"Master, connect me to the mechanical arms' central system. I can resolve it."
An invisible scanning beam shot out. Fenris adjusted the frame of his glasses, and Titan's remarkably human voice sounded beside his ear.
"Wait for now."
Fenris stopped him without letting anything show.
"Wanda, isn't your ability..."
On the other side, Emma stared blankly at Wanda, who had suddenly spoken up. "You're not thinking of using illusions on artificial intelligence, are you?"
"It's not that simple."
Seeing that Connors was still hesitating, Wanda turned back and gave Emma a playful wink.
As soon as she finished speaking, scarlet energy gathered in her palm. With a rumble, the laboratory door opened automatically.
Dr. Octopus's tentacles immediately sensed Wanda's approach and began struggling violently, letting out sharp, grating metallic screeches.
The claws at the tips of the tentacles aimed at Wanda almost in perfect unison. Four mechanical eyes split open in a neat row, looking especially eerie and terrifying inside the small laboratory.
"Boss, watch out!"
Emil moved with surprising agility, stepping in front of Fenris in a flash and shielding him behind his body.
"Coward."
Wanda glanced at the tense Abomination, then turned her eyes toward the tentacles writhing eagerly in her direction.
"I can't believe I'm sensing such obvious malice from a mechanical creation..."
Wanda raised her brows in surprise. Before her words had fully fallen, a surge of red energy poured out of her body, dyeing the clear laboratory crimson in the blink of an eye.
Mist-like energy condensed in the air, then twisted and stretched like long serpents, extending outward before sinking entirely into the four mechanical tentacles.
"Well, damn."
Connors's eyes widened from the side.
Fenris pulled Emil, who was blocking his view, out of the way and stared at the laboratory with great interest.
Magneto's genes really were absurdly excellent.
Hiss!
As Wanda's energy poured inside them, the mechanical tentacles, which were clearly not living things, let out bursts of piercing shrieks. Their bodies began twitching and thrashing wildly. Under the eruption of tremendous force, even the restraints specially made by Connors warped slightly. Otto, who was lying facedown on the bed, also began to show a pained, struggling expression.
"No, Otto!"
In the neighboring room, Rosalie was startled awake by the chaos. Seeing her husband in pain, she stood at the door and silently wiped away her tears.
"Emma, release him."
Wanda's energy was even more domineering than Fenris had imagined. That streak of scarlet spread madly through the tentacles' bodies and soon invaded the core connected to Otto's spine.
"All right."
As soon as Emma's voice fell, the mental fluctuation surrounding Otto quietly withdrew. Violent pain surged into his mind, jolting him awake in an instant.
Through his neural connection with the tentacles, he almost immediately understood everything that had just happened. He felt the deeply rooted will in his mind, "complete the experiment" and "use any means necessary." Then the memory of nearly getting his wife killed flooded back.
Otto's eyes reddened, and he roared, "No!"
"I am the master of this body!"
"Get out of my brain!"
Clatter!
Wanda's raised hand swung sharply downward. Scarlet energy erupted again, and the tentacles, forged entirely from carbonadium steel, let out groans as if they could no longer bear the strain.
Amid Dr. Octopus's unwilling roar, countless components were forcibly stripped off by Wanda. The tentacles, which had extended more than a dozen meters, struggled violently for a while, but in the end, they still dropped weakly. The four mechanical eyes slowly dimmed as well.
"Done."
Looking at Otto, who was drenched in sweat and panting heavily on the operating bed, Wanda snapped her fingers softly. The red energy inside the laboratory gathered inward and quickly vanished.
"Impressive, Wanda."
Fenris stepped into the laboratory and casually picked up a fragment of the tentacle, weighing it in his hand.
Although carbonadium steel was not as strong as vibranium or adamantium, it was still far tougher than ordinary materials.
"Thank you for the praise."
Wanda lifted her head proudly and brushed past Fenris with a smug expression.
"Titan, dinner's ready."
Fenris chuckled softly. Looking at the four tentacles that had gone completely still, he connected Titan to Otto's spine.
"No!"
A faint electric sound rang out. As Titan connected, Otto, who had not yet recovered, suddenly screamed.
The tentacles behind him, which had already gone completely limp, seemed to have seen some terrifying existence. They began thrashing wildly in Fenris's direction, looking as though they wanted to drag him down with them.
"That thing is still alive?"
Everyone was startled at once.
"I didn't expect Otto's research in artificial intelligence to be this advanced."
Fenris was somewhat surprised. The fact that it had tried to fake death and slip through unnoticed proved that this thing already possessed a very high degree of self-awareness.
"Too bad. It's useless."
Dr. Octopus's final struggle was extremely violent. Just as the four tentacles were about to break free of their restraints, Fenris reached out with his right hand. Purple skin spread over it, and his five fingers transformed into long, strange claws. Dense black mist churned around them without end.
The instant the black mist appeared, the lights in the entire laboratory building seemed to dim. The cool-toned lighting carried a natural chill, and everyone suddenly shivered for no reason.
"Hell... the power of demons..."
Wanda felt the mark on her arm suddenly turn icy cold. Instinctively, she wanted to step closer to Fenris, but Emma beside her grabbed her at once.
"Don't go!"
Under her powerful telepathy, Fenris at that moment seemed to have transformed into a black sun. It filled Emma, who had remained near Fenris ever since receiving the Lizard serum, with both reverence and fear.
Crack!
With a sharp sound, Dr. Octopus finally broke free of the restraints completely. The tentacles behind him shot toward Fenris like venomous snakes.
"What?"
The tentacles slashed through Fenris with perfect precision, only for his figure to quietly disperse where he stood.
The four mechanical eyes raised high. Inside the cramped laboratory, Fenris had seemingly vanished into thin air.
"Over here."
A relaxed laugh sounded. Dr. Octopus only felt a breeze brush past his back. Four heavy, muffled impacts rang out in succession, and then he lost all perception.
Shrrrk!
The claws that Fenris's fingers had become swept across the connection points of the four tentacles, neatly severing them at the root.
The heavy tentacles crashed to the floor. The cut surfaces, however, were not smooth like mirrors. Wisps of black smoke curled over them. Amid faint sizzling sounds, the carbonadium steel began aging and decaying at a visible speed. In just a few breaths, the mechanical tentacles, which had still looked bright and new even after several battles, had turned utterly dull.
"That vicious?"
Fenris looked at his right claw, then glanced at the fragments on the ground, blinking in disbelief.
On the operating table, as Titan completely devoured the artificial intelligence, Otto's consciousness finally returned in full.
His entire body was soaked with sweat. After glancing at his wife, who was looking at him nervously from not far away, Otto struggled to turn his head toward Fenris.
"Thank you, Fenris..."
"You saved Rosalie, and you saved me. But now I have nothing left. I don't know how I can thank you..."
"It was nothing, Doctor."
Fenris calmly put his glasses back on and stared straight at Otto, revealing a harmless smile.
"Since you have nowhere to go, why don't you stay and work like an ox for me..."
"Stay here and keep Dr. Connors company?"
"...Huh?"
(End of Chapter)
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