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Next, Red Devil's ability transported the group to Cactus Country.
Just as the Hellfire Club had established ties with Colonel Hendry, they also maintained intricate connections with high-ranking Red Bear officials.
Sebastian met with General Volkov, a high-ranking Red Bear official, and held a private talk with him, using the U.S.'s deployment of missiles in Turkey as leverage to force General Volkov to push Red Bear to take reciprocal action and deploy missiles in Cuba.
Darian and the others' task was simple: just like how they dealt with Colonel Hendry at the Hellfire Club, they just needed to make an appearance and go through the motions, responsible for intimidating General Volkov.
Setting aside their respective identities, the whole process was actually similar to a gangster collecting protection money.
And the process was quite smooth.
Red Devil only needed to stand there; with his appearance, some would probably believe he was Satan incarnate.
Darian was even more significant; dressed in a sharp suit, the patterns of his magic mask twisted and writhed as if alive, exuding an eerie and evil aura, which thoroughly intimidated General Volkov on the spot.
General Volkov immediately concluded that this mysterious masked man in a suit was the true mastermind behind the Hellfire Club.
As for Sebastian, he was merely a messenger pushed to the forefront.
Sebastian: "..."
Regardless, General Volkov ultimately agreed to Sebastian's demands, pushing Red Bear to deploy missiles in Cuba.
This news spread like wildfire across the World.
The relationship between the two superpowers suddenly became strained, and the situation was precarious, gradually sliding towards the brink of losing control.
The terrifying shadow of nuclear war gradually enveloped the entire World.
Sebastian's plan was progressing step by step as scheduled; now all they needed to do was pop a bottle of champagne to celebrate and then wait patiently.
After three rounds of drinks, Emma seemed to be a lightweight, leaning limply against Darian.
She mumbled, "I'm drunk, help me back to my room to rest."
"Where is your room?"
As a newcomer to the workplace, Darian naturally didn't dare to shirk a task assigned by his superior.
Riptide, seeing this, stepped forward and offered, "I know where it is, I'll take her back."
However, this thankless task still fell back on Darian's shoulders.
This was because Riptide suddenly started flailing his arms and legs in place, screaming in panic at the air, "Red Devil, no!" It was unclear if he was drunk or hallucinating from being controlled by someone. Given that the only person present who could control others was passed out drunk, the former possibility was higher.
But Darian had only just arrived and had no idea where Emma's room was. After a moment of hesitation, he had no choice but to take her back to his own room.
As soon as he locked the door, he turned around to see Emma already in her 'Emperor's New Clothes' outfit, her face filled with intense fighting spirit, looking as if she was about to utterly defeat him. There was no trace of drunkenness left.
"Oh no! It's a trap!"
A few days passed in a flash.
Red Bear indeed quickly took action, beginning to deploy missiles in Cuba, and the conflict between the two sides escalated again, with tensions on the verge of erupting.
Even that cheerful big boy delivered a speech on television, announcing that if the other side did not withdraw their missiles, he would blockade Cuba by sea tomorrow, and that the U.S. populace was already prepared for nuclear war.
The populace: "???"
We are not, don't talk nonsense!
At this point, the fierce conflict between the two sides could not be easily mediated by anyone, not even Shanks's influence.
As time passed, both sides' nerves were stretched to their limits; just a spark would be enough to detonate this super bomb.
And Sebastian was now planning to light this fire himself.
[Task 'Cuban Crisis' settlement complete!]
[Rewards obtained: 1500 experience points, Anchor Fragment * 2]
Hearing the system's prompt, Darian stroked his chin and mused, "It's time to act."
"What action?"
Emma's voice came from beside him.
She sat up from the bed, unequipped, her extremely high model attributes fully exposed.
Given that she had suffered two humiliating defeats before, Emma's competitive spirit was thoroughly ignited. She would constantly respawn outside Darian's room, launch attacks on him, and then forcibly enter a lengthy cutscene.
Emma fought with increasing vigor, like playing 'Black Monkey' against 'Big Head Doll,' becoming more addicted the more she lost. For this, she even specially changed to several powerful pieces of equipment, determined to take down Darian, this hardcore BOSS.
Seeing her efforts, Darian felt a little soft-hearted.
So he voluntarily revealed some of his weaknesses, such as weakness to Dark-attribute leg equipment, weakness to Light-attribute leg equipment, weakness to healer classes, and weakness to succubus races.
It was a pity that Emma was a purely operation-based player; she had many flashy techniques, but her basic stats were too low. Even with a strategy, she would fall before even seeing Darian's execution line every time.
Darian didn't answer Emma's question but instead said, "Emma, are you interested in joining the Brotherhood?"
"The Brotherhood?" Emma was slightly startled.
Darian nodded: "That's right, this is a Mutant guild I founded. All members are Mutants, and our guild's purpose is to fight for a better tomorrow for Mutants!"
Emma raised an eyebrow: "I'm a Hellfire person, how could I join another organization?"
Darian said indifferently, "Who says a person can only join one organization? Just like HYDRA people can also be S.H.I.E.L.D. people."
Emma hadn't heard of these two organizations but understood his general meaning.
"Sebastian wouldn't agree to that."
Hearing Emma's refusal, Darian wasn't disappointed; he hadn't expected Emma to agree immediately.
After these days of in-depth understanding, he knew that she wasn't someone who could be easily persuaded, not even by sleeping with her.
Moreover, they only had a very pure friendship. After watching so many cutscenes, Emma's favorability hadn't increased much.
Indeed, 'love developed over time' was all a lie.
Darian stood up and chuckled, "No need to rush a decision now, it's not too late to answer me in a few days."
"What do you mean?"
Emma was puzzled, then saw Darian resolutely pull up his pants and put on his clothes.
"What I mean is, I quit. See you later."
Darian waved at Emma.
The next moment, his figure instantly vanished from the spot, leaving Emma stunned.
Meanwhile, at Charles's Manor.
Ever since the CIA Base was attacked by the Hellfire Club that day, Charles understood that this place was not safe, so he brought the Brotherhood members to his own Manor, making it the new Base for the Brotherhood, and conducting a series of special training for the members.
After personally experiencing the power of the Hellfire Club, the Brotherhood members also realized their own weakness and all expressed their willingness to join the special training.
And with the authorization of the fat man in glasses, a high-ranking CIA official, they also transferred the Cerebro to the Manor.
However, even with the use of Cerebro for a global scan, Charles still couldn't find any trace of Darian or the Hellfire Club.
Although he knew Darian had voluntarily left with Sebastian, he always believed Darian would not betray the Brotherhood. Darian must have had his own reasons for doing so, otherwise, he wouldn't have had Raven leave him that message at the time.
This was trust in a comrade!
This was trust in Darian's integrity—wait, could this guy have really defected?
Charles suddenly felt uneasy.
He believed in Darian, but not in his integrity. Given this guy's style, it seemed entirely possible he would do such a thing!
But after Darian ran off, Charles became the sole spokesperson for the Brotherhood.
He couldn't show his inner worries. To stabilize morale, he could only declare to the other members that Darian had left under duress, saying he must have had an unspeakable hardship, blah blah blah...
Whether everyone believed it or not, he certainly did!
Similarly, they also saw the news of Red Bear deploying missiles in Cuba, which further heightened tensions between the U.S. and Soviet Union.
They knew full well that Sebastian was definitely stirring things up behind the scenes.
In the hall, Raven stared at the TV screen, worriedly saying, "Do you think this has anything to do with Darian?"
Charles immediately shook his head, his tone firm: "I believe in Darian; he's not that kind of person. Even if it really has something to do with him, he must have been coerced by Sebastian and his gang!"
"Old Charles, you really understand me."
At this moment, a familiar voice sounded, and Darian slowly walked in from outside the door.
"Darian!?"
Everyone was stunned, not expecting the long-missing Darian to suddenly appear.
Charles was immediately overjoyed: "Darian, you're finally back! I knew you would return!"
He finally came back; if he hadn't, Charles wouldn't have known how to keep making up stories!
These past few days, to keep the members stable and morale from dropping, he didn't know how many brain cells he had used up; he'd wake up with a handful of hair on his pillow.
Darian patted Charles's shoulder and said emotionally, "I never thought you'd trust me so much, Old Charles. It's no wonder I invited you to join the Brotherhood first. Say no more, come, come, pick a few of these things for yourself!"
He pulled back his right sleeve, revealing his entire arm covered in various expensive watches, leaving everyone present dumbfounded.
"These are?"
Even Charles was speechless for a moment.
"These are all local specialties I brought back from the Hellfire Club. If you don't like them, there are other styles here."
Darian pulled back his left sleeve, revealing another arm full of watches, their dials sparkling under the light.
"If you don't like watches, I have other things here."
As Darian spoke, he reached into his collar, pulling out a dozen necklaces with a jingle. The sparkling gems and dazzling gold chains almost blinded everyone.
These were all Sebastian's private collections, their value immeasurable.
With nuclear war on the verge of breaking out, he no longer cared about these useless things, so he might as well benefit Darian.
Everyone: "..."
Are you sure this guy was coerced?
By the looks of it, he seems to be thriving in the Hellfire Club!
Raven reacted quickly, suddenly pouncing forward and hugging Darian's arm, saying firmly, "Darian, I actually always believed you would come back!"
While saying this, her gaze was fixed on the several necklaces embedded with large gems on Darian's chest.
Her meaning was clear: I want, I want!
Darian narrowed his eyes: "I saw it just now; you were the first one to doubt me."
Raven immediately retorted, "That was someone using their ability to imitate me!"
It's more likely you'd imitate someone else.
Darian chuckled, but still threw a necklace to Raven, as a benefit for a long-time guild member.
The other members watched with wide eyes. They wanted to pounce like Raven, but unfortunately, they weren't very familiar with Darian, and most of them were men. Rushing forward rashly would likely only result in a good beating, so they could only secretly envy her.
Charles, however, didn't want Darian's local specialties. He already had considerable assets in his family and had always been indifferent to luxury goods; the clothes in his wardrobe were all uniformly simple styles.
In contrast, Erik's daily outfits were rich and varied, dressing like he was walking a fashion show every day.
"Darian, how did you get back?" Erik asked, with a hint of wariness in his eyes.
He wasn't as unguarded as Charles.
In this sensitive period, Darian's sudden appearance made it very difficult not to arouse his suspicion.
Darian looked relaxed: "Simple, a teleportation brought me back."
Map teleportation was also possible within the instance, and Charles's Manor happened to be a teleportation point, which he had activated on the day he transmigrated.
"Just like this."
As Darian finished speaking, to everyone's surprise, his figure instantly vanished from the spot.
A few seconds later, he walked in through the door again, just as he had before.
Although this ability was miraculous, among Mutants, it could only be considered a minor skill, and everyone quickly accepted this fact.
"Since you have this ability, why didn't you come back sooner?" Raven asked, puzzled.
Darian explained: "Because I was undercover at the Hellfire Club, secretly gathering information. According to my investigation, Sebastian plans to take action the day after tomorrow to interfere with the conflict between the two countries and trigger a nuclear war."
"We must stop him!"
Charles's expression instantly became solemn.
Anyone with even a slight understanding of military and politics knew what this meant.
Once a nuclear war broke out, the entire World would immediately enter Season Three, and everyone would suffer.
The Brotherhood members all agreed, even Erik. Not only was Sebastian his mother's killer, but he felt that Sebastian's actions were too extreme; it was possible that even Mutants would be wiped out.
Darian said with a serious expression: "This is firsthand intelligence I obtained with great difficulty from a certain member. Unfortunately, the other party was cautious and did not provide more detailed information."
"You worked hard."
Charles showed an admiring gaze.
He had indeed not misjudged Darian, and his trust in him had not been in vain. And his integrity.
"For the Brotherhood, it's all worth it."
Darian gently shook his head, looking like someone who had accomplished much but sought no recognition.
It was indeed hard work; he had to go through several cutscenes every day, and the kind you couldn't skip. Only he understood the hardships involved.
Seeing Darian, the founder of the Brotherhood, return, everyone was still very happy, so someone suggested popping champagne to celebrate.
Darian decisively rejected the suggestion.
"Champagne must only be popped after everything is over. That's the rule."
"Besides, the other side has already popped champagne at halftime; in terms of winning odds, we've already won at least more than half!"