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Chapter 9 - Chapter 9 : Reinforcement and Strength Improvement

"Bradley isn't with Shaw. He's part of a secret military task force," Charles said, his tone steady but grave.

"Specifically—a mutant task force."

"And… they've been involved in things that are far from legal."

Under everyone's watchful gaze, Charles slowly explained what he had seen in Bradley's memories.

The room fell silent.

A weight settled in the air. This wasn't just a rogue operation—it involved the military. That made everything a lot more complicated.

"So… Rorschach and I killed two military mutant agents and brought a third one back alive?"Eric rubbed his temples, visibly tense. "Fantastic."

"Eric, wait—killed? What the hell happened out there?"Agent Moira looked completely thrown."You were just supposed to talk to him, like you always do."

"Agent Moira, we didn't have a choice," Rorschach spoke up, his voice calm but firm."They tried to kill us. We defended ourselves."

He gave a brief, matter-of-fact rundown of what had happened—how they found Bradley, how Sabretooth and Zero ambushed them, and how the fight unfolded.

As Moira listened, her brows furrowed tighter and tighter, like the edges of an autumn leaf curling inward. She could see it clearly now: the other agents hadn't been there to retrieve Bradley—they were there to silence him.

Eric and Rorschach just got caught in the crossfire.

The implications were heavy. They couldn't ignore this.

Moira immediately ordered that Bradley be brought in for questioning.

But despite repeated interrogations, Bradley remained tight-lipped, refusing to say a word.

Eventually, Charles stepped in again, using his abilities to scan Bradley's memories for answers.

And what he found… turned his face grim.

"William Stryker," Charles said flatly. "Moira—the one who formed that task force is William Stryker."

Moira blinked. Then her face turned cold.

"William Stryker? You mean Director Stryker's son?"

Everyone in the room immediately understood the weight of that name.

As a senior CIA agent, Moira knew exactly who Jason Stryker was—the Deputy Director of Operations.

And his son? William Stryker.

It was a political bombshell.

Moira's mind raced. She remembered clearly—just a few months ago, she had brought Charles before the CIA's top brass to reveal the existence of mutants.

She was mocked, dismissed—even Jason Stryker had been one of the loudest skeptics.

But now… it turned out his own son had formed a covert mutant strike team long ago?

So what was Jason playing at?

Did he really not know? Or was he just pretending?

Nobody wanted to say what they were all thinking.

The silence that followed was heavy. Tense. The kind of silence that makes your heartbeat sound loud in your own ears.

The water in this was deep—and everyone knew it.

After a long pause, Charles broke the quiet."Rorschach, you can go for now. But please—don't mention anything that happened today to anyone."

"Understood, Charles."

Rorschach nodded, gave a respectful glance to Eric and Moira, then turned toward the door.

"Rorschach."

Charles's voice stopped him.

He looked back.

Charles gave him a steady, confident look."Don't worry. We'll handle this."

It wasn't loud—but it carried a kind of calm certainty, the kind that settled nerves.

That was the kind of man Charles Xavier was.

"Of course, Charles."

Rorschach nodded, pushed open the door, and stepped out.

The others in the room were still buried in concern—rightfully so—but Rorschach?

He wasn't worried at all.

If the sky falls, there are giants to hold it up.

What was the CIA going to do? Arrest him?

With Charles and Eric around, he had two of the strongest mutants alive watching his back.

Not a problem.

He returned to his dorm in high spirits, and as soon as he closed the door, he practically ran to check his personal system panel.

[Host: Rorschach]

Age: 16Speed: 53 m/sStrength: 7.2 tonsConstitution: 124 (Avg. healthy adult male: 10)Mental Power: 82 (Avg. healthy adult male: 10)Current Template: Homelander (1% unlocked)Abilities: X-Ray Vision (Basic), Super Hearing (Basic), Flight (Locked), Heat Vision (Locked)Origin Points: 100

The numbers had updated.

Finally, the Origin Points were showing.

[Origin Points detected. Would you like to use them for enhancement?]

Naturally!

Rorschach didn't need to think twice. He wasn't going to sit on 100 points like he was saving them for a rainy day.

The only question was: how to use them.

He explored the options. Boosting individual attributes was one route—but the system explained that unlocking the overall template provided better, more balanced enhancements across the board.

Easy choice.

Rorschach dumped all 100 points into unlocking more of the Homelander template.

[Congratulations! The Homelander Template is now 2% unlocked.]

Rorschach raised an eyebrow.

"All that effort… and I only got 1%?"

He felt a little speechless—but that feeling vanished the moment he saw the new stats.

[Updated Attributes]

Speed: 61 m/sStrength: 15.2 tonsConstitution: 144Mental Power: 102Unlock Progress: 2%

It may not sound like much…

But to Rorschach, the difference was massive.

He could now run nearly twice the legal highway speed limit.

At this speed, he could outrun almost any car on foot—without even trying.

And his strength?

Captain America once held down a helicopter in Civil War—a feat that strained him to his limits. That helicopter? It weighed about 2.5 tons.

Rorschach could now lift six of those with one hand.

Casually.

Effortlessly.

And this was just 2% of Homelander's power.

The future looked... fun.

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