"Sheldon, listen to me. Entering the precious metals market right now is not a wise decision."
"Dawson, my son's full moon celebration is the day after tomorrow. You absolutely must attend."
"Ms. Cartier, you're still just as beautiful as you were in your twenties."
Within minutes, the entire hall returned to life.
Guests resumed their conversations as if nothing had happened. Laughter, business talk, and polite greetings filled the room once again. The atmosphere was exactly the same as it had been before Dracula's sudden appearance.
It was as though the strange events from earlier had never occurred at all.
No one mentioned the white mist.
No one remembered collapsing to the ground.
Even more astonishing, the hall itself still bore visible damage. Scorch marks from Ryan Cross's heat vision and cracks left by Dracula's lightning were clearly present on the floor and walls.
Yet no one questioned it.
No one even seemed to notice.
Ryan quickly reached a conclusion.
Dracula's hypnosis wasn't simple mind control. It clearly went much deeper than that. The vampire lord had likely altered the guests' memories or perceptions in some way.
Technically speaking, everyone in the hall had "woken up," but their minds were probably still under a lingering hypnotic effect.
In other words, reality itself had been quietly edited.
Ryan could only admire it.
That was Dracula for you.
In one word: terrifying.
As for surveillance cameras…
Well, the world's first electronic surveillance system had only been invented in 1957—just five years earlier. Even the first system capable of recording video wouldn't appear until six years from now.
In other words, there were practically no cameras anywhere.
As long as Dracula dealt with the human witnesses, there was nothing else to worry about.
Since no one remembered what happened, Ryan felt completely relaxed. He immediately opened the system interface in his mind.
After all, he had just earned a huge reward.
Nearly three hundred Origin Points.
The familiar panel appeared in front of him.
[Host: Ryan Cross][Age: 16][Speed: 134.1 m/s][Strength: 95.2 tons][Physique: 274 (Average adult male: 10)][Mental Strength: 232 (Average adult male: 10)][Current Template: Homelander (Unlock Progress: 12%)][Abilities: X-Ray Vision (Basic), Super Hearing (Basic), Heat Vision (Basic), Flight (Unlocked)][Origin Points: 326]
Ryan quickly did the math.
The ring had given him 276 Origin Points. Combined with the 50 points he already had saved, the total now exceeded three hundred.
That meant one thing.
He could upgrade again.
Three more percent.
A system prompt appeared immediately afterward.
[Host possesses surplus Origin Points. Would you like to use them for enhancement?]
Ryan didn't hesitate for even a second.
"Enhance."
The answer came instantly.
A pleasant notification echoed in his mind.
[Congratulations. Homelander Template Unlock Progress: 15%]
At the same time, the data on Ryan's panel updated.
[Host: Ryan Cross][Age: 16][Speed: 164.4 m/s][Strength: 127.2 tons][Physique: 308 (Average adult male: 10)][Mental Strength: 271 (Average adult male: 10)][Current Template: Homelander (Unlock Progress: 15%)][Abilities: X-Ray Vision (Basic), Super Hearing (Basic), Heat Vision (Basic), Flight (Unlocked)][Origin Points: 26]
Ryan studied the updated numbers carefully.
His speed had climbed to roughly half the speed of sound. His strength had surpassed one hundred and twenty tons, while both his physical resilience and mental capacity had also increased.
Although the numerical changes didn't look dramatic at first glance, Ryan could clearly feel the difference.
His body felt noticeably stronger.
Satisfied, he closed the panel.
When he had first agreed to accompany Howard Stark to this trade exhibition, he never would have expected the trip to produce such incredible rewards.
Not only had he gained a large amount of Origin Points…
He had also accidentally acquired an entire vampire clan.
It was a double harvest.
Naturally, Ryan was in an excellent mood.
As for the vampire clan Dracula mentioned, Ryan had already thought briefly about it. For now, he leaned toward accepting the opportunity.
Having loyal subordinates was never a bad thing.
Especially in a world as dangerous as this one.
"Ryan."
Howard Stark's voice suddenly reached his ears.
The famous inventor had finally remembered the teenager he had brought along.
"Mr. Stark," Ryan replied with a teasing smile. "How did the conversation with those ladies go? Did you manage to secure any dates?"
"Ryan, you misunderstand," Howard said immediately with exaggerated dignity.
"Those ladies approached me first."
He puffed out his chest proudly.
"I'm not bragging, but I've always been very popular with women."
Ryan couldn't really argue with that.
To be fair, Howard Stark was handsome, wealthy, and famous. With that combination, it would have been stranger if women didn't flock to him.
Men like him were desirable everywhere.
"Alright, Ryan," Howard said after a moment. "General Ross has arrived. Let's head to the parking lot."
"General Ross?" Ryan asked curiously. "Did he bring his son with him?"
"Why would he bring a child to an event like this?" Howard asked in surprise.
He glanced at Ryan strangely.
"You seem oddly interested in General Ross's son."
Ryan felt a small wave of disappointment.
He had actually hoped to see what the future Hulk looked like as a child—and maybe get a glimpse of his future father-in-law as well.
Unfortunately, that opportunity had apparently slipped away.
"Nothing," Ryan said with a casual wave. "Just curious."
Then he changed the subject.
"Let's go, Mr. Stark."
Although Howard was still slightly puzzled, he didn't dwell on it. After all, they had important business to handle.
He nodded and walked toward the exit with Ryan.
The two soon reached the parking lot.
After a brief search, they located their target.
A dark green Jeep.
It looked low-key, but there was a rugged power to its design.
"That's the one," Howard said, pointing toward the vehicle.
"My people detected the same energy radiation that we found in UB6 coming from this Jeep."
He turned to Ryan.
"So now it's your turn. Use your ability and check again."
Ryan nodded.
Without saying anything further, he walked straight toward the green Jeep.
The moment he approached it, the familiar system notification appeared.
[Special Energy Source Detected]
[Analyzing Energy Source…]
[Energy Value: 56 Origin Points]
[Status: Cannot Be Extracted]
At the same time, the system's scanning vision activated automatically. A glowing outline appeared around the Jeep, marking it as the source of the energy signal.
"How is it?" Howard asked immediately.
He had been watching Ryan closely.
Ryan nodded calmly.
"That's right."
.....
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