"I entered the mind of the gatekeeper," Charles said grimly. "Shaw is absorbing the energy from the entire nuclear submarine. He's turning himself into a nuclear bomb."
His voice was unusually heavy, and his expression had never looked more serious.
Moira stepped forward beside him and added quickly, "The Geiger counter is already close to the limit. We're running out of time."
Charles immediately made a decision.
"Use the radio," he told her. "Notify both fleets to begin evacuating immediately."
Meanwhile, Eric had already made up his mind.
"I'm going inside the submarine to stop him."
His tone was decisive, leaving no room for argument.
Technically speaking, the person best suited to deal with Shaw was Rorschach. In terms of raw strength, Rorschach had already proven he could seriously injure the Black Emperor.
But everyone present also understood the history between Eric and Shaw.
Their personal vendetta ran deep.
Because of that, no one questioned Eric's decision.
Rorschach himself didn't object either.
With his strength, killing Shaw after eliminating the surrounding enemies wouldn't be difficult. Before that happened, there was even a good chance Eric might take the brunt of Shaw's fury first.
"Rorschach, Alex, Darwin," Charles said quickly, turning to them. "The others are yours."
As for Raven and Hank… their situation was a little awkward.
Raven's abilities were still developing. Although she had grown much stronger compared to before, she still lacked real combat experience. She was far from the formidable warrior she would eventually become.
Hank's case was different.
Thanks to Rorschach's earlier intervention, Hank's mutation had not intensified like it once would have. At the moment, his physical abilities were only slightly enhanced compared to an ordinary human.
In other words, he wasn't suited for direct combat.
But every mutant had their own role.
Not everyone was meant to charge headfirst into battle like Alex or Sean.
"Leave it to us," Alex said confidently.
He was clearly fired up.
"Eric," Charles added one more instruction, "once you're inside, follow my guidance. I'll direct you to Shaw. But you'll have to clear the obstacles for me."
Eric nodded without hesitation.
Then he began sprinting toward the shattered nuclear submarine.
"Don't even think about it!"
A sharp voice interrupted him.
The winged mutant sneered coldly before spreading his metal-edged wings and launching himself toward the X-Men.
At the same time—
SLAP!
The pale bald mutant slammed his palm outward again.
Another devastating shockwave erupted from the ocean.
WHOOSH!
Several massive water surges burst from the sea behind him and shot toward the X-Men like enormous blades.
These weren't ordinary waves.
Under the bald mutant's control, the water had become razor-sharp projectiles filled with destructive force.
Fortunately, Alex reacted instantly.
TZZZT!
His hands swung forward, unleashing multiple circular energy blasts.
The plasma waves collided with the incoming water attacks, shattering them midair.
BOOM! BOOM!
Explosions of water erupted across the beach as Alex successfully neutralized the attack.
Just then—
A huge splash exploded from the sea behind them.
Sean suddenly burst out of the water.
He shot upward and intercepted the winged mutant flying toward the group.
Opening his mouth, he unleashed a powerful sonic attack.
"BZZZZ—!"
The winged mutant jerked sideways and narrowly avoided the sonic blast with a graceful maneuver. Without slowing down, he redirected his flight straight toward Sean.
Among both teams, the two of them were the only mutants capable of sustained aerial combat.
However, their abilities had very different strengths.
Sean's advantage was range. His sonic attacks could strike from a distance, allowing him to harass the winged mutant from afar.
But his flight ability was limited.
He wasn't truly flying.
Sean relied on sonic propulsion to glide through the air, which meant his maneuverability was far inferior.
The winged mutant, on the other hand, possessed real wings.
His aerial agility far surpassed Sean's.
However, he lacked any long-range attacks and needed to close the distance to fight effectively.
Because of that, the situation was obvious.
If the distance remained large, Sean held the advantage.
If the winged mutant managed to get close, the fight would shift in his favor.
At this moment, the winged mutant was doing exactly that.
He weaved through the sonic blasts while steadily closing the gap.
From the looks of it, neither side would win quickly.
Meanwhile, the rest of the battlefield erupted into chaos.
The remaining mutants began unleashing their abilities against Shaw's followers.
The first true clash between the two sides had begun.
SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!
A sharp cracking sound echoed across the beach.
The dreadlocked man's hair suddenly sprang to life like a nest of snakes. Each strand moved independently, whipping through the air and lashing toward Darwin with ferocious speed.
The effect was eerily similar to the mythical Medusa.
But Darwin remained completely unfazed.
His body had already adapted to the threat. His skin hardened into a metallic state, transforming him into something resembling living steel.
The dreadlocked mutant's attacks struck his body repeatedly.
Clang! Clang!
The blows sounded like metal being struck by whips.
Yet Darwin barely reacted.
To him, it felt no worse than being lightly tapped.
Darwin's mutation—the ability to adapt and survive—was incredibly powerful.
The only limitation was that it worked passively. Once the external threat disappeared, the adaptations faded as well.
If that weakness didn't exist, Darwin's potential would be terrifying.
Meanwhile, the last enemy stepped forward.
At first glance, he looked completely ordinary.
But the moment he moved, the air around him began to twist.
He thrust both hands forward.
WHOOSH!
A violent gust of wind exploded outward.
Unlike the swirling tornadoes produced by Shaw's former subordinate Riptide, this mutant generated straight-line blasts of compressed air.
There was no rotation.
No water vapor fusion.
But the raw power of the wind was enormous.
Cars could be blown away by that force, and ordinary people would be helpless against it.
The blast swept across the battlefield.
Several X-Men were instantly knocked backward.
Eric was the first to be hit.
The powerful wind slammed into him and forced him several steps back, disrupting his attempt to reach the submarine.
This wind-controlling mutant was the most troublesome enemy on the field.
His attacks affected a wide area.
Rorschach immediately locked onto him.
The moment the wind mutant unleashed another blast—
Rorschach's eyes ignited.
TSSSS!
Two blazing beams of heat vision shot directly toward him.
.....
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