The Most Advantageous Weapon Against the Holy Mother

Two super fleets faced off at sea, tension crackling in the air.

"Sea of Azov, you are ordered to turn back immediately. Weihai, do you copy?"

The Soviet Union had second thoughts. Fearing the consequences of a world war, they tried to recall the Sea of Azov, the cargo ship carrying nuclear warheads.

But no one answered. The ship had already been infiltrated by the Black King's men. An armed squad had slaughtered the crew and seized control.

The cargo ship steamed straight toward the blockade line.

The Soviet fleet tried to explain to the other side that the ship was out of control, but the opposing fleet didn't believe a word. Turrets swiveled, locking onto the cargo ship and the Soviet warships alike.

Just as war was about to erupt—

Boom!

Suddenly.

A Blackbird jet tore through the sky in the distance, breaking the sound barrier as it screamed toward them, drawing the attention of both fleets.

Inside the cockpit, Professor X, Magneto, and the others wore the classic X-Men bulletproof uniforms Hank had prepared. They braced themselves, tense and ready.

"Why just the suits? No masks?"

Ron sat expressionless, scanning his own blue-and-yellow uniform and everyone else's. He'd never understood it—lightweight, bulletproof gear was fine, but if safety came first, shouldn't they have helmets? Why leave their heads exposed?

Whatever. For him, it didn't matter anyway.

"That cargo ship is under enemy control. It's too close to the blockade line—no time to turn it around."

Professor X pressed two fingers to his temple. His powerful mind pierced through the aircraft, reaching the cargo ship. Through the eyes of others onboard, he saw a cold, ruthless squad of mercenaries.

The others swallowed hard.

"Take control of the Soviet ships. Have them destroy their own cargo vessel."

Ron turned and offered a solution.

Professor X could manipulate the Soviet fleet's personnel to blow up the cargo ship. Their own side hitting their own—no war would start. A nuclear bomb couldn't be detonated by external forces, not even by another nuke.

"There are still people on that ship."

Professor X frowned.

A dozen lives. Maybe those mercenaries were just in the dark. They had families too.

"Damn it, Charles, here you go again."

Magneto couldn't hold back a curse. After Charles had told him not to use hatred and anger as fuel for his powers, he'd immediately followed up by teaching him to let go of hate, not to be controlled by it.

He and Charles had hit it off, and he was grateful for the help, but he had zero respect for that sheep-like philosophy.

"Charles..." Mystique and the others shouted, urging him to act fast. "The ship's about to cross the line. World War Three is about to start!"

Everyone pressed and pushed. Professor X's face twisted with hesitation.

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

Ron, unhurried, spread his hands and spoke as if offering comfort.

"Even if your moment of mercy kills billions, no one will blame you afterward."

"After all, by then, everyone will be too busy hiding underground from the radiation, trying to survive."

"..."

At that, Professor X shot Ron a dark look, then closed his eyes. His mind crossed miles, seized control of a Soviet high-ranking officer, guided him to the main console, and launched a missile.

Against a bleeding heart, the sharpest weapon is moral blackmail.

Boom!

Seconds before the cargo ship crossed the line, a deafening explosion—a Soviet missile—blew it apart.

The immediate crisis was over. Both fleets breathed a sigh of relief.

In the cabin, the tension eased. Magneto looked at Ron, a thoughtful gleam in his eyes. He seemed to have learned an effective way to handle Charles.

"The Soviets fired on their own ship."

"The Contingency Plan is in motion."

Hearing the submarine crew's report of the turn of events, the Black King's face darkened. He gripped the nuclear absorption device and began siphoning energy from the nuclear sub.

"Find Shaw. This isn't over."

Magneto's voice was sharp.

"He should be at the bottom of the ocean, in the same nuclear sub as before."

"I can't pinpoint him. The ocean floor is too vast."

Shaking his head, Professor X said he had just tried, but the seabed in this vast expanse of ocean was too large—it wouldn't work anytime soon.

"Can't find it on radar either," the Beast, piloting the jet, shook his head.

"Your turn now, Magneto."

Looking at Magneto, Ron deliberately called him by his alias as a reminder.

In the original storyline, Siren had acted as a living sonar to find the Black King, but Siren had died early under Ron's influence.

"Sensing a metal hunk—that's your forte, isn't it?"

"But..." Magneto frowned. He had tried too, and failed just the same.

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

Ron cut him off with a wave. There was no need to seek help elsewhere—sensing a massive steel object was Magneto's specialty. He just wasn't tapping into his full potential. Otherwise, he could even drag iron ore from deep within the Earth's core.

"Fine..." Magneto said nothing, gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and reached his hand toward the sea surface, focusing intently.

"Erik, find the Black King, and you'll settle the grudge you've carried for years," Ron said in a low voice, helping him unlock his potential. "Miss this chance, and there might not be another."

The Black King was likely absorbing the nuclear reactor's power right now. The longer he absorbed, the harder he'd be to deal with. Professor X believed a calm mind was key to unleashing full ability, with fine control being the way. "But to unlock potential, emotion is the key. Whatever the emotion, if it's strong enough, it can ignite your power."

Magneto had Omega-level potential. In the films, his peak was driven by intense hatred, affecting the entire Earth's magnetic field, allowing him to sense and rip out the planet's core metals, breaking continental plates and devastating everything on the surface.

"Shaw, third time's the charm. You're not getting away."

Recalling his mother being shot, the experiments the Black King performed on him in the concentration camp, and every missed chance for revenge, veins bulged on Magneto's forehead. His face twisted with fury as he tapped into the deep-seated power within him. After dozens of seconds, he opened his eyes, burning with hatred. He had found the Black King, baring a shark-like, vicious grin.

"I found him. I found you!"

Ron's words—"miss this chance, and there might not be another"—had struck a nerve. He was right. If the Black King's scheme succeeded, survival itself would be in question, let alone revenge. This was his last and only shot.

Whoosh!

Hank, piloting the jet, turned his head to see the sea surface split open with a thunderous roar. The nuclear submarine, weighing tens of thousands of tons, was dragged backward out of the depths by an unimaginable force, its propellers still spinning at full tilt—useless.

"My God, what is that?"

The crews of both fleets on the water froze, stunned by the breathtaking sight.