Codename

Two days later, in Miles's laboratory at the underground base.

"Click."

With the final crisp sound of machinery locking into place, the last precision module fit seamlessly into position. The new creation in Miles's hands was finally complete.

It was an entirely black weapon, sleek and elegantly lined, filled with a near-future sci-fi aesthetic. Designed by Miles himself, its body bore not a single unnecessary decoration. Every groove and protrusion served a function, cold and pure.

The "X-0 Reaper" high-energy electromagnetic sniper rifle measured 143 centimeters long and weighed 28.5 kilograms. Its main body was made of carbon-fiber composite materials, special ceramics, and titanium alloy. Some of its core components were even crafted directly from Adamantium. Its theoretical effective range was around five kilometers, and its projectile's muzzle velocity was expected to exceed Mach 6, with charging mode capable of increasing it even further.

As for its power...

As Miles activated his ability, a Flying Dragon S slowly flew over. He skillfully mounted the X-0 Reaper beneath the drone, then sent it airborne again and used his ability to place it into optical camouflage mode.

Amid a low hum, the air around the Flying Dragon S's body warped for an instant. Then its dark silhouette faded into nothingness, vanishing completely into the surrounding background. Only in Miles's perception did the drone remain hovering exactly where it was.

At the same time, footage from the drone's main camera appeared in Miles's vision. No external transmission equipment was needed; Miles directly forced the camera feed from the drone into his mind with his ability. Then, under his control, the drone swiftly locked onto a 100mm special steel plate several hundred meters away that had been set up as a target.

The drone's system completed its ballistic calculations almost instantly. The barrel turned, locked onto the center of the steel plate, and the electromagnetic rails began charging.

"Fire!"

There was no roar of gunpowder, no muzzle flash, and even the weapon's usual recoil was greatly reduced. Inside the chamber, nearly invisible to the naked eye, a 10mm tungsten-core armor-piercing projectile was violently launched down the electromagnetic rails!

The next instant, the surveillance footage from the distant range showed a blinding burst of white light erupt from the center of the heavy special steel plate.

Then Miles felt a slight tremor beneath his feet, followed by a thunderous boom mixed with the sound of metal tearing apart.

"Bang!!!"

A hole more than a centimeter wide had appeared in the 100mm-thick RHA armor plate. Its edges were smooth, clearly scorched marks left by the terrifying impact and heat that had instantly melted and vaporized the metal.

Miles slowly walked behind the steel plate and found a huge hole over ten centimeters wide in its rear. Blue-purple temper colors from the intense heat still lingered around it, while solidified droplets of metal and tiny fragments littered the ground.

Even the second backup steel plate behind it had been burned through. The tungsten-core projectile had then lodged deep inside the third steel plate, with its tip protruding from the back.

"The power is astonishing," Aurora said. "Miles, the Reaper you designed has completely surpassed the scope of a sniper rifle. It has practically entered the realm of a light anti-tank cannon. Its targets should be heavily armored military vehicles or mutant warriors with formidable defenses..."

"This is only ordinary mode, Aurora." Miles chuckled. "In my projection, the Reaper's projectile velocity in charging mode will exceed Mach 8. Its destructive power should nearly double, especially since... I also have this."

As he spoke, Miles slowly took out a new projectile that lacked the distinctive sheen of tungsten.

A 10mm Adamantium projectile.

As ammunition suited for electromagnetic firearms, neither tungsten-core rounds nor Adamantium-core rounds could truly be called bullets anymore. These projectiles had no traditional casing, primer, or gunpowder. They could be considered pure slugs, specifically designed to be accelerated directly by electromagnetic force. Every aspect of their design focused on maximizing kinetic efficiency and lethality. Therefore, the tougher the material of the core, the greater its destructive power.

Compared to ordinary tungsten-core armor-piercing rounds, Adamantium projectiles would undoubtedly unleash destruction far beyond the former!

"If that's the case..." Aurora briefly calculated the scenario of the Reaper firing an Adamantium projectile at Mach 8 in charging mode. Her tone fell silent for a moment. "For now, I can't think of anything in this world capable of stopping that strike."

"Don't underestimate this world, Aurora," Miles said slowly. "What this world lacks least is all kinds of strange people and abilities. Many times, the enemies we need to face simply cannot be dealt with through ordinary physical means."

"Still, for now... this Reaper should be sufficient as a preliminary model." Miles summoned the drone over again and lovingly ran his hand over the Reaper's smooth casing.

With the Reaper's terrifying firepower mounted on the swift and elusive Flying Dragon S, the combination had undoubtedly surpassed the limits of conventional technology in this era. It was a true black-tech creation.

But... that was all it was.

After putting away his beloved toy, Miles sank into thought about the future.

His research approach differed from creators like Tony Stark or Richards. He excelled more at rapidly absorbing, understanding, and applying existing knowledge, as well as reverse-engineering cutting-edge technology. He could optimize a one into a hundred, but it was difficult for him to create a one from zero. Because of this, the level of his research was heavily dependent on the technological ceiling of the world he was in.

This was not to say that Miles was truly inferior to those genuine super-geniuses. His main issue was simply that he had accumulated too little research experience. Since he had truly begun working with technology, only about a year had passed.

Furthermore, the current world's technological ceiling was not especially high. It was nowhere near a place like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where black technology bloomed everywhere. Here, there were very few things that could truly be called black technology. Adamantium was one of them, but its raw materials were difficult to obtain. Even Miles could only acquire small amounts through Caliban's channels. The projectiles he had accumulated were few to begin with, so every shot had to be used sparingly.

Beyond that, he had also set his sights on the legendary Sentinel Robots. Yet even after Aurora searched networks across the entire world, she still could not find the slightest trace of the Sentinel Program, as though it had never existed.

So... what path should he take next?

Being confined to the academy severely limited his means of acquiring resources.

"Miles!"

Just as Miles was deep in thought, a cheerful shout interrupted him.

Madeleine appeared at the laboratory door, excitement on her face. "Come out quickly. Everyone's waiting for you. We're discussing something important!"

"Something important?" Miles raised an eyebrow.

Led by Madeleine, Miles arrived at the academy's common lounge.

Sure enough, nearly all the young mutants had gathered there, sitting around the sofas and discussing something with great enthusiasm.

"What important matter are you discussing?" Miles found an empty seat, sat down, and asked casually.

"Something very important!" Madeleine sat down right beside him, her eyes gleaming with an enthusiasm Miles could not understand at all.

Then Bobby, the chubby boy, gave Miles the answer.

"We're discussing our operational codenames as X-Men!"

"...Huh?" Miles froze, failing to react for a moment.

"Don't underestimate this!" Richter explained from the side. "Because of the Westchester New Mutant Agreement, we barely had any opportunities to go on missions before, so it didn't matter. But a few days ago, I happened to hear Logan say that times outside had changed, and we'd soon become very busy!"

"In that case, we need to prepare operational codenames," Charlotte added. "After all, having a codename will make things much more convenient when we're operating outside."

"Ha... fine." Miles sighed and patiently listened to their discussion. Then he glanced sideways... and realized that Madeleine had somehow quietly edged closer again.

Has the Phoenix Force affected this girl that much?

"Since earthquakes are what I'm best at, Delia gave me the codename 'Quake,'" Richter said, pointing at himself with considerable pride. Then he patted Delia beside him. "I originally wanted to call her White Queen, but she didn't like it. She said she should be called Silverlight."

"Quake... White Queen..."

Miles muttered the names a few times, then curled his lip. "Leaving Quake aside... don't you know there was once a mutant called the White Queen from the same era as Logan and the others? She was also a woman with psychic abilities, and supposedly just as powerful as Charles."

"But the White Queen is already gone!" Richter argued confidently.

"Shut up, Richter!" Delia pressed a hand to her forehead in exasperation. "I don't want to live in the shadow of some old woman!"

"Fine." Richter sighed and gave up insisting.

"What about the rest of you?" Miles asked. "Have you all decided on operational codenames?"

"I'll just be Ivy." Rebecca, who controlled plants, sat on the back of the sofa and swung her legs. "I like that word."

"Okay, Ivy." Miles nodded, then looked at Mona, who possessed freezing abilities. "What about you, Mona?"

"Since there was once an X-Man called Iceman, then naturally I'm Ice Woman," Mona said indifferently.

"I'm Puppeteer," said Jonah, who could make others perform the same actions as himself.

"I think I'll be Sharkman." Gideon, whose appearance was somewhat unusual, spoke up. His ability allowed him to breathe underwater and move through the water like a shark.

"Wraith," Charlotte said. Given his ability to leave his body and possess others, the name Wraith suited him quite well.

Compared to everyone else, Laura's choice was much simpler.

"X-23," Laura said.

X-23 was the experimental batch designation for everyone in their group except Miles. Laura apparently could not be bothered to think any harder and simply chose it.

Then it was Bobby's turn. Since his power was electricity, he eagerly declared, "I think my codename should be Flash!"

"Ah..." Miles let out a deep sigh and patted Bobby on the shoulder. "Pick another one. What do you think about Electro?"

"Not great. It sounds like a villain..."

"Okay, that's the one. Good, Electro. Be good, Electro..."

Miles promptly covered Bobby's mouth, then turned his attention to the newly arrived Dani and Sam.

"I'll be Moonstar," Dani said. "It's my surname."

"As for me..." Sam hesitated. "I... don't know what I should be called. Do I have to pick one?"

"Everyone else has one, Sam. You should give it a try too," Richter said. "Come to think of it, I don't think we've ever seen you use your ability... You only said that you could release energy and launch yourself like a cannonball. So what does it actually look like?"

"My ability..." Sam hesitated. He was actually somewhat resistant to using his power, but seeing how curious everyone was, he gritted his teeth. "Fine... I'll demonstrate it for you!"

Then, led by Sam, everyone went out into the courtyard.

"Whew..." Sam took a deep breath, then suddenly let out a loud roar!

The next second, an explosive energy field enveloped his entire body. He transformed into a humanoid cannonball and shot straight into the sky with a thunderous boom!

"He flew so high!" Jonah looked up and said enviously. "I really wish I had the power to fly too..."

"That's not flying," Richter corrected, though his tone was filled with admiration. "That's launching! It's awesome!"

However, their amazement did not last long. The golden light in the sky soon began to sway erratically. Then a shrill scream tore through the air and rang down clearly from above.

That light... was falling straight down!

"Why is he coming back down?"

"Damn it... can't he control his direction?!"

Several people hurried over and caught Sam, saving him from being smashed to death.

"Sorry... everyone," Sam said apologetically. "I rarely use my ability. I shouldn't have flown straight up like that. I still can't control the direction..."

"It's fine. Just practice more in the future," Miles said casually. "We once ran into someone called Lightwave. His ability was very similar to yours, and he was quite good at flying."

"Really?" Sam nodded and asked longingly, "Then can I meet that man?"

"No. He's dead. I killed him."

Sam fell silent.

"Anyway..." Jonah took over, "since your ability is to launch yourself like a cannonball, why not just call yourself Cannonball?"

"Cannonball?" Sam repeated it a few times, then nodded. "That sounds pretty good."

"Alright, then. Now it's Miles's and Madeleine's turn."

At Delia's reminder, everyone turned their attention to Miles and Madeleine again. They all seemed curious about what codenames the two of them would choose.

Miles thought for a moment. He had originally planned to use his experimental designation, X-0, like Laura had. But he felt that it was a little too ordinary.

After considering it back and forth, he ultimately chose another word.

"Psypoint."

It represented the point of origin where minds converged.

Madeleine looked at Miles and fell into thought as well.

Then she recalled Charles's description of the Phoenix Force within her not long ago, and a name naturally came to mind.

"Red Phoenix."