Cataclysm Has Arrived

Charles’s gaze swept over the face of every infected person. His expression was grave, and his voice grew heavy. "Is there any way to find the source? To infect an entire city… that is no ordinary method."

Alex shook his head awkwardly without explaining himself. Instead, he said, "We need to ask Lingdan about this. He should be able to find it."

Alex possessed quite a few superpowers, but he could not possibly master them all. Lingdan’s ability held tremendous potential, but Alex truly had no interest in training it. Over time, he had practically forgotten about it. Even now, Lingdan’s ability had not improved much since the day it was copied.

Charles was exceptionally perceptive. Seeing Alex’s expression, he understood after a brief moment of thought. He nodded and said with a light laugh, "Then I’ll have to trouble you to make the trip."

Alex vanished from where he stood in a flash and returned to Alex City. After searching around, he finally found Lingdan in the prison district, treating a prisoner.

Outside the specially designed cell, Crystal was idly spacing out. Suddenly sensing something, she turned and saw Alex striding toward her. She immediately cried out in delight, "Alex, you’re back?"

Alex poked his head in to check on the situation inside the cell, then turned to Crystal and nodded in greeting. "How much longer?" After a brief pause, he added, "Something urgent has come up on my end. I need Lingdan’s help."

"Who got hurt?" Crystal knew Alex had gone on a mission with Charles and the others. Hearing him speak so urgently, she became worried, though not overly so.

Alex shook his head and explained, "No one got hurt. We just need Lingdan to help identify the source of the disease."

Crystal was somewhat confused, but she did not dwell on it. Looking at Lingdan, who was still treating the prisoner, she pondered for a moment before saying, "At this rate, probably another five minutes." Crystal wanted to help Emma, but there was much she could not assist with. At most, she could teach the X-Men’s reserve members or handle sudden incidents like this, bringing Lingdan to the prison to treat the sick mutants. Over time, Crystal had more or less figured out Lingdan’s habits. One glance was enough for her to judge the situation.

"Five minutes? Then we’ll wait." Hearing that it would only take five more minutes, Alex decided to wait without much concern.

Five minutes was truly short. It passed as Alex and Crystal chatted.

Lingdan finally emerged from the cell after finishing the treatment. Upon seeing Alex, he took the initiative to ask, "Alex, what do you need me for?"

Alex explained the situation in New York, then asked, "Lingdan, is it possible to find the source of the disease?"

"We should go to New York and take a look first. I can’t be sure right now." Lingdan frowned slightly and remained silent for a long while before speaking, his tone uncertain.

Alex said nothing in response. He nodded and was about to activate Teleportation when Crystal stopped him.

"I’m going too!" Crystal grabbed Alex’s arm, her delicate face full of stubborn determination.

Alex gave a bitter smile. His Psionic Power wrapped around Crystal as well before he activated Teleportation.

In the blink of an eye, Alex brought Lingdan and Crystal back to New York. What surprised him, however, was that Charles and the others were nowhere to be seen. Even more shocking, there were obvious signs of battle nearby!

"What happened?" Sensing the abnormality around them, Crystal’s eyes narrowed slightly as she cautiously surveyed their surroundings.

Alex’s Psionic Power had already swept across New York. He even used telepathy to probe the memories of several witnesses, only then learning the full sequence of events.

It turned out that the instant Alex left, Charles and the others had been attacked by a group of people. What happened next completely stunned Alex. He had never imagined that the X-Men, whom he was so proud of, would be so fragile. In barely four minutes, the elite X-Men led by Charles had fallen one after another. It had been almost entirely one-sided.

Seeing that something was wrong with Alex’s expression, Crystal gently nudged him and asked worriedly, "Alex, what is it?"

"They were taken away!" Alex snapped back to his senses and gave Crystal a simple answer before searching through other witnesses’ memories again. He needed more information.

Crystal had not seen what Alex had seen. Upon hearing that Charles and the others had been captured, she was mainly worried. "Then what do we do now? Do we need to gather the other X-Men?"

Before Alex, immersed in searching the witnesses’ memories, could answer, a piercing screech of brakes rang out. Nick Fury led the way over, followed by Natasha, the Black Widow, and Carter.

"What happened? What’s going on?" Nick Fury waved for the others to stop, then ran over with Natasha and Carter, anxiety written across his face.

Mutants were openly fighting in New York. No matter the reason, it would ultimately only inflame humanity’s hatred toward mutants.

"Angel?!" Crystal had just opened her mouth to answer Nick’s question when Alex suddenly spoke from beside her, his tone filled with shock and disbelief.

"Angel? What Angel?" Nick Fury turned toward Alex. His words came firing out like a machine gun, and his tone was extremely hostile. "Alex, you’d better explain this to me today!"

Alex came back to himself, turned toward Nick Fury, and let out a long sigh. "Nick, the cataclysm has arrived!"

"Cataclysm? What cataclysm?" Nick Fury froze for a moment and instinctively asked the question. Then he immediately realized what Alex meant, his single eye widening. "You mean…"

Before Nick Fury could finish speaking, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who had rushed over behind him suddenly collapsed one after another, without any warning. Looking farther away, not a single person remained standing properly. Nearly everyone had fallen to the ground, unconscious.

Everyone was stunned by the sight.

Just then, an urgent alarm began to sound. Carter pulled something resembling a large-screen phone from her waist. After looking at it for a few moments, her face turned deathly pale.

"What is it, Carter?" Nick sensed that something was wrong. A trace of panic actually appeared on his dark face.

Carter did not speak. She handed the large-screen phone to him. A single line of text was displayed on it.

"Washington has been attacked. The White House has fallen. The president’s fate is unknown!"

Several aerial photos followed beneath the message. They were blurry, but the area around the White House could vaguely be made out. However, that iconic white building had now become nothing but ruins.

Nick Fury’s expression grew increasingly grim, and his single eye seemed ready to spit fire. Just then, the large-screen phone rang again. Another message came through, along with several more pictures.

Nick Fury hurriedly lowered his head to look. After only a few glances, he raised his head and looked at Alex, shocked and unable to believe it. "The cataclysm… has truly arrived!"