Meanwhile, May, Raven, Gwen, and Helen Cho returned to the manor.
When they entered the living room, they saw Karl sitting alone on the sofa with his eyes closed, seemingly concentrating on something. None of them disturbed him and quietly walked into the bedroom instead.
The moment they stepped inside, they saw the Black Phoenix lying on the bed, apparently asleep and not wearing any clothes. The four women exchanged glances, then instinctively looked back toward Karl in the living room. Smiles appeared on their faces at the same time, clearly understanding what had happened.
At this moment, Karl was completely focused.
He was using his Mind Control ability to construct a mental defense barrier, attempting to create a stable psychic shield capable of resisting external telepathic interference.
Fortunately, the process did not take long.
Karl slowly opened his eyes.
The mental defense had been successfully formed. Although it still needed testing, its structure should theoretically be capable of resisting Professor X's telepathic control.
However, to ensure absolute safety, Karl planned to let the Black Phoenix examine it later.
After all, the Phoenix Force is the embodiment of psionic energy itself. Even if the Black Phoenix had not mastered its full capabilities yet, her psychic level still far surpassed Charles Xavier's.
Karl then teleported to Tony and Speed's location.
The two of them had already cut a small fragment from Magneto's helmet and were analyzing it using several pieces of equipment.
Tony's expression was clearly troubled.
Seeing this, Karl already knew the result.
"So, what did you find? Does Earth have this type of metal?" Karl asked casually as he walked over.
Although Magneto had obtained the helmet from Sebastian Shaw, its true origin had never been clearly explained. Karl only vaguely remembered that the metal used in the helmet was extremely rare and possibly not native to Earth.
Tony sighed.
"It's not going well."
He set down the instrument in his hand.
"The material composition doesn't match any known Earth metal. Unless we find its origin, replicating it might be impossible."
At this moment Speed's projection appeared through a nearby projector.
"Boss, Cybertron does have metals with similar properties. However, I don't have the manufacturing capability for them. My original function was combat, not advanced material production."
Karl nodded slightly.
"Alright. I've already developed a mental defense method, but I'm not sure how effective it is. Maybe I could call Thor to test—"
He suddenly paused.
Then his eyes lit up.
"No… I can solve it myself."
"Wait for me."
The next moment he disappeared.
Karl had suddenly remembered World Beyond's second ability: True Rewrite.
If it could overwrite reality, then theoretically it could convert other metals into the same material as Magneto's helmet.
With that thought, Karl instantly teleported to the Middle East.
A Few Minutes Later
Whoosh!
Boom!
Bang!
Karl wiped out an entire terrorist base in seconds.
After harvesting enough Sinful Souls, he checked his Stand energy.
Five overwrite charges remained.
Karl immediately teleported back.
When he reappeared beside Tony and Speed, he walked up to an ordinary metal block weighing nearly fifty kilograms.
He placed his hand on it.
"True Rewrite."
A white flash erupted.
The metal instantly transformed.
Its atomic structure changed completely.
The entire block had become identical to the metal used in Magneto's helmet.
Tony froze.
Speed's holographic avatar also stared in disbelief.
Tony immediately rushed forward and began testing the material.
After several scans, his eyes widened.
"It's identical."
"The molecular composition… electromagnetic properties… everything matches perfectly."
Tony turned toward Karl in astonishment.
"Karl… how did you do that?"
"This is unbelievable."
"And fifty kilograms is more than enough for us."
Even Speed's projection showed obvious curiosity.
Karl simply shrugged.
"Just a small ability."
"Study it however you want."
"Oh, right."
Karl opened his system space and placed a container on the table.
"I also brought back some Adamantium."
"If either of you wants it, take it."
"I'm leaving."
Tony and Speed were left staring as Karl disappeared again.
Afterward, Tony and Speed immediately began developing anti-telepathic protection equipment.
However, the design required the metal to be worn on the head.
Karl obviously couldn't have May, Raven, Gwen, Helen Cho, and the others walking around wearing helmets all day.
For a moment, a cold thought crossed Karl's mind.
Should he simply kill Charles Xavier?
A trace of killing intent flashed in his eyes.
But after thinking about it carefully, he dismissed the idea.
First, he had no real grudge against Charles.
Second…
The Black Phoenix was still inside his house.
If Jean's original personality somehow resurfaced and learned that he had killed Charles…
That situation could spiral out of control instantly.
So the only real solution was still psychic defense.
Karl returned to the bedroom.
The Black Phoenix was already awake.
She had somehow transformed her clothing into a black lace nightdress and was lying on the bed, staring straight at Karl the moment he entered.
As Karl approached the bed, she immediately sat up, wrapped her arms around him, and buried her face against his chest.
"Why did you leave me alone here?" she asked quietly.
Her voice was softer than before, though the mature tone still made Karl slightly uneasy.
Karl lowered his gaze and looked into her crimson eyes.
Without saying anything, he leaned down and kissed her lips.
After a moment, he spoke.
"Alright."
"Tell me your current situation."
"Where did Jean's personality go?"
"Why do you emit that destructive aura whenever you get angry?"
"And why did you come looking for me the moment you woke up?"
Karl sat on the bed while holding her.
The Black Phoenix answered calmly.
"I don't know about most of it."
"But the 'Jean' you mentioned…"
"She's dead."
"I killed her."
"Because I am the Phoenix."
"I refuse to share a body with another consciousness. Now this body belongs to me alone."
She lifted her head and looked directly into Karl's eyes.
"When I become angry, I want to destroy everything. That's why you sense that aura."
"As for why I came to you…"
She smiled slightly.
"I was interested in you."
"At first I wanted to possess you completely."
"But I realized I couldn't."
"So…"
Her eyes flashed with a teasing expression.
"I had no choice but to take you first."
Karl looked at her suspiciously.
She had really destroyed Jean's personality?
That sounded impossible.
But judging from her behavior earlier, she clearly did not possess Jean's memories.
Could the Phoenix Force in this universe really function differently?
Was this Phoenix stronger because this world followed Marvel's cosmic hierarchy rather than the Fox mutant timeline?
Regardless of the explanation—
Karl had already made up his mind.
The Black Phoenix of this universe must belong to him.
And right now she had no way to escape.
After all—
Without control over time itself,
She could never outrun Karl.
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