Once Killian died, his subordinates instantly fell into chaos, as if they'd lost their backbone.
Clearly, all of them had undergone brainwashing.
As long as Killian was alive, even if he ordered them to collectively self-destruct immediately, they wouldn't hesitate.
But with Killian gone, the effect of the brainwashing diminished significantly.
Their immediate reaction was naturally to preserve their own lives.
"Kneel and surrender, and you won't be killed. Anyone daring to flee will be executed without mercy!"
Raymond's thunderous shout instantly intimidated some of them, causing them to kneel down immediately and put their hands behind their heads.
However, some weren't obedient at all. Even though they'd heard Raymond's warning clearly, they accelerated their speed and scattered in all directions to escape.
Akainu became extremely irritated upon seeing this.
Because he wasn't good at dealing with this type of scenario.
The escapees scattered in multiple directions, and he could at most chase after one direction at a time.
Even if he quickly dispatched one target and switched direction right after, he could only handle a few at most.
The majority would still likely escape successfully.
If it were Kizaru instead, he'd easily take care of all of them in no time, even having spare time for a cigarette.
But now he could only fret helplessly.
Just at that moment, his eyes suddenly shifted, and his entire aura changed dramatically—from commanding dignity to a chillingly evil presence!
"In the end, isn't it always me who has to clean things up?"
Raymond—or rather, Raymond whose bodily control had now switched over to the Tao Pai Pai sub-personality—remarked sarcastically.
Though sarcastic, he wasn't waiting. He gently tapped the ground with his toes, his figure instantly vanishing in a blur.
When he reappeared, he was already airborne!
In just the blink of an eye, he fired more than ten Dodon Rays in all directions, each attack hitting precisely and blowing off a fleeing subordinate's head!
The Extremis virus's regenerative power wasn't strong enough for them to survive losing their heads, so each Dodon Ray meant one escapee was instantly killed.
In truth, if these men had chosen to fight desperately rather than flee, they wouldn't die immediately as long as their heads weren't hit.
If they could have found opportunities to approach Tao Pai Pai's sub-personality, they might have posed him some trouble.
But unfortunately, there were no "ifs" in this world.
When Raymond landed back on the ground, all the escapees had been completely dealt with, and he switched back to his main personality.
"Boss, you're amazing!" Beth excitedly rushed toward him, looking him up and down to check if he was injured.
Admittedly, earlier, when the Akainu sub-personality twice demonstrated ignoring damage by elementalizing, it truly shocked them all.
Even David and Tony couldn't help scrutinizing Raymond thoroughly as they approached, seemingly trying to figure out why he was so astonishingly powerful.
"All right, stop staring at me." Raymond felt a bit uncomfortable under everyone's gaze. He turned to Tony and said, "I'll leave these people to you. They must have injected some kind of unstable genetic serum…"
"While it grants them great power and regeneration quickly, it also turns each of them into an unstable ticking bomb, causing them to self-destruct once provoked, just like the previous ones."
"Extremis virus?" Tony recalled the unfamiliar term Killian mentioned earlier when questioning Raymond.
"That should be it." Raymond nodded, continuing, "I think you should research this carefully. Although Killian was scum, this 'Extremis virus' might still hold significant research value."
"I was thinking the same," Tony replied thoughtfully.
The Extremis virus's powerful regenerative capabilities inspired a bold idea in him. At this thought, Tony subconsciously touched his chest.
Raymond naturally noticed this detail, realizing Tony probably already thought of using the Extremis virus, and added:
"By the way, if you discover anything useful, remember to reserve some samples for me—as payment for Miss Pepper hiring me. Deal?"
"No problem," Tony agreed without any hesitation.
He clearly understood how precious such a powerful genetic serum was, but without Raymond's help, he couldn't have gained the chance to easily study Extremis.
Moreover, Raymond had also saved Happy. Even without the later incidents, Tony wouldn't refuse this request.
"I'll go back first. Come by my company after you're done here; there's something I'd like to discuss with you," Raymond said.
Tony was slightly surprised, but still nodded readily.
After today's events, he'd already begun regarding Raymond as someone he could communicate and even establish friendship with.
Of course, he wouldn't mind such minor details.
After parting ways with Tony and the others, Raymond had Beth drive the car while he took a short nap in the back seat.
Beth and the rest assumed he was tired after the fierce battle and didn't disturb him.
In truth, he was examining his gains from this encounter:
[Strength: 3.5, Agility: 3.8, Constitution: 4.8, Mind: 2.8]
[Abilities: Kuro's Fighting Style, Navy Six Styles (intermediate), Ki mastery (beginner)] (TL/N: Ki from Dragon Ball)
[Universal Points: 3310]
[Sub-Personalities: Kuro of a Hundred Plans, 'Deadshot' Floyd Lawton, 'World's No. 1 Assassin' Tao Pai Pai, 'Boss of the Underground Culinary World' Livebearer (Toriko), 'HellBlazer' John Constantine, Hokuto Five Elements Fist Exorcist, Akainu]
Seeing his Universal Points balance, Raymond, though not as excited as when it first exceeded four digits, still felt highly satisfied.
Previously, after exchanging for silver-level Akainu and bronze-level Constantine, Exorcist, and Livebearer personalities, he had 500 points remaining.
Afterward, he repeatedly used 'Immersive Mode'—first learning four of the Navy Six Styles from Akainu's instance to boost his physical stats rapidly.
He then studied and mastered the basic Ki training method from Tao Pai Pai's instance.
Additionally, having used Equipment Materialization twice, his Universal Points had disastrously dropped below three digits.
Fortunately, this time killing Killian provided him with 250 Development Points, equating to 1250 Universal Points. Plus, he earned another 1500 Universal Points from defeating the Shadow King previously, along with additional Exploration Points from meeting Tony, Azazel, Pepper, and others.
Altogether, his Universal Points reached exactly 3310.
"I wonder what surprises await me this time…" Gazing at his Universal Points balance, Raymond couldn't help but feel expectant.
Indeed, he'd already decided that after returning this time, he'd exchange these points directly for three silver-level character cards.
This decision was carefully thought upon and finalized.