Dawn broke over the quiet town, painting the sky in soft shades of orange and gold.
"Oh, Max, are you leaving so early?" Aunt Vera stood at the door, her expression melancholic as she watched Max, Asher, and the others finish loading their bags into the Rust Bucket.
"Yeah, we've got to keep moving. The whole summer vacation is fully scheduled," Max replied warmly, his tone upbeat despite the early hour.
"Did we not treat you well enough?"
"That's not it at all. The ox tongue cake and pork pudding you made were... quite memorable." Max's diplomatic response earned him a grateful smile from his aunt.
Listening to Max's conversation with Aunt Vera, Asher felt his stomach churn involuntarily. He'd eaten those "delicacies" once before and had somehow been treated to them again last night. And this morning, before leaving, he'd endured another "hearty meal." His face had probably turned green at some point.
"If we don't leave now, I won't be able to keep it together," Ben whispered aside, grimacing. "The food they make is terrible."
"Agreed!" Gwen nodded emphatically.
All three of them shared normal taste buds, and that made Aunt Vera's cooking especially challenging to endure.
After chatting with Aunt Vera for a few more minutes, Max instructed Asher and the others to say their goodbyes to their aunt and uncle. Once the farewells were complete, everyone climbed back into the Rust Bucket.
Under the watchful eyes of Aunt Vera and Uncle Frank, the old RV rumbled out of the peaceful town. The memory of the alien invasion, like the buried basement entrance, would become something deeply etched into Asher's mind, but for the townspeople, it would be nothing more than a strange crater that briefly made local headlines before fading from public consciousness.
Inside the vehicle, Asher sat in his usual seat and stared at the storage compartment, his mind racing. He needed to figure out how to naturally retrieve the reward the system had given him from his bag.
Suddenly pulling out some kind of technical manual might seem awkward.
"Why not... go to the bathroom and check it out there?"
After thinking it through carefully, Asher stood up casually, walked to the storage area, and rummaged through his bag. Soon, he found an extremely thick book that felt heavy in his hands and had no cover.
It had to be the book from the system.
Holding the heavy tome with both hands and trying to appear nonchalant, he made his way to the small bathroom at the back of the RV and closed the door behind him.
The bathroom was a tiny cubicle, an adult couldn't stand inside with their arms outstretched.
Asher closed the toilet lid, sat down, and placed the book on his lap. Opening the first page, he was immediately confronted with dense, incomprehensible technical jargon and complex diagrams.
"Grey Matter, it's up to you!" Asher reluctantly lifted the Omnitrix, opened the interface screen, scrolled to Grey Matter's icon, and initiated the transformation.
FLASH!
The book suddenly tumbled onto the closed toilet seat as brilliant green light filled the cramped bathroom. Where Asher had been sitting, a small alien creature now stood perched on the book.
Grey Matter!
The tiny Galvan's large green eyes scanned the first page with rapid precision.
The content of the book was completely absorbed, as if every formula, every schematic, every principle was being calculated and catalogued in his enhanced brain.
Flip, flip, flip!
Grey Matter quickly flipped through the pages, his genius-level intellect memorizing and comprehending everything instantly.
Cannons, various firearms, missiles, tanks, fighter jets, every weapon system on Earth, complete with manufacturing specifications and usage protocols!
In just a few minutes, Grey Matter had mastered it all.
"Cannons, fighter jets... I don't have the materials for those. Even if I did, they'd be way too conspicuous," Grey Matter muttered, holding his chin thoughtfully while standing on the last page. "Why don't I make a weapon with manageable power instead? Something Ben can use for self-defense."
Ben had earned that qualification through his courage last night.
Two minutes passed.
Finally, the bathroom door opened.
The figure who emerged wasn't Grey Matter, but Asher, returned to his human form. His eyes had gained a new depth of understanding. Through his study as Grey Matter, he'd mastered all that knowledge, it was now permanently etched into his memory.
And that book? Grey Matter had thoroughly destroyed it using water, ensuring no trace remained.
Although Asher could now manufacture weapons, he still needed to discuss some things with Ben beforehand.
He walked directly to where Ben sat and took a seat beside him, his expression serious as he fixed Ben with an intense stare.
"Asher, why are you suddenly looking at me like that?" Ben's tone involuntarily weakened. He felt as if he was being scrutinized by an older brother, not a peer his own age.
"You'll scare him," Gwen joked from the adjacent seat.
"I want to discuss something very serious," Asher said, taking a deep breath. "What happened yesterday actually taught us a lot."
Hearing this, both Ben and Gwen's playful expressions vanished.
Yesterday's experience was still vivid in their minds. It had been the most dangerous situation they'd faced yet, the first time their family had been directly threatened at such close range.
"The aliens can't catch me, but they will catch you to threaten me. And you have almost no means to face aliens on your own right now," Asher said, his solemn gaze falling on Ben. "So, Ben, if you had a weapon for self-defense, would you dare to stand up and fight?"
He hoped Ben could become a hero like in the original timeline. However, this Ben didn't possess the Omnitrix.
Some things had to be made clear in advance.
"Of course I'd dare!" Ben said without hesitation, his voice firm. "I don't want to be bullied by anyone again!"
His eyes blazed with determination.
"I can help too," Gwen said quickly.
"Gwen, we can talk about your training later," Asher said gently, knowing from the original timeline that Gwen would eventually develop magical abilities, she wouldn't need technological weapons.
But Ben needed technology.
"Ben, you need to understand something," Asher continued seriously. "If you step forward to fight, you might anger those aliens. You could even be the one who gets captured and used as a hostage. These things aren't games, and this isn't a science fiction movie. The dangers are real."
Asher emphasized the potential consequences again, his tone grave.
Ben fell silent for a moment.
He suddenly remembered his experience at school, being hung from a tree by those two bullies.
He'd known he couldn't beat them.
But he'd still tried to stand up for himself.
Even when defeat seemed certain, he couldn't tolerate that kind of bullying.
"I'm not afraid!" Ben slowly clenched his fists, his voice resolute. "I'd rather fight and lose than be a helpless victim."
This allowed Asher to see his cousin's true determination. Beneath Ben's playful, mischievous exterior was a heart stronger than most adults possessed.
Max, listening to the conversation, quietly approved of Asher's approach.
He knew that he and the kids would continue to be used as leverage against Asher in future encounters. If Asher truly had the ability to give Ben combat capability, it would be a valuable asset for their group.
If worst came to worst, his identity as a retired Plumber could come in handy...
"Good," Asher said with a slight smile.
"You should know about my Grey Matter transformation, right? He's not just incredibly intelligent, he can also design and build high-powered weapons."
"What?!"
Both Ben and Gwen's eyes widened in shock, and even Max's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
Could he really manufacture weapons?
"So, Ben," Asher said calmly, as if he were offering a simple toy rather than a genuine combat tool.
"I'm going to make a weapon for you."
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