No matter how powerful a Gang is, it can't stand against the authorities.
And the X-Men are beyond even the authorities' reach.
So in just one hour, the Black Robe Gang—New York's crime overlords for a decade—was wiped out.
That hour even included the time Vought's Superheroes spent giving interviews.
Because it was a large-scale operation, every hero racked up glowing praise.
Black Mask was naturally captured, and Eric immediately called in Professor X.
They trusted Charles's ability far more than any mind games with Black Mask.
Without a word, Charles hit Black Mask with Telepathy.
"Trask has already produced a finished sentinel robot!"
"The Dark Council actually plans to mass-produce them and use Sentinels to rule the entire World!" Charles turned pale.
"Right now both Trask and the Sentinels are inside the Augustus Tower!"
Everyone was stunned; in Wolverine's future the Sentinels had destroyed the World by accident, but if the Council succeeded this time it would be outright genocide.
"sentinel robots?" Quicksilver was lost. "What are those?"
Wade shrugged. "No idea, but it sounds filthy."
The younger Superheroes were amazed; they'd only followed orders and knew nothing of Wolverine's time-travel.
Even Quicksilver was in the dark.
The senior Vought heroes agreed: Logan's status as a future-man must stay hidden from the youngsters.
They'd all been young once and knew too many questions could lead the kids into reckless trouble.
The future is created by ourselves; Logan's World differs wildly from theirs and can't be used as a reference.
Charles, Eric, Agent Zero, Ghost, Bradley and the other rookies stayed to clean up; the rest charged toward the Augustus Group HQ.
Next up: we enter Week-Two mode today.
From the start they'd suspected Trask was in the Augustus Tower, but Augustus is a top-tier conglomerate and they couldn't raid it on a hunch.
They knew Professor X could read minds, yet Telepathy can't count as hard evidence, so they smashed the Black Robe Gang first to squeeze a confession out of Black Mask.
"Black Mask has a safe at this spot holding the Dark Council's roster and full Sentinel plans!" Charles jabbed a location on the map.
"Azazel!" Eric called for the Red Devil express.
By the time Charles's group reached Augustus HQ, Eric and Red Devil were back.
"Got it!"
Eric waved an operation approval form.
"We handed Black Mask's evidence straight to President Beth, and he personally signed off on our mission!" Eric said eagerly.
"Good work." Charles nodded. "And Fang's side is going smoothly too."
"Trask can't wait—he's about to jump the fence!" Logan cut in.
He popped his bone claws; in this era he hadn't been laced with Adamantium, yet his fighting spirit was undimmed.
He couldn't die anyway—what was there to fear?
In that future timeline he'd taken endless beatings from Sentinels; now, face-to-face with their inventor, he already pictured the disemboweling sequence.
Just then Fang Yuan teleported onto the cloaked X-Jet and warned everyone: "Be careful—news of the Black Robe Gang's fall is out. They're not sure what's exposed, but the Sentinels have been activated."
"Once fighting starts, keep civilians safe even if it means letting criminals escape. Remember: our plan is to draw out the real mastermind!"
"Exactly." Charles added, "Chairman Fox, head of the Dark Council, is the key to stopping the Sentinel program."
Fang continued: "Watch your own backs too. Sentinels wiped out the World in the future; even these early models mustn't be underestimated!"
Everyone appreciated Fang's concern, yet Fang thought: "While you're at it, test the Sentinels' power for me."
This would be the Sentinels' first live combat, and Fang was curious how strong they really were.
"Also, Augustus houses dozens of super-humans—not Awakened but powered. Thirty-plus in total; we don't know how many are at HQ right now," Eric reminded.
"Twenty-two."
Charles said after a quick scan.
"We don't have to kill all those super-humans," he asked the team.
The others nodded.
They had Fang Yuan, Professor X, Magneto, Impact, Red Devil, Beast, Banshee, Wolverine and Sabretooth—nine in all, eight combatants if you exclude Fang—yet they felt confident facing twenty or thirty hostiles.
Charles alone could take out at least ten Supers—and that's if he only controls them without killing.
Killing with Telepathy is far easier than controlling minds.
As for Fang Yuan?
It's not that he wants to slack off; everyone knows his powers are limited to blocking Telepathy and Teleportation.
He doesn't look combat-ready like Red Devil, so they all assume he won't fight.
And no one wants him to—Fang Yuan is the leader of every Awakened; we can't lose him.
See? I'm not slacking—my teammates are just too considerate," Fang Yuan thought, secretly pleased.
So Hank dropped the X-Jet's stealth, Red Devil brought everyone but Fang Yuan to the ground, and the X-Men officially attacked Augustus!
Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang!
Wearing a metal-laced combat suit, Erik flew into the air and blew every door off the Augustus Tower.
Charles instantly sent a telepathic message to everyone inside.
"This is the X-Men. Augustus Company is manufacturing dangerous weapons to dominate the World. The X-Men, together with the authorities, are here to arrest the criminals. All innocent personnel, leave the tower immediately. We will attack in five minutes."
As the telepathic warning rang out, Military helicopters arrived, making it clear—this was no joke.
"Run!"
Augustus employees fled; whether Professor X's claim was true, a battle was clearly coming.
The commotion quickly spread beyond the site.
TV stations cut their feeds live to the scene.
"Open invasion! X-Men openly invade Augustus—are they heroes or villains?"
The Collector TV host predictably ranted, predictably ignoring the on-site Military.
Vought Television's anchor shouted, "The army's here—Augustus's evil plot is about to be exposed!"
The Collector host retorted, "Vought slanders a World-class enterprise to crush its rival!"
Both media blocs poured fuel on the fire, turning the clash into worldwide spectacle.
Dark Council senators could sit still no longer.
They had just voted the Sentinel Program into policy—two days later it leaks, thanks to Vought. Now everything was at stake.
They'd already convened when the Black Robe Gang was wiped out; fresh countermeasures had barely been set when the X-Men came knocking.
"What do we do now?"
Every senator asked Chairman Fox the same question.
Some were visibly panicking.
"X-Men at the door, Trask, Vought's rivals… why does this feel familiar?"
Pioneer Company: "You've heard my story?"
Senators: "Heard it? We've been burned by it!"
"I knew Trask was bad luck—trusting him never ends well!" one blurted, forgetting Fox was present.
All were entangled with Augustus; if Fox couldn't fix this, they'd quit the Dark Council en masse.
"Now that it's exposed, we start the war—right now!"
No one expected Fox to say that.
"War?"
"Against the whole World?"
Senators thought Fox had lost his mind.
They wanted to rule the World, but not like this—one misstep and their factions would shatter.
"Think you still have a way out?" Fox's mocking voice echoed. "Black Mask has the full senator list; your names are already on official desks—agents may be en route."
"If the Dark Council falls, none of you will survive."
Panic swept the chamber.
"You—!"
"What?"
"Why didn't you tell us sooner?"
They were furious—Fox was dragging them down with him!
Some moved fast.
"Move the assets—now!"
"Run for it!"
"Cut your losses!"
Knowing about the Sentinel Program was enough for authorities to hunt them; each scrambled for an exit.
One realized, "Damn Fox—he's using us as shields while he escapes!"
Fang Yuan cut the call through his clone and smiled.
Why would he run?
Setting the Capitalists loose only magnifies the chaos—the bigger the fallout, the greater the employees' fame.
The Dark Council card was ready to be discarded; once Vought's foes are crushed, global resistance will collapse.
In a few years, a new generation raised on Vought will mature, and opposition will lose even its soil.
"Now that's ruling all humanity," Fang Yuan marveled.
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