[23] The Battle Is Over? No, The Battle Has Just Begun

On the shore.

Professor X looked at the now-calm surface of the water with concern. He wanted to use his Telepathy to monitor the battle between Brian and Riptide, but he was locked in a mental duel with The White Queen.

His consciousness was fully occupied, leaving him unable to check what was happening underwater.

The same was true for Emma. Both her and Professor X's mental powers were equally matched, creating an impasse where neither could penetrate the other's mental shield.

This mental stalemate provided Brian with the perfect opportunity to secretly extract Riptide's abilities beneath the water. Neither Professor X nor the members of the Hellfire Club could observe what was happening in the depths below.

Underwater, on the riverbed, Brian stood coldly over Riptide's lifeless body. Moments earlier, he had successfully absorbed Riptide's mutant ability.

Brian wasn't concerned about being discovered. With both Professor X and White Queen Emma preoccupied, neither of them had the capacity to witness what he had done.

Riptide's mutant ability was straightforward—he could create tornadoes at will through his thoughts or generate massive ones by spinning his body at high speeds.

"Tornado," Brian muttered as he extended his right index finger, and immediately, a mini-tornado formed on its tip.

Now, compared to Riptide, a Level 4 Mutant, Brian's newly acquired ability had already been pushed to its limits.

He had automatically surpassed even a Level 5 Mutant's capabilities.

While a Level 5 Mutant like Riptide could only create a singular tornado, Brian was now able to craft tornadoes of various types depending on the environment.

He could summon water tornadoes, thunder tornadoes, fire tornadoes, and even multi-vortex tornadoes.

His control over these tornadoes was so precise that he could manipulate them to perform complex actions, including basic mimicry.

This was the power of Brian's ability-plundering Sylar template. Not only could he steal the abilities of other Mutants, but he could also instantly maximize their potential.

Brian didn't need to train or refine these abilities. From the moment he acquired them, they became as natural to him as moving his own limbs.

Brian was now more adept with the newly acquired power than even a Level 5 Mutant.

After plundering Riptide's ability, Brian looked down at the lifeless body of Riptide.

With a swift motion, Brian conjured a massive water tornado.

Swoosh! Rumble!

A powerful vortex quickly formed, and a towering water tornado, tens of meters high, rose from the surface of the water. As the tornado roared to life, the entire surface of the water became turbulent.

Brian glanced at the swirling vortex and casually tossed Riptide's body into it.

Whoosh!

The force of the water swept Riptide's lifeless form upward as if riding an aquatic elevator. Within moments, the body of Riptide had been lifted to the top of the water tornado.

At the same time, on the shore, both Professor X and Sabastian Shaw saw the towering water tornado.

In the center of the vortex, Riptide's body spun rapidly, helplessly caught in the swirling current.

"It's Riptide," Professor X and Shaw both muttered in unison, recognizing the figure trapped in the water tornado.

However, due to the barrier created by the water, neither Professor X nor The Black King realized that Riptide was already dead.

"Well done, Riptide!" Shaw shouted, mistaking Riptide's presence in the waterspout as a sign of his success.

But what happened next left The Black King utterly confused.

The towering waterspout, still spinning above the water, suddenly began to move rapidly away. In the blink of an eye, it was disappearing into the distance, leaving the shoreline behind.

Sabastian Shaw: ? ? ?

Whoosh!

Just as Black King Shaw was trying to make sense of what happened, another figure shot out from beneath the water and quickly pursued the vanishing waterspout. However, after a few hundred meters, the figure stopped and returned to the shore.

It was Brian who surfaced, looking frustrated.

"Fuck, he ran away," Brian cursed loudly, his face showing apparent annoyance. His right hand clenched subtly under the water.

At that very moment, far in the distance, the waterspout erupted with countless small whirlwinds, which quickly tore the lifeless remains of Riptide into pieces. The waterspout, now mixed with blood and flesh, sank silently to the bottom of the sea, leaving no trace of Riptide behind.

"Level 4 Mutant Riptide ran away?"

Professor X exclaimed in surprise, his eyes wide open.

Brian nodded in confirmation.

Sabastian Shaw, who had been watching Brian closely, clearly heard his words. His already stern expression darkened even more. "Useless," Shaw said coldly.

He didn't doubt Brian's statement for a second. After all, just moments ago, he had witnessed Riptide using his ability to seemingly escape at high speed. Shaw had been confused at first, wondering why Riptide would choose to flee.

Now, it appeared that Riptide had likely been overwhelmed by Brian and panicked, leading to his retreat.

From beginning to end, Shaw never considered the possibility that Riptide was dead. He knew Riptide's power very well. As one of the rare Level 4 Mutants in the world, Shaw believed that each was incredibly difficult to kill.

"Emma, let's go back," The Black King ordered.

With the loss of a key member, Shaw no longer felt like continuing the battle. Instead, his priority became finding the escaped Riptide. Every Level 4 Mutant was a valuable asset to the Hellfire Club's strength.

Following Black King Shaw's order, Emma nodded and blew a whistle. Instantly, a cloud of red mist appeared on the deck—it was Red Devil Azazel.

"Azazel, go and drive the boat," The Black King commanded.

Although he could have had Azazel teleport them all away instantly, doing so would have felt like running away. As a Level 5 Mutant, Black King wasn't about to flee just because of Brian.

The Red Devil teleported to the ship's cabin and skillfully started the cruise ship. However, despite Shaw's desire to leave, Brian had no intention of letting them escape so easily.

With his adaptive evolution ability, Brian had no fear of death. Even though he might not be able to kill Black King Shaw, Shaw couldn't kill him either.

Having already eliminated Riptide, the Hellfire Club's strength had taken a significant hit. This shift in power was crucial to Brian's strategy of capitalizing on the chaos to achieve his goals.

Therefore, he was going to strengthen Black King Shaw now.

Let him realize the threat of himself and others.

So he would take the initiative to recruit powerful Mutants and strengthen the strength of the Hellfire Club.

Facing the more powerful Hellfire Club, Professor X had no choice but to continue to recruit Mutants and form a more powerful X-Men.

As the saying goes, when the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman benefits.

Brian is the fish-man who dominates everything.

"Sabastian Shaw, do you want to leave so easily?

You killed my brother Darwin.

I also want you to experience the pain of losing a Mutant brother."

In the water, Brian roared at Black King Shaw, and then his whole body dived rapidly in the water.

"Brian, don't be blinded by hatred."

Looking at Brian who suddenly rushed towards the cruise ship, Professor X only had time to remind him.

Whoosh.

Brian rushed towards the cruise ship at a speed of 200 kilometers per hour.

At the moment of reaching the cruise ship, his muscles and bones expanded rapidly.

He clenched his right fist and punched out.

Boom.

The extreme speed, combined with the power beyond the human body's limit, made Brian's punch comparable to a torpedo.

The massive cruise ship exploded instantly under Brian's punch and then began to fall apart.

The shockwave generated by the explosion swept through the entire cruise ship.

The Black King, who bore the brunt of the impact, had a blank expression on his face as he opened his hands. The energy generated by the explosion was rapidly compressed into his palms and absorbed by his body.

However, Shaw was able to absorb the energy, but he could not stop the collapse and sinking of the cruise ship.

Seeing that the cruise ship was about to sink underwater, Shaw glanced at Brian and then whistled.

The Red Devil Azazel suddenly turned into a red mist, grabbed The Black King and The White Queen, ​​and smoothly left the cruise ship.