All Mutants, Different Fates

If this were a film, the moment Nightcrawler lunged toward Xiang Qian, it would undoubtedly be captured in slow motion:

A woman with a piercing gaze, staring at Xiang Qian like a predator eyeing its prey, her fists clenched and ready to strike his vitals. At that instant, the movement of everything around them would slow down, turning a blink of an eye into a sequence lasting several seconds.

If the production crew were willing to splurge on special effects, they might even add a "bullet time" sequence: the hunter moving like the wind, death imminent, while the target remains oblivious, still wearing the expression from a second ago.

Just that single moment could stretch out for a minute or two.

Unfortunately, there were no slow-motion shots here, nor was there any bullet time. When Nightcrawler lunged, half a second was exactly half a second; Xiang Qian only had time to raise his eyelids.

Then, just as Nightcrawler was about to touch the gun in Xiang Qian's hand, she inexplicably veered to the left. The afterimage created by her high-speed sprint brushed past him, and she began moving in irregular, high-speed patterns all around him.

No matter how hard Nightcrawler tried, she would involuntarily veer off course the very instant she was about to make contact with Xiang Qian's body.

This veering motion was incredibly bizarre; regardless of the angle of the turn or the speed at which she moved, there was never the slightest hint of inertial drift—as if she were still running in a straight line.

During this, Nightcrawler stopped more than once to recalibrate her direction, and she launched her pride-and-joy speed more than once, but the result was only to leave herself panting in vain.

Xiang Qian watched the flickering afterimages around him with a playful expression. As a disciple of Kamar-Taj, he was naturally well-versed in spatial magic. From the day he mastered the Sling Ring, he had enthusiastically set about improving the ways in which spatial magic could be applied.

What Nightcrawler was currently experiencing was nothing more than a small-scale spatial maze—a minor improvement Xiang Qian had made based on the Subspace Folding Technique.

This little trick was essentially useless against Kamar-Taj sorcerers who were equally proficient in spatial magic; it was even used as a teaching tool to test new apprentices at Kamar-Taj. However, when dealing with enemies who lacked spatial abilities, this maze often yielded miraculous results.

Once he was certain that Nightcrawler posed absolutely no threat to him, Xiang Qian decided to stop playing.

Nightcrawler stopped again, unwilling to give up. Perhaps due to the influence of her frustration and resentment, or perhaps because she underestimated the threat he posed, she stopped just one step away from Xiang Qian.

Just as the afterimage came to a halt, Xiang Qian suddenly moved. In front of a martial arts master, even at close quarters, one is as vulnerable as a nation under siege.

Nightcrawler had just stopped, and the momentum from her sprint had not yet dissipated. To use a high-end term from the martial arts novels Xiang Qian read as a child, her "old strength was spent, and her new strength had yet to be born." In that very instant, Xiang Qian took a light step forward, and Nightcrawler's neck was firmly gripped by his left hand.

Her not-so-sturdy body was lifted into the air by her throat.

Nightcrawler kicked her legs helplessly, swatting at Xiang Qian's arm and struggling to pry his fingers apart. However, she did not know that the hand gripping her throat possessed immense power—the kind that could extinguish the violent explosions triggered by the Flame Gem right in its palm.

Oxygen deprivation caused Nightcrawler's consciousness to gradually blur. In the split second before she lost consciousness entirely, the corner of her eye caught two figures walking in through the doorway.

"Long time no see, Magneto." Xiang Qian released his grip, letting the unconscious Nightcrawler fall to the floor.

"James Zion! I'm really not surprised to see you here." Magneto didn't even glance at the fallen Nightcrawler; his gaze flicked across Xiang Qian's face before being immediately drawn to the gun in his hand.

Xiang Qian cooperated fully by raising the P226—the muzzle remaining pointed at Magneto—and said, "It seems you remember my old comrade?"

"Vividly." Magneto instinctively reached up to press his left shoulder, his tone filled with resentment.

Xiang Qian sneered, "See what happened to Juggernaut outside? I made a few new discoveries recently and added some new features. I have to say, you're quite lucky. If it had possessed its current power back then, you would have been living in an urn, and there wouldn't be all these headaches today."

Magneto was burning with rage, but the pitch-black muzzle forced him to suppress his temper.

"Where is the child?"

"Child?" Xiang Qian feigned confusion. "You mean Jimmy? I don't know. Isn't he in the room next door?"

"Don't play dumb with me, James."

Xiang Qian's lies came easily: "I can tell you exactly what I know, or I can let my gun tell you. Do you think I need to play dumb? I truly don't know. I ran into Juggernaut the moment I arrived here. Only a little X-Men girl has been in that room; why don't you go ask her?"

Xiang Qian raised the gun in his hand, signaling, "I am the one in control of the situation; do I need to lie to you?"

"I am not Charles, your lies won't fool me." Magneto said sternly, "You appeared here, and the child has gone missing. Even if you didn't do it, you must know something. Why are you here?"

"Isn't it obvious? I am trying to preserve my assets and profits to the greatest extent possible."

Magneto glanced at the main console to the side, his expression changing drastically. "You're copying the experimental data? If the child is already missing, what do you need the data for? This data is the key to opening the door to mutant destruction."

As he spoke, Magneto suddenly reached toward the main console.

Xiang Qian reacted instantly to Magneto's intent, raising his gun and firing. The bullet grazed Magneto's ear, causing him to freeze in shock and halt his next move.

"Don't even think about it." Xiang Qian aimed the muzzle at the center of Magneto's brow. "I don't want to kill you for the sake of the Professor and Raven, but I'm warning you: if even one screw on that machine comes loose, or if I see the slightest sign of electromagnetic interference on the screen, I will pull the trigger."

"Think clearly, Magneto. Even if the data here is gone, Worthington Industries surely has backups. I will always have a chance to get them. But if you lose your life, you won't be able to find any backups!"

Magneto withdrew his hand. "Why do you want this data, and why steal it? If the child isn't with you, what do you need it for?"

"Even if I told you, would you be able to understand?" Xiang Qian didn't answer directly. "The immense value contained within this data is completely beyond your ability to comprehend. God, I even doubt whether you people can correctly spell the word 'gene'."

"Are you trying to humiliate us?"

Xiang Qian sneered, "I'm humiliating you? No, I'm just stating a fact. If anything, I'm looking down on you. The unique, heaven-sent superpowers of mutants are simply being wasted on the likes of you."

"You have no idea of the immense social value your own abilities hold."