The children's hearts were filled with hope and anticipation, though they had no one to talk to. They had heard the sounds of gunfire, screams, and explosions fade away. Each child's heart raced with worry. Then, they heard footsteps approaching and held their breath.
When Leon finally appeared through the iron gate, their anxious expressions turned to excitement.
"You did it," one of the children whispered.
Seeing their hopeful faces, Leon's usual coldness softened into a gentle smile. He held the key to the door and unlocked the iron gates of their room one by one.
There were about a dozen children, the oldest around fourteen and the youngest only eight. Leon remembered that there should have been more than thirty.
The children followed Leon cautiously, their eyes wide with trust and hope. They clearly saw him as their protector.
"We need to get out of here," Leon said. Though he had the power of the Glint-Glint Fruit, he knew that if he fought his way through the base and revealed his abilities, he would become a target. Support would arrive soon, and this was no place to stay.
Most of the children were orphans or had been sold. They were quickly convinced of Leon's leadership due to his maturity and strength, and they followed his orders without question.
Under Leon's guidance, they explored the base. It was well-equipped, with plenty of food and vehicles. They even found a desk safe containing gold bars, cash, and coins. The haul included twenty-three gold bars, $300,000 in U.S. dollars, and some rubles. These were clearly the base leader's possessions, left behind in the rush.
They also gathered food—bread, vegetables, frozen meat, and a box of nutrient solution. They loaded everything into a large truck and set off with the children, speeding down the road.
It was almost early morning. Outside the base, it was pitch black with heavy snowfall and a mountain range in the distance. Leon, who had learned to drive in his previous life, quickly adapted to driving the large truck, despite the differences in visibility and handling compared to smaller vehicles.
Fortunately, Leon had found a map in the base office. Although it was in Russian, the children knew the language and translated it for him. They discovered that they were in the eastern part of the Ural Mountains, a remote area of Siberia, near the European part of Russia. Yekaterinburg, a city about 700 kilometers away, was their destination.
Leon decided to take the children to Yekaterinburg. The heavy snow would soon cover their tire tracks, making it hard for anyone to follow them. However, the large truck would be too noticeable, so Leon planned to destroy it outside the city and then enter Yekaterinburg on foot.
As he drove, two little Russian girls in the other seat were already asleep. After about four or five hours on the road, Leon spotted what looked like an abandoned house about 300 meters off the road. He steered the truck off the road and stopped in front of the uninhabited house, which was surrounded by sparse trees and vegetation, providing some natural cover.
After waking up the two little girls, Leon got out of the truck and opened the back compartment.
The other children, who had been abruptly awakened, saw it was Leon holding a flashlight and felt a sense of relief. They followed him out of the truck and towards the abandoned house. The house was a standard wooden structure, dirty and dusty, but it provided some shelter. It was about 120 to 130 square meters in size—neither too large nor too small.
Leon and the children quickly cleaned the inside of the house using the flashlight for illumination. They then took bedding from the truck and spread it on the floor. The weather was very cold, so Leon had gathered warm fur coats and fleece from the truck. Though the coats looked a bit funny on the children, they didn't mind.
Next, Leon collected some branches from outside and placed them in the fireplace. He used his Glint-Glint Fruit ability to start a fire. The warm flames brightened the house and chased away the darkness, helping to ease the children's fear and confusion.
Once everything was settled, Leon drove the truck to a nearby frozen lake. After breaking the ice with a laser, he drove the truck into the lake and blew it up with another laser. The cover of the lake, combined with the wind and snow, ensured that no traces of their escape were left.
When Leon returned to the wooden house, he saw that the children had been very organized. They had already sorted the supplies and prepared bedding for him.
Leon smiled at the eager children and said, "Don't worry, we won't be discovered right away. Go to sleep now, and we'll talk in the morning."
The children looked at each other, then at Leon. They saw him lying on a quilt at the edge of the room in a fur coat. Feeling reassured, they settled down and quickly fell asleep. The room soon filled with the gentle sound of their breathing.
Although Leon closed his eyes, he did not sleep. He was focused on planning the next steps. Escaping the experimentation base was just the beginning. He knew he would be hunted both overtly and covertly by those who ran the base.
Currently, Leon had very little information and wasn't sure about the timeline in this world. The child he inhabited had been a street kid from a poor country in Eastern Europe. He was a mixed-race boy named Leon who had been captured while begging and taken to the experimental base.
With this limited information and a mysterious organization chasing him, Leon decided the best course of action was to keep moving and stay hidden.
Although these children were a burden and a weakness, Leon felt a strong sense of responsibility towards them. He knew that if he left them behind, they would likely perish in the harsh environment or be captured and subjected to further experiments.
After much thought, fatigue overcame him, and he fell into a deep sleep.
When Leon finally woke up, he noticed the howling wind and snow outside. He sat up and saw that the children had been awake for some time. They were curled up in bed, watching him quietly.
The fire in the fireplace had burned out, and the room was cold.
"Are you hungry?" Leon asked.
The children nodded.
"Why haven't you eaten?" he asked.
"We were waiting for you," they replied.
Leon was touched by their thoughtfulness. He stretched, got out of bed, and put on the large fur coat and hat. He walked to the fireplace, added the branches he had collected the day before, and used his powers to start a fire.
As the flames roared to life, they warmed the room and brought a sense of comfort. The fire's glow illuminated Leon's face, providing much-needed warmth and light.
Leon turned his head and saw the children getting out of bed, watching him with admiration and excitement. They were clearly impressed by his ability to use the golden laser.
He smiled and said, "Come on, let's get ready for breakfast."
The children obediently followed him to the corner of the wooden house where the supplies were stored. They opened a metal box and started taking out the food.
Leon decided not to use the nutrient solution at the moment. Although it was richer in nutrients, he preferred to save it for his future needs. Instead, he took out a few iron pots from the base kitchen and asked the children to bring pork, beef, vegetables, and seasonings to the kitchen area of the wooden house.
The kitchen had a stove, which Leon lit using the firewood. He first boiled a pot of water because the water from the plastic bucket he brought had frozen, and they needed drinking water.
While the water was boiling, Leon and the children began to talk. It turned out that, like objects, they had been numb to life and had no hope. They hadn't thought much about communication before.
After some introductions, Leon learned that most of the children were from Eastern European countries. There were fifteen children in total: ten boys and five girls. The youngest ones were just eight years old—a boy and a girl.
"My name is Gennady."
"My name is Sumarokov."
"My name is Lomon Losov."
"My name is Sergey."
Despite their nervousness, the children introduced themselves one by one. Leon listened patiently and took note of their names. Then, a boy with short black hair and a girl with black hair next to him said, "My name is Pietro Maximoff."
"My name is Wanda Maximoff."
'Huh?'
Leon's attention was immediately drawn to the names Pietro and Wanda Maximoff. He looked at the two children closely, trying to suppress his shock. Could it be?
He asked, "Are you twins?"
"Yes, he's my brother," Wanda said timidly. She seemed older for her age, which is common with early maturity.
"How were you captured?"
"We volunteered to participate in the experiment," Wanda replied, her face twisted with deep hatred.
"Why did you volunteer?"
"Because we want revenge," Wanda said, her voice filled with pain. "We come from Sokovia. Our family was destroyed in a war."
Though she didn't say more, Leon had pieced it together. He realized that he had stumbled into the Marvel Universe. These twins were the future Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver.
The person the twins hate must be Iron Man, Tony Stark.
'Fucking hell!'
Leon, who knows the Marvel Universe well, understands how complex and vast this world is. The presence of god-like beings and cosmic entities means that his earlier belief of being unique is now completely shattered. Compared to these powerful beings, even someone like Kizaru seems insignificant.
Reflecting on it, Leon realized that the people at the base were likely affiliated with Baron Strucker, one of the leaders of Hydra.