Salvation

Hearing the professor’s answer, Apocalypse burst into laughter. "Just as Magneto predicted, you wouldn’t sacrifice others for the so-called greater good."

"I simply believe in Iron Man. He will defeat you and stop the world from falling into ruin."

Professor Charles said, "Apocalypse, you will never succeed."

"You have no idea how powerful I am, Professor."

Apocalypse said, "Enough nonsense. Leave the resort villa, Professor, and when the time comes, I’ll restore Wolverine and Sabretooth to normal."

"Fine."

Professor Charles sighed inwardly, then said to Raven and the others, "I’m going out for some air. It’s too stuffy in here."

Raven asked, "Do you want me to come with you?"

"No. I’ll be fine alone."

Professor Charles shook his head and guided his wheelchair out of the room. Then, he quietly went to the Backdoor, opened the gate, and rolled away.

The moment Professor Charles left the resort villa, a flash of purple light carried him to Pyramid Country.

Amid the endless yellow sands stood a massive pyramid, proud and imposing. Apocalypse, Bishop, and Zheng Tu smiled as they watched Professor Charles appear out of thin air. Only Sunspot remained expressionless.

Apocalypse said, "Professor, you finally came."

"Apocalypse, you had Erik ravage Manhattan and sent Wolverine and Sabretooth to attack Mutant Academy, all just to make me leave the resort villa willingly?"

Professor Charles asked in a grave voice. At the same time, his consciousness quietly infiltrated Sunspot’s mind. Yes, Sunspot, not Apocalypse.

Apocalypse’s psychic power was as vast as the sun. Professor Charles had no death wish. Sunspot’s mind clearly had problems, making him the most suitable target.

"Half and half. Turning humans into mutants has always been Magneto’s dream. I merely helped him fulfill it."

Apocalypse said, "Besides, humans are cowardly. Once Manhattan is destroyed, they will obediently submit at my feet."

"Humanity has never truly submitted."

Apocalypse spread his arms. "No, they have submitted before. Thousands of years ago, they were all my slaves. I am Apocalypse, the World Lord."

Professor Charles sneered. "Then why were you sealed underground?"

"They will not get a second chance."

Apocalypse’s expression stiffened before he scoffed. "Professor, are you secretly trying to control Sunspot?"

Professor Charles’s expression changed. At that moment, Apocalypse tossed a bracelet onto his wrist, and Professor Charles’s powers immediately failed.

"This was a gift Iron Man gave Magneto. I modified it slightly, but its function is more or less the same."

Apocalypse said, "Don’t underestimate me, Professor. Since I knew about your powers long ago, how could I possibly fail to prepare?"

Professor Charles sighed. "I knew you might be prepared, but I had to try. I had no other choice."

"Professor Charles, there is no need to struggle any longer. You will become my new body and become the World Lord alongside me."

Apocalypse smiled faintly and ordered, "Bishop, Zheng Tu, Sunspot, guard the outside. Do not let anyone approach."

"Yes, Apocalypse."

The three answered in unison. Apocalypse raised a hand, and Professor Charles’s wheelchair floated into the air, moving with him toward the pyramid. Sunspot, Zheng Tu, and Bishop stood guard at the entrance.

Inside the pyramid, two stone beds carved with strange patterns had long been prepared. Apocalypse controlled Professor Charles onto the bed on the right, while he lay down on the one on the left.

"There is still some preparation to do, Professor. If you have any last words, say them now. I will pass them along for you."

"I have no last words, because you will not succeed."

Professor Charles said, "Apocalypse, do not forget your promise."

Apocalypse smiled. "Don’t worry. Wolverine and Sabretooth have already recovered."

At Mutant Academy, Wolverine and Sabretooth suddenly shuddered and regained consciousness. Remembering what had happened, Wolverine’s face changed drastically as he sprinted madly toward the office.

"Damn it." Sabretooth furiously smashed the wall, his face full of humiliation.

"Romulus, one day, I will kill you."

Sabretooth cursed and headed for the laboratory to prepare the antidote and restore the students.

"Cyclops, you’d better not die. If you die, I’ll feel guilty for the rest of my life."

Wolverine crashed through the doors and rushed into the office. He checked Cyclops’s condition as quickly as possible. Fortunately, although Cyclops was pale, he was still breathing.

Wolverine hurriedly cut the ropes off Cyclops and Jean, then shook the unconscious Jean awake and shouted, "Jean, don’t curse me yet. Save Cyclops first."

"Scott!"

Jean came to her senses and rushed to Cyclops’s side. After a brief examination, she shouted at Wolverine, "Logan, put him on the table. Gently."

After shouting that, Jean ran to the cabinet to look for a medical kit. As she bandaged Cyclops, she said, "Go get the healer. He needs treatment and a blood transfusion."

Wolverine looked a little embarrassed. As he walked toward the broadcast station, he said, "I’ll have Victor bring her over. I hope she’s awake."

"Awake? Logan, what exactly did you do?"

"We did something very, very wrong."

Wolverine sighed and briefly explained what had happened. Then he said, "Victor and I regaining consciousness means Professor Charles has already fallen into Apocalypse’s hands."

"Oh God."

Jean cried out. Professor Charles was like a father to her, and she absolutely did not want anything to happen to him. Besides, if Apocalypse took Professor Charles’s powers, humanity would become slaves forever.

Jean shouted, "Call Iron Man, Mystique, and Hank immediately. We have to save Professor Charles."

"Okay."

Wolverine nodded and quickly made the calls. Unfortunately, Iron Man’s phone could not be reached, so he could only call Mystique and Hank.

"Professor Charles was captured?"

Upon hearing the news, Raven immediately began searching for Professor Charles with everyone else. Unfortunately, he was already gone from the villa.

Franklin turned back time to view the past, his face grim as he said, "Under Apocalypse’s threats, Professor Charles left the villa on his own."

Raven cursed, "Damn it. We have to save Professor Charles. Franklin, can you sense where he is?"

"Apocalypse possesses some Time Power. I can’t find Professor Charles."

Franklin shook his head. At that moment, Leech said somewhat timidly, "Maybe we can try technology. There’s a Chip specially made by Iron Man in Professor Charles’s shoe. It can be located by satellite."

"Great. Let’s locate him now."

Raven shouted. Soon, with Hank’s help and the Rebirth Group’s White Queen, they located Professor Charles. Then Hank called Nightcrawler back from the Manhattan battlefield and had him take everyone to Pyramid Country.

Franklin waved his hand. "I wish you all the best."

"You’re not coming?"

Everyone was stunned. Franklin was the strongest among them.

"I want to go too, but I can’t."

Franklin shook his head. "There is something wrong with my existence. Once I leave the villa arranged by Iron Man, I will fall asleep. That is why I kept telling Professor Charles not to leave this place."

Everyone suddenly understood. Wolverine, who had been brought over by Nightcrawler, clenched his fists and said, "This is my fault. I will bring Professor Charles back."

"Same here," Sabretooth said.

"No time to waste. We leave now."

Hank shouted. This time, he would join the operation as well. Aside from him, there were Mystique, Raven, Jean, Wolverine, Sabretooth, Nightcrawler, and the White Queen, who had come specifically because Professor Charles was her teacher.

As for Leech and Little Wolf Girl, they were still children and naturally had to remain at the villa. To prevent Nightcrawler’s ability from failing, Leech was hiding in the kitchen.

"Let’s go."

Nightcrawler wasted no more words and teleported everyone before a massive pyramid. Seeing the X-Men arrive, Sunspot and the other two immediately prepared for battle.

"Anyone who stands in my way dies."

Wolverine was filled with guilt and rage. Without another word, he extended his claws and charged at the three of them.

Sunspot instantly transformed into a blazing fire form. Then he raised a hand, and the flames condensed into a massive fireball that slammed into Wolverine. Wolverine was blasted backward and fell into the sand, charred black all over.

"Another Human Torch."

Hank cursed and said to Nightcrawler, "Teleport into the pyramid, find Charles, and bring him back to the villa."

"Okay."

Nightcrawler was about to teleport when a Space Vortex appeared out of nowhere. Blink stepped out of it and sneered. "Ugly, we haven’t settled this yet. Where do you think you’re going?"

"Purple-haired woman."

Nightcrawler’s expression changed. He hurriedly tried to teleport, but the Space Vortex exploded, disrupting the surrounding space. Nightcrawler flickered and reappeared where he stood.

Nightcrawler cursed and rushed forward to fight Blink. To teleport, he had to deal with her first.

"Damn it."

Seeing Nightcrawler stopped, Hank could not help cursing. It seemed they had to break through from the front. He took a deep breath and charged at Sunspot’s group with the others. "I wonder how much of my old strength I still have?"

A fierce battle erupted outside the pyramid.

Inside the pyramid, Apocalypse was somewhat surprised. "They found this place so quickly? It seems Iron Man did something to you."

"Iron Man is full of wisdom. Apocalypse, your body seems rather weak."

"That’s right. Most of my power is occupied dealing with Iron Man. That man’s abilities are very similar to mine, making him extremely troublesome."

Apocalypse did not deny it. "The little power I have left must be used to initiate the ritual. Otherwise, I would have already slapped your reinforcements to death."

"The X-Men will break in and shatter your scheme."

"You should pray they do not enter. If they come in, they will certainly die. This time, I will not show mercy."

Apocalypse smiled contemptuously as he rapidly carved patterns into the pyramid with his power. His body-transfer ritual required the cooperation of sunlight and those patterns.

In New York, Romulus and Yuriko were engaged in a fierce battle on the highway. They moved so fast that ordinary people could not see the fight clearly, only catching glimpses of two figures flashing back and forth as blood sprayed continuously.

Suddenly, with a bang, the two figures were knocked backward at the same time. Then they both stopped, and the wounds on their bodies healed at an astonishing speed.

"As expected of Wolverine’s ancestor."

Yuriko let out a long breath and said gravely, "Your close-combat skills are second only to my BOSS."

"I don’t believe anyone can surpass me in close combat."

Romulus said arrogantly, "Still, you gave me a huge surprise. It has been a long time since I met someone who could fight me to a draw. Over thousands of years, I have developed my abilities to their limit. Even Apocalypse cannot improve my strength."

"You have reached your limit, while I am only getting started. BOSS completed my genes. In the future, I will definitely surpass you."

"You have no future. Today, I will utterly destroy your confidence. Besides, I am very interested in your genes. I have decided to make you bear my child."

Romulus gave a savage grin, every muscle in his body swelling as though he were a vicious wolf about to pounce on his prey.

"Just you?"

Yuriko smiled disdainfully, but she had no intention of continuing the fight. "I’m done fighting you. Our strength is about the same, and we can both regenerate. We might not finish even by Christmas."

"You think you have a choice?"

Romulus snorted and was about to lunge at her when two laser beams suddenly shot down from the sky. He hurriedly dodged as the beams drilled two small holes into the ground.

Romulus looked up and saw three ugly black robots flying toward them. At the same time, a group of robots in the distance flew separately toward the Statue of Liberty and Liberty Island.

Romulus was somewhat stunned. "Robots? Technology has advanced too quickly. They can even make laser robots now?"

"They are called Sentinel Robots."

Yuriko said with an unreadable expression, "BOSS said they can exterminate mutants."

"Paltry robots want to exterminate us mutants? Ridiculous."

Romulus smiled disdainfully and leaped high into the air. His claws gleamed coldly as he slashed viciously at a Sentinel Robot’s neck. "Let this several-thousand-year-old monster teach modern people what true strength is."

At that moment, the Sentinel Robot shifted into a fire form. Romulus’s claws passed through the flames without causing it any harm.

Immediately afterward, massive flames erupted from the Sentinel Robot’s body, completely engulfing Romulus. His expression changed as he passed through the robot and fell to the ground.

Romulus rolled rapidly across the road to put out the fire. Another Sentinel Robot kindly shifted into an Iceman form and sprayed him with freezing air, quickly extinguishing the flames on his body.

The Sentinel Robot did not stop and continued spraying freezing air. Before long, Romulus was frozen inside a block of ice.

"No!"

Romulus roared, and the ice around him exploded with a bang, falling around him in crackling fragments. Yuriko was secretly amazed. Romulus’s physique was truly powerful.

Seeing Romulus break free, the three Sentinel Robots surrounded him. The fire-form robot raised both hands and unleashed a torrent of flames at Romulus, while the other two robots’ eyes lit up red as they fired lasers at him.

Romulus dodged the attacks at astonishing speed, then rushed before one of the Sentinel Robots and savagely slashed at its chest with his claws.

The Sentinel Robot shifted into a diamond form. Even Romulus’s sharp wolf claws could not pierce it, only scraping across it with a harsh sound.