Chapitre 34: The Tragedy of the Mutants
The commander saw that Scott still had the ability to resist, so without hesitation, he pulled the trigger.
"Rat-tat-tat..."
The specialized gun instantly flashed with a blue light, followed by a low rumble of gunfire. Dozens of bullets shot out at ten times the speed of sound, instantly striking Scott's head.
In the next moment, Scott's head exploded like a watermelon, red and white matter splattering everywhere.
Simultaneously, the red optic blast he was emitting vanished.
Immediately afterward, two other team members administered additional tranquilizers to Ororo before cautiously tying her up.
At this moment, a soldier approached the RV, opened the door, and rescued the trapped Rogue.
Even as she was taken aboard the helicopter, Rogue remained in a daze, unable to process the sudden turn of events.
Seeing that the mission had gone smoothly, the commander sent out a message.
"Boss, Alpha Squad mission complete."
..............
Meanwhile, in Tony's villa in New York...
The USB drive containing the copied files was tossed aside by Tony.
At the moment, he was constantly scanning through code on his computer, a look of anxiety and unease evident on his face.
"Jarvis, what happened to you? Please, don't let anything bad happen..."
Ever since they infiltrated Umbrella Tower last night, Jarvis had mentioned a hacker attack before going completely silent.
Tony had checked the servers housing Jarvis, but aside from a massive spike in data traffic the previous night, there seemed to be no abnormal signs.
And that was the biggest problem.
No visible issue usually meant there was a hidden issue, one he had yet to uncover.
A problem that could be beyond his understanding.
"Click... click... click..."
The sound of high heels approached from behind him.
"Tony, did you see the latest news?"
Tony, without turning his head, asked, "What news?"
"Japan has announced that Umbrella is suspected of illegal drug sales. They're launching a joint investigation."
Pepper's voice carried a hint of excitement and enthusiasm.
"Too bad Umbrella isn't publicly traded; otherwise, I'd bet everything I have on their downfall."
She had a slightly regretful expression as she said this. When Tony still hadn't replied after a moment, she walked over to him.
"What are you doing?"
Tony, completely engrossed in his task, was startled.
"Nothing, just checking on Jarvis."
"Jarvis? Oh right, I haven't heard from him since this morning. What's going on?"
"He was hacked... If it comes to it, I'll have to reset him, but that would mean losing all the data from this period."
He paused, then asked, "What was it you were saying earlier?"
After Pepper repeated herself, Tony made a firm decision.
"I have to go to Tokyo! Looks like I need to reboot Jarvis. Also, I need to start the Mark V project."
............
Nightfall.
On a nameless island in Lake Ontario, at the headquarters of the Brotherhood...
Erik sat in his office chair, idly playing with a dozen small iron balls in his hand. The thumb-sized balls floated above his palm, rotating, changing formations, and even shifting shapes.
However, his brow was furrowed tightly, betraying the calm exterior he projected.
"Strange, why has there been no word from Raven? I was hoping to have Senator Kelly turned... to make him one of us."
A knock sounded on the door.
"Come in."
As the door opened, a nearly spherical white man walked in.
Standing nearly two meters tall, the man had an enormous belly, and his limbs looked like four twigs sprouting from a ball.
"Thud... thud..."
Even his steps seemed to cause the ground to tremble slightly.
"Magneto, sir, Toad has reported back. There's no sign of Raven around Senator Kelly. In fact, there's no trace of her at all, almost as if she disappeared."
"Disappeared? How could that be? Could something have happened?"
Erik dismissed the notion of betrayal instantly.
Raven was one of the original founders of the Brotherhood, alongside him. There was no way she would betray them.
After thinking for a moment, Erik spoke, "Blob, tell Toad to return."
"Understood."
With the order given, Blob left the room, his heavy steps echoing as he walked away.
............
In Westchester, New York, at the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, the headmaster's office...
Charles sat in his wheelchair, gazing out into the night, his brow similarly furrowed.
"Why haven't Ororo and Scott returned yet?"
The red-haired woman standing behind his wheelchair shook her head at his words, "I don't know. Maybe something delayed them."
"Have they not sent any messages back?"
"No, nothing."
"This isn't good. Something must have gone wrong! Jean, take me to the Cerebro chamber."
Jean immediately started pushing his wheelchair, heading towards the underground base.
After about ten minutes...
The two of them arrived at a round iron door.
Charles positioned his eyes in front of the scanner, and after a brief scan, the door opened. Jean stayed outside while Charles wheeled himself in.
The room was vast and circular, with only a single path leading to the center. The walls were made of segmented metal panels.
After a short while, Charles reached the middle of the room and picked up a helmet-like device, placing it on his head.
As the telepathic amplifier activated, his mental powers were instantly magnified hundreds, if not thousands of times. He could sense Jean waiting outside the door, as well as the children scattered around the campus.
In his mental perception, the minds of mutants appeared red, while those of regular people appeared white.
That made it easy—he simply had to search for red minds.
His mental powers expanded further, and soon, he reached North Dakota.
Due to the scarcity of mutants, it didn't take long for him to scan everyone, but he still couldn't locate Ororo or Scott. Even the mutant they were searching for had vanished.
"Can't find them? What's going on?Could something have happened?"
Charles shifted his focus to the entire United States.
Just as he was preparing to search state by state, he suddenly sensed a familiar mind near New York.
It was Ororo!
Why was she in New York? And where was Scott? Why wasn't she with him?
Deeply puzzled, Charles concentrated his mental powers.
Umbrella?
An underground base?
What are those black auras? What in the world are they? Why do they seem filled with destruction and chaos?
As Charles tried to delve deeper into his search, a pair of eyes suddenly appeared before him.
The eyes emitted an eerie blue glow, and they grew larger, soon taking over his entire vision.
"Ahhh!"
A sharp pain surged through his mind, and he quickly ripped off the helmet, snapping out of the telepathic state.
But the pain lingered, and it wasn't long before Charles lost consciousness entirely.
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