Ambush

"Move!"

Storm flew into the sky and shouted. A lightning bolt as thick as a water barrel crashed down toward Magneto atop the Statue of Liberty.

Magneto had been prepared. The Statue of Liberty’s left arm flew up to block the lightning, then with a wave of his hand, he sent the arm hurtling down at Storm and the others like a meteorite.

Everyone hurriedly dodged. With a boom, the ground was smashed into a huge crater over ten meters wide. The surroundings shook continuously, and countless panes of glass shattered with a crash.

Before the X-Men could catch their breath, the statue’s arm suddenly exploded. Countless steel fragments shot into the air, then rained down densely upon the X-Men.

The X-Men’s faces changed drastically. With the density of the steel fragments, there was no time to evade them. Although Kurt could use Teleportation, he only had time to save the two people beside him. The others were too far away.

In the past, Magneto and the X-Men had an unspoken understanding, and both sides held back. But now, that understanding had clearly been broken.

"Ice World!"

At the critical moment, Iceman roared and blasted out vast amounts of freezing air from both hands, freezing the steel fragments in midair. Immediately afterward, the fragments fell to the ground one after another with a series of bangs. Though some X-Men were still struck, the injuries were minor.

Iceman sat on the ground, gasping heavily. He was nearly exhausted. He had potential, but he was still in the developmental stage.

Seeing that the steel fragments had failed, Magneto raised his hand to attack again. At that moment, Quicksilver ran through the air at astonishing speed and reached the Statue of Liberty’s platform. He then raised a finger and jabbed it toward the back of Magneto’s head.

Quicksilver wanted to knock Magneto unconscious and take him away. No matter how badly Magneto had gone wrong, he was still his father.

Unfortunately, Quicksilver’s finger failed to strike Magneto’s head. The reason was simple: Magneto was surrounded by a strange force field, and Quicksilver’s finger was blocked by it.

Quicksilver tried several times in succession but could not break through the force field. He was about to try again when the platform railing transformed into iron chains and bound him.

"Apocalypse possesses many abilities. One of them can help mutants increase their power."

Magneto looked at the bound Quicksilver and said, "With his help, I created this mysterious force field. With its protection, no one can harm me."

Quicksilver struggled desperately as he pleaded, "Old man, stop. Don’t keep making mistake after mistake."

"Seeking freedom and dignity for one’s race is not a mistake."

Magneto waved a hand, and Quicksilver flew backward like a shooting star. In the blink of an eye, he vanished.

At that moment, Kurt appeared on the platform with the X-Men. Shockwave roared, and a crimson shockwave blasted fiercely from his chest toward Magneto.

Magneto had no time to dodge. He was blasted through the railing and sent flying backward. However, due to the force field, he was not seriously injured. He quickly steadied himself and floated in the air.

"You can’t stop me. Today, Manhattan will surely be destroyed."

Magneto roared, and countless screws flew off the Statue of Liberty, shooting toward the X-Men. Storm shouted, and a mass of lightning erupted from her body, blasting away every incoming screw.

"Magneto, die!"

Banshee and Shockwave attacked Magneto at the same time. After thinking for a moment, Kurt turned and charged toward Blink to keep her from helping Magneto.

Blink sneered and opened a Space Vortex, teleporting into the high sky. Kurt was about to pursue her when the Space Vortex exploded, transforming into a Space Storm that disrupted the surrounding space. Kurt was immediately unable to use Teleportation.

Magneto dodged Banshee and the others’ attacks, then raised both hands. A large amount of metal from the Statue of Liberty flew outside the platform and formed into a dense giant sphere, enclosing the X-Men within it.

That was only the beginning. More and more metal flew in from the surroundings, slamming into the metal sphere with repeated bangs. At the same time, the metal sphere continuously caved inward, clearly intending to crush the X-Men to death.

Storm hurriedly shouted, "Kurt, get us out of here!"

Kurt said anxiously, "I can’t. That purple-haired woman has disrupted the space around us."

Storm and the others’ expressions changed drastically. Shockwave was about to blast the metal sphere at all costs when Shadowcat shouted, "Everyone, hold hands! I’ll get us out!"

Storm froze for a moment, then was overjoyed. "I almost forgot you were here too."

"I never thought my first mission would be this intense."

Shadowcat spoke nervously yet excitedly. Then everyone held hands. Shadowcat used her ability, and they all turned into phantoms at once, falling through the metal sphere.

"A new member? Not a bad ability."

Seeing Storm and the others escape, Magneto snorted coldly, not particularly concerned because he had not used his full strength at all.

"This ends here. I’m getting a little tired of this."

Magneto raised his hand, preparing to end everything. At that moment, a browless face suddenly appeared before him and said, "Miss me, Magneto? Don’t bully children. I’ll play with you."

Magneto hurriedly retreated. At that moment, Psylocke appeared behind him on a skateboard and said coldly, "Magneto, let’s have some fun."

Seeing this, Storm swept the X-Men around Magneto with a violent gale.

"Everyone’s here. In that case, I’ll have some fun with all of you."

Facing the group’s siege, Magneto showed no fear. He spread his arms and shouted, "Come on! Let me show you what Magneto is!"

"Who’s afraid of you?"

The battle erupted once more.

At the resort villa, Professor X looked extremely restless as he watched the live broadcast on television. He said, "I’m going back to the academy. I’ll use Cerebro and fight alongside everyone."

"No need. Iron Man has arrangements in place. Magneto is nothing."

Franklin said while eating chocolate, "Besides, it’s dangerous for you to transfer now. Apocalypse has been watching you. This place has Iron Man’s defenses, and I’m protecting you. It’s the safest place."

Raven asked from the side, "Why hasn’t Iron Man appeared yet?"

Franklin said, "Apocalypse has probably held him up. Soldiers face soldiers, generals face generals, kings face kings."

"I hope Storm and the others can defeat Erik soon. If Erik is captured by Storm and the others, there’s still a chance for him to survive. If Iron Man returns, he’s definitely dead."

Professor X sighed. Though Magneto’s actions had deeply disappointed him, he still did not want his old friend to die.

"Don’t worry. Magneto is Iron Man’s father-in-law. Iron Man won’t kill him."

Franklin said lazily, "Though he might erase Magneto’s memories and make him live as an ordinary person."

The four people beside them asked with great interest, "Is Magneto really Iron Man’s father-in-law?"

Franklin nodded. "Yes. Magneto’s character isn’t all that great, but his descendants are more outstanding than the last."

"That’s good. I hope this ends soon."

Professor X said, "Raven, I want to set up another Cerebro here. Although I really want to retire, clearly, this is not the time for me to do so."

The reason he had to discuss this with Raven was because he had no money. Raven would definitely have to pay for Cerebro.

Raven rolled her eyes and said, "I suggest you ask Iron Man for sponsorship."

Franklin said, "I suggest you don’t use Cerebro anytime soon. Apocalypse can use psychic waves to control you through it."

"He’s that powerful?"

Professor X was deeply shocked. He sighed and said, "It’s a good thing we have Iron Man on our side."

Meanwhile, at Mutant Academy, Cyclops and Jean were also watching television. They had not joined the battle because they needed to protect the academy. This had once been Professor X’s responsibility, but with him absent, it fell to them.

"I really want to fight alongside them."

Cyclops looked far more haggard than before. Managing the academy was not easy, especially since it had been so poorly regulated before. It needed reform.

"So do I."

Jean nodded as well. She looked even more haggard than Cyclops. On one hand, she had to handle academy affairs. On the other, she dreamed about Wang Bert every night, and the dreams had been getting increasingly outrageous.

Jean felt that she might truly have fallen in love with Iron Man Wang Bert. The problem was that she had a boyfriend. This made Jean feel deeply guilty and remorseful, to the point where she did not even dare sleep. How could she not look haggard under such circumstances?

Within the consciousness space, Black Phoenix looked at the crumbling Mind Barrier, her face full of smiles. It would not be long before she regained her freedom.

When that happened, neither Iron Man nor Apocalypse would be her match. She was the true Mutant God.

"It’s a shame we can’t go to the battlefield. From now on, we’ll probably be stationed at the academy like Professor X."

Cyclops shook his head. At that moment, the gatekeeper sent a message. "Wolverine and Sabretooth are here to visit."

Cyclops was stunned. "Why are they here? Shouldn’t they be on the battlefield at a time like this?"

Jean said, "Why not let them in and ask?"

"That works."

Cyclops nodded. Soon, Wolverine and Sabretooth entered the office. Cyclops got straight to the point. "Logan, what is it?"

"Yes."

Wolverine walked up to Cyclops and said, "We discovered Apocalypse’s plot. We need your help with something."

Cyclops hurriedly asked, "What plot?"

Jean frowned slightly from the side. She felt that something was off about Wolverine—he had not just looked at her with a burning gaze!

Jean was not being narcissistic. Every time Wolverine saw her, his eyes burned as though he wanted to devour her.

"Apocalypse sent two people into the academy to take control of it."

Wolverine spoke slowly. Cyclops’ expression changed. Just as he was about to ask who they were, Wolverine suddenly extended his claws and viciously stabbed them into Cyclops’ abdomen.

"Scott!"

Jean was horrified. She immediately tried to use telekinesis to push Wolverine away, but Sabretooth rushed over and slammed into her, sending her flying into the wall before she fell to the floor.

"Jean!"

Cyclops raised a hand, intending to control his glasses and fire lasers, but Wolverine grabbed his hand. Then Wolverine slammed his head into Cyclops’ forehead, knocking him unconscious with a brutal headbutt.

Jean climbed up from the floor and angrily asked, "Logan, Victor, do you know what you’re doing?"

"We do, but Apocalypse is too powerful. We can only surrender."

Wolverine and Sabretooth shouted as they charged toward Jean.

"I never thought you two were such cowards."

Jean’s eyes gradually turned red. If Black Phoenix wished, she could briefly control Jean’s body. But after hesitating, she did nothing.

The reason was simple. Wolverine and Sabretooth had clearly come for Professor X. With Jean’s fragile state of mind, if anything happened to Cyclops and Professor X, she would immediately collapse.

At that point, Black Phoenix would regain her freedom.

Without Black Phoenix’s help, Jean was no match for Wolverine and Sabretooth. She was quickly knocked to the ground.

Wolverine did not kill Jean or Cyclops. He tied them both to chairs, then used the broadcast system to order all students to head to the indoor basketball court.

Though the students were confused, they knew Wolverine well and headed to the indoor basketball court one after another.

"Could Iron Man be coming to give us injections?"

Rogue asked excitedly. Her friend beside her complained, "You’re the only one in the entire academy who wants an injection. There’s no need to gather everyone."

Rogue smiled awkwardly. "That’s true."

"Rogue, have you really decided to become an ordinary person again?"

Another student asked, "Ordinary people can’t be X-Men, which means you won’t be able to fight alongside Iceman anymore."

Rogue’s expression turned a little ugly upon hearing that, because Shadowcat was fighting alongside Iceman right now.

What should I do?

Rogue entered the basketball court filled with frustration. Before long, everyone had arrived. Wolverine and Sabretooth pressed buttons at the same time, and large amounts of Hypnotic Gas sprayed from the corners, enveloping the students.

The students coughed violently and tried to escape, but they could not. Soon, they all collapsed.

"Mission accomplished."

Wolverine and Sabretooth said expressionlessly. Then they stood where they were, waiting for Apocalypse’s next order.

At the resort villa, Apocalypse’s voice suddenly appeared in Professor X’s mind. "Professor Charles, I’m back. Don’t call the Time Imp, or don’t blame me for being harsh with your students."

Professor X angrily demanded, "What did you do to my students?"

Apocalypse sneered and projected the situation at Mutant Academy into Professor X’s mind. Seeing Scott bleeding continuously and the unconscious students, Professor X trembled all over with rage.

"Logan, Victor… No, you controlled them?"

"Yes, I hypnotized them."

Apocalypse said, "Professor, leave the resort villa and come with me obediently. Otherwise, all your students will die. I’m sure you understand Wolverine and Sabretooth’s efficiency at killing."

"Despicable! And you call yourself a god?"

Professor X gritted his teeth. Without Cerebro, there was no way he could save his students from so far away.

"This is a god’s strategy."

Apocalypse laughed. "Professor, decide quickly. The blood in Cyclops’ body can’t keep flowing for long."

Professor X hesitated greatly. He said, "If I go with you, humanity will become your slaves for all eternity."

"That is the fate they should have had. Besides, I also intend to use your ability to control nuclear missile operators and threaten Iron Man."

Apocalypse did not deny it. He said, "Come with me, and the world will fall. Refuse, and your students will die immediately. Professor Charles, make your choice."

Professor X gripped the armrest tightly. He wanted neither choice, but he had to choose one.

He did not make Apocalypse wait long. Professor X took a deep breath and said, "I’ll go with you."