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Many suspected that this woman approached Oakley with the intention of seizing his vast fortune, and he was no exception. However, that didn't bother him. In fact, he admired women like her.
A rose with thorns only pricks the useless. A man destined to rule the world, like him, had a particular fondness for thorny roses—especially widows, who only heightened his sense of conquest.
Of course, admiration wasn't the main point. What mattered most was that this woman now controlled the raw materials he desperately needed.
If he wanted to mass-produce cloned mutants and form a mutant army to conquer the world, he had to persuade this woman to continue working with him, just as her late husband had done, and supply the necessary raw materials.
"Mr. Lais, you certainly have a sweet tongue. But if your project fails to meet my expectations, I won't continue providing you with raw materials at the low prices my husband did," Natalie said as she walked up to Lais, gently tapping his chest with a finger. With a sly smile, she traced a small circle before moving past him.
"Come on, take me to see your project."
"I guarantee it will satisfy you!" Lais quickly turned and walked beside her, suppressing the desire welling up inside him.
"Madam, my project will exceed your expectations. All I need is your cooperation."
"Cloned mutants that fully obey your orders? Mr. Lais, don't deceive me. I need to see real results," she replied.
As Lais introduced his project, explaining in detail, Black Widow's heart tightened, though her expression remained flawlessly composed. In truth, Natalie was just a false identity she had taken on to approach Lais. Her real identity was Black Widow, a top-level agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Her mission in infiltrating the base was to confirm whether Lais was truly researching mutant genes, determine how far his research had progressed, and, if possible, smuggle a copy of the findings back with her.
Half an hour later, at the center of the lab, Lais proudly pointed at the hundred cloned mutant bodies in the nutrient tanks below and introduced them to Black Widow.
"Madam, look at these. They were once famous mutants, and soon, they'll become the most expensive and powerful weapons in the world.
Every nation and power will willingly spend fortunes to purchase these weapons from me. I will become the largest arms dealer on the planet. Even the Stark Group will be beneath my feet."
Selling cloned mutants to other powers was part of his previous plan. But now, his ambitions had shifted. He intended to use these cloned mutants to conquer the world.
Of course, he wasn't foolish enough to reveal his ultimate plan to Natalie, whom he had just met, even if he found her incredibly attractive.
For now, he only needed her to know that working with him would be a guaranteed profit. Securing the raw materials came first.
If Natalie agreed, good. If not, he would simply use a few cloned Professor Xs to brainwash her.
In truth, his original plan had been to lure her to the base and use mental abilities to brainwash her into providing a steady supply of raw materials. But Natalie's charm had piqued his interest, and he wanted to see if he could conquer her on his own.
It would give him a tremendous sense of accomplishment.
"I didn't expect you to be so talented, Mr. Lais. I like talented men," Black Widow said with a seductive glance, throwing a playful wink in his direction. Lais immediately straightened his posture, adjusting his white coat.
"So, Madam, are you willing or not?" he asked eagerly.
"Mr. Lais, you and my husband were good friends, but to me, he was nothing more than a lighter."
Black Widow didn't give Lais an immediate answer. Instead, she smiled, pulling a lighter from her pocket and lighting a slender cigarette for herself.
Lais, slightly confused, asked, "Why do you compare him to a lighter?"
Black Widow flicked the lighter on and held it in front of Lais, taking a slow drag of her cigarette before blowing the smoke in his direction.
"One spark, and it ignites. One puff, and it's out."
"One puff, and it's out," she repeated, her voice low and teasing.
Dr. Lais couldn't tear his eyes away from her fiery red lips, and an instant heat surged through his body.
"Mine will never go out, and it's beyond anything you could imagine!"
"Oh? If that's true, Mr. Lais, then I'd be more than willing to move forward with this cooperation," she replied, eyeing him up and down with a slight sneer, deliberately stoking his desire to conquer her.
"I'm hungry. Let's have lunch first."
Daytime wasn't ideal for action. She needed to stall until nightfall, when she'd be alone with Lais. Then, she could extract the information she needed, secure the research data, and make her escape in the helicopter waiting nearby. Her mission would be complete.
"Of course, lunch it is. We'll have a proper conversation tonight," Lais agreed, already planning to use his best enhancements later to show her what an "unquenchable flame" truly meant.
As a top-tier geneticist capable of cloning mutants, he could temporarily enhance his own physical abilities. While there would be side effects afterward, it seemed a small price to pay for his dignity as a man.
Over the course of lunch, thanks to her irresistible charm, Black Widow made Lais more captivated by her than ever.
That afternoon, she used the pretext of touring the facility to have Lais accompany her, all the while mapping out the best escape routes and gathering crucial intelligence. She learned, for instance, that Lais had once used a Mexican woman as a surrogate to birth new mutants with engineered genes. However, the project had failed due to the uncontrollable nature of the children, some of whom had escaped, and they had yet to be recaptured.
Just as Black Widow and Lais were nearing the end of their tour, an invisible aircraft hovered above the base.
"It seems we've found the place!" George exclaimed, stopping the tracking spell he had been using. Below him was a research facility labeled "Leukemia Research and Treatment Center." He was confident they were in the right spot.
"Caliban, sense how many mutants are inside this facility."
"There are exactly 101," Caliban replied, using his abilities to quickly get a reading.
"Damn, this guy's managed to produce so many mutants in such a short time!" George was astonished. Even if they were clones and not as powerful as the originals, a hundred mutants would still be a formidable challenge.
He was relieved they had initiated the attack now. If they'd waited any longer, they might have faced thousands of cloned mutants hunting them down.
"Let's move according to plan!"
At George's command, the hatch of the X-Jet opened, and Wolverine immediately extended his Adamantium claws, leaping down toward the base's main gate.
He landed with a thud and roared at the top of his lungs, "Sandal Lais, come out and face your death!"
His ferocious shout immediately drew the attention of all the guards, kicking off a brutal battle.
(End of Chapter)