"You're not seriously going to gang up on me, are you?"
"Have some honor, will you?"
When Alex casually dusted off his hands and started walking again, completely unbothered, the guy with the braid finally lost his cool.
He actually yelled those words at Alex at the top of his lungs.
Little did he know—Alex had never planned to lay a hand on him in the first place.
Among all the mutants on Sebastian Shaw's side, the braided guy was easily the weakest. His powers were limited to close combat, and even then, not very effective—nothing like Windman or Baldy, whose abilities could cover large areas.
He'd been going at it with Darwin for so long and still couldn't take him down. A small fry like that posed zero threat to Alex, so why waste his time?
After all, Alex's mission was to kill Shaw, not wipe out every last one of his lackeys. Someone like this? Let the others handle it. He wasn't about to do everything by himself.
Without sparing the man another glance, Alex strolled confidently through the massive breach Erik had torn open, stepping straight into the nuclear submarine.
"So they really couldn't stop you."
A voice echoed suddenly from inside the sub.
There, leaning casually against a wall with arms crossed, stood a man in a gas mask. His tone was unhurried, almost like he'd been waiting just for Alex.
Apparently, Shaw had prepared a backup plan.
Alex raised an eyebrow. It was a bit of a surprise—but then again, when he thought about it, it actually made perfect sense.
In fact, it would've been strange if Shaw hadn't set up a second line of defense.
Last time in Manhattan, Shaw had sent a small army and still failed miserably. There was no way he'd rely on just a few people on the beach this time.
The invisible man had definitely been a trump card—if Alex didn't have enhanced hearing, that one might've actually worked.
But for such a crucial mission, if that was Shaw's only secret weapon, it would've been far too risky.
Now, this guy in the gas mask—he was probably the real final ace up Shaw's sleeve.
"Tch. Got careless."
Alex had been so focused on the beach outside, he'd completely overlooked the possibility that someone might be hiding inside the sub.
He hadn't even noticed the gas mask guy's presence until now.
And worse—Erik was nowhere to be seen.
Alex immediately scanned the area, eyes narrowing.
"He's fine, that guy who came in before you."
The masked man seemed to know what Alex was thinking and calmly spoke. "Shaw seems to have... different plans for him."
But Alex wasn't about to take his word for it.
He activated his X-ray vision—and sure enough, he soon spotted Erik and Shaw in a sealed-off room at the other end of the sub.
At the moment, Shaw was ruthlessly manhandling Erik like he was nothing more than a plaything.
Truth be told, Shaw's powers were pretty damn broken. Erik didn't stand a chance against him one-on-one.
Once Alex confirmed that Erik was still alive, he let out a breath and relaxed.
Then he turned his attention back to the gas mask man.
A cold smile curved on his lips, and his eyes turned crimson.
He was going to end this in one blast.
But the gas mask guy had clearly come prepared.
Just as Alex was about to fire, the man ripped off his mask and exhaled forcefully—
A thick, green vapor burst from his mouth, hot and noxious.
No doubt about it—poison gas.
Turns out, Shaw's "final weapon" against Alex… was basically Hanzo from Naruto.
The green mist spread rapidly, engulfing the room like a toxic fog, swallowing Alex whole.
The gas mask man let out a chilling laugh.
"You must be Shaw's greatest threat. Otherwise, he wouldn't have unleashed me. No matter how powerful you are, you're finished. No one survives my poison gas—urk!"
He didn't even get to finish his speech.
A beam of crimson heat shot straight through his chest, blasting a massive hole through his torso.
Boom!
The impact flung him across the room. He slammed into the wall behind him and slid down lifelessly.
And then—Alex walked out of the green mist like he was out for a Sunday stroll.
Not even a scratch. His expression was calm, his skin flush with color.
That gas, which could rot a man's insides in seconds, hadn't touched him at all.
"H-How… can this be?"
The man's eyes bulged in disbelief as he choked out his final words.
"This… isn't possible…"
With a final tremble, his head tilted to one side, and he collapsed, dead.
Alex glanced at the corpse and gave a cold snort.
"Shaw sure knows how to roll out the red carpet."
Honestly, the guy had been insanely strong.
If deployed properly, he could've wiped out an entire team of X-Men by himself. Charles, Erik, the rest of them—probably only Darwin could've survived.
But now, in this wide-open environment, his abilities had been heavily restricted. That's all there was to it.
If this guy had shown up at the hotel back in Manhattan, that mission would've been a nightmare.
From Shaw's perspective, the gas mask man was definitely a top-tier weapon meant to counter Alex.
But…
That same problem remained:
Shaw would never truly understand the scope of Alex's power.
Because frankly, the cheat Alex had been given was just that broken.
Without wasting another look on the body, Alex turned and strode toward the submarine's sealed "core chamber."
After following a twenty-meter-long corridor, he stopped before a thick wall.
Zzzzap!
His heat vision cut a neat square in the wall, and with a single punch, he knocked it clean off.
A hole appeared before him.
On the other side was a silver, enclosed room—Shaw had Erik pinned against the wall, battered and beaten.
Hearing the noise, Shaw turned his head.
His gaze met Alex's, filled with icy malice and unmasked hostility.
"You again. So they couldn't stop you after all."
"I knew from the start—you'd be my greatest threat."
Shaw's eyes locked onto Alex with murderous intent.
This young man had been a thorn in his side from the very beginning, and now… it was time to finish this.
Once and for all.
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