Magneto

"Magneto" Erik Lensherr.

In the mutant world, he was one of the two poles alongside "Professor X," Charles Xavier. He possessed the formidable power to manipulate magnetism, and his ideals stood in complete opposition to Charles, who pursued peace. He advocated leading mutantkind's future through fierce confrontation.

He had fought Charles and the X-Men many times, and he had been imprisoned more than once, only to return again afterward. 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: when he truly appeared, no one could ignore him.

Wearing his helmet, the weathered-faced "Magneto," Erik Lensherr, swept his gaze across everyone present before finally settling it on "Obadiah Apocalypse."

"It really is a long-unseen face. No wonder you came looking for me in person, Charles." Magneto's aged face was terrifyingly calm. "I was already preparing to die of old age in prison."

"You would never have thought that, Erik." Charles, standing beside him, said, "Because you know better than anyone that 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 been through some things these past years as well. But we can reminisce later. There are more pressing matters now."

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

"These ugly genetic creations again. Human stupidity truly never changes..."

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

BOOM—CRACKLE!

The steel framework inside the Roosevelt Island Bridge groaned in agony under Magneto's invisible force, then snapped and twisted piece by piece!

At the center of the bridge, massive slabs of asphalt and concrete instantly collapsed downward, as though ripped apart by an invisible giant hand! A bottomless chasm appeared out of nowhere, splitting the bridge in two.

The dozens of Chimera mutants charging at the front had no time to react. The ground vanished beneath their feet, and their huge bodies fell into the frigid East River below amid startled roars and collapsing chunks of concrete, sending sprays of water into the air.

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

Terrified cries came from several private cars parked too close to the collapse as their occupants watched the broken bridge deck begin to tilt slowly!

The gap continued widening as rubble and steel bars fell away. They watched helplessly as the lane they were on gradually tilted, their wheels sliding uncontrollably toward the fractured abyss!

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

Yet Magneto remained unmoved, as though he had not heard him at all.

"Ahhh! Help!!"

"Start the car! Start it already!"

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

They desperately tried to start their cars and escape, but the blocked roadway left them unable to move even an inch!

"Erik!!" Charles demanded furiously.

Magneto finally turned around, his eyes beneath the helmet's shadow cold as they fixed on Charles. "Charles, this is war!"

"War requires sacrifice!"

"We're saving them!"

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

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

Immediately afterward, Mona, "Ice Woman," arrived in time as well. She opened her mouth and breathed out a surging blast of frost, freezing the earthen walls to the ground and securing them completely.

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

"Miles!"

At the same time, Aurora's urgent voice rang out. "Southeast direction! An unmanned cargo truck bearing what appears to be military markings is rapidly approaching the Roosevelt Island Bridge. It is less than five kilometers away!"

"Military personnel?"

"Can't confirm it completely. The signal identifier is strange!"

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

Clearly, the vehicle carried a small "psychic shielding device."

"Damn it, are these things this widespread already... huh?"

At that moment, Miles's expression suddenly changed!

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

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

A woman quietly making a phone call to deliver a report suddenly stiffened, slowly lowering the phone she had just borrowed from a passerby.

Memory reading!

The next instant, the woman's mind was like a library whose doors had been kicked open by force. Countless fragments of memory surged toward Miles like an avalanche!

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

Images flashed rapidly through Miles's mind.

Inside an ATHENA office, a stern-looking woman named Ritts issued an order. The target—Essex Corporation.

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

Then came a cold laboratory: discovery, blood extraction, and finally being imprisoned in a containment area like livestock.

The woman before him was the "agent" Ms. Ritts had mentioned earlier in the ATHENA office. After being discovered by Obadiah, she had fortunately escaped with her life. Then, when Miles and the others released the mutants from the isolation zone, she had mingled with the crowd and fled. Since then, she had been trying to reestablish contact with ATHENA...

From Jennifer "Hummingbird" Garcia's memories, Miles "saw" her many calls with Ms. Ritts and gradually learned several horrifying secrets...

Miles did not stop. He forcibly tore into this woman's deeper memories, into those corners deliberately hidden and forgotten by their owner.

At last, Miles saw another unknown scene:

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

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

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

The next instant, Miles abruptly raised his head, 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 peeled from the bridge shot out like a bullet and instantly pierced through the woman's skull!

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

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

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

But Charles did not accept Magneto's argument at all. He said word by word, "Our enemies are Essex Corporation and Obadiah, not humanity!"

"There is no difference!" Magneto stared deeply at Charles and shouted 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 truly haven't changed at all."

"Neither have you," Magneto said coldly.

"Miles!"

Caliban limped over from the portal and reached Miles. Looking at the barely conscious Madeleine in his arms, he asked gravely, "What happened? How did she end up like this?"

"I don't know..." Miles shook his head and steadied himself again, turning his gaze toward Queens District in the distance. "There's an unexpected development. The military and ATHENA must be plotting something. We need to take action!"

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

"You used all of it?" Miles froze.

"The base holding Magneto had a 'Super Leech.' All our abilities failed. If Charles hadn't still been able to help remotely, we would have run into 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 precious Adamantium round before, so the remaining four really had not been enough.

"I understand..."

Miles stopped dwelling on it. Taking the Flying Dragon S drone, he lightly tapped it with his fingertip. Its engine started, and it rose silently straight into the air, blending into the dim sky like a black wraith.

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

"A guard who had been hiding in Magneto's prison ambushed me." Caliban bared his teeth. "That guard was wearing Magneto's helmet, so Charles couldn't sense him."

"They just kept the helmet in the prison too?"

"That's right."

"All right..." Miles nodded and stopped dwelling on it. Then he turned and called to Joshua, "Joshua, give me a hand!"

"Okay."

Joshua immediately went to Caliban's side, crouched down, and pressed a hand against the wound.

A soft golden light rose. The bone-deep wound squirmed and healed at a visible rate, as horrifying flesh was quickly covered by fresh skin.

The sight stirred both Charles and Magneto, who were facing off in the distance.

Magneto merely gave Joshua a cold glance without speaking, but a faint, imperceptible ripple passed through his deep eyes.

Charles, however, did not hesitate to speak directly into Joshua's mind through Telepathy. "Child, heal Erik first!"

"What?" Joshua froze.

"Erik has just come out of prison. His power is still far from truly recovered!" Charles explained. "The erosion of mutant genes caused by genetically modified food has left severe aftereffects on him as well! We simply had no 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 just watched Magneto bend and deform an enormous section of bridge with his ability, severely crippling the Chimera Legion in one strike...

"He was overextending himself! Forcibly squeezing out the little power he has left!" Charles's voice carried helplessness and pain. "Erik never allows himself to show weakness before anyone!"

As his close friend and enemy for many years, 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.

Honestly, Joshua himself did not know whether he could treat "mutant gene degeneration," but he had a vague feeling... that he probably could.

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

So he attacked without hesitation.

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

"Hm?"

Magneto's expression changed drastically. He had just tried to control metal for defense when weakness washed over his entire body!

Forcing his ability earlier had left him drained!

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

"Not good!"

Charles hurriedly reached out, but he was too late!

At that critical moment, Clarice, "Blink," clenched her teeth and suddenly waved a hand!

A sharp screech tore through the air. Space before Magneto ripped open without warning, and a portal gleaming with violet light opened out of nowhere. Like a silent gaping mouth, it swallowed him instantly!

The next instant, another identical portal opened beside Charles, where Magneto had originally stood. It released him, setting him back down in his original position.

"Not bad."

Having been rescued again, Magneto gave Clarice another look and said expressionlessly.

"Troublesome little girl."

Obadiah looked at Clarice and muttered softly.

He raised his hand, his target now the girl with spatial abilities.

But before he could act—

ROAR!!

A beastlike howl exploded from the side!

Like a true feral wolf, Logan lunged from the ruins, carrying murderous fury and unstoppable rage as he charged straight for Obadiah!