同章对照

Ryan had seen what Fallout could do in the past, and so he didn’t fool around.

“We have to keep him away from populated areas,” he informed Livia, as the two flew high above New Rome to meet with the incoming red comet. “When he’s angry enough, he doesn’t care about collateral damage anymore. And since we have trashed his life’s work, he will get a bit…”

“Unstable?” Livia finished his sentence with a chuckle. “That one was terrible, Ryan.”

“I’m keeping the best ones for later,” the courier said.

The armored duo made contact with Fallout hundreds of meters above the Gulf of Naples. Dynamis’ Red Genome appeared in all his shining glory, propelling himself through the skies by projecting two crimson streams of energy from his hands. The cyborg towered above both Ryan and Livia in size, even with their armor on. They might as well have been two GIs facing a flying tank.

Fallout’s fiery skull looked at the duo from behind its protective dome, his empty eyes burning with atomic rage.

“Out of my way!” he shouted before going straight for the kill.

The missile launchers on his shoulders activated and unleashed a volley of rockets at Ryan, who had reached him first.

The courier responded by activating his power, freezing two dozen projectiles in place. He raised his hands and activated the gauntlet weapons. To his relief, they worked perfectly in the frozen time, unleashing two red shockwaves in the cyborg’s direction. They detonated all the rockets in their way, and hit Fallout head on.

The impact and explosions propelled the surprised Alphonse Manada off his flight course when time resumed, almost making him fall in the Mediterranean Sea below. Yet though his method lacked the elegance and maneuverability of Ryan’s jetpack, he managed to stabilize his course.

“This… frozen time...” the corporate cyborg glared at Ryan. “You are Quicksave.”

“A question, tin can,” Ryan replied, as he attempted to engage the cyborg in close combat. “Is your zodiac sign Cancer?

Instead of bantering back, Alphonse Manada adjusted his flight to move out of Ryan’s way. “I should have killed you long ago,” the cyborg said, using one hand to keep himself afloat, and pointing the other at Ryan. “I will correct that mistake here!”

The courier barely had the time to blink as a dazzling red beam illuminated the sky, as a chill went down his sp—

---

Time skipped forward, and when it resumed, Ryan had moved to Fallout’s left. The surprised cyborg didn’t have the time to react, as Livia engaged him in melee.

Eight telescopic black tentacles surged from her armor’s back, each moving as swiftly as a serpent. They struck Fallout in the shoulders, tearing off the missile launchers integrated into his cybernetic apparatus, and in the chest. Steel claws at the end of the artificial arms tore through the Dynamis cyborg’s shielding.

“What a waste,” Livia said with a giggle. “A nuclear waste!”

Ryan wasn’t certain whether to groan or laugh.

Fallout responded by activating the energy minigun in his right arm, forcing Ryan and Livia to fly away. “You can’t defeat me!” he snarled angrily, though the courier struggled to hear him over the sound of plasma shots surging through the air. “I survived Augustus! You can’t—”

An explosion echoed in the distance, coming straight from Dynamis’ HQ.

The cyborg briefly interrupted his barrage of attacks to glance in its direction, his skull’s glowing dimming in horror. Smoke came out of the building’s top, as Enrique’s team destroyed the floor holding Lab Sixty-Six.

“No, no…” Fallout’s shock turned into despair and panic. “No!”

Instead of continuing his offensive, the cyborg flew straight towards the Dynamis HQ in a desperate attempt to salvage the situation.

“Oh no you don’t,” Ryan said, as he immediately gave chase. Fallout opened fire at point-blank range to make him back-off, and Livia activated her—

---

When time resumed, Ryan’s fist punched Fallout in his glass dome helmet.

The courier was intangible inside his girlfriend’s skipped time, making him invulnerable to Fallout’s attacks. Their abilities were powerful on their own, but together?

As Livia said, invincible.

Fallout’s glass dome cracked while he lost control of his flight. Instead of landing in the Dynamis-controlled district, the cyborg ended up falling into the Mediterranean Sea. The waters’ surface turned to steam when Alphonse Manada fell into the ocean, the Red Genome vanishing beneath the waves.

Though Ryan hoped that Dynamis didn’t make the cybersuit waterproof, he wasn’t naive enough to think the battle was over. “You think he’s fond of sea mushrooms?” he asked his girlfriend, hovering above the water while waiting for Fallout to resurface. An area hundreds of meters wide started to boil, though the courier couldn’t pinpoint the source.

“That would be a conCERN,” Livia replied, as she looked at the sea. She was probably trying to look through possibilities in order to locate the nuclear disaster. Cooked fish started rising to the surface.

Nice reference, though Ryan wondered if many people would have gotten it. “Hey, princess, did you know I visited their particle accelerator?”

“I’m sure they were thankful for the exposure,” she replied, before pointing a telescopic arm at a spot to her left. “Here, Ryan.”

The courier unleashed shockwaves at the target, sending splashes in all directions. The water vibrated around the point of impact, but Ryan couldn’t tell if he had hit Fallout. “Why hasn’t he emerged yet?” he asked his girlfriend. The man was as durable as Leo Hargraves, a dive shouldn’t be anything more than an inconvenience.

“I…” Livia froze, before quickly grabbing her boyfriend by the arm. “Higher!”

The duo immediately flew away from the sea, just as a crimson light erupted from below the waves.

A catastrophic explosion unleashed tons of boiled water into the skies, like an underwater volcano erupting beneath the sea. Though Ryan and Livia fled to safety, a cloud of steam swallowed their vision and obscured their sensors.

When they managed to escape from it, the duo noticed a bright crimson glow beneath raging waves of boiled water… a light moving towards New Rome’s shore.

“He’s running on the ocean floor!” Livia warned. Ryan unleashed shockwaves from above at the light’s source, sending splashes in all directions, but failing to even slow Fallout’s advance down.

“Damn, he’s using the water as a shield!” No wonder the corpo hadn’t emerged yet. “Where will he emerge?”

“The ship graveyard,” his beloved oracle predicted, the two immediately flying after the light. “He’s shedding his suit!”

Shit, that wasn’t optimal. The ship graveyard was empty, doubly so after Shroud moved his base to the bunker, but they were within walking distance of inhabited districts.

The same thought had clearly crossed his girlfriend’s mind. “Ryan, how fast can you activate the Gravity Gun?”

“Almost immediately, but I will send him to space if I do that,” Ryan reminded her. “His brother won’t be happy.”

“I would rather suffer Blackthorn’s wrath than see people die. It will happen if he’s allowed to march past the harbor.”

“You see it happen?” She answered his question with a grim nod. Damn. Ryan immediately sent a distress signal to his allies on the ground, asking them to evacuate the locals.

The duo reached the shore first, making circles above the ship graveyard between Rust Town and the old harbor. Only crabs inhabited the rusted wrecks of tankers laying on the sandy shore, and Shroud’s warehouse had been left gathering dust. After making sure no one had accidentally wandered into this perimeter, the couple waited for Fallout to resurface.

And resurface he did.

By the time Fallout reached the shallow waters, the sea around the ship graveyard had started evaporating. A dense cloud of steam swallowed the shipwrecks, and a glowing ghost emerged from the shadow of a supertanker. Alphonse Manada had shed his cybernetic armor like a snake, revealing himself in all his radioactive glory. His body had become nothing more than a black, charred skeleton with radioactive fire for flesh, and Red Flux particles for smoke.

“I recognize your power, Augusti,” he rasped while looking up at Livia, his voice sounding like smoldering fire. “Is this a declaration of war? Has your father grown so old and craven that he sends his daughter to fight his battles?”

“This has nothing to do with my father, and all to do with you,” Livia replied, even as the temperature kept climbing. The very sand turned to glass beneath Manada’s feet. “And you are misplaced to mock my father, considering you committed the same exact crime. You’ve poisoned thousands.”

This time, Alphonse Manada furiously raised his right hand at the duo. “I saved thousands!” he snarled, his fingers shining like the sun. “I gave the common people the power to defend themselves!”

A mighty, house-sized stream of red particles erupted from his palm. Ryan and Livia split in two directions, both to dodge the attack and distract Dynamis VP.

“The lab is already gone, and Bloodstream destroyed!” Ryan argued, trying to distract the maddened nuclear disaster. “What is there left for you to fight for?”

“Everything,” Fallout replied, though he focused his blasts on Livia. Thankfully, the seer leveraged her armor’s superior mobility to dodge the attacks. “We’ve got more than enough data to restart our Knockoff production elsewhere.”

“We disseminated a vaccine, Cherno Bill,” Ryan replied before freezing time and letting it resume right before he punched Alphonse Manada in the face. “It’s over!”

His Fisty gauntlet hit Fallout in the jaw.

The Red Genome didn’t even flinch. Ryan might as well have hit a steel wall.

“Can you even fathom how powerful I am?” Fallout’s hand surged for the courier’s armored fist with blinding speed, grabbing him before he could back away. The Red Genome pulled Ryan closer, gazing into the helmet’s lens with his fiery eyes. “Did you think I wore that armor for my own protection?”

Ryan defended his vital space with shockwaves, but they proved no more effective than a breeze. Fallout grabbed both of the courier’s wrists with his own hands, and started crushing the gauntlets with his sheer strength.

“I destroyed a city the day I took my Elixir,” Alphonse Manada said, the light around him growing more and more intense. The Saturn armor’s sensors quickly issued heat and radiation warnings, Orange Flux spreading through the shielding to increase its resistance. “Wiped it from the map. I couldn’t control my power, and I killed thousands. Even now, it takes all my self-control not to burn this city to ash.”

“No, you madman!” Livia attempted to rescue her boyfriend from above, sending her telescopic tentacles to restrain the maddened corpo. Their steel, weaker than the Saturn armor’s, melted before they could even touch him. “There are thousands living nearby!”

“I swore all these deaths wouldn’t be in vain,” Fallout rasped, his face blinding. “That I wouldn’t stop fighting for the good of all, no matter what I was up against. No matter what I had to do.”

He’s going to blow himself up, Ryan realized in horror, as the Red Flux around Fallout turned into a cloud.

Putting all available power in the jetpack, the courier pushed Alphonse Manada backward in an attempt to put as much distance between the living bomb and New Rome. The cloud became blinding, and Ryan felt a shiver go down his spine as Fallout exp—

---

The explosion was still ongoing after the timeskip.

To Ryan’s perception, an ocean of fire swallowed him from all sides. Though the improved Saturn Armor’s shielding had been designed to resist hits from Augustus, the courier still felt it buckle against the sheer power of the blast. Some of the heat bypassed the Orange Flux-powered steel around the chest and burnt the skin beneath. Ryan hit something hard head-first, his vision blurring.

When the fires died down and the courier could see again, he found himself at the heart of an enormous crater.

Alphonse Manada had devastated the entire graveyard, annihilating the nearest tanker, turning the whole beach to molten sand, and vaporizing all water in the vicinity. Shroud’s warehouse had been blown away, a ship husk sent flying more than fifty meters closer to the shore. Ryan heard alarms and Private Security sirens coming from the old harbor, the blast’s shockwave having shattered all glass windows over a vast radius. An enormous pillar of smoke rose a few meters away from the courier, darkening the skies.

And at the edge of the crater, Ryan noticed Livia’s armored hand sticking out of the molten glass.

At this moment, the courier’s brain stopped thinking, and his body moved on autopilot. “Livia!” Ryan hastily rose to his feet, his armor’s servos grinding in the knees. He immediately attempted to fly to her, but the blast had damaged his jetpack.

He froze, upon noticing movements inside the smoke pillar.

“Still alive?” Though his fiery radiance had dimmed, Alphonse Manada emerged from the smoke unscathed. In this moment, he looked so very much like a demon rising from the depths of Hell. “I will need to kill Vulcan too, and make sure she never creates something like this armor again.”

“What did you do?” Ryan hissed, struggling to hear his own words. His ears felt off, muffled.

Alphonse rolled his shoulders. “What good is seeing the future, if you can’t avoid it?”

Livia’s ability was limited in its duration. The madman had sustained his blast for at least half a minute, preventing her from escaping its radius.

No.

She could have escaped, but she couldn’t see Ryan. Couldn’t make sure he would survive.

She had stayed for him.

If it hadn’t benefited from the timeskip’s intangibility, the Saturn armor wouldn’t have survived the explosion. Even now, the blast had annihilated the paint job and most of the outer shielding, revealing the circuits beneath the metal plates.

Ryan’s fists clenched as a wave of Green Flux overwhelmed his vision. The pain from his burnt skin vanished and his ears worked normally again, as his armor’s secondary systems repaired his flesh. Though the courier wanted to rush to his girlfriend’s side immediately, Fallout clearly wouldn’t let him.

“You could have blown up the whole district,” Ryan accused the corpo with fury, as he adopted a fighting stance.

“I would rather burn half this city than give an inch to your kind,” Alphonse replied callously, his left hand shining with Red Flux. “And once you are dead too, I will dissect your sister, make her cough up that precious blood of hers, and repair the damage you caused.”

If Livia’s condition hadn’t made Ryan want to see the corpo dead, that comment sealed his fate.

Fallout let out a snarl as he lunged at the courier, his left hand aiming for the chest. He would tear through what remained of the Saturn armor, and incinerate the organs underneath.

“Do you know what your mom and a nuclear reactor have in common?” Ryan asked, right as he activated his own power.

Blackness shrouded the courier’s hands as time froze to a crawl, devouring Red Flux particles like a black hole consumed light.

“I don’t get in without protection.”

Ryan’s right hand met Fallout’s left, the Black Flux disintegrating the corpo’s fingers, palm, and entire forearm.

When time resumed, Alphonse Manada didn’t immediately register what happened… until the pain made itself known. Fallout let out a roar, as he suddenly registered the damage. His fiery gaze dimmed, as he looked at his severed arm. “W-what?” he could only say.

“Give me an inch, I’ll take the arm,” Ryan said with a cold voice, before raising his hand in a karate chop and freezing time again. “You destroyed a city when you gained your power.”

His blackened palm hit Alphonse’s right shoulder like a scythe, severing the whole arm.

“I destroyed time.”

Fallout let out a scream of pain as time resumed, his severed right arm collapsing into a harmless shroud of red particles. Ryan suspected that much like Sunshine, the atomic disaster had a solid core somewhere.

The time-traveler would just have to peel him like an apple, until he found it.

“How? Even Augustus…” The now armless Fallout took a step back, his ghoulish jaw twisting into a new expression.

Fear.

“On your knees, before I cut off the legs too,” Ryan warned. “I swore not to kill you, but you don’t want to know what I can make you live through.”

Fallout clenched his teeth and glanced at his severed arms. His stumps shone with a crimson glow, but his arms didn’t regrow. “Fine,” he said, the rest of his body brightening to explode once again.

“Enough,” a familiar voice said from above the two combatants.

The light in Fallout’s body died out, as a new duo made its presence known.

Wyvern was flying above the graveyard, holding an unmasked Enrique like a blushing bride. She slowly descended on the glass ground, before letting her on-and-off boyfriend walk on his feet.

“We will take it from here,” Enrique told Ryan. As he spoke, enormous roots broke through the crater’s edge, gently excavating Livia from below the debris. “She will need immediate medical attention.”

“If she is dead, he will follow,” Ryan warned, a finger pointed at Fallout.

“I know,” Enrique said with a sigh. “But let me try.”

Ryan glared at Fallout, before deciding Livia’s life was more important. The courier left the Manada siblings and Wyvern to settle things, while the roots gently laid his girlfriend on the ground.

Thankfully, she had been at a healthy distance from the blast’s epicenter and the armor was top-notch quality. The flames had seared the shielding, but Ryan could hear her breath underneath.

“Livia?” Ryan immediately removed Livia’s helmet, letting her platinum hair flow out.

“I’m…” Livia’s eyes fluttered, and she couldn’t look at Ryan straight. She must have had a concussion. “I’m alright…”

No, she wasn’t.

But she was alive, and Ryan immediately gave her first aid.

Meanwhile, Fallout’s temperature had fallen down to a hot summer’s heat and his Red Flux particles had become no more than a faint glow around his bones. “Enrique?” When he realized that his brother and bodyguard would make no move to stop Ryan, Alphonse Manada realized the truth. “What have you done?”

“What I should have done years ago,” Enrique replied, unflappable. “Father has been arrested for trafficking with the Meta-Gang, and Freddie Sabino has been permanently destroyed. His daughter saw to it.”

Fallout’s jaw clenched so tightly that Ryan wondered if it would break. “You let her?!”

“I did.”

“You acted behind my back!” Fallout snarled at his brother, smoke rising from below his feet. Though Ryan let Livia’s head rest on his lap, he glanced in the Manada siblings’ direction, just in case it degenerated.

Though Enrique remained outwardly calm, the rose on his suit lost a few petals. “Like you did once. It is not a pleasant thing, you will agree.”

“Why?” Alphonse’s voice turned from anger to sorrow. “Why betray our dream?”

“I betrayed our dream when I didn’t blow the whistle on the Knockoffs,” the CBO replied. “I betrayed my conscience when I let this mess fester. But enough is enough. I’m setting my foot down.”

“It’s not too late,” Fallout said, in complete denial. “We have Knockoff caches left in Spain and Sicily. With Tyrano’s help, we can recreate—”

“We will recreate nothing,” Enrique said. “I already sent orders to have the caches destroyed, and Dr. Stitch’s vaccine will make those you managed to hide useless.”

“The Carnival?” Fallout looked up at the semi-unconscious Livia in shock. “Impossible... they would never work with her.”

“We all worked together on this case,” Wyvern said with an angry frown. “Don’t you see that this was madness from the start?”

“A better world cannot rise as long as their kind,” Alphonse glared at the wounded Livia, “holds all the power. When some can summon lightning and others don’t, the world becomes unjust! Only when everyone is a Genome will we have equality!”

“Says the guy selling his Knockoffs at fifty thousand euros a bottle,” Ryan replied dryly, not even sparing the corpo a glance. Livia managed to form a smile on her lips, her boyfriend caressing her cheek.

“That time will come by itself,” Enrique argued. “I have seen the data. Children of normal people and Genomes always get superpowers. In time, everyone will have them.”

“In time, but Augustus is here now.” Alphonse shook his head. “We have to fight him, using all the weapons at our disposal.”

“The ends don't justify the means, Al,” Enrique replied. “I see that now. The reprehensible means you would employ will discredit the good end we seek to achieve. I sent you reports about Bloodstream’s instability—”

“We can patch it out,” Fallout argued. “We have the Geniuses—”

“You are not cloning me again,” Wyvern said with a dangerous tone. “If it were up to me, I would have dragged you in the same cell as your father. You both disgust me.”

“Do you think I liked it?” Alphonse replied angrily. “While you were playing heroes for the cameras, I was fighting Augustus’ armies in Malta. Without the Knockoffs, we can’t hope to challenge his forces head on!”

Blackthorn sighed. “Brother, you sacrificed so much for this project that you won’t even consider better alternatives.”

“There is none.” Fallout’s skull flashed with bright red light. “Step aside, brother. If we capture Augustus’ daughter, maybe we can salvage this.”

“No,” Blackthorn replied calmly.

“Enrique…” The living meltdown’s voice turned threatening. “Step! Aside!”

In response, Enrique pointed a finger at his forehead.

“Then kill me,” he said softly.

This made Wyvern flinch, and Fallout pause. Ryan checked if his Gravity Gun still worked, and immediately armed it when the Saturn armor’s sensors confirmed it.

“Brother, you don’t know what you say,” Fallout said, surprised by the reaction. He must have expected his brother to go along with his plans, instead of setting his foot down.

“I know, and I won’t budge on this matter.” Enrique kept pointing an index finger at his forehead, his gaze strong as steel. “If you want to continue this madness, Al, then you will have to kill me. If you want total control of Dynamis and recreate that damned project, you will have to step over my corpse.”

“You’ve gone mad.” Fallout said. “For the love of the mother who bore us—”

“No,” Enrique replied, gently, but firmly. Behind, Wyvern looked at him with newfound respect. “Al, when we were children, before the Elixirs… you told me it was us against the world. I never forgot. Unlike our father, deep down, I know your heart is in the right place.”

“Then you know my cause is just,” Alphonse replied.

“Yes, but not the methods. But there is still hope for you.” Enrique offered his brother his hand. “I want us to work together towards a brighter future, Al. Towards a world ruled by law, not by strength or money. With our allies and Geniuses, we can find a better, healthier way to give people the power to defend themselves. We could even drag Augustus down from his throne. Together, we can do anything.”

The heavy silence that followed felt heavier than a mountain. Both brothers faced each other in silence, neither willing to make a move. Wyvern tensed up, and Ryan prepared to fire his weapon at any moment.

“Please,” Enrique pleaded.

As he lacked any facial expression, Ryan couldn’t guess what went through Fallout’s head. Most probably, he suddenly realized how much he would have to sacrifice for his dream, and if it was even worth it.

Continuing down this path would mean losing his brother, but Alphonse Manada had never flinched at atrocities to see his vision come true. As his jaw clenched and unclenched, Ryan remembered something very important about the elder Manada sibling.

“All for the dream,” Fallout said, his body releasing a cloud of Red Flux.

He never knew when to stop.

Ryan tried to freeze time and attack, but someone beat him to it.

A ‘click’ sound echoed right behind Fallout. The living meltdown barely had the time to look over his shoulder, as a black sphere materialized in his back.

An invisible force pulled the former cyborg towards the device, alongside the glass shards in close proximity to him. Wyvern had to grab Enrique by the shoulder to prevent him from joining his brother, as Fallout’s spine impacted on the black sphere.

The black object immediately surged towards the skies at a blinding speed and took Alphonse Manada with it. By the time the nuclear meltdown understood what was happening, it was already too late; in the blink of an eye, he vanished beyond the clouds. Ryan looked up to watch red flashes and explosions in the skies, each more distant than the last.

Shroud dropped his invisibility, a layer of glass covering a technologically advanced rifle. Dynamis’ Gravity Gun.

Alphonse Manada had funded the weapon to defeat Augustus, and now ended up as its victim.

“I’m sorry, Enrique,” Wyvern said, as she attempted to comfort her manager. “I’m deeply sorry.”

“It had to be done,” the corpo said with a sorrowful sigh, his eyes trailing after his brother’s comet tail.

“Is she alright?” Shroud asked Ryan, glancing at Livia with genuine concern. “I already called Stitch for reinforcement.”

“I’m…” Livia squinted. “I’m fine…”

“You will need rest,” Ryan replied. As a Genome, her enhanced metabolism had spared her brain damage, but it would take her time to recover. His eyes wandered to Ischia Island in the distance.

They had cured New Rome of one poison, but another remained.

瑞恩以前见识过辐尘的能耐，所以这次半点也没胡闹。

“我们得让他远离人口密集的地方。”两人飞到新罗马上方的高空，迎向那颗疾驰而来的红色彗星，瑞恩同时提醒莉维娅，“他气到一定程度，就不在乎会不会殃及旁人了。既然我们已经砸了他毕生的心血，他恐怕会有点……”

“不稳定？”莉维娅轻笑着替他说完，“这个笑话可真烂，瑞恩。”

“最好的我留着后面用呢。”快递员说。

这对装甲搭档在那不勒斯湾上空数百米处与辐尘相遇。迪纳米斯的红系基因者光芒四射，双手喷射着两道猩红的能量流，推动身体在空中飞行。哪怕身穿装甲，瑞恩和莉维娅的体型也比这个改造人小了一大截。他们简直就是两个美国大兵，迎面碰上了一辆会飞的坦克。

辐尘那颗燃烧的骷髅头隔着防护罩望向两人，空洞的眼窝里燃烧着熊熊的原子怒火。

“给我滚开！”他吼了一声，出手就是杀招。

他肩上的导弹发射器启动，朝率先抵达他面前的瑞恩齐射出一轮火箭弹。

快递员随即发动能力，将二十四枚火箭弹定在半空。他抬起双手，启动了手甲里的武器。让他松了口气的是，它们在冻结的时间里也运转无碍，朝改造人轰出了两道红色冲击波。沿途的火箭弹全被引爆，冲击波正面击中了辐尘。

时间恢复流动，冲击与爆炸将猝不及防的阿尔方斯·马纳达推离航线，险些一头栽进下方的地中海。他的飞行方式远不如瑞恩的喷气背包优雅灵便，却还是稳住了身形。

“这是……时间冻结……”集团的改造人怒视着瑞恩，“你就是快存。”

“问你个问题，铁皮罐头。”瑞恩一边试图逼近改造人与他近身交战，一边回嘴，“你的星座是巨癌座吗？”

阿尔方斯·马纳达没有接他的俏皮话，而是调整飞行方向，避开了瑞恩。“我早就该杀了你。”改造人说道，一只手维持悬浮，另一只手指向瑞恩，“我就在这里纠正这个错误！”

刺目的红色光束照亮天空，快递员连眼睛都来不及眨一下，一股寒意便顺着他的脊——

---

时间向前跳过了一段。恢复流动时，瑞恩已经移动到了辐尘左侧。改造人还在错愕之中，没等他反应过来，莉维娅便已近身攻到。

八条黑色伸缩触手从她的装甲背后探出，每一条都迅如游蛇。触手分别击中辐尘的双肩和胸膛，将嵌在机械躯体里的导弹发射器生生扯下。机械臂末端的钢爪撕开了这个迪纳米斯改造人的防护层。

“真是个废物。”莉维娅咯咯笑道，“核废物！”

瑞恩一时不知道该哀叹还是该笑。

辐尘启动右臂里的能量转管机枪还击，逼得瑞恩和莉维娅飞身退开。“你们赢不了我！”他愤怒地咆哮着，只是等离子弹掠空的轰响几乎盖住了他的话，快递员听得很费劲，“连奥古斯都都没能杀死我！你们不可能——”

远处响起一声爆炸，声音直从迪纳米斯总部传来。

改造人的弹幕停了一瞬，他转头望去，骷髅头上的光芒因惊恐而暗淡下来。大楼顶端冒出了浓烟，恩里克的小队炸毁了六十六号实验室所在的楼层。

“不，不……”辐尘的震惊化作绝望与恐慌，“不！”

改造人不再继续进攻，而是笔直飞向迪纳米斯总部，拼命想挽回局面。

“休想。”瑞恩说着，立刻追了上去。辐尘在近得不能再近的距离开火，想逼他退开，莉维娅发动了她的——

---

时间恢复流动时，瑞恩一拳轰中了辐尘的玻璃罩头盔。

在女友跳过的那段时间里，快递员没有实体，辐尘的攻击根本伤不了他。两人的能力单独拿出来就已经很强，合在一起呢？

正如莉维娅所说，无敌。

辐尘的玻璃罩裂开了，飞行也随之失控。他没能降落在迪纳米斯控制的城区，而是一头栽进了地中海。阿尔方斯·马纳达落海时，接触他的海水瞬间化作蒸汽，红系基因者消失在波涛之下。

瑞恩很希望迪纳米斯没给那身机械装甲做防水处理，但还没天真到以为战斗就此结束。他悬停在海面上，等待辐尘重新露头，同时问女友：“你觉得他喜欢海蘑菇吗？”方圆数百米的海水开始沸腾，快递员却无法准确找出热源。

“那可值得欧洲核子研究中心关切一下了。”莉维娅望着海面答道。她多半在查看各种可能性，寻找那场活核灾难的位置。煮熟的鱼开始浮上海面。

这典故用得不错，不过瑞恩怀疑能听懂的人有多少。“嘿，公主，你知不知道我参观过他们的粒子加速器？”

“承蒙你曝光，他们一定感激不尽。”她答道，随后用一条伸缩机械臂指向左侧某处，“这里，瑞恩。”

快递员朝目标打出冲击波，水花向四面八方飞溅。落点周围的海水震荡起来，但瑞恩无法判断有没有击中辐尘。“他怎么还不出来？”他问女友。那家伙和利奥·哈格雷夫斯一样耐打，潜个水顶多给他添点麻烦罢了。

“我……”莉维娅一僵，随后迅速抓住男友的胳膊，“往高处飞！”

两人立刻向上飞离海面，就在这时，猩红的光芒从波涛之下迸射而出。

一场灾难性的爆炸将成吨的沸水掀向天空，仿佛海底火山喷发。瑞恩和莉维娅虽然逃到了安全距离，蒸汽云团却吞没了他们的视野，也蒙蔽了传感器。

等他们终于飞出蒸汽，两人看见翻涌的沸腾海浪下有一团明亮的猩红光芒……正在向新罗马的海岸移动。

“他在海底奔跑！”莉维娅警告道。瑞恩从上方朝光源打出冲击波，激起漫天水花，却连辐尘的脚步都没能拖慢半分。

“妈的，他拿海水当护盾了！”难怪这个公司佬一直没露头，“他会在哪里上岸？”

“船舶墓地。”他心爱的先知预言道，两人立刻循着光芒追去，“他在脱掉装甲！”

操，这可不妙。船舶墓地原本就没什么人，自从裹尸布把基地搬到地堡之后更是空空荡荡，可从那里走上几步就能到有人居住的街区。

女友显然也想到了这一点。“瑞恩，你要多久才能启动重力枪？”

“几乎立刻就能，但那样我就会把他送进太空。”瑞恩提醒她，“他弟弟不会高兴的。”

“我宁可承受黑棘的怒火，也不愿看见有人死。要是让他走出港口，就会死人。”

“你看见了？”她神情凝重地点头回答。该死。瑞恩立刻向地面上的盟友发出求援信号，请他们疏散附近居民。

两人率先抵达海岸，在锈镇与旧港口之间的船舶墓地上空盘旋。沙滩上横着锈迹斑斑的油轮残骸，只有螃蟹还住在里面，裹尸布的仓库也已经空置落灰。确认没有人误入这片区域后，两人便等着辐尘浮出水面。

他果然出来了。

辐尘走到浅水区时，船舶墓地周围的海水已经开始蒸发。浓密的蒸汽吞没了沉船，一个发光的幽灵从超级油轮的阴影里走了出来。阿尔方斯·马纳达像蛇蜕皮一样脱掉机械装甲，毫无遮掩地展露出一身放射性的光辉。他的身体只剩下一具焦黑的骷髅，血肉是带着辐射的火焰，烟雾则是红色通量粒子。

“我认得你的能力，奥古斯蒂。”他抬头望着莉维娅，嗓音沙哑，犹如闷烧的火焰，“这是在宣战吗？你父亲已经老到、怯懦到要派女儿替他打仗了？”

“这和我父亲无关，全都是因为你。”莉维娅回答，周围的温度仍在不断攀升，马纳达脚下的沙子都化成了玻璃，“而你也没资格嘲笑我父亲，毕竟你犯的罪和他一模一样。你毒害了成千上万的人。”

这一次，阿尔方斯·马纳达怒不可遏地朝两人举起右手。“我救了成千上万的人！”他咆哮着，手指亮如太阳，“我给了平民保护自己的力量！”

一道足有房屋粗细的红色粒子洪流从他掌心喷涌而出。瑞恩和莉维娅朝两个方向分开，既是躲避攻击，也是为了分散迪纳米斯副总裁的注意力。

“实验室已经没了，血流也已经被消灭了！”瑞恩喊道，试图分散这个疯狂核灾难的注意力，“你还有什么可打的？”

“一切。”辐尘回答，攻击却主要集中在莉维娅身上。幸好先知借助装甲更胜一筹的机动性，躲过了那些轰击。“我们掌握的数据绰绰有余，换个地方就能重新生产山寨灵药。”

“我们已经把疫苗散播出去了，切尔诺·比尔。”瑞恩回答，随后冻结时间，直到拳头即将击中阿尔方斯·马纳达的脸时，才让时间恢复流动，“结束了！”

他的拳拳手甲击中了辐尘的下颚。

红系基因者纹丝不动。瑞恩简直像是打在了一堵钢墙上。

“你根本无法想象我有多强吧？”辐尘以快得看不清的速度伸出手，抓向快递员裹着装甲的拳头，没等瑞恩后退便将他擒住。红系基因者把瑞恩拉近，燃烧的双眼直视着头盔镜片。“你以为我穿那身装甲，是为了保护我自己？”

瑞恩轰出冲击波，试图逼他退开，却如同微风拂面，毫无效果。辐尘双手钳住快递员的两只手腕，仅凭蛮力便开始碾碎他的手甲。

“我喝下灵药的那天，就毁了一座城。”阿尔方斯·马纳达说道，周身的光芒越来越强。萨图恩装甲的传感器迅速发出高温和辐射警报，橙色通量蔓延进防护层，强化它的抗性。“把它从地图上彻底抹掉了。我控制不住自己的力量，杀了几千人。就算是现在，我也得用尽全部自制力，才能不把这座城烧成灰。”

“不，你这个疯子！”莉维娅试图从上方救下男友，伸出伸缩触手，想要制住这个发疯的公司佬。可触手的钢材不如萨图恩装甲坚固，还没碰到他就已经熔化了。“附近住着成千上万的人！”

“我发过誓，绝不会让那些人白死。”辐尘嘶哑地说道，他的脸已亮得无法直视，“不管面对什么，我都不会停止为所有人的福祉而战。不管要我做什么。”

他要自爆，瑞恩惊恐地意识到，辐尘身边的红色通量已经汇成了云团。

快递员将所有可用动力灌入喷气背包，推着阿尔方斯·马纳达向后退，试图让这颗活炸弹离新罗马越远越好。云团变得无比刺眼，一股寒意蹿上瑞恩的脊背，辐尘爆——

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跳时结束之后，爆炸仍在继续。

在瑞恩的感知中，火海从四面八方将他吞没。改良后的萨图恩装甲，其防护层本是按承受奥古斯都攻击的标准设计的，可快递员仍然感觉到，它在这股纯粹的爆炸威力下变了形。部分热量穿透胸部由橙色通量强化的钢板，烧伤了下面的皮肤。瑞恩一头撞上某个坚硬的东西，视野模糊起来。

火焰消退，快递员终于又能看清时，发现自己正躺在一个巨大弹坑的中心。

阿尔方斯·马纳达摧毁了整片船舶墓地，最近的那艘油轮灰飞烟灭，整片沙滩化作熔融的沙子，附近的海水全被汽化。裹尸布的仓库已被炸得无影无踪，一具船壳被掀飞五十多米，落在更靠近岸边的地方。瑞恩听见旧港口传来报警声和私人安保队的警笛，爆炸的冲击波震碎了大片区域里所有的玻璃窗。一道巨大的烟柱从快递员几米外升起，遮暗了天空。

就在弹坑边缘，瑞恩看见莉维娅裹着装甲的手伸在熔融玻璃外面。

这一刻，快递员的大脑停止了思考，身体自行行动起来。“莉维娅！”瑞恩急忙站起，装甲膝部的伺服机构发出刺耳的摩擦声。他立刻试图飞到她身边，喷气背包却已经被爆炸损坏了。

烟柱里有什么动了，他顿时僵住。

“还活着？”阿尔方斯·马纳达走出烟柱，虽然身上的火光暗淡了一些，却毫发无伤。此时此刻，他活像从地狱深处爬上来的恶魔。“看来我还得杀了伏尔甘，确保她再也造不出这样的装甲。”

“你干了什么？”瑞恩从齿缝里挤出这句话，连自己的声音都听不太清。他的耳朵不对劲，像被什么堵住了一样。

阿尔方斯活动了一下肩膀。“躲不过去的话，能看见未来又有什么用？”

莉维娅的能力有持续时间限制。这个疯子让爆炸至少维持了半分钟，令她无法逃出爆炸范围。

不。

她本来逃得掉，可她看不见瑞恩。无法确定他能活下来。

她是为了他才留下的。

要不是跳时期间没有实体，萨图恩装甲根本撑不过这场爆炸。即使如此，涂装和大部分外层防护也已被爆炸彻底毁掉，露出了金属板下的电路。

瑞恩攥紧双拳，一阵绿色通量充斥了他的视野。装甲的辅助系统修复了他的血肉，灼伤皮肤的疼痛消失，听觉也恢复了正常。快递员很想立刻冲到女友身边，可辐尘显然不会放他过去。

“你差点把整个城区炸掉。”瑞恩愤怒地指责这个公司佬，同时摆出了战斗架势。

“我宁可烧掉半座城，也不会向你们这种人退让半寸。”阿尔方斯冷酷地回答，左手泛起红色通量的光芒，“等你也死了，我就把你妹妹解剖了，让她把那些宝贝血液吐出来，弥补你造成的破坏。”

就算莉维娅的伤势还没让瑞恩动杀心，这句话也给这个公司佬判了死刑。

辐尘咆哮一声，扑向快递员，左手直取他的胸口。他要撕穿萨图恩装甲剩余的部分，把里面的内脏烧成灰。

“你知道你妈和核反应堆有什么共同点吗？”瑞恩问道，同时发动了自己的能力。

时间凝滞下来，漆黑笼罩了快递员的双手，如黑洞吞噬光线一般，吞没了红色通量粒子。

“不做好防护，我是不会进去的。”

瑞恩的右手迎上辐尘的左手，黑色通量将公司佬的手指、手掌以及整条前臂尽数瓦解。

时间恢复流动时，阿尔方斯·马纳达没有立刻明白发生了什么……直到疼痛传来。辐尘骤然意识到自己受了伤，发出一声惨嚎。他看着断臂，眼中的火光暗淡下来。“什、什么？”他只能挤出这几个字。

“给我一寸，我就拿整条胳膊。”瑞恩冷冷地说道，随后抬手摆出空手道的手刀姿势，再次冻结时间，“你得到力量的时候，毁了一座城。”

漆黑的手掌像镰刀一般斩上阿尔方斯的右肩，将整条胳膊切了下来。

“我毁掉的可是时间。”

时间恢复流动，辐尘发出痛苦的尖叫，断落的右臂溃散成一团无害的红色粒子。瑞恩怀疑，这场活原子灾难和阳光一样，体内某处有个实体核心。

时间旅行者只要像削苹果一样，一层层把他削开，总能找到。

“怎么可能？就连奥古斯都……”失去双臂的辐尘退后一步，那张鬼气森森的骷髅脸上挤出了一种新的表情。

恐惧。

“跪下，不然我连腿也一起砍了。”瑞恩警告道，“我答应过不杀你，但你绝对不想知道，我能让你活着经历什么。”

辐尘咬紧牙关，看了看自己的断臂。残肢闪着猩红的光，可胳膊并没有重新长出来。“好啊。”他说道，身体其余部分再次亮起，准备再来一次爆炸。

“够了。”一个熟悉的声音从交战的两人上方传来。

又有两人现身，辐尘体内的光芒熄灭了。

双足飞龙飞在船舶墓地上方，像抱着羞红脸的新娘一样，怀里抱着没戴面具的恩里克。她缓缓降落在玻璃地面上，才让这个分分合合的男友下地站稳。

“接下来交给我们。”恩里克对瑞恩说。说话间，粗大的根须破开弹坑边缘的地面，轻轻将莉维娅从残骸下挖了出来。“她需要立刻接受治疗。”

“要是她死了，他也得死。”瑞恩指着辐尘警告道。

“我知道。”恩里克叹了口气，“但让我试试。”

瑞恩狠狠瞪了辐尘一眼，最终还是认定莉维娅的命更重要。快递员把事情留给马纳达兄弟和双足飞龙解决，与此同时，根须将他的女友轻轻放在地上。

幸好她离爆炸中心足够远，装甲的质量又是顶尖的。火焰烧焦了防护层，但瑞恩能听见里面传出的呼吸声。

“莉维娅？”瑞恩立刻取下她的头盔，白金色的长发倾泻出来。

“我……”莉维娅的眼皮颤了颤，目光无法在瑞恩身上聚焦。她一定是脑震荡了。“我没事……”

不，她绝不是没事。

但她还活着，瑞恩立刻为她进行急救。

与此同时，辐尘的温度已经降到了炎炎夏日的程度，红色通量粒子也只在骨骼周围泛着一层微光。“恩里克？”意识到弟弟和保镖都无意阻拦瑞恩，阿尔方斯·马纳达终于明白了真相。“你到底干了什么？”

“我几年前就该做的事。”恩里克平静地回答，“父亲因为同超能帮的非法交易被捕了，弗雷迪·萨比诺也已经被彻底消灭。他女儿亲手做的。”

辐尘咬牙切齿，力道大得让瑞恩怀疑他的下巴会不会崩掉。“你就让她这么干了？！”

“是的。”

“你背着我动手！”辐尘冲弟弟咆哮，脚下冒出了烟。瑞恩让莉维娅的头枕在自己腿上，同时朝马纳达兄弟那边看了一眼，防备局势恶化。

恩里克表面依旧平静，西装上的玫瑰却落了几片花瓣。“就像你当初做的那样。这滋味不好受，你现在也同意了吧。”

“为什么？”阿尔方斯的声音由愤怒转为悲伤，“为什么要背叛我们的梦想？”

“没有揭发山寨灵药的时候，我就已经背叛了我们的梦想。”首席品牌官答道，“放任这摊烂事继续恶化的时候，我就已经背叛了自己的良心。但够了就是够了。这一次，我不会退让。”

“还来得及。”辐尘完全不肯接受现实，“我们在西班牙和西西里还藏着山寨灵药。有提拉诺帮忙，我们就能重建——”

“我们什么都不会重建。”恩里克说，“我已经下令销毁那些库存，斯蒂奇博士的疫苗也会让你成功藏起来的那些彻底失效。”

“嘉年华？”辐尘震惊地抬眼看向半昏迷的莉维娅，“不可能……他们绝不会和她合作。”

“这件事是我们所有人一起做的。”双足飞龙怒容满面，“你还看不出来吗？这从一开始就是个疯狂的计划！”

“只要他们这种人，”阿尔方斯怒视着受伤的莉维娅，“还把所有力量攥在手里，就不可能有更好的世界。有些人能召唤闪电，另一些人却不能，世界就会变得不公！只有人人都成为基因者，我们才能实现平等！”

“说这话的家伙，山寨灵药卖五万欧元一瓶。”瑞恩冷冷回了一句，连看都懒得看这个公司佬一眼。莉维娅嘴角勉强浮起一丝微笑，男友轻抚着她的脸颊。

“那一天自然会到来。”恩里克劝道，“我看过数据了。普通人和基因者生的孩子，一定会获得超能力。迟早人人都会有。”

“迟早，可奥古斯都现在就在这里。”阿尔方斯摇了摇头，“我们必须用手头一切武器跟他打。”

“目的不能让手段变得正当，阿尔。”恩里克回答，“我现在明白了。你想用的那些卑劣手段，只会玷污我们希望实现的美好目标。关于血流的不稳定性，我给你发过报告——”

“我们可以修补缺陷。”辐尘争辩道，“我们有天才——”

“你别想再克隆我。”双足飞龙的语气危险起来，“要是由我做主，我就把你拖进你父亲的牢房里，让你们作伴。你们两个都让我恶心。”

“你以为我喜欢这么干？”阿尔方斯愤怒地回道，“你们对着摄像机扮英雄的时候，我正在马耳他和奥古斯都的大军厮杀。没有山寨灵药，我们根本别想正面抗衡他的部队！”

黑棘叹了口气。“哥，你为这个项目牺牲得太多了，多到连更好的替代方案都不肯考虑。”

“根本没有别的方案。”辐尘的骷髅头闪起耀眼的红光，“让开，弟弟。只要抓住奥古斯都的女儿，也许还有挽回的余地。”

“不。”黑棘平静地回答。

“恩里克……”这场活核熔毁的声音带上了威胁，“让！开！”

恩里克的回应，是用一根手指指向自己的额头。

“那就杀了我。”他轻声说。

这话让双足飞龙身体一颤，辐尘也顿住了。瑞恩检查了一下重力枪是否还能运转，萨图恩装甲的传感器一给出肯定结果，他就立刻让它进入待发状态。

“弟弟，你根本不知道自己在说什么。”辐尘说道，显然没料到会得到这样的回应。他一定以为弟弟会顺从自己的计划，而不是坚决反对。

“我知道，而且这件事我绝不会让步。”恩里克仍用食指指着自己的额头，目光坚如钢铁，“你想继续发疯，阿尔，那就必须杀了我。你想彻底掌控迪纳米斯，重启那个该死的项目，就得从我的尸体上跨过去。”

“你疯了。”辐尘说，“看在生下我们的母亲份上——”

“不。”恩里克回答，温和，却坚决。身后的双足飞龙望着他，眼中多了一份敬意。“阿尔，小时候，灵药还没出现的时候……你对我说过，是我们两个人对抗整个世界。我从没忘记。你跟父亲不一样，我知道，你内心深处的出发点是好的。”

“那你就知道我的事业是正义的。”阿尔方斯回答。

“是，但手段不对。可你还有希望。”恩里克向哥哥伸出手，“我希望我们一起努力，创造更光明的未来，阿尔。创造一个由法律主宰，而不是由力量或金钱主宰的世界。有盟友和天才们相助，我们能找到更好、更健康的方式，让人们拥有自保的力量。我们甚至能把奥古斯都从王座上拉下来。只要我们携手，就无所不能。”

随之而来的沉默，比山岳还要沉重。兄弟俩无言相对，谁也不肯先动。双足飞龙绷紧了身体，瑞恩随时准备开枪。

“求你了。”恩里克恳求道。

辐尘没有任何面部表情，瑞恩猜不出他心里在想什么。最有可能的是，他突然意识到，为了梦想，自己还得牺牲多少东西，又究竟值不值得。

继续走下去，就意味着失去弟弟。但为了实现自己的愿景，阿尔方斯·马纳达从来不惜犯下暴行。看着他牙关时紧时松，瑞恩想起了马纳达家这位长兄身上一件至关重要的事。

“一切为了梦想。”辐尘说，身体释放出一团红色通量。

他从来不知道何时该停手。

瑞恩正要冻结时间发动攻击，却有人抢先一步。

辐尘背后响起一声“咔哒”。这场活核熔毁刚来得及回头，一颗黑色球体便在他背后显现。

一股无形的力量将这个已经不再是改造人的家伙拽向装置，连同他附近的玻璃碎片一起吸了过去。双足飞龙不得不抓住恩里克的肩膀，免得他也跟哥哥一道被吸走。辐尘的脊柱撞上了黑球。

黑色物体立刻带着阿尔方斯·马纳达，以快得看不清的速度冲向天空。等这场核熔毁明白发生了什么，一切早已来不及了。眨眼之间，他便消失在云层之外。瑞恩抬头看见天空中的红色闪光与爆炸，一次比一次遥远。

裹尸布解除了隐形，一层玻璃包覆着一支技术先进的步枪。迪纳米斯的重力枪。

阿尔方斯·马纳达出资研制了这件武器，本是为了击败奥古斯都，如今自己却成了它的受害者。

“对不起，恩里克。”双足飞龙试着安慰自己的经理，“真的很抱歉。”

“这是不得不做的事。”这位公司高管悲伤地叹道，目光追随着哥哥留下的彗尾。

“她还好吗？”裹尸布问瑞恩，看向莉维娅的目光带着真切的关心，“我已经叫斯蒂奇来支援了。”

“我……”莉维娅眯起眼睛，“我没事……”

“你得休息。”瑞恩回答。作为基因者，她强化的新陈代谢让她免于脑损伤，但恢复仍需要时间。他的目光移向了远方的伊斯基亚岛。

他们替新罗马解了一种毒，可还有另一种。