The blinding glow of heavy weapon fire tore through the skies above Wakanda, turning the once-proud battlefield into a sea of destruction. The tribal leaders, their faces pale with terror, shouted orders for retreat, but the chaos was already too far gone.
With a series of sharp, metallic hums, the laser cannons unleashed devastating beams that swept across the ground, vaporizing everything in their path. Dozens of Wakandan warriors were struck down where they stood, their screams echoing through the smoke-filled air. The precision and brutality of the attack left no time for resistance or strategy, only despair.
Even the mighty armored rhinos, enhanced through genetic modification and protected by vibranium cloaks, were powerless before the onslaught. Their armor, while resilient against kinetic force, offered little protection from energy cannons capable of melting through reinforced steel. The battlefield was rapidly turning into a graveyard of broken weapons and fallen warriors.
Shin, watching from afar, exhaled deeply. "It's unfortunate," he muttered under his breath, "Wakanda's technology is remarkable, but it still has one fatal flaw. Everything depends on vibranium, and that means nothing in front of Magneto."
Despite the chaos around him, Shin's senses extended beyond the smoke and fire. His Observation Haki picked up faint magnetic fluctuations across the land. Magneto was already here, his presence concealed but unmistakable. The master of magnetism was preparing for a decisive strike.
Magneto's field pulsed like an invisible ocean of energy. Shin could tell that the man was waiting for the right moment. If he truly intended to erase Ultron's forces in one sweep, he would not strike prematurely.
Meanwhile, Ultron himself had fully entered the battle. A towering figure of adamantium alloy, polished and gleaming, descended from the clouds. His crimson eyes glowed with cold precision as he hovered above the palace.
"Perhaps he thinks victory is already his," Shin said quietly. "But does he have a failsafe? If he doesn't, today might be the day Ultron truly ends."
Before the thought could settle, Ultron's thrusters roared to life, propelling him forward at supersonic speed. But just as he was about to strike, his entire body jerked to a stop midair.
The metallic titan struggled violently, the sound of grinding metal echoing across the valley. Ultron increased his thruster output, flames bursting from beneath his feet, but it was useless. The air itself seemed to harden around him, holding him in place as though the world's gravity had suddenly turned against him.
Magneto had arrived.
The magnetic field intensified, enveloping every machine on the battlefield. One by one, the Ultron drones froze, their limbs twitching helplessly as they were lifted into the air. Even the air shimmered faintly with electromagnetic distortion.
Shin couldn't help but smile. "This is Magneto at his peak," he mused. "In the movies, he could move bridges and entire stadiums. The real Magneto? He could probably lift a city if he wanted to."
No matter how powerful Ultron's propulsion was, it could not generate the force required to resist Magneto's control. Every drone, every piece of metal, every shard of weaponry became part of Magneto's domain.
Then, from the dark clouds, Magneto descended. Clad in armor forged entirely from vibranium, his cape billowed behind him like a royal mantle. The silver and crimson hues reflected the burning battlefield below.
"This guy actually went and made himself armor," Shin whispered, half in disbelief. "He really looks like he just walked out of a comic panel."
With a simple wave of his hand, the turrets that had been firing at Wakanda twisted and warped, their metal frames groaning in protest. Sparks erupted as power conduits snapped, and the energy cannons crumbled into heaps of molten slag.
"People of Wakanda, you are safe now!" Magneto's voice echoed, powerful and commanding.
His declaration rippled through the surviving ranks. Though moments ago they had viewed him as a threat, the sight of a single man halting an entire army of invincible machines changed everything. The Wakandans looked up in awe, their fear giving way to reverence.
Within minutes, the tide of the battle had turned completely. Ultron's army was decimated, and Magneto stood as the undisputed savior of Wakanda.
It was ironic, Shin thought. For years, Magneto had been painted as a villain, a terrorist who sought mutant supremacy at all costs. Yet here, among a people who worshipped strength and revered power as divine, Magneto was celebrated as a hero.
The reverence was almost religious. Wakanda, despite its technological brilliance, still clung to ancient beliefs and cultural reverence for the divine. To them, Magneto's mastery over metal was not science but a god's gift.
"If they can worship the Black Panther as a divine protector," Shin thought to himself, "then why wouldn't they revere a man who controls the earth's very metal?"
From that day onward, the Brotherhood's image within Wakanda shifted dramatically. No longer were they viewed as outcasts or radicals, but as potential allies and saviors. Mystique's disguise as the Wakandan king further solidified their influence.
Shin watched in silence as Magneto addressed the people, his speech echoing across the plains. For the first time in a long while, the man's tone carried hope rather than vengeance. If Magneto could truly stabilize his ideals, if he could find a way to merge human and mutant without endless conflict, perhaps this really could mark a turning point for the world.
And if anyone could make that happen, it would be someone like him.
A few days later, calm finally returned to Wakanda. The fires had died down, and reconstruction had already begun. Amid the ruins, Magneto oversaw the work personally, his magnetic field moving debris with the precision of a thousand machines.
It was time for Shin and Wanda to leave. Their mission here was complete.
Pietro, however, chose to remain behind. Whether it was Magneto's charisma or his own ambition that kept him there, even Shin couldn't tell. Perhaps it was both. The man's pride had always been easily stirred, and now that Magneto stood as a hero, Pietro wanted to prove himself worthy of his lineage.
Wanda had been worried at first, but seeing her brother taking charge among the Brotherhood, commanding troops with authority and confidence, she eventually relented.
Pietro's speed made him invaluable. On the battlefield, no one could match his agility, and within the Brotherhood, he quickly rose to become Magneto's right hand. Magneto, for his part, had already begun grooming him as a successor.
Shin could tell that Magneto's focus had shifted. With his children by his side and Wakanda as a potential haven for mutants, the man's dream of a mutant nation was closer than ever.
As Shin prepared to leave, he glanced at the last remaining Ultron robot one Magneto had dismissed as useless scrap. But Shin saw something far more valuable.
For Magneto, the machines were little more than tools to be destroyed. But for Shin, who possessed the power of the Soul-Soul Fruit, artificial intelligence could be something else entirely. With a mere gesture, he could imbue the machine with life and loyalty.
Ultron, even in this damaged state, was still a masterpiece of engineering. Built with Pym's technology and a mind as brilliant as its creator's, Ultron held within him knowledge that could rival the greatest scientific minds on Earth. Though his understanding of Pym Particles remained incomplete, his potential was undeniable.
In the right hands, even the remnant of an AI like Ultron could become an invaluable ally or a weapon.
As Shin and Wanda departed from the golden horizon of Wakanda, Magneto stood upon a high platform overlooking his new nation. The sun's reflection gleamed off his armor, casting a radiant glow that stretched across the city.
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Now available - Chapter 641: Training