"If she really is a spy," Raymond mused with amusement, "then it proves Professor X doesn't completely trust Juggernaut, even though he's his own brother… Tsk tsk."
As an observer of drama, Raymond decided to simply enjoy the show and stay out of it—unless, of course, there was some free loot to grab.
And just by meeting these fellow members, he'd already earned nearly 500 exploration points.
That might not be close to what he earned from Ancient One alone, but it was still a nice bonus.
Combined with what the John Constantine sub-personality had pulled off at Kamar-Taj, his Universal Points had once again risen above 2,000.
Still, he didn't plan to use them right away.
Right now, with five Silver sub-personalities, plus the mix of strange and quirky Bronze ones, he had more than enough to work with.
There was no need to rush into unlocking new characters.
His next move would be one of two things:
Either save up and go all-in with 10,000 points to unlock a Gold Character Card directly,
Or roll the dice and draw a large batch of Bronze and Silver Cards in hopes of pulling a surprise.
Whichever route he took would depend on his upcoming gains.
Once everyone had arrived, Juggernaut officially opened the welcome banquet as the Black King.
Since it was only the first day of the gathering, there was no talk of business. Juggernaut simply gave a warm welcome, and the event began.
During the banquet, Raymond finally met Sunspot, Costa's son—and gained another 50 exploration points, since Sunspot was rated A-rank.
"Dr. Raymond, I've been looking forward to this meeting," came a voice just as Raymond was about to dive into some Atlantis gossip with the Red Devil.
It was Longshot, the other Black Bishop, raising his wine glass.
"You've been waiting to teach me a lesson, haven't you?" Raymond chuckled and clinked glasses with him.
"Haha, Dr. Raymond, you do have a sharp tongue," Longshot laughed. "Red Devil told me you're incredibly strong—that even the Shadow King fell at your hands. I just wanted to see for myself with a friendly spar."
"If you're not up for it today, that's totally fine. I really don't mean anything by it…"
Raymond could tell Longshot was being genuine.
He didn't sense any schemes or traps here. The guy just wanted to spar—plain and simple.
"Everyone just arrived today. Isn't it a bit soon? Maybe give it a few days…" Red Devil tried to step in, hoping to defuse the situation. After all, it was kind of his fault—he'd hyped up Raymond's strength to a lot of people in the club. That's probably why Longshot came over so quickly.
But Raymond interrupted, "Let's do it today."
"Great!" Longshot beamed, clearly excited, and immediately ran off to inform Psylocke.
Since this was her turf, it was only polite to ask before turning her castle into a battle arena.
"You really agreed to fight him?" Red Devil sighed. "That guy's a total battle maniac. He's even challenged Cain multiple times. You didn't need to say yes… this one's on me—I shouldn't have bragged."
"It's fine," Raymond smiled casually. "Just a friendly match. Think of it as a warm-up show for everyone."
"Well, alright then. I'll stay out of it," Red Devil said with a shrug.
Carl had already warned him ahead of time—Red Devil had stirred the pot and drawn a lot of attention toward Raymond. Some were already itching to size him up.
Raymond hadn't thought much of it. After all, what was there to be afraid of in a fight?
He'd gone head-to-head with Juggernaut the first time they met. If he wasn't scared of the Black King himself, why worry about anyone else?
From the system's S-rank rating, this guy Longshot clearly wasn't weak—maybe not even weaker than Juggernaut.
But Raymond had full confidence in himself.
As Longshot ran off to ask Psylocke for permission to duel on her turf, the other core members all started cheering. Everyone was eager to watch.
Even Juggernaut looked interested. He wanted to see how Raymond would fare against Longshot, the notorious battle junkie.
Longshot challenged Juggernaut often. Though he hadn't beaten him yet, Juggernaut usually only won by using his superior defense to tank through the damage.
In truth, their matches were close—unless Juggernaut went all out.
But that carried risk. His power grew with rage, and if he pushed too far, he risked losing control to his emotions.
So unless it was a real fight to the death, Juggernaut didn't operate at full strength in friendly matches.
Besides, his last bout with Raymond had ended without a result. He was curious to see how strong Raymond really was now.
That said, a duel between fighters of Raymond and Longshot's level definitely couldn't happen near the castle.
Otherwise, with their destructive power, Psylocke's estate would be reduced to rubble in minutes.
Luckily, Red Devil—the team's walking teleportation device—was around.
After several quick transfers, Red Devil successfully transported the core members—and a few of their family guests—to a remote mountain valley.
There were no people here, no buildings. Even if Raymond and Longshot went all-out, it wouldn't matter.
"Are you sure this is okay?" Emma Frost glanced toward the two men preparing to fight, and asked Juggernaut, "You know how much of a headache Longshot's powers can be…"
"You've fought him too. If you didn't have such strong defenses, even you might lose. Are you sure this Raymond guy can handle it?"
Clearly, Emma didn't think Raymond stood much of a chance—even though she'd heard Red Devil's hype.
"Longshot is tricky, yes. But Dr. Raymond's strength is no joke," Juggernaut said seriously. "Honestly, if I'm not in full rage mode, I might not even beat him."
"That strong? Really?" Gambit looked skeptical. "I was actually planning to challenge him myself…"
"You?" Red Devil sneered. "Come on, you can't even beat me. How would you beat Dr. Raymond?"
"Oh, I can't beat you?" Gambit chuckled. "Then how about we spar after they're done?"
"Bring it on. You think I'm scared?" Red Devil shot back.
Their power levels were actually very close—neither one could guarantee a win.
It usually came down to who timed their moves better.
Last time, Red Devil had won.
"Enough," Psylocke interrupted their bickering and nodded toward Raymond and Longshot.
"They're about to start—"
Nearby, Clarice and Lorna stood watching, fists clenched, eyes wide with a mix of excitement and nervousness.
For both of them, this was the first time they'd ever seen Raymond fight seriously.
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