A street in New York City.
A middle-aged man was holding a bottle of vodka.
It was clear that he was already heavily intoxicated, stumbling as he walked, yet he refused to let go of the bottle, taking sips as he went.
Soon, the bottle was nearly empty.
As he tilted it back to drink the last drops, a fast-moving object in the sky caught his attention.
"What's that…?"
The drunk man squinted at the sky.
"There's… there's… there's someone flying up there…"
"I'm drunk. I must be drunk," he muttered.
"Yes, it's definitely a hallucination!"
He shook his head a few times, trying to clear his mind, then looked up at the sky again.
Just then, a golden light streaked across the horizon.
"A shooting star…"
"Heh… heh… it's a shooting star…"
Muttering to himself, the drunk man collapsed onto the ground, snoring away within moments.
In the sky, the figure who had flown past was none other than Alan, pursuing Magneto.
At Alan's speed, catching up to Magneto was effortless.
But he wanted Magneto to fly further away, away from New York.
Alan had controlled his strength with precision.
Even down to the point where Magneto could manage to stop himself using his own power, Alan had calculated it all.
Magneto, who had been sent flying by Alan's punch, was channeling every ounce of his strength to counter the powerful recoil.
"Who on earth… is this guy…?"
The more he channeled his power, the more panic set into Magneto's heart.
Never had he imagined that he would lose a battle of pure strength.
He could easily lift an entire football stadium with his current power.
Yet such a power, which would instill despair in ordinary people, seemed fragile and insignificant before Emperor.
Since awakening his abilities, Magneto had never faced such a sense of defeat.
Even though every operation of his had been foiled by the X-Men, he never blamed himself. To him, his 'teammates' were simply too incompetent.
But in this moment, Magneto felt truly defeated.
Utterly defeated.
"Could it be…"
An idea flickered in Magneto's mind, and it made his face go pale.
"Could he be… an Omega-level mutant…?"
Magneto could think of no other explanation.
At this moment, regardless of whether Emperor was truly an Omega-level mutant or not,
The immediate priority was to stop and find a way to negotiate with him.
Magneto gathered a final burst of counterforce.
Finally, the backward momentum lessened.
"Argh!"
With a roar, Magneto, as if crashing into an invisible wall, managed to halt in midair.
Alan also stopped at a suitable distance, calmly observing Magneto.
Under Alan's gaze, a drop of cold sweat appeared on Magneto's forehead, and the pressure within him reached its peak.
The Emperor before him was not only monstrously powerful but also radiated an overwhelming aura.
Magneto suppressed the discomfort in his heart and tried to speak calmly.
"There should be no misunderstanding or enmity between us."
Thinking quickly, he added, "I can promise not to harm ordinary people again."
Clearly, in Magneto's mind, he had already placed Alan—this 'Omega-level mutant'—into the camp of the X-Men.
To him, only those self-proclaimed heroes would act like this.
Alan also understood what Magneto meant. He was trying to use this roundabout way of begging for mercy to get Alan to spare him.
Alan merely smiled and said, "You're wrong."
"I'm chasing you not because you tried to kill an ordinary person."
Hearing this, Magneto's face turned even darker as he muttered a few curses.
So, you're not trying to save anyone, yet you chased me across all of New York?
The two of them were now positioned in the mountains just outside New York, precisely where Reed and the others had crashed not long ago.
"Then why?"
Alan thought for a moment and said casually, "Maybe because I was too bored."
"Or perhaps you've recently provoked someone you shouldn't have."
Magneto knew that the first reason was a joke; the second was what really mattered.
Provoked someone he shouldn't have?
Magneto wracked his brain before saying, "If someone hired you to kill me,
I'll pay you double—no, triple—to spare my life."
Listening to Magneto's desperate reasoning, Alan couldn't help but admire his nerve.
Willing to endure and adapt—no wonder he could lead the Brotherhood of Mutants.
Unfortunately, he had indeed provoked someone he shouldn't have.
Magneto's mind-control tactics were as ruthless as killing Alan outright.
If Alan hadn't been powerful enough to defend himself and had fallen into Magneto's hands, would Magneto have shown any mercy?
So Alan had no intention of holding back.
"Unfortunately, you can't afford my price!"
With that, a golden light flashed from Alan, and he appeared directly in front of Magneto.
Even with a mask covering his face, Magneto could sense the cold smirk beneath it.
A terrifying chill coursed through Magneto's body.
Almost instinctively, Magneto released a powerful repelling force between them.
Alan felt the surge of strong repelling energy but merely took a small step back.
Magneto, on the other hand, was thrown into the forest below, his face dark as storm clouds.
Now that negotiations had failed, there was no choice but to fight with everything he had.
"Don't think I'm so easily bullied!"
"If you won't relent, then I'll personally send you to hell!"
After encountering Alan, Magneto slowly rose from the ground.
At the same time, the mountain beneath his feet began to tremble violently.
"I doubt you realized there's an iron ore vein beneath us."
With the iron ore underfoot, Magneto's confidence surged. He looked at Alan again, smirking. "Emperor, I'll give you one last chance to leave."
"Otherwise, I'll crush you into pulp."
"And bury your body with this iron ore."
As Magneto spoke, the ground beneath them split apart, and countless grains of black sand-like material emerged as if drawn out.
In an instant, the mountain below turned jet black.
It looked like a dark desert.
"Can your powers be used like that?"
Alan looked on, surprised. The material was clearly iron sand.
Magneto was using his power to extract it.
Forming a massive sea of iron sand.
Seeing Alan's reaction, Magneto raised his arms triumphantly. "I am Magneto!"
"The strongest mutant of the Brotherhood!"
The iron sand surged like a living tide, sweeping towards Alan and engulfing him in an instant.
Magneto clenched his fist tightly.
All the iron sand converged into a massive, pitch-black iron sphere.
And it began to compress with an ominous, resounding thud.
"Emperor, I'll crush you and that strange armor of yours to pieces!"
"Medaling in others' affairs, playing hero like that fool Charles, comes at a cost—"
Before he could finish, a golden blade of light pierced the dark iron sphere.
The next moment, the light slashed fiercely.
The sphere shattered back into iron sand.
The immense recoil sent Magneto coughing up blood.
But his eyes widened in disbelief. "No… This can't be…"
"How could you be unharmed…?"
Alan looked down at Magneto and said, "Is that all?"
"Pfft!"
Magneto spat out another mouthful of blood, splattering three meters away.
The hatred in his eyes only grew stronger.
At that moment, it seemed as if the X-gene within him unlocked a new level.
From the cracked mountain around him, more iron sand surged forth.
"Emperor!"
"I should thank you for pushing my powers to a new height…"
Alan watched Magneto and sensed an even greater force emanating from him.
With a thoughtful look, he murmured, "So the X-gene can grant power like this…"
…
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