Yinsen felt his heart ache slightly at those words. Who exactly was this guy?
"…So you think just sitting there will get us out?" Yinsen asked.
"You don't get it, do you?" Arthur replied. "Have you ever heard of Immortals? They were once people, just like us, who sat like this and eventually became immortals. When I become immortal, I will take you both out of here and no one will dare stop us."
"How long will it take you to become immortal?"
"Hmmm…" Arthur pondered. "About a thousand years or so."
"Fuck!"
Yinsen couldn't help but curse.
"Hahahaha!"
Tony burst out laughing. "That's a good plan. Once we're all dead, there's no need to run."
"Works for me," Arthur said.
"…" Yinsen felt that continuing to waste time talking to Arthur would mean that something was wrong with his own brain.
He turned around and continued working with Tony.
Arthur chuckled, finding the situation amusing.
He crossed his arms and stood by, watching them work with an expression that clearly showed he was looking down on them.
Neither of them wanted to deal with him any further. They didn't know exactly who Arthur was, but he seemed to be a complete madman.
Time passed quickly and the evening came. Arthur, who had lazed around all day, felt bored.
Just waiting for Tony to finish the suit seemed too boring.
Arthur decided to find some entertainment for himself.
After all, this place was uncomfortable to live in, the food was bad, and if he didn't do something to entertain himself, Arthur felt he wouldn't last long until Tony finished the suit.
…
Under the cover of night, Arthur wasn't sure of the exact time.
The Eye of Horus revealed that everyone outside had gone to rest.
Only two guards remained, watching the monitors and dozing off frequently.
Tony and Yinsen were fast asleep. Though they had pressing matters on their minds, they forced themselves to rest in order to have enough energy for the next day's work, driven by their strong desire to escape.
Arthur took the opportunity to sneak out of bed and approach the door.
The door was locked from the outside. While it would be easy for Arthur to break it open, it would also alert everyone and ruin his plan.
So he decided to take a chance.
He would try to use his ability to get through the door.
Frankly, Arthur wasn't sure he could do it.
The night Hulk fought Abomination in the street, Arthur had managed to control his ability to cross over.
But in his subsequent experiments, the results were mixed.
It was all about a delicate state of mind— only by achieving a certain mental state could this ability be controlled perfectly. Otherwise, it was as if it didn't exist at all.
Arthur rubbed his face lightly, exhaled, and calmed himself. Then he moved… the next second, Arthur was outside the door.
Looking back at the door, Arthur grinned.
He had been worried that his ability would fail or that he would not be able to get through the door.
If the latter had happened, it would have been ridiculous!
Bragging about becoming immortal by day and then banging his head against the door by night – how would Tony and Yinsen see him then?
Was he joking? Did he not care about his own dignity?
Arthur, who was of the same generation as Howard, thought he would be humiliated if Tony made fun of him. Even though he already pretended to be a madman and was mocked, this was different, right?
Just as he was about to start, he paused, pressed his chest… and in the next second, a pitch-black trench coat appeared on him: "I never thought the Disassembler Space could be used like this! Changing outfits with one click, how convenient! If I'm discovered, at least I won't be caught off guard."
Arthur was quite pleased with himself, though it was unclear what exactly he was proud of.
With a cap pulled low over his face, Arthur donned a mask and strolled casually into the camp of the 'freedom fighters'.
But to achieve this, he first had to find the corresponding weapons.
Otherwise, if these guys woke up in the morning and found their weapons gone, they'd know someone was up to no good.
Arthur didn't want any mishaps before Tony finished the suit.
So he decided to go to the shelters outside, gather some new weapons, and then switch them out…
But just as Arthur turned a corner, he saw a guy standing against the wall, his head resting on it, his entire weight on his forehead… he was asleep!
A puddle on the floor and his still unzipped pants indicated that this guy had relieved himself in the cave!
Arthur felt disgusted. How could anyone be so inconsiderate?
Meanwhile, he had an idea. Grinning, he tapped the guy on the shoulder.
The next moment… the guy disappeared!
"Huh?"
Arthur blinked. "Why didn't I think of that before? Should I just collect them all?"
Thinking about it, Arthur didn't leave the cave, but sneaked over to where the freedom fighters were sleeping.
He tapped one person on the shoulder, and they disappeared… another tap, another disappeared!
After making about four or five people disappear, Arthur found it a bit boring.
"Am I really going to fill this place with 'grown men'?" Arthur mused, realizing that it wasn't practical: "It's too wasteful of space. Even if the Disassembler room is large, it won't hold everyone."
But looking at the people he'd already gathered, Arthur smiled. "But that's not completely useless. You'll be my scapegoats."
After a tour of the camp, he hadn't collected as many weapons as he'd hoped, and some people were too wary to approach easily.
Still, he managed to collect about fifty or sixty submachine guns and rifles.
Various bayonets, grenades, and explosives were also collected.
Seeing that he'd collected enough, Arthur went back to sleep.
The next morning, the entire freedom fighter camp was in an uproar!
The shouting outside was deafening, and even Arthur, Tony, and Yinsen inside could feel their ears ringing.
"What's going on out there?" Tony looked around, bewildered.
"Maybe they picked the wrong partner for some love-making during mating season?" Arthur quipped.