Scarlet Witch and Polaris

After hearing Richard's words, Mystique immediately frowned.

Although she had never interacted with Richard before and had only dealt with his father's original body—

In her eyes, a young boy Richard's age should have been as easy to manipulate as could be. There was no way he could resist her charms.

Take the appearance she had transformed into now, for example.

This was a new form she had created by combining the best features of several top Hollywood actresses.

It was more than enough to seduce not only a boy Richard's age, but even middle-aged men with plenty of life experience.

After all, the Hollywood actresses she had chosen were all bombshells fiercely sought after by American men.

Yet, to her surprise, the new appearance she had carefully designed had failed to stir Richard's heart in the slightest.

Whether a man was interested in the woman before him could be seen from nothing more than his eyes.

And in Richard's eyes, she saw no sign whatsoever that he was interested in her.

Could he like men?

The thought flashed through Mystique's mind involuntarily.

In the United States, same-sex relationships were not particularly rare.

Not only that, but American law even allowed same-sex marriage.

Once the thought that "Richard likes men" had surfaced in her mind, the way Mystique looked at him changed slightly.

Though she could transform into a handsome, dashing man as well, she had no intention of doing so right now.

Transforming was one thing; her sexual orientation did not change along with her appearance.

She was very good at transforming into a beautiful woman to seduce men.

Transforming into a man to seduce men, however, was something she could not really accept. She could not get past that mental hurdle.

Of course, if she transformed into a beautiful woman to seduce another beautiful woman, she could still accept that.

After studying Richard for a few seconds, she continued.

"Erik sent me."

"He asked me to find out whether you would be interested in joining the Brotherhood of Mutants."

"Also, he asked me to pass along a message: as long as you join the Brotherhood of Mutants, he will help you reclaim the Wesley Family's assets, principal and interest included."

Not intending to waste time, Mystique directly stated the purpose of her visit and Magneto's promise.

Hearing Mystique's words, Richard smiled and shook his head.

"I don't plan on joining any mutant organization right now, whether it's the Brotherhood of Mutants or the X-Men."

"Besides, I don't need anyone else's help to reclaim the Wesley Family's assets."

"I'll take back what I lost with my own hands."

Richard looked at Mystique with complete confidence.

Although he did not yet possess the strength to wage all-out war against the United States government and the Department of Mutant Affairs, as long as he was given enough time to grow—

Forget the United States government and the Department of Mutant Affairs. Even if he had to face the Shi'ar Empire, the Kree Empire, and the Skrull Empire—the universe's three great empires—at the same time, he was absolutely confident he could handle them.

"I admit that you're stronger than most people."

"After all, you single-handedly killed every Mutant Agent at the Los Angeles Branch."

"But you need to understand that the Los Angeles Branch is only one of the Department of Mutant Affairs' dozens of branches."

"Just because you can deal with the Mutant Agents at the Los Angeles Branch doesn't mean you can deal with the entire Department of Mutant Affairs."

"More importantly, the X-Men won't stand by and do nothing."

"As far as I know, they arrived in Los Angeles last night and are currently searching for you."

Mystique was not surprised that Richard had not immediately agreed to join the Brotherhood of Mutants.

Or rather, if he had agreed without a second word, that would have struck her as strange.

Generally speaking, mutants who gained great power at a young age possessed an instinctive arrogance.

To use a recent example, Pyro, Saint John Allerdyce, who had just joined the Brotherhood of Mutants, was a perfect case.

If Pyro John had merely been somewhat rebellious while at the School for Mutants—

Then after joining the Brotherhood of Mutants, he was no longer simply rebellious. He had developed the arrogant belief that all humans were inferior creatures.

Not only that, he had deliberately changed his name, adding "Saint" before it and becoming Saint John Allerdyce instead of John Allerdyce.

"I'm not arrogant enough to think I can deal with the Department of Mutant Affairs already."

"Still, I have no plans to join the Brotherhood of Mutants, at least not for now."

"I appreciate Magneto's goodwill."

Richard continued.

Joining the Brotherhood of Mutants would indeed earn him Magneto's help, but for the time being, he did not want to owe Magneto a favor.

Most importantly, as far as he knew, Magneto still had no idea that he had several children.

Simply put, "Scarlet Witch" Wanda and "Polaris" Lorna were not currently with the Brotherhood of Mutants.

If the two of them had been there, joining the Brotherhood of Mutants now would not have been out of the question.

But unfortunately, neither of them was there.

As for where they were now, Richard had no idea.

This universe differed greatly from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and X-Men Film Universe he knew. The "prophetic" advantage that came with being a transmigrator had been severely diminished here.

Seeing the resolute expression on Richard's face, Mystique sighed and said slowly, "I've delivered the message. Since you don't want to join the Brotherhood of Mutants right now, then let's leave it at that."

After saying that, Mystique stood up, preparing to leave the restaurant with the three mutants beside her.

However, after taking only a few steps, she stopped, turned around, and returned to Richard. Deliberately bending over to reveal the deep valley and snowy peaks before her chest, she spoke to him in a seductive, alluring tone:

"I won't be leaving Los Angeles until tomorrow. If you change your mind, or if you get bored tonight, you can come find me at the hotel."

As Mystique spoke, she took a hotel Business Card from her jacket pocket and handed it toward Richard.

Although Mystique had phrased it tactfully, Richard knew exactly what she meant.

Or rather, he knew what Mystique was planning.

Richard did not take the Business Card she offered and said unhurriedly, "No need. I'm not interested in old la— I mean, women much older than me."

He had originally wanted to call her an old hag, but after giving it some thought, he chose a more tactful way of putting it.

Even so, Mystique's expression turned icy.

Though she was no ordinary woman, she cared about being called old just like any other woman did.

"You..."

Considering the gap in strength between them, Mystique forcibly suppressed the anger in her heart and shot Richard a fierce glare.

Then, she left the restaurant with the three mutants.

After Mystique and the other three left, Richard paid the bill and left the restaurant as well, intending to find somewhere he would not be disturbed so he could properly practice his skills and raise all his current skills to Level 3 as soon as possible.

However, not long after leaving the restaurant, his Mental Isolation ability issued a powerful warning.

Someone was using Telepathy to lock onto his location!

The moment he realized this, several names flashed through Richard's mind.

Professor X?

Phoenix? Or perhaps the Hellfire Club's White Queen?

Although there were more than just those three mutants with Telepathy, they were the most famous ones in this timeline.

Mental Isolation could only shield him from the effects of mind abilities to a certain extent. It could not let him trace back who exactly was using Telepathy on him.

Without any hesitation, he immediately began using Flash.

More precisely, he began using Flash continuously.

Flash was not a mind ability, but constantly changing his location with it could effectively prevent a Mind Ability User from locking onto him.

Before long, he arrived in a forest dozens of kilometers away from Los Angeles.

Although he had already left Los Angeles, it did not take long before that unknown Telepathy locked onto his location once again.

Does this ever end?

Richard cursed inwardly.

Although he still did not know who was using Telepathy to track his location, there was one thing he was certain of: he was very annoyed right now.

If he did not possess Mental Isolation, which allowed him to resist Telepathic intrusion to some extent, he would never have noticed that someone was using Telepathy on him.

Not only that, without Mental Isolation, even if a Mind Ability User read his memories or altered his subconscious, he would not have realized it.

Whether it was having his location tracked through Telepathy, having his memories read, or having his subconscious altered, he disliked all of it.

Because it made him feel as though someone was looking through his secrets and privacy!

After thinking for a few seconds, Richard did not continue using Flash to change locations. Instead, he sat down on a large nearby rock, took Masamune from the System Space, and waited for the other party to arrive while wiping down the blade.

Time passed bit by bit.

Less than ten minutes later, a black jet with an intensely futuristic design appeared in his field of vision.

The Blackbird!

The moment he saw the Blackbird, he knew who had used Telepathy on him earlier.

The host of the Phoenix Force! Phoenix!