energies.
The clash between Nen and cursed energy was so intense that even Vox was injured—though it was already healing.
"FUCK, MY HAND!"
Alex shouted in pain as he stared at the exposed bone.
But it didn't take long for him to stop, surprise replacing the pain as he watched his hand regenerate before his eyes.
"Actually… that hurt way less than I expected."
Realizing the pain wasn't nearly as bad as it should have been, Alex felt confused.
He had never experienced something like that before—a pain intense enough to make him want to scream, yet somehow completely bearable.
Like a scratch.
"Ah, whatever… I'll deal with that later. I need to find a place for a temporary base."
As his hand continued to regenerate, Alex resumed his search.
Eventually, he found a large warehouse, isolated from everything and everyone, even with an underground level.
Of course, if someone came looking, it could be dangerous.
But Alex had already thought about that—there was an emergency exit he could use if something beyond his control appeared.
The completely empty warehouse seemed like the perfect place to start over.
So Alex began organizing it.
He moved aside rusted barrels and broken containers, and soon managed to set up something like a makeshift fortification, stacking containers along the walls like a second barrier.
Of course, it was mostly aesthetic.
If someone really wanted to break in, it wouldn't be that hard.
And properly securing the place would take time—and money he didn't have.
Vox seemed to like the place.
It didn't stop exploring from the moment they arrived, crawling into every corner like a curious dog.
After cleaning up the trash and debris, it didn't take long for night to fall and for Alex to finish organizing everything.
Seeing that everything was set, even if not perfect, Alex decided it was time to sleep and figure out how to move forward tomorrow.
But as he lay down on a pile of cardboard he had gathered in a corner, something hit him.
"Damn… I'm alone. No friends, no money, no family, no home… why the hell was I born like this?"
Sigh…
Alex let out a heavy sigh, almost slipping into a depressive spiral.
"First I destroy my family… then my curse—wait… why am I blaming myself for this?"
Just as he was about to spiral again, something clicked in his mind.
"The ones who destroyed my family were anti-mutants who refused to help my mom because of prejudice. Felix was already beating Peter before—it just got worse because I'm a mutant. And now I'm being hunted by an anti-mutant lab."
Something finally connected.
"This isn't my fault… it's the fault of the people who make others fear mutants!"
Everything fell into place.
He didn't agree with the mutant ideology of domination—after all, his friends and family, the people who helped him the most, were human.
The blame didn't belong to everyone.
It belonged to a specific group.
"ANTI-MUTANTS!"
________________
Let's go, guys—one more step closer to Alex's ascent into the world, hehe.
I'm really excited about the path we're taking, and I hope you're enjoying it.
As always, if you enjoyed it, feel free to send power stones or rate the story, it really helps a lot.
And if you have any constructive criticism or anything that could help me improve, don't hesitate to say it, I always read everything.
Also, just so you know, I really enjoy reading your messages, it genuinely makes me happy to see people enjoying the story.
Good night.
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