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Chapter 88: Missile Counterattack – Flattening the Two Nations' Fleets
🕑 Added 2025-05-17 19:26:17 +0000 UTC
"Erik, stop—now!"
Seeing that the situation was spiraling out of control, Charles couldn’t stand by any longer. He shouted and lunged toward Erik, aiming to tackle him to the ground and stop him.
Whoosh!
But just as he moved, Charles’s vision blurred. Someone had suddenly appeared in front of him, blocking his path.
His expression darkened. “Alex, please… don’t stop me.”
There was no doubt—the one who stepped in front of Charles was Alex.
Meeting Charles’s desperate, pleading gaze, Alex shook his head. “I’m sorry, Charles. I can’t let you through. This time, I agree with Erik. Those people deserve to die.”
“We didn’t do anything wrong—we even saved them. And yet, they’re trying to kill us.”
“If someone wants to kill me, I won’t hesitate to kill them first.”
“Alex! Erik! There are over a thousand people on those ships! They’re just following orders—it’s not their choice!” Charles shouted, his voice hoarse and filled with anguish.
That was all he could do now.
With Alex’s monstrous strength, there was no way he could push past him. And worse, both Erik and Alex could completely suppress his powers.
Charles was utterly powerless.
“Stop them! Havok, Sean, Darwin—stop Erik! Moira, stop Erik!”
Watching helplessly as the missile warheads moved closer and closer to the fleets, Charles could only hope someone else would act.
But Havok, Banshee, Darwin—all of them were stunned, frozen in place.
Until now, Charles, Erik, and Alex had been the core of the team. All their actions had always revolved around the leadership of these three. They had never been at odds before.
And now, a rift had split the three pillars—especially with both Erik and Alex standing in opposition to Charles.
The other mutants didn’t know what to do.
Were they supposed to help Charles? Or stay out of it?
Even if they wanted to help, could they really do anything? Neither Erik nor Alex was someone they could stop.
Only Moira acted without hesitation. Resolute in her support for Charles, she suddenly drew her gun and fired at Erik.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Several bullets tore through the air toward Erik.
But against someone who could control magnetic fields, they were useless.
With a casual wave of his hands, Erik deflected all the bullets aside.
Whoosh!
One of those stray bullets ricocheted straight toward Charles.
Alex sighed internally.
Charles’s “positioning” this time was clearly different from the original timeline, and yet he still couldn’t avoid the same stray bullet.
Then again, considering he and Erik were standing right next to each other, getting hit by a random deflected shot wasn’t all that surprising.
But Alex’s abilities had long surpassed what they once were. His perception, reaction speed—every aspect had advanced dramatically.
So, with a simple motion, he reached out and caught the bullet headed for Charles.
This time, Charles was spared the fate of ending up in a wheelchair.
Meanwhile, Moira’s burst of firepower quickly emptied her magazine. With another wave of Erik’s hand, he manipulated the metal on her body and flung her aside.
At that moment—
Erik resumed guiding the missile warheads toward the distant fleets.
“Shit. This is insane. Sorry, Erik!”
In the face of an imminent crisis, Havok finally made his choice.
He stepped forward, preparing to attack Erik.
Zzzzt!
But in the next instant, twin heat rays shot from Alex’s eyes, searing two deep holes into the sand at Havok's feet.
“Fuck it!”
Banshee grit his teeth, opened his mouth, and launched a sonic attack toward Erik.
Whoosh!
But the next second, his vision blurred. Alex appeared right in front of him like a ghost, reached out, and clamped a hand over his mouth—shoving the sonic wave back down his throat.
“Buddy, this isn’t the way.”
Darwin shook his head repeatedly but didn’t move. He knew he was no match for Alex.
Besides, it was already too late.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A barrage of explosions erupted across the distant sea.
One after another, massive mushroom clouds bloomed in the sky.
Blazing firestorms—like the breath of demons—devoured everything in their path.
The American and Soviet fleets were torn to shreds, utterly annihilated by the rain of missiles.
“Erik… what have you done?”
Charles’s voice trembled, his face ashen.
His legs gave out beneath him, and he collapsed onto the ground, as if the sky itself had fallen.
The mutants had used missiles to wipe out the fleets of both the United States and the Soviet Union. After this, would there be any place left for mutants in human society?
Erik and Alex—had they doomed all of mutantkind?
At that moment, Charles’s heart was bleeding.
“I’m sorry, Charles… but I had to do it.”
Erik looked down at the broken man on the beach and spoke quietly.
“‘Friend’? I’m sorry. I don’t think we are.”
Charles glared up at Erik, shaking his head.
What Erik had done was unforgivable—far beyond any line Charles could accept.
“Charles, I’ve always wanted to stand with you. I wanted to unite our brothers and sisters—to protect each other, to survive together!”
“All of us mutants, united!”
“Together, against our enemies!”
“I had hoped we were kindred spirits… but sadly, we’re not.”
Erik turned his gaze toward Alex. “But Alex, I don’t think we’re as different as you once thought.”
“I supported you this time, Erik,” Alex replied with a shrug. “But only because they tried to kill us. That’s it.”
“Yes, right now, in this moment, they’re my enemies. But that doesn’t mean all humans are.”
“As long as they don’t provoke me, I have no reason to care about them. That… is where you and I truly differ.”
