Raymond suddenly cut Sonya off before she could finish.
He knew exactly why Clarice had kept it a secret. He understood their situation better than they did, so he didn't need Sonya to explain anything.
He had only asked to teach Clarice a lesson so that she wouldn't be so careless next time.
Stunned by Raymond's harsh tone, Sonya didn't know what to say. The speech she had prepared was stuck in her throat.
"Brother, why are you talking to Sonya like that?" Clarice couldn't believe that Raymond would speak to her . In her eyes, he was always kind, polite, and scholarly.
This was the first time she'd seen him act so harshly.
"How should I talk to her?" Raymond said coldly. "If I hadn't followed you today, you would've been captured… What's the point of a useless group that can't even protect its own people?"
Clarice wanted to argue but didn't know how to respond.
"I don't want to waste time arguing. I'll drop you off somewhere and take care of some things. When I get back, if you can't give me a proper explanation, I'll tell Mom and Dad and let them deal with you."
"No!!" Clarice panicked as soon as she heard that.
She knew her parents too well.
Especially her mom, Roland. If she found out that Clarice had gotten involved in something , she'd definitely ground her. She wouldn't be allowed to go anywhere except school.
"I'll be waiting for your explanation."
This time, Raymond wasn't backing down.
Ten minutes later, he dropped the four of them off and left.
Clarice probably thought the whole thing was over, but Raymond couldn't let it go like that. If he didn't deal with it properly, more trouble would follow.
For now, though, he didn't have a good solution.
So… he decided to cheat!
Lorna controlled the car doors, which kept slamming against Carl The Absorbing Man. The scene looked dramatic, but Carl didn't move an inch. He just stood there and took it.
It was like he was saying, "If I move, I lose."
John wasn't standing around either. He had somehow gotten hold of a bag full of short spears, each about a meter long. While Lorna attacked Carl, John waited for the right moment to strike.
With his super strength, those spears could do more damage than regular guns. Each time he threw one, he aimed for Carl's weak spots: his neck, eyes, and other places too unmentionable to name.
But despite all that, neither Lorna's repeated attacks nor John's surprise strikes could hurt Carl. It was like they were just scratching him.
Carl didn't even bother to fight back. He just stood there and let them attack.
After the sixth ineffective throw, John realized there was a problem.
On the surface, he and Lorna seemed to be in control, yet their target remained unharmed. That meant his defense was far stronger than their attacks—perhaps their strikes did nothing at all.
If so, why was he just standing there, taking the hits?
With such a solid defense, he could ignore the attacks and charge straight in. John could dodge with his speed, but Lorna couldn't. They would soon be at a disadvantage.
Why was he standing still and not fighting back? Just to toy with them? That made no sense.
"Wait—his real target is… oh no!"
John suddenly realized that Absorbing Man's real target was Clarice. The strange behavior now made sense.
"Finally figured it out? Still, they've probably finished over there by now…" Absorbing Man, also known as Carl, saw John's expression change and guessed that he had caught on.
By his estimate, the other team had likely already captured Clarice and her friends.
Carl's job here was only to stall John and Lorna—the main fighters—so the others could seize their target. He knew that he and his handful of men couldn't capture the entire Mutant Underground.
If he'd known Clarice had joined them, he'd have brought a larger squad. His power wasn't suited for chasing; if John ran, Carl couldn't keep up.
So he held back, afraid of scaring them off and ruining the plan.
"Move!" John called, and he and Lorna began to retreat.
Carl didn't stop them; he doubted he could. No point in wasting strength.
Watching them leave, Carl chuckled to himself. "Interesting power… Could it be linked to that person? This trip wasn't wasted after all."
"If I were you, I wouldn't celebrate yet." A new voice rang out. "Knowing too much isn't always good."
A man stood a short distance away, arms folded, leaning on a wall, a faint smile on his face.
That voice had come from him.
Anyone who could appear unnoticed at a time was no ordinary passerby.
"And you are?" Carl asked in a low voice.
"Raymond," the man—Raymond, controlled by the Kuro personality—said with a light laugh. "A name you've probably never heard."
He smiled. "By the way, the girl you're after—she's my sister."
Next Bonus Chapter at 300 Powerstones!