Chapter 11: The new Bridge
Magneto had not even begun to show his full power when, due to a moment of carelessness, Beast Hank managed to ambush him, injecting several vials of the antidote into his chest.
"Was Magneto doing this on purpose?" Ian asked Raven.
With Magneto's abilities, it was hard to believe he would make such a basic mistake!
Carelessness was one thing, but knowing he should be wearing a helmet—why not also wear armor?
With his powers, creating a metal armor for himself or even weaving clothes out of metal would be a simple task.
"I don't know!" Raven shook her head in confusion. In her mind, it was impossible for Magneto to be that foolish.
No matter the reason, the battle continued. With Magneto retreating, Jean Grey began to unleash her power.
The Phoenix Force rampaged wildly, and wherever it passed, whether it was people or objects, they turned to dust. The entire island of Genosha began to shake uncontrollably.
The spectacle was even more magnificent than when Magneto lifted the Golden Gate Bridge!
Even from several hundred meters away, Ian could still feel the earth-shattering power.
Experiencing it up close, Ian truly realized the terrifying nature of the Phoenix Force.
Even Jean's preliminary awakening of the Phoenix Force could directly disassemble the entire island.
Though Ian could achieve similar effects using his Elemental Dominion, he knew his defenses wouldn't be able to withstand such an attack.
This made Ian completely abandon any thoughts of testing his strength against Jean!
"Do all level five mutants have such terrifying destructive power?" Selina asked.
"That depends on the situation. Some abilities, even at level five, can't directly affect matter. But no matter the X-ability, once they reach level five, they possess city-destroying power!" Ian replied.
As Jean began to go wild, her world-shattering effect immediately captured everyone's attention.
But Ian noticed something else—Magneto took the opportunity to blend into the fleeing crowd. His expression seemed panicked, but in reality, he was incredibly calm, smoothly changing clothes as he ran. It was clear that he had prepared for this moment.
It was obvious that this was his true plan!
From the beginning, Magneto never believed that the ragtag group could storm the Worthing Laboratory and kill Jimmy.
Jean was his true trump card.
Letting Jean lose control and destroy Genosha, killing Jimmy in the process and taking the blame—this would redirect the public's anger toward her...
Now everything made sense about Magneto's earlier seemingly foolish behavior!
Perhaps Magneto started planning this after Jean killed Professor X. Only after learning the true effects of the "antidote" in the past few days did his plan become fully formed.
It wasn't surprising that Magneto had discovered the true effect of the antidote. As the leader of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, once he learned about it, he would definitely arrange for someone to test its effects.
Ian didn't interfere too much with the plot. His external influence was minimal, and the battle on Genosha proceeded as expected.
Jean couldn't escape her inevitable death, with Wolverine's claws plunging into her heart.
The preliminary awakening of the Phoenix Force wasn't enough to make Jean immune to such a fatal wound.
Jean's death caused the Phoenix Force to lose its host and return to silence.
Ian was envious of the Phoenix Force, but unfortunately, it didn't choose him. With his current strength, he was far from capable of forcibly taking control of the Phoenix Force.
The massive disturbance on Genosha couldn't be ignored by the U.S. government.
After the dust settled, the military, FBI, LAPD, and S.H.I.E.L.D. arrived on the scene, sealing off the nearby traffic.
"It's our turn to appear!" Ian stood up and ordered, "Open a portal!"
The portal opened, and Ian walked into the temporary military meeting room.
Instantly, the room went quiet.
General Wilson recognized Ian and asked, "Ian, what are you doing here?"
"Uncle Wilson, generals, I'm here to solve the problem!" Ian answered.
"Are you going to stand up for the mutants?" One of the generals asked, his tone unfriendly.
"Of course not!" Ian denied, "Most of the mutants who caused trouble are dead, I don't need to stand up for them."
"I'm here just to solve the Golden Gate Bridge problem!" Ian stated his purpose.
The main casualties of the Genosha event were mutants and mercenaries, with only a few civilians being affected.
The biggest issue was the massive economic loss caused by the destruction of the Golden Gate Bridge and the subsequent negative effects.
Once the Golden Gate Bridge issue was solved, everything else would be easy to handle.
"How do you plan to solve it?" General Wilson asked.
"All I need is for you all to leave the area around the bridge, and then have my people bring in the materials. I'll handle the rest. I guarantee a brand-new Golden Gate Bridge will be completed before dawn!" Ian promised.
The generals discussed briefly and then General Wilson gave a positive response on behalf of the military:
"Other departments will coordinate. I want a satisfactory answer before dawn!"
The military chose to trust Ian, or rather, trust the Carnegie family's reputation.
Rescue operations on the Golden Gate Bridge had already been completed, and once the military intervened, personnel from various departments began to withdraw in an orderly fashion, clearing the bridge completely.
However, they didn't leave entirely; they just moved to the land.
Ian didn't mind them observing as long as they didn't interfere with his work.
The maritime blockade was lifted, and three large Carnegie family cargo ships, laden with various types of special steel, arrived near the bridge.
At the same time, a construction crew arrived on land, parked near the bridge, and waited.
To suppress Magneto's spotlight, Ian was going all out this time.
Everything was ready. Ian flew alone to the original site of the Golden Gate Bridge.
At this moment, everyone watching held their breath.
Ian didn't keep them waiting. He raised his left hand and pointed at the remaining section of the Golden Gate Bridge.
From the bridge supports up, the bridge was visibly disintegrated into atomic particles, gathering above Ian's head to form a clump of atoms.
In less than a minute, the Golden Gate Bridge completely vanished, with only a few bridge supports remaining above the water.
Then, Ian pointed at the cargo ships. The steel on the ships similarly disintegrated into atoms and merged into the massive atom cluster above Ian's head.
The entire process lacked dazzling light effects or thunderous sound, but the destructive power was no less than that of Jean Grey.
Once the preparations were complete, Ian focused, and various elements, mainly metals, flowed out from the atom cluster, merging into the original bridge supports.
Then, a fully metallic bridge visibly began to grow, seamlessly and naturally, with an inexplicable beauty to it.
In just ten minutes, a brand-new bridge had emerged at the original location of the Golden Gate Bridge.
The construction team then arrived and quickly paved the new bridge with asphalt. Before dawn, the entire bridge was completed.
The first rays of sunlight fell, reflecting off the new bridge's rust-proof alloy coating, casting dazzling golden light.
Besides its stunning beauty, this new bridge was far sturdier and more stable than the original Golden Gate Bridge. The violent sea winds blew across the bridge, but there was no sign of any wobbling.
With this Bridge, people would soon forget the original Golden Gate Bridge!
As for the section of the bridge on Genosha, Ian left it untouched, as a keepsake, perhaps!
By the time people recovered from the shock of the new Bridge, Ian had already vanished.
But this scene would certainly be etched in their memories forever!
The Golden Gate Bridge's destruction and rebirth also gave all the major powers a new understanding of mutants.
(End of Chapter)