Zombie Man's jaw worked soundlessly. His worldview was in tatters. The House of Evolution—once his personal hell—was now… helping heroes grow stronger? And the one supplying them with massive tech support was the Hero Association's current pillar, Saitama?
His thoughts turned to mush. "N-no… this… I need time to think about this."
"Fair," Dr. Genus said with a shrug. "If you need help, come to me anytime. For example, you should still remember the limiter we implanted years ago to prevent your rampages, yes?"
Zombie Man's body twitched. Of course he remembered. If that limiter could be released… maybe he wouldn't have lost to Mumen Rider just now.
Elsewhere, Saitama heard a voice ping his ear.
[Ding! Anomaly detected in the X-Men world! Alert! Anomaly in the X-Men world!]
"Huh?" Saitama blinked. "What happened?"
The system answered at once.
[Because the plot of the Wolverine 1 world was altered, X-Men 1 has entered an irreversible anomaly state. Please correct it immediately, or the world will suffer irreparable damage.]
Saitama frowned. He was in the middle of wrecking the Monster Association. Time was tight. But leaving that other world to spiral was no good either.
Headache.
[Because you hold the Marvel Mark, you may enter the X-Men world and accelerate its local time flow. One day inside will equal about ten minutes outside.]
"Oh? That's convenient." Saitama exhaled. "Okay, send me to the X-Men world. Fast in, fast out."
[Ding! Request confirmed. Initializing pinpoint transfer. Destination—X-Men 1. Brace for hard landing!]
A wave of weightlessness swallowed him.
At that same moment, in the Brotherhood of Mutants' hideout, a heavyset white male was strapped to a chair. Nearby, Magneto stepped into a machine, lips curled. "Since you hate 'monsters' so much, why not become one yourself?"
"Monsters! You're all monsters! What are you doing to me?! You'll regret this!" the senator howled.
Magneto didn't flinch. He glanced at an aide. "Begin."
A button clicked. Machinery under Magneto's feet roared to life. His face twisted in agony—everyone present recognized the look. This was the price, every time. Pain now, payoff later. Their eyes slid back to the senator, mocking.
Then the ceiling exploded. A thunderclap chased the debris down as a bald man plummeted from the sky and cratered the marble floor.
Everyone froze.
An attack? Already? They had just snatched the senator—no way the feds were this efficient. And if they were… would they really airdrop a guy through the roof?
While they stared, Saitama wobbled to his feet and dusted himself off. "Hey, system, what's the job? I'm kind of in a hurry."
[Ding! Main mission: the timeline is scrambled. Complete any one side mission to count as a mainline correction.]
[Rewards scale by completion; max SSS item. Failure: loss of access to all X-Men series worlds.]
[Ding! Side mission A: Mutants are oppressed. Befriend Magneto, defeat Professor X, and make humanity accept mutants.]
[Reward: one Mystery Draw. Failure penalty: Magneto's enmity.]
[Ding! Side mission B: Years ago Professor X sensed an overwhelmingly powerful mutant and concluded such power would destroy this world. Help Professor X eliminate all Omega-level mutants and above.]
[Reward: Random Omega-mutant Serum. Failure penalty: Professor X's enmity.]
Magneto? Professor X?
Saitama stared, blank. "…These two are enemies, right? So I can only pick one?"
[Correct. In the original plot, Professor X led mutant progress. But after witnessing your power back then, his philosophy shifted, altering key factions in X-Men 1.]
"Oh." Saitama nodded, not actually listening to the lecture portion. He got the gist: finish one side path. Either help Magneto, or help this Professor X guy.
So, the key question…
He looked around. "Uh, hi. Is this the United States?"
Collective facepalms.
Of course it was. Not the Arctic, buddy.
"You… who are you?" Magneto rasped, gripping the machine. The senator's transformation had been halfway done when the crash interrupted it, and he was furious.
Saitama raised a finger. "Me? I'm a hero for fun."
(End of Chapter)
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