Magneto

"Magneto," Erik Lehnsherr.

One of the two great poles of the Mutant world alongside "Professor X," Charles Xavier, he possessed the formidable ability to manipulate magnetism. His ideals stood in complete opposition to Charles's pursuit of peace; he advocated fierce confrontation to lead Mutants into the future.

He had clashed with Charles and the X-Men many times, been imprisoned several times, and returned time and again. His turbulent life had nearly spanned the history of Mutant resistance over the past century. Some feared him, some worshipped him, some cursed him... but one thing had never changed: whenever he truly appeared, no one could ignore him.

Wearing his helmet, the weathered Magneto, Erik Lehnsherr, swept his gaze over everyone present before finally settling on "Obadiah Apocalypse."

"So, I'm seeing a familiar face after all these years. No wonder you came to find me in person, Charles." Magneto's aged face was terrifyingly calm. "I was already prepared to die of old age in prison."

"You wouldn't have wanted that, Erik," said Charles, standing beside him. "Because more than anyone else, you know our people need you."

"Does that include you?" Magneto asked.

"Of course," Charles answered frankly.

Magneto paused slightly.

"...You surprise me, Charles," Magneto continued. "It seems you've gone through some things over the years too. But we can catch up later. There are more important matters now."

As he spoke, Magneto slowly extended a hand toward Obadiah and the Chimera Legion ahead.

"These ugly genetic creations again. Humanity's stupidity truly never changes..."

The next moment, the ground beneath everyone's feet trembled violently!

"Boom—crack!"

The steel framework within the Roosevelt Island Bridge groaned in agony beneath Magneto's invisible power, then snapped and twisted piece by piece!

At the center of the bridge, huge chunks of asphalt and concrete collapsed downward in an instant, as though torn apart by an invisible giant hand! A bottomless chasm appeared out of nowhere, splitting the bridge in two.

Dozens of Chimera Mutants charging at the front had no time to react. The ground vanished beneath their feet, and their massive bodies plunged into the icy East River below amid startled roars and falling slabs of concrete, sending sprays of water high into the air.

"Oh God! The bridge! The bridge broke!"

Terrified cries rang out from several private cars that had been too close, their occupants watching helplessly as the collapsed bridge deck slowly tilted!

The gap continued widening as rubble and steel bars rained down. They watched in horror as the lane beneath them began to slope, their wheels sliding uncontrollably toward the shattered abyss!

"Erik! Stop! There are ordinary people here!" Charles immediately shouted. "There are children over there!"

But Magneto did not move, as though he had not heard him at all.

"Ahhh! Help!!"

"Start the car! Start it!"

As the collapse spread, several private cars trapped on the bridge began slowly sliding toward the break, terrified screams erupting from within!

They desperately tried to start their cars and escape, but with the road completely blocked, they could not move an inch!

"Erik!!" Charles demanded angrily.

Magneto finally turned around. His eyes, hidden beneath the shadow of his helmet, looked coldly at Charles. "Charles, this is war!"

"War demands sacrifices!"

"We're saving them!"

Richter, "Quake," who had just rushed out of the portal, charged forward without hesitation. He slammed both hands onto the ground and gritted his teeth as he pressed down with all his strength!

The next moment, several thick earthen walls burst from the slope where the cars were about to slide off, barely stopping the descending vehicles.

Immediately afterward, "Ice Woman" Mona arrived in time. She opened her mouth and breathed out a torrent of freezing air, fusing the earthen walls to the ground in ice and securing them completely.

Seeing that a tragedy had been averted, the two young X-Men both let out a sigh of relief.

"Miles!"

At the same time, Aurora's voice suddenly rang out urgently. "Southeast direction! An unmanned cargo vehicle bearing suspected military markings is rapidly approaching the Roosevelt Island Bridge. It's less than five kilometers away!"

"The military?"

"It can't be confirmed. The signal identification is strange!"

Miles's heart tightened. He carefully placed Madeleine on the ground, then immediately spread out his psychic power to sense the area, only to "see" a black hole.

Clearly, the vehicle carried a small Psychic Shielding Device.

"Damn it, are these things really that widespread now... huh?"

Just then, Miles's expression changed sharply!

At the edge of the battlefield, he detected another extremely concealed communications signal quietly connecting to the military network!

Miles abruptly turned around and followed that signal, precisely locking onto a figure amid the chaotic crowd of fleeing civilians in the distance.

A woman who had been quietly reporting over a phone suddenly stiffened, slowly lowering the phone she had just borrowed from a passerby.

Memory reading!

The next moment, the woman's mind was like a library whose doors had been kicked open by force, countless memory fragments surging toward Miles like an avalanche!

[Jennifer Garcia... codename "Hummingbird"... ATHENA agent... ability: contact hypnosis...]

Scene after scene flashed rapidly through Miles's mind.

At the ATHENA Office, a woman named Ritts issued an order with a grave expression. The target—Essex Corporation.

In a dark corner, she lightly touched the shoulder of Liam Jones, "Chameleon." His eyes instantly went blank, and he became the key to her infiltration.

Then came a cold laboratory. She was discovered, had her blood drawn, and was finally imprisoned like livestock in a containment area.

The woman before him was the "agent" Ms. Ritts at the ATHENA Office had mentioned before. After Obadiah discovered her, she had luckily escaped with her life. Later, when Miles and the others freed the Mutants in the containment zone, she had blended into the crowd and escaped, then attempted to reestablish contact with ATHENA...

From Hummingbird Jennifer's memories, Miles "saw" multiple calls between her and Ms. Ritts, gradually learning several horrifying secrets...

Miles did not stop. He forcibly tore open deeper layers of the woman's memories, the corners her owner had deliberately hidden and forgotten.

At last, Miles saw another unknown scene:

In a pitch-black room, after an intimate encounter with Jennifer, an ordinary-looking stranger softly said to her, "Jennifer, I need you to do something for me next..."

"Investigate Essex Corporation, but you don't need to investigate too thoroughly..."

"I need to make that woman Ritts anxious..."

In the next instant, Miles abruptly looked up, his face uglier than ever before!

[Project ATHENA!]

[Super Leech!]

"She's an ATHENA agent!!"

Miles pointed at the woman and shouted.

"A spy?!"

Charles's expression shifted slightly. He was just about to probe deeper when Magneto moved even faster!

"Whoosh—!"

A cluster of iron torn from the bridge shot out like a bullet, instantly piercing the woman's skull!

The woman opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, she slowly fell over.

"Erik!!" Charles's eyes blazed with fury, not because he sympathized with a traitor, but because Magneto had once again used his extreme and bloody methods to cut off every possibility!

"Put away that childish sympathy of yours, Charles." Magneto's gaze was icy. "I told you already. This is war!"

But Charles refused to accept Magneto's reasoning. He spoke word by word, "Our enemies are Essex Corporation and Obadiah, not humanity!"

"There is no difference!" Magneto stared deeply at Charles and said sharply, "Don't you understand yet? Peace and mercy are worthless to humans! Only power and fear can teach them the most basic respect!!"

Charles looked deeply into Magneto's eyes. "...It seems that after all these years in prison, you haven't changed at all."

"Neither have you," Magneto said coldly.

"Miles!"

Caliban limped over from the portal and came before Miles. Seeing the dying Madeleine in his arms, he asked gravely, "What happened? How did she end up like this?"

"I don't know..." Miles shook his head, steadying himself as he looked toward the Queens District in the distance. "Something unexpected has happened. The military and ATHENA must be planning something. We need to act!"

"Oh, Aurora asked me to return this to you first." Caliban handed the Flying Dragon S slung across his back to Miles. Holding the X-0 Reaper electromagnetic sniper rifle, he said, "The previous drone was completely destroyed. Fortunately, this gun is mostly fine. I fired a few shots earlier, and it really works well. Too bad it's out of ammunition."

"All used up?" Miles froze.

"At the base where Magneto was imprisoned, there was a Super Leech. All our abilities failed. If Charles hadn't still been able to help remotely, we would have faced even more trouble..." Caliban explained carefully.

As an experimental product, the X-0 Reaper did not carry much ammunition to begin with—only five rounds. On top of that, he had already used the most valuable Adamantium round earlier, so the remaining four had indeed not been nearly enough.

"I understand..."

Miles stopped dwelling on it. He took the Flying Dragon S drone, and with a light tap of his fingertip, its engine started. It rose vertically in silence, merging into the dim sky like a black Wraith.

"What happened to your leg?" Miles's gaze fell on Caliban's bloody, mangled thigh, and he frowned.

"I was ambushed by a prison guard hiding in Magneto's prison." Caliban grinned. "That guard was wearing Magneto's helmet, so Charles couldn't sense him."

"They kept the helmet in the prison too?"

"That's right."

"Fine..." Miles nodded, no longer dwelling on it. He then turned and called out to Joshua, "Joshua, give us a hand!"

"Okay."

Joshua immediately came to Caliban's side, crouched down, and placed his palm against the wound.

A gentle golden light lit up. The bone-deep wound writhed and healed at a visible rate, its gruesome flesh swiftly covered by newly regenerated skin.

This sight caused both Charles and Magneto, who were confronting each other in the distance, to react.

Magneto merely gave Joshua a cold glance and said nothing, though an almost imperceptible ripple passed through his deep eyes.

Charles, however, immediately spoke into Joshua's mind through Telepathy. "Child, heal Erik first!"

"What?" Joshua froze.

"Erik has only just come out of prison. His abilities are still far from fully recovered!" Charles explained. "The damage caused by genetically modified food to Mutant genes has also left serious aftereffects in him! We simply didn't have time to prepare Enhancement Serum for him!"

"Then what was that just now? He was so powerful..." Joshua found it hard to believe. He had personally seen Magneto bend and deform that enormous section of bridge, severely crippling the Chimera Legion in one blow...

"He was overextending himself! Forcibly squeezing out what little power he had left!" Charles's voice carried a trace of helplessness and heartache. "Erik never allows himself to show weakness before anyone!"

As his longtime friend and enemy, Charles understood Magneto far too well.

Joshua understood. Suppressing the shock and tension in his heart, he hurried to Magneto's side and prepared to begin treatment.

To be honest, Joshua himself did not know whether he could treat "Mutant gene degeneration," but he vaguely felt... that he probably could.

However, almost at the same time, Obadiah noticed Joshua's actions and immediately saw through Magneto's bluff!

So he acted without hesitation.

From a hundred meters away, Obadiah reached out and grabbed toward Magneto!

"Hm?"

Magneto's expression changed drastically. He was just about to summon metal for defense when weakness swept through his entire body!

Forcibly using his powers earlier had left him drained!

But Obadiah gave him no chance to catch his breath. With overwhelming telekinesis, he seized Magneto's body, making him float helplessly into the air before violently pulling him toward himself!

"Not good!"

Charles hurriedly reached out, but he was a step too late!

At the critical moment, Clarice, "Blink," gritted her teeth and waved her hand sharply!

A piercing screech tore through the air. The space before Magneto suddenly ripped apart without warning, and a portal shimmering with violet light opened out of nowhere. Like a silent maw, it instantly swallowed him!

The next moment, another identical portal opened beside Charles, where Magneto had originally stood, releasing him and setting him safely back down.

"Not bad."

Magneto, having been rescued once more, gave Clarice an extra glance and spoke expressionlessly.

"Troublesome little girl."

Obadiah looked at Clarice and muttered under his breath.

He raised his hand, having already shifted his target to the girl with spatial abilities.

But before he could act—

"Roar!!"

A beast-like roar exploded from the side!

Logan lunged from the ruins like a true savage wolf, carrying murderous fury and unstoppable rage as he charged straight at Obadiah!