Chapter 22

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We are at 43rd position right now with 256 stones. The goal of 300 stones has not been reached, but I can really that lot of you guys are interacting and pushing the book in other ways, so here is another chapter for you guys!

Get me ten 5 star reviews (the book is unreviewed right now), and I'll give you guys another chapter!

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In the wooden house, everyone was busy preparing dinner, but Leon was nowhere to be found.

Natasha, kneading dough alongside Wanda, couldn't help but ask, "Where's Leon?"

Wanda, playfully shaping the dough in her hands, smiled and replied, "When Leon trains, he usually comes back later than us. He often goes deep into the Ural Mountains. It's a quiet place, surrounded by nature."

"Like meditation?" Natasha mused, intrigued.

"Maybe," Wanda shrugged. "When he trains, he empties his mind and tries to blend into the natural environment, almost like he's trying to understand everything around him. It's a bit beyond me, to be honest."

As Wanda spoke, she seemed to sense something and glanced toward the door of the wooden house. Natasha, curious, followed her gaze.

In the next moment, she saw golden particles gather and form into a human shape—Leon, now standing there in a vest. The display of this ability left Natasha momentarily stunned.

"Is that the ability he mentioned, the one he got from the experiments?" Natasha asked, still processing what she had just seen.

Wanda chuckled at her reaction. "Leon can control light—and turn into it."

Natasha's mind raced. The power to manipulate light could be deceptively simple or incredibly destructive, depending on how it was used. If it was used correctly, Leon could easily become a walking nuclear bomb.

Natasha's image of Leon became a bit clearer in her mind. His strength brought her a sense of security. After all, as the backbone of their group, the stronger Leon was, the safer she felt. It also made sense why Leon, Wanda, and the others were so dismissive of Dreykov. With abilities like his, numbers and weapons seemed insignificant.

That evening, after dinner, something was different. Under Leon's guidance, Natasha began teaching the group. As one of the world's top spies, she brought a wealth of experience in assassination, languages, culture, communication, and human psychology. Her expertise in micro-expression analysis and reading emotions was at an expert level—she could easily be a professor.

Her teachings helped fill gaps in the children's knowledge and experience. Leon, with his understanding of how important knowledge is, knew this was a key part of their growth.

The belief that knowledge is power stuck with Leon, something reinforced by figures like Tony Stark. In his spare time, Leon even dabbled in martial arts, experimenting to see how he could apply it to his Glint-Glint Fruit ability. After all, what boy hasn't dreamed of being like Frieza, using a single finger to release an energy ball and destroy an entire planet?

Leon had definitely dreamed about it.

Leon had also often wondered why the children, including Wanda, never seemed to feel bored or restless living in the remote mountains. The answer was simple: they were constantly enriched with knowledge, training, and purpose.

In 2008, time moved slowly, but much had changed over the course of a year. In the United States—the cultural hub and global superpower—public opinion began to turn sharply against mutants. A series of attacks and incidents had worsened their living conditions, making survival increasingly difficult.

The situation escalated even further after Magneto, the leader of the mutant supremacy movement, disappeared without a trace. His absence only fueled public fear, causing the anti-mutant sentiment to grow more intense. Conspiracies targeting mutants were popping up everywhere, making it a hostile world for them to navigate.

In addition to the turmoil in the United States, Eastern Europe had remained relatively stable. Leon and his family, still in their dormant phase, watched events unfold from a distance, feeling sympathy for the plight of mutants but knowing there was little they could do.

However, that year brought an unexpected change that disrupted their peaceful life.

It happened one day in the Ural Mountains. A fierce blizzard hit the region, covering the entire mountain range and nearby cities in a thick blanket of snow. Inside their wooden house, the warmth of the fireplace kept the cold at bay.

Wanda, now a year older, sat on the sofa with a tablet in hand, studying new college-level material. Thanks to her enhanced physical and mental abilities, learning had become easier. Her memory and focus, sharpened through training and inspired by Natasha's spy techniques, allowed her to absorb knowledge quickly. She wasn't just learning—she was mastering it at a remarkable pace.

Perhaps due to her mastery of Water Breathing, Wanda had become as clear and calm as water itself. She had also developed a habit of patience, finding joy in what others might consider the tedious process of learning.

In the room, everyone else was also engrossed in their studies, using tablets and headphones. These children, having risen from the depths of hardship, were mentally strong and mature. They all understood that both power and knowledge were crucial for their future.

The atmosphere in the wooden house was peaceful and focused.

Leon, too, was engaged, holding two orphaned sables he had found in the mountains. While cradling them, he glanced at his laptop, sifting through the latest reports from the outside world.

Being informed doesn't mean being cut off from the world. Natasha excels at this.

She walked in from the kitchen carrying a dinner plate with oat milk that she had soaked. Over the past year, Natasha had become an integral part of the family, playing the role of an older sister.

"Thank you, Sister Natasha," Wanda said with a smile.

"Thanks," others chimed in as well.

After handing out the oat milk and receiving their thanks, Natasha placed the dinner plate on the wooden table and moved it toward Leon. Her gray down sweater did little to hide her figure, but a year of practice had made her demeanor more gentle and less captivating.

"How are things looking?"

"Aside from the public criticism of mutants, there haven't been many major events. The only thing causing some buzz is the US military's secret pursuit of a big green monster. The hacker groups in the US, who claim to have the truth, are our primary source of external information."

"There's never a shortage of people like that."

"True, but it's frustrating that Hydra has stayed so well hidden and even changed their plans over the past year." Leon is quite dissatisfied about it; there's no place to gather intel.

Well, at least there's no shortage of gangster drug gangs. Otherwise, how would he continue to fund such a large family?

Natasha's red lips curved into a slight smile as she sighed, "I never expected that Hydra, which I thought was gone, actually still exists."