Unexpected Person

After fooling around with Crystal for a while, Alex turned his gaze to the holographic console, which displayed images of Emma and the others’ location. The area was wide open, making everything clearly visible.

"Alex, do you think this really is a trap?" Crystal sat beside Alex in boredom. She glanced at the holographic console, then turned back to him, making conversation just to have something to say.

Without turning around, Alex stared intently at the holographic console, his expression grave. "Strucker and the Black Queen aren’t easy opponents. There must be something fishy about this challenge. As for whether it’s the trap we expected, that’s impossible to say!"

Crystal glared irritably at Alex’s back. She moved closer, peered over his shoulder at the holographic console, and pointed at the people beside Emma. "What abilities do these people have?"

Ever since getting his new energy body, Alex had spent all his free time with Emma and the other three women, growing incredibly close to them. Crystal was deeply dissatisfied with this but had no way to change it, so she could only sulk in secret. Now that she finally had a chance to be alone with Alex, she did not want to waste it on boring waiting.

Feeling her warm breath by his ear, Alex, despite having no heart, somehow felt the illusion of a racing heartbeat and flushed ears. Steadying himself, he quietly shifted away and obediently introduced the people in the holographic image. They were all veterans of the X-Men, highly experienced in both their abilities and combat.

Crystal had no interest in Alex’s explanation. When she noticed him quietly moving away, her face instantly reddened. Then waves of grievance welled up inside her, her eyes turning red as tears nearly fell.

Just as Crystal was about to break down, Alex suddenly cried out. He pointed at the holographic image, his face filled with disbelief.

Crystal immediately stopped her tears, casually wiped her eyes, and leaned over to look. Her eyes widened as well, and she asked in surprise, "Why is he here?"

Seven or eight people had suddenly appeared in the holographic image. Dark Phoenix and Strucker led them, but the person who made Alex and Crystal cry out was the man standing beside Strucker: an Asian man in a bright green robe, with ten gleaming rings on the hands folded before his stomach. It was none other than the Mandarin!

Alex’s mind raced, but he could not figure out why the Mandarin was mixed up with these people. Could this be some future movie plot?

At the battlefield, Emma was equally startled the moment she saw the Mandarin. Though she had never met him, Alex had told her about him before. Her gaze fell on the Ten Rings on his hands, and her expression grew solemn.

"No, I have to go over there and take a look!" Without waiting for Crystal to respond, Alex activated Teleportation and instantly appeared beside Emma. Before revealing himself, however, he had deliberately altered his appearance, intending to trick the people on the other side.

Unfortunately, the moment Alex appeared, he caught the Mandarin’s attention.

When the Mandarin saw Alex disguised as a shapeshifter, he was filled with doubts. He kept feeling that this person was different from the Alex he had seen before. When Alex’s real body appeared, he immediately distinguished the real one from the fake.

Having figured it out, the Mandarin snorted and looked at Alex with disdain. "So this is your courage, Alex?"

Prompted by the Mandarin, the Black Queen and the others turned to look as well. Surprise flashed across their faces as they saw Alex standing beside Emma.

"Though I don’t know what happened, this one is the real Alex." The Mandarin glanced casually at those beside him as he explained, his eyes remaining fixed on Alex’s true body with a chilling gleam.

With his identity exposed, Alex could no longer keep pretending. He signaled for the shapeshifter to return to his original form, while he reshaped his energy body into his former physique and appearance.

The Black Queen studied Alex from head to toe for a long while, narrowing her eyes slightly. Once she saw his completely different body, she instantly understood. It seemed Alex would rather die than cooperate with the Hellfire Club. The thought left her frustrated, and seeing his new body only made her more resentful.

While the Black Queen brooded in secret, Strucker also noticed Alex’s peculiarity. As a former member of Hydra’s leadership, Strucker had naturally heard of Dr. Zola’s consciousness transfer. It was obvious that Alex had transferred his consciousness into this new body. Unlike the others, however, Strucker was more concerned with whether this new body possessed some formidable power.

For a time, Alex’s sudden arrival made the atmosphere on the field somewhat delicate.

At the Floating Temple, Crystal watched the holographic image with equal tension, her beautiful face full of worry. She knew how formidable the Mandarin was, while Alex had now lost his powerful Replication Ability. Defeating the Mandarin would be incredibly difficult.

Just as everyone fell silent, the Mandarin suddenly laughed. Turning toward Strucker and the others, he slowly said, "All right, now none of them can escape!"

Alex’s entire body jolted. He instantly remembered something and turned to the Mandarin, fury blazing in his eyes!

During his earlier battle with the Mandarin, Alex’s Teleportation had revealed a massive flaw: under powerful Electromagnetic Interference, it could not be activated at all. Alex had been worried about Emma and the others, so he had completely overlooked this. Only upon hearing the Mandarin’s words did he remember. But it was clearly too late. Alex had just tested it—Teleportation could no longer get them out.

"What do we do now?" Emma also realized the situation was dire. There were certainly powerful mutants, but few could reach Alex’s former level or rival the Mandarin. Once the Ten Rings were unleashed, almost none of the X-Men present could resist.

Alex irritably pinched the bridge of his nose, glancing at the other side from time to time with a deeply serious expression. No matter how much he had calculated, he had never expected the Mandarin to appear here.

At the Floating Temple, Crystal turned anxiously toward Tessa. Tessa’s combat abilities were not particularly outstanding, so she had remained at the Floating Temple to hold down the fort. Crystal was merely a fighter Alex had invited; she had no authority to mobilize anyone.

Tessa looked at Crystal and knew what she wanted to do. She shook her head and refused without mercy. "No!"

"Are you just going to watch them die?!" Crystal abruptly rose to her feet. With a wave of her hand, a massive earthen hand shot out and seized Tessa, her expression twisting fiercely.

Everyone in the Floating Temple stared at the scene in shock. They wanted to step forward, but did not know whom to help. Deep down, they instinctively leaned toward helping Tessa, since she was one of their own. Yet Tessa’s blunt refusal had also made it hard for them to accept. They did not want to watch Alex and Emma fall into danger.

Please give me your strength and support!!!