Russell streaked past like a flash of lightning, piercing through the sky full of smoke. The Sentinel Robots' infrared scanning systems locked onto him.
Bolivar's pupils contracted, and he was astonished to find that his carefully arranged smoke screen was completely ineffective.
The Sentinel Robots quickly gathered, attempting to cover the Mother Mold's retreat. However, just as the Mother Mold was about to fly away, Russell's figure rubbed violently against the air, erupting in scorching flames. Like an intercontinental missile, he slammed hard into the Mother Mold.
Boom—!
A deafening explosion echoed through the sky, and the violent Impact wave sent a dozen of the nearest Sentinel Robots flying.
The Mother Mold's body broke at the waist, splitting into two pieces.
Although its size far exceeded that of an ordinary Sentinel Robot, its design purpose was not combat. The empty structure in its abdomen served only as an assembly line, offering almost no defensive capability.
"Retrieve the Mother Mold at all costs, and completely annihilate this Mutant!" Bolivar's face was grim as he grabbed the microphone and issued a cold order.
This Mother Mold, which had cost him countless efforts and resources, absolutely could not be destroyed like this. A hint of anxiety flashed in his eyes—as long as it was recovered in time, the broken Mother Mold still had a chance of being repaired...
The thought had not finished.
Buzz—!
Suddenly, a thick laser beam abruptly pierced through the Mother Mold's broken section, shooting out from its head.
Russell erupted with full force, the veins on his forehead bulging. His deadly gaze swept across like a sharp blade, completely splitting the Mother Mold's upper body!
"Kill him! I want him reduced to ashes!" Eyes wide, his face froze for a moment. The next second, Bolivar's voice trembled with rage.
The value of the Mother Mold far exceeded that of a thousand Sentinel Robots, and at this moment, it had been reduced to scrap metal!
"Annihilation mode, activated."
A cold mechanical voice sounded, and all the Sentinel Robots' attack modes suddenly changed. The red lights in their eyes flickered madly as they lunged at Russell recklessly, as if intending to perish together with him.
"Want to harm the hero who broke our shackles? Don't dream about it!" A light, cold laugh came.
Rumble—!
The entire Genosha Island trembled violently. The iron ore deep underground was forcibly extracted by an invisible force, condensing into a steel whip dozens of miles long, sweeping across the battlefield like a raging dragon.
Snap! Snap! Snap!
A dozen Sentinel Robots with flickering red lights were like flies being swatted, their wreckage scattering in all directions.
Russell looked back. Magneto, wearing his helmet, had eyes as sharp as knives and clenched jaw muscles, remotely controlling the entire mine as a weapon. He had clearly gotten serious.
"We're here to help you, Infinitoid!"
Two brilliant streams of light streaked across the sky. A man and a woman with similar appearances, their attacks like flowing light, swept across the battlefield, instantly launching millions of strikes against the Sentinel Robots.
A dozen Sentinel Robots' bodies were riddled with holes, as if struck by a meteor shower, and were instantly scrapped.
"Thank you for saving us, siblings!"
Although both of them were immediately out of breath from exhaustion, they still looked up and nodded sincerely at Russell, their eyes full of gratitude.
"Northstar, Aurora…"
Russell recognized the two.
They were famous powerful Mutants in the Mutant community, a pair of twin siblings whose greatest strength was speed, as fast as light.
Putting other aspects aside, their speed was far beyond even Russell's.
"And me! Sunfire will never forget your and Magneto's kindness!"
A man engulfed in raging flames descended like a meteor. Wearing a red battle suit, his hands spewed forth monstrous waves of Fire, engulfing the Sentinel Robot group and obscuring vision.
"Solar Flare!"
The next second, he roared, and plasma flames far exceeding the Sun's surface temperature erupted from his chest, melting a dozen Sentinel Robots into twisted scrap metal.
The air was distorted by the high temperature, and the World changed color because of it.
"Well done, Infinitoid. We saved those people." When thousands of Mutants had knives at their throats, they were saved by Russell. Scarlet Witch flew in immediately after, a smile on her beautiful face, and winked at him in admiration.
She turned to the Sentinel Robots, raised her hand, and released Chaos Magic. The crimson energy flooded two or three dozen Sentinel Robots like a tide.
The precision machinery immediately short-circuited, sparks flew, and the wreckage fell one after another.
Unlike Sunfire and the Aurora siblings, who had a full burst of power and then became weak, Scarlet Witch still seemed to have plenty of energy. The wave of Chaos Magic swept towards other Sentinel Robots.
Russell joined forces with everyone, sweeping across the battlefield like a storm. Meteor-like heavy punches, lasers that tore through everything, and the steel dragon and Chaos Magic intertwined.
In the blink of an eye, nearly a hundred Sentinel Robots were destroyed.
The last Sentinel Robot was punched through the chest by Russell, and its broken body crashed to the ground.
With Russell at the forefront, everyone looked down at its still-flashing head. Magneto questioned coldly, "Who are you? Why are you bent on exterminating Mutants?"
Magneto knew that the person behind the invention of the ability-suppressing collars and these Sentinel Robots was likely watching through the Sentinel Robots' eyes. The chilling killing intent in his eyes was almost about to erupt.
"Eliminating You, what does it have to do with You?
It has nothing to do with narrow love, hate, or grievances. Mutants must all be cleared."
Bolivar finished speaking in the Sentinel Robot's cold mechanical voice and then disconnected himself.
"For humans, this is an iron-clad objective fact. I am just a part of humanity."
"Madman!"
Magneto angrily crushed the head of the last Sentinel Robot.
"In the past, people called me a madman, but today I've seen someone even crazier than me!"
Russell glanced at the extremely agitated Magneto.
He knew that the usually cold Mutant leader must be full of worry at this moment.
In the past, Magneto had encountered countless people who shouted about eliminating Mutants and said that Mutant monsters should all die. He simply regarded them as ignorant insects.
But this time, there wasn't even infuriating cursing, just two simple sentences. Why was Magneto so flustered?
Because he truly felt threatened. Both the Mutant ability-suppressing collars and the mass-producible Sentinel Robots displayed power far beyond the era.
Bolivar was an undoubtedly Superheroes genius.
He even looked far ahead and could be called a sage.
Russell, who knew the future, knew that without other interfering factors, Mutants would completely replace humans, just as humans once replaced ancient apes.
Great evolution is always worth celebrating.
But in the barbaric era, did humans eliminate ancient apes, or did humans replace ancient apes, or was it both, progressing side by side, ultimately leading to the disappearance of ancient apes on Earth?
Bolivar not only looked far ahead and prepared for the worst, intending to eliminate the Mutant race, but most crucially, he actually had the ability to do so.
"Sentinel Robot—the natural enemy of Mutants."
This description was not an exaggeration.
In countless Universes, Mutants were brought to extinction by Sentinel Robots.
However, Russell was not a part of the Mutant community after all, so this matter was not something he needed to worry about much.
"With Genosha taken, we can start building a nation."
"Building a nation?"
At the mention of this possibility, Magneto temporarily cast aside his apprehension towards Bolivar, and his heart couldn't help but beat faster.
"Of course, of course we will build a nation.
However... we still need to wait a while before announcing it to the outside World…"
He suppressed his impatient heart and looked back at the devastated land. The entire country's military government was paralyzed and in chaos.
Moreover, even without their arrival, this was an extremely poor and backward country.
"When an unprecedented Mutant nation appears in the eyes of the World, it must not be in this state." Russell nodded, understanding his meaning.
A dilapidated and backward country, even if it hastily opened its arms to Mutants worldwide and said it could protect them, how many people would it attract?
They must first make Genosha brand new, make it look like a paradise, like a land of bliss.
Only then would Mutants all over the World who were tired of wandering look towards this place with hope and flock here.
"Haste makes waste."
[Conquest Points: 52749]
Russell glanced at the panel. The thousands of Mutants saved from despairing slavery instantly provided him with over 10,000 conquest points.
A sharp glint flickered in his eyes.
Presumably, when the Mutant nation is established, it will be an astronomical number.
...
Debbie Grayson sat in the dim living room, the red wine glass in her hand reflecting the flickering Fire of the fireplace.
Her fingertips unconsciously rubbed the detailed inspection report sent by old Arthur on the tablet—the DNA residue and combat traces left on the battle suit fibers.
Everything pointed to a fact she was most unwilling to believe.
Click!
The sound of the door lock turning made her body tremble.
Nolan Grayson, her husband, pushed the door open, his cape still carrying the chill of the night wind. His gaze slightly froze when he saw the tablet in his wife's hand. He seemed to have glimpsed a photo of his missing, damaged battle suit.
But soon Omni-Man regained his composure.
"Not asleep yet so late?" His voice was softer than usual, trying to pretend as if nothing had happened.
Debbie looked up, the pain and anger in her eyes making Nolan's footsteps halt.
"Why?" Her voice was hoarse, her fingers tightly gripping the tablet, "The Global Guardians, they were your friends!"
A trace of panic flashed in Nolan's eyes, his heart sinking, but it was quickly replaced by calmness: "I don't know what You are talking about."
"Stop pretending!" Debbie suddenly stood up, the red wine glass shattering at her feet. The crimson liquid spread across the floor, looking exactly like the bloodstains from that day.
"The battle suit inspection results are right here! They're full of their DNA!"
Her voice trembled, and there was a last trace of hope in her eyes: "Did someone control You? Threaten us? Tell me, please tell me this wasn't You willingly."
Nolan was silent for a moment, the gentle mask on his face gradually peeling away.
It was as if the last trace of hesitation was forced to be cut off by reality. When he spoke again, his voice was as cold as ice: "Listen to my arrangements. You, Mark, and Russell, our family will be fine."
"No matter who gets hurt, I guarantee our family will be safe."
These words were like a knife piercing into Debbie's heart. She staggered back, hearing a more terrifying implication in her husband's words.
"What are You going to do, Nolan, not just the Guardians. What else are You planning?"
Nolan didn't answer, just calmly walked to the liquor cabinet and poured himself a glass of whiskey.
The sound of ice cubes clinking in the glass was particularly harsh in the dead silent room.
"Nolan!" Debbie grabbed the photo frame from the table—it was a family photo of their couple and their two children, Mark and Russell. "Look at this! Look at your son, look at your nephew, what kind of monster have You become?!"
"Become a monster?"
The photo frame shattered at Nolan's feet, glass shards grazing his boots, leaving a White mark.
He looked down, his chest and heart trembled painfully for a moment, but when he looked up again, his eyes were still full of determination and indifference.
"I have never changed. This is who I originally was, it's just that I'm tired of pretending now." He said in a deep voice, "Some things, I must do, and I have to do!"
The Firelight from the fireplace cast flickering shadows on his face. At that moment, Debbie finally saw clearly—the man standing in front of her was no longer the husband she had loved.
"Nolan, You…"
Debbie was about to say something angry and disappointed.
"There is never anything You have to do, uncle."
A voice drifted in, and Russell walked down the stairs from the second floor.
"Sometimes You think You have no choice, but the actual situation is not as bad as You think."
"Russell?"
Seeing his nephew suddenly appear, completely unsurprised by all of this, Nolan's brows instantly furrowed.
"You know about this too?"
"That's right."
The Mutant Universe needed some time to build Genosha. Russell came back to take a look, and unexpectedly happened to stumble upon his aunt and husband's confrontation. Calculating the time needed for the battle suit inspection, it was indeed time for this now.
"What do You know, You are just a child!"
Nolan coldly crossed his arms, unceremoniously reprimanding Russell's words just now.
But this posture, which is psychologically defensive and resistant, did not escape Russell's eyes.
"The World sometimes doesn't give an adult so many choices. I once said that Viltrumites are a peace-loving race. I lied to You.
Viltrumites are born to learn to fight, preparing for the Empire's invasion of the galaxy."
Ignoring his wife Debbie's shocked and astonished gaze, he continued.
Unlike the simple Mark, his kind but resilient wife and his mature and excellent nephew could all bear all of this.
In that case, it was better to confess all the cruel realities that had been buried in his heart for a long time.
"Although I have some prestige among the Viltrumites soldiers, I am still just a soldier. It is a soldier's duty to obey orders.
I was sent to prepare for the conquest of Earth. Now the time has come—even if I don't make a move, the Empire will send someone to replace me…"
"Nolan, is that why You attacked the Global Guardians?"
Debbie's eyes widened, her voice slightly trembling. Although her husband tried his best to hide it, as someone who lived with him day and night.
How could she not be familiar with her husband's tone of voice?
There was a hint of feigned cold determination in her husband Nolan's words, as if he was forced to do so.
"We can find a way together, Nolan.
You are definitely not a devil soldier whose natural mission is to kill."
Debbie cried, wanting to take her husband's hand.
"Find a way? You simply don't understand the iron-blooded, strict, and powerful nature of the Empire." Shaking off his wife's hand, Nolan turned away, not wanting to see his painful wife anymore, and before leaving, he coldly threw a warning to his nephew.
"Russell, don't attempt to oppose the Empire. Even if the outside World is full of crying and despair, stay at home for your life and stop trying to play some ridiculous Superheroes.
This is my advice to You.
The chaos is only temporary. Earth will usher in a new life under the Empire's rule!"
Bang!
Breaking through the roof, Omni-Man Nolan flew away, not looking back.
"Russell, save your uncle. I feel his pain. Don't let him make a mistake he will regret for the rest of his life…" Aunt Debbie turned back and cried on her nephew's shoulder.
Russell patted his aunt's back, gazing deeply in the direction Omni-Man had flown away, and just said softly.
"I will, aunt."
"What's wrong with Dad? I just called him, why didn't he answer me?"
Mark landed in front of the lawn, looking at the sky where his father Omni-Man had flown away and disappeared, scratching his head with a confused look. He turned back and saw the large hole in the roof of the house, and his mother crying heartbrokenly.
"This is… Mother, why are You crying."
"What's going on, Russell?" He widened his eyes, having never seen his mother cry so sadly and helplessly. He was flustered and didn't know how to comfort her, turning anxiously to his Cousin.