The moment Marcus entered the club, a barrage of gunfire erupted. Countless bullets flew toward him, along with various energy attacks and explosive projectiles. The Hellfire Club's remaining members were determined to riddle him with holes.
The mutants watched eagerly, anticipating Marcus's swift demise.
To their dismay, the outcome disappointed them. Every attack was deflected upon reaching the two-meter radius around Marcus. Bullets, energy blasts, and explosives all ricocheted back toward their originators.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A cacophony of impacts filled the air as the club was reduced to ruins by the reflected projectiles. Several mutants were injured or killed by their own attacks.
Marcus, seemingly indifferent to the destruction, continued searching the premises.
"Come out, Shaw! Didn't you say you were going to kill me?"
He kicked down doors one after another but found no trace of his target.
Sizzle~
As he continued his search, an electrical discharge crackled behind him. An arc of lightning struck his nullifier field.
Like the bullets before it, the electricity was instantly reflected by the shield.
"Hmm?" Marcus regarded the attacker with interest. "Do you know where your boss is?"
The only response was another electrical attack, which was again repelled by the nullifier field, striking a mutant who lay groaning on the floor.
"Looks like I'll have to be persuasive."
In an instant, Marcus appeared before the electricity-wielding mutant. He pivoted and delivered a devastating roundhouse kick.
"Argh..."
The impact broke several ribs, contorting the mutant's face with agony.
Marcus planted his foot on the man's chest, crouched down, and stared into his face.
"Now, can you tell me where your boss is?"
The mutant remained defiant, glaring back with hatred while struggling to summon his power.
Marcus's demeanor shifted. With a cold smile, he drew a handgun and pressed it against the mutant's palm.
"I'll ask again. Where is Shaw?"
When the man remained silent, Marcus pulled the trigger, shattering his hand.
He had expected these mutants to break easily like those they'd encountered outside, but this one's loyalty to Shaw surprised him.
The gun barrel moved to the man's elbow joint. Marcus smiled down at him.
"Where is Shaw?"
Bang!
Before the mutant could answer, another shot destroyed his joint.
"I should mention—I actually enjoy interrogating the stubborn ones. It's so satisfying to extract information from someone who's resisting."
He shifted the gun again, aiming at the shoulder.
Just as he prepared to fire, the mutant finally broke under the combination of pain and terror:
"He's in the monitoring room!!!"
Despite his loyalty to Shaw, the cold brutality of Marcus's interrogation proved too much to bear.
Marcus nodded with satisfaction, raised his gun, and fired a final shot to the man's head, ending his suffering.
Erik and the others watched in shock. This was a side of Marcus they hadn't witnessed before—calculating and merciless.
Only Logan seemed unfazed. He knew Marcus's creed well: 'Only dead enemies are good enemies.'
After executing the mutant, Marcus headed toward the monitoring room.
They found it empty, with a passage in the floor leading underground.
Erik and the others rushed in, surrounding Marcus as they stared at the abandoned room.
"Bad news, Erik." Marcus turned to look at him. "I believe they've escaped."
The situation was clear. The mutants they'd fought were merely decoys, while Shaw and his inner circle had fled through the underground passage.
Erik struggled to accept this. Having finally located Shaw's hideout, his nemesis had slipped away again.
Refusing to believe it, Erik rushed into the underground passage. The others quickly followed.
Descending deeper, they eventually reached a spacious underground chamber. In its center ran a dark waterway several meters wide.
Erik stood motionless in the empty space. He had come for vengeance, yet his enemy remained beyond reach.
Marcus placed a hand on his shoulder and pointed to the dark water.
"Consider: if they departed from here, where would they most likely be heading?"
The question ignited something in Erik's eyes. Suddenly he understood where Shaw might have gone.
"Thank you! I know!!!"
He grabbed Marcus's arm, thanking him repeatedly before turning and sprinting back the way they'd come.
He needed to rendezvous with Charles immediately to confront Shaw together.
The others watched Erik's abrupt departure with confusion, unclear about what revelation he'd had.
"Don't just stand there—we need to move. Shaw has gone to the Caribbean Sea," Marcus explained.
This announcement stunned the group. How had Marcus and Erik deduced Shaw's destination?
Under their questioning gazes, Marcus merely smiled slightly before heading back up through the passage.
They all knew Shaw's ultimate goal was triggering nuclear war. The most likely flashpoint now was the Caribbean, where tensions between the superpowers were escalating daily. Shaw, being a key instigator of conflict, would certainly insert himself there. Even if both nations exercised restraint, his intervention could ignite global war.
During their journey toward the Caribbean, everyone finally understood the full picture from Marcus's explanation.
Charles and his team were already there attempting to prevent war. If Shaw acted amidst the naval standoff, a conflict with worldwide repercussions would be unavoidable.
...
Caribbean Sea
Charles and his team sat aboard a plane flying over the Caribbean. Below them, warships from both superpowers faced off across the water.
"What's that ship doing?" the pilot asked, spotting a freighter passing between the opposing fleets and heading toward the border.
Moira glanced at the radar screen and turned urgently to Charles. "We need to stop that freighter. If it crosses the border, war will be inevitable!"
Hearing this, Charles immediately closed his eyes, extending his telepathic awareness to search for minds aboard the vessel below.
Soon his eyes snapped open. He had managed to briefly control a dying crew member. Through the man's fading perception, Charles glimpsed the wielder of the Devil's Touch—the red-skinned Azazel.
The teleporter's awareness was sharper than expected. The moment Charles established telepathic contact with the dying sailor, Azazel sensed the intrusion. With cold efficiency, the mutant raised his foot and ended the crew member's life, severing the connection.
"The crew is all dead," Charles reported grimly. "I only saw Azazel. The others don't appear to be on the ship."