Ororo and Jean Grey rushed towards the upper floors of the Eiffel Tower. The power Magneto displayed had exceeded their imagination, and it was precisely because of this that their hearts were filled with worry for Zhou Yi.
Magneto was not a soft-hearted individual; many years ago, he even had the idea of using nuclear bombs to destroy the entire human society, returning humans and Mutants to their most primitive state of competition. If this idea had come true, one could imagine the immense casualties it would have caused. Fortunately, Professor Charles stopped his crazy idea.
How ruthless a person capable of such an idea would be towards his enemies was a question that required no thought at all... Especially for someone like Zhou Yi, who challenged Magneto's authority from a human perspective, Death was absolutely the greatest possibility, given Magneto's consistent style.
The two ran at high speed; their Mutant Physique gave them physical qualities beyond ordinary people, and a three-hundred-meter tower was no difficulty for them. Soon, they reached the middle section of the tower.
Just as they were about to continue, a gunshot rang out. Jean Grey subconsciously opened a shield, and indeed, a high-speed spinning bullet appeared on the psychic barrier. The conical bullet futilely performed useless work, and after a moment, it fell to the ground as its kinetic energy ran out.
"Woah, woah! Look who it is, isn't this the beautiful Jean Grey? I don't think this is our first meeting!" A hoarse female voice came from the crisscrossing steel framework. Ororo and the other immediately followed the sound and instantly spotted a blue figure.
Like a demonic enchantress, the seductive blue figure crouched in a corner of the steel tower, leaning on a sniper rifle, showing a mocking smile to the two.
Jean Grey's gaze intersected with Mystique Raven's, and she immediately noticed the deep provocation in her eyes.
"Ororo, you go up first. I'll catch up with you after I deal with this guy," Jean Grey took a deep breath and said to Ororo.
"That's right, you can totally bypass me, but do you think Erik's subordinates are just Beast down there and me? There are still people waiting for you up there, my little chocolate!" Raven agilely leaped between the steel structures, appearing in the passage not far from the two in a few moves.
However, she made a sidestepping motion, opening up part of the passage. Clearly, just as she said, she didn't mind Ororo passing through her blockade.
Ororo's gaze moved back and forth between Jean Grey and Raven a few times, but in the end, she gritted her teeth and rushed upwards. Magneto's subordinates, no matter what, would not openly defy his prohibition, meaning that as Mutants, even if they were on opposing sides, there would be no mortal danger, at most just some suffering. So, after weighing it in her mind, she resolutely chose to rush upwards.
Watching Ororo leave, Jean Grey focused her attention entirely on Mystique. She was one of the Professor's most prized students, and she had heard a little about Mystique. Purely in terms of ability, she believed that the person in front of her was no match for her.
"I advise you, you are no match for me. So, you'd better get out of my way obediently!" Jean Grey threatened faintly, but Mystique Raven, hearing her threat, showed an unusual expression.
"Is that so? My beautiful Jean, do you really think so?"
A bolt of lightning suddenly struck, hitting a nearby police car.
The powerful electric field instantly caused a huge explosion, turning the entire police car into a massive burning Fireball with a roar. Although there was no one in the police car, it still caused a huge commotion.
This scene made Jean Grey increasingly anxious. She didn't know how much pressure Zhou Yi, who was facing Magneto, was enduring, but she knew without thinking that it far exceeded that of the ignorant humans on the ground. Therefore, her desire to rush to his side became more urgent. Even if it was just to share a portion of the pressure, it would be enough to calm her heart.
For this, she decided to finish the fight quickly. Her telekinesis directly gripped Mystique's throat, wanting to make this enemy lose resistance as quickly as possible.
But Mystique's reaction was completely beyond her expectation. Her body instantly transformed. Soon, a familiar figure appeared before her.
"Stop, Jean! It's me!" A man with brown hair, a melancholic handsome face, and conspicuous ruby glasses on his face called out to Jean Grey.
"Scott!" Watching this familiar figure struggle in her psychic hand, calling her name, Jean Grey's hand trembled, and her mental instability immediately affected her abilities.
Feeling the weakening grip on his neck, Scott struggled free from Jean Grey's restraint. At this moment, he walked towards Jean Grey, rubbing his neck, uttering words of deep affection and despair that would move even cold-blooded creatures.
"Jean, why... why would you do this to me for that guy? Have you forgotten everything between us? Why, why would you betray me!"
Although Jean Grey knew that the Scott in front of her was the infamous Mystique in disguise, she couldn't help but take two steps back, defending herself.
"No, Scott. I haven't betrayed you, Zhou Yi and I are just friends."
"Friends?" Scott's face twisted into a mocking smile, and his features changed again. This time, he transformed into Zhou Yi's appearance.
"Jean, you say we're just friends? Isn't that too heartbreaking for me? I gave you my whole heart, and this is how you repay me?"
"Yi?" Jean Grey's mind became even more chaotic. She shook her head, at a loss, not knowing what to say.
"So, you really are a bad woman, my Darling Jean!" Mystique, disguised as Zhou Yi, walked directly in front of Jean Grey and suddenly punched her in the stomach.
Jean, suddenly attacked, immediately fell to the ground. The pain from her stomach made her involuntarily curl up. Mystique then reverted to her original form and stepped on Jean's face. She looked at the woman whose face was contorted with confusion and pain, grinning as she said,
"Do you know why I know about your relationship with these two men? That night, I disguised myself as you and snuck into the hotel. Then I met that lovely young man; originally, I wanted to just get by. But that lovely young man was just too proactive."
At this point, her voice involuntarily became more excited.
"That kind of passion that could burn everything almost melted me. I really didn't expect him to have such passion and skill. Although being in your form made me very uncomfortable, I have to say, it was a memorable and pleasant night. How could such a lovely young man fall into your hands, don't you agree?"
Mystique's laughter reached Jean Grey's ears. While the sound grated on her, it also ignited the rationality within her.
It was as if she heard another self screaming and roaring. She could even feel how angry she was deep inside.
It was like her private property had been touched by others; that extreme jealousy and hatred almost tore her apart. She felt that her other side was beginning to Awaken.
Jean Grey herself was an extremely powerful Mutant. Within her body was an inner personality whose power Rank even surpassed Magneto and Charles. The formation of this personality seemed to be related to a great power born at the beginning of the Universe, and this also meant that her power was beyond her control. At least, it was beyond her control for now.
To prevent her power from running wild, Professor Charles placed a cage within her mind. This cage held an entity known as Dark Phoenix. She was Jean Grey's truest side, and also her most uncontrolled side. If the Jean Grey who usually appeared was a calm and rational being, then the Dark Phoenix was a being that acted purely on instinct and emotion.
Dark Phoenix had been suppressed in the deepest part of Jean Grey's mind for years. She was Jean Grey's Sealed emotions and power. Professor Charles originally hoped that time would allow Jean Grey to grow to a point where she could accept this power, but as time passed, Jean Grey and Dark Phoenix had completely gone down the path he did not wish to see.
Dark Phoenix, like Jean Grey, had been growing. She absorbed Jean Grey's emotions and used the power of these emotions to repeatedly assault her Seal. She had always yearned to replace the rational Jean Grey and become the sole existence. And this was what the Professor absolutely did not want to see.
He could only strengthen the Seal again and again with his psychic power, yet the results were always limited. Emotions are an existence that humans cannot control, and Jean Grey's complex emotions also left her position ravaged.
It was foreseeable that the appearance of Dark Phoenix was only a matter of time. And all Professor Charles did was extend this time indefinitely.
This was a very secret secret. Only three people in the World knew about it. Besides Zhou Yi, who had some understanding from his previous life, only Professor Charles, who built the psychic cage, and Magneto Erik knew about the entity within Jean Grey's body. As for Mystique Raven, she was completely unaware of it.
And if she knew the truth, she would never challenge Jean Grey's psyche in this way. Beneath that fragile psyche was an existence more terrifying than a gushing volcano. Provoking her like this was tantamount to lighting a cigarette in front of a mountain of explosives. However, she knew nothing about any of this.
Dark red light began to flow in Jean Grey's vacant eyes. It was the color of Fire, and merely gazing at it had a soul-stirring power. And as this light began to circulate, rising flames also began to burn around Jean Grey's body.
They were not real flames, because although they had the appearance of flames, they did not possess the temperature or burning properties of Fire. But in terms of destructiveness, they were not inferior in the slightest. Under the dark red fiery glow, all matter that came into contact with it was easily torn apart and disintegrated.
Even hard steel was no exception; whether it was the ground or the tower's supports, they instantly turned into dust-like existences upon being touched, and began to slowly rotate around the culprit that caused all this, like dust rings orbiting a planet.
Mystique, who had been congratulating herself on having dodged early moments before, now showed a horrified expression, because she had already seen the look in the eyes of the woman floating in mid-air, surrounded by dark red fiery light, directed at her.
It was filled with naked rage and killing intent.
At this moment, Mystique realized that she seemed to have touched a dangerous existence that should not have been touched. She began to feel regret, but regret was completely useless. To save herself, she could only rely on her own actions to compensate.