Chapter 178: Bizarre Sentinel
Stepping into the Portal, Loya did not arrive directly in the Mutant Universe as he had expected, nor was it any kind of tunnel, but rather a strange alternate space.
It was a translucent alternate space; standing within it was like looking at flowers through a fog, unable to see clearly what lay ahead, as if a curtain composed of mist hung before his eyes.
It felt like looking at things while wearing the wrong prescription glasses, carrying a sense of superficial blurriness.
Loya stepped on empty air yet walked as if on solid ground, slowly following behind Deadpool.
This time, Deadpool was not chattering away; instead, he remained silent, his body even somewhat tense.
Loya keenly noticed this, merely assuming Deadpool was a bit nervous.
Meanwhile, he curiously sized up this peculiar place, an inquisitive look in his eyes.
Through this misty curtain, some things could faintly be seen.
They were doors.
Doors of all sizes, in various shapes, densely packed together.
Within his field of vision, there were almost entirely doors—layered upon one another, crisscrossing in every direction, stretching on endlessly.
Not all of these doors were still.
Some of the doors were constantly shaking, as if something was trying to break free from within them.
From behind the doors also came a wide variety of extremely noisy sounds.
There were meaningless roars of some monster, eerie whispers that seemed to echo in the depths of one's mind, and violent rumbles like exploding artillery—
All kinds of sounds echoed incessantly, yet just like the mist, they could not be heard clearly, making one feel an itch like cat claws scratching at their heart, terribly uncomfortable.
Loya narrowed his eyes slightly, feeling somewhat puzzled: Was this what it looked like when Deadpool opened a Portal? This didn't seem normal.
He really hadn't expected the sight of Deadpool opening a Portal to be like this.
In his imagination, it should have led straight to their destination, or at least been some kind of tunnel; he hadn't anticipated such a bizarre spectacle.
Was this normal? Or had some change occurred? Or was it merely a special manifestation?
Loya had no way of knowing.
Still, no wonder Deadpool was somewhat unhinged; anyone frequently exposed to such things would be crazy not to go mad.
Just the cacophony emanating from these doors was enough to torment an ordinary person into a mental breakdown.
However, it couldn't affect Loya, not only because his "Intelligence" stat was relatively high, which granted high mental resistance,
but also because the effect of his "Voice of All Things" ability was at play.
With this ability, he could selectively listen to the sounds he wanted to hear while filtering out other noises.
He could even make these deliberately obscured sounds become clear.
Right now, Loya heard an extremely clear roar—a very familiar sound, strikingly similar to the cries of zombies in movies.
If he wasn't mistaken, behind that door was the Zombie Universe.
Immediately after, another burst of meaningless whispering entered his ears.
To anyone else, this voice might sound like chaotic noise, but with his ability's boost, Loya could vaguely make out a few fragments.
"Devour... reality... Cancer... Infinite..."
If he wasn't mistaken, this should be the Universe that suffered some accident and had its reality devoured by an indescribable Dimensional Demon God.
It seemed to be called the Cancerverse.
After that came more explosions, intermingled with Japanese phrases like baka yarou.
Mm, Loya quickly guessed what this situation was.
If nothing unexpected, it was likely the sound of an atomic bomb exploding in Japan.
It wasn't clear which specific Universe it was—perhaps the Mutant Universe, or perhaps a timeline in some unknown Universe.
From this, it could also be deduced that the Portal opened by Deadpool led not only to other Universes, but also to different timelines.
Looking at the assorted doors, Loya couldn't help but recall the "Master Key" he had obtained earlier.
This item could unlock any door, so these doors were naturally no problem.
It was just not the right time to use it.
After all, this was Deadpool's home turf, and the primary objective right now was to enter the Mutant Universe and complete the special quest.
Besides, these doors couldn't be opened carelessly; if they provoked something terrifying, it would be troublesome.
Who knew what was behind the doors? Or whether it would cause even greater chaos?
No one could say for sure.
Loya wouldn't risk his life and invite trouble just for the sake of an experiment.
Only an immortal guy like Deadpool could fool around like that.
Still, building a good relationship with Deadpool and having him scout the way in the future was a very good option.
Just as Loya was lost in thought, Deadpool suddenly stopped, and a square door about two meters high appeared before them.
Unlike those doors shrouded in mist, this door was exceptionally clear.
Around the door hung a golden halo like Fire, making this ordinary-looking door appear unusually mysterious.
Deadpool stretched, wiggled his butt, and only then turned back to look at Loya.
He let out a soft sigh of relief and said with a grin, "We're about to head in~ Are you ready? We're gonna face a huge challenge next, ya know."
Loya waved his hand and said calmly, "Give me two minutes, I need to make some last-minute preparations."
With that, he took out a pink hat from the System Spaceand placed it directly onto his head.
[A Hat: This is a pink hat, allegedly worn by a certain Elder God in human form. After putting on the hat,
no one can probe your mind and consciousness.]
Professor Charles in the Mutant Universe possessed an extremely powerful Telepathy ability, capable of reading others' thoughts and memories.
Loya didn't want anyone knowing his innermost thoughts and secrets.
Of course, his preparations didn't stop there; he also took out the "blackened mask", which granted immunity to mind control.
His luck was good this time; after putting it on only a few times, he refreshed it to the desired negative emotion of killing intent.
With both the hat and mask on, he could completely disregard Charles's abilities.
Even though Charles was an ally and possessed outstanding moral character, never reading others' minds unless necessary,
and Loya's own mental strength was not to be underestimated, augmented by magic and various abilities, so he wasn't really afraid.
Still, Mutants' abilities were sometimes truly unpredictable, so after weighing his options, he felt it was better to wear them.
The situation in this Universe was already rather strange to begin with, and being a little extra cautious was never a bad thing.
To the side, Deadpool looked at Loya's bizarre appearance—wearing a ferocious mask and a pink hat—and was momentarily at a loss for words.
Scratching his chin, he blurted out, "Who taught you how to dress? Want me to shoot him for you? This is way too ugly—is he your sworn enemy or something?"
Loya's breath hitched, and he retorted speechlessly, "What matters isn't the outfit, it's the effect! These are magical items with outstanding effects. If you don't know what you're talking about, shut up!"
Deadpool curled his lip. "Having a face only slightly worse than mine and not showing it off is such a waste. If my face were still like before, I wouldn't wear a mask—I'd show it off every day."
He leaned in close to Loya, poking a finger in and out of his other half-clenched fist, his tone utterly lewd: "Don't you want to hook up with the hot Mutant babes in the Mutant Universe? No strings attached, ya know. You can hit it and quit it—I won't help them track you down."
Deadpool's tone was extremely suggestive, remarkably like a demon tempting someone into depravity.
Loya's eyelid twitched, completely unable to fathom what went on inside Deadpool's head.
They were about to start a fight, and he was still thinking about such things; it was truly absurd.
However, a flash of inspiration struck him, and he suddenly thought of a great way to shut this guy up.
Loya lightly pressed a hand on Deadpool's shoulder, a somewhat wicked smile playing at the corner of his lips. "You know, I know a very special magic that can turn a man into a woman. Not just physically, but psychologically—"
"Stop! Stop right there!" Deadpool shuddered, subconsciously clenching his buttocks, and swiftly shook off Loya's hand.
He waved his hands repeatedly, putting on a righteous face. "All right, don't say another word. Let's enter the Mutant Universe right now. Saving the world is our duty; romantic flings aren't important at all."
Little punk, think you can mess with me?
Loya smiled faintly and nodded. "Let's go. By the way, where is our entry point?"
As Deadpool pushed open the door, he grumbled, "In New York, of course. It's the center of the Universe after all, you know how it is."
Mutant Universe, New York.
It was already late at night.
Dark clouds blanketed the sky; not a single star was in sight.
Beneath the oppressive black clouds hung an indescribable sense of suffocation.
And beneath the sky lay a dim, ruined city.
This internationally renowned metropolis, a famous city that never sleeps, did not have a single light on at this moment.
All that existed was dead silence.
It had completely turned into a dead city.
Amidst the shattered ruins, blackened bloodstains and rotting shreds of flesh could be seen everywhere, covering almost every corner in a harrowing display.
A nauseating stench of decay hung over this land.
This did not look like the mortal realm, but rather like hell!
Beside a relatively large chunk of shredded flesh, a black feral dog with blood-red pupils was tearing at the meat, low growls rumbling from its throat.
Just then, not far from the feral dog, a square Portal suddenly opened out of thin air.
Loya and Deadpool stepped out of the Portal.
"Woof, woof, woof!"
The moment the feral dog saw the two, it immediately dropped the meat in its mouth, kicked off its hind legs, and lunged forward violently.
Transforming into an afterimage in the night, it pounced madly at them, the foul stench from its jaws wafting toward them.
"Get lost!"
Yet Loya merely glanced at it, and with a flick of his telekinesis,
the feral dog was struck as if by an invisible giant hand, hurtling backward into the sky and vanishing without a trace in an instant, leaving only a fading wail behind.
"Urgh... Nicely... done!" Deadpool gave a thumbs-up, dry-heaving as he praised him. "If I were alone, that feral dog definitely would've taken a bite out of me."
Pinching his nose, he complained, "These damn Sentinels are truly obnoxious. Don't they have a cleanup protocol for corpses? The stench is choking me up so bad I can barely speak. What a bunch of inconsiderate bastards!"
Loya did not respond; his attention was on the system panel.
[Quest "Enter the Mutant Universe" completed]
[Next phase quest awaiting trigger]
[Rewards: EXP +1000, Special Item "Living Metal"]
[Living Metal: A special metal that can alter its form at will, mimic various material structures to the greatest extent, and carry souls and consciousness]
Loya merely took a brief look at the rewards before closing the system panel; now was not the time to study them. The urgent task was
to trigger the next phase of the quest.
He turned to Deadpool beside him and asked, "Where should we go to find Charles?"
Deadpool pinched his nose and was about to speak: "To—"
Rumble!
Before he could finish, a violent roar suddenly echoed in the distance, piercing the skies.
Immediately after, the entire ground began to tremble.
Several hundred meters away from them, the ruins abruptly exploded. Rubble shot out, dust flew, and smoke instantly billowed, obscuring their line of sight.
Looking in the direction of the sound,
a massive figure nearly three stories tall slowly emerged from the smoke and dust.
This figure gleamed with a metallic sheen all over, its lines sleek, and its limbs long and powerful.
Its eyes flickered with a crimson glow, locking onto them from hundreds of meters away, an invisible sense of pressure crashing over them.
Deadpool hurriedly hid behind Loya, only poking out half his body. Looking puzzled, he explained, "That's a Sentinel. It probably went dormant on the spot after killing people, but its size is way bigger than when I left earlier.
It was only two or three meters tall before, but now it's multiplied several times over. Holy crap, I was only gone for two days, how did it evolve again? What the hell is going on?"
He was completely baffled now; these things were evolving far too quickly. What could be the reason?
Could they have developed a machine spirit or something?
Loya's gaze narrowed.
This Sentinel was far more outrageous than the original version, and he had noticed something very strange.
Under the dual perception of his "Minds Eye" and "Voice of All Things",
the extraordinarily massive Sentinel before them actually possessed distinct emotions!
It was an intensely potent resentment.
There were also fluctuations remarkably similar to true life.
What the hell was this?
A mechanical lifeform?
Was it undergoing mechanical ascension?
Man versus machine?
Deadpool said worriedly, "Bro? Can you beat such a huge hunk of junk? Or should we just run? Let's find a place to hide first."
Unfortunately, before he could finish his sentence, the Sentinel struck first.
It kicked off the ground with violent force, causing the earth to fracture and blast apart instantly.
Its massive frame lunged forward like an artillery shell at extreme speed, a piercing shriek tearing through the air.
Seeing this, Deadpool was terrified and hurriedly rolled to the side to dodge, no longer caring about the foul-smelling flesh on the ground.
When he turned his head and saw Loya still standing motionless in place, he couldn't help shouting, "Big bro! Run! Your hand blade can cut through Uru Metal, sure, but this guy is so damn huge, you can't chop it all! Run!"
Before his words faded, the Sentinel was already right in front of Loya.
Its arm instantly morphed into a razor-sharp blade as long as a person, cleaving down straight toward Loya's head.
One could foresee that as long as this blade struck, Loyawould instantly be cleaved in two.
Witnessing this, Deadpool's heart sank halfway into his chest.
What was wrong with Loya?
Why was he dropping the ball at the critical moment?
His plan hadn't even begun, and his greatest helper was about to die?
A doorway rapidly emerged behind Deadpool.
Since Loya couldn't be relied upon, he had no choice but to flee and reconsider his options.
Hopefully Loya's body could withstand one extra strike to buy him some time.
However,
in the very next moment, something happened that Deadpool couldn't have imagined even in his wildest dreams.
The moment the Sentinel's blade was about to hit Loya, it seemed to crash into an invisible wall.
The Sentinel's body jolted to a halt.
Immediately after, starting from the blade, its entire body was split open by an invisible force, cleanly cleaved into two halves.
It wasn't over yet.
Yet another invisible force surfaced, suspending the Sentinel's body in midair when it should have crashed to the ground.
Then, fine cracks abruptly surfaced across the Sentinel's exterior, and its massive body was sliced into countless tiny fragments in an instant, scattering across the ground with a loud clatter.
Loya stood quietly in place, looking down at the Sentinelfragments on the ground without a word, an even deeper confusion in his eyes.
The entire process lasted only a few seconds before the battle was already over.
This sight completely stunned Deadpool.
Frozen in place, he scratched his head, his jaw dropping wide open: "Huh?"
Chapter 179 Nowhere to Run
"Wow!"
"Loya, that was amazing!"
Upon seeing Loya effortlessly deal with a Sentinel that was far more powerful than before, Deadpool immediately danced and cheered.
The Portal for escaping behind him also quietly vanished without a trace, as if it had never appeared.
He rushed over to Loya in a few steps, staring at the smooth-cut Sentinel debris on the ground, his tone full of excitement: "Loya, how did you do that? What was that ability just now? Do you actually have many invisible arms? Did you kill the Sentinel with invisible hand blades?"
"Are you a Mutant too? Do you have many **? Wow, if you do, wouldn't that mean you can satisfy many girlfriends at the same time? Tsk tsk tsk, you really should open a harem in this Universe."
Deadpool chattered endlessly, casually reaching out his arm to touch Loya's back, wanting to test if there really were many invisible arms.
At this moment, his hands were covered in blood stains from rolling around earlier, looking particularly disgusting.
Loya quickly dodged away and said angrily: "Look at your dirty hands, stay away from me! I am not a Mutant, nor do I have mutated hands, let alone mutated **, if you like I can help you install a few."
His temples thropped continuously; Deadpool was much more talkative than Spider-Man, and he liked to make dirty jokes inappropriately, interrupting his train of thought.
Deadpool chuckled, took off his gloves and threw them away casually, without approaching Loya any further.
He squatted down, picked up a piece of Sentinel debris and played with it, asking: "What? Did you discover something? You've been staring at this pile of Sentinel debris."
Loya nodded, his eyes deepening with confusion.
He had indeed discovered some very strange things, making him even more puzzled.
When killing the Sentinel, Loya's Minds Eye had been active at high intensity, wanting to capture what emotional changes this emotional Sentinel might have.
At the exact moment the Sentinel was completely destroyed, it really allowed him to capture some extraordinary emotional fluctuations.
At first, when this Sentinel saw him and Deadpool, the emotion was extreme resentment, without mixing any other emotions.
It was like a special creation with only the instinct of hatred.
But at the moment of impending complete destruction, the emotions underwent a massive shift and explosion.
It transformed from resentment into many complex emotions.
There was sorrow, pain, anger, helplessness——
More than anything, it was a sense of relief at the impending destruction.
In short, it was very complex; all the seven emotions and six desires that a person has were present, and even more intense than a normal person.
This completely surpassed the scope a robot should have; no, a normal robot shouldn't have this stuff.
This series of changes made Loya even more confused.
It's one thing for a robot to have emotions, but how could such a change happen before death, and the strongest emotion before death was still relief.
Even before death, it generated a sense of gratitude towards him.
What kind of strange development was this?
Loya really couldn't figure it out, and this robot gave him a very strange sense of déjà vu.
It was as if inside the body of the Sentinel, a human soul was imprisoned.
The soul was affected by program settings, only able to kill its own compatriots, and then felt a sense of relief before destruction.
Could the humans of this Universe be this powerful? The Sentinel they created could imprison other people's souls after killing humans?
Was this possible?
Or was there some extraordinary power at work?
Loya didn't know if this speculation was correct, but he had an intuition that even if it wasn't completely correct, it should be close.
He shook his head and stopped thinking about it.
Time was tight right now, and the most important thing was to find Charles and the others first. With the Sentinels evolving so fast, it was hard to imagine their situation.
With a wave of his hand, Loya stored the Sentinel debris that wasn't stained with the foul blood on the ground into the System Space.
He still had to bring some local specialties back for Tony, and this Sentinel debris was quite good.
It should be very suitable for crafting battle armor.
Immediately afterwards, he split a piece of the Sentineldebris from the System Space and gave it to Gulu in the pet space.
After Gulu devoured it, it instantly acquired the same material as the Sentinel.
After doing this, Loya looked at Deadpool, who was squatting on the ground holding two pieces of Sentineldebris clashing them together and muttering various chūnibyō lines, his mouth twitching: "Alright Deadpool, we can leave. Hurry up and find Charles and the others; with the Sentinels evolving so fast, their situation is probably not optimistic."
Hearing this, Deadpool threw away the debris in his hand, stood up, and asked curiously: "How is it? What did you discover? Quick, tell me, I want to know why these guys suddenly became so outrageous."
Loya shook his head: "Just a little guess, not yet confirmed. Finding Charles and the others, and seeing more Sentinels, might give us the answer."
"Alright." Deadpool shrugged and stopped pressing further. He said, "According to my agreement with Charles before I left, they would retreat towards the Himalayas."
A Portal slowly emerged in front of him: "Let's set off. My Portal can jump across the Universe, but the transmission distance within the Universe is limited. It should take about ten minutes from New York to the Himalayas."
Loya shook his head, pressed one hand on Deadpool's shoulder, and smiled: "Where is there any need for such trouble? I'm relatively good at teleportation."
With that, his thought moved, triggering the eye of aurora, and in just an instant, the figures of the two disappeared.
The Himalayas, inside an ancient temple.
Inside the temple hall, more than a dozen men and women gathered around, who were the last Mutants led by Charles and Erik.
To be exact, they should be the last intelligent life forms on this Earth.
The rest of the humans had long been slaughtered by the Sentinels.
The atmosphere in the room at this moment was oppressive, everyone's face carried an indescribable heaviness, and a sense of despair permeated the entire hall.
The firelight in the fireplace flickered slightly, fluctuating just like everyone's moods.
"Hoo~"
Just then, Wolverine Logan exhaled the smoke from his mouth, which curled upwards under the firelight, and he said: "That bastard Deadpool hasn't come back yet, he said he was going to find help. Could this guy be dead?"
"Don't say that, Logan." Charles, sitting in the wheelchair, said gently. Although his gaze was heavy, he still squeezed out a smile on his face.
His eyes flickered, seeming to have absolute confidence in Deadpool: "I believe in Deadpool; he won't die, he will definitely come back. Deadpool has a reason he must come back."
Logan snorted coldly, pinched out the cigarette butt with his fingers, and then carefully put away this half-smoked cigar.
Then he said in a deep voice: "But waiting like this is not a solution; we have to do something. The Sentinels are evolving too fast, we can't afford to wait. Why don't we execute the plan right now, I can handle it alone."
"No." Charles shook his head, gently patting Logan's arm, "You alone are not enough for this plan, Deadpool must participate, otherwise we cannot succeed."
"Charles, you should tell me what the reason is. Do you know I hate this way of yours of speaking."
Erik, who had been alert to the outside movements, turned around, staring into Charles's eyes with a rather unkind tone.
"Even if he can find help, so what? In the current situation, no matter how many helpers come, it's useless. There are too many of those damn robots, bringing them here is just sending them to their deaths."
Charles sighed, glanced at Erik, and then scanned the remaining Mutants in the hall, his tone low: "Erik, and everyone, I know you all want to know the reason. But I have a reason I cannot tell. If I say it out, we will be even less able to succeed, please——"
"Erik! Watch your back!"
Before he finished speaking, Charles's expression changed drastically, and he suddenly roared out.
The absolute intuition of danger made him feel a strong murderous intent suddenly appearing behind Erik, even though the source of this murderous intent could not be seen.
Erik's pupils shrank.
Having fought with Charles for almost a lifetime, he had long cultivated an exceptionally precise tacit understanding.
Almost in an instant, he reacted.
Erik waved his hand, his ability to control metal instantly activated, and Logan, who had been guarding Charles's side, instantly soared into the air and appeared behind Erik.
Pfft!
A long metal spike pierced through Logan, blood gushing out and splashing onto the invisible figure.
This figure completely revealed its original appearance.
It was a Sentinel!
It's just that this Sentinel was not big, even short, only about as tall as Logan's shoulders.
Compared to those Sentinels seen before, this Sentinellooked a bit undernourished.
"Erik! Fuck you! You fucking controlled me again!"
Logan cursed angrily, then six sharp claws popped out from his knuckles.
He swung fiercely, cutting off the spike embedded in his body, and then chopped off the head of the short Sentinelin front of him with one claw.
Then he hacked it into pieces before stopping.
Logan pulled off the spike, the wounds on his body healing at a speed visible to the naked eye. He looked at Erik, his eyes full of anger.
Erik spread his hands helplessly: "Logan, at a critical moment, I can only use unusual means."
Logan glared at Erik, wishing he could slice him up with a claw.
But the situation was critical, plus being completely countered, he could only swallow this anger.
Everyone gathered around, looking at the hacked-up Sentinel wreckage on the ground.
There was no joy of killing a Sentinel in their eyes, only an even more intense despair.
Charles slowly spoke, his tone solemn: "These robots have evolved again."
In these days of fighting the Sentinels and fleeing, he had been observing.
These robots that had slaughtered countless humans and Mutants were evolving and developing at an unimaginable speed.
From Mutants being able to contend with them at first, to being completely crushed later, and then to the special forms today.
These robots evolved too fast.
At first, the Sentinel's combat method was still cooperative combat, but now they could actually sneak attack with invisibility. Had this evolved into different combat branches, different arms of service?
Where was this a robot?
It was more like a special life form.
These different arms of service were just like different races of humans, each with strengths and weaknesses, rather than being cookie-cutter like tools.
Where was this like a weapon used to slaughter Mutants?
This was clearly about to evolve a civilization!
Charles's eyes were extremely complex.
The struggle between Mutants and humans had lasted for decades; who would have thought that before the two sides could decide a winner, they were going to be eliminated by robots.
And these robots were created by humans themselves through studying Mutants.
What kind of irony was this!
What kind of sorrow was this!
And what kind of miracle was this!
Who would have thought that the two races would end up with this result, replaced by another completely unexpected race.
Even more unexpectedly, she could cause such a huge impact.
Charles sighed and thought of some things that couldn't be spoken aloud.
He stopped thinking deeply about it and instead said: "Blink, quickly open a Portal to take us away from here, to the next safe base. There is a Sentinel, so the Sentinelarmy will arrive soon, if we don't leave it will be too late."
"Alright." The female Mutant named Blink nodded. She took a deep breath, reached out and waved forward, and an irregular Portal with purple light lingering on its surface instantly appeared in front of everyone.
However——
Something that everyone never expected happened!
Pfft!
Just the moment the Portal opened, a spike suddenly stretched out from the other side of the Portal, precisely piercing Blink's body.
"Ah!"
Blink let out a miserable scream, instinctively closing the Portal. The power of space cut the spike off, but it couldn't save Blink.
She fell heavily to the ground, blood continuously gushing out from her mouth and wounds, dyeing a large area of the ground red.
This development was completely unexpected by everyone.
No one could have thought that the safe base on the other side had actually been discovered and occupied by the Sentinels.
How could the Sentinels achieve this?
Clearly there were no Mutants whatsoever over there, these robots shouldn't be able to lock onto it!
There was no time to think about the answer to the question anymore.
All they had to do now was run!
Charles's pupils shrank abruptly, and he immediately roared: "Run! Run towards the mountain!"
His perception was frantically warning him, the crisis had quietly arrived!
Among countless directions, only the direction towards the mountain was relatively safe.
Hearing this, everyone took action.
Erik waved his hand, using his ability to lift Charles up, and then squeezed the metal inside the temple into a huge flat plate, wanting to take everyone away with it.
It was just a pity——
It was too late!
Rumble!
A loud noise came from overhead, and the hall suddenly shook violently.
A huge force blew the roof off.
Gravel fell like rain, and smoke and dust rose everywhere.
Storm casually waved her hand, and a hurricane swept past, blowing away all the gravel and smoke and dust.
When the smoke and dust cleared, everyone saw the culprit behind all this.
Unsurprisingly, it was still a Sentinel!
Outside the roof, there was a Sentinel so huge it was breathtaking.
Everyone's size was not even as big as this Sentinel's head.
With just a gentle wave of its hand, it blew off the roof of the temple where everyone was hiding.
The Sentinel's crimson pupils stared fixedly at everyone, and the strong sense of oppression made it difficult for everyone to breathe.
At the same time, countless much shorter Sentinels lifted their stealth and surged in from all directions.
Their body shapes varied, but in the blink of an eye, they completely demolished the temple into smithereens.
Countless pairs of crimson eyes stared at everyone, surrounding them tightly.
Nowhere to run!
Charles saw this despairing scene, his heart suddenly sinking: "It's over——"
Chapter 180: Running Away to the Moon
Countless Sentinels tightly encircled Charles and the rest of the Mutants.
Some were tall, some short, some bulky, some lean, with vastly differing builds. They looked nothing like standardized, man-made robots, but more like specialized mechanical lifeforms that had undergone natural evolution.
Every single one exuded a suffocating pressure that weighed heavily on all the Mutants present.
Looking at this shocking scene before him, Charles could not help but be filled with emotion.
Trask, the brilliant scientist who had created the Sentinels...
He had once compared humans to Neanderthals and Mutants to the next generation of Homo sapiens.
He believed Mutants would eventually replace humans and become the masters of Earth, which continuously escalated the conflict between the two species.
Yet in the end, Mutants did not replace humanity, nor did humanity eradicate Mutants.
The ones to replace both species turned out to be robots—and robots created by humans themselves, no less.
Humans and Mutants had together become the Neanderthals destined to be replaced.
In a sense, they had arrived at the same destination by different paths.
Charles let out a soft sigh; in their current predicament...
Escape? Impossible!
Fight? Unwinnable!
The situation was beyond saving, and they could only await their final judgment.
He had only one wish now: that Deadpool wouldn't come back.
And whatever help he brought shouldn't come either. They should run as far as they could; the outcome was already decided, and there was no need to throw their lives away in vain.
Hummm—
Right at that moment, the Sentinels moved in unison to ensure complete annihilation.
Their faces split open simultaneously, exposing the specialized mechanisms within as terrifying energy fluctuations brewed inside.
Even the air began to distort under the immense surge of power, visible ripples spreading in all directions.
Countless Sentinels executing this action in unison made for an extraordinarily spectacular sight, yet it caused everyone's suspended hearts to plunge completely into despair.
It was over!
Erik silently lowered his arms, and the massive sheet of metal he had just forged collapsed onto the ground with a clatter.
Against an onslaught like this, what good was having all the metal in the world?
Magneto would ultimately become history.
No!
Perhaps not even history would remember him.
If these Sentinel, evolving at an ever-accelerating pace, were ever to record history themselves...
They might gloss over what was happening now in a single line. They were merely nameless passersby on the path of the Sentinels' rise.
Erik cast an imperceptible glance at Charles.
The two of them had fought their entire lives over differing ideals, but at this moment, perhaps they had finally come together.
If only... such days hadn't been cut so short...
Looking back on the past, he had wasted far too much time.
What a regret it was...
Shing!
Logan dropped his guard and retracted his alloy claws into his body.
Carefully, he fished out the precious half-cigar from his pocket, held it between his lips, and quietly lit it.
"Phew!"
Logan took a deep drag and closed his eyes, savoring the rush of nicotine.
"Damn, that feels good! So freaking good!"
He couldn't resist roaring out loud.
That drag was the most satisfying one he had taken since they began running for their lives; he no longer had to worry about running out of smokes in the future.
Logan slowly opened his eyes without a trace of fear, calmly facing impending death.
He only hoped his Adamantium skeleton wouldn't be destroyed—that way, he'd at least leave behind a complete corpse, wouldn't he?
Storm begrudgingly reined in the power she was about to unleash, letting the gathered hurricane slowly dissipate.
Any further struggle now was completely futile.
Perhaps their defeat had long been sealed by fate.
What she failed to notice was that as the gale dispersed, an invisible breeze slipped past countless Sentinels and quietly vanished into the distance.
Colossus, Shadowcat, Iceman...
They all stood in silence with varied expressions, but each had lost the will to resist.
Who could withstand a siege like this?
On the ground, the mortally wounded Blink convulsed, struggling to extend her hand to activate her ability once more.
If she could open a Portal, maybe, just maybe there would be a glimmer of hope!
Regrettably, no matter how hard she tried, it was in vain; space did not ripple in the slightest.
The only result was that her life force drained away even faster.
She coughed up mouthfuls of blood and closed her eyes in despair.
The Sentinels' energy convergence was complete!
In the next instant!
Boom!
Countless energy blasts fired from all directions. The air filled with the scent of scorching heat as blinding light illuminated the ruins like broad daylight.
The energy cannons intertwined and converged into a colossal curtain of light, sealing off everything above and below, leaving no possible avenue of escape!
Awaiting everyone was only death!
However...
Right at the moment everyone's fine hairs curled from the blistering heat!
Right when they had fallen into complete despair and prepared to embrace death!
A gentle breeze suddenly brushed past their faces.
It was gentle, yet it brought forth a miracle!
The anticipated scalding heat never arrived, nor did the expected death fall upon them!
Something completely incomprehensible to everyone occurred.
Around the group, a swirling Wind Wall had materialized at some point, enveloping them entirely.
And those searing energy blasts were completely kept at bay by this thin layer of Wind Wall.
No!
It wasn't merely blocking them!
It was also deflecting them!
Those energy blasts were actually deflected back by the Wind Wall!
Boom!
Rumble!
The energy blasts were reflected back intact, striking their masters with unerring precision.
In an instant, countless Sentinels were swallowed by their own energy cannons, leaving behind utter devastation.
A massive wave of Sentinels was blown away, instantly clearing out a large swath of open ground.
Everyone's eyes went wide in utter astonishment, completely baffled as to what had just happened.
How could wind bounce back energy blasts like that?
This was utterly absurd!
Storm, in particular, was dumbfounded.
Staring at the Wind Wall before her, her mind buzzed, and her lips parted slightly, but not a sound came out.
Wait, wind could be used like that?
Then what had she been doing all this time?
Amid their bewilderment, two figures suddenly appeared not far ahead of them.
The two were still bickering.
In such a grave and critical atmosphere, their tone sounded remarkably relaxed.
"Come on, Loya, don't blame me! I didn't know the exact location either; I just felt Charles and the others might be over there. Didn't we make it in time anyway? Don't you think saving people in the nick of time is way cooler?"
Deadpool said with a grin, his tone immensely punchable.
Loya unconsciously clenched his fists, sorely tempted to sock the guy right in the face.
Initially, he had teleported with Deadpool to the Himalayas.
Then this idiot claimed Charles and the others were probably at some base on Mount Everest.
As a result, they rushed over and didn't find a damn thing.
If Loya hadn't unleashed "Voice of All Things" at full power, communed with the wind elements, and sensed Storm wielding the power of wind, he wouldn't have been able to rescue them with Wind Wall at the critical juncture.
Otherwise, his mission would have failed on the spot, rendering the trip entirely wasted.
Who the hell wants to save people at the last second unless they have to?!
Messing up isn't a joke.
He wasn't some plot-armored fluke artist who could pull off clutch saves a hundred percent of the time.
Loya slapped Deadpool's hand off his shoulder and snapped, "Screw you! Any later and they'd all be dead. Hurry up and calm them down. Leave these Sentinels to me."
With that, he activated "Minds Eye" as usual and looked at the diverse Sentinels around him, feeling rather astonished.
"Why are there so many different forms? Are they categorized into troop types? Or distinct races? Are they really going to evolve into a whole new civilization? That's ridiculous!"
Loya muttered to himself, planning to take down a few more Sentinels to see whether they all exhibited emotional shifts.
Having received Loya's instructions, Deadpool turned toward Charles and the others, roaring with laughter, "Charles, your savior has returned! Well? Surprised? Shocked?"
He spread his arms wide in an exaggerated welcoming pose.
Charles nodded gently and smiled. "Welcome back, Deadpool. It truly is a surprise."
Looking at the oddly dressed Loya ahead, Charles was deeply shocked inside.
His subconscious telepathic scan was completely ineffective against this person Deadpool had brought.
The man was like a psychic void; any telepathic probe that made contact dissolved into pure blankness.
Truly worthy of being a helper brought by Deadpool—he was indeed extraordinary.
But... could a single person really overturn a situation where they were encircled by Sentinels?
He could block energy blasts, but energy blasts were hardly the Sentinels' only method of attack. Their terrifying adaptation and replication abilities were the true threat.
Charles wanted to say something more to Deadpool, but Deadpool let out a strange yelp and bolted toward Blink.
Reaching Blink's side, he saw the gaping wound in her abdomen and how she was clinging to her last breath; he dropped to the ground, slamming his fists into the dirt in an exaggerated display of agonizing grief.
Anyone who didn't know better would think Blink was his true love or something.
Filled with regret, Deadpool sighed, "Oh, Blink, we haven't seen each other for just a few days, and you're already dying? I've always thought you were pretty and totally Loya's type. I thought you could join his harem! What a shame. Sigh, you really picked the worst time to die."
He shook his head repeatedly. "Pity, such a pity. Loya's a handsome devil almost on par with me, you know."
Blink, who had originally felt a touch moved, bristled instantly upon hearing Deadpool's words.
Her face, pale from massive blood loss, flushed with color, and her eyes went wide and round.
"Ugh... ah... nggh—"
She wanted to curse Deadpool out properly before she died.
Unfortunately, she couldn't utter a single coherent sentence; trembling with rage, she only caused the blood to spill from her mouth even faster.
Seeing this, everyone was left speechless; even at a time like this, Deadpool couldn't keep his foul mouth shut.
Yet his antics had inadvertently eased the suffocating tension quite a bit.
In a way, he had fulfilled Loya's request to calm them down.
Even so, despair continued to linger in everyone's hearts.
What made these Sentinels formidable was never just their energy cannons, but their all-around capabilities and—above all—their endless numbers!
This was definitely not something one person could handle!
Seeing Deadpool cracking jokes at a dying person, Logan's temples throbbed with veins, his temper flaring.
He snorted coldly, his claws extending with a snikt: "Save your breath and figure out how to get us out of here, you idiot!"
AI Model: gemini-3.5-flash-lite
Deadpool stood up with a grinning smile, winked at Logan, and said in a teasing tone: "The method is actually very simple. It's enough to just watch Loya perform here. You only need to dance as a cheerleader on the side to liven things up. This is a rare opportunity to show some skin."
Ever since he saw Loya effortlessly slice a Sentinel into pieces and teleport at will,
Deadpool had become full of confidence in Loya. This guy was far more outrageous than imagined, and his superpower was even more unfathomable.
What was a mere Sentinel?
It was simply a piece of cake.
"You fucking-!" Logan cursed, raising his hand to give Deadpool a claw slash.
Right at that moment, a deafening roar came from behind, accompanied by a violent tremor of the earth, causing him to instinctively look back.
The rest of the Mutant were the same.
Not far away, that giant Sentinel that had torn off the temple roof slowly stood up from the ruins.
After being hit by the energy cannon, it was not completely destroyed, and the special armor on its body was rapidly repairing itself.
Seeing Loya standing at the very front, the Sentinel froze for a moment, and then frantically rushed over.
Its huge body did not affect its speed. In just an instant, it shattered the ground and appeared within attacking range.
It raised its hand and thrust forward.
This spike was thicker than Colossus, the strongest one present.
One could imagine the consequences of being pierced by it.
But Loya just stood in place, motionless.
His superpower moved slightly, transforming into a sharp blade, and then Absolute Cut was activated simultaneously.
When the spike was less than half a meter away from Loya, it seemed to enter a certain domain.
Starting from the tip of the spike, it was instantly sliced open, but the fragments disappeared.
And after this slash, it seemed to trigger a chain reaction, with countless slashes spreading from the severed part.
In the blink of an eye, the entire giant Sentinel was cut into countless fragments, and those fragments likewise disappeared.
It gave the feeling as if the Sentinel had never appeared at all.
This scene made Erik and other Mutant, who were already shocked, even more stunned, and they even doubted whether their eyes were playing tricks on them.
What kind of superpower is this?
How did it instantly slice such a large Sentinel? And by the way, it even collected the corpse?
Are there such reclusive experts among us Mutant?
A one-stop service of killing and collecting corpses?
And there is also the Wind superpower; what kind of composite Mutant is this?
Logan glanced at the claws in his hand, his eyes complex.
Even his own Adamantium claws couldn't achieve this level.
Who was this flashy man wearing a pink hat and a black mask?
Was there such a figure among the Mutant?
Only Charles, whose mental power was exceptionally strong, noticed some clues.
His eyes flickered, realizing what this superpower was.
It was telekinesis!
And a powerful telekinesis that could condense into invisible sharp blades.
He could vaguely sense that just now, dozens of telekinetic blades had swept across the Sentinel's body, cutting it into countless fragments.
He just didn't expect someone to be able to use telekinesis so refined and so sharp.
The bodies of those Sentinel were a special composite material, not metal, but several times harder than steel.
Charles had never seen anyone who could apply telekinesis to this extent.
Even the deceased Jean Grey could only use telekinesis crudely, and could by no means achieve such a delicate degree.
One could only say, as expected of the super external aid Deadpool found from another Universe?
Truly formidable!
Everyone was successively shocked by Loya's strength.
Loya was fully focused, perceiving the movements around him, and his expression suddenly turned extremely solemn, thinking to himself that it was bad.
After wiping out this giant Sentinel, a huge problem had occurred!
The Minds Eye superpower could insight into danger.
At this moment, his Minds Eye perception was almost exploding, perceiving an unprecedentedly powerful crisis rapidly approaching.
Time to make a strategic retreat!
Loya's expression changed drastically, no longer thinking about anything else, and decisively took out the amplification staff from the System Space.
The staff flickered, green light flashed at the top, and a large-scale barrier magic was cast with Charles as the core point.
Then his telekinesis moved, lifting up all the Mutantpresent who were still in a dazed state, making their bodies touch each other, and finally contacting his right hand.
Immediately after, Loya put the staff back into the System Space, his telekinesis moved again, and his left hand grabbed the dying shoulder of Blink.
After finishing all this, he triggered the eye of aurora, instantly disappearing along with everyone present.
Just a few seconds after they disappeared,
the space above the temple ruins inexplicably fluctuated and distorted, as if some invisible existence had descended here.
The temple ruins were empty, and the invisible existence seemed very angry.
The space violently distorted and oscillated.
Then, an invisible fluctuation began to spread from the temple.
An entire mountain range starting from the temple instantly turned into powder, along with everything within it turning into dust and drifting away with the wind.
There was no loud noise, no roar, everything was as if it should have happened in the first place.
The void regained calmness, as if nothing had ever happened.
And on the surface of the moon hundreds of thousands of kilometers away from Earth, a group of people abruptly appeared.
It was precisely Loya and the remaining Mutant.
Loya looked at the distant blue planet and breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
If it had been a little later, he would have had to use Fifty-Fifty.
He could indeed hold on for five minutes and then escape, but the others couldn't, and would die instantly.
"I wonder what kind of thing appeared just now."
Loya was extremely puzzled in his heart; that thing was simply outrageously powerful.
The original idea of finding clues by killing the Sentinelalso fell through.
However, it couldn't be said to be completely without gains.
When that giant Sentinel saw him, it clearly froze for a moment.
Loya also felt the Sentinel's peculiar emotion.
To explain it in one sentence, it was: Why are you appearing here again?
Obviously, this Sentinel knew him.
But this was his first time coming to this Universe, and the only Sentinel that might know him was the very first one he killed.
The result was very obvious.
If there really was a soul inside the Sentinel, then this soul was very likely the same one!
Or a single soul was split into many fragments.
Otherwise, how could that special emotional change occur?
It just made things more complicated.
What on earth happened to cause this weird situation?
Loya couldn't guess the reason, so he turned his head to look at the other Mutant.
At this time, the Mutant were all looking at him with incredulous gazes, some with slightly open mouths, and some with eyes wide open.
Only Deadpool seemed a bit calm, already starting to jump high on the moon's surface, and making an irritating laughter.
However, he didn't expect Loya to be able to teleport so far.
Coming to the moon in an instant, having so many superpowers was one thing, but teleporting so outrageously too?
Hurry up and nerf him!
Is balance still wanted?
The Mutant didn't understand how one second they were in the Himalayas, and the next second they were on the moon?
What kind of Portal capability is this?
So outrageous?
Are there really Mutant who can have so many kinds of superpowers?
And—why could they breathe without oxygen tanks?
Nor did they feel the low temperature they should have, just as if they were still staying in the mountains, what was this situation?
Various doubts were held inside their hearts, yet they didn't know where to start asking.
Loya was just about to open his mouth to speak when he suddenly felt a tremor in his hand.
Turning his head to look, he then noticed that Blink's breathing was weak, she was almost dying, her body was trembling, and her face was bloodless.
Seeing this, Loya quickly used the Horse Talisman. A blue light flashed, and Blink instantly recovered as before, the big hole in her body seemed as if it had never existed, and even her clothes were repaired.
Blink looked at Loya with slight bewilderment, her pretty big eyes blinking.
Feeling her fully recovered body, she obviously hadn't reacted yet.
Blink's face turned flushed from holding it in, and after holding it in for a long time, she finally spat out a sentence: "Tha—thank you."
[Blink, Clarice Ferguson favorability +70]
The Mutant present were even more surprised. There was also this healing superpower that was close to bringing back the dead, did he have to be so versatile?
Loya smiled slightly, put Blink down, and then looked at Charles, who had a bald head and a dazed face.
He said impatiently: "Charles, don't ask anything for now. First tell me what plan you have prepared."
Hearing this, Charles had no choice but to put aside the doubts in his heart and recount the plan step by step.
The plan was almost the same as what Loya thought: it was to use Shadowcat's consciousness-transferring ability to transfer consciousness to the point in time when Mystique assassinated Trask.
To stop Mystique's assassination plan, thereby changing the fate of humans and Mutant.
Of course, Loya wasn't just simply wanting to know what the plan was, but to try to trigger a system quest—that was the real purpose.
Sure enough, after Charles stated the plan, a system notification sound rang in his ears.
However, the reward for this quest was a bit unusual.
[Triggered next stage of special quest]
[Quest: Days of Future Past]
[Current objective: Return to the past, stop Mystique's assassination action]
[Quest rewards: Experience +10,000, special item *2, random superpower *1, dungeon admission ticket *1]
Seeing that the next-stage quest was triggered, Loyabreathed a sigh of relief. As long as it was triggered, it was fine; this trip had truly been hair-raising.
However, looking at the quest rewards, he had a bad premonition in his heart.
System quest rewards were roughly related to difficulty. Just going back to stop Mystique's assassination should logically be very simple for him.
But the rewards given by the system were not what this kind of quest should have.
This had already reached the reward level of killing a boss.
Obviously, this trip back to the past was probably not as simple as imagined.
Chapter 181: An Experiment Concerning the System
With the next stage of the quest finally triggered, Loyacould breathe easy. He turned to Charles and shrugged. "Alright, I don't have any more questions. Ask whatever you want, and once you're done, we can begin carrying out the plan."
Only after settling matters with Charles and the others would Loya be able to test his hypothesis regarding the eye of aurora.
Charles did not ask questions right away. Instead, he leaned slightly forward in his wheelchair, bowing deeply with heartfelt sincerity. "Thank you so very much for saving us."
Seeing this, the remaining Mutants followed suit and bowed in gratitude, even Erik doing the same.
Even though they had ended up on the Moon, hundreds of thousands of kilometers away from Earth, with no idea when they might return...
None of that mattered. Surviving was what mattered most.
If Loya hadn't shown up, they would have long since perished at the hands of the Sentinel army, rather than standing here on the surface of the Moon.
This was an undeniable debt of their very lives.
The Sentinels would never guess in their wildest dreams that they were on the Moon.
Of course, above all else, Loya was simply too powerful, inspiring awe in them from the bottom of their hearts.
Effortlessly wiping out powerful Sentinels they could barely contend with was impressive enough, but he also wielded multiple distinct, formidable superpowers at the same time.
This completely surpassed their understanding.
Most Mutants possessed only one core superpower.
Any different effects they could produce were almost always trained and developed from that single core superpower.
In essence, they were merely different extensions of a single ability.
Yet Loya was completely different: an invisible slashing strike, wind power capable of deflecting energy blasts, healing prowess bordering on resurrection, and now a super teleportation ability that brought them to the Moon.
These abilities had nothing in common whatsoever, thoroughly shattering conventional logic!
They were astonished by Loya's might, and equally curious as to why they had never heard of such a powerful Mutantbefore.
"What the heck! Why aren't you guys thanking me!" Hearing everyone shower Loya with gratitude, Deadpoolimmediately grew disgruntled and yelled out.
He was the one who brought Loya here! A huge chunk of the credit belonged to him, didn't it?
Without him, Charles's whole group would've been wiped out long ago. How could they have survived until now, let alone stepped foot on the Moon?
If not for him, would two old men like Charles and Erik ever have gotten a chance to land on the Moon? They'd be playing around with their bromance instead.
Charles shook his head with mild helplessness and thanked Deadpool as well. "Thank you as well, Deadpool."
Seeing Charles speak up, the others followed along, though their expressions were more or less strained.
After all, Deadpool's reputation among them had never been great, and he often tormented them verbally.
Deadpool couldn't care less. Seeing that everyone had thanked him, he merrily bounced around on the Moon again, looking utterly carefree.
Loya shook his head, offering a gentle smile. "It's nothing. After all, I promised Deadpool I'd help out. I couldn't very well go back on my word."
Unexpectedly, as soon as those words left his mouth, a series of chimes signaling increased affection rang in his ears.
[Affection increased]
The overall affection levels had almost all reached around fifty points.
Loya was slightly dazed, but upon reflection, it actually made total sense.
He had just saved their lives a few minutes ago, an undeniable debt of salvation.
And putting it the way he did framed his actions as risking his own safety out of loyalty to a promise, which naturally won immense goodwill.
Reaching this level of affection—equivalent to that of a fairly close friend—was not incomprehensible.
However, Blink's affection had shot straight to eighty, which Loya definitely had not expected.
Could the hero-saving-the-damsel trope really be that effective?
Looking at her face, which bore a striking resemblance to a certain female celebrity from his past life, Loya found himself momentarily at a loss for words.
After expressing their gratitude, Charles finally voiced his greatest confusion at the moment: "How... how are we able to breathe on the Moon? And why don't we feel the extreme temperatures we should be feeling?"
Loya smiled. "You can just think of it as one of my special abilities. I set up a protective barrier with a hundred-meter radius centered on you. As long as you remain within this perimeter, you don't need to worry about the external environment."
He did not say it was barrier magic. After all, this Mutant Universe was clearly a variant of the cinematic universe where magic did not exist, so explaining it would be an enormous hassle.
He couldn't be bothered to waste time; he just wanted to wrap up the arrangements here as quickly as possible so he could return to the past timeline to complete quests and isolate superpowers.
Hearing this, everyone except Deadpool gasped with slightly parted mouths, deeply shaken once more.
To think such a superpower existed! No wonder no one had known of his existence before he revealed himself.
With a superpower like this combined with teleportation, couldn't he stay on whatever planet he pleased?
It would be a miracle if anyone could ever find him.
What an enviable ability.
"Can this ability also generate oxygen?" Charles asked instinctively.
He needed to confirm whether they could stay on the Moon long enough to ensure their upcoming plan could be carried out safely.
Loya shook his head. "Of course not. We're breathing the air trapped inside the barrier from before. But don't worry, I came prepared."
With a wave of his hand, oxygen tanks stored inside the System Space materialized before them, piling into a small hill.
These were the oxygen tanks he had Fury prepare earlier; he hadn't expected them to actually come in handy.
Loya had formed conjectures early on and made preparations in advance.
If this universe followed the general plotline of Days of Future Past, they would need an environment where Shadowcat could help Wolverine cross through time in peace.
Thinking it over, there wasn't a single safe place left on Earth.
That was why he had prepared oxygen tanks and planned to relocate everyone to the Moon.
There was no way the Sentinels could track them all the way to the Moon.
And sure enough, his plan was validated.
With the barrier magic in place, being on the Moon was no different from being on Earth.
These oxygen tanks could easily supply the Mutants here for an entire month.
Looking at the mountain of oxygen tanks, Charles opened his mouth, unsure of what to say, but the final lingering worry in his heart evaporated.
With so many oxygen tanks, and being on the Moon, they had more than enough to execute their plan in safety without fearing any sudden Sentinel ambush.
"Right, Charles, do me a favor." As Loya spoke, he retrieved the furnace gourd from the System Space and handed it to Charles.
Charles took the gourd with a puzzled expression.
He examined the exquisite yellow gourd in his hands, completely bewildered for a moment.
Loya explained with a smile, "Just concentrate and channel your psionic power into it. This concerns the success or failure of our plan. You should know something is wrong with those Sentinels, or perhaps, you know certain secrets."
His gaze toward Charles carried profound meaning.
Charles's eyes flickered. He hadn't expected Loya to pick up on this; not only was the young man remarkably powerful, his perception was extraordinarily sharp.
He nodded. "I do indeed know a few things, but I cannot speak of them. Speaking them aloud might jeopardize our plan. Please trust me."
"I understand." Loya nodded in comprehension, putting on an expression that suggested he knew what the secret was as well.
In reality, he had no idea what the secret was; he had merely bluffed Charles to get him to cooperate with everything he had.
As expected, the old guy really did know something.
Still, it didn't matter if he kept quiet.
The power that had given Loya such an immense sense of dread earlier kept him deeply alert; speaking it aloud might very well attract its attention.
Disaster emanates from the tongue; sometimes that wasn't just an idle proverb.
What the secret was didn't matter—so long as Charles helped channel mental energy into the gourd.
Loya had already configured the creation parameters inside the gourd for the metal needed for the Cloth; all that was lacking now was psionic power.
There was no need to worry about Charles affecting the metal inside either; he was merely an energy source, while full control remained in Loya's hands.
In fact, Charles couldn't even see what was inside.
Having received Loya's understanding, Charles felt deeply moved.
Because of this unspeakable secret, he had faced countless doubts; being trusted so readily now left him unexpectedly touched.
Without saying another word, he poured his psionic energy into the gourd with full devotion.
After the first surge of input, Charles's expression shifted in surprise.
He discovered that no matter how much psionic power he channeled inside, it was like a pebble dropping into the vast ocean, disappearing without a single trace.
Such a miraculous phenomenon energized him even further, prompting him to pour in more and more psionic power.
If this object could aid them in altering the fates of Mutants and humanity, it would be worth it even if it drained him completely dry!
Sensing the Cloth metal inside the gourd taking shape rapidly, Loya smiled in satisfaction.
Good thing he had bluffed Charles; otherwise, the old guy would never have put in this much effort.
Now he could attend to the final matter.
Loya pressed one hand against the lunar soil, silently channeling his power according to the spells in the compendium of spells while muttering an incantation.
The ground suddenly began to squirm.
He let out a sharp cry: "Rise!"
Rumble!
The ground trembled violently, and the soil shifted in a peculiar manner, though carefully avoiding the area where the group stood.
Unsure of what was happening, everyone backed away, watching the shaking ground in sheer curiosity.
The lunar soil seemed to be assembling into something.
A moment later, as the soil rapidly formed into structures, everyone stared at the scene before them, drawing in sharp breaths of pure shock.
Houses!
The soil had autonomously assembled into houses!
Through Loya's handy work, rows of neat, compact houses quickly emerged before them in an orderly arrangement.
The number matched exactly the number of Mutants present, excluding Deadpool and Loya.
Gazing at the houses before them, the crowd looked at Loya in disbelief.
This mysterious man could even manipulate soil!
And to execute something as intricate as building houses was simply unbelievable!
Abilities so versatile and refined—could any Mutant truly reach such a level?
Just what kind of talent was this?
Loya looked at the houses before him and nodded in satisfaction.
This naturally wasn't a superpower, but magic.
Construction magic from the compendium of spells.
Depending on different combinations of incantations, one could construct all sorts of different houses; this was merely the most basic form.
There were dozens more architectural incantations like this in the compendium of spells.
It was hard to imagine just how bored the book's author, Invincible Jade, must have been to compile so many bizarre spells.
Of course, Loya hadn't built the houses just to show off; he had another objective.
For one, the Mutants here were the final survivors of this Earth, constantly on the run day in and day out.
Providing them with a restful place to recuperate took little effort; it did no harm and served to boost morale.
Secondly, doing this would likely farm another round of affection.
And sure enough...
System notifications immediately rang in his ear as everyone's affection ticked up by a few points, nearly all of them reaching sixty.
As for the third reason, it served as a little experiment for Loya.
In the Days of Future Past storyline, Logan altered the past, but Logan was the only one who completely retained his memories in the end.
Charles retained a portion as well, but seemingly not all.
Loya wanted to see whether, after building up affection, altering the past would reset that affection to zero.
Or could he leave a deep enough impression on them to allow them to retain part of their memories?
If affection didn't reset to zero and they could retain their memories, things would get very interesting.
Furthermore, upon meeting the past Charles and the others, how would this affection change?
Of course, there was the most crucial point.
At sixty affection, Friend Teleportation unlocked, allowing friends to be summoned to his side from anywhere—even across different timelines.
Facing this universe that had clearly undergone mutations, alongside a special storyline quest of distinctly abnormal difficulty, this might prove to be a useful trump card.
What if it actually came in handy?
A little extra caution never hurt.
Loya waved his hand once more, retrieving an ample supply of food from the System Space and stacking it beside the oxygen tanks.
Now living provisions were settled as well.
Having done all this, Loya turned to the group. "Alright, everything that needs preparing is ready. We can begin the plan."
Having witnessed Loya's capabilities, the crowd subconsciously complied with his directions and promptly sprang into action.
According to the plan Charles laid out, Shadowcat would send Logan's and Deadpool's consciousnesses into the past to execute the mission.
Only their continuously regenerating minds could withstand a consciousness transfer that reached so far back in time.
At that moment, however, Shadowcat spoke up with some confusion: "But what's the point of sending Deadpool's consciousness back? In 1973,
Deadpool probably wasn't even ten years old yet, right? What could he possibly do?"
"Who said I need you to send my consciousness back?" Deadpool waved his hand cheerfully. "I can return to the past on my own. I don't need your help."
"You have that kind of ability?" Erik blurted out, his eyes lighting up. "Then can you take me back with you?"
He truly felt uneasy about Logan and Deadpool; neither of those two was reliable.
It would be far safer if he went himself.
Once there, he would just kill Mystique outright, and everything would be resolved.
"Nope." Deadpool shook his head, adopting a rare, unfathomable expression. "I can only take one person back. Do you think you're the better choice, or Loya? Besides, Logan's consciousness has to go back—that's an unchangeable constant."
Having said that, he shot a subtle glance toward Charles.
And Charles subtly glanced back at Deadpool.
Every bit of this exchange was captured by Loya's Minds Eye.
Even before arriving in this universe, he knew Deadpoolhad other plans, but he hadn't expected Charles to be in cahoots with Deadpool.
What on earth were these two up to?
Hearing Deadpool's explanation, Erik wanted to say something more, but his expression paused, and he ultimately dropped the idea.
As for why he gave up so easily, only he himself knew.
Next, Shadowcat sent Logan's consciousness back into the past.
Deadpool also opened an extraordinary Portal, the space around it rippling with peculiar fluctuations.
He waved at Loya and laughed boisterously. "Let's go! We're about to become heroes who save the world!"
However, Loya shook his head. Placing one hand on Deadpool's shoulder while stowing away the furnace gourd with the other, he chuckled softly. "I think it's better if I take you back instead."
As his voice fell, both of them vanished from where they stood.