From today onward, I am Tony Qiao!

Hearing the girl’s cold laugh, the men in black felt an uneasy chill in their hearts, but remembering their overwhelming numbers and their years of hard experience in the underworld, they reassured themselves. If word got out that they backed down, wouldn’t they lose all face?

“Don’t be afraid of her! This little girl is bluffing! If she were truly extraordinary, would she be running like this?” one of the men, convinced he had spotted the flaw in her act, shouted loudly.

“That’s right! She’s just pretending! Everyone, go! Retrieve the boss’s property—otherwise, none of us will leave alive!” another man with a vicious look on his face echoed, rallying the group.

Their duet, whether intentional or not, both belittled the girl’s abilities and invoked their boss’s threat. The men, now unable to retreat, donned fierce expressions and surged toward the girl.

“Grab her! She’s pretty enough—we can have some fun later, hahahaha—huh?!”

The man laughing nastily lunged at the girl, but in mid-air, his body was suddenly struck as if by some invisible force, halting him abruptly. He crashed into the wall, limbs twisted, neck bent at a sick angle—dead or close to it.

The sudden attack left the men stunned, though the girl’s face was little better. After using her power, her complexion paled, beads of cold sweat appearing on her forehead.

“She’s finished! She’s about to collapse! Go, go, go!”

The men, now riding the tiger and unable to dismount, realized that if she truly possessed such power, fleeing would mean death for some of them. Better to gamble everything now. As gangsters, they were never short on desperate courage; their charge now looked fierce and determined.

On the girl’s side, her telekinetic-like ability seemed formidable, but every use drained her alarmingly. After taking down seven or eight enemies, she could barely lift a finger.

“Damn… is this the end after all…”

Her body felt as heavy as concrete, her mind wracked with pain as if needles churned inside. This was her first time using her power so many times; her body was long past its limit, and only a sliver of will kept her standing.

Had she not run into this narrow alley, making the men wary of using firearms for fear of friendly fire, she would have been a corpse already.

“Tch, I overestimated myself… Turns out, I’m nothing special after all…”

Watching the men draw closer, she tried to unleash her power once more, but not a flicker of energy came forth—her body collapsed limply to the ground.

“If I die here… maybe that’s not so bad… I won’t have to scramble for dinner every night anymore…”

As darkness swallowed her vision, the girl felt no fear in these final moments.

“Let go of that girl!”

Suddenly, a thunderous shout echoed in the alley, clearing the girl’s fading sight by a fraction!

She saw the men in black, starting from the rear, tossed into the air as if struck by a heavy truck, then crashing down hard.

“Who is it? Is someone here to save me? Someone like me… can be saved?”

The pain in her mind prevented her from thinking, or even understanding her own feelings, but she knew with certainty that she was hoping to see this person, whoever was rushing toward her.

Though it lasted only a few breaths, the girl felt as if she’d lived a lifetime before finally seeing the figure.

His face was obscured by the backlight, but she could see the smile at the corner of his mouth, and hear his calm yet forceful declaration:

“Leave it to me!”

Her world faded to black, and she lost consciousness.

…

When the girl slowly awoke, she found herself lying in a strange room, staring up at a ceiling she had never seen before.

But what truly startled and embarrassed her was the sensation of someone touching her body!

Still weakened by the aftereffects of her powers, she was unable to resist, helplessly feeling the unknown hands moving across her skin.

The warmth of the stranger’s touch seeped through her skin to her mind, throwing her into a panic—when suddenly, the hands pressed firmly, removing something from her body…

“All done. Here’s your new hairstyle.” Jos tossed the cut hair into the trash, then looked at the girl with satisfaction.

When he arrived, he found her body already depleted by overuse of her powers.

This was common among low-level mutants; some lost their human form or even sanity due to their abilities. Her situation was already comparatively fortunate.

Yet, at this point, explanations mattered little. Her body could no longer withstand the strain of her powers; even immediate hospitalization would not guarantee survival.

So Jos gave her a haircut.

As the Apocalypse-style hairdressing technique was applied, the girl’s X-gene was instantly activated and strengthened, even beginning to heal her fragile body.

As a systematized ability, this enhancement process was far simpler than Apocalypse’s original method, and caused no unnecessary pain.

Though it offered less flexibility, it was far more stable, with both its upper and lower limits halved.

“I… Why am I alright?” As the weakness faded from her body, the girl sat up in surprise.

But as she moved, she realized she was hovering in mid-air!

“This is my power… What did you do to me?!”

She stared, dumbfounded, at her hands. Her short, wavy hair, tinted a shade of green, swayed gently as she moved, making her look adorable.

“What did I do? Just gave you a haircut. I suggest you take some time to get used to your powers—accidents can happen otherwise.”

Jos tossed the scissors and comb back into the system space, then admired his first creation: the Apocalypse… Four Horsemen of Hairdressing.

Hmm, compared to Apocalypse’s tacky taste, this trembling tornado style was simply superb!