I get stronger by sunbathing, just like Superman.

When he came to his senses, he realized he was lying in the carriage, surrounded by trees. It seemed they had reached a safe place, and Sain was standing outside, looking at him anxiously…

Buster suddenly remembered... that Lyra had shielded him at the crucial moment, taking the brunt of the golden energy's impact for him...

"Lyra...Lyra!"

He called her name anxiously, then turned to find Lyra lying beside him. He quickly picked her up, resting her head on his shoulder, muttering, "Thank God... thank goodness you're not..."

Then he realized something was wrong.

Lyra in his arms seemed not to have woken up. Her pale cheeks were completely bloodless, and her limbs were still somewhat stiff. He felt an unusual sensation in his hands as he held her back.

He froze for a moment, then slowly turned Lyra over, and what he saw almost drove him to despair…

Lyra's back, from her spine down to her waist, is covered in skin, muscles, internal organs, and bones...

Everything is gone...

All that remained was an empty, gaping hole and the interior of a body bearing burn marks.

"Boss... I'm so sorry..."

Sain said with great heartache, then turned his head away, unwilling to look any further.

Inside the carriage, Buster knelt before Lyra, his soul seemingly ripped from his body. He stared blankly at Lyra, speechless...

……

When Max and his companions, who had disappeared into the golden ripples, opened their eyes again, the scene they saw surprised them...

Above them was a clear blue sky, and in the distance lay a vast, open plain. By the river, bison and deer were drinking water with their heads down, while they were on a high hillside.

"Are we...on the African savanna?"

Connie stared incredulously at the scene before her, muttering to herself.

Lyle, standing nearby, immediately denied it: "No...not Africa...this is Yellowstone National Park! I've been here before! Look...there are warning signs over there!"

Connie looked in the direction Lyle pointed and saw a sign warning of the presence of wild animals.

"Yellowstone National Park is in Wyoming... which means we've traveled 1,500 kilometers in an instant?!"

Connie gasped and covered her mouth in surprise.

“I want to go home…I miss Peggy and Drake…”

Molly, however, didn't care about the discussion around her. She just held Connie's hand tightly and whispered something to herself.

"You are... a magician?"

Max was the only one present who was so excited that he looked at the white-bearded old man behind him with shining eyes.

He was stunned by everything he had just experienced! Bullets suspended in mid-air! Golden energy spheres and teleportation magic! He felt this was the coolest thing he had ever seen in his life!

"I've had many names..."

“Long ago… some called me a shaman, then… some called me an alchemist and a magician, and still later… some called me a wizard…”

The white-bearded old man leaned on his cane as he spoke, his silver cloak billowing in the mountain wind, his white beard and long hair fluttering in the breeze, just like a figure from a myth or legend, and indeed he was.

Max listened to the old man's story with longing, fantasizing that he might have the chance to learn some magic from him, and maybe even get his hand healed!

I released him from the seal, so doing this for him shouldn't be a problem, right...?

Just as Max was wondering how to begin, the wizard in front of him stopped, turned around, and looked at Max with a kind expression, asking:

"But do you know... what they called me after that?"

Max was completely puzzled. How was he supposed to know that?

Seeing that Max couldn't answer, the wizard continued, "They later called me 'the one who spreads the shadow of death,' and 'the evil, fallen wizard,' and..."

'A madman who dreams of controlling the entire world'...

As the wizard spoke, his voice became somewhat eerie... and his kind face began to distort slightly. Seeing this, Max involuntarily took two steps back and stood close to Connie and the others.

This wizard doesn't seem like a good person...

This is what Max is thinking right now.

Seeing that the group was clearly becoming more wary, the wizard simply smiled kindly, raised his staff, and continued:

"Later, my disciples believed that I should not live in this world, so they secretly gathered together and wanted to kill me!"

But they were too weak to kill me... They could only seal me inside the Philosopher's Stone that I forged myself...

This Philosopher's Stone is the source of my power... Forged from an extremely rare Sun Crystal, it can absorb energy from the sun and then use it for my own purposes!

But I forged it to be too solid… so solid that even I cannot destroy it from the inside. Only by reciting the incantation to break the seal from the outside… even if he were just a mortal, he could break the seal…”

The wizard's appearance was clearly not right. Max and the others huddled together in fear and kept backing away, but suddenly a huge stone wall appeared behind them, blocking their way... Then, the ground began to shake violently! More stone walls and pillars emerged from the ground in all directions.

As if drawn by some force, they automatically formed a dome, then the floor… the load-bearing columns… the stairs, and…

throne!

At this moment, the wizard made a new move. He raised his staff high, and a burst of golden light shone from his body. His simple wizard robe instantly transformed into a magnificent robe that glittered with gold!

"I've been locked up for far too long, so long that I've forgotten my own name..."

But it's okay, I'll let the world help me remember!

"And you guys!"

After he finished speaking, he suddenly pointed to Max and the others who were trapped under the dome.

"Be a witness! Witness my awakening... witness me becoming the king of this world!"

The wizard's crazed state, now fully exposed, made Molly burst into tears, while Lyle collapsed to the ground. At that moment, Max had only one thought in his mind about this wizard…

'I misjudged him...this guy's a complete lunatic!'

……

Chapter Seventeen: Successful Takeoff

Lei Ming, far away in San Francisco, was unaware of the upheaval at home. He was currently perched on the edge of the rooftop of a tech company's laboratory building, watching the crowd scatter below...

The White Queen has just hacked into and activated the building's security alarm. Now, sirens are blaring everywhere, and people inside are frantically evacuating...

“Lei Ming, all personnel inside the building have been evacuated. Security personnel are on their way. I have shut down the power system here, which will automatically restart in three minutes. However, I cannot access the backup power supply. I can only interfere with the monitoring during this time. You need to place the wristband and return here within at least two minutes and fifty seconds.”

"Understood, it's nothing."

Lei Ming put on a mask and disappeared like a gust of wind...

In the building's corridor, a swift shadow flashed by, shattering the glass doors and windows on both sides. The vortex it created behind it scattered the surrounding debris, and the shockwave destroyed the security cameras, saving the trouble of interfering with the system...

Although Lei Ming had slowed down and was trying his best to control himself, he still couldn't skillfully use the energy field to minimize the impact range. If someone were nearby at this moment, they would probably be smashed into an abstract painting on the spot.

Following the White Queen's directions, Thunder rushed to the innermost part of the building, where the supercomputer was located.

Lei Ming stopped in his tracks upon arriving at an empty room, only to find the place in complete disarray behind him.

The room was as big as a basketball court, and the device in the center that looked like a small house was the supercomputer itself, many times larger than an ordinary computer.

Following the White Queen's guidance, Lei Ming found the computer's control panel, quickly and safely disassembled its casing, placed the bracelet in a hidden corner, and then reassembled the casing.

Supercomputers are not easily disassembled, and even if a problem occurs, this location will not be checked, making it the safest storage location.

After doing all this, Lei Ming disappeared like the wind and soon returned to the rooftop. He checked his phone; only about one minute and twenty seconds had passed. Now he just had to wait for the power system to be restored, and the rest was up to the White Queen.

A minute and a half later, power was restored, the building lights came back on, and security personnel arrived and began to pour into the building. But they were destined to be bewildered by the mess inside. Lei Ming stood on the rooftop, waiting quietly…

Soon, the White Queen's voice came from the phone.

“Lei Ming, I have successfully ‘upgraded’ this supercomputer. Its computing power is more than a hundred times stronger than the servers in the school’s computer lab. Now I can hack into all the internal networks in the world and view all kinds of confidential documents and information at will.”

"However, Thunder... I just received some bad news. Something unexpected has happened to your foster family. Max, Connie, Lyle, and Molly have been abducted by an unknown force and are now in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 1,500 kilometers away..."

Before Lei Ming could even be happy and ask it to immediately find out about An Ke, the White Queen said these words.

"What? How could this happen?"

Lei Ming's expression hardened. He was fine when he left this morning, so how did they end up in Wyoming in just half a day?

The White Queen popped up a live video on her phone. The female anchor sitting in the helicopter was talking non-stop to the camera, while the view inside Yellowstone National Park below her was a true wonder of the world.

A massive palace, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, with an ancient shape and architectural style, is slowly rising from the ground. It is estimated to be over 200 meters in diameter, and this is only the top of the palace. The damage it has caused has already spread to an area within a radius of tens of kilometers!

Wild animals living here scattered and fled, some falling into deep pits or being crushed to death by rolling boulders, making the scene look like the end of the world.

Even many tourists who had driven were among them. The female anchor on the helicopter watched in horror as some tourists without cars, who could only escape on foot, finally reached safety... only to be trampled to death by herds of wild animals. She couldn't bear to watch any longer, but due to her professional ethics, she had to face it all and continue reporting...

"This is the scene where Max and the others are right now. Their safety is currently unknown, and I am trying to use satellites to pinpoint their exact location..."

However, Lei Ming, I need to remind you that if you intend to immediately launch a rescue and arrive at the scene as quickly as possible, given your current level of micro-control over energy fields… there is a 95% probability that you will cause significant casualties to ordinary humans along the way, and you will also completely expose your own existence to the eyes of the people of this world…

You need to make a choice.

The White Queen's words were straightforward: choose to cause heavy casualties to save lives... or choose to turn a blind eye.

Lei Ming turned off his phone and looked up at the sky…

He chose the third method…

Fly over there!