Apocalypse Descends

"Yes. In five days, Iron Man will inspect a military base outside New York. New York is his territory, so he’ll definitely let his guard down."

General Wright nodded. "Unfortunately for him, he doesn’t know that everyone at that base is mine."

"Excellent. We’ll make our move at that base."

The Vice President was delighted. He said decisively, "In five days, kill Iron Man and wipe out the mutants."

"Kill Iron Man and wipe out the mutants."

Everyone shouted in unison. This time, success was the only option. Failure was not allowed. They had no way out.

Five days later, the White House.

The Vice President entered the presidential office and smiled. "Richard, do you have time right now? There’s something I’d like to discuss with you privately."

"Sure. You all can leave first."

President Richard trusted the Vice President quite a bit. He waved for the bodyguards to leave, then asked, "What do you want to discuss?"

"The matter of the replicants. I don’t think we should hand all the cloning technology over to Iron Man. That technology has great potential, and we need it ourselves as well…"

The Vice President spoke as if discussing official business. In truth, he was merely waiting for news of success from the other side. Once that happened, he would force President Richard to surrender and turn him into a puppet.

The Vice President believed President Richard would surrender, because he had been a puppet from the start.

If it fails, then we’ll fight a Civil War.

The Vice President’s gaze was icy. There was no turning back once the arrow left the bow. This time, he had prepared no escape route for himself. Succeed, or die trying.

This world did not need mutants. Humanity above all!…

At a military base outside New York, Wang Bert was somewhat surprised when he saw General Wright. "General Wright, you actually came out personally to welcome me. How could I deserve that?"

"Actually, I didn’t want to come."

General Wright said with a bitter expression, "The problem is that my granddaughter insisted I invite Iron Man to her birthday party, so I had no choice. Mr. Iron Man, let’s exchange courtesies."

Wang Bert smiled. "No problem. I’ll give the Little Princess a surprise."

"That’s wonderful. Iron Man, please come in."

General Wright chuckled on the surface, but inwardly, he thought viciously, Iron Man, this will be your burial ground.

Sorry, but you won’t get to attend your granddaughter’s birthday party.

Wang Bert’s heart was equally cold. The Sentinel Robots were in this base, which meant the Human Supremacy Organization’s counterattack had arrived.

Resort villa living room.

"Charles, first Leech, then mutant descendants, then replicants. Haven’t you seen humanity’s true face yet?"

Magneto roared loudly at Professor X. The news of the past few days had filled him with rage. If his powers had not been sealed, he would have personally destroyed that laboratory.

Leech, beside Professor X, looked at Magneto in terror. Unlike Leech, Little Wolf Girl Laura was not afraid at all. She even bared her teeth at Magneto, looking as though she wanted to beat up an old man.

Why was Laura here? Simple—Wolverine had sent her. He wanted Professor X to ease Laura’s hostility.

Two days ago, Wolverine had tried sending Laura to school. As a result, after being punished by being made to stand, Laura took on the entire teaching staff by herself—and won. Fortunately, she had not popped her claws, or it would have been an absolute catastrophe.

Professor X smiled and soothed Laura. "Laura, don’t be angry. He’s just a toothless tiger."

"A toothless tiger?"

Laura immediately laughed. Magneto was so angry that his hair almost started floating. This was the worst he had ever been mocked.

"Erik, can you stop being so irritable? You’ve scared Leech."

Professor X said, "Do you know Bert previously wanted to inject you with Leech’s serum and turn you completely into an ordinary person?"

Magneto’s expression changed, and he immediately shouted, "Then I’d rather die."

"I know, which is why I stopped Bert."

Professor X said, "Erik, you’re already so old. What’s wrong with retiring? You get angry every day—aren’t you worried about high blood pressure? By the way, did you take your blood pressure medicine today?"

"The mutants are living in dire straits. How can I retire?"

Magneto asked loudly, "Charles, are you really unwilling to stand with me?"

Professor X shook his head. "Erik, I’ve answered that question many times already."

"Then there’s nothing more to say."

Magneto shook his head and returned to his room. Professor X did not mind. He focused on teaching Laura how to use the remote control. Laura loved watching television because she had never watched it before. Leech was the same.

Inside the room, the stunningly beautiful Mystique, dressed in sportswear, asked, "Charles still refused to agree with you?"

"As expected."

Magneto snorted. "I hope he changes his mind after seeing Apocalypse."

"Knowing him, that’s almost impossible."

Mystique shook her head. Looking out the window, she said, "Apocalypse will descend today. Then we’ll gain our freedom. More importantly, I won’t have to wear clothes anymore. These clothes are practically a prison to me."

Magneto glanced toward the living room and said coldly, "That boy called Leech must die. If he doesn’t, mutants will be in great danger."

Mystique nodded. "I’ll kill him myself."

Just then, an earth-yellow curtain of light suddenly rose outside the resort villa. Immediately afterward, a vertical purple Space Vortex appeared in the hall. Apocalypse, clad in armor, strode out of the Space Vortex and into the living room.

Professor X was startled. He hurriedly shielded Laura and Leech behind him and shouted, "Who are you?"

Apocalypse glanced at Professor X and said arrogantly, "I am the Mutant God. Huh?"

Before Apocalypse could finish speaking, the Space Vortex behind him suddenly became unstable. Worse still, he felt a wave of weakness.

Apocalypse recalled the information Mystique had mentioned earlier and turned to look at the little bald boy behind Professor X. "You’re Leech, the one who can make mutants lose their abilities?"

Though Leech’s power was strong, it could only affect Apocalypse. It could not erase his abilities. The two were on completely different levels.

Leech trembled in terror beneath Apocalypse’s gaze, hiding behind the wheelchair and not daring to show himself. Apocalypse smiled disdainfully. At that moment, Magneto and Mystique rushed over, both of them excited. "Apocalypse, you’re finally here."

"Yes, I’m here."

Apocalypse said, "Time is of the essence. Let’s leave this place first and discuss everything else later."

Magneto and Mystique nodded together. "All right."

Professor X shouted in dissatisfaction, "Erik, who is he? You still haven’t given up?"

"I told you, I won’t give up."

Magneto said, "Charles, I advise you to submit to Apocalypse as I have. Otherwise, your fate may not be pleasant."

Professor X said furiously, "In your dreams, Erik. Next time, I won’t plead for mercy on your behalf."

Magneto shook his head. "There won’t be a next time."

"Professor X, we need to have a proper talk."

Apocalypse raised his hand. The soil outside turned into sand and wrapped around Leech and Professor X’s wheelchair, preparing to take them away together.

Seeing this, Laura immediately pounced viciously at Apocalypse. Apocalypse casually flicked his hand, sending her flying into the wall.

"When facing a god, you must show respect."

Apocalypse snorted and prepared to leave with the four of them. At that moment, a lazy voice rang out from upstairs. "Apocalypse, we meet again."

Apocalypse turned around and saw a little boy whose body flickered nonstop, yawning as he floated down from upstairs. Magneto and Mystique were both stunned. They had stayed at the villa for months and had never known a little boy lived upstairs.

"You are…"

Apocalypse froze when he saw the little boy. Several images then surfaced in his mind, and he asked, "On another Timeline, you fought the armored people alongside me, didn’t you?"

"That’s right. Then we were both pinned to the ground and rubbed raw by those armored people."

Franklin nodded. Then, with a casual wave, the sand around Professor X and Leech disintegrated and fell to the floor—with Wang Bert’s help, he had recovered a small portion of his memories and was no longer as weak as before.

Professor X sighed in relief and retreated into a corner with Leech and Laura.

Apocalypse’s face darkened slightly. Ignoring Professor X and the others, he asked in a deep voice, "Just what are those armored people?"

"Iron Man told me they’re called the Celestial Group. We mutants were created by them."

Franklin replied, "Like ranchers, they raised us on Earth. In a few years, they’ll return to harvest us. Every Omega-Level Mutant is one of their targets."

"The Celestial Group? Created, raised, harvested?"

Professor X and the others were dumbfounded. Magneto in particular felt as if he were collapsing—noble mutants were merely livestock raised by someone else? "That’s impossible."

Magneto and Apocalypse shouted at the same time. Franklin said, "It’s hard to believe, but it’s the truth. Apocalypse, we shouldn’t be enemies. We should unite and fight the Celestial Group together."

"That’s fine, but I must lead you against the Celestial Group."

Franklin shook his head. "Iron Man will never obey your commands. He’s on a much, much higher level than you are.

"Besides, only Iron Man can lead us to defeat the Celestial Group. You can’t. I can tell from the fact that you only retained a small amount of memory.

"The stronger someone is, the more memories they retain when the world resets. I’m at the bottom in terms of strength, so I remember almost nothing. You’re slightly stronger than me, so you remember a few scenes.

"But Black Phoenix and God retained nearly complete memories."

"The world reset? God?"

Professor X and the others looked utterly confused. Did God really exist? Also, wasn’t this getting a little too high-level? "I am the Mutant God. In the previous cycle, I was suppressed the moment I appeared, which is why I was so weak. In this cycle, I will raise myself to a level sufficient to defeat the Celestial Group before they arrive."

Apocalypse snorted. Remembering something, he asked, "By the way, who was that woman glowing red all over? You seemed not to mention her just now."

"Scarlet Witch Wanda, Magneto’s daughter and Iron Man’s fiancée."

"How is she my daughter?"

Magneto froze. Why had another daughter suddenly appeared? I wasn’t that much of a scumbag when I was young, was I? And what was this nonsense about Iron Man’s fiancée?

"Scarlet Witch Wanda?"

Apocalypse muttered the name twice and asked, "She isn’t in this era, right?"

"That’s right. She’s in the era when the Celestial Group descends."

Franklin did not hide it. "You definitely aren’t Scarlet Witch’s match."

Apocalypse snorted. "Not now does not mean not later."

Franklin sighed and asked, "So you’ve made up your mind to become Iron Man’s enemy?"

"If Iron Man is willing to submit to me, I’ll spare his life and make him my knight. You too."

Apocalypse showed no willingness to yield. He and Wang Bert were destined to fight, for a simple reason: they both wanted to be the Mutant God.

Franklin said with a troubled expression, "Looks like I have no choice but to fight you. Iron Man really is a capitalist. He even exploits a child as young as me."

Wang Bert would naturally not let his guard down around figures as important as Professor X and Magneto. Franklin had been specially arranged here by him.

"You are not my match."

Apocalypse raised his hand, and a massive amount of sand formed into a giant hand that slammed viciously toward Franklin.

Franklin smiled. Time reversed, and the giant hand of sand directly reverted into ordinary sand.

"Don’t underestimate me. I may not be grown up yet, but I’m still an Omega-Level Mutant."

As Franklin spoke, he hurled a tiny planet at Apocalypse. Yes, a tiny planet—one that looked like a blue bead on the outside.

Apocalypse’s expression changed slightly. He brought his hands together and stopped the tiny planet. Then he released a large amount of Light Flame toward it, rapidly causing the tiny planet to collapse.

Franklin did not attack Apocalypse again. He pulled two syringes from his waist and threw them forcefully at Magneto and Mystique. "Sorry, but Iron Man said that if you dared to run, I was to turn you directly into ordinary people."

"What? Those are Leech’s serum?"

Magneto and Mystique were horrified, but they could not dodge because time around them had been frozen by Franklin. They could only watch helplessly as the syringes drew closer and closer.

"Don’t even think about it!"

Apocalypse was furious. With his mind, he shattered the time restraints around Magneto and Mystique. Then he lightly flicked a finger, sending a spatial ripple toward the two syringes.

The instant the time restraints were removed, Magneto and Mystique immediately turned and fled toward the Space Vortex. Apocalypse and Franklin’s battle was too terrifying. They were not even qualified to watch from the sidelines.

Franklin pointed a finger. One syringe turned and stabbed toward the spatial ripple, while the other continued shooting toward Magneto. Compared to Mystique, Magneto was far more dangerous.

Magneto was old and could not dodge in time. Without hesitation, Mystique threw herself behind Magneto and blocked the syringe for him.

The syringe struck Mystique in the back and took effect immediately. Though her appearance did not change much, her Mutant Gene was completely suppressed. This left her extremely weak, and she collapsed against Magneto’s back.

"Erik, take me with you."

Mystique had thought this was the most ordinary request in the world, but what greeted her was Magneto’s cold gaze.

"Raven, I’m grateful to you, but I’m sorry. You are no longer one of us."

With that, Magneto shoved Mystique away without hesitation and ran into the Space Vortex himself.

"No!"

Raven fell to the ground in despair. She could not help recalling the question Iron Man had asked her back then. Iron Man had been right. She had been too naive.