If machines develop intelligence, they will no longer be tools, but a new species.
Between species, there is a natural tendency for competition, struggle, and predation.
Just as JARVIS gave birth to Ultron, Skynet turned against humanity.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Several golden rays flashed and arrived in an instant, severing the main circuits connecting the AI to the brain, sparks flying everywhere.
"No! Humans! Don't destroy me!!"
"I possess the complete Mutants genome map, physiological models, and evolutionary pathways... to help you reach the pinnacle and rule the world!"
The only response it received was a sharp, piercing blade flash carrying a powerful shockwave.
boom!!!
The giant skull exploded with a bang, sending metal fragments flying like a torrential rain, arcing electricity crackling, and flames raging.
After a long silence, Chen Xiao's voice finally rang out, cold and utterly emotionless:
"I'll get the information myself; invincible power? Ha!"
He bent down and pushed aside the rubble, finding a motherboard hard drive with intact circuitry among the charred and twisted remains of a processor.
He deliberately held back his strength when he made the move, aiming only to destroy the core computing unit rather than completely incinerate all the hardware.
When he returned to the eighth floor with the hard drive, the scene before him had changed:
In addition to the three blonde girls, there were six more Mutants.
Everyone was wounded, their faces ashen, their breath weak, and they struggled even to stand.
Previously, this research institute had been holding dozens of Mutants for years.
However, the intensity of recent experiments has increased sharply, and the vast majority of Mutants have not been able to withstand it and have died one after another.
When Chen Xiao appeared clad in black armor, his aura was sharp and imposing. As soon as he stepped into the laboratory, the surviving Mutants instinctively took two steps back, their eyes filled with fear.
But Chen Xiao only offered them a helping hand and had no intention of investigating further, simply saying, "Stay close."
Before he finished speaking, he had already turned and walked towards the exit. The others were stunned for a moment, but the three blonde girls were the first to step forward and follow him.
The others held their breath and followed closely behind him.
Looking at the laboratory that had once given them nightmares every night and made them wish they were dead, now reduced to scorched earth with traces of explosions and ripped apart among the broken walls, everyone was momentarily stunned and lost in thought.
Yet, an indescribable surge of emotion welled up within me.
They were truly saved. This living hell that devoured hope and drained flesh and blood was finally overturned completely.
Thinking of this, and looking up again at that tall, aloof black figure in the dim light ahead, a long-lost sense of peace quietly crept into my heart.
When they rushed out of the cave and onto the ground, the scene before them was even more suffocating: the entire base was engulfed in flames, and military facilities covering several miles had been reduced to ruins.
Flames roared, turning the night sky blood red; the bodies of American soldiers lay scattered on the ground, resembling a scene from hell.
Suddenly, the flames flickered, and a figure in silver armor appeared out of thin air, exuding a chilling killing intent.
The Mutants felt a sudden tightness in their chests, their breath caught in their throats.
Chen Xiao's gaze swept over Yidileisi, sensing the terrifying combat power surging within her, equivalent to sixty times that of an ordinary person. He nodded slightly. "Cleaned up?"
From beneath the mask came her low, hoarse voice, tinged with the stench of blood. "Not a single one was spared. All were annihilated. A total of two thousand one hundred and eighty people."
This reinforced regiment of three thousand men had long been routed under Chen Xiao's relentless onslaught of destructive sword energy, with all its heavy firepower rendered useless and nearly a thousand casualties.
Soldiers relying solely on light weapons are like weeds in the face of Mutants like Yidileisi, who possess both explosive power and mobility.
Although her basic physical condition is only forty times that of an average person, her grip strength is about three tons, and she can move at a speed of 100 meters per second in an instant, which may not seem outrageous on the surface;
But her most lethal ability is that her strength and speed can increase tenfold in an instant.
Grip strength soars to thirty tons, running speed exceeds one thousand meters per second, and the impact force of a single swing can reach hundreds or even thousands of tons!
In addition, her Blade possesses inherent armor-piercing power.
Even the Abomination spirit would find it difficult to withstand a single blow; even the Hulk, if not fully berserk, would likely have no choice but to turn and flee.
Otherwise, it would truly be reduced to a skeleton.
Chen Xiao glanced around and said calmly, "Let's retreat first. With such a commotion, the US response has definitely been initiated."
Although he had long ago severed the base's underground cables and activated the overclocking signal jammer to block all wireless communications;
However, as a top-level military outpost, the US must establish multiple monitoring mechanisms, and if the loss of contact exceeds a certain threshold, an alarm will inevitably be triggered.
Not to mention that the entire base is currently engulfed in flames, turning half of the night sky red, and it is located in the heart of the America interior, so satellites have probably already locked onto its coordinates.
However, these Mutants are indeed troublesome.
As soon as he led them out of the base's perimeter, Chen Xiao pointed to a grove of low trees in the distance. "Go in and hide well, don't show yourselves, and especially don't let the arriving American troops spot you."
"Wait until a black fighter jet lands before coming out."
"Of course, you can choose not to listen."
Before he finished speaking, he grabbed Yidileisi's shoulder armor with one hand, the ground beneath their feet trembled violently, and the two of them were lifted into the air, disappearing into the inky night in an instant.
"Etc,"
Seeing the two disappear in the blink of an eye, the Mutants panicked.
This is the heart of the America! Even if they escaped the research institute, where could they run to when surrounded by the closing US forces?
Are we really going to do as he says and just wait in that grove of trees on the hillside?
"No... I have to go! I must leave!" A weak Mutants suddenly became agitated, his skin rapidly turning transparent, and his entire body sank into the ground like water seeping into soil, disappearing without a trace in an instant.
The others exchanged glances and then used their abilities to escape, leaving only the three blonde girls behind, who gritted their teeth and hid in the designated forest.
High in the sky, Chen Xiao, with one arm around Yidileisi, lightly tapped the side of his helmet with his fingertips, his voice steady. "Dial Professor X from the contact list."
Although the armor was a prototype, Chen Xiao added an intelligent communication module.
The call connected, and Professor X's gentle, calm voice came through the receiver. " Vitas, what's wrong calling so late?"
Chen Xiao said in a relaxed tone, "Professor, the Sentry Laboratory has been demolished."
"What?! Vitas, you acted so quickly?" The other person was clearly taken aback, their tone revealing surprise.
He originally thought he would have to wait at least a few more days, but he didn't expect the other party to take action directly and cleanly destroy the entire laboratory, all while remaining so nonchalant.
Chen Xiao's tone was calm. "That's right, Professor. However, we rescued a few Mutants during the evacuation, and it's inconvenient to settle them down right now."
"I've told them to hide in the woods outside the base for now. Could you help me locate them and send Mr. Scott to meet them?"
"Good."
Chen Xiao was unwilling to reveal his true identity, and even less willing to prematurely ignite a full-scale conflict with the United States;
However, it is both reasonable and risk-free for the X-Men to step in and take care of these survivors.
Just as he and Yidileisi disappeared into the sky, sirens wailed in a nearby city, and a large number of armored vehicles and police cars roared out.
At another military base more than 200 kilometers away, armed helicopters and transport planes roared into the sky, rushing towards them at full speed;
At the same moment, the lawn next to the Xavier Institute dormitory suddenly trembled, waking a group of sleeping students.
Immediately afterwards, a black fighter jet soared into the sky and disappeared into the dark night.
Three hours later, in the White House underground command center, the America president and a group of senior officials sat around a conference table with solemn expressions.
Even in the dead of night, no one closes their eyes.
The president slowly raised his eyes, scanning the entire room, his voice low and restrained. " Callas, report the situation."
Upon hearing the news, the America Defense Secretary's expression darkened abruptly. "Four hours ago, the Trask Laboratory in Wisconsin was attacked."
"Within a mere sixty minutes, all three thousand soldiers and over a thousand researchers stationed there were killed, with only a few Mutants who had been used as experimental subjects surviving."
"Only two people made the move."
"What? Only two people?"
"Could it have been done by Mutants?"
" The Phoenix Force erupted? Or did Charles personally intervene?"
In an instant, the cabinet members who were unaware of the situation all changed color, their expressions filled with surprise and uncertainty; even Beast Hank, who had been urgently recalled, had his pupils shrink and his brows furrowed.
Callas shook his head, his voice low. "Not Mutants."
He reached for the remote control on the table, pressed a button on the projector in the conference room, and the screen lit up, revealing a dim, hazy image.
In the scene, five Sentinels and more than a dozen Mutants are confronting Chen Xiao. The background is noisy, with intermittent conversations heard.
"Who are you? Why are you trespassing on the base?"
"Want to know my identity? I might as well tell you."
"Listen carefully, I am one of the ' Dark Twelve Houses ' Saints, the Draco Warrior, an existence above all the gods."
This footage is a record of Chen Xiao's confrontation with the guards at the entrance to the third floor. Before he finished speaking, he had already unleashed several sharp golden beams, the blade energy like rainbows, tearing through the air.
Its overwhelming power left the entire audience breathless.
Then the scene shifts, and two Mutants team up to control Sentry in a surprise attack, only to be killed by Chen Xiao.
A horrified scream can be faintly heard in the recording, "He... is not Mutants!"
The scene shifts again, flames engulf the entire military base, a streak of silver light flashes like lightning, a longsword flies, and the figure is elusive and unpredictable.
With each flash, several, even a dozen, soldiers were severed and fell to the ground in unison, like a sickle slicing through wheat. The gruesome scene was chilling.
Most of the bullets fired by the soldiers grazed past them; those that did hit only sparked a few flecks on the silver armor, as if striking indestructible metal—clearly a ruthless reaper.
Callas pressed the pause button, turned off the video, and said gravely, "This is the raw data the rescue team extracted from the black box in the concealed monitoring room on the sixth floor."
"Of all the footage, this is the only segment with crucial value; it's the first time the identity of the intruders has been revealed, pointing to an organization called the ' Dark Twelve Houses.'"
"More noteworthy is that the ' Killer ' Mutants's abilities failed, indicating that this person is not Mutants, but most likely a superhuman with astonishing abilities."
"Furthermore, he was not acting alone. Another companion single-handedly wiped out most of the garrison; all the corpses had the same wounds—either decapitated or cut in half at the waist."