#679 - I broke up the Invincible Young Hero and his girlfriend?!

General Craig stood before the holographic projector, his back to the door, speaking as he slowly turned around.

Seeing Anissa's disheveled appearance, his brow furrowed.

Anissa staggered into the starship command center, her uniform torn and blood seeping from multiple wounds.

"General..."

Anissa spoke with difficulty, her voice hoarse.

General Craig's gray-blue eyes scanned her injuries, his brow slightly furrowing: "It seems the Earthlings gave you a memorable welcoming ceremony."

Anissa knelt on one knee: "Your subordinate is incompetent; the mission failed."

General Craig approached her, his military boots making crisp sounds on the floor: "Stand and speak; tell me what happened."

Anissa breathed heavily, barely managing to stand: "It's Peter Patrick, General; his strength exceeded our expectations."

General Craig's lips slightly curved upward upon hearing Peter's name: "Oh? He managed to beat you this badly?"

"He was like an enraged lion."

Anissa recalled the scene with lingering fear, "To protect his son, he unleashed unbelievable power."

Listening to Anissa's words, General Craig turned and walked to the window, gazing at the vast starry sky outside: "The power of family is indeed not to be underestimated."

He paused for a moment, then said to Anissa: "Do you know why we, the Vitrumites, have never been able to truly conquer Earth?"

Anissa shook her head, "Your subordinate is ignorant."

"Because we underestimated human emotions," General Craig turned around, his gaze piercing, "Anger, love, sacrifice... these seemingly weak emotions often ignite their greatest strength."

Anissa lowered her head, "Your subordinate understands; should we re-evaluate Earth's threat level?"

General Craig gently stroked the ring on his right hand: "No, quite the opposite; this failure has given us a valuable opportunity."

"General, do you mean...?"

"A father can unleash such power to protect his son," a glint flashed in General Craig's eyes, "Then, what if his son were in our hands?"

"Peter Patrick, he comes from a parallel world; so far, we know nothing about him, but the only certainty is that he and his children are powerful and are the biggest obstacle to our conquest of Earth."

Anissa's expression changed slightly upon hearing that General Craig intended to capture Mark.

"But, General, perhaps we can try to win over Peter Patrick; he isn't necessarily our enemy."

General Craig raised his hand to stop Anissa from speaking.

The Omni-Man, taken from Thraxa, was imprisoned in the Vitrumite space prison.

"Crack!"

Omni-Man shattered a guard robot with a single punch.

An explosion sounded, and thick smoke quickly filled the entire prison space.

Alarms blared as a squad of fully armed Vitrumite guards rushed in.

"Prisoner escaped! Suppress him immediately!"

Omni-Man shattered the energy cage with a punch, sending fragments scattering like raindrops.

"Perfect timing," he cracked his neck, "I needed a warm-up."

The guards raised their energy weapons, but Omni-Man rushed in front of them in an instant.

With a 'boom,' he landed a heavy punch on the first guard's abdomen, sending him flying like a ragdoll, crashing into the wall with a loud noise, splattering blood everywhere.

"Too slow!"

Omni-Man dodged a beam of light, grabbed the second guard's arm, and slammed him into the third with an over-the-shoulder throw.

The two collided and fell to the ground, unable to get up.

The remaining guards began to retreat, but Omni-Man naturally wouldn't give them the chance.

He moved through the crowd like a whirlwind, each punch and kick precise and deadly.

One guard tried to sneak up from behind, but Omni-Man seemed to have eyes in the back of his head, delivering an elbow strike squarely to the guard's chin, causing blood to spurt out.

"They must not have told you who I am."

Omni-Man mocked, using super speed to move in front of the last standing guard, grabbing him by the throat and lifting him up.

"Enough, Nolan."

A voice suddenly sounded behind Nolan.

Hearing the voice, Omni-Man turned around and saw General Craig, his hands behind his back, slowly flying toward him.

"Craig."

Omni-Man frowned, throwing down the guard in his hand and saying to the other: "You came all this way just to see this scene; how touching."

General Craig stood in front of him, "You know I wouldn't miss it."

After sizing up Omni-Man, General Craig said with satisfaction: "Very good, Nolan; you are finally worthy of our execution; congratulations."

As he spoke, he looked up at the ceiling.

The flesh and blood of the guard that Omni-Man had smashed into the ceiling was dripping down.

"Hoh ah!"

Taking advantage of General Craig's looking up, Omni-Man launched a sudden attack on him.

Knowing that he was no match for Craig in his current state, Omni-Man could only rely on a sneak attack to gain the upper hand.

With a 'boom,' Omni-Man's three-hundred-ton punch struck a suddenly appearing energy shield, the shockwave blowing away the surveillance cameras on both sides of the corridor.

Omni-Man's pupils reflected the light flowing on the surface of Craig's armor—it was the solidifying dark matter armor.

"Before your fist touches my skin," Craig's voice was filled with disdain, "it will first pass through three folded spaces."

Omni-Man gritted his teeth and continued to swing his fists.

As the second punch missed, General Craig locked Omni-Man's right arm in a reverse joint.

With a muffled explosion, Craig's knee struck the hollow of Omni-Man's spine, the mechanical eye displaying real-time biological data: "Heart rate overload 37%, abnormal adrenaline secretion; Nolan, should I call the medical bay for you?"

"Thump!"

Before Nolan could speak, General Craig's fist struck Nolan's chin heavily.

Blood spurted out instantly, and Nolan, who had been hit hard, fell heavily to the ground.

The prison guards arrived at this time and lifted the fallen Omni-Man.

General Craig shook off the vaporized blood mist from his gauntlet, looking at the bloodied Omni-Man.

"The council decided how to execute a Vitrumite; he must be in full possession of his limbs, able to stand and face the end of his life with all his strength, but it didn't say he couldn't shed some blood."

After glancing at the head-hanging Omni-Man, General Craig said to the guards: "Take him back to his cell."

"Yes, General Craig."

At the same time.

Having finished his battle with Anissa, Mark, who had been saved by Peter, thought of Invincible's terrified girlfriend, Amber.

Although he wasn't Invincible, he was still somewhat concerned about her situation.

After saying goodbye to Peter, Mark decided to go see her.

Amber's house.

Mark flew outside, gently knocking on Amber's second-floor window.

"Hey, Amber."

Seeing Mark's bruised and swollen face outside the window, Amber sighed and opened the window to let him in.

"Um... are you okay? I'm sorry about what happened at the cafe; it was my fault..."

Before he could finish speaking, Amber hugged him.

Mark's intended words got stuck in his throat.

A few minutes later.

Sitting on the bed, hugging her knees, Amber asked Mark: "How did she find us?"

"I don't know."

"Will she come again?"

"Maybe."

Amber was silent for a moment, then said in a trembling voice: "Her hand clamped around my neck like an iron vise; I felt like she could tear me in half at any moment; I couldn't move at all, and I could barely breathe."

Mark sighed and said: "Me too."

"I don't know how to continue."

Amber said painfully: "I don't have superpowers; this has nothing to do with being strong or brave; I know I'm strong and brave, but this time it's different; I lost myself."

Seeing her pain, Mark finally couldn't help but tell her: "Amber, I have to tell you, I'm not Mark; I mean, I'm not Invincible; I'm Mark from another parallel world; my father isn't Omni-Man; he's Peter Patrick, a farmer, but he's the greatest father in the world."

Hearing Mark's words, Amber was stunned.

After pausing for a moment, she took a deep breath and looked at Mark, "I know; the moment I saw you, I knew you weren't him."

"You knew all along?"

"Yes."

Amber sighed, "You and he are the same; you're both trying to save the world with your own power; you're very similar, but when you save the world, do you consider me? I feel anxious, sad, and worried about you, but... what am I?"

She said to Mark emotionally: "When he disappears for months at a time, what am I? What am I when I'm alone, without my boyfriend by my side?"

"I don't want to let him down; I don't want to become that kind of person, but my life is also important; maybe it's small, maybe it can't be earth-shattering, but it's important, but when I'm with him, it becomes unimportant, and worse, it becomes a weapon that others can use against you, like that woman did."

Listening to Amber's words, Mark didn't know how to respond; his heart also felt heavy.

"I... I'm sorry."

Amber looked at Mark with tears in her eyes, "Maybe I'll reconsider my relationship with him."

Mark: ".?!".

Did he mess up Invincible's relationship with his girlfriend?!