Sentinel robots?
Intelligence Chief Jack froze upon hearing Benjamin's words.
As the Los Angeles branch's intelligence director, he fully comprehended the implications of deploying Sentinel units—and the terrifying power these machines wielded.
Mutant = Enemies.
No phrase better described the Sentinel program.
"Are you certain you want to request the Branch Director's authorization for Sentinel deployment?" Jack asked cautiously. "Even with Aiden and Belt's losses, you still command considerable personnel."
"I will not allow my men to die in vain again," Benjamin replied, his face hardened with murderous resolve. "I'll personally lead the Sentinel unit to apprehend Richard Wesley."
Though the Los Angeles facility represented just one of many Department of Mutant Affairs branches nationwide, never in its operational history had the Operations Division suffered such devastating casualties.
Fifteen mutant agents eliminated in mere days.
This catastrophe not only tarnished Benjamin's professional record but constituted a direct challenge to the Department's authority. If he remained passive after such significant losses, he would demonstrate profound incompetence as Operations Director.
Recognizing the futility of dissuasion in the face of Benjamin's lethal determination, Jack abandoned his objections.
"Give me one hour—I'll deliver a preliminary investigation report," he said, quickly departing from Benjamin's office.
Los Angeles Suburbs
Sabretooth's Safe House
Richard, Victor 'Sabretooth' Creed, and Clarice gathered around the table, enjoying their meal.
After more than thirty minutes of kitchen preparation, Clarice had completed lunch single-handedly.
Richard hadn't held particularly high expectations regarding Clarice's culinary abilities. After all, at seventeen or eighteen years old, her cooking experience would naturally be limited.
He'd significantly underestimated her.
While Clarice's mutant ability development remained rudimentary, her cooking skills proved exceptional.
Though Clarice's technique couldn't rival professional chefs, the meal thoroughly satisfied him.
The spread—four dishes accompanied by soup—disappeared rapidly.
Perfection!
After completing the meal, Richard fabricated an excuse and used Blinkstep to depart from the apartment.
Forest Outside the Suburbs
After teleporting into the secluded woodland and confirming his solitude, Richard extracted Masamune from his system space.
Tonight, would bring their assault on the Department of Mutant Affairs' Los Angeles branch.
Before that operation, he intended to practice the Judgement Cut End technique recently granted by the system.
Gripping Masamune's hilt with his left hand, he executed a casual slash before implementing Judgement Cut End.
The blade moved with lightning speed. Dozens of meters away, a spherical distortion approximately two meters in diameter materialized, as if space itself warped, revealing shadowy rifts within its boundaries.
Simultaneously, seven or eight crescent-shaped energy waves—pure sword energy—materialized and instantly traversed the spherical distortion. Though Richard hadn't targeted any specific object, merely performing Judgement Cut End at medium range, the crescent-shaped energies clearly demonstrated superior destructive potential compared to the Level 2 Octaslash.
"Judgement Cut End Proficiency +1"
The system's notification echoed in Richard's mind.
Disregarding this announcement, he opened his attribute panel to examine his mana reserves.
Two points of mana per cast?
Though Judgement Cut End remained at Level 1, its consumption doubled that of comparable Level 1 techniques like Octaslash and Gravesong.
The system provided no explanation for this discrepancy—why a Level 1 skill required twice the mana of others.
Richard quickly formulated a hypothesis.
Yamato.
Judgement Cut End constituted Yamato's signature technique.
Had he wielded Yamato while performing Judgement Cut End, the energy requirement would likely match other Level 1 abilities like Octaslash, Gravesong, and Zanshin—a single mana point per execution.
Unfortunately, Yamato remained beyond his possession.
To compensate for this limitation, he could only expend additional mana when implementing Judgement Cut End.
After closing his attribute panel and practicing target locking and release mechanisms for Judgement Cut End throughout the forest, Richard teleported back to Sabretooth's hideout.
Time passed swiftly.
Before they realized, eight o'clock had arrived.
Following dinner at the apartment, Clarice generated a portal for their departure.
As with their morning excursion, she positioned the spatial gateway's exit on a rooftop several hundred meters from the Department of Mutant Affairs' Los Angeles branch.
The Department's office building appeared unchanged since morning.
If any difference existed, it manifested in the reduced staffing levels visible inside.
After surveying the facility, Richard turned to Sabretooth. "Have you gathered enough intel about the internal layout?"
"Naturally," Sabretooth affirmed. "Disregard the above-ground floors—they're merely conventional office space."
"The laboratories and prison cells occupy the underground levels. Three underground floors exist in total. The first underground level houses standard laboratories, while the second underground level represents our primary objective tonight."
"Assuming neither your father nor my clones have been transferred, they should remain on the second underground floor currently."
"What about the third underground level?" Richard inquired. "What's located there?"
"Unknown," Sabretooth admitted. "My informant indicated that even within the Los Angeles branch, only a select few possess authorization to access the third underground floor."
"While my contact couldn't identify what's housed there, they strongly advised against venturing to that level—suggesting something particularly dangerous resides there."
Though Sabretooth hardly qualified as virtuous by conventional standards, nearly two centuries of existence had granted him extensive connections. While genuine friendships might be scarce, his network of acquaintances spanned numerous fields and social strata.
"Second underground floor? No problem. Let's proceed," Richard declared, extracting the imposing Masamune—over two meters in length—from his system space.
Upon seeing him withdraw the blade, Clarice raised her right hand, preparing to manifest the purple spatial energy necessary for gateway creation.
She initially intended to create a direct portal to the facility's second underground level.
Before she could release the gathered energy, Richard interrupted: "No need to create a portal directly to the second underground floor. Just open a gateway before the building's main entrance."
"I dislike sneaking in," he added with a confident smile. "I prefer to enter through the front door."
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