Chapter 234: The Miserable William Stryker
But what he never expected was that a year ago, his base at Alkali Lake Dam in Canada was suddenly found by Professor X and the X-Men.
After breaking through the base, they rescued the mutants he had imprisoned for experiments.
Fortunately, William Stryker hadn't been at the base at the time. Otherwise, his fate would have been obvious. But even though he had escaped that disaster, his current situation was still terrible.
His experimental records had been left behind in the base.
Those valuable files and research records became evidence of the monstrous crimes he had committed.
Once the information was leaked, everything changed.
Some things don't seem like much until they're brought into the open. Once they are, their weight becomes impossible to ignore.
Experiments on mutants were being conducted all over the world.
Did anyone really think mutants existed only in America? Other countries had them too.
And across the world, how many laboratories were there? How many experimental bases? Openly known ones, privately built ones—there were too many to count.
Were those laboratories and bases clean? Of course not.
It could be said that capturing mutants, throwing them onto operating tables, dissecting them, and experimenting on them had already formed an entire industry chain.
Many private mercenary companies had special services for capturing mutants alive and selling them.
They were all sold to those laboratories and experimental bases.
If not for Magneto and the X-Men—searching for them and disrupting their operations—that number would only have multiplied.
Most of these laboratories were tied to certain interest groups.
Financial groups, governments, and more.
There was no need to mention anything else. As long as they could research a drug that increased lifespan, then no matter how many mutants died, it would be worth it to those people.
But this kind of thing could only be done in the dark. It absolutely could not be exposed.
Once exposed, such crimes against humanity would never be accepted by the public. What awaited them then would be abandonment.
William Stryker had originally been the same.
A dignified U.S. military colonel had done something so horrifying. For the military, and for America, this was an unacceptable scandal.
So Stryker was supposed to be abandoned.
But Stryker had connections.
He forcefully suppressed this scandal, one that should have been enough to send him to a military court. However, Stryker himself was still shelved.
He lost the financial support of those backing him.
Like a sewer rat, he hid in this experimental base and barely clung to life.
He escaped judgment by military court.
But Magneto and the X-Men would not let him go.
Stryker knew very well that if he fell into the hands of those mutants, then with the countless crimes he had committed against them, even death would be a luxury.
Fortunately, when this base was first built, it had already been designed to hide from Professor X's immensely powerful telepathic abilities.
Thick concrete walls and numerous devices designed to block telepathic powers kept it hidden.
But Stryker wasn't willing to accept that.
He wasn't willing to spend the rest of his life hiding here, never seeing the light of day. He still wanted to finish the work he had left unfinished.
Stryker wanted every mutant to go extinct.
But as long as he remained hidden here, there was nothing he could do.
That was the real source of his anger, the thing that nearly drove him mad.
Yet what could he do, no matter how unwilling or furious he was? Nothing.
He could only vent his anger by whipping that damned mutant woman.
That familiar sense of helplessness washed over him once more, and Stryker slowly closed his eyes.
But at that moment, a strange voice echoed in his mind.
"My, such intense, twisted hatred and resentment... it truly is a rare sight."
"Isn't that right, Colonel William Stryker?"
"Who's there?"
The sudden voice made William Stryker's eyes snap open. He shouted sharply and swept his gaze around.
Behind his glasses, his eyes were sharp and cold.
What made Stryker even more uneasy was that the guards were clearly right outside the door, yet after hearing his voice, there was no reaction at all.
The room was still empty.
Stryker tightened his grip on the whip. Out of instinct, he was about to turn and leave, but what happened next made his scalp go numb.
The blood that had splashed onto the floor from whipping the mutant woman began to writhe.
It slowly gathered together, rising higher and higher.
Finally, it became a "person" made entirely of blood.
The blood person had no visible features. Only its eyes could be seen—or rather, there were only hollow holes where its eyes should have been.
Its dark, hollow eyes stared at Stryker as the blood man grinned.
Its voice was hoarse.
"Colonel Stryker, are you willing to curl up in this place where the sun never shines and die here?"
"Are you willing to watch those mutants—Magneto, Professor X, and the X-Men—strut around proudly in the outside world?"
The voice was full of temptation.
Stryker did not move. He stayed alert and looked around, only to find that the surrounding walls seemed to be covered in a layer of black-purple light and shadow. It flowed like thick water, sticky and sickening.
"You're one of those bastards too?"
Stryker looked at the blood man, his face twisted with hate.
Stryker had never feared death. What he feared most was failing to achieve what he wanted to do.
His hatred and disgust had already surpassed his fear of death.
"No, no, no. I am not a mutant, Colonel Stryker. If I had to explain… have you heard of that great battle in Manhattan?"
The man was not angry at Stryker's insult at all. Instead, he brought up another matter.
The Manhattan battle?
Stryker's expression changed sharply. Although he had been hiding here all this time, he was not cut off from outside information.
How could Stryker possibly forget the event in Manhattan that shocked the world?
Back then, when he learned of it, he had watched the entire thing through live video footage recorded by New York news media inside the base.
He had also been very surprised to discover that aside from those mutant bastards, there were actually other creatures on Earth.
And now this person suddenly mentioned the Manhattan battle.
Could it be...
Stryker's mind raced, and he instantly settled on one possibility. Narrowing his eyes, he suppressed the shock in his heart and asked in a low voice, "You're a demon?"
Many experts and scholars had already offered detailed analyses and theories about those monsters.
That theory had gained widespread acceptance.
Stryker knew about it as well.
The man had mentioned the Battle of Manhattan, and the strange power he displayed was completely different from that of the mysterious Astartes and Raven.
There was only one possibility.
A demon.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
The blood man stretched out both hands and clapped, as if admiring Stryker's quick thinking.
"That's right. I am a demon."
The demon admitted its identity, but Stryker did not become happy because of it. Instead, he remained cautious and calm.
"Then, Mr. Demon, what do you want from me?"
"Of course, I want to make a deal with you."
"We demons love making deals the most."
The blood man spread his hands, his expression and tone making it seem like the most natural thing in the world.
Demons loved making deals with humans. Wasn't that common knowledge?
His answer left Stryker silent.
After a long moment, a smile slowly spread across Stryker's face.
"A deal?"