Internal Sparring

"Not looking anymore?" At the Black Queen’s words, everyone looked at her in shock. The Hellfire Club had paid an enormous price for the Gene Optimization Fluid, and now she was suddenly saying they would stop looking. Many of them were unwilling to accept it.

One hot-tempered man stood up directly and shouted indignantly, "Why aren’t we looking anymore? We…"

"Sit down!" The Black Queen’s expression suddenly turned cold. She glared at the man who had stood up and said in a chilling tone, "I’m in a good mood today, so I’ll spare your worthless life!"

At the Black Queen’s glare, the man’s face immediately went pale, and his entire body shook violently. The Black Queen was no saint; she had killed plenty of people at the slightest disagreement. Hearing her final words, the man collapsed into his chair unsteadily, then sprang back up as if struck by lightning and repeatedly thanked her.

After that, the atmosphere in the room immediately fell silent. No one dared speak carelessly again.

Since the matter had not been resolved, the Black Queen did not feel like explaining anything. After saying a few indifferent words, she turned and left, leaving the dozen or so people staring at one another.

Throughout the Hellfire Club, most people feared the Black Queen more than they respected her. Her temperament was truly terrible, and countless people had died at her hands. But aside from her strength, the Black Queen’s methods were equally formidable. That was why she had been able to hold the position of Supreme King of the Hellfire Club all this time.

After exchanging glances, the remaining people recalled the Black Queen’s past methods and quickly got up to leave. They now looked forward even more to her words: "The truth will be clear in a few days."

Meanwhile, at the Floating Temple, Alex, Emma, and the others held a brief discussion and came up with a plan to deal with the alliance of AIM, the Hellfire Club, and the Brotherhood of Mutants. They began actively recruiting personnel and setting up defenses as they waited for the allied forces. Alex had originally advocated a proactive attack, but Emma and the others strongly opposed it, and the idea was abandoned. In the end, they settled on a defensive counterattack strategy.

With Emma around, Alex rarely handled specific matters himself. After the discussion ended, he thought for a moment and headed toward Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, intending to find somewhere to train. A last-minute effort was better than none.

After more than a decade of continuous development, Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters had grown from a small academy into the largest area of the Floating Temple. Every kind of facility was available, and all manner of high-tech equipment had been introduced to assist with teaching and training.

He easily found an empty combat training room. After a simple warm-up, Alex began moving. Heartbreak Fist, a throat lock, and Battlefield Combat techniques learned from Logan followed one after another. In just ten minutes, he had completed the entire routine.

Alex stopped and breathed lightly, looking down at his hands with disappointment on his face. During his practice, he inevitably thought of Mandarin’s martial arts. Comparing the two, Alex felt that his own fighting skills were not even worthy of being called amateurish.

Thinking of Mandarin and his martial arts, Alex could not help but think of the remarkable sorcerer, the Ancient One, in the mysterious valley of the Snowy Region. The more he thought about it, the less he could calm down. He had no mind to continue training.

After struggling with himself for a long while, Alex used Teleportation and vanished from the combat training room.

When he reappeared, Alex had arrived at the mysterious valley from before. But to his disappointment, the mist that had shrouded the valley had completely dispersed. Naturally, the Ancient One was nowhere to be found either.

Unwilling to give up, Alex searched the entire valley for half a day but found nothing.

He had gone there full of anticipation and returned disappointed. Alex’s mood became extremely foul. After thinking it over, he turned and left Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, heading toward the X-Men’s base.

Since the X-Men had officially been established, Emma had specifically designated an area of the Floating Temple for their living quarters and rest. Naturally, there were all kinds of training facilities there as well, and they were even more advanced than those at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, with far better training results.

But Alex had not come here to train. He simply wanted to find someone to fight and vent his frustration.

When they learned of Alex’s purpose, the X-Men who gathered around him were all thrilled. Opportunities to spar with Alex were rare, and quite a few X-Men who were away even rushed back. The commotion grew so large that even Emma was alerted.

Alex had not expected things to become so big, but it was obviously impossible to back out now. Fortunately, he had not said from the beginning that it would be purely hand-to-hand combat. Otherwise, it would have been embarrassing if he lost. In terms of fighting ability alone, Alex did not dare claim he could defeat every X-Man, but when it came to overall strength, he was quite confident.

There were simply too many participants, and even more people wanted to watch. In the end, the sparring venue was moved to Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. The school had a huge sports field, and it was temporarily turned into an arena. It would do.

Naturally, Alex was the first to enter the arena. Standing in the middle of the field, his restless emotions only intensified. His body began trembling involuntarily, and he grew somewhat impatient. A savage emotion was quietly influencing Alex, though he did not notice it.

Very soon, the first opponent appeared. It was none other than Remy, known by the codename Gambit.

"Why are you here, kid?" Alex was somewhat surprised when he saw Remy. This guy was now a household-name Hollywood superstar. Why was he here instead of filming in Hollywood?

Remy waved the gentleman’s cane in his hand and gave a wicked smile. "I just finished a movie, so I came back to rest for a while."

Alex nodded noncommittally and said with a light shout, "Fine, then. Come on!" Before Remy could nod, Alex charged at him first.

At the beginning, both of them held back and used only their fists and feet.

But Remy had learned all his combat skills from Alex. After fighting for a while, he began struggling to keep up. The moment he slipped, Alex seized the opportunity, and a hand strike stopped firmly in front of Remy’s neck. If that move had landed, Remy would have been crippled even if he survived.

Seeing Alex defeat Remy so cleanly and decisively, the entire crowd erupted in cheers, for both Alex and Remy.

Alex chuckled and released Remy, stepping back a few paces. He said slowly, "I heard your ability is very powerful. Give it a try!"

Remy hesitated for a moment, then nodded and warned in a low voice, "Be careful!" A superpower battle differed from hand-to-hand combat. No matter how fierce a fistfight became, casualties were rare. But superpowers were different; one mistake could lead to danger.

"Come on!" Alex chuckled and motioned for Remy to attack. "I’m waiting for you!"

Hearing that, Remy no longer hesitated. With a flick of his hand, he threw out a playing card at incredible speed.

Alex did not dodge. Instead, he moved toward the playing card. He had heard about Remy’s ability before; it was somewhat similar to the Energy Ball used by the Inhuman Tashim.

Just as expected, the instant Alex drew close, the playing card exploded.

"Not bad. Just a little weak!"