As dusk approached, Grandpa Max wasn't surprised at all after hearing about the Snare-Oh incident.
Because this summer, strange things had happened everywhere they went.
There were always strange things every year, but this year there seemed to be especially many.
After leaving Todd's house, Lucian brought Grandpa Max to Old Man Jason's ranch.
The two purple mutant cows were still tightly bound in iron chains, baring their fangs and letting out terrifying roars.
"These are the mutant dairy cows that attacked us yesterday," Lucian said slowly.
Grandpa Max frowned and took out a detector.
Then he pressed the red button on it.
Beep, beep!!
The moment he pressed it, the detector immediately lit up with a dense cluster of purple dots spread all around them.
"I've detected traces of Corrodium. This high-energy mineral isn't a natural product of Earth."
"My guess is that a meteorite fell somewhere near here thousands of years ago, and traces of it were left all across this region."
Grandpa Max's expression turned grave as he stared at the screen full of glowing dots.
"Then why is Snare-Oh looking for Corrodium?" Ben scratched his head in confusion. "Could it be... Snare-Oh is some kind of meteorite collector?"
Gwen smacked Ben lightly on the head. "Doofus, think about what it does!"
Grandpa Max put the detector away. "It's a source of high energy, an extremely unstable element. That's what caused the cows to mutate."
"So if Snare-Oh finds more of those stones..."
"Then it'll have the power to turn every living creature on the East Coast into mutant monsters." Lucian's gaze turned cold.
"So we need to find Snare-Oh immediately, stop it, and seal it away." Grandpa Max clenched his fist.
"But how are we supposed to find it?" Gwen asked. Tracking magic definitely wasn't her specialty.
Grandpa Max smiled. "Leave that to me."
...
Seven in the evening.
Grandpa Max drove the Rustbucket away from Joan's ranch and into a nearby town.
He drove with the detector in one hand, seemingly following its readings.
"Grandpa, does your detector have a navigation mode?" Ben asked curiously.
"No. I'm looking for the place with the highest Corrodium reading." Grandpa Max smiled. "Since Snare-Oh wants Corrodium, it's bound to go there."
"That's what I figured too," Lucian said.
"Cuz, you're amazing!" Gwen gave him a thumbs-up.
"Hey, what about me?" Ben asked eagerly.
Gwen rolled her eyes at him and said nothing.
Time passed bit by bit.
At seven-thirty, the Rustbucket stopped in front of an ice cream factory.
A sign hung above it.
Digby Dairy.
"The detector says this is the place with the highest Corrodium reading," Grandpa Max said as he got out of the vehicle.
The others followed.
"Digby Dairy? Their ice cream is my favorite." Ben started drooling at the thought.
As they passed the security booth, the guard was sprawled back in his chair, fast asleep.
There was also a used condom and some women's clothing lying on the desk.
Apparently, quite a battle had taken place there just a little while ago...
The group made their way straight to the place where the Corrodium concentration was strongest.
It was an ice cream processing plant, huge in scale, about the size of ten basketball courts.
The area was filled with ice cream-making equipment, along with all kinds of fruit syrups and flavorings.
Since Digby Dairy was loaded, the employees here got off work very early.
They only worked about five hours a day, from one in the afternoon to six in the evening.
And they always got off on time.
So by now, all the workers had already left, either heading home or off to indulge themselves elsewhere.
Following the detector's signal, Grandpa Max arrived at an open area.
Bang!
The detector in his hand suddenly exploded, sending up wisps of black smoke.
Grandpa Max let out a sigh and pointed at the tiled floor ahead. "My guess is that there's a huge chunk of Corrodium buried underneath."
Otherwise, the detector wouldn't have reacted that violently.
"Alright, leave it to me!"
Without another word, Ben slapped the Omnitrix and turned into Diamondhead.
He charged forward, transformed both hands into crystal drills, and started digging into the tiled floor like crazy.
"Ben, wait," Grandpa Max called out.
Lucian, on the other hand, barely reacted.
You couldn't catch a wolf without using bait.
He intended to use this Corrodium crystal to lure Snare-Oh out.
Diamondhead's destructive power was immense.
Within moments, he had dug the Corrodium crystal out.
The smooth tiled floor in front of them was gone, replaced by a dark pit in the earth.
Inside it lay a huge purple crystal, gleaming brightly.
"The radiation from Corrodium crystals is really strong. We need to stay back," Lucian said as he took two steps backward.
"Lucian's right. Corrodium is no joke," Grandpa Max said with a nod.
"What about me?" Diamondhead turned his head.
"Your alien form should be fine," Grandpa Max guessed, stroking his chin.
Click!
The ceiling lights suddenly dimmed.
The entire area plunged into darkness.
[Ding! Alien Hacker mission triggered.]
[Defeat Snare-Oh.]
[Complete successfully to unlock a random hero.]
A series of cold mechanical prompts rang out in Lucian's mind.
Click.
The lights came back on.
The evil Snare-Oh stood before them, its purple eyes glaring.
"It's here!" Diamondhead raised his sharp crystal blade and rushed toward Snare-Oh like he was facing a great enemy.
Snare-Oh let out a shriek and lashed out with a bandage. The violent force instantly sent Diamondhead flying sideways and crashing into a refrigerator.
Then it shot several bandages toward the Corrodium crystal in the pit.
"Water Dragon Soul!"
With a sharp cry, Gwen summoned a deep-blue water dragon that twisted through the air, cloaked in thick vapor, and slammed viciously into Snare-Oh.
Caught off guard, Snare-Oh was blasted away by the Water Dragon Soul and smashed into a wall, sending cracks racing across it.
But that level of damage was nothing more than a scratch to Snare-Oh.
It quickly got back up, bandages whipping everywhere like a savage white octopus. Abandoning the Corrodium crystal, it charged straight at them instead.
It wanted to deal with everyone here first.
"Not good!" Grandpa Max hurriedly pulled out two spheres and pressed them onto himself and Gwen.
Whoosh.
A pale yellow protective suit immediately unfolded around each of them, sealing them up like astronauts.
"This protective gear can block radiation, but I only have two sets." Grandpa Max turned to Lucian. "Lucian, transform now so you don't get contaminated by Corrodium!"
Boom.
A flash of faint green light burst out.
The next second, a blue jelly-like creature appeared before everyone's eyes...