The Battle Raged On

"As you wish. Attack. Destroy the fortress."

The professor shouted, and all the mutants let out a furious roar. Led by Magneto, Black King, Wolverine, and the others, they charged toward the fortress in a mighty wave.

"Fire."

General Anthony roared, and countless bullets and shells came screaming down, intending to completely clear the ground.

"Jean, throw Black King into the sky."

Magneto shouted at Jean. Without hesitation, Jean used telekinesis to hurl Black King into the air. Then Magneto pointed at him, turning Black King into a super magnet as every bullet and shell slammed into him.

"Erik, you’re as annoying as ever."

Black King sneered from midair. The next second, countless bullets and shells exploded against him with booming blasts. Numerous phantoms emerged from his body, carrying flames and energy back into him.

"Die, Anthony."

Then Black King thrust both hands forward, turning the massive energy into a Shockwave that blasted fiercely into the fortress, instantly blowing a huge hole through it.

Anthony snorted and used Black Qi to repair the fortress. Then he turned all the weapons into plastic products. The mutants merely sneered at this. Plastic firearms could indeed prevent Magneto from controlling them, but their power was pitifully weak.

A full-scale war between mutants and human firearms had officially erupted.

Leaving aside the battle in the Mind World for now, in the real world, the professor and General Anthony both fell into a daze. Seeing the opportunity, Storm flew into the sky again and struck General Anthony with a bolt of lightning.

Just then, General Anthony’s shield automatically moved overhead and blocked the lightning. Jean said, "Although the professor dragged him into the Mind World, his defensive instincts remain. Don’t provoke him. Trust the professor. He won’t lose."

"Let’s team up and kill Yashida Ichirō first. We can’t let Iron Man solve everything."

Wolverine shouted. Everyone nodded and turned their attention toward Yashida Ichirō, while only Jean stayed beside the professor to protect him.

"Kill me? Sorry, I’m immortal. I’ll never die."

Yashida Ichirō burst into laughter. He raised his twin blades and transferred the laser energy he had absorbed earlier into them. Then he slashed hard at the X-Men, sending two enormous red arcs wreathed in Black Qi slicing viciously toward them.

The red light was incredibly hot. Wherever it passed, the ground was scorched black, and even the nearby wooden cabins caught fire.

Everyone’s expressions changed as they hurriedly dodged. With a Teleportation, Kurt rescued two X-Men who had been too late to evade.

Boom! The two red arcs split the buildings and walls behind them in half. Everyone secretly swallowed. Clearly, Silver Samurai was not as easy to deal with as they had imagined.

Storm asked, "Any tactics?"

"What tactics do we need? Just rush in and chop him to death."

Wolverine charged forward fearlessly, slashing his claws toward the other man’s waist. Yashida Ichirō swung his blade to block the claws, then kicked Wolverine flying.

Yashida Ichirō was about to pursue when a massive bolt of lightning struck his armor. He snorted, transferred the lightning into his sword, then swung it hard, sending a blue lightning bolt wreathed in Black Qi at Storm in the sky.

Storm narrowly dodged the lightning and shouted, "Be careful, he can absorb and redirect attacks."

In truth, it was the Black Qi on Yashida Ichirō’s body that could absorb and redirect attacks. That was also why all the previous attacks had been wreathed in Black Qi.

If Yashida Ichirō used this ability by itself, its effect would not be that great, because his body was fragile. But combined with indestructible Adamantium armor, it became completely different.

"Let me try."

Banshee flew into the sky and released high-frequency sound waves at Yashida Ichirō within the armor. Yashida Ichirō felt unbearable discomfort and staggered back repeatedly. With a roar, he kicked a large boulder beside him toward Banshee in the air.

Banshee was about to dodge when Wolverine leaped up and slashed the boulder into several pieces with his claws. Then he shouted, "Banshee, your attack works. Keep going."

"Alright."

Banshee nodded and flew around Yashida Ichirō, attacking without pause. Yashida Ichirō tried to stop him, but all his attacks were blocked by the other X-Men.

Gradually, Yashida Ichirō’s movements slowed. Everyone was overjoyed. It seemed Banshee’s attacks were very effective against him.

Just then, the armor suddenly opened its mouth, and a sound wave mixed with Black Qi howled out in layer after layer. Wolverine, Cyclops, and the others were all blasted away by the sound wave, crashing to the ground with repeated bangs.

Not only that, the sound wave shot directly at Banshee. Banshee’s expression changed drastically, but he had no time to evade. Just then, a cloud of blue smoke appeared and carried him out of the attack’s range.

Immediately afterward, Nightcrawler appeared nearby with Banshee in tow. Nightcrawler said, "He’s pretending. He’s fine."

"Of course I’m fine. Didn’t I say so? I’m immortal."

Yashida Ichirō laughed loudly and activated the Samurai Sword’s built-in heating ability. Then he swung the crimson Samurai Sword down hard at Wolverine on the ground.

Wolverine hurriedly raised his claws to block the crimson Samurai Sword. To his horror, under the sword’s pressure, his claws were gradually being cut apart.

Heated Adamantium could cut through Adamantium.

At the critical moment, Storm raised both hands. A gale erupted beneath Silver Samurai’s feet and forcibly swept him into the sky.

Shockwave seized the chance to fire a Shockwave at Silver Samurai. Silver Samurai absorbed it all, then slashed down with his sword, sending a huge red arc toward Shockwave. Shockwave hurriedly jumped aside. The next moment, the red arc struck where he had been standing, carving a scorched black fissure through the ground.

"Adamantium armor, the ability to absorb attacks, and immortality on top of that. How are we supposed to fight this?"

Everyone swallowed. They had been too optimistic earlier. An Original Sin Envoy was still an Original Sin Envoy. Taking him down would not be easy.

"Hold out until Iron Man arrives, or until the professor defeats General Anthony."

Jean transmitted to everyone telepathically. They all nodded and worked together to resist Yashida Ichirō.

The moment the professor and the others made their move, Original Sin sensed it. His expression changed, and he hurriedly looked toward God’s City, where he discovered Iron Man had appeared with a group of mutants.

"He knows everything? How is that possible?"

Original Sin cursed furiously. He had never imagined that Iron Man knew both the overt and hidden plans. Even Greed and the others had believed there was only one plan.

Without hesitation, Original Sin immediately sent the Evil Believers to wreak havoc across America. Only then could he force Iron Man back to America.

When Hank saw dense red dots appearing on the map, he hurriedly shouted, "The Evil Believers have appeared. Pietro, move now."

"We’re ready."

Quicksilver shouted. Without wasting words, the Iron Man Armor waved its hand repeatedly, sending the Brotherhood’s mutants to the battlefield.

The Mutant Brotherhood had been wanted by America for years, and their strength was quite formidable. Those damned Evil Believers were no match for them and were destroyed one after another.

"The Mutant Brotherhood? They actually joined Iron Man?"

Original Sin cursed, then ordered Kingpin, "Gluttony, move the plan forward. Destroy New York with everything you have."

"Fine."

Kingpin did not ask why. He immediately gave orders to his men, who nodded and started making calls.

"Boss Kingpin says today is our carnival. From now on, New York belongs to us."

A gang leader raised a rifle and shouted. The surrounding thugs cheered and climbed onto motorcycles, preparing to head out and wreak havoc.

Just then, a large number of assault vehicles drove into their base. Then a group of fully armed soldiers jumped from the vehicles, raised their guns, and shouted, "Drop your weapons, or you will all be killed."

The thugs froze, then hurriedly set down their guns. What kind of joke was this? They were just gang members. How could they compare to a fully armed military force?

"What’s going on? Since when has the American military been this efficient? We haven’t even started, and they’re already at our door?"

One gang member muttered, "In movies, don’t they always show up at the end? Or just not show up at all?"

A soldier who heard him snorted. "Sorry, we just got a new boss. Now, we’re Iron Man’s army."

"That explains it."

The gang members suddenly understood. It was Iron Man, after all. He could do anything.

This was not the only place where it happened. Thugs elsewhere were also subdued by the military and police. As for the prisoners planning a jailbreak, under the threat of tanks, they voluntarily shut the doors the guards had opened.

One prisoner said, "We never planned to escape. The guards framed us. We’re law-abiding citizens. We’re reporting the guards."

The guards: "Thanks to your whole family."

At Kingpin Building, Kingpin stood before the window and asked with an ugly expression, "New York hasn’t descended into chaos. What happened?"

Sweating heavily, his subordinate said, "I don’t know either. I’ll make some calls and ask."

Just then, with a bang, the office door was kicked in by a high heel. The unfortunate subordinate was pinned beneath it. Immediately afterward, three women walked in from outside.

Of the three women, the one at the front wore a women’s suit. As she walked, she clenched both fists, producing cracking sounds. She looked extremely violent.

The woman in the middle had golden hair, flawless features, and the bearing of a noblewoman, as if she were attending a banquet. She looked disdainfully at the suited woman in front of her. You call yourself a woman? The last woman had long purple hair and carried a long blade.

Seeing the three women, Kingpin’s eyes narrowed. "Iron Man’s assistant Oyama Yuriko, Psylocke, and the Hellfire Club’s White Queen."

White Queen said, "Sorry, I’m now the general manager of Rebirth Group. As for the Hellfire Club, Iron Man already wiped it out."

"No wonder my people haven’t moved. Iron Man noticed this long ago, didn’t he?"

Kingpin asked in a deep voice.

"That’s right. Kingpin, surrender now and we might spare your life. Otherwise, you’re dead today."

Yuriko said coldly. After being enhanced by the BOSS, her confidence had swelled without limit.

"Is Iron Man out of people? Did he send three women here to die?"

Kingpin stepped forward, and his body rapidly expanded. In the blink of an eye, he transformed from a fat man into a terrifyingly muscular giant over three meters tall.

"Are you looking down on women? Careful, or I’ll sue you into bankruptcy."

Psylocke snorted. "Kingpin, you should have died long ago. Today is the perfect day to send you on your way."

"Let’s see who dies."

Kingpin wasted no words and charged toward the three women with thunderous steps. Every step shook the ground violently, as if it might collapse at any moment.

It was worth mentioning that the military was evacuating civilians around Kingpin Building. The damage an Original Sin Envoy could cause was terrifying.

Just as Kingpin was about to crash into Yuriko, he suddenly sensed danger and hurriedly leaned backward. But it was still too late. A purple blade appeared from thin air and slashed straight into Kingpin’s neck.

Got him. Looks like Envoys aren’t that hard to kill.

Psylocke appeared from thin air, thinking smugly. Just then, the purple blade suddenly stopped—not because it could not cut through Kingpin’s neck, but because Kingpin’s muscles had clamped it in place.

Immediately afterward, Kingpin swept a savage kick at Psylocke. The air ahead turned into a fierce gale that howled violently in every direction.

Psylocke’s expression changed. She hurriedly donned purple armor. The next second, with a bang, she flew backward like a cannonball, smashing a huge hole through the wall and flying out of the building.

"Wow, she isn’t dead, is she?"

White Queen stared in astonishment and dismissed the three illusions she had created earlier. Only Kingpin remained in the office.

Kingpin frowned. At that moment, Yuriko appeared behind him, driving all ten fingers viciously into his back. But they were immediately trapped by Kingpin’s muscles. Then Kingpin turned and swept his arm, sending Yuriko flying back. With a bang, she crashed into the wall and sank into it.

"Pathetic."

Kingpin sneered disdainfully. Just then, Yuriko jumped down from the wall, all her injuries gone. She gave a cold smile and charged at Kingpin again.

Kingpin was somewhat irritated. He grabbed the nearby desk and smashed it hard at Yuriko. His strength was so immense that the blow was practically like a meteorite strike.

Yuriko slid beneath the desk, then slapped the ground with her right hand and leaped into the air. Midair, she split into three and attacked Kingpin from different directions—only one was real, while the other two were illusions created by White Queen.

Seeing this, Kingpin swept his massive hand forward. The air became a giant wave that swept ahead. Two Yurikos vanished like ripples on water, leaving only the one in the middle charging toward him.

Kingpin gave a savage grin and slammed both hands together like massive iron blocks. With a bang, flesh and blood splattered everywhere as Yuriko was smashed directly into a skeleton—her bones were made of Adamantium.

Before Kingpin could gloat, Psylocke suddenly appeared behind him and stabbed her blade viciously toward the back of his head.

Kingpin released the skeleton in his hands and tilted his head aside, dodging the purple blade. Then he raised a hand to grab Psylocke’s wrist.

Just then, Yuriko suddenly returned to normal, driving her claws viciously into Kingpin’s neck as she tried to sever his cervical spine.

Kingpin roared in pain and trapped Yuriko’s fingers with his muscles. Then he punched her like a thunderclap, blasting Yuriko away. She smashed through several walls in succession and vanished from sight.

Psylocke took the opportunity to sweep her blade across Kingpin’s neck. The muscles on Kingpin’s shoulders bulged, firmly clamping Psylocke’s purple blade and preventing it from moving any farther.

Then Kingpin turned, his fist smashing toward Psylocke like a cannonball. Even the air caved in beneath the blow. Psylocke was startled and hurriedly released the purple blade, dodging Kingpin’s attack.

Kingpin pulled out the blade as its purple light faded, preparing to slash Psylocke with it. Just then, Psylocke suddenly disappeared.