Chapter 188: This Is Humanity’s Ugliness
"Sir, can… can you give me something to eat? Just a little."
The girl spoke in a pleading voice.
Her pitiful appearance stirred pity, but the bartender remained unmoved.
"This isn't a church. I don't do charity anymore."
The girl was disappointed.
But then the bartender said with a half-smile, "Of course, if you're willing to pay a little price, I think plenty of people here would be happy to help you."
The girl's body stiffened. Following the old bartender's gaze, she turned and looked back.
She found many people staring at her and laughing.
Their greedy looks made it seem as though they wanted to swallow her whole.
"Hey, pretty girl, if you're willing to keep me company, you can eat whatever you want. I've got warm clothes too."
"Don't believe him. Come with me. I'll take real good care of you."
The girl was quite beautiful.
Although she looked miserable and haggard now, that only added to her fragile, broken beauty.
It made the desire in their hearts burn even hotter.
The girl was terrified.
She immediately stepped forward, wanting to rush out of the bar. But those men stood up and blocked her path, teasing her as they spoke.
"Wow, look at you, poor thing. You're soaked all over. If you go out now, you'll freeze to death in less than an hour."
"Exactly."
A little lamb had fallen into a wolf's den. There was no need to think about what would happen.
The girl regretted it.
Looking at the pack of undisguised hungry wolves in front of her, despair filled her heart, and she staggered several steps back.
But the men had no intention of letting this pitiful girl go. They moved closer.
Then, a weathered voice pierced clearly into everyone's ears.
"Do you see it, child?"
"This is humanity's ugliness. You would rather shrink back than use the power heaven gave you to resist. Is that fair to you?"
"Your kindness will only be repaid with the ugly faces of these humans."
Everyone froze for a moment. Then the bar door was pushed open.
An old man wearing black armor, draped in a black cape, and crowned with a brown helmet walked in with a refined-looking woman in a down coat and a tall, powerfully built man.
"Fuck, you damn—"
A clearly drunk man cursed at the old man with a violent expression.
But before he could finish speaking, a steel ball pierced through his forehead.
"Shit!"
"He killed someone!"
"He's a mutant!"
"Fuck, damn mutants! We don't welcome trash like you here!"
The man's death instantly changed everyone's expressions. They all began cursing loudly. The old bartender even pulled a shotgun from under the counter and aimed it at the old man.
To his shock, however, he found he could not pull the trigger. Instead, an invisible, terrifying force seized the shotgun. It flew out of his hands and floated upward, now pointing directly at him.
The same thing happened to everyone else. Sharp metal spikes appeared out of nowhere and floated in the air, aimed at them. The sharp, oppressive aura made their scalps tingle.
This feeling instantly cleared the minds of the group.
The noise and shouting vanished in an instant, leaving only silence.
The old man ignored these human trash. With the man and woman beside him, he walked toward the girl. Along the way, an invisible force pushed aside the men who had been surrounding her, clearing a path.
The others were terrified and furious, but they could only watch in silence, not daring to say another word.
The old man stopped in front of the girl. He looked at her, shook his head, and said meaningfully, "Weakness only brings pain, child. Sometimes even death."
"Wh-who are you?"
The girl asked nervously.
"You may call me Magneto."
"Magneto?"
The girl looked confused. Originally, she had only been a carefree student living in an ivory tower. But because of an accident, her ability awakened, and she had nearly hurt her boyfriend.
Her family, friends, and classmates had all treated her like a monster.
So she ran away from home and wandered all this way.
She had never heard of Magneto.
"What is your name?"
"I… I'm Anna Marie."
"Marie, are you afraid of your power?"
"I… I can't control it. It almost made me kill David."
Marie spoke in a low, dejected voice.
Magneto shook his head in disappointment.
"You are rejecting it."
His voice turned cold.
"Come with me. We need your ability."
"I… I don't want to go with you."
Although Marie was afraid, she still firmly refused. She was grateful that Magneto had saved her, but the way he had killed without hesitation was something she could not accept.
And she kept feeling that this old man had ill intentions toward her.
"You do not have a choice, Marie."
Magneto no longer wanted to waste words.
Sabretooth, standing to the side, moved. But instead of grabbing Marie, he reached out and grabbed toward Magneto's throat.
Magneto saw it, but did not move at all.
Sure enough, Sabretooth's hand had only lifted halfway before it stopped.
Magneto laughed disdainfully.
"Did you think I would be unprepared, Charles?"
After saying that, he turned and looked behind him.
As expected, the door was pushed open. Charles, sitting in his wheelchair, entered with Wolverine Logan and the other X-Men.
"Erik, what did you do?"
Professor X frowned, unable to understand. He could not figure out why his psychic power had failed on Sabretooth.
He did not believe Sabretooth could do that. Clearly, only Magneto could.
Facing his old friend directly, Magneto gave a cold smile.
"Charles, what do you think I have been doing all these years?"
He had long been dissatisfied with his inability to defend against Professor X's psychic power.
For all these years, he had been studying and developing his ability, not only on the level of large-scale destructive power, but also on the microscopic level concerning the brain.
He was Magneto, the man who controlled magnetic fields.
If he could develop abilities involving electromagnetic fields, then he could extend that control to the microscopic level as well.
He had long since developed the ability to manipulate the microscopic electromagnetic field around the surface of his own brain.
He could create high-frequency electromagnetic interference, distorting and shielding against Professor X's psychic power. So now, even without relying on his helmet, he could resist psychic intrusion purely through his own magnetic power.
However, doing so required great concentration.
Although he had already developed it, he had never exposed it. It was precisely so he could use this ability to catch Professor X off guard.
And that moment was now.
He was done pretending.
Sabretooth could resist because Magneto had placed the most basic layer of bioelectromagnetic protection around the brains of the three of them long ago.
Although it could not fully defend them, the moment it was triggered, Magneto would immediately sense it and activate his ability to intensify the bioelectrical interference in their brains.
Professor X fell silent.
Then he sighed, glanced at Marie, and looked straight at Magneto with grave concern.
"Give up, Erik. Give up your plan."
"Your plan will kill her."
"No. She is devoting herself to the rise of mutants. This is her honor. Compared with the survival of our entire race, anyone can be sacrificed, including you and me." Magneto spoke coldly.