I Thank You on Behalf of the Professor, Director Fury

What is the fastest thing in the world? Light?

If Xiang Qian were asked this question, he would certainly tell you that the fastest thing is human thought. A single idea can, in an instant, reach across millions of light-years.

With a single thought from the Professor, the dagger in the attacker's hand stopped right before his chest, unable to advance even a fraction of an inch. The person frozen before the Professor was a Latina woman in her twenties.

The Professor shifted his gaze, and the moment he locked onto Magneto, the Latina attacker lunged toward Magneto with equal speed.

Magneto waved his hand casually, and the nearby vehicles instantly disintegrated. The passengers inside tumbled onto the ground, cries of agony erupting everywhere. The salvaged vehicle parts seemed to come alive, stacking densely into a wall of metal that trapped the out-of-control Latina within.

Magneto looked at his old friend with a touch of helplessness; telepathic control was an unsolvable bug on the battlefield. Without countermeasures, any friendly force could be turned against them in an instant, their guns pointed the other way.

The original plan had been to use Nightcrawler's high speed to launch a surprise attack, but in the end, it couldn't outpace the speed of the Professor's thoughts; one careless move had turned their own pawn into the enemy's blade.

At this moment, Juggernaut climbed to his feet. Wearing his metal helmet, Juggernaut was the only one besides Magneto who was immune to the Professor's telepathic control.

Juggernaut's clothes had been burned to rags by the laser beams, his chest and back scorched black, but this behemoth possessed a terrifyingly powerful vitality; the charred burns were healing almost every second.

Juggernaut ignored Scott, who was still firing laser beams, for in the eyes of this behemoth, there was only the brother he had hated since childhood.

"Charles!" The charge that shook the ground began once more.

The laser beams still could not stop Juggernaut's overwhelming, mountain-toppling charge.

"Logan!" Beast, who had been protecting Scott, shouted to remind Logan to guard the Professor, while Beast himself braced for action, ready to pull Scott away at any moment.

With just Magneto and Juggernaut, they had formed an absolute advantage, pinning the X-Men from two sides.

Scott roared, pushing the power of his laser beams to the maximum, yet he could only watch helplessly as Juggernaut's figure lunged toward him, not even slowing his pace by half.

In the moment of crisis, a burly figure emerged from the crowd, clad in a silver-gray metallic sheen. Risking injury from the laser beams, he collided head-on with Juggernaut and wrapped his arms around his waist.

For the first time, Juggernaut's pace slowed.

Under the immense impact, Colossus Piotr's legs plowed deep into the ground, but he had successfully stalled Juggernaut's advance; he had been standing guard near the Blackbird stealth jet and had arrived upon hearing the news to support the Professor's group.

Juggernaut and Colossus began a brutal wrestling match, and with the coordination of the laser beams, the initially disadvantaged Colossus clung to Juggernaut with relentless tenacity.

The situation appeared to be a stalemate, but everyone on the X-Men's side knew that the advantage lay with Magneto.

In the steel jungle of the city, Magneto's lethality was unparalleled. To make matters worse, the Professor's psychic powers were ineffective against Magneto, and Wolverine's adamantium skeleton was naturally countered.

Beast returned to the Professor's side just in time; he gripped the handles of the wheelchair, ready to evacuate the Professor at any moment.

No more reinforcements appeared for Magneto's side, perhaps because they knew that in front of the Professor, numbers were not an advantage.

"Erik, we need to talk." The Professor faced his old friend calmly.

Magneto's face was as cold as water: "Charles, leave San Francisco and go back to your school."

"I cannot let you hurt an innocent child, Erik!" the Professor pleaded. "Please, calm down. Let's talk. There is absolutely no need for you to use violence, and even less need to kill."

Magneto remained unmoved: "I have never wanted to stain my hands with the blood of my mutant brethren, but there are more people who need protection."

As the two old friends argued on the street, two people in the high-end presidential suite began a verbal skirmish of their own.

"Director, aren't you going to help? I see quite a few casualties on the scene; the people of San Francisco need S.H.I.E.L.D." Xiang Qian needled the dark-skinned Director standing beside him.

Nick Fury countered with a sarcastic tone: "I am merely an untrusted agent; what help could I possibly provide? S.H.I.E.L.D. has no jurisdiction over mutant affairs. You should take your words to General Ross."

"Oh, so this is the so-called sincerity of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s cooperation!"

"Do not trust Nick Fury—this is a universal consensus that transcends race, bloodline, and class differences." Nick Fury performed with flair, repeating the very words Xiang Qian had once said.

Xiang Qian was unfazed by the Director's counterattack: "Your behavior truly deepens my understanding of the 'Fury behavioral pattern'." Another inexplicable phrase tumbled from Xiang Qian's mouth as he nonchalantly activated the electronic bracelet on his wrist.

Nick Fury was oblivious to Xiang Qian's small movements, continuing to mock him: "I thought now would be the time for you to step up, considering you are a key participant in this incident; and most importantly, even Wolverine Logan chooses to trust you more."

"Not surprising. That guy Logan often trusts the wrong people, which is why he's always had such bad luck in his life." Xiang Qian wore a shameless expression, looking at the Director with a smirk. "Besides, as an unarmed civilian businessman, how could I possibly help them?"

"The only ones with the real ability to help them would be S.H.I.E.L.D.—for instance, those snipers and assault teams you've positioned in the surrounding area."

As if in response to Xiang Qian's words, before Nick Fury could react, a muzzle flash erupted from the top of a nearby high-rise, and a large-caliber anti-materiel sniper bullet streaked toward Magneto's face.

An ordinary metal bullet stopped less than half a foot in front of Magneto, the warhead still spinning at high speed, yet unable to advance an inch. Only the moment the bullet stopped did the crack of the gunshot finally arrive.

Xiang Qian's smile widened, and Nick Fury was left dumbfounded.

Magneto, who had been delivering his ultimatum to the Professor, held the bullet in the air with a gesture, his gaze shifting to the top of the building where the shot originated, his eyes flashing with cold, murderous intent. With a flick of his fingers, the bullet returned along the path it had come.

Following the crack of the sniper rifle, dozens of fully armed soldiers emerged almost simultaneously from around the street, opening fire on Magneto; the sound of continuous sniper fire erupted from several distant buildings as well.

Magneto was the target of everyone's concentrated fire.

"Motherfucker!" Nick Fury watched as the situation spiraled completely out of control in an instant, his expression a mix of shock and rage.

Xiang Qian, however, watched the Director's rare loss of composure with great interest.

"Did you do this?" Nick Fury was trembling with rage, almost instinctively locking onto the suspect. He reached into his pocket for his tactical communication device—he had removed it earlier to maintain basic courtesy in front of the Professor.

Xiang Qian laughed mockingly: "Director, one must have evidence when making accusations. I have stayed in this room the entire time, haven't gone anywhere, and haven't done anything—the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. can testify for me."

Nick Fury couldn't spare the time to argue with Xiang Qian. He scrambled to put on his communication device, but all that came through the earpiece was the sound of static—nothing else.

The communication had been cut off.

Nick Fury stared at Xiang Qian as if he were looking at a mortal enemy.

Xiang Qian seemed to know what he wanted to say, cutting him off first: "I forgot to mention; for the sake of confidentiality, I set up anti-eavesdropping interference in the room before meeting with the Professor, and I forgot to turn it off when they left."

A devilishly malicious smile spread across Xiang Qian's face.

A sudden commotion erupted outside the suite, and someone broke through the blockade of Xiang Qian's bodyguards, storming into the room.

It was the people from S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Who gave the order to attack?" Nick Fury roared at his subordinates.

The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who had rushed in looked at each other in confusion: "It was you, you gave the order for the Special Task Force to intervene fully."

"Motherfucker, didn't you realize that my communication with you had been cut off? How could I have given an order?"

Nick Fury looked downstairs; the group of X-Men had already escaped and vanished, leaving only the S.H.I.E.L.D. Special Task Force members to bear the brunt of Magneto and Juggernaut's fury.

Magneto whipped up a metal storm, coordinating with Juggernaut's peerless strength and massive frame to slaughter the Special Task Force members without restraint.

"Order them to retreat immediately!" Nick Fury was burning with rage.

Xiang Qian, meanwhile, wore an expression of sudden realization: "Oh, my apologies, I have turned off the interference signal; you can give your orders directly now. I offer my deepest apologies for my oversight."

"At the same time, I also thank the S.H.I.E.L.D. Special Task Force on behalf of the Professor for their heroic and selfless assistance. Thank you, Director Fury."