Richard didn't agree with many of Professor X's philosophies. He thought the man was too idealistic, too willing to shoulder the sins of the world in the name of coexistence. But even so, he couldn't deny one thing—the X-Men helped their own.
If a mutant in real trouble reached out to them, they rarely turned that person away.
"Call them?" Sabretooth repeated, clearly skeptical.
"Yes. Call them directly," Richard replied evenly. "Explain the situation clearly. Tell them Clarice wants to attend the school. If they believe you, they'll send someone."
He wasn't planning to step foot in the mutant school himself, but offering advice cost him nothing.
Sabretooth still looked doubtful. "You're sure they'd do that?"
"I can't promise one hundred percent," Richard said calmly. "But I'd say there's at least an eighty percent chance. Unless the two of you did something so catastrophic that even they wouldn't touch you."
Clarice glanced between them, uncertain. Sabretooth fell silent again, weighing the suggestion.
After several seconds, he spoke bluntly. "I don't have their contact information."
Richard almost rolled his eyes.
Then find it.
He kept the thought to himself.
"Don't look at me," he said instead. "I don't have it either. But if you really want it, it won't be hard to track down."
He had already said what needed to be said.
"If that's all, I'm leaving."
He shifted his weight slightly, preparing to activate Flash. His teleport distance was currently capped at five hundred meters, but that was more than enough for travel. Unlike Clarice's portals, Flash consumed very little energy. He could chain it dozens, even hundreds of times without noticeable fatigue.
Just as spatial distortion began to gather around him, Sabretooth called out sharply.
"Wait."
Richard paused.
"What now?"
Sabretooth stepped forward, his voice firm. "I changed my mind. I'm not sending Clarice to the mutant school."
Clarice turned to him in surprise.
"Come with me," Sabretooth continued quickly. "Help me deal with my clones. In return, I'll tell you where your father is being held."
That made Richard stop completely.
Technically, he wasn't the original owner of this body. He was an occupier, a soul that had overwritten another. But on the first day after transmigrating, he had considered rescuing the body's father as a form of repayment.
He just hadn't known where the man was imprisoned. And at the time, he lacked the strength to confront the Mutant Affairs Department directly.
Now that had changed.
He studied Sabretooth carefully.
"I'm not doubting you," Richard said. "But how do you know where my father is? As far as I'm aware, even within the Mutant Affairs Department, only a small circle knows the actual location of the mutant prison."
Many mutants opposed the Mutant Restriction Act. Many illegal mutants had been captured. Yet no one had successfully broken someone out of that prison.
Even Magneto hadn't done it.
That wasn't because Magneto lacked power. It was because the prison's location was tightly guarded. Even with Mystique's infiltration skills, the information had never surfaced.
Sabretooth shook his head.
"I never said I know where the prison is. I said I know where your father is."
Richard narrowed his eyes.
"There's a difference?"
"Of course there is," Sabretooth replied immediately. "Your father was captured by the department, yes. But he hasn't been transferred to the mutant prison."
Richard's mind moved quickly.
"Los Angeles branch," he said flatly. "He's still being held at the Los Angeles branch facility."
Sabretooth nodded. "Yes."
"How do you know?"
"The agent guarding Clarice and me mentioned it," Sabretooth answered without hesitation. "The one you killed. The guy who could fire energy from his hands."
Richard remembered him.
"He was chatting with another guard," Sabretooth continued. "He brought it up casually. And he threatened Clarice, said we'd be dissected and studied in the branch laboratory just like your father."
His expression was direct, almost blunt. No visible signs of deception.
Still, something bothered Richard.
Were the agents of the Mutant Affairs Department really that careless? No operational security? No compartmentalization?
After thinking it through, he asked a different question.
"Your clones. They were created by the Mutant Affairs Department, weren't they?"
Sabretooth didn't speak.
He simply nodded.
Capturing mutants while simultaneously cloning them.
That fit.
Even without additional proof, Richard believed him. The behavior aligned perfectly with bureaucratic arrogance and military experimentation.
He was about to agree when a translucent panel abruptly appeared in his vision.
A new system task.
[Task: Son of the Devil (II)][Task Content: Return the favor. Go to the Los Angeles branch of the Mutant Affairs Department and eliminate 12 mutant agents.][Task Reward: Phantom Sword][Time Limit: 3 days]
Richard stared at it.
Phantom Sword.
Virgil's ability. Again.
He suppressed the urge to sigh.
Right now, he possessed Sephiroth's template. If the system wanted synergy, it could at least reward abilities aligned with Sephiroth—Shadow Flare, Heartless Angel, even Octaslash variants. Instead, it kept handing him tools from another archetype.
He liked Virgil. He appreciated how devastating the summoned swords were.
But the mismatch annoyed him.
He closed the panel.
When he looked back at Sabretooth, his decision was already made.
"I'll go with you," Richard said calmly. "We'll hit the Los Angeles branch."
Sabretooth's posture straightened slightly.
"But understand something," Richard continued. "Even if you kill every clone currently there, it doesn't guarantee they won't create more in the future."
He let the implication sink in.
"The cloning technology exists. Your DNA has been archived. Backups almost certainly exist."
Sabretooth's jaw tightened.
"I know," he said immediately. "I understand that."
His voice lowered, heavy with restrained anger.
"I just don't like people making copies of me like I'm some lab specimen."
He took a step forward.
"Even if I can't erase the technology or destroy every blood sample, I can make sure they understand the consequences of trying."
.....
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