This Is Impossible

Raven recalled.

That indestructible skeleton and those incomparably sharp bone blades seemed like physical abilities, yet she could not copy them. That was why she had been unable to defeat him.

Ron merely smiled without speaking.

Raven could not copy it because it was not an ability, but an acquired modification—the Adamantium skeletal enhancement procedure.

That biological weapon had once been Wade, a mercenary in X-Force alongside Wolverine and Sabretooth. He possessed hyper-fast reflexes and a certain degree of physical enhancement, enough to slash apart bullets. Later, Stryker had transformed him into Weapon 11.

"For many days afterward, Emma and I did not dare appear before crowds. We controlled the company remotely from this room.

"The person behind the attack already knows that we are mutants.

"If he attacks us again in public and forces us to reveal our abilities, everything we have built with the company will be thrown into turmoil."

Raven recounted the decision they had made after the incident.

"You made the right decision.

"The man behind this hates mutants intensely. He definitely will not give up on attacking you again."

He offered his praise.

If a rapidly rising tech giant that had begun moving into medical care and national defense were exposed as being controlled by two mutants, trouble would follow one after another.

"Ron, you already know that the person who attacked us was the brigadier general called Stryker?"

Hearing this, Raven looked slightly puzzled. She glanced at Emma, and the two of them looked at Ron together.

"Brigadier General Stryker?"

Hadn't he been a colonel? Ron was slightly surprised.

It seemed that, because of him, the world had changed a little again.

"You found the one pulling the strings?"

After being attacked, Raven and Emma had naturally not done nothing. They had tried to uncover the real culprit and, after some investigation, found him.

Smiling Boy told them that after the Magneto incident, there had been a Stryker in the military. Because of his knowledge of and hatred for mutants, he had been promoted at an astonishing pace within half a year. He had become one of the authorities in the military department responsible for researching and responding to mutant-related disasters, rising in one leap to become the fastest-promoted brigadier general in America's history.

He had reported to Congress several times, demanding an investigation into the two women's company. During White Queen's continuous acquisition of other companies using her powers, he had caught a few traces of evidence.

Smiling Boy had secretly suppressed him, obtaining evidence that he had been brazenly conducting inhumane human experiments on mutants, and driven him out of the military.

"But the president had political enemies too. His extreme ideology aligned closely with some parties' views on mutants. After that, Stryker was 'protected' and disappeared. His research might have continued receiving support, until we were attacked."

Raven explained.

"He was hiding in some dark corner, controlling that biological weapon and attacking us."

"Several days have passed, but we still have no leads for now."

She and Emma had been acting all along, trying to drag him out, but they had yet to find him.

"He's just a little rat capable of causing trouble. It won't be hard to catch him."

Ron chuckled, then gave an instruction.

"Emma, help me find someone. Once I deal with Stryker, I hope you can place his whereabouts before me."

"Who is it?"

Emma asked.

"A rebellious young man who likes playing table tennis against himself."

"Huh?"

Raven and Emma exchanged confused looks. How could someone play table tennis against himself?

Could he make clones?

And what was the point of that? How bored would someone have to be to do something like that?

Stryker's son, Jason Stryker, was a mutant. His ability allowed him to create illusions in other people's minds. As a child, he had been unable to control his power and had caused his mother—Stryker's wife—to die. From then on, the grief-stricken Stryker had come to hate mutants.

He believed mutants should not exist. He did not see them as humans like himself and could ruthlessly use mutants in all kinds of cruel human experiments.

"It won't be hard to drag Stryker out."

The next morning, inside a black stretched luxury car heading toward the outskirts, Ron sat between the two women, swirling the wineglass in his hand as he spoke.

"Since he wants to kill you, you are the best bait to draw him out."

After he took a sip, Emma promptly poured him another half glass.

"Ron, yesterday I gave the company my schedule for today. President Raven will be leaving the city to inspect the factory in the outskirts."

"Very good. Now we just wait for that guy to send out his little Wade again for a second attack."

Stryker could not possibly stay away. After all, he was only remotely controlling Weapon 11. As for Weapon 11 itself, it was merely a biological weapon that could be replicated, at most a little expensive to produce.

Besides, some political parties in America supported him. That was no problem at all. America's money-printing machines had never been for show. If they lacked money, they could simply print more.

Whoosh!

The tires crunched over gravel on the road leading the company convoy to the factory.

Suddenly, a figure teleported onto the road in the outskirts. He mechanically raised his head. There was not the slightest trace of emotion in the exposed eyeballs left bare after his eyelids had been cut away, only chilling coldness.

Incomparably sharp silver blades pierced through flesh and extended from the gaps between the bones in his hands.

With astonishing physical strength, he leaped seven or eight meters into the air, raising his blades as he precisely dove toward the black luxury car guarded in the middle of the convoy, about to drive them down viciously.

"He's here."

Seeing him through the window, Emma's body tensed. She hurriedly transformed into her more defensive diamond form. If not for Raven last time, she would have nearly been killed.

Raven's tall, slender body tensed as well, ready to unleash her immense strength at any moment.

"Relax."

Ron smiled disdainfully at Weapon 11 in midair with the two women, then activated Teleportation and arrived on the ground more than ten meters away.

Slash!

The silver Adamantium blades sliced through the specially reinforced, bulletproof roof as effortlessly as cutting tofu, nearly cleaving the entire vehicle in two.

Boom! Boom!

The multi-ton car lost its balance, rolled away, and exploded violently.

Weapon 11 landed steadily on one knee. Ignoring the panicked convoy, he turned his head like a beast that had missed its prey and stared coldly in their direction.

In a distant underground laboratory, Stryker watched Ron displayed on his computer screen through the tiny camera in Weapon 11's eyes and frowned.

"Who is he?"

The question flashed through his mind, but he did not dwell on it. He selected Ron's image and entered the kill command.

Whoever he was, he would kill him too!

"All mutants deserve to die!"

A faintly savage expression appeared on his face.

"Step back."

Ron released Raven and Emma and told them to retreat.

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

As she retreated with Emma, Raven warned him worriedly.

No matter what steel or alloy it was, it would be cut in two with a single slash.

Slash!

Before she could finish speaking, Weapon 11 teleported in front of Ron. Accompanied by the howl of extreme speed, he brought his blade down, breaking the sound barrier and striking Ron solidly.

With that strike, even an iron man forged from titanium alloy would have been split apart.

But the next second, Stryker froze behind the screen. His expression changed drastically, as though he had witnessed something utterly impossible.

"This is impossible!"