This is Impossible

Raven recalled.

That indestructible skeleton and those razor-sharp bone blades seemed like a physical ability, but she couldn't replicate them—that was why she couldn't beat him.

Ron smiled and said nothing.

Raven couldn't replicate it because it wasn't an ability, but a post-birth modification—the Adamantium skeleton reconstruction surgery.

That biological weapon was Wade, a mercenary who had once been in an X-Force squad with Wolverine and Sabretooth. He had super-accelerated reflexes and some physical enhancement that let him slice bullets with a blade, and later Stryker turned him into Weapon 11.

"In the days that followed, Emma and I didn't dare show ourselves in public. We ran the company from this room by remote control. The one who staged the attack already knew we were mutants. If he attacked us again in front of people, we'd be forced to reveal our abilities, and everything we've built—the company, all of it—would fall apart."

Raven recounted what they decided after the incident.

"Your decision was the right one. The man behind this hates mutants deeply. He won't give up on attacking you again."

He offered a word of praise.

If a rapidly rising tech giant that had started getting involved in medical and defense sectors were exposed as being run by two mutants, trouble would come pouring in.

"Ron, you already know the one who attacked us is that Brigadier General Stryker?"

From that remark, Raven's expression showed a hint of confusion. She glanced at Emma, and together they looked at Ron.

"Brigadier General Stryker?"

Wasn't he a colonel? He was slightly surprised.

It seemed that because of his influence, the world had shifted a little again.

"You found the one pulling the strings behind the scenes?"

After the attack, Raven and Emma hadn't just sat idle. They tried to uncover the real culprit, and after some digging, they found him.

The 'Smiling Boy' told them that after the Magneto incident, there was a military man named Stryker. Because of his understanding and hatred of mutants, he was rapidly promoted within half a year, becoming one of the military's authorities in charge of researching and responding to mutant disasters, skyrocketing to become the fastest-promoted brigadier general in American history.

He had repeatedly reported to Congress, demanding an investigation into their company. The White Queen, in the process of continuously acquiring other companies with her abilities, had left some traces he caught.

The 'Smiling Boy' quietly suppressed him, caught evidence of him using mutants for ruthless, inhumane human experiments, and drove him out of the military.

"But the president has political enemies too. His extreme ideology aligns well with some political parties' views on mutants. After that, Stryker was 'shielded' and disappeared. His research might have continued to receive support, right up until we were attacked."

Raven narrated.

"He's hiding in some dark corner, manipulating that biological weapon, attacking us."

"A few days have passed, and we still have no leads."

She and Emma had been working to root him out, but they hadn't found him yet.

"A little rat that can only cause trouble. Catching him won't be hard."

Ron chuckled lightly, then gave an order.

"Emma, go find someone for me. I hope that after I deal with Stryker, you can have his whereabouts laid out before me."

"Who is it?"

Emma asked.

"A rebellious youth who likes playing ping-pong with himself."

"Huh?"

Raven and Emma exchanged a puzzled glance. How do you play ping-pong with yourself?

Can he split into copies?

And what's the point of that? Only someone incredibly bored would do such a thing.

Stryker's son, Jason Stryker, was a mutant. His ability was to create illusions in others' minds. As a child, he couldn't control his power and accidentally killed his own mother—Stryker's wife. From then on, heartbroken and enraged, Stryker came to hate mutants.

He believed mutants shouldn't exist, didn't see them as human like himself, and could ruthlessly perform all kinds of cruel human experiments on them.

"Rooting out Stryker isn't hard."

The next morning, in a pitch-black stretch limousine heading toward the outskirts, Ron sat between the two women, swirling the glass in his hand.

"Since he wants to kill you, you're the best bait to lure him out."

After he took a sip, Emma timely refilled half a glass.

"Ron, yesterday I issued the company's schedule for today. President Raven will leave the city to inspect the factory on the outskirts."

"Good. Now we just wait for him to send out his little Wade for a second attack."

Stryker had no choice but to come. After all, he was only remotely controlling Weapon 11. As for Weapon 11 itself, it was just a replicable biological weapon, albeit a bit expensive.

And with support from some American political factions behind him, that wasn't a problem. America's printing press was never just for show. If they needed money, they'd just print it.

Whoosh!

Crunch, crunch—tires rolled over gravel as the company convoy made its way along the road to the factory.

Suddenly, a figure teleported onto the suburban road. Mechanical and cold, it lifted its head. The exposed eyeballs, stripped of their eyelids, held no trace of emotion—only an icy, terrifying emptiness.

A razor-sharp silver blade, long and gleaming, pierced through the flesh between the bones of its hand, extending outward.

With astonishing physical power, it leaped seven or eight meters into the air, raised the long blade, and dove straight for the black luxury car guarded at the center of the convoy, poised to strike down viciously.

"He's here."

Seeing through the glass, Emma tensed up, quickly shifting into her more defensive diamond form. If not for Raven last time, she would have nearly been killed.

Raven's tall, slender body went taut, ready to unleash immense power at any moment.

"Relax."

Ron smirked dismissively at Weapon 11 in midair, then used psychic teleportation to bring the two of them to the ground a dozen meters away.

Whoosh!

The silver blade, forged from Adamantium, sliced through the specially reinforced, bulletproof roof like a knife through tofu, nearly cleaving the entire car in two.

Boom! Boom!

The multi-ton vehicle lost balance, tumbled away, and exploded violently.

Landing on one knee with steady poise, Weapon 11 ignored the panicked convoy. Like a beast that had missed its prey, it turned its head and stared coldly.

In a distant underground lab, Stryker watched the computer screen through the pinhole camera in Weapon 11's eye. Frowning at the image of Ron displayed on the monitor, he thought to himself.

"Who is he?"

A flicker of doubt crossed his mind, but he didn't dwell on it. He selected Ron's face and typed in the kill command.

Whoever it was, he'd just kill them all.

"All mutants deserve to die!"

A faint, twisted expression crept onto his face.

"You two, fall back."

Ron let go of Raven and Emma, telling them to step back.

"Ron, be careful—that blade of his is the sharpest thing I've ever seen!"

As she and Emma retreated, Raven warned with concern.

No matter what steel or alloy, it cut through in one swing.

Whoosh!

Before she could finish speaking, Weapon 11 teleported in front of Ron. With a supersonic gust of wind, it swung its blade down, landing a solid strike on his body.

Even a man forged from titanium alloy would have been split apart by that blow.

But the next second, behind the screen, Stryker froze. His face twisted in shock, as if he had witnessed something utterly impossible.

"This can't be!"