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"Shit, there really are clones of that bastard Erik."
Wolverine gritted his teeth, enduring the pain of a steel rod piercing his body, and shouted out the window:
"Kid, what are you waiting for? Get moving!"
"Don't worry, Wolverine, I'm coming to rescue you right now," came the reply.
Outside the window, high in the air, Iron Man's suit activated a specialized gun mechanism. Inside the helmet, Jarvis locked onto the positions of nine Magneto clones, and nine non-metallic bullets were fired simultaneously.
"Perfect!"
Each bullet struck the head of a Magneto clone, killing all nine instantly.
Clones are, after all, just clones. Combined, they might strengthen their magnetic control, but individually, each one is still just a sub-level-three mutant.
If the real Magneto were here, he could have controlled the situation—even with Iron Man hovering far above—without giving Iron Man a chance to launch a non-metallic attack. And if Magneto were truly attacked, he could immediately shield himself with gathered metal.
It's like nine children pooling their strength; they might match a strong man, but if they tried to fight him directly, they'd stand no chance.
"What the hell is going on? And what is that thing?"
Watching on his tablet as the nine Magneto clones were taken out simultaneously, Rice felt stunned as a robot-like figure entered the base from outside and freed Wolverine from his steel restraints.
However, Rice quickly composed himself.
Of course, Wolverine, no matter how strong, wouldn't be foolish enough to storm their base alone. He must have backup—and it wouldn't be surprising if Experiment 757 were involved too.
"Activate all mutant clones except Clone 101. Leave one clone from each group on standby; the rest are to go out and eliminate Wolverine, Experiment 757, and that robot, all at once!"
As one by one, mutant clones emerged from their nutrient pods, they raced towards the locations of Wolverine and Iron Man. Meanwhile, George circled around, infiltrating the base from behind.
"Footprints revealed!"
"Freeze, all of you!"
"Alohomora!"
"Full petrification!"
Upon entering the base, George activated a second tracking spell.
Unlike his previous spell, which only indicated direction, this one revealed the precise footprints of the target, allowing him to track them accurately across the floor.
Whenever he encountered security cameras, he froze the footage temporarily with an ice spell.
When faced with high-tech fingerprint-locked doors, he used an unlocking spell to open them.
And if he encountered guards, he bound them with a body-binding curse, swiftly slicing their throats with controlled blades, leaving no witnesses.
Advancing smoothly and undetected, he soon reached an expansive hall larger than a warehouse, where he saw Stryker-Rice and Donald standing on a high platform.
Bang!
George raised his weapon and fired, the bullet tracing a perfect arc through the air before piercing Donald's skull.
Since he needed to extract all the research data from Rice's memories, he couldn't kill Rice yet—so he took out Commander Donald first.
Poor Donald, who had been plotting revenge against George with an army of mutant clones, didn't even get to see George before being shot down.
"Hello, Dr. Rice."
George spread his wings, flying up to the platform, and greeted Rice with a smile.
"It's you! How did you get the abilities of an angel?"
Seeing Donald shot through the head, Rice recoiled in terror, hiding behind the surrounding guards. He recognized Experiment 757 well and knew he could control bullet trajectories with magnetism. But he was sure he hadn't added any angelic mutant genes into this subject's body.
"Kill him!"
Without waiting for George to respond, Rice gave the order to eliminate him.
To Rice, the answer wasn't important—he'd find out soon enough by dissecting Experiment 757's body. He'd noticed something strange about this subject; even though he had recently synthesized mutants from Magneto and Professor X's genes to replicate him, they all lacked intelligence and failed to show 757's level of power, ultimately ending up in the incinerator.
The guards surrounding Rice quickly drew their guns to attack George, but George was faster. During his ascent to the platform after killing Donald, he had already maneuvered several sharp blades to position themselves behind the guards. The instant they raised their weapons, the blades struck.
Sss! Sss! Sss!
Blood sprayed from their necks, and all the guards protecting Rice collapsed in a bloody heap.
At that moment, two thin red beams shot up from below, aimed straight at George's head.
With a heightened sense of danger and feline reflexes, George dodged the surprise attack with a swift backbend and looked down in the direction of the beams.
"How cautious...so you kept some in reserve."
Standing below him was a group of unclothed mutant clones, a younger version of Magneto, Professor X, Phoenix, Storm, and others, whom Rice had kept back just in case.
The attacker was a clone of Cyclops, but unlike the real Cyclops' powerful red energy blasts, this clone's attack was notably weaker.
Looking back at Rice, George saw that he had been teleported behind the group of mutant clones by Nightcrawler.
"Experiment 757, you're just a level-two mutant with a combination of Magneto and Professor X's genes. Nearly everyone here has power close to a level-three mutant. Let's see how you manage to survive now!"
Having been saved by Nightcrawler, Rice felt his fear dissipate as he looked at the mutant clones he'd created.
"Then bring it on," George replied calmly.
He had anticipated this situation from the start. Tony's diversion strategy had been effective, but Rice was no fool; he'd definitely keep a few mutant clones for his protection.
A fight was inevitable.
But George was confident. Rice only knew of his level-two magnetic and telepathic abilities, while George had a deep understanding of most of the mutant powers here.
Cyclops' recent attack confirmed his suspicion—the mutant clones were as weak as he had predicted.
"Smoke Screen!"
Raising his hand, George cast a smoke spell, blanketing the entire hall in thick fog. With a flick of his wrist, he fired a bullet aimed at Nightcrawler's location.
Taking out the teleporter first would prevent Rice from escaping, which would save him time and spare him the trouble of having to hunt Rice down.
Caught off guard by the sudden smoke, the mutant clones were too slow to react, and Nightcrawler fell with a thud.
(End of Chapter)