hapter 51: Sebastian Shaw, the "Black King"
Despite the limited information at his disposal, Richard already knew where to begin.
He doubted the system would issue a mission to rescue Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver without reason, nor did he believe his encounter with the King of Cards at the casino was mere coincidence. Beyond that, his intuition suggested that the invitation Gambit mentioned was, barring any unexpected developments, extended by the Hellfire Club.
Gambit's Mental Shielding ability prevented Richard from using telepathy against him directly. However, there would undoubtedly be more mutants invited beyond just the Cajun card-thrower.
More importantly, these other mutants likely wouldn't possess mental shielding.
This meant Richard needed only to employ his telepathy to locate other mutants in Las Vegas to determine whether Gambit's invitation related to the Hellfire Club. With luck, he might even identify Hellfire Club members through the same telepathic sweep.
After brief consideration, he initiated his telepathic scan without hesitation.
With minimal effort, he detected two to three hundred mutants throughout downtown Las Vegas. Disregarding Epsilon and Delta-class mutants, he concentrated on Beta and Alpha-class individuals.
Though uncertain whether Gambit's invitation pertained to the Hellfire Club, it stood to reason that mutants of insufficient power would unlikely receive such an invitation.
Compared to the Brotherhood of Mutants and the X-Men, the Hellfire Club possessed less worldwide recognition. Nevertheless, the organization's strength nearly matched theirs.
If nothing else, those who attained official membership in the Hellfire Club were, without exception, prominent figures in the Marvel Universe.
Beyond the four characters who appeared in the film—"Black King" Sebastian Shaw, "White Queen" Emma Frost, "Red Devil" Azazel, and "Riptide" Janos Quested—the comics featured numerous notable members. Magneto, Dark Phoenix, "Captain Britain" Brian Braddock, "Son of Mephisto" Blackheart, "Son of Satan" Hellstrom, "Son of Apocalypse" Holocaust, Madame Hydra, and "Red Queen" Jean Grey's clone Madelyn Pryor had all held membership at various points.
Where the Brotherhood of Mutants welcomed virtually anyone who endorsed their philosophy of forcibly claiming power for mutant kind, the Hellfire Club existed as an exclusive organization that recruited only elite mutants.
Therefore, those invited by the Hellfire Club would never be ordinary Epsilon or Delta-level mutants—unless they possessed exceptionally rare abilities.
After excluding Epsilon and Delta-class mutants, Richard's pool of candidates abruptly decreased to fewer than fifty.
Without delay, he initiated deeper telepathic probes on the remaining mutants, silently accessing their memories.
Among those remaining, more than half served as mutant agents for the Department of Mutant Affairs. After eliminating these agents, only fifteen mutants remained.
Of these fifteen, only eight had received invitations.
As Richard suspected, the Hellfire Club had indeed extended those invitations. However, the recipients remained ignorant of the club's intentions. Their invitations contained only a time and location, without any specific details.
The day after tomorrow at 8 PM. Atomic Nightclub.
Besides determining the time and place, Richard also identified the current Hellfire Club leader.
Though this wasn't the X-Men cinematic universe, the Hellfire Club still operated under "Black King" Sebastian Shaw. Additionally, "White Queen" Emma Frost, "Red Devil" Azazel, and "Riptide" Janos Quested maintained their membership—exactly as portrayed in the film.
Upon discovering Sebastian Shaw's leadership, Richard immediately made his decision.
Black King Shaw's X-gene mutant power "Energy Absorption" is determined!
Though not an Omega-level mutant, Shaw's energy absorption capability surpassed many with similar powers.
Typical energy absorption usually allowed for assimilation of one or several energy forms. Shaw's power enabled him to absorb all energy except psychic energy—including but not limited to kinetic, thermal, electrical, and nuclear varieties.
More significantly, his ability allowed him to directly absorb energy from enemy attacks. Whether struck by fists, bullets, shells, lightning, or shock waves, his body would assimilate the energy contained within those assaults.
Furthermore, he could not only release this stored energy but also use it to enhance his physical attributes.
Though his energy absorption exceeded many similar mutants, weaknesses remained. Both absorption and storage carried limits—he couldn't absorb infinitely or store permanently. Exceeding these thresholds would cause severe damage to his body.
Had he possessed unlimited absorption and storage capacity, he would have qualified as a true Omega-level mutant.
Without stored energy, Shaw essentially existed as an ordinary person with somewhat enhanced physical resilience. However, during combat, he could rapidly elevate his physical attributes to superhuman levels—provided his enemies attacked him, giving him energy to absorb.
Of course, he could also stockpile energy before battles, as shown in the films when he absorbed nuclear reactor energy in preparation for confrontations.
With energy absorption alone, Shaw proved difficult to defeat through conventional means. Nevertheless, he wasn't invincible—his most significant vulnerability lay in his inability to resist telepathy.
Without his telepathy-blocking helmet or the White Queen's protection, he remained defenseless against psychic assaults.
Shaw's defeat in the film occurred precisely because Magneto removed his mind-isolating helmet, giving Professor X an opportunity to immobilize him telepathically, ultimately facilitating Magneto's revenge.
Additionally, Shaw's cinematic demise related directly to his underestimation of his opponent. Put more colorfully, the villain perished because he talked too much.
Beyond energy absorption, Shaw also possessed a regeneration ability. While unable to regenerate as rapidly as Sabretooth or Wolverine, his healing capabilities still defied scientific explanation compared to ordinary humans.
This regeneration effectively slowed his aging process. With sufficient energy absorption, he could achieve a measure of rejuvenation and practical immortality.
After reviewing Shaw's "Energy Absorption" ability, Richard's desire to claim this power intensified considerably.
He also found himself particularly interested in the White Queen's telepathy. Successfully plundering Frost's telepathic ability would immediately elevate his own telepathy to Alpha level. Though perhaps not equaling Professor X after the upgrade, he would nevertheless rank among Earth's foremost psychics.
Beyond her telepathic abilities, Richard found himself interested in the White Queen herself.
During his telepathic information gathering about the Hellfire Club from the invited mutants, he unexpectedly discovered that both Shaw and Frost appeared younger than their film counterparts.
In the film, Shaw was thirty to forty years older than Magneto, while Emma Frost approximated Magneto and Professor X's age.
Though the eight mutants couldn't provide exact ages, their knowledge suggested Shaw wouldn't exceed fifty years, while the White Queen remained under forty.
Upon learning of Emma's relative youth, Richard's mind immediately conjured images of the various white ensembles she'd worn in adaptations—white clothing, white skirts, white boots, white swimwear, white lingerie...
Had the White Queen matched her cinematic age, placing her in the same generation as Magneto and Professor X, Richard would have lacked interest in Emma Frost—just as he felt no attraction toward the grandmother-aged Mystique.
However, a White Queen in her twenties or thirties presented an entirely different scenario.
After consideration, Richard temporarily removed the White Queen from his kill list.
Though eliminating her would upgrade his telepathy, individuals with psychic abilities weren't particularly rare in this world. Even without killing the White Queen, he could eventually elevate his telepathy to Alpha level through other means.
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