American comics: Starting with mutants

hiss!

After confirming that William Stryker was not lying, Ethan couldn't help but feel a chill.

Good guy.

The mastermind behind this is not William Stryker.

Did he get the wrong person?

How is that possible?

After all, besides William Stryker, who else would be so persistent and single-minded in their determination to eliminate all mutants, resorting to any means necessary?

Did he overlook something?

Ethan's mind raced with thoughts.

next second.

A flash of lightning seemed to strike his mind.

He thought of a person who was like a dwarf.

What was it called again?

Tesla?

wrong.

Ethan frowned, and an image flashed through his mind of a short dwarf who was not only short in stature but also had a beard like a Texan.

"Bolivar Trask!"

"..."

Upon hearing this, William Stryker glanced at Ethan with some surprise.

"You know him?"

"Oh."

Ethan didn't explain, but instead narrowed his eyes and looked at Stryker: "Was he the mastermind behind the clone project?"

Stryker shook his head again.

"No, but the X-Force suppressor and the healing agent that can cure mutant abilities were invented by Trask. He and I were collaborators."

"..."

Ethan frowned.

If the cloning project wasn't Bolivar Trask's, then whose was it?

In this world, who else could it be but Bolivar Trask and William Stryker?

William Stryker didn't intend to keep Ethan hanging; his main goal was to make Ethan keep his word and give him a quick and painless death.

Therefore, Stryker bluntly revealed the true mastermind behind the mutant clones.

"Merrick!"

"he!"

Upon hearing this, Ethan looked at Stryker with a hint of disbelief: "Isn't Merrick your subordinate?"

Stryker looked at Ethan's suspicious gaze and spoke calmly.

"Since I want you to give me a quick and painless resolution, I have no reason to lie to you about this matter."

"This doesn't help me at all."

"Didn't you ask me before why I wasn't seeing Merrick?"

"Because after he failed to intercept you on your way to S.H.I.E.L.D., he sensed that I would be abandoned by the military, so he left at that time."

"The clone project was developed by Merrick. The two core components of the clone project, Horton's Blood, which can control the growth rate of clones, and the mind-controlling agent that makes perfect mutant clones like Death Woman and Agent Zero devoted to me, were also provided by Merrick."

"A potion for the soul?"

"Yes, it's a strange substance that, when ingested, can control mutant clones to be loyal to us. Otherwise, do you think I would feel comfortable letting mutant clones stay by my side?"

"...That's true."

Ethan listened to Stryker's explanation and nodded subconsciously.

He thought of the zither.

"That zither..."

"At first I thought I had the piano under control, but I was wrong."

Stryker shook his head and chuckled: "Now that I think about it, Jean wasn't affected by the mind potion. After all, having been resurrected, her mental abilities are probably better than Charles's now. As for why she stayed with me all this time, I think it was because she didn't know about the growth-suppressing potion or her original body."

Stryker smiled again, looked at Ethan, and pointed to the passageway outside the door.

"Qin's original body is inside. Don't worry, there are no traps inside. You can take her out after I die."

"As for me..."

"I should have died here three years ago. It's good that I'm dying here now."

Stryker turned his head to look at the layout of the room, seemingly recalling the scene three years ago when the X-Men and others destroyed the dam base.

next second.

He looked at Ethan one last time.

"Merrick is a mysterious fellow. After he joined me, I secretly investigated him, but to no avail. However, I did find out that he went to So..."

"Bang!"

Just as Stryker was speaking, suddenly, with a muffled thud, the dam base, which had been brightly lit, went into darkness in an instant.

Just as the entire dam base was plunged into darkness once again, the base's energy shield, which had been preventing the lake water from seeping in, began to become unstable the moment the base's energy was interrupted.

soon.

The energy shield protecting the dam base was also taken offline after losing its subsequent energy support.

boom!

The moment the energy shield went offline, the lake water that had been blocked outside was no longer hindered and surged into the dam base through the scarred breach once again.

A familiar scene played out once again.

Three years ago, the dam base suffered a breach, and water flooded the base.

Three years later, the dam site was flooded again.

But this time is different from three years ago.

After three years of being submerged by the lake, the dam base, which was already on the verge of collapse, is now crumbling under the influx of water.

As the lake water flooded the base, accompanied by constant collapses and crashing sounds, William Stryker's face first showed a look of astonishment, then he seemed to realize something, suddenly laughed, and then looked at Ethan, whose eyes had turned bloodshot.

Do you know why I came here?

"It was Merrick who led me here, saying that if I could bring you here, he would find a way to rescue me."

"At that time, I had already been abandoned by the military. If I didn't leave, the military would have handed me over to S.H.I.E.L.D."

"So I believed him, and now it seems I was used as a pawn."

"A pawn that lured you here."

"Now you know who the real mastermind is."

"so……"

"Good luck, Ethan Clark."

After saying that.

William Stryker wore a smile that seemed somewhat reluctant, but his eyes held a calm and composed acceptance of defeat as he looked at Ethan.

"Merrick!"

"I will find him."

"You can wait in hell for a while; it won't be long before he comes down to join you."

Ethan spoke calmly.

He finally understood why, when he captured William Stryker, he felt no satisfaction of revenge, but rather a sense of utter boredom.

It seems he contacted the wrong person.

Merrick, right?

You just wait.

Ethan thought to himself, then looked at William Stryker in front of him, his eyes instantly activating their heat vision, and with a bang, William Stryker's head disappeared.

As he had promised before.

William Stryker's death was quite swift and painless.

Ethan then turned to look out the window at the lake water that was flooding the entire base, rushing towards him like a roaring dragon, blotting out the sky.

next second.

The flooded lake water roared in from all directions, completely submerging Ethan.

……