Project ATHENA

Facing Logan's fearless assault, Obadiah's expression turned cold and unmoved. He merely casually extended a hand.

Invisible telekinesis instantly condensed into a barrier. The charging Logan seemed to slam into an unseen wall, his body abruptly halted three meters away, unable to move.

Every muscle in Logan's body knotted wildly, veins bulging, yet he could not advance another inch.

Obadiah was about to toss him aside like garbage when he suddenly sensed another entirely different force intervening, firmly locking Logan in place!

His gaze snapped back, meeting Magneto's cold eyes across the distance.

As Magneto received Joshua's treatment, golden light continuously flowed into his body, repairing his nearly depleted mutant genes. At the same time, he raised his other hand and aimed it at Logan from afar!

He was controlling the Adamantium skeleton within Logan's body!

A tremendous magnetic force erupted from within, resisting Obadiah's telekinesis and pushing Logan's body forward!

One pulled outward, while the other pushed inward!

Caught between the two terrifying forces, Logan felt as though his bones and flesh were about to be torn apart. The searing pain made him curse, "Shit! You damned helmeted bastard! Are you trying to kill me?!"

"If I wanted to kill you, you would not have lived this long, Logan," Magneto replied coldly before suddenly pushing forward!

The magnetic force abruptly erupted to its limit!

Logan's body instantly became a genuine "alloy cannonball," crashing viciously toward Obadiah at a speed too fast for the naked eye to follow!

"Humph!"

Obadiah decisively released his telekinetic control. The instant Logan closed in, he caught Logan's swinging arm with his bare hand, intending to throw him away!

But Logan's combat instincts were equally terrifying. The instant his arm was seized, he tightly grabbed Obadiah's wrist in return. Using it as a point of leverage, the claws of his other hand sprang out and, with a sharp whoosh, stabbed viciously toward Obadiah's heart!

Obadiah reacted even faster. His other hand shot out like Flash, catching Logan's attacking wrist again.

Then he grunted, fully displaying his terrifying brute strength!

He actually grabbed both of Logan's hands, lifted him high above his head, and then smashed him violently into the ground!

Boom!!

A deafening blast shook the earth!

Logan's body was slammed deep into the bridge's concrete structure. The hard ground instantly caved into a terrifying crater, with spiderweb cracks spreading wildly in every direction!

Dust billowed, and rubble flew everywhere.

Clank... clank...

A piercing sound of metal grinding rang out.

Obadiah had barely steadied himself after rising from the crater when he felt his high-tech armor wildly tightening beyond his control. Metal plates sank deeply into his muscles, producing a teeth-grating sound of compression.

He abruptly turned his head and met Magneto's icy eyes.

Golden light still flowed from Joshua's hands, continuously pouring into Magneto's body. As his failing genes were restored, that terrifying power which had once stood at the peak of mutantkind was returning at an astonishing rate!

Magneto clenched one hand in the air, his fingertips moving slightly as he made Obadiah taste the betrayal of metal.

At the same time, he suddenly spread his other hand, palm aimed at the collapsed bridge ruins below.

Rumble—

The earth trembled!

Countless massive steel rebars buried deep within the concrete answered his call! Breaking free from the rubble, they twisted and shrieked like vicious fangs bursting from the earth, thrusting toward Obadiah from all sides!

This was Magneto!

A vicious glint flashed through Obadiah's eyes. Without hesitation, he grabbed the collar of his armor. Then, amid the sound of tearing flesh, he ripped the costly suit apart with his bare hands!

The warped armor plates fell to the ground, exposing the solid muscles beneath. With a flip of his hand, Obadiah instantly condensed a scarlet warblade made of pure psychic energy!

Slash—

The warblade swept across, scattering sparks.

Those rebars, harder than steel, were as fragile as rotten wood before the psychic warblade. They were neatly severed in midair, and the broken ends were blasted away by the immense force, randomly embedding themselves in the surrounding ground.

"Charles," Magneto said while fighting Obadiah, "have your people join in as well!"

"Alright."

Charles nodded and commanded everyone through Telepathy, "Move!"

"Roger!"

"Move!!"

"Get him!!!"

Under Charles's command, the X-Men and numerous mutants charged at Obadiah together!

Seraph, Juggernaut, Colossus, and the remaining Chimeras charged forward as well, and a full-scale melee erupted between both sides!

Two human torrents rushed headlong into each other, colliding with shocking force!!

Obadiah swung his energy blade and was about to charge forward when he suddenly felt a wave of dizziness.

Within the mental world, Charles's figure slowly appeared. He smiled faintly at Obadiah as he actively invaded Obadiah's mental domain!

"Get out!"

Obadiah grabbed Charles by the head and smashed him viciously into the ground. The two launched a silent battle within the mental domain.

In reality, facing the crowd charging toward him, Obadiah was only dazed for an instant before he stomped the ground, unleashing a telekinetic storm!

Boom!!

Terrifying telekinesis exploded outward, blasting away everything around him!

But before he could turn around, Logan, who had climbed back up, pounced on him again!

Roar!!

Obadiah grabbed Logan by the head, preparing to throw him away, when two laser beams suddenly shot toward him!

Two Chimeras, Seraph, controlled by Miles circled overhead, continuously firing energy attacks at Obadiah!

"Die!!"

Furious, Obadiah casually formed two psychic spears and hurled them with all his strength. Guided by telekinesis, they pierced precisely through the chests of both Seraphs!

"Urgh!"

The two Seraphs screamed as their chest flesh was instantly shredded, and they fell toward the river below.

Rumble...

At the same time, the ground beneath Obadiah began collapsing again!

It was Quake Richter's ability!

Under the effect of telekinesis, Obadiah's body instinctively floated upward. Just as he was about to take flight, Mona's frost, Bobby's electric current, and Roberto's energy beams arrived one after another!

"I'm here!!"

At the instant Obadiah was overwhelmed, Cannonball Sam seized the opening. His entire body became a blazing cannonball as he slammed into Obadiah's chest with all his strength!

"Urgh!"

Obadiah grunted, his body uncontrollably staggering backward before landing again.

Then, without hesitation, he grabbed Sam by the head and flung him away like garbage.

"Urgh!" Sam smashed uncontrollably into a wall, his body jerking before he collapsed.

Immediately afterward, just as Obadiah turned around, another wave of dizziness struck him!

Within the mental domain, Charles found an opening and briefly gained the upper hand!

That brief pause gave Magneto enough time!

Clang, clang, clang...

The shrill tremor of metal echoed across the battlefield!

Within the bridge ruins, the severed and intact rebars, along with hundreds and thousands of metal fragments, swept in from every direction as if they had come alive!

Layer upon layer, they instantly wrapped around Obadiah, who had just regained his footing. Ring after ring bound him tightly, forming a massive steel prison!

"This really brings back memories..."

Magneto held out his hand from afar and watched Obadiah as he muttered softly.

"Warning! Warning!!"

"Miles! Military signal channels show that two military aircraft have taken off from Long Island Air Force Base and will arrive any second! They're going to drop miniature vacuum thermobaric bombs here!"

Just as the battle was turning in their favor, Aurora's piercing alarm suddenly rang out from Miles's X Terminal!

"What? Thermobaric bombs?!"

Miles was startled.

"Have they lost their minds? There are still so many people here, and there's a busy urban area right beside us!!"

At the same time, the drone he controlled finally approached its target—the suspicious unmanned truck.

Click—

Through the drone's camera, Miles saw the side door of the truck's cargo compartment slide open, exposing a massive glass tank to the air.

Inside the tank, a wormlike monster more than three meters tall and as thick as a barrel floated slowly. Its body was bloated, but its limbs were disproportionately slender. Most bizarrely, within the folds of its head was an almost unrecognizable human face!

Miles's pupils constricted as fragments of Jennifer's memories struck his mind like lightning!

[Using the genes of the mutant "Leech" as a template... selectively cultivating... something capable of instantly suppressing every mutant ability within several kilometers...]

[Super Leech!]

"Not good!" Miles finally realized what was happening and cried out in alarm.

But it was already too late!

The next second, the device activated, and an invisible wave instantly spread outward!

Buzz—

Time seemed to have been slowed down.

Magneto was controlling the steel cables filling the sky, intending to completely strangle Obadiah. Yet those "steel pythons" abruptly froze in midair, as though they had instantly lost their lives and turned into ordinary scrap metal, clattering to the ground.

Magneto's raised hand froze in midair. He could feel the power within him fall silent in an instant.

"Argh..."

Not far away, Logan had just crawled out of the crater and was about to pounce again when he suddenly staggered and dropped to one knee.

An unprecedented weakness swept through his body. It was not the exhaustion of battle, but the agony of accumulated old wounds and aging erupting all at once after his healing ability had been forcibly stripped away.

"Damn it..." Logan gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead. "Shit, this feeling is familiar and disgusting."

Within the psychic network, Charles let out a muffled groan. He felt his boundless mental ocean instantly drained dry, leaving only his lonely consciousness trapped inside a tiny skull.

The electricity in Bobby's hands abruptly vanished, and the flames of light around Roberto's body went out with a soft puff.

Every mutant became an ordinary person at the same time.

"Miles! The bombing is coming!!" Aurora's voice was filled with despair.

Whoosh—

A piercing howl came from the sky, tearing through the clouds.

Two sleek fighter jets swept overhead at extremely low altitude. Beneath their fuselages, two bombs reeking of death detached and plummeted straight toward the bridge!

"Those are thermobaric bombs! Once they explode, all of us will die!" Miles shouted. "Damn it! This is ATHENA's scheme!"

Magneto's face turned livid. He instinctively raised his hand toward the two falling bombs, but his fingertips felt nothing but air.

The man who had once been able to overturn submarines and shake the Golden Gate Bridge could now only watch helplessly as death closed in!

The color drained from the faces of every mutant on the bridge.

Without their powers, they were trapped on this broken bridge, with no way to escape above or below.

This was a gigantic steel grave meticulously prepared for them.

Within ATHENA's command room, Ritts watched the scene through the screen and could not help murmuring softly.

"Goodbye, my brother..."

This was the plan she had prepared long ago: secretly setting a trap outside Essex Corporation with Super Leech at its core, waiting for Obadiah's true body to appear, using Super Leech to suppress abilities, and then delivering the fatal blow with bombs dropped from fighter jets!

This plan had originally been meant for Obadiah, but being able to send so many mutants to their deaths along with him was truly an unexpected delight!

The shadow of death engulfed the entire island bridge.

The two thermobaric bombs shrieked as they tore through the sky and fell straight down!

Fear spread through the crowd, and some people shut their eyes in despair.

At that critical moment, the figure tightly entangled by countless rebars moved.

Roar!!

Accompanied by an inhuman roar, Obadiah's body suddenly erupted with blazing energy, successfully breaking free from every restraint!

Sections of rebar melted and twisted from the heat, scattering in all directions!

Then, his eyes turned crimson gold as he raised a hand toward the unmanned truck several kilometers away.

The next second, a torrent of energy composed purely of destruction shot across the sky!

It was the last remaining portion of Phoenix Force energy within his body, taken from Madeleine! As one of the oldest cosmic energies, the Phoenix Force was not a mutant ability and would not be affected by Super Leech.

Obadiah was not a true Phoenix host and could not endlessly generate Phoenix Force. But with the traits he had gained by fusing Madeleine's genes, merely turning the power left inside him from his battle with Madeleine into a single attack was more than enough.

Boom—!!

From several kilometers away, the blazing energy torrent released by Obadiah struck the Super Leech inside the unmanned truck with perfect accuracy!

The ugly monster in the glass tank did not even have time to let out a mournful cry before it was completely annihilated by the scorching torrent of energy!

Super Leech had been killed.

In an instant, every mutant felt an invisible shackle fall away from their body.

Their power returned like the tide!

Vitality flowed back into Logan's exhausted body, Miles's mind reconnected with the invisible psychic network, and Magneto regained his sense of magnetism.

"Humph!"

A cold snort filled with boundless fury.

He casually raised his hand and gently clenched it toward the sky.

The two thermobaric bombs, just about to touch the bridge, seemed seized by an invisible giant hand. They stopped abruptly, hanging eerily in midair!

Their metal casings shook violently under the terrifying magnetic force, emitting a buzzing wail.

Then Magneto suddenly swung his arm!

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

The two thermobaric bombs changed direction, streaking like twin flashes of light as they hurtled toward the streets of Queens District, toward the driverless truck!

Charles's eyes widened at the sight. "Erik! Have you lost your mind?! That's a crowded urban area!"

Magneto remained unmoved, replying coldly, "This is the price they must pay!"

"This is slaughter!!" Charles's voice trembled.

Everyone's hearts rose to their throats as they watched the two harbingers of death fall toward the densely populated district.

"Oh no!!"

The moment Miles saw this, he raised a hand to his temple without hesitation. His unrestricted psychic power surged to its limit!

Inside the two warheads, the detonators that were about to activate were affected by Miles's power. Their detonation signals were instantly cut off, completely disabled!

"Clang..."

The bombs slammed viciously into the streets of Queens District. One of them even crashed onto the counter of a storefront, drawing a startled cry from the owner.

Then, one second, two seconds, three seconds...

The earth-shattering explosion everyone had expected was simply averted.

Queens District, New York, remained calm and peaceful.

"Whew..." Miles let out a breath, keeping a hand against his forehead as he told the others, "It's okay now. I cut off the warheads' detonation signals just now. They're nothing but scrap metal now."

"Fool!" Magneto's face darkened with fury. Just as he was about to reprimand him, another explosive boom suddenly rang out from high above!

"BOOM!!"

At the same time the thermobaric bombs had their signals cut off, the two planes that had dropped them were also under Miles's control. Like drunken birds, they traced two warped arcs through the air before charging straight at each other!

"NO--!!"

Amid the terrified screams of the two pilots, the planes collided spectacularly in midair! The next moment, a massive fireball burst in the sky, and wreckage rained down below.

It had all happened too suddenly. Miles had not given the pilots any chance to bail out. Clearly, he was just as furious with those who had tried to strike while they were vulnerable!

Seeing this, Magneto's expression finally eased somewhat. He looked deeply at Miles and said, "I heard Charles mention you. You're very talented, and your ability is unusual... I can tell that you're not as 'merciful' as Charles. That's good, but it's far from enough. You need to learn how to make them fear you!"

"That's enough, Erik!" Charles growled. "My student doesn't need your guidance!"

"He isn't just your student, Charles!" Magneto turned and glared at him. "He is our future!!"

"Um... perhaps you two should save the argument for later." Joshua pointed at Obadiah. "They... seem to be leaving..."

The group turned their eyes toward Obadiah again.

After the sudden crisis, Obadiah faced everyone's gaze and gave them a long look. He had no intention of explaining further. With a sharp wave of his hand, he tore open a large portal behind him.

Then, without further hesitation, Obadiah stepped inside first. The mutants under his command and the Chimera Legion followed silently and orderly in his footsteps, vanishing beyond the portal.

"They're... just leaving like that?" Miles stared at the spatial rift as it slowly closed, finding it hard to believe.

"Most likely." Charles spoke in a grave voice, his expression solemn. "The military and ATHENA have their eyes fixed on this place. If they stay any longer, they'll only give them more opportunities to act."

"...Damn it."

Miles stared unwillingly at Obadiah disappearing through the portal, then looked at Madeleine lying unconscious on the ground and clenched his teeth hard.

"Damn it!!"

Inside ATHENA's command center, Ritts slammed her fist onto the table.

"Obadiah..."