American comics: Intercepting the female superhero, the symbiote is invincible

That wasn't a gene bomb. She stepped forward and kicked away the controller from Red Skull's hand; it was just a jammer. The real weapon had always been in his head.

The Red Skull's mechanical eye flickered one last time before going completely out. His body rapidly carbonized, eventually turning into a pile of ashes.

Nina suddenly screamed, her mechanical arm pointing uncontrollably towards the sky. Everyone looked up and saw the green sphere of light shrinking, revealing a massive DNA strand projection at its center, covering the entirety of New York City.

Chapter 163 Holographic Projector

It wasn't a bomb... Strange's face paled. It was a broadcast. He had sent the genetic sequences of all mutants somewhere.

On the distant horizon, the first rays of sunlight pierced through the clouds. But no one felt warmth, because everyone knew—somewhere, something was receiving this data.

But the game has only just begun.

The DNA projection lasted for a full thirteen minutes over New York. As the last glimmer of green light faded, Lorna's knees finally gave way, unable to support her weight.

She knelt on one knee, her fingers digging deep into the concrete floor of the rooftop, oblivious to the fact that her nails were breaking and bleeding.

"Can you track the location of the receiver?" Strange asked the King, who was operating the magic compass.

Wang shook his head. The runes on the compass kept rearranging but he couldn't lock on: the signal was scattered across more than seven hundred nodes around the world, like dandelion seeds—wait. His finger suddenly stopped on a flashing rune; these data packets all carried the same mark.

Ron dragged his battered body closer, and the Xuanming Body core emitted a faint pulse on his chest: was it the logo of Trask Industries?

No. Strange squinted. It was something much older.

Lorna forced herself to stand and walked over to them. When she saw the mark, her pupils contracted sharply—it was a triangle with a clover inside, exactly the same as the badge she had seen in her father's study when she was a child.

Hellfire Club. Her voice was hoarse; her father had once been the White Chess Bishop.

A screeching sound of brakes suddenly came from the street below the rooftop. Five black armored vehicles surrounded the building in a fan shape, their doors bearing the same triangular trefoil emblem.

It seems someone's eager to chat. Ron stood in front of Lorna, even though his Dark Body armor was tattered.

The armored vehicle's roof opened, raising a holographic projector. An image of a man in a white suit appeared in mid-air, his silver hair meticulously combed, and a single-chip data analyzer attached to his left eye.

Lorna Dane. The man bowed slightly. "I am Sean Cassidy, the current Black King of the Hellfire Club. The safe left by your father has just sent us an opening notification."

The armored vehicle was much more spacious inside than it appeared from the outside. Lorna was ushered into the main compartment alone, while the others were politely invited into the accompanying vehicles. The walls of the compartment were covered with some kind of bio-organic, active metal that undulated slightly with her breathing.

···Requesting flowers····· ·····

Sean removed the monocle and slowly wiped it with a silk handkerchief: an item his father had deposited in the club in 1987, set to activate when more than 50% of the mutant genomes worldwide were acquired by a third party.

.. ..... ....

He suddenly chuckled, and we had always thought this was just a manifestation of the old man's paranoia.

What item? Lorna tensed her back muscles. The interior walls of the carriage immediately reacted to her tension, revealing countless tiny silver bumps.

A coordinate, and this. Sean took out a crystal box from his suit's inner pocket; inside, a drop of dark red liquid was suspended.

When Lorna's gaze met it, the drop of blood suddenly turned metallic and began to thrash wildly inside the crystal box.

A sharp pain shot through her temple, as if a branding iron had been pressed directly onto her cerebral cortex. The silver protrusions on the carriage walls all turned towards the drop of blood, forming a kind of suppressive force field.

Chapter 164 Similar Symbols

An interesting reaction. Sean looked thoughtfully at the DNA patterns that lit up simultaneously on Lorna's arm; it seemed the key was stored in two parts. Your father placed the lock in your blood, while the key was hidden in the club.

The armored vehicle suddenly braked sharply. Sean frowned and pressed the communicator: What's going on?

"Your Majesty, we've been intercepted." The driver's voice was filled with disbelief. "It's...it's the military's Special Operations Sentinels!"

　The shockwave from the "257" explosion overturned the entire vehicle. In her dizziness, Lorna saw a silver liquid seeping from the interior walls of the car, quickly forming a protective film that enveloped her and Sean.

Through the gradually cracking bulletproof glass, she saw six soldiers in black tactical uniforms floating in the air—they had mechanical wings similar to Nina's on their backs, but more rugged, and a blood-red "S" printed on their chests.

A new generation of Sentinel robots. Sean's elegant mask has finally cracked; how could they...?

Before the words were even finished, the lead sentry's eyes flashed red. The scanning beam pierced through the carriage, turning a blinding crimson the instant it locked onto Lorna.

Magneto Protocol carrier detected. The mechanical voice coldly announced, "Execute the highest priority retrieval command."

Nina was suddenly jolted awake in the bumpy vehicle. Her mechanical eyes involuntarily switched to tactical analysis mode, her vision filled with flashing red alerts.

The sentry... is attacking Lorna... She grabbed Ron's arm beside her, her metal fingers almost digging into his flesh. We must... turn around...

Before Ron could answer, their armored vehicle was struck from the side. Wendy slammed into the opposite seat, her gun accidentally firing and shooting through the roof.

Strange quickly drew a defensive magic circle, but the magical runes suddenly twisted and dissipated upon contact with the vehicle.

Damn it, these cars use anti-magic metal! Strange tried to summon the Cloak of Levitation, but found it unresponsive.

The roof of the vehicle was violently ripped off. A Sentinel robot, over two meters tall, looked down at them, its facial armor sliding off to reveal Trask's face—or rather, a human face simulated with liquid metal.

An unexpected bonus. Trask's voice emanated from the Sentinel's body; the prototype of the Dark Body and the Sorcerer Supreme perfectly complement my sample database.

Nina's mechanical arm suddenly activated on its own, and a high-frequency vibrating blade aimed straight for the Sentinel's throat. ... But the blade froze ten centimeters from the target—some kind of black thread shot out from the Sentinel's palm and became entangled with her mechanical parts.

"You think Red Skull is the only one who leaves backdoors in weapons?" Trask scoffed. "All cybernetic bodies have my control protocols implanted in them."

Ron suddenly pressed the Xuanming Body Core against his chest. Black matter surged out like a tide, instantly covering his entire body and forming an even more ferocious battle armor than before.

Six scorpion-tail-like metal spikes extended from the back of the armor, two of which pierced the sentry's visual sensors.

Nina, his voice came through the armor, resonating with metal, and tinged with Wendy's blood.

Before Wendy could react, Nina had already grabbed her injured wrist—the one that had been scraped during the accidental firing.

The blood-stained finger traced a symbol in the air similar to Magneto's mark, and the black threads immediately contracted as if struck by lightning.

Strange seized the opportunity, and this time he drew not a magic circle, but an ancient exorcism gesture.

Runes used to seal demons in Kamar-Taj appeared in the air, temporarily imprisoning the Sentinels in place.

Chapter 165 Bioengineer Model

"Go!" Ron slammed the car door open. Black grappling hooks extended from his Xuanming suit, carrying everyone rapidly up to the fire escape of a nearby building.

They climbed to the roof, panting, and the sight before them froze everyone's blood—six Sentinel robots were besieging a silver sphere, a protective shield formed by the wreckage of the armored vehicle where Lorna was.

Further away, three armed helicopters were approaching, with expressionless soldiers standing beside the cabin doors, holding black boxes similar to those in Trask weapons.

That was a gene-collecting container. Nina's mechanical eyes constantly adjusted their focus as they collected samples of the 13 different human cells scattered during the battle.

Strange suddenly pressed his temple: "Wang told me through the mental link that the prophecy pool at Kamar-Taj has revealed something far more terrifying—these sentinels are just bait."

As if to confirm his words, the sky to the east of the city suddenly darkened. Countless bat-like mechanical beings pressed in like dark clouds; their wingspans were no more than a meter, but their sheer number was enough to block out the sunlight.

Nanoscale Sentinels. Ron's armor issued a warning; each was capable of carrying genetic weapons.

Wendy suddenly raised her gun, but instead of aiming it at the sky, she pointed it at the stairwell: We're surrounded.

Three humanoid beings dressed in white lab coats slowly walked onto the roof. They had human appearances, but metallic glints occasionally flowed beneath their skin, and their eyes were pure, data-like blue.

Bioengineer model. Nina's voice was filled with fear; they could modify captured mutants on the spot...

The lead bioengineer opened his mouth, but it was Trask's voice that came out: "Hand over Magneto's key, and I can make you the Adam and Eve of the new world."

Ron stood in front of the crowd, his Xuanming Body Battle Suit expanding into a defensive form. But everyone could see that unstable cracks had begun to appear on the surface of the suit—its core energy was about to run out.

Just then, the swarm of nanosensors in the sky suddenly changed their flight path. As if manipulated by an invisible hand, they parted to the sides, making way for each other.

A beam of green light cleaved through the clouds.

That wasn't Lorna's ability, nor was it any known technological weapon. The light pulsed with life, and wherever it passed, the nanosensors disintegrated, turning into metallic dust that scattered in the air.

For the first time, the bioengineers showed signs of panic. Their data eyes flashed wildly, repeatedly displaying the same message: Raw code detected... Raw code detected...

A tall figure gradually emerged from the green light. He wore a dark green robe, his long silver hair was tied into a ponytail at the back of his head, and he held a scepter inlaid with rubies in his hand.

When Lorna saw the person's face clearly, her breath caught in her throat—

That was Magneto, who was at least thirty years younger.

The man in the green light slowly descended to the edge of the roof. When his scepter touched the ground, all the bioengineers knelt down at the same time.

257

Their skins began to peel away, revealing a terrifyingly sophisticated mechanical structure beneath—these bionic machines were disintegrating from the inside.

Father? Lorna's voice caught in her throat. The man's face did indeed look exactly like Magneto in the photograph when he was young, but those eyes... the edges of the pupils had an unnatural golden-green hue, as if something was parasitizing behind the iris.

The man did not respond immediately. He raised his left hand, his fingers spreading and then closing, and the remaining nanosensors in the sky instantly coalesced into a metal sphere, which was then compressed into a palm-sized cube and fell onto the roof with a dull thud.

Chapter 166 Mutant Genes

You can call me Magnus. He finally spoke, his voice carrying an echo that wasn't human, but not the Magneto you all know.

Strange's fingertips subtly gathered a faint spark of magic: Are you a clone? Or an AI replica?

Closer to... the backup. Magnus's scepter suddenly pointed at Strange, and the sparks in the sorcerer's hand instantly went out. Save it, Stephen. While the Ancient One was teaching you, I was already observing this dimension.

Wendy slightly raised the muzzle of her gun: What was that green light? Why was the sentry...?

The Equation of Life. Magnus turned to her, his golden pupils narrowing to slits. Red Skull had only stolen a fragment, and Trask was foolish enough to use it to create a weapon. He suddenly gave an unsettling smile. "Do you know why mutant genes have suddenly exploded globally?"

Ron's armor emitted a warning sound, indicating it was on the verge of collapse, but he still stood in front of the group: "Are you using us as guinea pigs?" Suddenly, the sound of metal tearing came from the wreckage of the armored vehicle.

The silver protective shield exploded, and Sean Cassidy crawled out covered in blood, still clutching the crystal box tightly in his hand.

The blood droplets inside were spinning wildly, creating a kind of resonance with the ruby ​​on Magnus's scepter.

"I see..." Sean coughed up blood and laughed. "What we stored in the club back then wasn't coordinates, it was bait. You knew all along that someone would collect mutant genes..."

Magnus suddenly appeared before Sean, moving so fast he left a blur. He lifted the man in the suit with one hand, pressing the tip of his scepter against the man's heart: "Smart people usually die slower—tell me, who in the club now controls the mind amplifier left behind by the White Queen?"

The sound of a helicopter crashing could be heard in the distance. Nina's mechanical eyes suddenly detected an anomaly: the decomposed nanosensor dust was forming a pattern on the ground—countless tiny metal particles arranged in a DNA double helix, all pointing towards the Chrysler Building in the center of the city.

"He's stalling for time!" Nina yelled, "The dust is marking the location!"

Magnus whirled around, and the green light from his scepter severed Nina's mechanical arm at the shoulder.

But there were no sparks or wires at the break; instead, bright red blood gushed out—the metal had long since fused perfectly with her flesh.

"You can never learn to be quiet," Magnus sighed. His skin began to crack, revealing a flowing green light beneath, a situation that could have been resolved gracefully...

Lorna suddenly rushed towards the crystal box. Her fingers pierced through the force field and grasped the drop of blood; the excruciating pain instantly turned her vision white.

But when she opened her eyes again, she didn't see the rooftop battlefield—but a huge underground facility with hundreds of cultivation pods arranged in a circle, each containing a humanoid figure similar to Magnus.

Charles... she murmured unconsciously, not understanding why she had blurted out that name.

The real world froze at that moment. For the first time, a crack appeared in Magnus's expression, and the ruby ​​on his scepter suddenly shattered. Green light surged wildly from his body, piercing towards Lorna like countless tentacles.

Ron's armor finally collapsed completely. But before the black matter dissipated, he used his last strength to throw the Xuanming Body Core toward the path of light.

The instant the core came into contact with the green light, all the metal objects in New York City simultaneously emitted a piercing scream—from car engines to the steel structures of skyscrapers, all of them trembled visibly.

Chapter 167 Road Signs

"So it was you." Magnus turned to Ron, his voice suddenly becoming plural and overlapping. "Xuanming isn't a weapon, it's a lock."

Strange seized the fleeting opportunity and drew a rune with his bare hands that completely violated the teachings of Kamar-Taj.

There was no magical light, but the air itself began to distort—he directly tore apart the outermost membrane of the dimension of reality.

Magnus's body flickered like a hologram with a faulty signal. The green light paths desperately tried to reassemble, but were blocked by an invisible barrier.

You have no idea what you're interfering with! Magnus's voice began to distort; they're coming... The observer has marked this plane... 257.

Wendy picked up Nina's severed arm and inserted the exposed metal wire into the wound on her own wrist.

Blood flowed upstream along the wires as the severed arm suddenly sprang up and gripped Magnus's throat. Creepy as that, the mechanical hand revealed tattoos identical to Wendy's skin.

"That's what you call a backdoor." Wendy sneered, blood seeping from the corner of her mouth.

A crimson beam of light suddenly rose from the direction of the Chrysler Building. The clouds in the sky were stained a sickly orange-red, and some enormous shadow moved within them. It wasn't a physical entity, but rather a wound exposed after space itself had been torn apart.

Magnus let out a shriek, his body disintegrating into streams of green data that fled toward the beam of light. Only the unconscious Sean and the still-spinning crystal box remained on the rooftop.

Nina knelt down, pressing her remaining hand against her bleeding shoulder: He had to activate that facility... those incubation chambers...

No. Lorna looked at the blood droplets absorbed in her palm, her pupils glowing with the same golden-green hue as Magnus's. He had gone to stop them from coming out.

As Strange gazed at the increasingly red sky, the ancient incantation slipped from his lips: Vishanti... he has turned all of New York into bait.

Ron struggled to climb toward the core of the Dark Body, only to find it had turned grayish-white. When he touched it, the core crumbled into dust, revealing a tiny clover mark inside—exactly identical to the Hellfire Club emblem (bdff).