Chapter 245: War Breaks Out—All Sides Mobilize
The people of America, gripped by panic, were fleeing in chaos from the cities first targeted by Skynet.
These were without exception economically developed cities, home to 60% of the nation's population.
Now, everyone was scrambling to escape to the countryside or cities still deemed safe.
At the same time, the government began evacuating civilians and urgently mobilizing the army to confront Skynet.
Inside the LexCorp building—
The researchers glanced nervously at Luthor, who was busy at the control panel.
Even though he was still sporting his ridiculous toilet-plunger hairstyle, no one was in the mood to laugh.
They had made a colossal blunder.
Once the war was over, the authorities would undoubtedly hold someone accountable.
The Amazos, originally designed for national defense, had become tools for enslaving humanity—there was no doubt that a war crimes tribunal awaited.
Many were quietly hoping that if Skynet won, they might be spared punishment.
"Chairman, you need to evacuate to Metropolis. This place is about to become a battlefield."
"There's no way we can develop a counter-program in time. Survival is our only hope."
"There are simply too many Amazos—our ground forces don't stand a chance."
"…"
Despite the pleading from the researchers, Luthor remained unmoved. His hands kept coding furiously as he replied without even lifting his head: "Take the helicopters and evacuate immediately. I'm staying to upgrade the battle suit's functions and enter the fight myself. Proving my innocence is the only chance to save LexCorp."
To Luthor, this was the only actionable plan that made sense at the moment.
As long as he entered the battlefield and gave his all to fight the Amazo army, he might earn the public's forgiveness.
In that case, LexCorp would only have to deal with fines and compensation to survive.
At that same moment, inside Stark Tower—
The Avengers had returned in defeat, having been completely ineffective at stopping the invasion.
"JARVIS, open the armory and bring out the weapons."
Tony was completely unaware that his AI had already been compromised.
To prepare for a wide array of crises, he had stockpiled weapons for the entire team.
This was especially important for heroes like Natasha and Barton, who relied heavily on gear.
As for Cap, his lifelong love was still his shield—he might carry a high-powered firearm at most.
Meanwhile, Doctor Strange had summoned several Avengers who had been operating independently.
People like the Winter Soldier, Black Panther, and Falcon—scattered members now regrouping.
The remaining teams like the Young Avengers and the West Coast Avengers were rushing to various cities to hold the line.
As the ground split open, rows of weapon lockers rose up from below.
Everyone took what suited them best—choosing weapons they were most comfortable with.
There were six hours until the war began.
All forces were mobilizing, primarily focusing on protecting cities and throwing everything they had into defeating Skynet.
The Justice League was also actively responding, summoning heroes to prepare for combat.
With battle zones spread across major northern and southern cities, there was no room to sit back.
And as for Allen and his group—essential participants in the conflict—they were… preparing to eat hot pot.
"We're on the verge of war and you're thinking about hot pot?" Pietro scratched his head as he watched Allen casually dip beef rolls into the pot and replied lazily, "Relax, midlife crisis man—it's just a small fry situation. We're the protagonist team; no way the script kills us off."
Kurt cautioned, "Don't be insane. The X-Men have clearly declared they're sitting this one out. I'm getting out of here while I can."
And indeed, the mutant faction had publicly announced they wouldn't be participating.
Memories of the last battle against Skynet were still vivid.
They had rushed in together and nearly got wiped out.
Worst-case scenario—they might accidentally help the enemy create a whole army of Amazos with peak-tier level-four mutant powers.
Not only would they be no help, they'd actually make things worse.
"I'm not afraid of dying—and I can't die anyway," Wade shrugged nonchalantly.
That was fair—Deadpool had the luxury of recklessness.
"Master, Nanaue ate the meatballs, but Nanaue didn't taste the meatballs. Did they escape?"
Nanaue wore a confused, slightly panicked expression.
He remembered clearly that he had eaten several meatballs, yet there was no sensation of chewing them.
"Come here. Open your mouth."
"Ah…"
Allen, bowl in one hand and chopsticks in the other, carefully plucked the meatballs stuck between Nanaue's upper and lower teeth.
"Yay! The meatballs came back!"
Nanaue eagerly used his chopsticks to skewer the retrieved meatballs into a string and shoved the whole thing into his mouth, chewing happily and cautiously—as if afraid they'd disappear again.
The trio acted as if there wasn't a war about to start, while Pietro and Kurt knew better than to keep trying to persuade them and decided to leave first.
Suddenly, Allen said, "I have a favor to ask you guys."
"Spit it out," Pietro replied as he instantly packed his bags.
"This is a love letter I wrote to Mystique. Help me give it to her."
Allen handed over a tissue with three lines scrawled on it.
Pietro immediately looked offended. "Damn it, Allen! You pretend to be chasing my sister while flirting with Illyana behind her back—and now this? Don't blame me if I actually flip out."
"You gave me permission to date Wanda."
"…"
One sentence from Allen left Pietro speechless.
Not wanting to argue anymore, Kurt grabbed Pietro and vanished on the spot.
The next moment, the two reappeared in a suburban house.
"Let's see what he wrote. I'm actually curious what kind of love letter Allen would come up with."
They suspected that anything written by a lunatic like him would be completely unhinged.
But the next second—they were slapped in the face by surprise.
"He wrote this?"
"I'm pretty sure he copied it."
Pietro and Kurt stared in disbelief.
---
I love three things in this world.
The sun in the daytime.
The moon at night.
And you, in this world.
Love, Allen. Mwah!
---
As scheduled, the Amazo army arrived.
The American air force was already on full alert. As soon as the radar detected the enemy, squadrons scrambled to intercept.
One after another, high-tech fighter jets loaded with ammunition reached their designated airspace.
But the sky was empty—not a single Amazo in sight.
"Report! No enemy targets detected."
"Proceed with air patrol."
"Understood!"
Boom!
In an instant, one of the jets exploded midair into a fiery ball.
The Amazos, previously cloaked, had clearly been lying in ambush in the upper atmosphere.
With crimson laser beams shooting from their eyes, they effortlessly obliterated the pride of the American military.
When Skynet took over the Amazo army, it uploaded a simulation of sixth-generation liquid Sentinels into their programming—along with mutant power data from the original Sentinel war.
Skynet's data-clone units fully directed the Amazo forces. One detachment split off and headed straight for an air base.
As radar picked up their approach, air defense forces quickly responded.
Anti-air missiles and flak guns unleashed a dense barrage at the incoming Amazos.
But in the very next instant, the missiles veered back toward their own defense systems.
Their magnetic manipulation module had simulated Magneto's power to control metal.
In the blink of an eye, the entire anti-air squad was wiped out.
Dozens of Amazos silently descended over the aircraft hangars, each raising their hands.
In an instant, all the fighter jets lined up on the runway—waiting for takeoff—were crushed like tin cans into scrap metal.
Back at military HQ, the high command could only hang their heads in despair as one failure report after another came in.
The air force and army, which they had relied on to protect the homeland, were utterly useless.
In just fifteen minutes after war broke out, over 30% of the air force had been lost.
Fortunately, most of the air force was still stationed across the country—otherwise, they wouldn't have enough left to mount a defense.
Most critically, the U.S. Navy was still floating in international waters. Had it been stationed domestically, America's dream of global military supremacy might have ended today.