Chapter 27: So You're Calling for Backup, Huh?
Du Wa didn't like being low-key, but when he saw Magneto extend his hand, telekinetically holding a large pile of iron cages, completely ignoring everything else as he flew from Alaska to stand before him, he couldn't help but feel this scene was fucking surreal.
"First time meeting, and you're this flamboyant. Are you sure that's okay? Countless people would love to kill you," Du Wa said.
"I'd rather hope humanity launches a nuclear bomb at me. That way, I could seize the opportunity to teach them a lesson they'll never forget."
Magneto floated high in the air, more than ten meters up, and casually slammed the cages onto the ground, creating a series of loud bangs.
It was clear he truly didn't care; his tone was incredibly calm as he spoke.
"Forgive my bluntness, Lord Erik, but have you... given up? Do you just not care about humanity at all anymore?" Du Wa's face bloomed with a warm smile, an expression like he was enthusiastically chatting with an old friend. If not for the horde of Xenomorphs surging out from behind him, his performance would have been flawless.
Magneto remained expressionless. He raised his hand, stripped the metal elements from the soil, and formed a huge metallic mass, which he then smashed toward Du Wa.
His attack was sudden, but his target, Du Wa, was a guy who specialized in surprise attacks himself and was naturally on guard.
Almost at the instant the metal ball was formed, the Abomination Xenomorph was already in motion. It swung its fist and struck the target head-on. The punch shattered it back into countless fragments.
"Is this your way of saying hello?" Du Wa said slowly.
"My way of saying hello to *you*," Magneto said. With a twitch of his fingers, he created even more metal, which rushed at Du Wa from all directions.
Du Wa displayed extreme composure. He stood his ground, and the surrounding Xenomorphs simultaneously received Du Wa's command and began to act.
Their transition from stillness to collective action was like the start-up of a precision war machine.
Each Xenomorph was tiny on its own, but dozens of them working in concert precisely countered every incoming attack.
They were even able to instantly assign which attacks to block based on their own strength, reacting to the different sizes and intensities of the assaults.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
A meticulous, multi-layered defensive formation was formed in an instant, showcasing its high efficiency.
Every second, a large number of attacks were deflected, corroded, or even blocked with their bodies.
This scene even moved Magneto slightly. He stopped his attack, looking at these Xenomorphs with great interest. "When you've seen the view from a higher place, you become bored with inferior humanity. That's perfectly normal—take you, for example. Now that you have these little things, do you still consider yourself an ordinary human?"
Magneto was comparing the differences between Xenomorphs and Deviants, and felt that no matter how he looked at it, the Xenomorphs were a bit stronger.
A single Xenomorph was as fragile as an ant before him. A group of them would, at most, take him a little time.
But if a larger number of Transcendent Xenomorphs gathered, like the utterly cold Abomination Xenomorph, even Magneto would have to take it seriously.
The current Du Wa wasn't enough to make Magneto treat him as an equal, but after this exchange, Magneto could already see Du Wa's immense potential.
"At least I still think of myself as a human, not a Xenomorph."
"For now. Don't think I don't know that you also have a Xenomorph in your chest. I can feel its life magnetic field." A cold smile appeared on Magneto's face. "If I hadn't confirmed that point, I might have killed you the moment I saw you, instead of playing house with you here."
"That's a very difficult thing to respond to. To guard against this very situation, I even made sure to hide Raven," Du Wa sighed.
"Are you trying to threaten me with Raven?"
"No, not a threat. I know that if I were to use her to threaten you, you would ultimately abandon her. But, what if we continue the bargain between us? I can provide you with intelligence in exchange for the Deviants you've captured."
Du Wa pointed at the tightly sealed iron cages. Inside, the Deviants were trying to tear through the ridiculously thick metal.
The Abomination Xenomorph also silently raised its head, turning its eyeless, savage face towards Magneto, like an iceberg devoid of any emotional fluctuation.
"What's more, I believe your old friend is watching everything here. Look, I've already detected that person's mental fluctuations on my Xenomorph. He's observing us." Du Wa pointed at Elektra behind him.
This was the reason Elektra was here.
"Charles, get out," Magneto said coldly.
"Erik, I just want to remind you not to fight in a place like this. There's also no need to attack this child. He is not our enemy."
"Of course I won't attack him, because he's no longer a pure human. For the sake of pursuing power—I admire that kind of behavior," Magneto said.
He wanted to build a world without humans. He appreciated any thought or action that made a clean break from humanity, especially from a brilliantly talented fellow like Du Wa.
Du Wa's expression didn't change. In truth, he could separate the Xenomorph from his body whenever he wanted, but he saw no need to clarify that point.
He was far more interested in those Deviants. Extremely interested.
This branch of Deviants possessed the ability to absorb a target's life force and genes, and could then acquire the transcendent powers the target possessed.
Ordinary Deviants also had this ability.
"You two chat. I'm going to receive my goods."
With a thought from Du Wa, nearly twenty Xenomorphs shot out, first surrounding one of the iron cages.
Under Magneto's intrigued gaze, one Xenomorph tore open its own body, splashing a large amount of blood that instantly corroded through the layers of metal.
"That level of acidity... I'm afraid only Vibranium or Adamantium could withstand it." A look of surprise appeared on Magneto's face.
It was too extraordinary. The very existence of this creature was unnatural.
One Deviant tried to take the opportunity to escape, but in an instant, it was pounced upon and pinned to the ground by a swarm of Xenomorphs. It let out a sharp shriek and began to fight back against the Xenomorphs, but it was completely suppressed on all fronts.
The Xenomorphs launched a dense barrage of attacks. No matter how much the Deviant struggled, it was useless. It could only be knocked down again and again as numerous wounds split open on its body.
"I ran a genetic analysis on them. I have to admit, the genes in these things are very similar to the X-gene," Magneto said in a cold voice.
"So, that discovery left you very frustrated." Du Wa nodded in understanding. "Anyone would be surprised to learn that result, but don't worry about it. This branch of Deviants is not of the same race as mutants."
"That's what I wanted to ask you. Why do mutants still exist, while the Deviants, who are the origin of mutants, have disappeared?"
"You're very cunning. That should clearly count as two questions. Because the Deviants failed to pass the Demiurge's Judgment and were personally wiped from the face of the Earth by the Demiurge. Only a portion of humanity who inherited the Deviant gene survived."
Du Wa began to focus on capturing the Deviants, eagerly dragging them underground to begin the implantation process on the spot.
Before long, he would have a new batch of truly formidable soldiers, and they would possess astounding growth potential!
Neither Magneto, nor Professor X who was monitoring the situation, nor S.H.I.E.L.D., nor any other faction, realized this. They didn't even know how terrifying the Deviants' potential for growth truly was.
"Ten Deviants for this question. It involves matters of an ancient god, so it's more than worth the price. You're not going to back out of the deal, are you?"
"I won't. I never go back on a promise I've made. But your asking price is steep. The Deviants are becoming scarcer. We are killing them, and that group of Eternals is killing them too."
As Magneto spoke, his mind was contemplating the matter of the gods.
A Deity, in an ancient era, created the Eternals and the Deviants? It was unimaginable how terrifying such a Deity must be.
One had to know that the current peak experts among the mutants possessed the power to threaten the entire world single-handedly, yet Magneto still wouldn't dare say such a powerful individual was stronger than the Deviants who had once dominated the Earth.
But the Deviants had been annihilated.
Magneto decided to go back and thoroughly investigate various myths and legends to find traces related to the gods.
"You'd better not have deceived me, nor played some game of half-truths. I will verify the authenticity," Magneto said as he flew into the sky, leaving without a backward glance.
"Lord Charles, your good friend has left. Shouldn't you be leaving as well? Honestly, I'm deeply honored that you chose not to invade my brain." Du Wa turned and spoke to Elektra.
Given Professor X's character, he generally wouldn't search another person's memory.
"There was another reason Erik didn't attack you. He suspects you might actually be a mutant, perhaps one who has awakened the ability to create and control genetic creatures," said Professor X.
"Similar to Mister Sinister? That's interesting. I've never been tested for the X-gene," Du Wa replied nonchalantly.
Just as Du Wa was seizing the time to increase his own strength...
The chain reaction he had set in motion had officially begun.
Upon realizing that Magneto had sought out Du Wa, the terrified vampires could finally bear it no longer. They decided to proactively declare war on Du Wa and seek out a powerful force to eliminate him.
"Sorcerer Kaecilius, this is the situation. We need you, the esteemed chief disciple of the Sorcerer Supreme, to help us kill him!"
(end of chapter)