To Raymond, whether it's superheroes, villains, or anti-heroes like David and Lorna, there's no real difference—they're all people he can take advantage of.
As long as there's contact, he can openly gain Exploration Points from them.
So he actually doesn't mind trouble. Especially the kind of trouble that could give him more Exploration Points—he's happy to deal with it.
The more, the better.
Just thinking about getting a "fat sheep" tomorrow made him feel even better. Even the frustration he felt earlier about Clarice joining a dead-end organization was completely gone.
It's worth mentioning that the reason he didn't cut off Clarice's contact with John and the others wasn't because he was moved by her emotional speech.
The main reason was that when he saw the Absorbing Man, Carl, he suddenly realized that a powered Clarice could never stay at home and act like a good girl forever.
If it wasn't the Mutant Underground, it would've been the Hellfire Club. And if not them, then some other organization.
This world, which seemed peaceful on the surface, was full of hidden dangers and conflicts.
If he wanted to completely separate Clarice from the supernatural world, he'd have to lock her up at home and never let her go anywhere. Otherwise, it would be nearly impossible.
Since it was so hard to stop it anyway, why play the villain?
Letting Clarice stay in the Mutant Underground wasn't a big issue. At least it was a somewhat stable choice. Even if problems came up— time—they'd still be within his control.
If she joined a more extreme group, who knows what might happen?
So, in the end, Raymond decided not to interfere.
"Speaking of which, I wonder who that Black King really is..." After setting aside Clarice's situation, Raymond's focus naturally shifted to tomorrow's meeting.
This time, he really had no clue.
Even though the general setting of this world was similar to a few well-known Marvel parallel universes, the details were quite different.
Just like the Absorbing Man, Carl, whom he had just seen. In those well-known universes, Carl was either a magical minion created by Loki to fight Thor, or a loyal Inhuman under HYDRA's control.
But in this world, he was a member of the Hellfire Club—and not just any member, but one of the core figures.
Just this one difference with Carl was enough to show that the Hellfire Club here was very different from what Raymond knew. He couldn't rely on his existing knowledge to guess what might happen.
Still, that unknown factor only made him look forward to tomorrow's meeting even more.
Outside Richmond International Airport.
Carl, dressed in a white-collar suit, was standing next to a trash can, puffing on a cigar and scrolling casually through his phone.
Suddenly, someone tapped his shoulder, making him jump.
He turned around and saw a man over two meters tall, wearing a white suit, with a towering and muscular build like a steel tower!
If the head of the Combat Division, Leonid—who had fought Raymond before—were here, he might start to doubt whether his nickname was wrong, because this guy looked way more like a polar bear than he did.
At least in terms of size, there was no comparison.
Next to him stood a graceful woman in a tight black leather dress, smiling as she looked at Carl and said, "Tsk tsk… Carl, I heard you got the short end of the stick this time?"
"Lady Betsy, you came too?" Carl was clearly surprised to see the graceful woman.
Because she was none other than Betsy Braddock, the core member of the Hellfire Club known as the "Black Queen," officially partnered with the "Black King."
As for that towering man built like a tank—he was the Black King.
It's worth noting that whether it's the Black King and Black Queen or the White King and White Queen, their partnerships are just working relationships—not necessarily romantic ones.
Even though some pairs in the Hellfire Club's history had been romantically involved, it wasn't the norm.
So these two basically counted as the number one and number two leaders of the Hellfire Club.
Seeing them both show up surprised Carl.
The Black King had only said he'd come himself—he never expected the rarely seen Black Queen to join him in North America.
"She happened to be at my place for something, and after hearing about what happened to you, insisted on coming along to check it out," the Black King said with a shrug, seeing Carl's surprise.
"What, you're not happy to see me?" the graceful woman pouted.
"Of course not, Lady Betsy. It's an honor to have you here," Carl quickly denied.
Even though Carl was also a core member of the Hellfire Club, his status was nowhere near these two. Still, he didn't need to grovel.
But women—especially powerful ones like the Black Queen—tended to hold grudges. Carl had no intention of getting on her bad side over something trivial.
"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. Let's go find something to eat first. The food on the plane was awful. I didn't even have breakfast," said the graceful woman.
"Mm," the Black King nodded slightly.
"This way, my car's parked nearby—"
Carl, of course, had no objections and led the way for the two.
After getting Carl's call, Raymond drove alone to a park on the outskirts of Richmond.
He wasn't worried Carl would try anything. If the Hellfire Club didn't have at least that much credibility, they wouldn't still be standing today.
Besides, Raymond didn't have any deep hatred toward the Hellfire Club. Just based on pros and cons, they wouldn't waste a chance to turn an enemy into an ally.
Unless the negotiation completely fell apart—then that'd be a different story.
But even if things did go south, Raymond wasn't the one who should be worried. He had already prepared to switch into the Tao Pai Pai sub-personality and start killing if needed.
As Raymond arrived at the agreed spot, he saw Carl from afar.
He also noticed that Carl didn't come alone. Besides that huge man, there was also a graceful woman who looked to be around thirty.
At the same time, a notification appeared in his mind:
You have encountered S-Rank 'Villain' Cain Marko, Exploration Points +100
You have encountered A-Rank 'Villain' Betsy Braddock, Exploration Points +50