Swish!
Another flash of cold light streaked through the air.
Rorschach flicked his wrist again, sending a second dagger flying toward Sebastian Shaw. The blade cut through the air with a sharp whistle, heading straight for the Black Emperor's chest.
But the outcome was completely different from what had happened with Riptide.
The moment the dagger approached Shaw, it suddenly stopped.
It was as if an invisible wall had appeared in front of him. The blade halted in midair, motionless for a split second before falling to the ground with a dull clang.
It had done absolutely nothing.
"What just happened?"
"Why didn't it go through him?"
The mutants watching from the building were completely baffled.
If a dagger couldn't penetrate, then bullets would be just as useless.
Only Rorschach understood what had actually happened.
Shaw's mutation allowed him to absorb kinetic energy instantly. The moment the dagger reached him, its momentum had been completely drained away.
Without any kinetic force left, the blade simply dropped.
Rorschach couldn't help admiring it inwardly.
The ability was truly outrageous.
No matter whether the attack was physical or energy-based, Shaw could absorb it. Any strike against him only fed his power.
It was practically a cheat.
"Pointless," Shaw said calmly, folding his arms across his chest as he watched Rorschach with an amused smile.
"Don't waste your time."
To him, that dagger had been nothing more than a harmless tap.
Rorschach ignored the comment entirely.
Instead, he turned and ran toward a parked car nearby.
Then he bent down, grabbed the vehicle with both hands—
—and lifted it.
The car weighed well over a ton, yet in Rorschach's hands it seemed almost weightless.
As he began running forward with it raised overhead, the ground beneath his feet trembled faintly with every step.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
Each stride carried enormous force.
Even more shocking was the fact that the massive vehicle didn't slow him down at all. His speed remained almost unchanged, as if he were carrying something made of paper.
The sight alone was overwhelming.
"Is Rorschach serious right now?"
"What kind of monster is he?"
Mystique and the others stared in disbelief.
Even Shaw's expression shifted slightly.
"What remarkable strength," he said with clear admiration.
The more he observed Rorschach, the more pleased he became.
Yet despite the display, Shaw didn't move.
He simply stood there, waiting.
Because he knew perfectly well that the attack wouldn't hurt him.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Within seconds, Rorschach had closed the distance.
He leapt high into the air, gripping the rear of the car and swinging it downward with terrifying force.
The vehicle crashed toward Shaw like a falling mountain.
Its weight, combined with the speed of Rorschach's swing and the force of gravity, produced a devastating impact.
But Shaw merely raised one hand.
His palm pressed upward casually.
The falling car stopped instantly.
It hovered above his head like a feather resting on his hand.
Whether Shaw had absorbed the vehicle's kinetic energy or simply neutralized its motion was impossible to tell.
Either way, the result was the same.
Rorschach's attack had accomplished nothing.
Boom!
Shaw pushed forward gently, flipping the car aside.
The vehicle slammed into the ground nearby with a deafening crash.
Then Shaw casually brushed imaginary dust from his clothes.
"Alright," he said calmly. "Have you finished playing around?"
The atmosphere in the courtyard became heavy again.
No one had expected Shaw to be this powerful.
Rorschach had killed two terrifying mutants in quick succession, yet even he seemed completely ineffective against the Black Emperor.
"Rorschach! We'll help you!"
Havok suddenly stepped forward.
He twisted his body in a circular motion and unleashed several glowing energy rings.
Two of them missed entirely, slicing harmlessly into nearby structures.
But one struck Shaw directly.
Havok's energy rings were extremely destructive. They could slice through solid metal statues without difficulty.
If one hit a human body, it should have been devastating.
Yet the moment the ring reached Shaw—
He simply grabbed it.
The glowing energy collapsed into his palm and disappeared.
Shaw had absorbed it.
Boom!
He stomped his foot onto the ground.
The stored energy erupted outward instantly.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The pavement shattered as a massive fissure ripped across the courtyard, racing directly toward the building.
With a thunderous crash, half of the wall collapsed.
The mutants screamed and scattered in panic.
When they looked back at Shaw, their faces were filled with shock and fear.
They finally understood something terrifying.
They were completely outmatched.
There was no comparison.
No one dared move again.
Seeing their fear, Shaw smiled with satisfaction.
"Relax," he said calmly. "I have no intention of hurting you."
He glanced around the group.
"But now… perhaps we can talk."
The mutants huddled together nervously, their eyes fixed on him.
No one answered.
Shaw's gaze eventually returned to Rorschach.
"And you?" he asked.
This time, Rorschach didn't attack again.
He simply walked back toward the others.
There were two reasons for that.
First, he had already confirmed what he suspected. Shaw was effectively impossible to kill with brute force.
Second, the other mutants had now witnessed Shaw's power themselves.
The moment was right.
"Rorschach… what do we do?" Mystique whispered.
The others also looked toward him instinctively.
Even though he couldn't defeat Shaw, he had become the group's anchor.
"Everyone," Rorschach said quietly, "grab each other's hands."
The instruction seemed strange.
No one understood why he said it.
But this wasn't the time to question him. One by one, the mutants quickly clasped hands.
Only then did Rorschach pull several small canisters from his pocket.
He had prepared them earlier.
Gas bombs.
He pulled the pins and threw them directly toward Shaw.
Hissssss—
Thick white smoke exploded across the courtyard, spreading rapidly.
Within seconds, the entire area was filled with blinding clouds.
"Darwin," Rorschach said calmly, "didn't you want to leave earlier?"
"Now's the time."
Without hesitation, he turned and led everyone away from the courtyard.
Only then did the others realize why Rorschach had insisted they hold hands.
In the dense smoke, anyone who became separated would be impossible to find.
.....
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