Intelligence

Mystique was about to give chase when two crimson laser beams came whistling toward her. She hurriedly dodged, but just as Cyclops was about to continue his attack, several massive stones came hurtling down from the fortress at him.

Jean hurriedly used Telekinesis to move the boulders aside. The two sides traded blows, and the battle grew increasingly fierce. Overall, the Brotherhood held the advantage, while the X-Men remained unable to break into Iron Fortress.

At S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, Nick Fury watched the battle in Manhattan on a massive screen while yelling into the phone, "Launch missiles? Is there something wrong with your brain? That's Magneto. Are you planning to hand him weapons?"

"A bunch of idiots."

Nick Fury slammed down the phone, then asked his adjutant, Maria Hill, "What exactly does Magneto's device do? Has the Technical Department finished analyzing it?"

Maria Hill replied, "No. They've only inferred that the device might be related to magnetism."

"They needed to analyze that?"

Fury cursed. At that moment, an employee shouted excitedly, "Director, I know what that device does! It can turn ordinary people into Mutants."

"Turn ordinary people into Mutants?"

Nick Fury's expression changed. He then asked suspiciously, "How do you know?"

"TikTok is livestreaming it."

The employee raised his phone. Roxanne from the Daily Bugle was reporting live, "Magneto has developed a device that can turn ordinary people into Mutants. That is his purpose tonight—he intends to turn everyone in Manhattan into Mutants.

"The bad news is that Magneto's device has never been used before. No one knows whether it will work or whether there will be any side effects.

"If it fails, you may very well become a pile of minced meat. I'm not exaggerating—when Gene Collapse occurs, anything can happen.

"This information came from a submission by a Mysterious Person, and we have released it immediately. The Daily Bugle: you can always trust us."

Nick Fury's face darkened to the extreme, not only because of Magneto, but because of this intelligence report.

S.H.I.E.L.D. was the world's number one intelligence agency, yet he, its director, had to get critical intelligence from TikTok? Wouldn't people laugh themselves to death if word got out?

Don't I have any dignity?

"The Intelligence Department is full of trash."

Nick Fury cursed, then barked at the employee waiting for praise, "Playing TikTok during work hours? Three months' pay docked. Now get back to work."

The employee was dumbfounded. Sure, I was watching TikTok, but I provided important intelligence!

Nick Fury ignored the pitiful employee. After pondering for a moment, he instructed Hill, "Tell Barton and the others to move faster and reach the battlefield as soon as possible. No matter what, we must stop Magneto.

"Also, have the Military send fighter jets to circle Manhattan. The moment Magneto activates the device, launch missiles at Times Square. At that point, he may not be able to control them."

Hill reminded him, "Magneto may have prepared for that."

"Whether he has or not, we have to try."

Nick Fury said, "Now it depends on Barton, Coulson, the X-Men, and... that little Spider-Man."

Hill hesitated, then said, "Magneto's target is all of Manhattan. Ghost Rider should come out and beat him up, just like last time."

"I already sent Natasha to find him, but no one knows whether he'll act. We can't place all our hopes on him."

Nick Fury sighed, his determination to create an Avengers Team growing even firmer. S.H.I.E.L.D. needed a special team.

"Come to think of it, Wolverine Logan would be a good fit for the Avengers."

A thought struck Nick Fury. He had fought alongside Logan in the Vietnam War, though Logan had long since forgotten.

Roxanne's report quickly spread across Manhattan through TikTok. The citizens were terrified and fled frantically. They had no desire to become Mutants, especially when Magneto's damn device was so unreliable.

Unfortunately, the Brotherhood had prepared long ago. Traffic throughout the city was jammed, and even Iron Bridge had problems. Many people were trapped on the roads.

"Iron Man's been captured, and we can't get out. We're finished."

"No, I don't want to become a Mutant."

Fear and despair gradually spread through Manhattan. Andrew nodded in satisfaction. Once radiation waves appeared in the sky, plenty of people would surely be willing to trade their souls for safety.

The truth had always been a double-edged sword.

"Hmm?"

At that moment, Andrew sensed something and turned to look down at the street below. A car accident had occurred there. Someone was trapped inside a car and sobbing desperately.

Just then, a woman in a mask and hoodie jumped down from the second floor beside the car. She grabbed the door and yanked, tearing the entire thing off.

The driver was stunned. Before he could say anything, the woman tossed aside the car door, fired webbing at a sign above, and swiftly departed. The crowd stared in astonishment. Since when had Spider-Man become a woman?

This Spider-Woman was Gwen. She lacked the courage to get involved in the battle at Times Square, so she had come outside to save people. It was worth mentioning that her webbing came from the Osborn Group—stolen, of course.

"Gwen may look quiet, but she's full of adventure in her bones. Or rather, a death wish."

Andrew shook his head, not paying much attention. With him around, no matter how recklessly Gwen acted, she would not truly die.

Meanwhile, in a building near Times Square, Psylocke finished reading the TikTok post and could not help complaining, "Did Magneto get kicked in the head by a donkey? How could he come up with such a terrible idea? Forget it, it has nothing to do with me. I should get out of here."

Just then, Psylocke's phone rang. She answered it, and a woman's voice came from the other end. "America's top mercenary, Psylocke?"

Psylocke said, "Yes. I don't care where you got my number. I only have one question: do you have enough money? My rates are high."

"I'm Pepper Potts, president of Stark Industries."

Pepper Potts said, "Psylocke, Jarvis gave me your number. It found that you're at Times Square. I hope you can help me rescue Tony."

"Rescuing Tony Stark from Magneto won't be easy."

Psylocke looked out the window and smiled. "That'll cost extra."

Pepper said without hesitation, "Rescue Tony, and I'll give you ten million US dollars. If he returns without a scratch, I'll double the reward."

"Wow, you really are the woman who can run things for Iron Man. That's generous."

Psylocke smiled. "Don't worry. I guarantee I'll return a whole Tony Stark to you."

"Good. Jarvis will assist you. Psylocke, if you can bring Tony back, you'll have my friendship."

Pepper said, "My friendship is worth a great deal."

"I don't like making friends, but I like money."

Psylocke ended the call and returned to her car to change into another outfit: an extremely daring high-slit bodysuit that displayed her stunning figure to perfection.

Other than the outfit, Psylocke brought nothing else, not even her Katana. Then she leaped onto a tall building and waited for the right moment to act.

"Is that kid not coming?"

Atop the tower, seeing that Andrew had yet to appear, Magneto snorted unhappily and shouted down below, "Start."