Iron Fortress

"I'll spare you, because you'll soon become one of my kind."

Facing Tony's provocation, Magneto smiled faintly. Then he turned to Mystique and said, "Raven."

Mystique spread her hands. Under Magneto's control, the Battle Suit swiftly equipped itself onto her. Tony looked despondent. Why did he feel like he'd been cuckolded by a Minotaur?

A moment later, the Mark Suit finished equipping itself. Mystique was somewhat excited and quickly familiarized herself with its functions—the Mark Suit possessed a Smart System, so it wasn't difficult to operate.

"The first step is complete. Now, we begin the second."

What was Magneto's second step? Controlling the Statue of Liberty. He raised both hands, and cracking sounds came from the statue's base. Then, the Statue of Liberty slowly rose into the sky.

That's right, the Statue of Liberty flew. Tony was dumbfounded. Though he had seen plenty in his life, he had never imagined that one day, the Statue of Liberty would truly become free.

The Statue of Liberty weighed 225 tons. To Magneto, that kind of weight was nothing. In the movie, he had controlled yachts, Soccer Fields, nuclear submarines, and the Iron Bridge.

The Mutants beneath the Statue of Liberty gazed at Magneto in worship. It truly was godlike power.

Tony couldn't help asking, "Magneto, what exactly are you trying to do?"

"I want to turn you into us."

With a light shake of his right hand, Magneto sent countless rivets spinning out of the Statue of Liberty. The statue came apart, but under the influence of Magnetism, it did not fall.

Next, Magneto transformed the statue into a small Iron Fortress. At the fortress's center stood a metal Circular Tower more than a hundred meters tall. A torch stood atop the tower, and inside that torch was the Mutant Conversion Instrument.

The Mutant Conversion Instrument was circular in appearance. It consisted of a central control unit, silver supports, and a rotating metal ring.

Tony, suspended halfway up the Circular Tower, watched this "miracle" and couldn't help swallowing. "The Statue of Liberty has turned into Magneto-shaped."

"I like your optimism."

Magneto glanced at Tony, then shouted down below, "Enter the fortress and set up defenses. After tonight, this world will belong to us Mutants."

"Long live Magneto!"

The Brotherhood members cheered and entered the makeshift fortress with weapons they had prepared long ago, arranging defenses.

Magneto wasted no time. He controlled the small fortress and sent it soaring into the sky, crossing the sea toward Manhattan. The Mutants' reign over the world would begin tonight.

"Looks like something big is going to happen tonight."

Tony muttered to himself. Thinking of his own predicament, he couldn't help smiling bitterly. Whether something big happened tonight or not, he was definitely going to lose all face.

Such a massive Iron Fortress couldn't possibly be hidden. S.H.I.E.L.D. quickly received the news. Looking at the flying object on the screen, Coulson immediately notified the other agents and the X-Men to rush to Manhattan.

Then Coulson called the Air Force. "Do not send any aircraft over. Any plane is a toy in front of Magneto. Send troops into Manhattan."

After receiving confirmation from the military, Coulson called Director George. "Evacuate Manhattan's civilians as quickly as possible. Magneto is definitely planning something huge this time."

"Alright."

Director George nodded, his expression extremely grim. What was wrong with New York this year? Why had disasters been coming one after another?

Although Director George immediately arranged for the police to evacuate the public, it was of little use. On one hand, the citizens refused to cooperate. On the other, the Brotherhood had prepared in advance. They detonated cars and stores in succession, throwing traffic into utter chaos.

This time, Magneto had come prepared.

Professor Charles led the X-Men aboard a jet fighter toward Manhattan. His brow was tightly furrowed. Although he didn't know what Magneto intended to do, he knew that after this incident, the Mutants' situation would surely become even worse.

Professor Charles, who had devoted his entire life to Mutants, felt deeply exhausted. After all these years of effort, the Mutants' future had not improved. Instead, it had only grown worse and worse.

Near Times Square, the well-endowed Daily Bugle reporter Roxanne was livestreaming. She gestured for cameraman Peter Parker to aim the camera at the police directing traffic and said, "The police have suddenly begun evacuating people. We don't know whether this has anything to do with Magneto..."

Roxanne was Ghost Rider Johnny's ex-girlfriend. After Andrew acquired the Daily Bugle, he lured her from Texas to New York with a high salary. To be honest, Roxanne was quite satisfied with the job. On one hand, the pay was high. On the other, New York never lacked major news.

As for why Peter was working here as a cameraman? Obviously because he was poor. If he weren't poor, who would work overtime?

Roxanne was preparing to interview a police officer when Peter sensed something. He abruptly looked up, then cried out in alarm.

Roxanne instinctively looked toward the sky, and her mouth instantly fell open. A massive, ferocious Iron Fortress was speeding toward them through the sky. Everywhere it passed, even the moonlight was blocked out.

The citizens who had been gesturing and shouting at the police moments ago now wished their parents had given them two more legs as they fled outward in a frenzy.

"God! Peter, get the camera on the sky! Magneto must be here!" Roxanne shouted.

Peter blinked and asked, "Uh, Roxanne, shouldn't we be running away right now?"

"Running away? Are you kidding me? This is huge news! Even if my legs get broken, I can't run. Whether I can establish myself in New York depends on this!" Roxanne shouted.

"Is this what a professional journalist is like?"

Peter stared in disbelief. After hesitating for a moment, he decided to wait and see.

Soon, the Iron Fortress arrived above Times Square. Magneto said nothing. He controlled the Iron Fortress and lowered it. The people hiding in the stores were so frightened that they hurriedly ran outside.

BOOM! The Iron Fortress slammed heavily into Times Square. The entire ground shook violently as though an Earth Dragon had turned over. Immediately afterward, countless windows and screens shattered, while some poorly constructed buildings collapsed with a crash.

Prosperous Times Square became Hell in an instant. Countless people screamed and wailed.

"Capture those traitors and bring them in."

Magneto gave the order coldly. Toad and Sabretooth immediately led a group of Mutants toward the Epsilon-class Mutants hiding nearby.

Wolverine, Jean, and Cyclops hurried over to stop them, and the two sides broke into a fierce battle.

Wolverine and the other two were very powerful, but there were too few of them. They simply couldn't stop the Brotherhood. Large numbers of failed Mutants were captured and dragged into the fortress, where they would become Magneto's "batteries."

Magneto rarely harmed Mutants, but those traitors did not count as Mutants.

The Vibration nearly knocked Roxanne down, but Peter caught her. She nodded at him and immediately began reporting while Peter held up the camera and filmed.

At that moment, Peter's sharp eyes spotted what seemed to be a person hanging from the Circular Tower. He hurriedly zoomed in and locked onto the figure. A moment later, he shouted in shock, "Mr. Stark?"

"Tony Stark?"

Roxanne's eyes lit up. She immediately leaned over to look at the camera and discovered that Tony Stark really was hanging up there.