Chapter 376: Saipan, Transform!
Jack approached step by step, face cold and unrelenting.
He completely ignored Allen's warnings, as if treating them as the desperate cries of a man with nowhere left to run.
Boom!
The ground collapsed beneath him.
Jack crashed hard into a deep pit.
Allen and Morgan exchanged a glance, both unable to suppress the smirks tugging at the corners of their mouths.
"I told you not to come any closer. Why don't you ever listen?"
Allen crouched at the edge of the pit, looking down at the sprawled-out Jack. He sighed, "Young people these days just don't take advice."
"Grandpa, he's kinda dumb," Morgan said as she knelt down and casually picked up a stick, stretching it out toward the pit. "Grab on. I'll pull you up."
How kind of you.
Thanks. Really. Thanks to your whole family.
Lying in the pit, Jack tried to get up—only to discover the entire hole was filled with some kind of lubricant.
He couldn't even stand; there was no traction at all.
"Boss!"
Rustling noises echoed as a squad of Extremis-enhanced warriors and armed thugs arrived as backup.
At first sight, they spotted their target. But then they noticed Jack, slathered in slippery fluid, flailing around in the pit like a giant mudskipper.
"Forget me! Take down that maniac first and secure the hostage!" Jack roared.
"Yes, sir!"
The Extremis warriors, their veins glowing with heat, locked eyes on Allen, their stares brimming with murderous intent.
"Come any closer, and I swear I'll jump," Allen warned, clutching Morgan tightly as he retreated to the cliff's edge.
Clearly, they didn't care about Allen's life—they only needed Morgan alive.
The Extremis warriors exchanged glances, silently preparing to pounce while his guard was down.
But they were a step too late.
"See ya."
Allen turned and leapt straight off the cliff, Morgan in his arms, disappearing into the void below.
A few Extremis soldiers rushed to the edge and looked down—only to see Allen surfing down the steep mountain face using his shield like a snowboard.
"Yee-haw! I'm the intestinal luge champion!"
"Aaah! We're gonna diiiie!"
The mountains echoed with the pair's delighted screams as they vanished from sight.
Given the height of the fall, even the Extremis soldiers weren't sure anyone could survive that.
Especially not with a potential blow to the head—since that was still their one critical weakness.
Back at the pit, the armed thugs had started rescue efforts… because their leader was completely stuck.
That slippery goo made it impossible to gain traction—Jack's every effort only led to him crashing face-first into the slick mess, his mouth filled with sticky, oily liquid.
Clearly one of Allen's custom concoctions.
"Hook the ropes together and pull the boss up."
Before long, the team had tied together a bunch of capture ropes and tossed them down into the pit.
Jack looped them around himself and tied multiple knots. But with all that lube, he couldn't avoid getting coated in the stuff again.
"One, two, three—pull!"
They yanked hard.
Riiip…
The moment they applied force, the knots slipped loose, like there was no friction at all.
Physics-defying nonsense.
"This won't work."
They hadn't lifted him an inch—Jack only felt the ropes sliding across his body.
"Let's try a human ladder."
"Only option left."
The Extremis warriors discussed briefly, then forced the armed thugs to jump into the pit one by one.
The idea: form a human ladder and pull Jack out.
After all, the thugs were expendable. Jack, on the other hand, was Killian's brother. If anything happened to him, they'd all be buried alongside him.
So in went the first thug… then the second…
Only to realize something terrifying: they couldn't cooperate at all.
Each person slid and flailed like a wet eel. Standing was impossible—much less supporting anyone else. It was like watching a bunch of rats fall into a barrel of oil.
"I've got it! Let's dig—everyone dig upward!"
Amid the rescue frenzy—
Whoosh!
A glowing portal opened.
Allen and Morgan stepped out—returning again.
"You dare come back?!"
The Extremis soldiers were utterly baffled. What kind of backward logic was this?
They'd actually gotten away… yet returned? What the hell?
"Excuse me, question."
Allen remained calm. "Aren't you curious what the liquid in that pit actually is?"
"What liquid?" Jack, still sitting in the pit, looked up and asked.
From above, Allen smiled meaningfully and glanced down at his own crotch.
Jack's face instantly twisted with horror. He screamed, "You sick son of a—@#￥￥O##——!!!"
The thugs in the pit were hit with a wave of existential disgust. Suddenly, they needed to get out. Badly.
But every attempt to climb out ended in failure. Again and again they slipped back down, some looking like they were about to cry.
Even the Extremis soldiers at the edge of the pit stared down in open disgust.
Tsk tsk tsk…
No amount of showers would ever feel clean again.
Too filthy.
"I know you're panicking. But hold it in," Allen said with a big, mischievous grin.
"SCREW YOU! @##￥#… ugh… ￥#￥#… BLEAARRGH…"
Jack had completely lost it, vomiting as he cursed with every breath.
"Grandpa, what's wrong with him?" Morgan asked, puzzled.
"Morning sickness," Allen replied seriously, stroking his chin. "Strange, isn't it? A man having pregnancy symptoms. Though I didn't use anything weird—just extracts from aloe and cactus."
…
All-natural extracts?!
So they panicked for nothing?
The guy was still disgusting—for deliberately misleading them with his twisted expression.
"Forget me. Capture the target!" Jack barked, trying to refocus his men.
"Hold it!"
Just as the Extremis warriors were about to act, Allen cut in confidently, "I'm not trying to insult you, but I doubt you guys could even beat my granddaughter."
"..."
Everyone turned to stare at Morgan. Was this a joke?
She was a six-year-old girl.
The Extremis warriors could crush boulders bare-handed—there was no comparing the two.
"Are you just stalling?" one of them asked with a scowl.
That would explain everything. Coming back now? Clearly trying to set a trap.
"No no no…"
Allen waved a hand. "You're all mistaken. I just wanted to let my granddaughter experience what it's like to be a superhero."
"..."
They were even more confused.
How exactly was a six-year-old going to experience that?
Even if she'd been injected with super serum or the Extremis virus, there was no guarantee she'd win a fight.
Seeing their disbelief, Allen decided to show them instead.
He unclipped a plunger from his belt and said, "Morgan, take hold of Grandpa's sacred tool."
"Okay."
Morgan did as instructed, grabbing the handle and tilting her head curiously. "Now what?"
"Repeat after me—nice and loud: 'Saipan, transform!'"
"Okaay!"
The Extremis warriors and thugs all held their breath, watching the bizarre scene unfold.
"Saipan, transform!"
"Saipan, transform!"
BOOM!
A thunderous roar cracked the sky.
Moments later, a blinding bolt of lightning crashed down.
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