Deep within a heavily guarded CIA installation, a quiet tension lingered beneath the surface of everyday routine. The facility had been built for secrecy, but secrecy was becoming harder to maintain now that unusual guests had begun appearing within its walls.
"Look, it's those freaks again."
"Funny thing is, freaks eat the same food we do."
"Then how did they become freaks in the first place?"
"No idea. Why don't you ask them yourself?"
Their laughter carried across the cafeteria like the jeers of spectators at a cheap carnival. Several CIA staff members sat at nearby tables, openly staring toward the group gathered in the northeast corner of the room. Some whispered behind their hands, while others pointed without even trying to hide their curiosity.
To them, it was entertainment. The strange young people sitting together might as well have been animals displayed behind glass.
"I've had enough of these idiots."
A blond boy with messy curls slammed his palm against the table, making the utensils jump. His blue eyes swept across the room with open hostility as he lowered his voice into an angry mutter.
"Sean, you should be used to it by now."
The girl sitting across from him remained far calmer. She had long dark hair and a delicate tattoo shaped like an insect's wing curling along her arm. While the others reacted to the stares with irritation, she simply leaned back in her chair, as if the whispers around them barely registered.
"I don't think that's something anyone can get used to," Sean replied with a shrug.
He turned his head toward the blonde girl sitting beside him and gave a crooked grin. "Raven, maybe you should talk to Charles and ask him to tweak their memories. If he wipes the last ten minutes out of their heads, maybe they'll stop watching us like we're zoo exhibits."
Raven laughed softly, clearly amused by the suggestion. Her gaze slid to the quiet boy seated next to her.
"Personally, I think it would be faster to let Ryan Cross throw them out one by one," she said with a playful smile. "Right, Ryan?"
At first glance, Ryan didn't look intimidating at all.
He had a lean frame, tidy hair, and the kind of calm, thoughtful expression people usually associated with top students or bookish intellectuals. Sitting beside Hank most days only reinforced that impression. Anyone seeing him for the first time would probably assume he belonged in a library, not a covert government base.
But everyone at this table knew the truth.
Beneath that unassuming exterior rested a frightening amount of power.
Ryan could lift an entire car with one hand as easily as someone might pick up a suitcase. Tossing a man who weighed over a hundred kilograms was barely more difficult than throwing away a bag of trash.
"Ryan?"
When he didn't respond, Raven reached out and lightly poked his arm.
The touch finally pulled him back to reality.
Ryan Cross blinked, momentarily disoriented. For half a second he stared at the table in front of him before the memories aligned again.
Right. Ryan Cross.
Sometimes he still needed a moment to remember that name belonged to him now.
Because in truth, he hadn't been born in this world at all.
In his previous life, Ryan had lived on a planet called Earth—though here he privately referred to it as Blue Star to avoid confusing the two realities in his mind. Back then his life had been fairly ordinary but comfortable. After graduating from college, he found a position at a mid-sized technology company and steadily worked his way upward.
Through persistence and a bit of good luck, he had climbed into middle management within three years. His annual income eventually reached the equivalent of two hundred thousand yuan. It wasn't the kind of money that made someone wealthy, but it was more than enough to live comfortably compared to most people around him.
If there was one regret, it was that work had consumed almost all of his time.
By the time Ryan finally realized he had neglected his personal life, he was already twenty-eight and still single. After repeated pressure from his family, he reluctantly agreed to attend a blind date arranged by relatives.
And that was when fate decided to intervene.
On his way to the meeting, a sudden storm rolled in. Rain poured down in sheets, lightning split the sky—and one bolt came down directly above him.
When Ryan opened his eyes again, everything had changed.
He had awakened in another world, inhabiting the body of a sixteen-year-old boy with the same face but an entirely different identity.
At first, panic had nearly overwhelmed him.
Because the more he learned about this world, the more terrifying it became.
Mutants existed here. Captain America had once fought in a global war. Howard Stark was a legendary figure whose inventions were changing the world.
Captain America himself was no longer alive, but that hardly mattered. His image had become a national icon, immortalized in posters and propaganda across the country.
And those were only the beginning.
This world also contained gods, dimensional demons, and extraterrestrial civilizations capable of destroying entire cities—or even the planet itself. Catastrophes could erupt without warning, turning ordinary civilians into meaningless casualties.
For normal people, survival in such a world often came down to luck.
Especially if they happened to live in New York.
Fortunately, Ryan had one advantage that most ordinary people did not.
Just like many protagonists in the novels he used to read, he had received a "cheat."
The moment he arrived in this world, something bound itself to his mind.
With a simple thought, a translucent panel appeared before his eyes.
[Host: Ryan Cross]
[Age: 16]
[Speed: 53 meters per second]
[Strength: 7.2 tons]
[Physique: 124 (Average healthy adult male: 10)]
[Mental Strength: 82 (Average healthy adult male: 10)]
[Current Template: Homelander (Unlock Progress: 1%)]
[Abilities: X-ray Vision (Basic), Super Hearing (Basic), Flight (Unlocked), Heat Vision (Unlocked)]
[Origin Points: 0]
Ryan still had no idea what the system was actually called.
It had never given him a name or explanation, and it never spoke. But its purpose was clear enough. It allowed him to gradually obtain the abilities of Homelander—the terrifying superhuman from The Boys.
When Ryan first arrived, the system had immediately granted him a beginner reward.
One percent template progress.
It sounded insignificant, but the effect had been enormous. Even that tiny fraction had pushed his physical abilities far beyond human limits.
His strength alone allowed him to lift several tons.
Of course, in the later eras of this universe—when cosmic threats and ancient gods began appearing—that level of power might not seem extraordinary.
But right now, the timeline was still early.
The events that would eventually lead to the rise of the X-Men had not even begun.
Mutants had not yet revealed themselves to the world. In fact, most people still believed they were nothing more than rumors or conspiracy theories.
Even many mutants believed they were alone.
Magneto himself once thought he might be the only one.
That ignorance explained the behavior of the CIA personnel around them. The people in this cafeteria didn't view mutants with fear or hatred yet.
To them, the young mutants were simply oddities.
Something strange to look at. Something to laugh about.
Just like Sean had said earlier, they were being treated like animals in a zoo.
"Ryan? What are you thinking about?"
Raven's voice broke through his thoughts again.
Ryan dismissed the floating panel in his vision and shook his head slightly.
"Nothing important," he said casually. "Just a group of people stuck at the bottom of a well. They have no idea how big the sky actually is."
Raven blinked in confusion.
"Stuck at the bottom of a well?" she repeated. "What does that even mean? Why would anyone sit in a well and stare at the sky?"
The others around the table looked equally puzzled.
Ryan sighed quietly inside.
A bunch of uncultured people.
He cleared his throat and explained, "It's a metaphor. Imagine a frog living at the bottom of a well. From its perspective, the circle of sky above the well is the entire world. It has no idea how vast the real sky is outside."
"Ohhh." The tattooed girl nodded immediately. "So you're saying those people are frogs."
Ryan rubbed his temple.
That wasn't exactly the point.
He had intended it as a subtle metaphor, not a direct insult. But apparently subtlety wasn't working very well today.
"Still," another voice said from behind them, "it's a very vivid comparison."
The sudden comment caused several people in the cafeteria to pause mid-bite. Conversations softened as heads turned toward the man who had just entered.
Erik Lensherr stood a few steps from their table, his posture relaxed but commanding.
Although Erik wasn't officially assigned as the CIA's liaison the way Charles was, no one here doubted his authority. His power was formidable, and most of the real decisions concerning the mutant team were handled jointly by him and Charles.
Even though Erik had arrived at the base only a month or two earlier than the others, everyone naturally regarded him as a senior figure.
Of course, Erik was indeed much older.