When the correct answer was revealed, Homelander was dumbfounded.
He had answered with absolute confidence—yet he was wrong.
Glaring at Erik Lehnsherr beside him, he cursed angrily,
"What the hell is wrong with you? You couldn't even deal with a few ordinary workers? Shit! What a useless piece of trash!"
Erik Lehnsherr cast him a cold glance. He did not trade insults back. With the golden light barrier between them, no amount of shouting would reach the other side anyway. He could not be bothered with empty threats.
He simply made a mental note.
If they ever met outside, he would settle the score properly.
That said, Erik himself was equally shocked by the answer. Putting himself into that future situation, he realized that no matter what, he would never have spared those ungrateful workers.
Innocent or not—were his wife and daughter not innocent as well?
"Charles! It had to be him!"
Erik turned toward the light screen, grinding his teeth.
"He used that damned mind control to stop me!"
Every time it was Charles—always his excessive compassion, built on Erik's suffering.
Tony Stark smacked his lips.
"If Charles stopped you, there was nothing you could do about it. Isn't that just the truth?"
With the question resolved, the light screen began playing the correct-answer footage.
In the video, Magneto stood with tears streaming down his face. He made no visible movement, yet the entire steel factory trembled violently. In this place, if he wished, he had countless ways to kill the workers in unimaginably brutal fashions.
And then—
A purple portal opened behind him.
Apocalypse and his group stepped out.
Outside the screen, Tony Stark scratched his head.
"Seriously, when did portals become so cheap? Feels like everyone can use them now."
Natasha Romanoff said in a low voice,
"Apocalypse found him… Was he the one who stopped Erik from killing them?"
Bruce Banner shook his head.
"That doesn't feel right. From what we've seen, would Apocalypse care about the lives of ordinary humans at all?"
The answer was obvious.
In the footage, Erik Lehnsherr snapped at the newcomers,
"Who the hell are you?"
Seeing Apocalypse walk toward him without hesitation, Erik raised his hand.
"Don't come any closer! I don't care who you are—you won't stop me from killing them!"
Apocalypse looked surprised. His eyes shifted, and he turned toward the workers. His pupils clouded white as his power activated.
Almost instantly, the workers sank into the ground.
The floor beneath them turned into a swamp-like mire, swallowing them whole. Only a few arms and heads remained visible—and they were already long dead.
"I did not come for them," Apocalypse said as he stepped up to Erik, his voice deep and heavy.
"I came for you."
After silently making a grand display of power, he turned and opened another portal, gesturing to Erik.
"Come. See for yourself."
Outside the screen, Homelander cursed furiously,
"Damn it! If not for him, I would've gotten that question right!"
Tony Stark snorted.
"You're still hung up on that? Homelander, accept reality. No matter how you look at it, you've already lost this game. You're finished."
Buzzing in was a double-edged sword.
Earlier, Homelander had climbed out of negative points and surged to second place thanks to several successful buzz in, even mounting a challenge for first place.
But a single failed answer sent him crashing back down.
The current scoreboard was almost amusing—aside from Natasha Romanoff and Tony Stark firmly holding first and second place, the other three players were all tied neatly at eight points.
Bruce Banner no longer cared much about winning or losing. Instead, he asked thoughtfully,
"How many abilities has Apocalypse demonstrated so far? Long-range teleportation, molecular-level matter manipulation, enhancing other mutants' powers…"
Natasha Romanoff pondered.
"And extremely powerful regeneration. I suspect some of his abilities were stolen. Do you remember his reincarnation ritual?
The vessel he chose was also a mutant. Perhaps through that process, he gained access to multiple powerful abilities."
Tony Stark shrugged.
"I'm more curious about how far he can amplify Erik's power. From what we've seen, among the Four Horsemen Apocalypse chose, Erik should be the strongest."
At that moment, Erik Lehnsherr suddenly widened his eyes, his pupils trembling violently.
On the screen, the camera shifted to a desolate, oppressive camp.
It was Auschwitz.
The infamous concentration camp—and an eternal scar in Erik Lehnsherr's heart.
Apocalypse had deliberately brought him to the barbed-wire gate, the very place where Erik had watched his parents being taken away and where his mutant powers first awakened.
"This," Apocalypse said, gazing at him with anticipation,
"is where your power was born."
In the footage, Erik approached the gate, his face dark and heavy. Memories of childhood pain surged forth.
He turned his head and said coldly,
"You shouldn't have brought me here."
"Why?" Apocalypse stepped closer.
"Are you afraid, Erik? You cannot run from this."
"Who are you?" Erik demanded, staring at him.
Apocalypse replied calmly,
"Elohím. God. Ra. I have had many names across different ages.
I was born in death. My existence is to ignite awakening in humanity, to turn the wheel of civilization.
When civilization loses control and must be cleansed and reborn, I appear—to destroy everything."
He no longer concealed his identity. Or rather, in facing Erik, only complete honesty could earn his allegiance.
Erik did not question his words. He only asked coldly,
"Then where were you when my parents were slaughtered here?"
"Asleep," Apocalypse answered.
"I was trapped in darkness and could not help you then. But my child—I am here to help you now. You do not understand the power you contain. I can guide you—downward."
As he spoke, Apocalypse pressed Magneto's hand to the ground.
"Feel the metal buried deep beneath the earth. Extend your senses to the deepest limits. You will discover that your power is great enough to move the planet itself."
Outside the screen, Homelander stared in shock.
"Shit! That's even possible? He has to be lying, right?"
.
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