Fifty kilometers away, at the construction site.
This place used to be wasteland, but because Marcus chose it, S.H.I.E.L.D started construction and planned to build a mansion here.
Right now, it was still in the land development stage.
Marcus brought Jean here for a test.
There was no need to worry about destroying anything.
It would actually be better if everything got flattened and a huge crater was blasted out to make an artificial lake.
In short, go wild!
At the same time,
After receiving the news, Fury also redirected satellites to monitor the area live.
“Don’t be nervous.” Marcus comforted her.
“Trust yourself less.
You can’t hurt me anyway.”
The teasing comment made Jean laugh.
Her tension eased considerably.
“Thank you, I feel much better now.” Jean said absentmindedly.
“Charles asked me to ask you something.
Can he connect to your mind?”
That…
Marcus definitely did not want that.
But he had a backup plan.
“Tiga, can you directly connect to Charles psychic waves?”
[Retrieving signals…]
[High frequency brainwaves detected.
Simulation and synchronization possible.
Execute?]
“Yes.”
The next second,
Just like the earlier call, Marcus could communicate with Xavier directly in his mind without any barriers.
“Charles, I’m here.”
“Huh?” Xavier sounded confused.
“These aren’t your brainwaves…
I’ve never encountered brainwaves like this before…
No, wait!
These are my own brainwaves?!”
“Stop guessing.
My dark matter computer is simulating them.
You can think of it as me calling you.”
Marcus explanation sent shockwaves through Xavier’s mind!
A computer…
capable of simulating brainwaves?
And dark matter?
It sounded absurdly advanced!
Jean also stared at Marcus strangely.
This “alien” had way too many secrets.
It made people…
Want to explore him even more.
“Alright, preparations are done.” Marcus clapped his hands.
“Release your mental restraints.”
“Ready, Jean?” Xavier asked.
Jean took a deep breath and nodded seriously.
“Crack, crack!”
In the spiritual world, sounds of breaking echoed out as orange-red flame-like energy burst continuously from Jean’s body.
The sparks landed on the ground and directly disintegrated the soil, turning the flat land into a cratered wasteland instantly.
Several tiny sparks bounced toward Marcus.
The moment they touched him, they refracted away like light hitting a mirror and shot into the ground instead.
“Vector Control, Absolute Defense!”
As expected,
This power could not hurt him at all, or perhaps Jean simply wasn’t strong enough yet to exceed his calculation limits.
Compared to Marcus calm expression,
Jean fell into intense pain.
She screamed with a twisted expression as the flames around her grew larger and larger.
In the end, the flames completely engulfed her and formed a giant firebird behind her!
At the same time,
Jean’s painful expression disappeared, replaced by complete indifference as she looked at Marcus emotionlessly.
Marcus smiled.
“Welcome to the outside world.
So, what should I call you?”
“Dark Phoenix.
That is the name I gave myself.” Dark Phoenix narrowed her eyes.
“You released me?
And you said…
I can’t kill you?”
“You can try.” Marcus invited casually.
“You think I wouldn’t dare?”
Dark Phoenix raised a hand.
An enormous amount of Phoenix Force appeared out of nowhere and crashed down toward Marcus!
The ground beneath Marcus instantly evaporated as if it had never existed.
At the same time,
Every instrument on Earth monitoring abnormal energy readings instantly maxed out!
However…
He floated calmly in the air, looking at Dark Phoenix without emotion.
That expression clearly said:
That’s it?
Dark Phoenix became furious!
She immediately increased the output of the Phoenix Force.
The earth around them began collapsing, disintegrating, and vanishing into nothingness!
The firebird behind her also expanded completely and gradually evolved into the shape of a phoenix.
Within just a few breaths,
Dark Phoenix alone had carved out a crater over a thousand meters deep!
The violent energy waves also destroyed countless monitoring devices in the air.
Even satellite images became completely scrambled.
Fury was horrified watching it!
Human satellites were useless against this level of power?
Xavier was equally worried!
The Phoenix Force had completely isolated his telepathy.
Right now,
That entire area had become a blank zone!
Which meant…
He had no idea whether Marcus was alive or dead!
Several minutes later,
Countries all over the world were shaken by the disturbance, yet no one could identify the source of the chaos.
Finally,
The massive phoenix shadow gradually faded away.
And then they saw…
The massive phoenix slowly faded away, revealing a bottomless crater.
The crater alone stretched for…
Dozens of kilometers!!!
Even Fury and Xavier, who had seen plenty in their lives, could not help staring with their mouths wide open!
Forget a nuclear bomb, even several nukes together should not be able to create a crater this huge!!!
But what shocked them even more…
Marcus, standing at the center of the destruction, was completely unharmed.
Not even a single strand of hair had changed!
Ridiculous!
This was completely f*****g ridiculous!
Did Earth even have a weapon capable of killing him anymore?!
“Impossible!” Dark Phoenix shouted in disbelief.
“I used all my power!
The Phoenix Fire can even annihilate suns!
How are you still completely fine?
Impossible!”
Marcus spread his hands, shrugged, and casually stretched his neck.
“There was once a host who collected hundreds of Phoenix Force fragments.
Even she was suppressed by our Civilization.”
“You’re only one fragment.
You can’t hurt me.”
Dark Phoenix trembled.
“How do you know there are other fragments?”
Marcus grinned.
“Is that strange?
Countless parallel universes form the multiverse, and every universe has its own Phoenix Force fragment.”
Marcus continued casually,
“Some hosts choose to cross universes and collect Phoenix Force fragments from other realities…”
“Actually, the host defeated by our civilization was probably planning to devour you too.”
Dark Phoenix froze in shock!
She could vaguely sense the existence of other fragments.
But she never imagined it would be this cruel!
She was already so powerful, yet she could still be devoured?
Wait!
If Jean had fully accepted her from the start, then after developing the Phoenix Force to its limit, wouldn’t she eventually also…
Marcus looked at Dark Phoenix’s expression and immediately knew his bluff had worked.
“So, want to cooperate?” Marcus tempted her.
“Work with me, and I’ll protect you before you fully mature.
Once you’ve mastered the Phoenix Force completely, we can collect the fragments from other universes together.”
Dark Phoenix was clearly tempted!
But…
“What do you want from me?”
Marcus looked confused.
“What do I want?
Jean is the woman I like.
If you become stronger, she becomes stronger too.
What exactly do you think I want?”
Dark Phoenix opened her mouth, unable to find a response.
“I’ll think about it.”
“This battle consumed too much energy.
I need to sleep for a while.”
“Protect her while I’m asleep.
Don’t let me get…
devoured.” New chapters come out on g.com first.
After saying that,
The Phoenix Force surrounding Dark Phoenix rapidly withdrew and vanished instantly, while Jean collapsed to the ground.
Marcus reacted quickly and caught her in his arms.
After healing her with the Horse Talisman, Jean slowly opened her eyes.
“Boom!”
Two streams of orange-red Phoenix Force burst from Jean’s eyes as joy filled her face.
“She accepted me!” Jean said excitedly.
“She gave me part of the Phoenix Force first so I can slowly get used to it!”
Oh?
So that bluff really worked on Dark Phoenix?
Why did this suddenly feel like tricking an innocent girl?
Being the gentleman he was, Marcus released Jean and stepped back slightly, though they could still clearly feel each other’s presence.
There was an unmistakably ambiguous atmosphere between them.
“Congratulations, you’ve successfully taken the first step.” Marcus laughed.
Jean looked around at the completely devastated surroundings and the endless crater nearby.
It was hard to imagine what had just happened!
She had experienced everything from Dark Phoenix’s perspective and had been trapped deep within her own consciousness.
She knew nothing about the outside situation.
“Thank you too.” Jean said gratefully.
“If it weren’t for you, I never would’ve dared release her…
let alone reach an understanding.”
Marcus smiled modestly.
Because…
“Jean, it’s not as simple as you think!” Xavier said seriously.
“Dark Phoenix originally planned to completely replace you!
She only went dormant because Marcus exhausted her power!”
Jean’s breathing stopped for a moment!
What the hell?
She had almost disappeared forever?
The lingering fear made her even more grateful toward Marcus.
“Although things are stable for now, there’s still some bad news.” Marcus said regretfully.
“For the next period of time, you probably can’t stay too far away from me.”
Jean nodded.
“She already told me to follow you…
but why?”
Marcus repeated his “devouring theory.”
“…That’s the situation.
The fully awakened Dark Phoenix just now basically exposed her coordinates across the multiverse.”
“Our civilization naturally counters the Phoenix Force, so staying near me is the safest option.”
“Otherwise…”
“Anyone capable of crossing universes has probably already mastered the Phoenix Force completely.
If you run into someone like that…”
Marcus did not continue, but the meaning was obvious.
Jean listened quietly.
Not only was she not afraid, there was even a hint of anticipation in her eyes.
She could finally interact normally with men again!
And the man beside her was…
Handsome, caring, powerful, gentlemanly, and an alien too!!!
Marcus looked at Jean’s expression and knew this was basically settled.
Taking her down was only a matter of time now.
All his effort writing this script had not been wasted.
Just as he was about to deepen their relationship further…
An interruption arrived!
[Master, Tony Stark is calling.
Connect?]
What did this guy want now?
Was it about the tallest building in Manhattan?
“Reject it.
I’m busy flirting, no time.”
[Understood.]
Tiga immediately blocked Stark temporarily.
Right now, nothing was more important than his love life.
But then…
“Ring, ring, ring!”
Jean’s phone suddenly rang.
She pulled out her phone in confusion, probably wondering how there was even signal out here in the wilderness.
After answering it, she handed the phone to Marcus.
“It’s Tony Stark.
He’s looking for you.”
Marcus: (▼へ▼メ)
He took the phone and said irritably,
“You better have a damn good reason for this.”
But what Stark said immediately made Marcus anger disappear.
He really hadn’t expected Stark to still be…
…
Re@d adv@nce ch@pters on p@t guilt_free_daoist
Jo!n d!sc0rd I!nk in synops!s.