Regarding the extraordinary world, even within an organization like Centipede, which has one foot already in it, not everyone is aware of its existence. Only mid-level and high-level members have some understanding of it.
At this moment, the leader wanted his men to realize the seriousness of the situation. The quickest way was to use the Super Soldiers as an example, since his subordinates had all witnessed their strength before.
Sure enough, after this comparison, his men immediately became more alert!
But in the face of absolute power, does being alert really make a difference?
Shhhk!
With the sound of a blade slicing through flesh, one of the men suddenly grabbed his throat, his eyes wide in shock!
He couldn't make a sound anymore—just a second ago, his throat had been slashed in one swift motion. Even pressing his hands against the wound couldn't stop the blood from pouring out!
"How is this possible?! Why didn't we hear anything?!" The leader saw his man's throat slit, but 'Raymond' was nowhere near him.
At this moment, 'Raymond' seemed like a ghost—appearing and disappearing at will.
Before the leader could react, another sound came from the opposite direction. When he turned his head, he saw another subordinate with his throat slit!
Again, no one saw what happened, and there was no sound at all!
It was as if their necks had split open on their own—no visible attacker, no trace of a blade.
If they hadn't just seen 'Raymond' standing there earlier, they might actually have believed that this was some kind of paranormal event.
But now, they knew exactly what was happening. This wasn't a supernatural incident—'Raymond' was picking them off one by one, treating it like an assassination game.
Their lives were nothing more than props in his game.
And 'Raymond' was the only player.
"Damn you! Show yourself!!"
The leader's eyes were bloodshot as he shouted.
At this point, he no longer cared about making noise or alerting the hospital. He knew that if this continued, it would only be a matter of time before they were all killed.
If making a scene could attract outside attention, maybe—just maybe—it could give them a chance to survive.
Suddenly!
A voice whispered right next to his ear—one he recognized instantly.
It was 'Raymond.'
But that wasn't the worst part.
The worst part was that the voice was coming from behind him!
Somehow, without a sound, 'Raymond' had gotten right behind him and was speaking directly into his ear:
"If you bring more people here, won't you just force me to get rid of you all sooner? I wanted to play with you a little longer, stretch my legs a bit... but I guess I'll have to speed things up."
The leader turned around immediately—only to find nothing!
At the same time, 'Raymond's' voice rang out again.
"Shakushi!!"
One second later, the remaining six people, including the leader, collapsed to the ground!
Not only them, but even two small trees nearby were cut down at the same time. If you looked closely, you would also notice several slash marks on the surrounding walls!
This was the ultimate move of the Kuro persona—Shakushi!
A wide-range attack executed in combination with his unique Pussyfoot Maneuver!
Pussyfoot Maneuver was no slower than the Marine's Soru technique, but its biggest advantage was moving completely soundlessly, making it perfect for assassinations.
That was why the C-team members couldn't hear anything before—they simply had no way to perceive Raymond's movements.
If their eyes couldn't keep up with Raymond's speed and their ears couldn't hear his footsteps, then Raymond practically didn't exist to them!
"You still can't control the exact targets of the attack? That's annoying..." After scanning the area, Raymond covered his forehead with one hand, looking a bit troubled.
"Hm? Someone's coming."
The next second, when he heard footsteps approaching, he vanished in a flash.
Shortly after he disappeared, 'David,' dressed in a blue-and-white striped hospital gown, arrived and spotted the fallen C-team members.
"Huh? There are still some left?"
He quickly walked over to the bodies of the leader and his men, crouched down to examine them briefly, then swept his eyes around before muttering:
"Two had their throats slit, while the other six look like they were hacked to death... They didn't have time to fire back, which means they all died instantly. No normal person could have done that..."
"Interesting. Could there be another mutant in this hospital?"
David stroked his chin, deep in thought.
But he quickly lost interest, shrugged and muttered, "Doesn't matter. It has nothing to do with me. It's better not to interfere, or it'll cause trouble for the main personality."
With that, he casually strolled off in another direction, as if taking a leisurely stroll.
But before he got far, he suddenly turned his head toward the second floor—only to see nothing there.
"…Just my imagination?"
Frowning slightly, he shook his head and continued walking.
…
What he didn't know was that on the other side of the second floor, Raymond—having canceled [Equipment Materialization] and switched back to his main personality—was also analyzing the situation.
"That's definitely not David... but it doesn't look like Shadow King either. Could it be another personality?"
Using Kuro's vision, Raymond had secretly observed this 'David' and reached a conclusion.
He wasn't sure what kind of personality was controlling David right now, but at least it wasn't that old bastard Shadow King. If it were, there's no way he wouldn't have noticed Raymond.
Kuro's speed was fast, but it wouldn't have escaped the eyes of a level 4 mutant.
Honestly, it was just his curiosity that made Kuro linger on the second floor to see who had arrived so quickly—and unexpectedly, he saw David.
When he noticed that David's condition seemed to be off, he regretted it for a moment. If this 'David' had been under Shadow King's control, there's no way he wouldn't have spotted him.
Fortunately, that wasn't the case. The other party didn't seem to notice him either.
"From what he said, he must have encountered more of these people elsewhere. Maybe they ran into David, startled him, and triggered another personality?"
Raymond quickly put together a rough guess.
But this had nothing to do with him for now—he was just curious.
"I wonder how long it'll take for Egghead Director to receive the signal." Raymond thought as he decided to go back to his room.
He didn't want to be seen and get dragged into this mess. He liked to keep a low profile, and for the moment, Kuro was his biggest hidden trump card. He had no intention of revealing it just yet.
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