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*****
A few seconds later, seeing that no one moved, General Ross sighed, but his eyes were full of admiration.
"Your actions are foolish, but truly admirable."
His gaze swept across the X-Men, the Future Tech employees, and the children, and he nodded slightly.
"Don't bother trying to use your abilities."
Ross looked at Charles, whose eyes were flickering.
"Your power is strong—you're the one we're most wary of. Naturally, we made preparations."
He pointed to the psychic inhibitor behind his ear.
It was provided by Mr. Fantastic of the Defenders, and it could effectively block telepathic intrusion.
Ross glanced at the nearly completed carriage that was being pieced together beside them and said suddenly, "Everything you're doing is being watched. You won't escape."
He pointed into the distance.
The moment his words fell, several missiles appeared in the sky above them.
And with the roar of fighter jets passing overhead, thick clouds of Purification Gas were released all around.
Seeing this, Erik let out a cold snort and raised his hand toward the missiles rapidly descending.
Nothing happened?
Erik frowned, but reacted quickly—he manipulated the scattered metal on the ground and sent it flying upward.
Bang! Bang!
After several sharp sounds, there was no expected explosion of flames. Instead, countless special bullets—completely devoid of metal—rained down from the sky.
Those were… Purification Darts!?
Everyone's eyes narrowed.
If they were injected with that…
Jean and Ororo both shouted in low voices—one used her power to halt the falling darts, while the other swept a powerful wind upward to disperse the slowly descending purification clouds.
With their own people all around, she couldn't risk summoning a full-scale hurricane.
At the same time, any mutants capable of resisting acted immediately.
Emma diamondized her body. Colossus Peter turned to living steel. Shadowcat phased intangible. Iceman Bobby launched a fountain of ice into the sky. The soundwave users from Future Tech unleashed sonic blasts to shatter the fragile but lethal darts.
Erik took the most direct approach—he waved his hand, unfolding the metal carriage he had constructed and positioning it over the children like a protective dome.
For a moment, powers erupted everywhere.
Just then, Ross sighed and growled, "Do it!"
As soon as he spoke, he roared and his body began to swell—transforming into the Red Hulk, he stomped down violently.
Boom!
The ground cracked apart in an instant, and Red Hulk shot toward Erik like a cannonball.
Seeing this, the expressions of the Fantastic Four shifted repeatedly. It wasn't until they saw several Brotherhood members charging toward them once the Red Hulk's attack triggered the battle that Mr. Fantastic finally said helplessly, "Let's move."
The instant he spoke, the Human Torch flared into flames and shot toward Ororo.
Ororo's gaze flashed. While maintaining the strong wind overhead to disperse the gas, lightning coiled around one of her hands like a living serpent, lashing toward the Human Torch.
Invisible Woman stepped back with both hands, her invisible field surging forward like a sonic shockwave, tearing up grass and dirt as it swept toward Jean.
Jean pressed one hand forward, telekinesis clashing with it.
Bang!
The invisible forces collided, making a sharp crack as the air warped rapidly.
At that moment, Logan and Sabretooth roared as they lunged at Invisible Woman. Before the children could be evacuated into the passage, they had to stop her from interfering with Jean, who was protecting them.
Adamantium claws gleamed with a cold light and frigid aura as the two of them slashed at Invisible Woman mid-leap.
A flash of fear crossed her eyes. Just as she was about to conjure a force shield, the Thing charged in like an orange tank, slamming into the brothers.
Invisible Woman hurriedly wrapped a shield around him.
Boom!
Two dull impacts rang out as the Thing's massive fists slammed into the brothers, sending them flying.
"Ah!"
As the Thing roared and leaped, about to pursue like a falling meteor, ruby-colored optic beams struck him and knocked him away. Before he could hit the ground, Colossus rushed out of the crowd and rammed into him with brutal force.
Boom!
The Thing was sent flying again.
Mr. Fantastic snapped his arm forward, extending it dozens of meters to try and wrap around Colossus's legs.
Suddenly, a flurry of playing cards rained down like a storm, striking him and puffing out small explosive impacts. At that moment, Hank McCoy—the Beast—lunged at him savagely.
Forced into a corner, Mr. Fantastic had no choice but to focus fully on fending off the two of them.
"Erik! It's too dangerous. The children have to get back into the passage!"
Charles whispered urgently, starting to direct the children to move.
Erik understood instantly. With a wave of his hand, he bound Red Hulk's body with metal scraps and hurled him aside. Then, the "metal umbrella" shielding the children began moving along with them.
Just then, more purification darts swept down from all directions.
Densely packed like a downpour.
Seeing this, the X-Men and Future Tech employees in the midst of battle scrambled to evade.
"Watch out!"
Charles shouted, turning to scoop up a child who'd fallen behind. Shadowcat Kitty rushed over, placing her hand on Charles's shoulder and phasing the three of them into intangibility.
Whoosh!
A purification dart passed through Charles's phased body and shattered against the ground.
Charles's eyes tightened. He nodded to Kitty, then carried the child and ran toward the passage.
Above them, the waves of falling toxic gas and the ceaseless rain of darts were overwhelming. With only a few like Ororo trying to hold them back, the mutants were forced into evasion and couldn't launch proper attacks at all.
Meanwhile, the Defenders, who had been suppressed by the mutants earlier, finally caught a breather. The harmless downpour to them gave them cover as they grabbed Purification Weapons and charged at the X-Men and Future Tech employees. A thousand meters away, hidden within the cloud of toxic gas, distant snipers began firing lethal rounds.
One after another, more mutants were hit and temporarily stripped of their powers.
Erik's expression grew increasingly cold. He raised his hand to the sky and snarled. The fighter jets spraying Purification Gas high up in the air froze mid-flight as though trapped in amber, then Erik yanked them down violently.
They plummeted like bombs, crashing toward the Defenders in the distance.
Boom! Boom!
Explosions rang across the battlefield, throwing everything into further chaos.
Watching the relentless storm of purification bullets and the mutants collapsing one after another, Erik drew a deep breath and pressed his palm to the ground.
The earth trembled suddenly. Invisible power coiled around his hand as tiny particles gathered in his palm, forming a complex pattern that spiraled around his arm.
Seeing this, Charles's eyes shrank.
Was Erik planning to destroy everything nearby?
But seeing more and more mutants fall, Charles's lips pressed tightly together. A struggle flickered in his eyes, but in the end he only sighed.
This time, he would not stop Erik.
Just then, a piercing roar cut through the air—a figure dropped rapidly from the sky and grabbed Erik's arm.
"Wait!"
Clark said in a low voice, "Leave those weapons to me."
Before Erik could agree, Clark vanished again.
In the very next second, explosions echoed rapidly.
The weapons launching purification darts were destroyed one after another under Clark's assault, like a string of firecrackers being lit.
Clark looked up at the sky, his eyes lighting up as he spotted several more special missiles heading their way.
At that moment, Thor appeared in midair. Standing on a missile, he brandished Mjolnir crackling with lightning and unleashed blinding thunderbolts, destroying all the missiles before they could arrive.
Clark paused, slightly stunned, then smiled faintly as his eyes returned to normal.
At last, the suffocating storm of purification fire came to an end.
Clark flew to the center of the battlefield.
The faces of the Defenders changed.
Clark raised a hand to block the X-Men and said coldly to the Defenders, "Leave."
Though it was only a few words, the Defenders felt an overwhelming pressure crash down on them.
Whoosh!
Thor descended from the sky and landed at Clark's side, staring at the Defenders as he casually tossed Mjolnir in his hand as if ready to hurl it at any moment.
Red Hulk Ross looked at the two of them, at Erik floating nearby, and at the X-Men no longer suppressed by the Purification Rain. He let out a quiet sigh.
"This isn't up to us anymore. Besides, even if you leave now, where will you go?"
Erik's gaze was ice-cold. "I'll make sure we have a proper conversation with them."
Hearing this, Ross felt a chill in his heart.
This was bad…
If these mutants walked away today, not only would this operation become a laughingstock, but it would bring a terrifying threat to the country.
But at this point, all they could do was pin their hopes on the secret weapon—the Secretary of Defense had full confidence in her…
Just then, the Secretary of Defense's voice came through the earpieces of Ross and the other Defenders.
"Retreat."
Just a few indifferent words, yet they felt an immense weight lift off their shoulders.
The Fantastic Four had always been reluctant about this battle, and with Superman and Thor appearing one after another, they were even less inclined to keep fighting.
But Ross, their leader, felt his heart clench.
The real plan was beginning.
The group retreated slowly, then turned and withdrew quickly.
Seeing this, the mutants hiding in the passage sighed with relief, and the children cheered.
"Let's get the kids out of here first. We'll deal with everything else later."
Clark turned to speak to Erik.
Erik responded and focused—metal fragments scattered across the battlefield gathered once more under his power. In under half a minute, a makeshift but protective carriage formed again.
Charles gave the children a gentle smile. "Let's go, kids."
Hearing this, the schoolchildren burst into cheers, and even the Future Tech employees couldn't help but smile.
The battlefield was littered with the scars of war.
Cratered earth still burned from bombardment. Purification bullets lay like layers of carpet across the ground…
Mutants surveyed the field with heavy expressions.
Many of them had been hit by Purification Darts and temporarily lost their powers. Worse still, some had lost their lives in the fighting.
Though casualties were limited, the sorrow in their hearts was hard to quell.
They had won for now, but where were they supposed to go next? Where could truly accept them?
Thor glanced at the mutants and said solemnly, "If it's just these people, I can try to get my father's permission to shelter them in Asgard for the time being."
"Thank you," Charles smiled, lightly patting Thor's shoulder. "But that's not a long-term solution. Let's just leave here first."
Thor nodded, pressing a finger to the communicator in his ear. "It's over on our end for now."
He and Clark had arrived first, while the rest of the Avengers were flying in via the Quinjet and were much slower.
Since the Avengers insisted on coming, Thor had only shrugged indifferently.
Under the guidance of their teachers, the children walked toward the metal carriage in an orderly fashion. Future Tech employees moved across the battlefield, collecting their fallen comrades, helping the injured, and those who had lost their powers.
Fortunately, the casualties were few.
Looking at the familiar faces now in eternal rest, Erik felt both relief and sorrow.
These people were heroes. Without them, the bodies lying here might have been the children instead.
But thanks to their protection, not a single child of Xavier's School had died—only some lost their abilities.
"Hurry along, kids."
Charles guided the students toward the metal carriage.
"Hm? And you are…?"
At that moment, Charles noticed a girl fully wrapped from head to toe mixed in with the children heading toward the carriage.
A trace of doubt rose in his heart.
Which grade was this child from? A new student?
He had impressions of nearly all the students at the school, but this child…
Before he could ask the other teachers, Clark—who had been guarding nearby—suddenly vanished from sight.
When he reappeared, several spent Purification Darts and regular bullets were dropping toward the ground.
They clattered loudly, drawing many eyes.
An attack?
Those bastards were starting again?
Fury flashed through the mutants as they glared around them.
At that moment, another Purification Dart shot toward a girl in the crowd.
Clark moved instantly, blocking the dart without hesitation.
The girl, seemingly startled, stumbled forward. Clark reflexively caught her, and her hand naturally pressed against his.
"Urgh!"
Clark cried out in pain, his mind going blank as veins bulged across his skin.
Got him!
Lorna's eyes flashed.
Even though Superman was strong, as long as he was touched, his powers and life force would start being drained. During that time, without his abilities, he was nothing more than an ordinary human—and with her temporarily wielding his power, he absolutely couldn't break free.
If the target maintained contact with her long enough, they would even lose their powers temporarily.
Everyone was stunned by what happened, but before they could react, Lorna tightened her grip on Clark and shot into the sky, vanishing in an instant.
(End of this chapter)