◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews.
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones. or 500 Collections
◇ You can read 40 chapter ahead on P@treon . if you're interested: patreon.com/Heroicverse
------------------------------------------------
The other members couldn't help but want to laugh when they saw Eric's disheveled state.
They were used to seeing him act cool, but this was the first time he had ever been so pathetic.
However, everyone still gave Eric face, each one stiffening their expressions, trying to maintain an outward seriousness.
Everyone:...
Eric:...
You might as well just laugh outright.
Just then, a cloud of dark red mist flickered in the distance, and the Hellfire Club members appeared simultaneously.
The term "members" was perfectly accurate.
Sebastian didn't appear; there were only Emma, Red Devil, and Riptide. Together, they indeed formed a "group."
In contrast, the Brotherhood had almost four times as many people as the Hellfire Club, with two extra members, completely overwhelming the Hellfire Club in terms of momentum.
"Darian, you actually betrayed us."
Emma looked at Darian, a hint of resentment in her eyes.
It wasn't because Darian betrayed Hellfire, but because that night he had simply pulled up his pants and left, decisive and without a trace of lingering affection.
Although their relationship was merely a pure super-friendship, with not much genuine emotion invested, this undoubtedly negated her charm.
Didn't she, the dignified White Queen, deserve some respect!?
"I was always a member of the Brotherhood; there's no such thing as betrayal."
Darian spoke with righteous indignation, completely ignoring Emma's resentful gaze, and shouted loudly, "It's not too late for you to abandon the darkness and embrace the light! Following Sebastian has no future. Join our Brotherhood, and there will be great benefits."
However, the Hellfire Club members were completely unmoved.
They each had their own reasons for following Sebastian, and Darian's few words couldn't easily sway them. Moreover, they didn't believe their side would lose.
"Dream on, you traitor!"
Red Devil's favorability toward Darian was already negative and had never recovered. Without further ado, he immediately attacked.
He flickered, instantly appearing behind Darwin, who was to Darian's left.
Darwin: "???"
Darian is the traitor; go find him. Why are you looking for me?
Red Devil wasn't foolish. He knew Darian was difficult to deal with, so he decided to eliminate the others first to reduce the Brotherhood's combat power. He chose Darwin, who seemed unremarkable.
He grabbed Darwin and instantly teleported away with him.
The next second, the two appeared high in the sky. Before Darwin could react, Red Devil mercilessly let go and threw him down, intending to reenact the aerial acrobatics scene from the CIA research Base.
Unfortunately, he had chosen the wrong target this time.
As Darwin free-fell, his "survival of the fittest" ability automatically triggered. Two wings evolved from his back, and he suddenly flew up.
Brotherhood aerial combat unit +1.
A hint of surprise appeared on Red Devil's crimson face. No one told him this guy can transform into Angel!
Emma immediately released her psychic power, intending to control everyone with her telepathy, but Charles's psychic power blocked her.
Charles smiled triumphantly.
After being blocked so many times, it's finally my turn!
Riptide wasn't idle either. He raised his hands, quickly conjuring several small tornadoes, which roared and swept towards the Brotherhood members!
"Everyone, be careful!"
Darian shouted, standing steadily in the strong winds thanks to his gravity boots.
Charles immediately and skillfully crouched down, hugging Darian's leg, while Raven simultaneously hugged his other leg.
They truly were like siblings from different parents, sharing a telepathic understanding.
The others also used their own abilities: those who could fly, flew; those who could endure, endured; and those who couldn't, desperately clung to the nearest tree to avoid being blown away.
Seeing the tornadoes grow fiercer, Darian shouted to Charles, "Old Charles, have Sean and Alex use long-range skills to harass that happy wind man opposite us. Don't give him a chance to use his abilities."
Charles barely heard his voice amidst the strong wind and immediately used his telepathy to convey the message to Sean and Alex.
Sean and Alex received the message and, without thinking, one released sound waves and the other released red energy Impact, indiscriminately bombarding Riptide's position, regardless of whether they hit or not.
Under the two's unreasonable suppressive fire, a small tornado Riptide had just conjured immediately dissipated.
He tried to charge up again, but Sean and Alex gave him no chance, throwing out skills as if they were free, forcing him to dodge left and right, completely silencing him!
The Mutant dancer named Salvador also spread her wings and flew into the air, constantly spitting at Riptide's direction. Her saliva landed on the ground, making sizzling corrosive sounds and emitting wisps of white smoke, like a human sulfuric acid sprayer.
Riptide was relentlessly attacked by three long-range combatants, making him utterly miserable.
Red Devil and Emma wanted to help, but they were each entangled with different Brotherhood members.
Whether it was bad luck or poor eyesight, after getting humiliated by Darwin, Red Devil surprisingly set his sights on the brothers Logan and Victor.
However, this time he was smarter. To prevent them from suddenly growing two chicken wings and flying away, he suddenly appeared beside them, his short sword stabbing out viciously, piercing Victor's throat!
As Logan turned his head at the sound, he violently pulled out the short sword, teleported to his blind spot, a cold glint flashed, and he stabbed again!
Double kill!
Red Devil slowly pulled the short sword from Logan's body, his face as cold as a emotionless killer.
Just as he was about to look for his next target, a fierce wind suddenly struck, and six bone claws slashed at him in a cross pattern!
Red Devil was startled and quickly teleported away. He looked closely and found that Logan, whose throat he had just pierced, had actually revived. Six sharp bone claws extended from his hands, and the wound on his chest healed rapidly at a visible speed, returning to normal in the blink of an eye.
Victor next to him was the same. His sharp claws popped out, and he grinned, revealing a chilling smile: "Red-skinned man, is that all you've got?"
What's wrong with these guys? Why is each one harder to kill than the last!?
Red Devil didn't believe it and immediately used his teleportation ability repeatedly, his figure flickering like a ghost around the two at high frequency. The short sword in his hand continuously struck from various tricky angles, aiming at their vital points!
However, no matter how fatal the wounds they suffered, they healed rapidly the moment the blade was withdrawn.
Facing Red Devil's elusive teleportation ability, the two brothers' attacks repeatedly missed. They simply stood back to back, relying on their astonishing beastly instincts to track his movements.
Just as Red Devil flashed again and the short sword stabbed out, Victor suddenly reached out and firmly grabbed his tail, which he hadn't had time to retract!
Red Devil: "..."
I'm definitely stuffing this thing into my pants later!
Emma wasn't having an easy time either.
She was currently surrounded by five people, led by Darian, who were all looking at her diamond form with benevolent smiles.
Emma: "..."
You guys are dishonorable! Ganging up on one person!
Initially, the Brotherhood members also felt that this wasn't right, but Darian had said this was called a righteous group beatdown, and it was quite normal for the good guys to outnumber the bad guys by a tiny bit. Otherwise, how could they deal with evil and powerful villains?
Everyone thought about it carefully and felt that there was a lot of sense in his words, so they accepted it with a clear conscience.
And actually, this feeling was quite good!
Emma surrendered quite quickly.
There was nothing she could do. She was just a tank controller, with no offensive means. Her only attack techniques were flailing wildly and pulling hair.
To preserve her last shred of dignity, she decided not to reveal these ultimate hidden skills.
Under Emma's resentful gaze, Darian pulled out a rope and tied her up, then casually found a ball to gag her mouth, and finally handed her over to Raven for safekeeping.
Soon, the other members also brought back Riptide and Red Devil.
These two looked much more miserable than Emma, covered in wounds and completely unconscious, having clearly undergone a wave of righteous judgment.
"Very good, now only Sebastian, the final BOSS, remains."
Darian looked in the direction of the submarine. On the system map, a conspicuous red enemy marker was still constantly flashing.
Charles pressed his temples, his brows furrowed: "Strange, there's no telepathic interference now, but I still can't sense Sebastian Shaw's presence."
Darian explained, "Sebastian has a special helmet that can resist telepathy. Your ability is ineffective against him."
"Then let's use the most direct method!"
Eric was already impatient. He raised his hand and activated his ability, forcibly tearing a large hole in the submarine's hull, poised to rush in and fight Sebastian to the death.
But before he could move, a figure slowly walked out of the breach. It was Sebastian, who had not yet appeared from inside the submarine.
He glanced at the three captured Hellfire Club members, his expression still calm.
"I underestimated you. Your power is far greater than I imagined."
Despite saying so, Sebastian still looked like he was in control of the situation, completely disregarding the Brotherhood members.
"I'll give you one chance. Join the Hellfire Club, and we can rule this World together, making Mutants the masters of the Earth. At that time, whether it's wealth, power, or status, you'll have it all at your fingertips."
Sebastian still stubbornly extended an invitation.
Seeing so many Mutants on the field, he admitted he was indeed envious.
He had only recruited three Mutant members over so many years, while the Brotherhood had such a large Mutant team. He was incredibly jealous!
Darian, fearing that some Brotherhood members might succumb to the temptation, immediately shouted to interrupt: "Sebastian, don't lump us in with you. Do you think we are all like you, only obsessed with these superficial material things?"
Sebastian: "..."
Bullshit! You seemed pretty obsessed when you were in the Hellfire Club!
"Darian is right!"
Eric immediately voiced his support, reacting even half a beat faster than Charles. He just wanted to kill Sebastian, or be killed by him.
Seeing this, Charles could only echo, "I agree."
With the three Brotherhood leaders speaking thus, the other members naturally didn't want to be left behind and all expressed, "Me too."
Sebastian looked at the unprecedentedly united Brotherhood, and his last shred of recruitment intention completely vanished.
His expression suddenly turned cold: "What a pity. In that case, don't blame me for attacking my own kind."
Before he finished speaking, Sebastian stomped heavily on the ground.
Boom!
A powerful explosive Impact erupted from beneath his feet, carrying debris and dust, surging towards Darian and his group like an invisible giant wave!
"Holy crap! That strong!?"
Darian exclaimed, hurriedly shouting, "Old Magneto!"
Eric reacted extremely quickly, pushing his arms forward violently. All Brotherhood members were instantly propelled by their metal armor, flying backward in unison, narrowly escaping the Impact's coverage area!
Since the members' armor was made of metal, Eric could control every person, including himself, which was a unique form of group displacement skill.
However, Eric's control was still somewhat crude; he could only control them individually. If there were too many, he had to concentrate intensely, and if he was interrupted, the skill would immediately terminate. Otherwise, they could all fly into the sky without the aid of flying devices.
The Impact roared forward, completely destroying their original position, sending sand flying, and leaving shocking cracks and deep pits on the beach, making everyone feel a lingering fear.
This destructive power was simply terrifying!
Even an athlete would get a layer of skin peeled off!
Charles stood up from the ground, disheveled, and said in a low voice, "I probed the Hellfire members' memories. They were piloting a nuclear submarine. Sebastian Shaw wasn't there just now; he went to absorb energy from the submarine's nuclear reactor!"
"No wonder he's so fierce!"
Darian suddenly understood. Sebastian, having absorbed the nuclear reactor, was now a walking human nuclear bomb.
Charles's expression was serious, and he said in a deep voice, "We must stop him. He wants to use this energy to destroy the fleets of two countries and actively start a nuclear war!"
Darian said, "The only way to defeat Sebastian now is to remove that helmet and use your telepathy to control him."
"That's simple!"
Eric decisively made a move, attempting to control the Spartan-style helmet on Sebastian's head.
However, nothing happened.
"I already tried that. His thing isn't made of metal at all."
Darian was not surprised by this.
He had secretly tried using a powerful magnet when he was in the Hellfire Club, and it also couldn't move it.
Thinking about it, it made sense. If the helmet were made of metal, how could Sebastian be so foolish as to appear openly in front of Eric? He knew Eric's abilities better than anyone.
Sebastian also noticed Eric's actions and sneered, "Little Eric Lensherr, you want your telepathic companion to act, right? Too bad, this isn't your metal toy."
Saying that, his sharp gaze swept over the Brotherhood members, finally settling on Logan and Victor.
Both were burly, with full beards, and their appearances could be said to be quite fitting.
He just didn't know which one liked to chew on cigars.
Darian noticed Sebastian's actions and immediately shouted at Logan, "Wolverine, run!!"
Logan: "???"
He was used to Darian calling him "Old Wolf." This sudden "Wolverine" gave him an inexplicable sense of dread, like being called by his full name.
And very quickly, Logan realized his intuition was correct.
Sebastian suddenly locked his gaze on him, his eyes glowing, looking as if he had finally found him.
Logan: "..."
Uh, do we know each other?