Chapter 128: Allen No Longer Hides His Identity as a Swordsman
Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.
Charles used his telepathy to summon all students to gather on the field.
"Professor, there are too many people. How are we supposed to evacuate everyone, and where should we go?" Beast—Hank—asked.
At that moment, Charles was at a loss.
He had never expected something like this to happen.
Normally, there were only small-scale skirmishes and clashes. It was almost impossible for things to escalate into full-blown war.
But from the moment the Sentinels launched their surprise attack from the island, he sensed this crisis was far from ordinary.
The key issue was that these robots could be mass-produced in factories and endlessly deployed to hunt them down, while it took at least a decade for a mutant to grow from birth to combat readiness.
And now, they no longer had that kind of time.
Charles still harbored a sliver of hope, believing the authorities retained some rationality and wouldn't go so far as to carry out a complete extermination.
But their own safety could never be left to the mercy of others.
"Contact Scott. For now, we can only seek Apocalypse's protection."
If he had any other choice, Charles wouldn't consider cooperating with a dangerous unknown.
Hank pressed his communicator embedded in his uniform to retrieve the location of the Hydra base.
And Hydra didn't just have one hidden base—perfect for distributing the students.
After all, grouping them all together made them easy targets. These kids were the future reserve members of the X-Men.
"Look, what's that?!"
Just then, the Sentinels' transport aircraft arrived.
That Xavier's School was listed as the first strike target made perfect sense.
They had openly established a school, recruited students from the public, and even registered officially. It was practically suicidal.
"Danger!"
Hank shouted in alarm, "The enemy is here! Everyone, prepare for battle!"
"Send a support request to Scott immediately!" Charles said in panic.
He had witnessed the terrifying combat strength of the Sentinels—there was no way young mutant students could withstand them.
"Professor, the signal is being jammed. We can't reach the outside world," Hank replied.
"Then lead the students in holding the line."
While speaking, Charles pressed two fingers to his temple and quickly located Nightcrawler—Kurt—in the midst of the chaos.
The next moment, Kurt teleported to his side.
"Take me to the Amplification Chamber."
"Yes, Professor."
Kurt placed his hand on the wheelchair and disappeared with Charles.
Since technological means couldn't relay messages, he would have to rely on telepathic communication.
At the same time, a detachment of the Sentinel army touched down and marched directly toward the school building.
It was clear the government had come prepared. Their investigation had identified the mental amplification lab, a place where Professor X could amplify his powers to control all of humanity.
What the authorities feared most was that once things became a fight to the death, Charles would use the chamber to mentally wipe out the upper echelons.
So the highest priority: eliminate Charles and destroy the Amplification Chamber.
Quicksilver entered high-speed mode, trying to stop the Sentinels.
He punched one of their exteriors—only to wince in pain. It was hard as steel.
He ran to the cafeteria, grabbed a kitchen knife, and hacked away. The blade became chipped and curled. Only shallow scratches appeared on the Sentinel's surface.
"How the hell are we supposed to fight these things?"
Pietro looked utterly helpless.
He might be fast—but he didn't have destructive power.
He glanced around the field. Time seemed to stand still.
Several students were about to be slaughtered by Sentinels.
"I'll just rescue people first."
Changing tactics, Pietro focused on pulling students out of danger, one by one, using his super speed.
In a flash, the Sentinel army's attacks fell on empty ground—their targets gone.
Some students who had narrowly escaped death were still screaming in terror, others simply confused.
"No need to thank me."
Pietro slipped on his headphones and played his personal BGM.
Thanks to his efforts, students kept dodging the Sentinels' attacks by teleporting at lightning speed.
Although the Sentinels' terrifying computing power barely allowed them to detect Quicksilver's presence, their hardware couldn't keep up. Even when they anticipated his movement path and predicted it in advance, to Quicksilver it felt like they were standing still—he could simply sidestep past them like a casual stroll.
…
Command: Priority—Kill Professor X. Destroy the Amplification Chamber.
Report: Executing command...
…
At the same time, the Sentinels ceased chasing students and surged toward the school building.
Faced with their overwhelming firepower, the students stood no chance.
Beams of high-temperature energy blasted the structure, cutting through concrete walls like tofu.
Moments later, the entire building collapsed.
The Sentinels swarmed through the rubble, digging relentlessly toward their target: the Amplification Chamber.
Soon, they locked onto a reinforced alloy wall.
Three Sentinels transformed their arms into drills and began tunneling through it.
Inside the chamber, Charles removed his helmet and said, "We can go now."
He had stayed not just to request help from Cyclops but also to try locating the mastermind behind this.
But he'd found nothing, leading him to suspect the culprit was hiding in a special room that blocked telepathic scans.
So he went straight to the President for answers.
And walked in on the President at the White House mid–intimate work meeting with his female secretary. Charles's sudden arrival made things even worse for the already-exhausted leader.
As it turned out, the President knew nothing about a full-scale war on mutants. It wasn't even his call.
After all, the country wasn't a one-man show. Several factions competed for power behind the scenes.
Back at the alloy wall, a crack was torn open, and several mechanical limbs pushed through. A Sentinel peered inside.
Just then, Kurt teleported Charles out of the chamber.
A moment later, several energy beams surged inward.
From the field, Charles could only watch as the Sentinels destroyed the Amplification Chamber.
Rebuilding such a facility would cost tremendous money and effort.
Boom!
The energy rays struck the core reactor, triggering a chain reaction and a massive explosion.
The powerful shockwave sent the Sentinels flying.
As the dust settled, the machines rose again—and turned to face the students on the field.
"You know, Professor X, your school's blown up again."
A jarring voice cut in.
A teleportation field delivered over a dozen elite mutants to the site. Among them, Allen looked around at the school now reduced to rubble.
"You guys hold them off—I'll evacuate the students."
Apocalypse had yet to withdraw his teleportation field.
The elite mutants stepped forward to engage the Sentinels.
Charles directed the students to move toward Apocalypse.
"Speedster, Smurf, long time no see."
Allen wasn't in a rush to fight. Instead, he started catching up with his old roommates.
"Allen, we were really worried about you while you were gone," Kurt said, concerned.
"Smurf, what could possibly happen to me? If anything, other people should be worried." Allen patted the emblem on his chest, proud. "I'm now Captain of Hydra. Pretty badass, right?"
"You actually became a villain?" Pietro asked in disbelief.
"Villain's just a label. I think of myself as a hero."
Allen drew the pig-slaughtering knife from his waist and declared boldly, "At this point, I can't hide it anymore—I'm a swordsman."
A swordsman? You?
"What's wrong with him?"
"He's… changed."
Pietro and Kurt stared at Allen, who was brooding dramatically.
This guy was clearly gearing up to go off the rails again.
"As a swordsman, I never part from my blade. I have reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship—controlling qi with will, and the blade with qi."
Allen spoke like a weathered lone warrior, revealing the secrets of the sword path.
Pietro and Kurt cringed.
Please don't lose it here. At least pick a better time. We're literally in a war.
Allen's eyes sharpened. Holding his pig-slaying knife, he strode onto the battlefield.
"Danger! Come back!" Pietro shouted.
"Don't worry. The Force is with me."
Allen walked confidently through the battlefield, unfazed by energy blasts landing around him.
His two roommates watched with bated breath, terrified he'd get incinerated by a stray blast.
But Allen remained calm inside.
He might be crazy, but he wasn't stupid.
Sentinels only targeted mutants. They wouldn't attack regular humans.
And all the mutants fighting here were allies—they wouldn't attack him either.
So Allen was essentially an invisible man without invisibility.
One Sentinel had transformed into a steel form, pinning Colossus down. Its conical arm turned into a hammer, ready to crush him.
"You don't get to treat Uncle Zhang like that."
The Sentinel turned to look at Allen holding a pig-slaying knife. Its processors spun rapidly.
Conclusion: human—non-target.
The hammer rose to strike.
Swish!
A silver flash cleaved through the Sentinel's upper body.
One-hit kill.
The robot was sliced cleanly in half, exposing its internal mechanisms.
[Sentinel eliminated. EXP +1000]
Colossus let out a sigh of relief—Sentinels were his natural counter. Their strength and defense far outclassed his own.
Before he could get up, Allen's knife was already at his throat.
"Say I'm handsome."
"You're handsome."
"Say I'm universally beloved."
Satisfied, Allen went off to find his next target.
Colossus wiped away imaginary sweat. That knife could kill a Sentinel—having it at his throat gave him chills.
"Don't bully my waifu."
Seeing Magik outnumbered three-to-one, Allen charged in, raising his knife.
With quick steps, he blocked in front of Illyana and comforted her: "Don't be afraid. I won't let anyone touch a single eyelash of yours. Not even a robot."
"You mean hair," Illyana corrected.
"Same thing. They're all hair."
Allen gave her a confident look. "They're already stunned by my Conqueror's Haki."
"…"
One swing, one kill.
Three thousand EXP earned.
…
Trask Industries, Data Processing Center.
Sentinel losses: 4 units.
Trask immediately pulled up the recorded footage.
"What happened? Why didn't the Sentinels kill him?"
Judging from the footage, it seemed like the Sentinel had just stood there waiting to be slaughtered.
Trask frowned. "My Sentinels don't malfunction. There must be a reason. Let me check the data logs."
Within a minute, he found the relevant log.
"He's human." Trask raised an eyebrow. "Why would a human be with mutants?"
"Doesn't matter what he is—kill him. Sentinels are government property. We can't allow them to be damaged."
To the council, Sentinels were state-funded weapons, not expendable.
"My Sentinels only target mutants. Changing their fundamental directives will be extremely difficult."
Trask sounded righteous, but his mind said otherwise.
He aspired to rule a nation—of course he'd left himself a backdoor in the Sentinel code. But he had to play innocent. Otherwise, the ever-suspicious politicians would never trust him.
"I'll order a reprogramming attempt and try to patch the loophole in the next batch."
The five council members were very satisfied with his performance. They believed they had this businessman wrapped around their fingers.