Emma glanced at Shaw, then at Riptide frozen solid in ice. Her diamond form rippled like liquid mercury, transforming back into ordinary flesh and bone. She walked forward, reaching out to touch Mario's arm.
Mario swatted her hand away. "Keep it professional."
Emma blinked, clearly not used to rejection. Seeing that seduction wasn't working, she gave up and slouched onto a sun lounger, extending one arm toward Hendry. Her eyes fixed on the thick wand in Mario's hand. "You're a mage? There are mages in this world?"
The question carried genuine curiosity. If mages really existed, that changed everything about her understanding of reality.
Mario twirled the wand once. "The world's a lot more interesting than you think."
He turned and walked toward Riptide, producing a two-meter cleaver from his inventory. He tapped the ice to shatter it, then pressed the blade directly against Riptide's throat.
The chill of the metal made every hair on Riptide's neck stand up. The fear of death hit him. Not everyone could face mortality with composure.
Mario glanced at the miniature tornado still swirling in Riptide's palm and chuckled. "I heard you're good at blowing things around. Go ahead, keep spinning that thing. Let's see which is faster, your wind, or my cleaver."
Riptide's eyes darted between Mario's face and the massive cleaver. The mini tornado dissipated instantly.
In the blink of an eye, Mario teleported directly to Shaw's side. Both Riptide and Emma felt their pupils constrict sharply.
Riptide quietly sat down beside Emma. He could only hope that Shaw would somehow turn the tables. But after glancing at Shaw still moving in extreme slow motion, he lowered his head in defeat.
The time-slowing effect finally wore off. Shaw's movements returned to normal speed, and the blast of fire he'd launched shot harmlessly into the empty ocean.
Before he could even process what had happened, Mario swung his wand and struck him hard across the face.
SMACK.
Shaw staggered backward two steps, terror flooding his eyes. He felt no pain, but shockingly, he hadn't absorbed any energy.
Which meant his powers were completely useless against this man.
"What you want to do has nothing to do with me. And what I want to do isn't something you can stop. Of course, if you want to resist, feel free. Just so you know, the more you fight back, the more excited I get. Go get in line for blood donation. If you want to die, I can arrange that too."
He had crushed all three of them. Only Azazel remained unaccounted for. The mutant's ability was teleportation, similar to Nightcrawler but with far superior combat capabilities.
Mario would need to be ready for him. He pulled out another blood-drawing kit from his inventory and began extracting Shaw's blood. This time, Shaw didn't cause trouble, he restrained his powers so the needle could actually pierce his vein.
A few minutes later, Mario sat beneath a sun umbrella and accepted the vial of blood Hendry handed him. He stored it in a temperature-controlled container that would only occupy one inventory slot.
He gestured for Hendry to sit beside him, then looked at Emma standing on the deck. "Ms. Frost, would you mind bringing me a glass of champagne?"
He turned to the colonel. "What would you like to drink?"
Hendry thought for a moment. "I'll also have champagne, please."
He didn't know what Mario wanted from him, but at least he was alive.
Mario accepted the champagne Emma handed him and sipped it lightly, completely unconcerned about whether she'd added anything strange to it. "Not bad."
He set down the glass and looked at Hendry. Finally, unable to bear the silence, Hendry asked, "What do you want me to do?"
Mario didn't answer directly. Instead, he chuckled. "That depends, what do you need? I'm a firm believer in equivalent exchange."
Shaw, squatting nearby, nearly jumped up in rage when he heard that. But remembering Mario's unfathomable abilities, he deflated again.
"What can you give me?" Hendry asked.
When it came to benefits, the colonel was all business. This was the time to show his value, and he wouldn't shrink from it.
"Money, power, I can give you both."
"I want both."
Mario gave him an approving look. Better someone honestly greedy than someone pretending to be noble. Everyone was just trying to survive, after all.
THUNK.
A perfect one-meter cube of gold landed on the deck. Fortunately, the deck was reinforced with metal beneath, otherwise this wouldn't be showing off wealth, it would be sinking the yacht.
The gold reflected dazzling colors under the sunlight, the kind of color that could drive ordinary people insane with greed.
"One cubic meter of gold. It's yours. And once I finish researching mutant genes, I can grant you superpowers, one or several, your choice."
A willing test subject shouldn't go to waste. Even with resurrection abilities, pain was still pain.
Hendry literally fell to his knees. His hands caressed the gold block while he muttered under his breath. Occasionally he shot contemptuous glances at Shaw.
Mario hadn't left the yacht. He remained on deck, enjoying the feel of the fresh sea breeze. He was waiting for someone, not only Azazel, who had yet to appear, but also Magneto, who would arrive at night.
"We found it."
Hendry's voice came from inside the cabin. In his hand was a metal helmet. He jogged over to Mario's side and handed it to him.
Mario examined the helmet. This was the very helmet Magneto wore, capable of blocking psychic abilities. If he could study it thoroughly and create a portable version, maybe a headband or accessory, then telepaths might as well retire.
"It doesn't look that special. Still, I'll bring it back and let Ivan or Kaecilius study it."
If they could develop equipment that resisted demonic whispers, then when Kaecilius counterattacked Hell to resurrect his family, things would be much easier.
At that moment, a red figure appeared out of thin air on the deck. The newcomer wore a black suit that formed a great contrast to Shaw, Emma, and Riptide's pure white outfits.
"Shaw? The Soviets—"
He stopped mid-sentence when he saw the situation on the deck. He was surprised, but only slightly. In his mind, there was no one who could threaten his existence.
"Who are you?"
His eyes locked onto Mario, who was lounging on the sun chair.
Azazel's appearance seemed to give Shaw some courage. Instead of staying crouched, he stood up and moved to stand beside him, a smile appearing on his face.
"I believe we can talk."
Mario sat up. A wand had already appeared in his right hand, which he tapped lightly against his left palm. He waved his wand, and a barrier glowing pale blue enveloped himself, Azazel, and Shaw.
"And what makes you think you can negotiate with me? That guy next to you?"
Mario advanced toward them step by step. Azazel instantly teleported behind him and swung his fist hard toward Mario's back. Azazel's strength was formidable, if Mario were an ordinary person, this punch would have left him unable to stand.
"Stop—"
Shaw's expression turned terrified. He'd guessed the purpose of the newly formed barrier. He'd originally planned to flee if negotiations failed, but now he didn't even have that option.
Azazel had been too impulsive.
The image of Mario wielding a massive cleaver with one hand still lingered in his mind. He didn't believe Azazel could beat him.
As expected, Mario turned at extreme speed and threw a punch. Azazel had no time to react before he was sent flying by the full-force blow. He slammed into the barrier, leaving a bloody streak, then slowly slid down to the deck and fell unconscious.
Mario had no equipment capable of restricting Azazel's teleportation, so he'd opted for the most violent solution.
He turned to Shaw, ready to ask exactly what it was he wanted to "talk" about. But to his speechless surprise, Shaw had already crouched back down in his original spot, as if nothing had happened at all.
He waved at Hendry, who came over immediately.
Mario took out another blood-drawing kit, along with his frying pan. "He's a bit special. After you finish drawing his blood, use this pan to tap his head. Just touch it, no need to swing hard, but at least a hundred times."
Feeling that a hundred might not be enough, Mario added, "Better make it two hundred. Do it properly, and I'll send you and the gold back afterward."
Azazel's genes were excellent. Aside from teleportation, he possessed superhuman physical attributes. If he could successfully develop something from them, it would be a great boost to his employees' strength.
Hendry, already experienced from doing this three times, took the items from Mario and easily inserted the needle into Azazel's arm. While waiting for the blood to collect, he raised the frying pan and began tapping like he was playing whack-a-mole.
Clang, clang, clang...
Mario sat back down in his chair. Magneto wouldn't arrive until nighttime, and he had nothing else to do anyway. He turned his head toward Shaw. "Since you want to talk, let's talk."
Hearing Mario's words, Shaw stood up, straightened his slightly wrinkled white suit, and walked over.
"What do you want to talk about?"
"I want to say that the emergence of mutants is inevitable. Mutants are children favored by atomic energy. As humanity continues to use nuclear power on a large scale, the number of mutants will only increase. Sooner or later, conflict between humans and mutants will break out. I want to use the tension between the Soviet Union and the United States to—"
Mario raised his hand to cut him off. "I know your theory. If I were you, I wouldn't do that. In fact, I would prevent large-scale use of nuclear energy."
Shaw froze. He'd imagined many possible reactions from Mario, but not this one. "Why?"
"Your ability is strong, against ordinary humans. But take someone like Emma, with psychic abilities. She could easily kill you and take everything from you. Am I wrong?"
Shaw's expression darkened. He'd always overlooked this vulnerability. Now that Mario laid it out plainly, he realized something was indeed wrong.
"Maybe there aren't many telepaths, and you've prepared for that, like that helmet that blocks mental powers. But what about mutants like Azazel? He could teleport you straight into the vacuum of space. Don't tell me you can survive in space. And if I'm not wrong, there's a limit to how much energy you can absorb at once. According to your plan, eventually all humans will mutate under radiation exposure. When that happens, you'll be ordinary, an ordinary person living under the control of even stronger mutants. Think about it."
He pulled out a cigarette, tossed one to Shaw, lit his own, and lay back in the chair.
Shaw's mind was in chaos. Everything Mario said could happen. He'd been so confident in his own power, but now, after hearing Mario's analysis, he realized that among the entire Hellfire Club's core members, the only one he could reliably beat was Riptide.
He didn't want to lose what he currently enjoyed. After thinking everything through, his expression gradually returned to normal, and he said, "Thank you."