The Most Effective Weapon Against a Bleeding Heart

Two super fleets faced off at sea.

"Sea of Azov, return to your original position immediately.

"Respond if you hear this, Weihai!"

The Soviet Union had backed down. Considering the consequences of starting a world war, it tried to recall the Sea of Azov cargo ship carrying the nuclear missiles.

But the cargo ship gave no response. The Black King had long since arranged for people to infiltrate it.

An armed squad had killed everyone else and taken control of the cargo ship.

The cargo ship continued straight toward the blockade line.

The Soviet Union fleet explained to the other side that the cargo ship had gone out of control, but the opposing fleet did not believe them at all. Its gun barrels shifted, aiming at both the cargo ship and the Soviet warships.

Just as war was about to break out.

Boom!

Suddenly.

A Blackbird jet broke the sound barrier and raced over from the distant horizon, drawing the attention of both fleets.

Inside the cabin, Professor X, Magneto, and the others wore the classic X-Men bulletproof uniforms Hank had prepared, nervously making their final preparations.

"Why are there only uniforms and no masks?"

Sitting expressionlessly inside, Ron looked over the blue-and-yellow combat suits on himself and the others.

He had never understood it. The uniforms were lightweight and bulletproof, so shouldn't safety come first? Why leave their heads exposed instead of making masks too?

But whatever. It made no difference to him whether he had a mask or not.

"That cargo ship has been taken over. It's too close to the blockade line—there's no time for it to turn around."

Professor X pressed two fingers to his temple. His powerful psychic ability passed through the plane and reached the cargo ship. Through the eyes of others, he saw a cold-blooded mercenary squad.

The others swallowed hard at his words.

"Control the Soviet warships and have them destroy their own cargo ship."

Ron turned and offered a solution.

Professor X could control the personnel on the Soviet fleet and destroy the cargo ship. If they attacked their own ship, it would not trigger a war.

Nuclear missiles could not be detonated by external forces, not even by another nuclear missile.

"There are still people on that ship."

Professor X frowned.

More than a dozen lives. Perhaps those mercenaries had merely been kept in the dark. They had families too.

"Fuck, here you go again, Charles."

Magneto could not help complaining with a curse. After Charles told him not to use hatred and anger as the source of his strength while helping him develop his powers, Charles immediately began teaching him to let go of hatred and not be controlled by it.

Although he and Charles had hit it off at first sight, and he was grateful for Charles's help, he did not agree with such sheep-like ideals at all.

"Charles..." Mystique and the others shouted, hoping he would act quickly. "The ship is about to cross the line! World War Three is about to begin!"

The others urged and pressured him harshly, and Professor X's face showed his struggle.

"It's fine, Charles. Follow your heart."

Ron remained unhurried. He spread his hands and spoke as if comforting him.

"Even if your momentary compassion causes one or even several billion people to die, no one will blame you afterward."

"After all, by then, everyone should be busy hiding underground, desperately trying to survive the radiation."

"..."

Upon hearing that, Professor X gave Ron a dark look. Then he closed his eyes, extended his mind several miles away, controlled a Soviet officer, walked over to the main console, and launched the missiles.

The most effective weapon against a bleeding heart was direct moral blackmail.

Boom!

A few seconds before the cargo ship crossed the line, a Soviet missile destroyed it with a violent explosion.

The crisis was temporarily resolved, and both fleets breathed a sigh of relief.

Inside the cabin, everyone finally relaxed. Magneto looked at Ron thoughtfully, seeming to have learned an effective way to deal with Charles.

"The Soviets fired on their own cargo ship."

"Activate the Contingency Plan."

Hearing the submarine crew report the sudden development, the Black King's face darkened. He gripped the device that absorbed nuclear energy and began absorbing the nuclear submarine's power.

"Find Shaw. This isn't over yet."

Magneto gave a stern reminder.

"He should be underwater, aboard the nuclear submarine from last time."

"I can't locate him. The seabed is too vast."

Professor X shook his head. He had just tried, but the bottom of this enormous sea was simply too vast. He feared it would take some time.

"Radar can't find him either."

Beast, who was piloting the jet, shook his head.

"Now it's your turn, Magneto."

Ron looked at Magneto and deliberately called him by his alias as a reminder.

In the original story, Siren had served as a human sonar and found the Black King, but Siren had died early due to Ron's influence.

"Sense a big hunk of iron. Isn't that your specialty?"

"But..."

Magneto frowned. He had tried just now as well, with no success.

"That's not a needle. It's a massive thing hundreds of meters long and weighing tens of thousands of tons. Don't tell me you can't find that either."

Ron waved his hand and cut him off.

There was no need to seek help from anyone else. Sensing a huge object made of steel was precisely Magneto's specialty.

He simply had not unleashed his own potential.

Otherwise, he could even tear iron ore out from deep within the Earth's core.

"Fine..."

Magneto said nothing. Gritting his teeth, he closed his eyes and reached his hand toward the sea, carefully sensing beneath the surface.

"Erik, find the Black King, and you can finally avenge the grudge you've carried for so many years."

Ron helped push his potential further, reminding him in a low voice.

"Otherwise, if you miss this chance, there might not be another."

The Black King was likely absorbing the nuclear reactor's power. The longer he absorbed it, the harder he would be to deal with.

Professor X believed that only a calm mind could bring out one's full power. That was true for fine control.

"To unleash potential, emotion is the key. No matter what kind of emotion it is, as long as it's strong enough, it can awaken your potential."

Magneto possessed Omega-level potential. His greatest display in the movies had come when intense hatred drove him to affect the entire Earth's magnetic field, allowing him to sense and pull metal from the Earth's core, break through continental plates, and crush everything on the surface.

"Shaw, this is the third time. You won't get away."

Remembering his mother being shot, the experiments the Black King had performed on him in the concentration camp, and every missed chance at revenge, veins bulged on Magneto's forehead. His face twisted as he awakened the potential buried deep within his body.

Several dozen seconds later, he opened his eyes, hatred blazing within them. He had found the Black King, and a shark-like savage smile spread across his face.

"I found you. I found you!"

Ron's words—that if he missed this chance, there might not be another—had provoked him.

Ron was right. Once the Black King's plot succeeded, whether he would even survive would be a question, let alone get revenge.

This was his last chance.

Splash!

Hank, piloting the jet, turned his head and saw the sea violently split apart. A nuclear submarine weighing tens of thousands of tons was dragged backward from the seabed by an unimaginable force. Its propellers still spun at full power, but it was useless.

"God, what is that?"

Everyone on the two fleets saw the shocking sight on the sea and froze.