[Normal Grade Shadow Successfully Extracted]

The notification appeared in Lucien's vision, confirming what he'd expected. Nathaniel's shadow wasn't as powerful as Sukuna or even the knights, but it would serve its purpose.

[Shadow Preserved - Total Count: 31/32]

The shadow of Mister Sinister rose to its feet and immediately dropped to one knee before Lucien, its head bowed in absolute submission. Purple fire burned where its eyes should be, and that same air of intellectual arrogance, now bound to serve rather than command.

"Do you know the locations of your other clones?" Lucien asked directly.

The shadow nodded vigorously, though its mouth remained closed.

Lucien remembered from his knowledge of the original story that only high-ranking shadow soldiers could speak before certain system restrictions were lifted. For now, communication would have to be through gestures and simple responses.

"Good. Here's your first task," Lucien continued, his voice carrying absolute authority. "Take ten knights with you and hunt down every single clone you've created. I want them all eliminated—no exceptions, no survivors."

The shadow nodded frantically, its movements eager and enthusiastic. There was something darkly satisfying about using Nathaniel's own knowledge and abilities to destroy the legacy he'd tried to preserve.

"One more question," Lucien said. "Who was the person you were calling out to? The one who was supposed to teleport you out of here?"

The shadow began making strange movements with its hands, gesturing wildly as if trying to explain something complex. It pointed in various directions, made shapes with its fingers, and even tried to draw patterns in the air. But without the ability to speak, the message was completely incomprehensible.

Lucien sighed in frustration. "Well, we'll figure out who that person is later. For now, go and hunt down every clone. Make sure none of them survive to continue Nathaniel's work."

The shadow of Mister Sinister bowed deeply, then gestured to ten of the shadow knights. Without another word, the entire group simply vanished, dissolving into darkness and shadow to begin their grim mission.

Lucien turned his attention to the carnage surrounding him. The facility's main hall was littered with the bodies of Chimeras, Predator X units, and the hybrid creatures that Nathaniel had created. Blood covered the floor in expanding pools, and the air was thick with the smell of death and genetic manipulation.

"I still have one slot left for a permanent shadow," he muttered to himself, walking among the corpses. "But none of them are worth keeping as shadows."

Most of the creatures had been abominations, not strong enough to add to his army.

His gaze fell on the diced remains of the Predator X that had tried to attack him directly. The creature had shown remarkable intelligence and hunting instincts, managing to break through his shadow knights' formation and nearly reaching him before Sukuna intervened.

"Better to have a hunting dog with good abilities, right?" Lucien mused.

He activated his Shadow Extraction ability on the creature's remains. The Predator X's shadow was sleek and predatory, its silver-scaled form now composed of shifting darkness. It would make an excellent tracker and scout.

[Normal Grade Shadow Successfully Extracted] [Shadow Preserved - Total Count: 32/32]

With his shadow army now at maximum capacity, Lucien began exploring the facility more thoroughly. He had no intention of leaving anything useful behind for SHIELD to analyze.

In a storage room near the main laboratory, he discovered what he'd been looking for—cases of military-grade explosives, enough to reduce the entire complex to rubble.

He was not afraid of SHIELD—not at all. At this point, he was stronger than most heroes.. There were beings in the universe who could challenge him, certainly, but very few who surpassed fighters like Wolverine. And right now, Lucien was confident he could kill Logan in a matter of seconds if it came to that.

But having people poking around curiously at his abilities would be annoying. Better to eliminate all evidence and keep his true capabilities hidden for now.

He set the charges everywhere, then made his way toward the exit. As he reached the facility's entrance, he activated the detonators.

The explosion was spectacular. Flames erupted from every window as the building's structure collapsed inward, consuming everything within. The heat was intense enough that Lucien could feel it on his back as he walked away, but he didn't look back. Nathaniel Essex's final laboratory was now nothing more than burning rubble.

Outside, Natasha was waiting beside the Quinjet, her arms crossed and an expression of mixed relief and exasperation on her face.

"Are you cursed with buildings exploding whenever you come out of them?" she asked as he approached. "It gives my heart a scare every single time."

Lucien smiled at the observation. "Who knows? Maybe I am."

They stood together for a moment, watching the flames consume what remained of the facility. The fire would burn for hours, ensuring that nothing useful survived for analysis.

"What happened to Sinister?" Natasha asked, though her tone suggested she already suspected the answer.

Lucien gestured toward the burning building. "Dead."

Natasha nodded, apparently satisfied with the simple response. "Good. The world's a safer place without him."

As they boarded the Quinjet for the journey home, Lucien couldn't shake the feeling that Nathaniel's death was just the beginning.

Someone else had been pulling the strings, someone who had abandoned the mad scientist when he was no longer useful. That person was still out there, still planning, still dangerous.

But for now, it was enough that one threat had been eliminated.

...

A few hours later

In the ruins of the facility, hours after the flames had finally died down, a figure walked through the smoldering wreckage. The middle-aged man had black hair and unremarkable features, the kind of face that would be forgotten moments after being seen.

In his right hand, he played with a cigarette lighter, the small flame dancing between his fingers.

He stopped at what had once been the main laboratory, now nothing more than twisted metal and charred concrete. The smell of smoke and destruction hung heavy in the air.

"Poor Nathaniel," he said, his voice carrying mock sympathy. "You were quite useful to me for a time. Your intellect, your research, your complete lack of moral restraint—all very valuable qualities."

He flicked the lighter open and closed in a steady rhythm, the small sound echoing in the ruins.

"But with that shrewd nature of yours, you had the unfortunate tendency to become a threat to my existence. Too intelligent for your own good, too ambitious to remain a useful tool forever. And being a mutant... well, that just made you a risk in the long run."

The man chuckled, a sound devoid of warmth or humor.

"But don't worry, your legacy will continue. Thanks to your serum research, I'll soon have enough forces to topple governments, to reshape the world according to my vision."

He paused in his lighter manipulation, looking directly at the spot where Lucien had emerged from the building.

"And it's also thanks to you that I was able to find someone... interesting. Someone who might just be of more use to me than you ever were."

The man laughed again, the sound carrying further than it should have in the open air.

"Yes, Nathaniel. Even in death, you continue to serve my purposes."

He turned and walked away from the ruins, disappearing into the forest as if he'd never been there at all.

....

Several days later, Lucien stood on a rocky island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the scattered remains of what had once been an army of Mindless Ones, broken down by Lucien's fists.

The black stone fragments crunched under his feet as he surveyed the aftermath of another successful SHIELD commission.

Natasha approached from the landing zone where the Quinjet waited, a satisfied expression on her face.

"One million dollars for capturing Red Skull alive," she said, handing him an electronic payment confirmation. "Not bad for a day's work."

The mission had been straightforward enough. Red Skull had acquired Dormammu's artifact and was using it to summon armies of Mindless Ones to this remote island. SHIELD needed him captured alive to understand how he'd breached inside the Sanctum.

But the capture itself had been almost anticlimactic. Red Skull was currently being carried toward the Quinjet by two SHIELD agents, his hands secured in restraints designed to hold superhumans. He was muttering incoherently, his eyes wide with terror as if he'd seen something that had broken his mind.

"You know what's strange?" Lucien observed, watching the once-proud Nazi leader being manhandled like a common criminal. "He was not using that artifact to cause chaos around the world, but rather came to a remote island and tried to build an unbreakable wall."

"Maybe he was planning to retire?" Natasha joked, though she was just as confused as Lucien.

A large portion of the island was covered by a red energy barrier that even Lucien couldn't break through with sheer strength. The dome-like forcefield stretched from the ground to several hundred feet in the air, its purpose unclear. Red Skull had been trying desperately to lock himself inside that barrier when Lucien had dragged him out just before it fully closed.

"He was terrified," Lucien continued, remembering the desperation in Red Skull's eyes. "Not angry, but—terrified. What could scare someone like him that badly?"

Before Natasha could respond, Red Skull's voice cut through the air, high-pitched with panic.

"You have doomed me!" he screamed at Lucien, his composure completely shattered. "I was going to be safe from him! The barrier would have protected me! But you just had to drag me out of there!"

The SHIELD agents tried to quiet him, but Red Skull continued his rant.

"Now I will have to die alongside all of you! You have no idea what you've done!"

Lucien frowned, walking closer to Skull. "Safe from who? What are you talking about?"

Red Skull's laugh was the sound of a man who had lost all hope.

"He's coming!" Red Skull shrieked, his voice breaking with terror. "Thanos is coming!"

"Soon," he whispered. "Very, very soon. We are all doomed! The Mad Titan will reduce this pathetic world to dust, and there is nowhere left to hide!"

.....

POWER STONE GOAL: 700 ( 1 Extra Chapter)

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