Project ATHENA

Facing Logan's fearless assault, Obadiah's expression turned cold. Unmoved, he merely extended a hand.

Invisible telekinesis instantly condensed into a barrier. Logan, charging forward, seemed to crash into an unseen wall. His body jolted to a halt three meters away, suspended in midair and unable to move.

Every muscle in Logan's body bulged wildly, veins standing out, but he could not advance even an inch.

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

His gaze snapped back, meeting Magneto's 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 inside Logan's body!

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

One force pulled outward, while the other pushed inward!

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

"If I wanted to kill you, you wouldn't have lived this long, Logan," Magneto replied coldly, then shoved forward!

The magnetic force suddenly erupted to its limit!

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

"Humph!"

Obadiah decisively abandoned his telekinetic hold. 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 moment his arm was seized, he clamped down on Obadiah's wrist in return. Using it as a pivot, the claws on his other hand sprang out, and with a sharp shhk, stabbed fiercely toward Obadiah's heart!

Obadiah reacted even faster. His other hand shot out like lightning and caught 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 over his head, and slammed him violently into the ground!

Boom!!

A tremendous crash shook the earth and mountains!

Logan's body smashed deep into the bridge's concrete structure. The hard surface instantly caved into a horrifying crater, spiderweb cracks spreading madly in every direction!

Dust billowed, and shattered stones flew everywhere.

Clang... clang...

A piercing sound of metal grinding rang out.

Obadiah had barely steadied himself in the crater when he felt his high-tech armor tightening uncontrollably around him. Metal plates dug deep into his flesh, producing a teeth-grinding sound of compression.

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

Golden light still flowed from Joshua's hands, continuously entering Magneto's body. As his deteriorating genes were restored, the terrifying power that had once stood at the peak of Mutants returned at an astonishing pace!

With one hand clenched loosely in the air and his fingertips twitching, Magneto 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 ground trembled!

Countless massive steel rebars buried deep in the concrete answered his call! Breaking free from the rubble, they twisted and shrieked like vicious fangs bursting from the earth, converging upon Obadiah in a savage thrust!

This was Magneto!

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

The warped armor plates fell to the ground, exposing the solid muscles beneath. Obadiah flipped his palm, and a scarlet battle blade formed instantly from pure psychic energy!

Screech—

The blade swept across, scattering sparks.

Those rebars harder than steel were as fragile as rotten wood before the psychic blade. They were cleanly severed in midair, and the broken ends were blasted away by the tremendous force, embedding randomly into the surrounding ground.

"Charles," Magneto said to Charles while battling Obadiah, "have your people join in too!"

"Alright."

Charles nodded and gave the command through Telepathy into everyone's minds. "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 rushed forward as well, and a full-scale melee erupted between both sides!

The two human tides crashed head-on into each other with a terrifying impact!!

Obadiah brandished his energy blade and was about to charge forward when a wave of dizziness struck him.

Within the mental world, Charles slowly appeared and smiled faintly at Obadiah. He was actively invading Obadiah's mental domain!

"Get out!"

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

In reality, after only an instant of dizziness, Obadiah stomped the ground as he faced the charging crowd, 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!

Awoo!!

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

Two Chimeras, Seraphs controlled by Miles, circled in the air and continuously fired energy attacks at Obadiah!

"Die!!"

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

"Urgh!"

The two Seraphs cried out as their chest flesh was instantly ripped apart, and they fell toward the river below.

Rumble...

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

It was Quake Richter's power!

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

"Here I come!!"

At the instant Obadiah was struggling to deal with the attacks, Cannonball Sam seized the opening. His entire body turned into a blazing projectile, and he slammed into Obadiah's chest with all his strength!

"Urgh!"

Obadiah let out a muffled groan. His body staggered uncontrollably backward before landing again.

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

"Urgh!" Sam slammed uncontrollably into a wall, shuddered all over, and collapsed.

Just as Obadiah was about to turn back, another wave of dizziness suddenly hit him!

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

That brief moment of stillness gave Magneto enough time!

Screech, screech, screech...

The sharp tremor of metal rang across the battlefield!

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

Layer upon layer, they instantly wrapped around Obadiah, who had only just regained his footing. They coiled around him again and again, binding him tightly into a massive steel prison!

"This really brings back memories..."

Magneto stretched out his hands from afar and murmured as he watched Obadiah.

"Warning! Warning!!"

"Miles! Military signal frequencies show that two military aircraft have taken off from Long Island Air Force Base and will arrive any moment! They're going to drop miniature fuel-air bombs here!"

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

"What? Fuel-air bombs?!"

Miles was startled.

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

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

Click—

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

Inside the tank floated a worm-like monster over three meters tall and as thick as a barrel. Its body was bloated, while its limbs were disproportionately slender. Most bizarre of all, within the folds of its head was a nearly unrecognizable human face!

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

[Based on the genes of the Mutant "Leech"... selectively cultivated... capable of instantly suppressing the abilities of all Mutants within several kilometers...]

[Super Leech!]

"Oh no!" Miles finally realized what was happening and cried out.

But it was already too late!

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

Bzzz—

Time seemed to slow down.

Magneto had been controlling steel cables filling the sky, intending to strangle Obadiah completely. Yet those "steel giant serpents" suddenly froze in midair, as though they had instantly lost their lives and turned into ordinary scrap metal, clattering down all over the ground.

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

"Argh..."

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

An unprecedented weakness swept through his body. It was not the fatigue of battle, but the pain of accumulated old injuries 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 feels 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 within a tiny skull.

The electricity in Bobby's hand abruptly vanished, while the flames of light around Roberto went out with a soft pfft.

Every Mutant became an ordinary person at the same time.

"Miles! The bombing is coming!!" Aurora's voice was full of despair.

Whoosh—

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

Two agile fighter jets swept past at ultra-low altitude. Beneath their fuselages, two bombs carrying the aura of death detached and plummeted toward the bridge!

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

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

The man who had once overturned submarines and shaken the Golden Gate Bridge could now only watch helplessly as death closed in!

The color drained from every Mutant's face on the bridge.

Without their powers, they were trapped on this broken bridge, with no way to the heavens and no path into the earth.

This was a massive steel grave carefully prepared for them.

In ATHENA's command center, Ritts watched the scene through the screen and quietly murmured.

"Goodbye, my brother..."

This was the plan she had prepared long ago: secretly setting a trap outside Essex Corporation with the Super Leech at its core, waiting for Obadiah's true body to appear. First, the Super Leech would suppress his abilities, then fighter jets would drop bombs for the killing blow!

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 enveloped the entire island bridge.

The two fuel-air bombs shrieked as they tore through the sky and fell straight down!

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

At that critical instant, the figure tightly bound by countless rebars moved.

Roar!!

With an inhuman roar, Obadiah's body suddenly erupted with scorching energy, 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 made purely of destruction shot across the sky!

It was the last portion of Phoenix Force energy remaining in his body, taken from Madeleine! As one of the oldest forms of Cosmic Energy, the Phoenix Force was not a Mutant ability and would not be affected by the Super Leech.

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

Boom—!!

From several kilometers away, the scorching torrent of energy 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 dying cry before it was completely annihilated by the scorching torrent of energy!

The Super Leech was dead.

In an instant, every Mutant felt an invisible shackle fall away from their bodies.

Their power returned like a rising tide!

Vitality flooded back into Logan's exhausted body. Miles's mind connected once again to the invisible Psychic Network, and Magneto regained his sense of magnetic force.

"Humph!"

A cold snort filled with endless rage rang out.

He casually raised a hand and lightly clenched it toward the sky.

The two fuel-air bombs, just about to touch the bridge, seemed to be seized by an invisible giant hand. They came to an abrupt halt, suspended in midair!

The metal casings shook violently under the terrifying magnetic force, letting out a mournful hum.

Then Magneto suddenly swung his arm!

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Two thermobaric bombs changed direction, turning into two streaks of light as they were hurled toward the streets of Queens District, toward that unmanned truck!

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

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

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

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

"This is bad!!"

Seeing this, Miles pressed a hand to his temple without hesitation, unleashing his unrestrained psychic power to its fullest extent!

Inside the two warheads, the detonation devices on the verge of activation were affected by Miles's power. Their detonation signals were instantly cut off, rendering them completely useless!

"Clang..."

The bombs slammed brutally into the pavement of a Queens District street. One of them even crashed onto the counter of a shop by the roadside, drawing a startled scream from the owner.

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

The world-ending explosion everyone had expected was simply averted.

Queens District, New York, remained calm and peaceful.

"Whew..." Miles let out a breath, still pressing his fingers to his temple as he told the others, "It's fine now. I cut off the warheads' detonation signals. They're just two chunks of 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 moment 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 sky before charging straight at each other!

"NO—!!"

Amid the terrified cries of the two pilots, the planes collided in midair with a horrifying crash! The next instant, a massive fireball erupted in the sky, and wreckage rained down below.

It had happened too suddenly. Miles had given the pilots no chance to parachute out. Clearly, he was just as enraged by these opportunists!

At this, Magneto's expression finally improved slightly. Looking deeply at Miles, he said, "I heard Charles mention you. You're very talented, and your ability is unusual... I can tell you aren't as 'merciful' as Charles. That's good, but it's far from enough. You need to learn how to make them afraid!"

"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!!"

"You two... save your argument for later." Joshua pointed at Obadiah. "They... seem to be leaving..."

The group's gazes turned to Obadiah once more.

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

Without further hesitation, Obadiah stepped through first. The Mutants and Chimera Legion under his command followed silently and orderly in his footsteps, vanishing beyond the gate.

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

"Looks like it." Charles spoke in a low voice, his expression grave. "The military and ATHENA have their eyes fixed on this place. If they stay any longer, they'll only give them more chances to strike."

"...Damn it."

Miles watched unwillingly as Obadiah vanished through the portal, then looked at Madeleine, unconscious on the ground, and clenched his teeth hard.

"Damn it!!"

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

"Obadiah..."