Chapter 23
Bang!
Alex's kick was fast and brutal.
He had never wanted to waste words on someone like Al Swan. The famous Swan family name meant nothing to him. Only one thing mattered — Al had truly provoked his anger.
Alex had never seen such a stupid person in his life.
If Al had brought a proper team — even just ten or so officers surrounding Multiple — Alex wouldn't have been this furious. With more than ten guns pointed at him, Multiple wouldn't have dared to create duplicates so recklessly. Even if he tried to resist, the combined firepower could have taken down thirty or more clones. Add in Alex's own ability to chase down and eliminate over sixty duplicates alone, and the operation would have been nearly foolproof.
Instead, Al had charged in alone like a lone wolf, panicking Multiple and causing him to scatter. Even after Alex chased him across more than ten blocks, the criminal still escaped.
What truly enraged Alex was that Multiple had gotten away.
The future of Central City would be filled with frequent metahuman incidents. There would be plenty of opportunities to capture them. Alex had no intention of staying in the police force forever, nor did he plan to remain a cop for life. He would be perfectly happy if others could handle metahuman threats and maintain the city's safety.
But Al Swan's idiotic, glory-seeking behavior was something he could not tolerate.
Now that Multiple had escaped with his guard up, catching him again would be far more difficult.
All of this was because of Al Swan's arrogance and reckless greed for credit.
Al Swan never saw the kick coming.
His arrogant, world-dominating posture and the faint sneer on his lips were instantly shattered. A massive force slammed into his chest without warning.
His ribcage felt like it had been struck by a sledgehammer. The pain shot straight to his brain. His vision blurred as his body flew backward through the air. His eyes widened in disbelief and agony. In mid-air, his heart felt like it was being crushed by a hydraulic press.
Puff!
A mouthful of blood sprayed out, turning into a fine red mist.
The entire hallway fell into dead silence. Everyone's mind went blank for a second. No one had expected Alex to be so violent — kicking Al Swan hard enough to send him flying and make him cough up blood.
Kevin and the others stood frozen behind Alex. Only when Al Swan's body hit the smooth marble floor with a heavy thud did they snap out of their shock.
They immediately drew their Glock 17 pistols and aimed them at Alex's back.
"Stop!"
"What the hell are you doing?!"
"Put the gun down!"
"Leave Al alone!"
Seeing their boss lying on the ground with rolled-back eyes, his white shirt stained red and blood foaming from the corner of his mouth, Kevin's heart clenched with panic. His eyes turned red as he roared furiously while pointing his Glock.
This was a direct slap to their dignity. They were furious.
"Stand down! Kevin, all of you, lower your weapons!" Jason shouted as he stepped beside Kevin and forcefully pushed his gun hand down. His eyes were stern as he barked, "What are you doing? Pointing guns at your own colleague?"
He then turned to Alex with an equally ugly expression and snapped, "Alex, do you know what you're doing? Assaulting a fellow officer? They need an explanation, and you'll have to answer to the Chief!"
Jason's intervention was perfectly timed. He didn't know what had happened, but he was terrified that Kevin and the others might fire in their agitation. If shots were fired, the situation would become nearly impossible to contain.
After he mentioned the Chief, Kevin and the others — though red-faced and furious — still retained enough reason and fear to hold their fire. Jason secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Al Swan lay sprawled on the polished marble, completely drained of strength. Alex's kick had been merciless — cracking his ribs and sending pain deep into his bones. Every breath felt like shattered bone fragments stabbing into his lungs. His head spun, and even breathing hurt.
He weakly lifted his head, struggling to breathe through blood foam. His blurry vision caught the red mist on the marble floor. Alex's shoes stepped steadily toward him, growing larger in his fading sight until they filled his entire field of vision. Finally, his eyes lost focus and he passed out.
Alex stood over him, looking down coldly at Al Swan as he weakly struggled to get up. Every movement brought fresh agony, causing more blood to spill from his mouth. Eventually, his limbs gave out and he collapsed face-down on the floor, unconscious.
Alex said nothing. He stared at Al Swan until the man lay completely helpless and unconscious, then turned and looked at Jason. He walked past him.
"Call the Chief and have him check the surveillance in the Information Department. Then he'll know exactly what Al Swan did."
Alex walked past Jason and the pale, sweating Kevin and his colleagues. The arrogant, mocking attitude they had shown in the elevator was gone. All that remained was tense silence and uneasy glances.
Alex didn't spare them another look.
Kevin's eyes flickered with unwilling resentment. The Glock 17 in his hand trembled slightly as he lowered it. No matter how angry he was, he didn't dare pull the trigger now.
As Alex walked past him, the indifference felt like a knife scraping across Kevin's heart, causing a sharp, maddening pain.
This was a direct clash between Alex and Al Swan. Kevin was nothing more than a insignificant pawn. No matter how much he mocked or sneered at Alex, it had zero effect.
Seeing his boss kicked to the ground and left powerless felt like a slap to his own face. The humiliation burned deep, igniting pure hatred in his chest.
He holstered his gun with gritted teeth, ignoring Jason's subtle look, and rushed with his colleagues to help Al Swan.
As he watched Alex enter the elevator, Kevin lowered his head. A flash of deep hatred burned in his eyes.
Inside the elevator.
Alex casually brushed off his clothes and straightened them. He removed his cracked glasses, using the inner lining of his jacket to gently wipe away the tiny blood droplets on the lenses. When he held them up to the soft elevator light, he saw that the blood had seeped into the spiderweb cracks, forming thin red lines across the lens. It looked disturbingly beautiful in a bloody way. Alex frowned.
Ding.
The elevator reached the first floor.
Alex stepped out and casually tossed the broken glasses into the trash can beside the elevator. He ran his fingers through his hair, brushing the damp strands back from his forehead, then walked out of the Leyton Hotel entrance.
He ignored the saluting officers and the reporters thrusting microphones and cameras toward him, and continued walking deeper into the street with a cold, steady back.
---------------------------
Support me and be 100 chapters ahead of webnovel:
patreon.com/inkshield