Chapter 54

The late Professor Charles and the X-Men would also return from the dead.

Logan alone would bear it all, clearly remembering what had happened in the past.

That was the Days of Future Past plan.

At that very moment.

Beyond Earth.

In Asgard, one of the Nine Realms, All-Father Odin, known as the king of the gods, suddenly woke with a start in his bed.

"I saw the Twilight of the Gods..."

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Odin's aged face.

In his dream, he had seen the magnificent Asgard utterly engulfed by a terrifying light. Ancient heroic spirits wailed amid the flames, and Asgardian warriors dissolved one by one into wisps of smoke.

"Heavens!"

"Did Asgard simply vanish like that?"

Odin smiled bitterly.

After his battle with Laufey, the King of the Frost Giants, his vitality had been severely depleted. His face had grown paler, and an air of decline hung over him.

The Twilight of the Gods was a tale passed down through ancient epic legends.

When that day came, the gods would face judgment, Asgard would fall to ruin, and everything would become the dust of history.

"Has this day finally come?"

A trace of unwillingness appeared on Odin's face. He clenched his fists, unwilling to witness the Asgard that had stood for tens of millions of years vanish before his eyes.

His keen intuition told him that the prelude to Ragnarok would begin in Midgard.

And Midgard was the central realm of the Nine Realms, commonly known as "Earth."

"Carry out my orders. Have Thor lead a team to Midgard at once."

He did not know what would happen there.

But if he could snuff out the root of it at the first sign of trouble, Asgard would surely be spared.

Just then.

The aging, white-haired Odin remembered that his adopted son Loki had been missing for a long time, and the other assignment he had meant to give remained unspoken.

The brothers had long been at odds and had caused a great commotion, during which Loki had fallen from the Bifrost and been swept into a cosmic vortex.

But Odin knew perfectly well that Loki was not dead.

After all, he was the god of deception and mischief.

The next day.

Dawn finally arrived.

The public trial, scheduled for nine that morning, was to be held at a courthouse in the capital and opened to people from all walks of life.

It would be broadcast live to the public around the world!

There was still an hour before the trial, but reporters from major media outlets had already crowded outside, and vehicles carrying satellite equipment filled the streets.

Even internet celebrities could not resist coming to capitalize on the attention.

"How can this be a public trial when Su Chen, one of the parties involved, isn't present?"

"According to our sources, personnel from S.H.I.E.L.D., which represents absolute justice, will act as prosecutors and bring charges against General Stryker."

"I hear this is a gesture of goodwill from S.H.I.E.L.D. toward that Number One Mutants?"

"Hard to say. After all, the military has also accused the boy of crimes punishable by death. Even now, Su Chen remains the world's most wanted fugitive."

"Then let's talk about something else. How likely do you think Su Chen is to show up?"

"More than seventy percent. That's my intuition..."

In front of a television camera, a blonde female host spoke with a security expert.

Even the viewers at home were eager to know whether that Number One Mutants would actually come.

Elsewhere.

Inside the courthouse.

"At least %..."

That was Mister Fantastic Reed's estimate of the likelihood that Su Chen would come.

Hmm...

"It's one hundred percent."

Having just learned from the military that one of General Stryker's secret bases had been completely destroyed, Reed knew perfectly well that Su Chen would come after them.

"Isn't that obvious?"

Iron Man Tony had never expected that one day he would work alongside Reed of the Fantastic Four.

Two of the three people with the highest IQs on Earth had appeared together just like that.

Of course...

More people recognized Mister Fantastic Reed as the person with the highest IQ on Earth.

You can look down on his powers all you want, but you should always hold his intellect in awe.

That was the conclusion reached by the supervillains who had suffered crushing defeats at the hands of the Fantastic Four.

Now, to learn from their last experience and successfully capture that Number One Mutants who was about to arrive, the Fantastic Four had no choice but to join the fight in earnest.

"All right, how about we make a different kind of guess?"

"Why don't we guess how he'll get here?"

Iron Man Tony was clearly intent on challenging Reed.

Remembering Su Chen's imposing figure as he climbed the stairway to the sky as though walking on level ground and emerged from a nuclear blast, Tony knew the boy would surely pull another flashy stunt this time.

"Let's guess."

Of course, the bigger reason was that Tony was determined to compete with Reed.

Chapter 54

Early the next morning.

Su Chen took his time finishing breakfast in the apartment.

Su Shan had made the breakfast for him herself.

It was a simple meal of sandwiches and little cakes, with a little peanut butter spread on them. Simple as it was, Su Chen found it especially delicious.

"It's good, right? Remember to come back. I'll make it for you every day from now on."

Su Shan wore a pink apron, which made her look especially adorable with her petite figure.

"You make it sound like we're saying goodbye forever."

Su Chen helplessly ruffled her hair.

To avoid causing her brother trouble or becoming a burden, Su Shan naturally stayed behind.

Hit-Girl Mindy stayed with her, both to look after her and to prevent any accidents.

"I'm heading out now."

Su Chen glanced at the clock. It was nearly time for the public trial.

"Please stay safe."

Su Shan stepped forward and hugged him. Tears in her eyes, she said, "After you've had your revenge, can we leave this place? I don't want you to keep fighting."

Su Chen was deeply moved. Living in such an incredibly luxurious high-rise villa, he seemed to have fulfilled his childhood dream, yet looking around, it seemed the whole world was his enemy.

When will it end?

He did not know.

But he knew that only when all his enemies had fallen could he live in peace.

"I promise."

Su Chen smiled.

Now that he had made the promise, he could only root out all his potential enemies as soon as possible and bring the endless fighting to an end.

8:59.

The public trial had more or less begun.

Once again wearing a black sweatshirt with the matching hood up, Su Chen strolled down the street. Yorktown City was some distance from the capital.

But...

With a single step forward, Su Chen vanished in an instant amid rippling waves of space. The scene before his eyes changed at once, and he found himself in the distant capital.

His waves of perception had already located the courthouse in the distance. Plenty of people had come to see what was happening, crowding around the outside in at least several layers.

Among them were quite a few Mutants, holding up signs and shouting in support of the Number One Mutants. Some even called for General Stryker's execution. Besides those, there were also many signs discriminating against Mutants.

The crowd surged like a sea, and voices filled the air.

Su Chen was just about to step across the distance again when his gaze fell on a nearby stadium.

At that moment, something dawned on him.

"Isn't he here yet?"

"The trial has already started. How long is that guy going to wait?"

Inside the courthouse building, which stood dozens of meters tall, some of the superheroes who had long been ready and waiting looked anxious.

They even wondered if the guy might not come at all.

Mister Fantastic Reed, however, remained perfectly calm, adjusting his equipment over and over to make sure nothing was wrong.

"Shengun, will this thing really work?"

Human Torch of the Fantastic Four could not help asking.

Mister Fantastic studied highly advanced science and had long worked in fields such as the Negative Zone, parallel universes, and particle observation, so quite a few people close to him simply called him Shengun.

Reed, who had just hastily concluded a parallel-universe observation experiment, said with great confidence, "Don't worry. I understand his abilities now, so I'm absolutely certain I can beat him."

Meanwhile.

All the superheroes present, including the Fantastic Four and even some of the people who would form the Avengers in the future, had shown up.

Everyone looked a little anxious.

In fact, some of the people there had taken part in the first battle against the Number One Mutants. Even those who had not experienced it firsthand felt somewhat frightened just hearing Dr. Banner's account.

A nearly indestructible physique...