Watching Richard effortlessly eliminate the water mutant who was supposedly immune to physical attacks, Sebastian Shaw's expression darkened to its ugliest.
Only a minute or two had passed since the battle began, yet in that brief span, Richard had already killed three members of the Hellfire Club.
If Riptide's swift demise was somewhat understandable—lacking both Mental Shielding powers and telepathy-blocking equipment made him vulnerable to Richard's mental immobilization—the deaths of Numbers Seven and Eight were considerably harder for Shaw to accept.
What stung most was his earlier boast, confidently declaring to Richard that Numbers Seven and Eight represented the pinnacle of genetic engineering. Now those supposed masterpieces had proven as fragile as ordinary humans when facing Richard's abilities.
The water mutant's performance particularly disappointed him. Though his elemental form indeed resisted conventional sword attacks, he'd foolishly forgotten that Richard was a mutant who had already demonstrated more than ten different mutant powers—including freezing abilities. Instead of immediately retreating to a safe distance, the water mutant had recklessly flaunted his powers before Richard, providing the perfect opportunity to be frozen solid.
Though Sebastian Shaw remained silent, his expression conveyed his intense dissatisfaction with the water mutant's performance. This reaction was entirely predictable—if Richard had been in Shaw's position, his anger would have burned even hotter.
While the exact resources required to produce these enhanced clones remained unknown, their creation clearly consumed substantial assets. Otherwise, the Department of Mutant Affairs' Operations Division would have already deployed armies of such enhanced clones.
"Knowing how to shoot doesn't make you a qualified soldier," Richard observed, controlling the whirlwind to land gently on the dock like a falling leaf. He addressed Shaw, who stood dozens of meters away. "When creating them, you shouldn't have limited their emotions. Human emotions are difficult to control, yes, but humans without emotions are merely walking corpses."
When first encountering the three enhanced clones, especially upon discovering their Mental Shielding capabilities, Richard had braced himself for a challenging battle. Reality proved disappointing—these enhanced clones performed no better than the Department's standard mutant agents.
Judging solely by their observable powers, the clones possessed considerable strength. Some even displayed abilities—like Mental Shielding—that their original templates lacked. However, their weaknesses were equally obvious.
First, they possessed no emotions and minimal autonomy, acting solely according to orders. Second, they critically lacked combat experience. Richard couldn't pinpoint exactly when these enhanced clones had been created, but based on Shaw's earlier comments, they couldn't be more than three months old.
Three months might suffice to develop proficiency with mutant powers, but skillful power usage didn't equate to combat effectiveness. As Richard had noted, knowing how to shoot didn't automatically produce a qualified soldier—these were entirely different competencies.
X-24 from the film Logan provided a perfect example. Despite being in peak physical condition, that clone had failed to defeat an aged, physically depleted Wolverine, even with significant advantages. Not only had X-24 lost to an elderly man and a young girl, but his head had been blown apart by an adamantium bullet—a shameful performance considering his overwhelming advantages.
Compared to X-24, the water mutant's performance was marginally better. Facing a significant power gap against Richard, his defeat was inevitable. His mistake was in execution—rather than hiding in the sea and attacking Richard from a distance with controlled water, a strategy that might have bought him several crucial minutes, his inexperience led him to choose a fighting approach that ensured his immediate destruction.
After hearing Richard's assessment, Sebastian Shaw fell silent. The enhanced clones had been jointly developed by the Hellfire Club and the Department of Mutant Affairs, and Shaw understood precisely why their emotions and autonomous consciousness had been restricted during creation.
He recognized that this limitation weakened their combat effectiveness to some extent but had nonetheless agreed with the Department's approach. The reasoning was simple: like the Department, Shaw didn't want these "weapons" to possess excessive emotion or self-awareness.
Weapons don't need minds of their own—they just need to follow orders.
"Leave now, and I'll pretend today never happened," Sebastian Shaw finally said after more than ten seconds of tense silence.
If he could have, Shaw would have torn Richard apart with his bare hands. Richard had killed three Hellfire Club members before his eyes, destroyed his yacht, and most infuriatingly, taunted him with crude comments about Emma. Under normal circumstances, Shaw would never allow such an offender to walk away alive.
Unfortunately for Shaw, Richard was far from a normal adversary. Even with the enhanced Magneto clone at his side, Shaw lacked absolute confidence in his ability to defeat Richard completely.
After hearing Shaw's offer, Richard smiled. "Didn't you just promise to kill me? Why the sudden change of heart?"
Though no deep-seated hatred existed between them, the moment Richard had received his system task, Sebastian Shaw had been added to his elimination list. Whether to complete his mission, obtain the "Shadow Flare" reward, or to plunder Shaw's mutant powers, the Black King's death was non-negotiable.
"Do you truly want a fight to the death with the entire Hellfire Club?" Shaw's tone chilled once more.
"Let's not waste each other's time," Richard replied dismissively. "You've absorbed considerable energy already. Go ahead—show me what the Black King of the Hellfire Club is truly capable of."
With those words, Richard executed a flourish with his Masamune, pointing its tip directly at Sebastian Shaw.
Seeing this challenge, Shaw recognized that only one of them would leave this encounter alive. Abandoning any further attempts at "persuasion," he began walking directly toward Richard.
Initially, his pace matched that of a casual after-dinner stroll. After several steps, his speed increased to that of a person jogging. By the time he reached Richard, his velocity rivaled that of a sprinting cheetah.
Coming face-to-face with Richard, Shaw unhesitatingly raised his right fist and launched a powerful strike aimed at Richard's head.
Judging by his punching form alone, Shaw's technique resembled that of an amateur boxing enthusiast. Yet the punch he delivered—in both power and speed—reached superhuman levels. While his fighting skills weren't particularly refined, the raw force behind his attacks compensated dramatically. To put it vividly, his punch carried the devastating impact of a rocket.
In an instant, Shaw's fist arrived directly before Richard's face.
At that precise moment, Richard vanished.
Shift Slash!
Richard, who had been standing before Sebastian Shaw, materialized behind him like a ghost. With lightning speed, he swung the Masamune, targeting the back of Shaw's exposed neck.
...
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