"C–central… control… the central control room…"
Illyana's voice shook. She truly hadn't expected it—Professor X actually intended to erase everyone within range.
His erasure was strongest as an area-wide sweep. Which meant Jean, Colossus, Cyclops—everyone—was inside the kill zone. Only Illyana, with her resistance to psychic shock, was barely holding on.
As for Saitama… well, he didn't even register an attack like this—or rather, he simply didn't feel that so-called psychic strike at all.
"What's going on?" Saitama blinked, baffled.
Magneto grabbed him and tore down the corridor at speed. "That bastard Charles is trying to kill everyone here!"
"Say what?" Saitama was still a little lost. "How's he gonna kill—"
"You saw it just now—everyone collapsing, can't even stand! That's the power of his Seishin Shōgeki (Psychic Shock)!" Magneto roared, panic bubbling under his voice.
Long ago, in some ways, he'd surpassed Professor X. But times had changed; their standings had reversed. He could no longer match Charles.
That was the most awkward truth.
By pushing his telepathy to the limit, Professor X had awakened new mutant capabilities. The Charles of today wasn't someone Magneto could face alone. Which made allies essential. If Charles wiped out his companions here, Magneto would be put in an impossibly passive position next.
Among the many writhing on the floor, Jean bit down hard and thumbed a button on her watch. Sirens wailed a heartbeat later.
"Emergency alert!!! Emergency alert!!!"
The klaxon howled like an air-raid.
"Emergency alert!!! Emergency alert!!!"
Jean forced the words out. "Everyone… listen… proceed to the Core Chamber at once! Protect… protect… Professor X!!!"
The base erupted from stillness into chaos.
Magneto and Saitama were sprinting when the wall ahead melted open. A man wreathed in flames burst through, bellowing, "I won't let you take one step toward the Professor!"
He didn't even finish his sentence before Saitama shoulder-checked him sky-high.
He didn't last an instant.
Standing in front of Saitama was like a squirrel trying to stop a steamroller—surviving at all was already a small miracle.
More mutants charged. Some were sealed off the moment they stepped out as Magneto folded metal across doorways, blocking the passages. Those who slipped through met Saitama's fist and went sailing.
Saitama advanced at a blistering pace. Normally, he wouldn't get serious with regular people—but these weren't the same.
In Saitama's world, even when heroes yelled, they rarely showed true killing intent. These ones did. Their faces, their auras—pure murder. Extreme, unfiltered killing intent.
Because their minds had been completely seized by Professor X. Their sense of good and evil was gone; only one order remained: Protect Professor X.
"Consecutive Normal Punches!"
Saitama's flurry landed; dozens of mutants rocketed away, clearing the path.
By now Magneto fully understood: Saitama was absurdly, overwhelmingly strong. No question.
He'd just blown through more than twenty alpha-level mutants—none of them withstanding even a single exchange.
In short, ordinary mutants stood no chance against Saitama. Maybe if you gathered dozens of omega-level mutants, there'd be a sliver of hope?
As that thought flashed by, the two reached the end of the corridor. A heavy door loomed.
"Beyond this door—" Magneto began.
"Here, huh?" Saitama rolled his wrist. "Normal Punch!"
Boom.
The iron gate—sturdy enough to eat multiple high-yield, direct hits—launched inward like tin foil.
Saitama strolled in. Magneto's jaw worked soundlessly. Even for him, opening that door by manipulating the metal would've taken at least ten minutes.
And Saitama did it with a single punch?
"Hey! Professor X!" Saitama called out.
Magneto hurried in—and froze. It wasn't just Professor X inside.
There was… something else.
No—what was that?
Suspended in midair, a metal figure hovered—skin like polished steel. One arm leveled straight at the chair-bound Professor.
A jagged hole gaped in Charles's chest.
Dead. Killed mid-activation, his power still humming in the air when the blow struck home.
You've got to be kidding me.
"Who the hell are you?!" Magneto's face twisted.
The metal thing turned its head. Its reply screeched with the rasp of grinding steel. It wasn't human speech, yet Saitama and Magneto understood every word:
"Mutant detected. Commencing Annihilation Protocol—Phase Two."
(End of Chapter)
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