-----
-----
In a flash, a warm surge of energy shot up from Alex's lower back to his belly, then burst upward into his chest. It bubbled and boiled there for a moment before rushing into his limbs. It felt like thousands of little mice were darting through his veins under his skin. His muscles rippled like waves, flexing and rolling in rhythm.
"AHHH!" Alex let out a loud roar. With one powerful twist of his hands, he snapped a precast concrete slab clean in half—this thing was several inches thick!
"Holy crap! Is he Popeye or something?!" the head chef gasped, then turned to the chubby kitchen hand beside him.
"Yeah! He must've snuck some of our spinach!" the helper muttered dumbly.
"Whoa! That's Alex, right?! He's amazing!" a sharp-eyed delivery girl cried out in surprise, recognizing him.
Meanwhile, the woman still clung to Alex's back. She was soaking in the masculine energy radiating from him, and her body went completely limp—like jelly. For a moment, she couldn't even catch her breath.
Alex didn't notice any of that. He dropped the broken piece of concrete, stepped forward, and gently picked up the barely-breathing Buddy.
But the woman behind him wasn't ready. She stumbled forward and ended up grabbing onto Alex's thigh for balance.
A strange tingle shot up his body from where she clutched him. He planted his feet, barely managing to stay upright.
Suddenly, the woman snapped out of it. With a sharp cry, she lunged forward, snatching Buddy from Alex's arms. She hugged the dog tightly to her chest, tears gushing down her cheeks.
The crowd watching erupted into loud applause.
Alex let out a sigh of relief and casually waved a hand, trying to look like someone who does heroic deeds in secret and never asks for thanks.
Truth be told, even he was shocked by the burst of strength he'd just displayed.
"Thank you—thank you so, so much!" The woman ran up to him, one arm cradling Buddy, the other grabbing Alex's arm and shaking it excitedly. "Tell me, what do you want? I'll give you anything!"
Say money, dude—ask for money! The delivery girl and the kitchen helper were practically more anxious than Alex himself, desperate to shout it for him.
But Alex's brain was short-circuiting. The woman's very generous chest was rubbing against his arm, sending a sweet, tingling sensation straight to his head. His thoughts completely jammed up.
With a righteous look like some kind of moral saint, he declared solemnly, "All I want is for our furry friends not to get hurt, and for kind people like you to always be happy and beautiful…"
His little speech brought tears to the woman's eyes.
What a show-off! The jealous little kitchen helper was fuming. "This guy's nuts! If you don't want the reward, at least let me have it!"
That finally snapped Alex out of it—and he instantly regretted everything. This was the perfect chance to cash in! How did he let it slip away like that?!
Well, since he'd already gone full saint, might as well stick to the act. Alex looked down at the woman and said gently, "Sis, don't just stand there—go home and clean up."
The woman finally realized what state she was in. She looked down to see herself completely filthy, her nightgown soaked and dripping all the way from her chest to her thighs. Her face turned red. Hugging Buddy tightly, she turned and ran.
Alex gave a bitter laugh, shook his head, then went to patch the concrete slab back together. He even cleaned out the gunk in the drain before washing his hands. After that, he grabbed a pack of instant noodles and a sausage from the counter and was ready to head out.
But the chubby kitchen hand stepped in front of him, held out a hand, and barked, "Pay up!"
"Pay what?" Alex froze.
The guy waved his arms and shouted, "You messed up our business and got my pants all wet! You're not leaving without paying!"
"Says who?" Alex brushed past him and kept walking.
"This says who!" The little dude snapped. He grabbed a huge kitchen knife and swung it at Alex.
Alex felt a wave of rage rush to his head. He stepped in, grabbed the guy's knife arm, twisted hard, and yanked the knife away. Then with his other hand, he straight-up lifted the guy and slammed him onto the chopping table. Without hesitating, he stabbed the knife right between the man's legs.
CLANG!
The sharp blade sank into the wooden table with a deep thunk, going a full three inches deep!
Alex's face was cold and fierce. "Still want that money?" he growled.
The kitchen hand was so terrified, he couldn't even form words.
Alex scoffed, then walked out of the restaurant.
The guy finally came to, patted himself down, and realized he wasn't hurt. Embarrassed and furious, he jumped off the table, grabbed another knife without thinking, and charged after Alex.
The head chef, who'd been watching the whole thing, had let him be at first when he was just asking for money. But now that he saw the guy trying to fight Alex with a blade, he panicked. He rushed forward and tackled the kitchen helper.
With the chef holding him down, the little guy gave up the fight but kept cursing under his breath. He reached over to grab the knife Alex had stabbed into the table.
But that knife might as well have been glued down. It didn't budge an inch.
He tried again and again, using all his strength, face turning red, but it was no use. Instead, he yanked so hard the handle snapped off—CLANK!—and he fell flat on his butt.
Furious, he hurled the broken handle across the room. He stared at the blade still stuck in the table, eyes flashing with a crazed mix of shame and fury.
People in the crowd gathered around to take a look and gasped, "Damn! How much strength would you need to do that?!"
The kitchen hand snapped, "What are you staring at?! I can do it too!"
He grabbed another knife, gritted his teeth, and stabbed it into the chopping table with all his might. CLANG! This time, the blade barely made a dent—a tiny white spot on the surface. Worse, the blade broke in two from the impact.
The whole crowd burst out laughing.
Red in the face, the kitchen hand yelled, "Laugh it up! Keep laughing and I'll slice you all up!"
"Quit messing around and get back to work!" the head chef scolded as he dragged the guy back into the kitchen.
The crowd slowly dispersed.
Back at his rental place, Alex opened the door and froze.
Pip was tearing the place apart.
Books and stationery were scattered all over the bed. Even weirder, the little food-gremlin was wrestling with a steel ruler, trying to bite it in half.
Just as Alex rushed forward to stop him, he heard a loud CRACK—the steel ruler actually snapped in Pip's mouth!
What the hell?! Is this dog for real?! It's just a tiny puppy, and its teeth are already this brutal?
Alex was dumbfounded.
Pip stumbled over and stood in front of him, half-standing on its hind legs, proudly waving a piece of the broken ruler with one paw like it was showing off a trophy.
This little rascal's a wrecking machine. If I don't do something, he's gonna chew through everything in the house—and then the landlady's gonna kill me!
"Pip! Why are you tearing things up?!" Alex snapped, snatching the broken ruler from the pup's paw. "Listen up—no more chewing random stuff, got it?"
Pip sat down, stunned, staring up at Alex with a confused face like, Wait... I'm this awesome and you're scolding me instead of praising me?!
"....."