"Erik Lehnsherr, don't you think you're despicable?" The roar of thunder couldn't mask Zhou Yi's shout; at this moment, he was truly enraged.
"Despicable? Young man, when you've experienced as much as I have, you'll find that the honor you pride yourself on is actually worthless. As long as you can achieve your goals, any despicable means are acceptable. Conversely, no matter how much honor you have, you're just a failure."
Magneto wore a sneer on his face at Zhou Yi's anger. He even adopted a lecturing posture, expounding his philosophy like a social studies teacher.
"So you can shamelessly display your despicableness without any reservations?"
Magneto's smile faded.
"Indeed, you cannot understand us. It was a mistake to tell you all this. So, the final choice: surrender, accept your defeat. Or, try to block my attack. Don't try to waste our time with the same methods as before. I can tell you that my magnetic sense has already detected the electromagnetic fields of all remaining Humans in this city. If you delay any longer, I don't mind using their lives to give you a wake-up call!"
"Stop, Erik! They are just innocent people, and have nothing to do with this." Zhou Yi, completely at his wit's end, could only hope to persuade the leader of these Mutants to show some compassion, but it was clearly meaningless. Magneto's hardened heart was far more powerful than his abilities.
"There are no innocents in this war. Too many innocent people among my kind have sacrificed their lives, so it's time for these Humans to taste this suffering as well. Of course, you still have other choices. Or rather, it all depends on you."
Zhou Yi closed his mouth, his eyes beginning to survey everything in the city. In the chaotic city, hundreds of thousands of Humans were still frantically fleeing. The sight of the great earthquake and thunder destroying the army had terrified these ordinary people. On the other side, Rogue was huddled in a cage, watching them nervously.
This was the choice he had to make: admit his failure and let Magneto take Rogue. Or, continue the stalemate as before, allowing Magneto to vent his anger on innocent Humans. None of these were things Zhou Yi wanted to see. Of course, he had other choices.
"Come on, Magneto Erik Lehnsherr. Just as you said, let me see what you've got."
This was Zhou Yi's final choice. He couldn't just let Magneto take Rogue like this; his promise would be worthless, and all his plans would almost certainly come to nothing. The war between Humans and Mutants would become an imminent problem.
Of course, he also couldn't stand by and watch Magneto slaughter the Civilians of Paris. Perhaps people die every moment in the World, but as a Superhero, no one should die in front of him because of this.
His sense of mission compelled him to protect the lives of these innocents, so he would not allow Magneto to do such a thing, no matter what.
So, there was only one choice left. To block Magneto's two attacks in his home territory. This was a very dangerous thing, but under the current circumstances, it was the only way to stop him.
Listening to Zhou Yi's reply, a triumphant smile appeared on Magneto's face. For him, this was the most satisfying answer. The ability Zhou Yi displayed made him fearful, especially since he wasn't a Mutant. This situation caused Magneto to directly categorize him into the enemy camp. And for enemies, especially powerful and threatening ones, destroying them was the best solution.
He was somewhat worried at first, concerned that such a fellow would choose between his own life and the lives of others, but he finally realized that such worries were meaningless. He was the kind of hero who should die in an epic, actually risking his life to save others. This sealed his fate. And the fate of a hero is only tragedy.
"You made a great decision, but definitely a wrong one." Magneto Erik sighed, a rare occurrence for him. He hadn't seen someone like this in a long time.
"It's not your place to judge! Come on, Erik. Let me see what Magneto is truly capable of. If it's just these small lightning bolts, don't even bother bringing them out to embarrass yourself!" Zhou Yi sneered, hovering in the air. Lightning began to strike his body, but it was twisted away by the gravitational field the moment it made contact. Dazzling lightning could only circle his body, but it could never touch his true form within.
This scene did not surprise Magneto. In his eyes, this was the standard a Superhero capable of challenging him should possess.
"Don't worry, young man. You deserve a more solemn funeral!" He said, pointing to the city below. "This is the target you want to protect. As a hero, what you need to do is very simple: don't let it be destroyed by me. If you fail, I don't need to do much; this place will naturally become your grave. Perhaps many years later, someone will lay flowers here for you."
"If it's your funeral, I'd look forward to laying flowers for you. Perhaps apricot blossoms would be quite nice." (Apricot blossoms, it is said, are for male homosexuals. Seeing this flower can break through worldly views, and then they can be together. The actor who played Magneto, you know!)
"I hope you can still make such jokes in a moment!" Magneto's face darkened. He was tired of being mocked. Engaging in pointless verbal disputes was less satisfying than simply building a grave for him. So he no longer paid attention to Zhou Yi, but instead raised his hands to the sky.
Zhou Yi followed his movements, shifting his gaze above him. The ability granted by his super vision allowed him to clearly see what was above him.
It was a gigantic artificial machine traversing endless space. A crystallization of aerospace technology suspended in low Earth orbit. It was also the largest spacecraft Humanity could currently build — the International Space Station. A product of a super project jointly promoted by six major international space agencies, and a giant space platform developed with the participation of sixteen countries.
This spacecraft, whose construction plan officially began after the end of the Cold War and was only recently completed, has an internal volume of 1,200 cubic meters and a total weight of 419,000 kilograms. From a purely technical standpoint, it has reached the limits of current Human technology. Many participating countries are proud of this project, but they never imagined that today, a Mutant would turn this behemoth into a deadly weapon.
Yes, a deadly weapon. In Magneto's hands, the International Space Station has lost all its original functions, and now it has only one purpose: to fall from space to Earth like a meteor, striking the land beneath his feet.
This reminded Zhou Yi of a U.S. military project called the "Rod of God," a space-based kinetic weapon System. This System is mainly composed of two satellite platforms in low orbit; one is responsible for communication and target locking, and the other carries metal kinetic projectiles called "Rods of God."
The projectiles are metal rods made of tungsten, titanium, and uranium, 0.3 meters in diameter, 6.1 meters long, and weighing 100 kilograms. These metal rods are equipped with small booster Rockets and can strike targets anywhere on Earth within minutes, guided by satellites.
When the metal rod falls from space 1,000 kilometers above the ground, its speed can reach 11,587 kilometers per hour, which is close to the speed of a meteor. Therefore, it gains a large amount of kinetic energy, and the destructive power it generates upon impact with the ground exceeds that of ordinary strategic weapons.
Compared to Magneto's methods, the U.S. military's weapon System was simply pathetic. In Magneto's hands, Zhou Yi could clearly see the International Space Station, into which countless funds and manpower had been invested, being gradually broken down into countless primordial metal particles in space, and then slowly reassembled into a huge alloy warhead.
Then, under his magnetic control, it was accelerated by electromagnetic pulses and shot into the atmosphere at an extremely high initial velocity. Soon, the high-speed friction flames already covered its entire body.
According to the U.S. military's estimate for the Rod of God, a kinetic warhead weighing twenty tons and no more than five cubic meters could easily shatter ground rock layers and trigger a certain degree of earthquakes and tsunamis, with a certain chance of causing small-scale plate shifts. Magneto's kinetic warhead would only be more powerful.
Its own weight, plus the acceleration from entering the atmosphere from space, far exceeded the U.S. military's Rod of God's estimated standards. Once it falls into a city, the enormous destructive power it causes would definitely be catastrophic. It is very likely that this famous city of romance will be completely wiped off the map.
This was not wishful thinking, but something that could truly happen. Magneto had such audacity, and likewise, the weapon in his hand had such power.
"This is my first test, Dawn Knight. A space-based kinetic warhead, developed by Humanity to replace nuclear bomb. Think about its power to change geology. I believe even you will marvel at Human wisdom. They always like to use their intelligence on these tools of slaughter. But thanks to them, they gave me inspiration for creation. Go, Dawn Knight, now is your chance to show what you can do. The life of Paris is in your hands. If you win, they will survive. If you lose, then be buried here with them."
Magneto had stopped his movements. At this point, the alloy kinetic warhead no longer needed his control; it only needed to fall to the ground, and everything would be settled. So he just looked at the Superhero in front of him with some regret, beginning to lament his impending end. In his eyes, Zhou Yi was already a dead man. No one could escape from such an attack.
Zhou Yi had no time to listen to this guy's nagging; he had to seize every second to stop this alloy warhead before it hit the ground. Otherwise, everything that happened would become an irreversible disaster.
So he flew directly into the air, his black figure like a sharp arrow tearing through the sky, drawing a crimson fire line straight up towards the heavens.
And on the ground, countless surviving citizens watched him. Magneto's voice had been diffused by the magnetic field to every corner of the city. These survivors all looked up at the sky, where two lines of fire could be clearly seen extending from the ends of heaven and Earth, slowly closing the distance between them.
In such circumstances, most of them had begun to lose hope of survival. A weapon comparable to a nuclear bomb; just this one sentence was enough to destroy their psychological defenses. Fragile people had already knelt on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. Some had already begun to pray aimlessly.
However, there were always exceptions. These people stared at the black shadow in the sky, as if pouring all their strength into that figure. In their eyes, this was hope, the hope of survival.
Zhou Yi seemed to feel this power. He charged forward, fearless, towards the huge alloy warhead.