[26] Recruiting The Red Devil

"Azazel, there is no future for you following the Black King. So, come with me."

At an altitude of 10,000 meters, Brian extended an invitation to the dying Azazel, who lay beaten before him.

Azazel: ???

He lifted his head with the last ounce of strength left in him and looked at Brian.

At that moment, if Brian had Professor X's telepathic abilities, he would have heard the hysterical curses running through Azazel's mind.

Who recruits people by beating them half to death?

Besides, he had pride.

Since he had joined the Hellfire Club, how could he betray them so easily?

"I am Azazel of the Hellfire Club," he said hoarsely, his voice weak but filled with determination.

"If you agree to follow me, I may be able to convince the White Queen, Emma Frost, to remove the mental imprint from your mind," Brian said calmly, watching Azazel glare at him with fury.

"I, Azazel, am willing to follow you... Mr. Brian."

The Red Devil, who had moments ago glared in defiance, now abandoned his loyalty to the Hellfire Club without hesitation.

To Azazel, regaining his freedom was worth far more than allegiance.

As for how Brian knew that there was a mental imprint from Emma Frost in Azazel's mind—

It was Professor X who told him.

Previously, Azazel had been controlled by Professor X, which is how the Professor became aware of Emma's mental imprint lodged in his mind.

"Heh~ A wise choice," Brian said calmly.

"Now, return to the Black King, Shaw, and report to me on his movements at all times."

Brian patted Azazel gently on the shoulder before diving down with him.

The reason for recruiting Azazel was simple:

Brian wanted to stay informed about the Black King, Sebastian Shaw's, activities at all times.

With Azazel's teleportation ability, he could instantly relay the movements of the Hellfire Club to Brian, no matter where he was.

And Brian had no concern that Shaw would ever find out.

As for whether Azazel would change his mind—

Brian was confident. As long as Azazel desired his freedom, he would have no choice but to cooperate.

Swish.

Just as Brian dived toward the shore, his adaptive evolution ability activated again.

A new pair of wings sprouted under his original white wings.

Brian halted his rapid descent mid-air.

A smile appeared on Brian's face.

Adaptive evolution not only enabled him to survive in extreme environments—

The Omega level ability ensured that, over time, Brian would continue to evolve toward becoming a perfect being.

Now, he had evolved into a four-winged angelic form.

"As long as I remain in a weightless state, I can keep growing wings. Perhaps, one day, I'll evolve into a ten-thousand-winged angel," Brian thought, hopeful.

However, he knew that such an ultimate evolution wouldn't happen overnight. Transforming into a ten-thousand-winged angel would take time.

But even with just four wings, Brian was already a force to be reckoned with in the skies.

Boom.

With a slight flap of his four wings, Brian's speed instantly shattered Mach 8—comparable to the world's most advanced supersonic fighter jets.

What was even more impressive was that Brian could perform complex aerial maneuvers at such incredible speeds.

His flight speed had now surpassed Azazel's teleportation.

In the blink of an eye, Brian was already hovering above the head of the Black King, Sebastian Shaw.

Brian casually tossed Azazel down and slowly descended to the ground.

As both his feet touched the ground, the four wings behind him quickly withered and disappeared.

Buzz.

The moment the wings vanished, Brian's body trembled slightly.

He immediately sensed something—an inscription of the four-winged angelic form had appeared briefly on his skin before merging deep into his genetic code.

With his ability to comprehend the underlying mechanics of all things, Brian instantly understood the meaning behind the four-winged angelic inscription embedded within him.

In the process of evolution, all organisms undergo directional selection—those better adapted to their environments are preserved, while the less adapted are eliminated.

Brian's adaptive evolution coupled with the Sylar template ability followed the same principle.

It retained and preserved the forms that were most suited to different environments, storing them within his body.

The four-winged angelic form was clearly better suited to high-altitude environments than his regular angelic form.

Thus, his adaptive evolution recorded the four-winged form into his biology.

Now that this form had been stored, Brian knew that in the future, he wouldn't have to rely on random adaptive evolution in high-altitude environments.

He could now choose to activate the four-winged angelic form when needed—or allow adaptive evolution to proceed at random.

Brian smiled.

His adaptive evolution had finally granted him an active ability.

Although, for now, he only had the four-winged angelic inscription—

Brian believed that, over time, his body would adapt to various evolutionary inscriptions.

Eventually, his adaptive evolution ability would transform into a fully active one, allowing him to assume any form he desired at will.

"Brian, what kind of ability do you have?"

At that moment, the Black King, Sebastian Shaw, looked at Brian with curiosity and asked.

"My ability is survival of the fittest.

I can adapt to any extreme environment and evolve my body," Brian replied without hesitation.

Shaw was taken aback.

He had asked out of casual curiosity and hadn't expected such an honest response from Brian.

Hearing Brian describe his ability, Shaw was momentarily stunned.

"Survival of the fittest... able to adapt to extreme environments and evolve?

Brian, your ability is truly unparalleled," Shaw said, looking at him with a mixture of surprise and admiration.

Much like Professor X, the Black King instantly recognized the immense potential behind Brian's ability, survival of the fittest.

"Brian, join me.

Come to the Hellfire Club.

I can help you develop your ability—take it to heights you've never imagined. I can even make you a god!"

Shaw's eyes burned with intensity as he extended the invitation to Brian once more.

"Can I really become a god?" Brian asked, seemingly tempted by the offer.

"Yes, Brian, my brother," Shaw said passionately.

"The power you possess can elevate you to godhood—make you a being unlike any other.

You could become the Messiah of mutants. A savior.

And more than that, I can make you the Black King of the Hellfire Club.

Everything within the Hellfire Club would serve you—and you alone."

Shaw's voice trembled slightly, unable to contain his excitement.

When Brian heard the tempting offer from the Sebastian Shaw, he couldn't help but think, What a generous guy.

He was genuinely tempted for a moment.

But unfortunately, Brian had other plans.

In addition to using Professor X to locate other mutants, Brian had a personal goal—he intended to take Shaw's mutant abilities for himself!

No matter how attractive Shaw's offer was, Brian could not accept it.

"Sebastian Shaw, your offer is indeed tempting. I really want to accept it.

But you should never have killed my brother—my cherished best friend and my only family.

I need to avenge Darwin."

Brian's gaze hardened, and he looked at Shaw with deep hatred as he spoke in a low voice.

"Brian, I honestly don't recall ever killing Darwin.

You must be mistaken," Shaw replied, genuinely confused.

To this day, Shaw couldn't really remember killing a mutant named Darwin.

"Don't try to talk your way out of it! I saw it with my own eyes—you killed my brother. There's no mistake," Brian growled, clenching his fists, fury burning within him.

"It seems we can only be enemies, then," Shaw said, his expression darkening.

"In that case, Brian, I'll have to make sure you die."

Shaw's eyes grew cold as he opened his right hand, summoning a glowing ball of red energy into his palm.

"Let's see if you can adapt to this," Shaw sneered, before hurling the energy ball toward Brian.

This was the very energy Shaw had absorbed moments earlier, when Brian had destroyed the cruise ship with a single punch.