Of course, the person who arrived was Raymond.
In fact, Raymond hadn't just arrived.
With Tao Pai Pai's unrealistic flying technique, the distance between Washington and New York took him less than five minutes to cross. It was over five times faster than when Hill and May came to pick him up in a fighter jet. You could say it was a must-have skill for travel, killing, or robbery.
However, that flying technique wasn't very accurate in terms of landing. Even though Raymond figured out the general direction, he still landed a short distance away from the Clockwork Psychiatric Hospital.
But that little distance didn't mean much. Even without switching to any sub-personality, he could reach the hospital quickly just by running.
By the time he arrived, David and the Shadow King hadn't even started confronting each other yet.
The reason he didn't show up immediately, but chose to appear now, wasn't because he wanted to act cool or make a dramatic entrance like some main character.
It was simply because he wasn't ready yet.
In fact, while on his way, he was already discussing things with his sub-personalities in his mind. The conversation went something :
"…That's basically his situation. Do you guys have any suggestions?"
"I can't help with this. I'm out," said the Deadshot sub-personality, leaving the discussion first.
Deadshot's modern combat skills were strong. If given powerful weapons, he could even go up against tough guys like Juggernaut, who was stronger than most Level 4 mutants.
But against the Shadow King, who was a spirit-type being, he couldn't do anything.
Because obviously, normal physical attacks didn't work on the Shadow King.
"I can't help either. I'm out," said the Kuro sub-personality.
"Same here," said the Livebearer sub-personality and left too.
These three had their own strengths, but none of them could deal with the Shadow King.
"A spirit-type being… is that kind of like a ghost?" the Exorcist sub-personality asked.
"I'm not totally sure, but yeah, I think they're similar," Raymond replied, thinking.
"If it's just a vengeful spirit or fierce ghost, I can handle it myself. But if it's a ghost king, that might be too much for me," the Exorcist sub-personality said.
"Are those different ghost levels? How do you tell them apart?" Raymond asked.
"A vengeful spirit acts on instinct. It has no mind, only strong emotions. If it possesses a normal person, they'll die quickly, but most exorcists can deal with it. A fierce ghost has intelligence and isn't afraid of normal exorcism techniques. It can attack a group of people at once, which makes it hard to deal with…"
"As for a ghost king, it's like a high-level demon. It can split into many forms and is very hard to kill. Even top exorcists like me can't be sure of beating it."
The Exorcist sub-personality started explaining this kind of knowledge to Raymond.
Of course, everything he said was based on the rules of the Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons world, and it might not apply to other worlds. Besides, the Shadow King might not even count as a ghost in the traditional sense.
But even by those standards, the Shadow King was clearly not just a vengeful or fierce ghost. He was at least at the level of a ghost king.
That also meant the Exorcist sub-personality probably wouldn't be able to handle him either.
Even though he had more experience in this area than Kuro and the others, that still didn't make up for the difference in raw power.
Still, this wasn't really unexpected for Raymond. He never thought these Bronze sub-personalities could really do much against the Shadow King.
After all, the Shadow King was a Level 4 mutant, and not just any Level 4—one with an incredibly strong survival ability. He wasn't someone easy to deal with.
Raymond's original plan was to use either the Tao Pai Pai or Akainu sub-personality to force the Shadow King out into the open, helping David recognize the threat, and then team up with him to try and completely destroy it.
Unlike Kuro and the others, both Tao Pai Pai and Akainu had ways to handle strange lifeforms .
Tao Pai Pai had his "ki," and Akainu had his "Armament Haki"—both could break through physical and energy barriers and actually hurt enemies like the Shadow King.
Kuro, on the other hand, even though he also came from the One Piece world, never even reached the Grand Line. So, of course, he had never learned Armament Haki.
That's why, when Raymond finished explaining the Shadow King's situation and the Bronze sub-personalities admitted they couldn't help, both Tao Pai Pai and Akainu said they could give it a shot.
But neither of them made any promises about winning.
Raymond had already mentioned that, because of the Shadow King's special life form, even if a tiny bit of his mental energy survived, he could come back again.
The two were very confident in their strength, but not arrogant enough to guarantee success.
They weren't about to say something bold and end up embarrassed if they failed.
This was pretty much what Raymond had expected—no surprises there.
But just as Raymond was still deciding between using Tao Pai Pai or Akainu, the sub-personality who had stayed quiet the whole time—John Constantine—suddenly spoke up:
"How about I give it a try? I've dealt with guys like him before. Just give me a little time to prepare—taking him down won't be hard…"
"Hey kid, bragging isn't a good habit!" Tao Pai Pai immediately snapped.
What was that supposed to mean?
Even he, Tao Pai Pai, didn't dare make such a bold claim—and now a Bronze sub-personality dared to talk big?
If Akainu had said it, Tao Pai Pai might've stayed quiet, even if he didn't like it. After all, if Akainu pulled it off, he'd just embarrass himself by talking back.
But John Constantine? He was just a Bronze sub-personality. Tao Pai Pai had seen what those Bronze personalities could do during Raymond's earlier switch tests—and he knew where they stood.
He didn't believe for a second that John Constantine could beat an enemy even he and Akainu weren't sure about.
Akainu felt the same way but didn't bother commenting. He wasn't the type to argue over things .
Tao Pai Pai, though, didn't have that kind of patience and fired back immediately.
"John, if you ask me, let's not say things we can't follow through… Even Admiral Akainu isn't sure about this one. It's normal if we can't handle it. No need to act tough," Kuro chimed in with a mocking tone, clearly enjoying the drama.