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*****
Black Bolt chased after Mike, his attacks constantly landing on Mike's body, blasting him higher and higher.
He refused to believe he couldn't shatter his opponent.
Rage grew within Black Bolt's heart; his sonic waves became stronger, heavier, and under his deliberate contraction, increasingly concentrated.
Everywhere the two passed, space trembled and distorted, terrifyingly as if it might tear apart at any moment.
Mike's head hung low, seemingly enduring Black Bolt's assault.
In reality...
Only now was Mike finally starting to feel pain, and with it, he began to feel excited.
Now this was getting interesting.
The attacks from before were like a massage—utterly weak.
Finally, after Mike was blasted out of Earth's atmosphere and into the cosmos, his lowered head slowly lifted.
What met Black Bolt's eyes was the slight curl of Mike's lips.
Black Bolt froze, a sudden bad premonition surging in his heart.
Mike Kent, could he be...
The moment that thought surfaced, Mike disappeared from in front of him.
Black Bolt was startled.
But in the next instant, his eyes widened violently.
Mike had appeared behind him at some unknown point and slammed a fist into his body.
Bang!
A dull thud rang out.
Though his sonic armor responded in time, he was still sent flying by Mike's punch.
In fact, had he not used his abilities to reinforce his own body, that single punch would have opened a massive hole in his torso.
But...
This wasn't luck.
It was the result of Mike calculating Black Bolt's physical endurance during the battle inside the defensive barrier and choosing not to use his full strength.
After all, people on Earth who could stop a Kryptonian's fist with their bare bodies were exceedingly rare.
Feeling the agony in his back, Black Bolt saw that he was about to collide with a satellite and hurriedly opened his mouth to let out a furious roar.
His power wasn't true sound waves, so it could be used even in a vacuum.
Invisible sonic waves blasted the satellite, causing it to disintegrate instantly.
But before Black Bolt could react, Mike appeared behind him again. Mike grabbed Black Bolt's head with one hand, and just as Black Bolt felt like his skull was about to be crushed, Mike hurled him away.
Black Bolt roared, his sonic waves sweeping out recklessly in all directions.
Here, he no longer had to worry about Attilan, the people around him, or the environment. He could use his power to his heart's content.
Space vibrated; with Black Bolt as the center, everything turned to dust.
Except for Mike.
He had already darted away before the other screamed.
If Black Bolt was a mage capable of destroying everything, Mike was an assassin with the physique of a tank; Black Bolt simply had no way to deal with him.
Just then, Clark's voice rang in Mike's ear.
"Dad, they've made their move."
Mike's eyes lit up. Dodging Black Bolt's sonic waves, he activated his super vision and looked down.
He saw new changes occurring in Attilan below.
After the superheroes emerged from the energy barrier and after he and Black Bolt had reached space—temporarily moving out of everyone's sight—Maximus finally took action.
A large number of Inhumans emerged from Attilan and began to besiege the superheroes, looking as if they intended to wipe them all out in one fell swoop.
Whoosh!
Several aircraft flew out from Attilan, ferrying a massive number of Inhumans down.
Seeing this scene, the Avengers and the Fantastic Four sighed with sheer helplessness.
"Can't I get a break?"
Tony couldn't help but complain, looking at Steve. "I'm not like you; I can't do this all day."
Steve: "..."
Just then, a Quinjet appeared, charging through the encirclement and landing in front of the group. Two figures stepped off the ship.
Crystal and Daisy.
The two looked at the Avengers, nodded, and said, "Captain, we're here to help!"
"Just in time!"
Tony pointed at the Inhumans surrounding them. "Find a way to make them stop."
Crystal looked at Daisy. After they shared a nod, Crystal stepped in front of everyone.
She took a deep breath and lightly swiped her slender fingers.
Suddenly, under a multitude of terrified gazes, the earth cracked open, creating deep fissures. Flames leaped out from the rifts, separating the two sides.
"Everyone, I am Crystal!"
"I have something to say to you!"
Crystal looked at the Inhuman crowd emotionally and shouted, "All of this is Maximus's conspiracy! He has controlled Black Bolt and the Royal Family! He has brought nothing but disaster and strife!"
Hearing this, many Inhumans let out low chuckles.
Control Black Bolt? How was that possible?
That was Black Bolt!
On the contrary, aren't you the one being controlled by those Avengers?
The Inhumans looked at Crystal coldly.
Suddenly, someone shouted, "You're just a wanted criminal controlled by the Avengers!"
With those words, the Inhumans yelled and charged forward.
Crystal retreated two steps, looking flustered and aggrieved.
At that moment, Daisy pulled Crystal back. With a wave of her hand, a shockwave sent the two leading Inhumans flying. She said coldly, "Some of them must be under Hive's control."
There was nothing left to say.
If words alone could solve problems, there wouldn't be so many wars and conflicts in the world.
Negotiations failed; the battle began. The superheroes resumed the fight.
But looking up at Attilan overhead, they felt immense pressure.
The enemy had turned this place into a base; they were fighting in the enemy's backyard.
The pressure was predictable, but remembering that Mike told them he had made arrangements, they felt a bit more confident.
Outnumbered?
With Mike Kent backing us up, we aren't afraid!
Inhumans continued to pour out in an endless stream. The superheroes were outnumbered and gradually being surrounded.
Maximus, who had been hiding in the shadows, saw this and a calm smile appeared on his lips.
Very good.
Mike Kent is tied up by Black Bolt and shouldn't have the hands free to check the situation here. And now these superheroes are in a bind...
"The X-Men should be showing up soon."
Maximus murmured to himself, anticipation and excitement flashing in his eyes.
Sure enough, as soon as he spoke, space was torn open, and a spatial portal appeared behind the superheroes.
Leading the way was none other than Eric.
They brought the X-Men and forcefully entered the battlefield, giving Tony and the others—who had been at a disadvantage—a moment to breathe. The tide of battle shifted instantly.
Eric slowly rose into the air and closed his hand. Magnetism instantly permeated the entire battlefield.
Immediately, metal from the nearby ruins flew rapidly toward the sky, and the metal objects carried by the Inhumans were also tugged.
Seeing this, the Inhumans hurriedly threw away any metal items on their persons.
With Magneto there, even a metal ear-pick on their person could cost them their lives.
At this moment, these Inhumans felt a terrifying pressure from Magneto—a pressure similar to what the superheroes felt when facing Black Bolt.
Tony and the others breathed a sigh of relief.
Logan grinned, patted Tony on the shoulder, and said boisterously, "How's that? Did we make it in time?"
"A little earlier would have been nice," Steve couldn't help but say.
The X-Men smiled. Scott said, "Now! Counter-attack!"
"Wait a minute."
Steve frowned and said, "We have to find a way to deal with Attilan, otherwise more Inhumans will keep coming."
Without solving the root of the problem, Inhumans would never stop appearing from Attilan.
Eric, while manipulating a rain of metal falling from the sky, said to the Avengers, "That's not an issue. Didn't you notice Charles and Clark aren't here?"
"Charles and Clark?"
Everyone was startled and instinctively looked up at Attilan.
If it was Professor X, it was indeed possible he could solve the problem of Attilan's endless reinforcements.
Thinking this, they focused on dealing with the Inhuman soldiers.
Meanwhile, Maximus, who had been teleported to a secret base by Lockjaw, saw this and instead of being nervous, he felt relieved.
"Finally here. Now we can proceed to the next step."
He wanted to use the Inhumans to "trap" all these superheroes here and then execute the core part of his plan—Global Awakening!
He had been preparing this plan since he started persuading various nations.
The Superhuman Registration Act, the siege of the superheroes—these were all decoys.
Quietly using his own ability to calm himself down, he took out a communicator and said, "The Awakening on Earth can begin."
The so-called Awakening Plan was the awakening of Inhumans.
And Inhuman awakening required Terrigen Mists.
Therefore, his plan would inevitably be accompanied by mass death.
He intended to cover all of humanity in Terrigen Mist, filtering out all Inhumans while using the side effects of the mist to wipe out the rest of humanity.
This was the Awakening Plan.
Following his command, Terrigen Mists previously planted in corners of the world were detonated, spreading into the surroundings.
Looking at the world map in front of him and seeing the red areas representing the Terrigen Mist expanding, Maximus broke into an excited smile.
Next, he would watch those superheroes run themselves ragged.
"Heh."
Maximus gave a low, cold laugh. "Don't you love saving people? Then I'll let you save to your heart's content. Let's see how many you can save!"
At the same time, Clark and Charles had already appeared above Attilan.
Flying in mid-air, Charles shivered and said to Clark, "Let's go in quickly; it's freezing out here."
"I know."
Clark nodded and carried Charles downward.
Below them, space began to tear, and a spatial portal quietly appeared.
"Thanks, Joe!"
Charles said gratefully as Clark carried him into the portal.
The two passed through the portal and appeared inside Attilan.
The sudden appearance of the two was immediately detected by the highly alert Inhumans on Attilan.
Seeing the Inhuman soldiers surrounding them, Clark stood by Charles's side to provide protection and said, "I'll leave it to you."
"Understood."
Charles nodded with a smile and lightly pressed his temple.
In the next second, invisible psychic power swept through the area, freezing the surrounding Inhumans in place. With a flicker of his eyes, he knocked them all unconscious.
As his power grew with age, his control over his abilities became increasingly proficient.
Looking at the fallen Inhumans, Charles whispered, "Next is dealing with the Inhumans on Attilan."
He looked at Clark.
Clark handed a small backpack to Charles.
Charles took it with some excitement and pulled out a chair-like... model?
No, it wasn't a model; it was a miniaturized portable Cerebro.
The Cerebro was provided by Eric, and the shrinking technology naturally came from Hank Pym.
As Hank Pym's son-in-law, it was only natural for Clark to use some Pym Particles.
"How do I enlarge it?"
Charles looked at the exquisite Cerebro and smiled.
It was too cute; he could carry Cerebro with him at all times now. For him, this was undoubtedly an epic upgrade.
Although this Cerebro wasn't as powerful as the one at the Hero Academy on Planet Kent, it was more than enough to boost his power and spread his telepathy across an entire country.
Crucially, this was only the first version; its functions would continue to improve with Eric's research.
Clark demonstrated it for him. After enlarging the Cerebro, Charles sat on it with excitement.
Activating the machine, the blue light of the power-up sequence lit up. Then, a ghostly blue helmet made of light and energy covered Charles's bald head.
Charles grinned and unleashed his power.
Amplified by Cerebro, his psychic energy rapidly spread out in all directions.
"Oh, quite a fast reaction. Are people coming already?"
Charles murmured, his brow arching slightly as a faint smile appeared on his handsome face.
"Go to sleep."
Amidst the whisper, his psychic power swept out.
In an instant, the Inhumans charging toward them collapsed one after another.
But this was only the beginning.
If one were to look down from above right now, they would see that as Charles's psychic power spread, the Inhumans on the island of Attilan were falling in concentric rings.
In a short span of time—save for a very small number of individuals with unique abilities—the vast majority of the Inhumans on Attilan had fainted.
This was the sheer power of Charles in a wartime scenario.
With the Inhumans on Attilan dealt with by Charles, the Inhumans down below lost their continuous stream of reinforcements, and the pressure on the superheroes was greatly reduced.
In a secret base, Maximus sighed as he watched the events unfolding on Attilan through the surveillance monitors, his eyes filled with envy.
If he had the power of that bald man, the world... would be within his grasp.
"Still, with this much time having passed, they should be discovering the threat of the Terrigen Mists across the globe by now."
Maximus murmured, speaking slowly: "Those people alone won't be able to handle so many locations. Planet Kent will definitely send more people, and then... the next step of the plan can begin."
The Eradication Plan, aimed at wiping out all mutants!
"This world does not need a second race as great as the Inhumans."
(End of Chapter)