A New Journey

Donnie walked out of his room, dressed in the school's specially made combat suit. The material was excellent, flexible and stretchy, fitting him perfectly. He carried a backpack, fully armed, and headed towards the school gates.

He didn't say goodbye to Professor X and the others. When he'd gone to ask for the combat suit last night, it was essentially telling them he was leaving. Some things didn't need to be said; they would only stir up feelings of parting.

This was his choice. He couldn't tolerate cowering in a corner of the world forever. He wanted to charge out, to open his arms and embrace this unprecedented era, prosperous yet cruel, magnificent yet desolate.

Many students watched him from the sides of the road. They understood now that Donnie was leaving.

"Then why are you still going? You didn't need to push yourself this hard. You could have just stayed at the school."

Someone shouted at him, reminding him that he didn't need to take such risks. He could have stayed with them. Although their time together hadn't been long, many had already accepted this young man. They understood what kind of person he was and were very willing to get close to him, as if Donnie possessed a magical quality that drew them in.

Donnie didn't look back. He just waved his hand and walked towards the gates with his backpack. There, several vehicles were ready, awaiting their creator.

Even through the air, one could sense the killing intent.

Donnie was going to kill people on this trip.

Indeed, Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters was at the core of many future events. Donnie could have stayed here, even become a member of the X-Men. Professor X and the others would have gladly accepted him.

But Donnie didn't want to. This was a real, tangible world. No one had that ridiculous protagonist aura. Everyone was just one of the countless beings in this world, with only a small portion taking the lead while the vast majority remained ignorant.

Donnie preferred to be among those who took the lead. There were too many terrifying enemies in the future, and he didn't want to wait passively.

Honestly, deep down, Donnie had no confidence he could survive the great wars to come. Not at all.

Perhaps he could last a long time, perhaps he would fall quickly. But even so, Donnie was willing, because this was his choice. At least he wouldn't have too many regrets, instead of hiding somewhere, cowering in fear of an eventual cataclysm.

Pyro, John, rushed over, shouting loudly, asking Donnie to take him away. He wanted to follow Donnie, not stay here anymore.

"Take me with you! I can fight too, and my fire control is very useful to you! I'm not afraid of dying either!" John yelled, disregarding whether the teachers could hear him. He just wanted to go with Donnie, to fight together; that was the life he yearned for.

"You're too weak. Taking you would be useless," Donnie said without even turning his head.

Many watched Donnie, seeing him off.

In a third-floor office, Professor X watched Donnie's retreating back, saying nothing.

"Aren't you going to try and persuade him to stay?" Ororo asked softly.

Professor X shook his head and sighed, "I've talked with him a lot these past few days, but there's one thing we've never discussed. He understands, and I understand. Neither of us brought it up... We are not on the same path. This place doesn't belong to him, and he will never belong here. He belongs only to the endless wilderness; only there can he keep running."

Ororo seemed to understand but was lost in thought.

Donnie led his army, four vehicles and a motorcycle. The rumbling of the engines roared into the sky, full of power. This was his army, and he would lead them to face the enemy. For a long time to come, these four vehicles and one motorcycle would follow him through bloody battles until they were shattered.

The sun shone brightly, scorching the sky, and a cold, sharp light cleansed everything.

The rumbling gradually faded. Donnie had finally embarked on the path he was meant to take. What would be the outcome? No one knew.

Donnie drove casually, his mind on other things. His AllSpark was burning brighter and brighter. The fluctuating, hidden energy told him of its wonders.

Now, every time he used his Spark, the pain in his head was greatly reduced. It was no longer as strenuous as before. This was a good sign, indicating that his AllSpark was recovering on its own.

But whether it was an illusion or not, he always felt that the AllSpark's repair was slower, and there was a deep, invisible scar across it that would be very difficult to mend.

Donnie sighed in resignation. When mutants awaken, their powers are often uncontrollable. Not to mention someone like Donnie, who pushed himself to the limit.

This uncontrollability during mutant awakenings had caused great losses, even leading to the innocent deaths of family members. This was also why mutants were shunned and disliked by the public.

No one wanted a potential mutant by their side, like a ticking time bomb, unsure when it would explode, causing injury or death.

Mutants still had a long way to go to be accepted by the public.

Magneto's desire to exterminate ordinary humans was completely misguided.

Millions of years ago, the Celestials descended upon Earth and modified primitive humans, granting many Earthlings the X-gene. This was the root cause of the mutant population on Earth.

The vast majority of Earthlings possessed the X-gene. Those with the dominant gene were mutants, while those with the recessive gene were ordinary humans. Magneto's constant talk of extermination was simply unrealistic. This was also because humans had pushed "Old Magneto" too hard over the years, leaving him with no way out multiple times. Otherwise, he wouldn't have reached this point. If he didn't kill people, they would think he was easy to bully and would try to kill him.

Donnie then remembered that in the future, the government would create Sentinels, specifically targeting the X-gene to hunt mutants. As a result, the Sentinels went out of control. Before the mutants could kill many, ordinary people with the recessive X-gene were almost wiped out.

If you also considered Ultron, that old monster who could revive infinitely no matter how many times he was killed, the surviving superheroes made Wolverine, Logan, risk his life to travel through time and modify history, restarting the timeline was a desperate choice. Reversing the future was not that simple; those who played with time would inevitably pay a heavy price.

Otherwise, the most powerful being in the entire universe should be the Flash, who was about to be born in Central City, possessing the divine Speed Force, capable of easily traversing time and traveling through temporal tunnels. If he couldn't defeat you, he would travel back in time, kill your younger self, and then run back, smugly watching you being erased from countless dimensions of past and future by the temporal correction force.

But that was impossible. Playing with time would definitely incur an unbearable price from time itself.

Donnie was certainly curious about time tunnels, but his current level did not qualify him to touch them.