Chapter 373 Declaration of War
On the second day, as Jean was brought back to the Brotherhood by Magneto, an invisible storm began to stir.
Reflected to the outside world, the social resistance to the antidote suddenly expanded.
Especially in San Francisco, where the antidote was mainly released, crowds of people marching and demonstrating could be seen almost everywhere in the streets of the city.
"We don't need the antidote!"
"We don't need the antidote!"
Outside a certain antidote injection point of the Worthington Group, hundreds of protesters shouted loudly throughout the street.
Now that several days have passed since the release of the antidote, the number of mutants who have chosen to inject the antidote in this city alone has exceeded four digits.
However, the trend of resisting the antidote has not calmed down with the increase in the number of people injected, but has intensified. It seems that the behavior of a large number of compatriots abandoning their race has completely aroused the indignation and resistance of the entire mutant group.
This also led to the fact that almost every antidote injection point was surrounded by protesters. The injectors and protesters, who were supposed to belong to the same group, were now as distinct from each other as enemies, and the atmosphere was so tense that it seemed as if they would meet in battle in the next second.
"Gulp~"
A very obvious swallowing sound came from the throat of Rory, who was fully armed outside the injection point. He was responsible for guarding the safety of the injection point and being vigilant against the parade turning into a riot.
Although Rory had not performed similar security tasks for the first time, when the objects of the parade changed from ordinary people to mutant freaks with various special abilities, the danger level of this mission could be said to have skyrocketed, which was completely different from the simple escort tasks in the past. Looking at the excited protesters across the street, he couldn't help but tighten his grip on the familiar old friend in his hand.
The cold and hard touch spread from the palm of his hand to his whole body, and his nervous mood gradually calmed down. So what if they were mutants? They were just flesh and blood. If a riot really happened, he could always force them to calm down with a burst of bullets.
Beside him, perhaps noticing the unusual nervousness of his teammates, a sturdy security guard raised his eyebrows slightly. He lowered his eyes and looked at Rory's fingers that looked a little white due to excessive force, and said jokingly:
"Hey! Buddy, don't be too nervous. It's just a protest march. Don't look at the momentum of the freaks on the opposite side, but they will never resist with force."
While speaking, he glanced at the crowd on the opposite side with disdain, with a hint of sarcasm in his tone.
"The parade is nothing more than a carnival for cowards. When has this country ever cared about their voices? Mutants don't have many human rights. As long as they dare to resist with force, they will completely give up their right to live under the sun, so they can only cheer and cheer, hehe~"
After saying this, the sneer on his lips just rose, but suddenly froze, and a huge fireball of flames jumped out fiercely from the parade in front of him.
In the horrified eyes of everyone around, the fireball went straight across the wide street in the middle where many security personnel were stationed, and crashed into the antidote injection point in the back.
"Boom!!"
The violent explosion swept through several nearby streets, and a fireball triggered the exaggerated effect of more than a dozen missiles exploding at the same time. The raging flames completely covered the injection point and all the adjacent rooms in the blink of an eye.
Under the explosion, the first floor of the entire building was completely turned into a sea of fire, and dozens of windows around it exploded simultaneously. The blazing flames and a large number of glass fragments burst out from the windows, causing the injectors waiting in line outside the injection point and the security guards to fall down quickly.
Some members who were too close did not even have time to lie down and dodge, and were covered by the spreading flames. Then they could only fall to the ground with wailing, trying to extinguish the raging flames that were wrapped around them by rolling continuously.
The roar caused by the explosion had not yet subsided, and the sound of broken glass, car horns, and the wailing of the crowd sounded one after another, stirring up the entire area where the injection point was located.
Seeing this tragic scene, the crowd of protesters who were just excited suddenly fell into panic. After a brief moment of stunnedness, the crowd that reacted immediately began to flee in all directions, no longer having the firm belief that they had previously forced against the antidote. After all, compared with their lives, the so-called demonstrations seemed so insignificant at this time.
With the nature of federal police officers, they had no doubt that the security personnel who lay down would directly aim at the protesters who had just launched a terrorist attack and start indiscriminate shooting after they stood up again.
So the people who didn't want to be shot fled the scene at the first time, and among these panicked crowds, a calm figure seemed so out of place.
After extinguishing the remaining smoke in the palm of his right hand, John the Fireman looked at the tragic scene he had created not far away with a look of intoxication on his face. He liked the feeling of being high above and destroying everything at will, and he liked to see the scene of humans trembling under his powerful power even more.
As for the large number of innocent mutants who were also affected by this attack? Sorry, when they decided to inject the antidote, John only saw them as traitors, and traitors deserve death!
Mutants are a higher race than humans. Since we have stronger genes and powers, we should enjoy higher status and rights by nature, instead of hiding in the corners of society and shrinking, not even daring to show our talents at will, let alone giving up our noble mutant status and becoming low-level humans again.
It was with this idea that John openly betrayed the incompetent X-School three years ago and joined Magneto's Mutant Brotherhood.
"Power should be feared, huh, vulnerable humans."
Under the illumination of the flames, his pupils turned a violent red. He admired the miserable scene of wailing on the street again. As his eyes turned, he suddenly met the eyes of a security guard who had just climbed up. John was stunned, then he curled his lips slightly, showed him a very provocative smile, and decisively turned around and joined the fleeing army.
Although he said disdain, he was still very clear about the power of guns. Once the security forces were fully awake, he would not be the opponent of more than a dozen assault rifles.
On the streets outside the injection point, the strong smell of burning mixed with pungent blood was spreading. Rory, who was lying on the ground, struggled to get up from the ground, while the teammate beside him who had been disdainful and mocking the protesting crowd was still unconscious. When the explosion occurred, there was a broken window behind the other party that was spewing a lot of flames.
So unlike Rory's active fall, he was directly blown away by the surging air wave, and his back was full of broken glass fragments after landing. Even though he had been wearing a full set of bulletproof vests, the sudden impact still caused him great damage.
Compared with this unlucky teammate, Rory's luck was obviously much better. He shook his dizzy head and felt that the blurred picture in front of him was completely clear. He moved his eyes away from the glaring scarlet on the ground and quickly raised his eyes to the direction of the fireball across the street.
As far as he could see, a blond young man with a provocative look on his face in the fleeing crowd came into his sight at the first time. Although there was no evidence, he was sure that this young man was definitely the culprit of this terrorist attack.
His pupils were instantly solidified, and he quickly raised the muzzle of his gun and shouted loudly:
"Asshole, stop!"
But before the shout could spread, the blond youth on the opposite side turned around and disappeared into the fleeing crowd. John's eyes flashed fiercely, and when he was hesitating whether to shoot and start indiscriminate shooting, a hurricane suddenly passed by his side.
In the howling hurricane was a man who was also wearing security personnel's clothes, but his speed was surprisingly fast. He crossed the entire street in a few ups and downs, and forcibly crashed into the crowd on the opposite side. His strong arms swept wildly, and the people blocking the road in front of him were swept away directly.
Soon the man's back disappeared from Rory's sight, and a moment later, there was a burst of roars from behind the crowd, and a large piece of flames rose into the air, making the already chaotic situation even more intense. At the same time, an excited laugh spread along with the rising flames.
"Haha, I've waited for several days and finally the Brotherhood takes action. John the Fireman, right? Come and die!"
………
On the morning of the fourth day after the release of the antidote, the Mutant Brotherhood's terrorist attack on the Worthington Group finally began, and the first move was a thunderous force.
In just one hour, more than a dozen antidote injection points distributed throughout the city suffered devastating blows, and the means of attack were varied, either flame blasts, sonic destruction, or brute force collisions, but no matter what the means, the responsible persons were all powerful mutants.
Through this deliberate display of muscle attack, the Brotherhood seemed to be provocatively telling the whole society that the power of mutants is far more terrifying than you think. If the Worthington Group insists on continuing to release the antidote, the first thing it will face is the raging anger of mutants.
Of course, the Brotherhood's massive attack was not without losses. Knowing that the Brotherhood would launch an attack, many contractors belonging to the Worthington Group ambushed near the injection points in advance. When the mutants of the Brotherhood took action, they jumped out and launched a siege.
After a battle, about half of the Brotherhood members were surrounded and killed after the attack. This result was the result of the intervention of contractors belonging to the Brotherhood during the siege, otherwise the loss would be even more tragic.
It was precisely because of this subsequent siege that the terrorist attack that was originally only aimed at the antidote injection point gradually expanded into a melee involving most of the city with the participation of various contractors. During this period, the fights between contractors and mutants, and the fights between contractors broke out in different locations in the city, and continued until the government army entered the scene to suppress it.
According to official statistics afterwards, the number of people who died directly from this attack reached hundreds, and the number of injured was countless. Among these numerous casualties, not only humans, but also a large number of innocent mutants were included, and the social impact caused was extremely bad.
In this melee initiated by the Brotherhood of Mutants, various forces such as the Worthington Group, Trask Industries, and even the Department of Mutant Affairs participated in it to a greater or lesser extent. The scene was very lively and could be regarded as a warm-up before the war. The only large force absent was the X-Men, who were supposed to be the protagonists of the world.
………
Afternoon, X Academy.
Xu Yue certainly would not be unaware of the melee that broke out in the city this morning, but he had no intention of participating in it at all.
This melee was just a warm-up. It seemed to be quite loud, but the contractors belonging to the major forces were extremely restrained. The number of contractors who died as a result of this might be just over double digits. The antidote battle that will break out soon is the real drama.
The threat announced by Magneto on TV in the afternoon was a preview of the next big drama.
On the second floor of the castle, the principal's office.
All the X-Men, including Scott who had already woken up and Hank who had returned to the academy last night, gathered in front of the TV screen under the organization of the professor.
On the screen was a majestic old man with silver hair. It was Magneto who was still in the Brotherhood's residence. Since the Worthington Group announced the release of the antidote through live TV broadcast, today he used the same method to tell the world the mutants' tough attitude towards the antidote.
"Today's demonstration is just the first wave. As long as the antidote exists, we will continue to fight."
"Your city will no longer be safe, the streets will no longer be safe, and even you will no longer be safe!"
"As for my fellow mutants, I ask you to join us, otherwise get out of the way."
"Too many mutants have already sacrificed, and we don't want to be stained with the blood of too many fellows..."
Magneto's declaration on the TV screen continued, but the people in the room had no intention of listening to it anymore. Storm looked at the old man with a murderous face on the screen and frowned tightly.
"Magneto is threatening the entire federal government. This is crazy. Does he want to completely trigger a war between humans and mutants?!"
Storm's tone was slightly shocked. One of the original intentions of the X-Men was to ease the conflict between the two races and prevent them from falling into a life-and-death situation. But now Magneto's behavior is undoubtedly forcing the relationship between the two sides to a dead end.
If a war really breaks out, all mutants will be passively involved and cannot be spared, even the X Academy is no exception. In this war between two races, there is no such thing as innocence and staying out of trouble. Whether you like it or not, you will become a victim in the meat grinder.
"When the antidote appears, the war has already begun. This is inevitable, so I need you to expand the size of the X-Men reserve to the greatest extent. Peace will not last too long. Even students cannot be spared. Sooner or later, they will face a choice."
"And the only thing that can protect itself in this war is strength, nothing else, Ororo, now, it's just the beginning."