The meeting returned to a familiar rhythm. In a way, this was Magneto's comfort zone, since most of his life was spent studying how to blow up one thing or attack another. He wasn't skilled at construction, but he was very proficient in conducting surprise attacks.
"Although I've decided to go myself. Lorna told me she wants to go too, but it's not enough with just the two of us, and we lack information on the outer defense systems."
"I'll go too," Apocalypse said. "I'm immortal; they can't kill me. As for the outer defenses, let's just break through them. Why worry about so much?"
General Chasing crossed his arms and looked up, nodding slightly as he said, "Exactly, why worry about so much? I don't believe anyone can stand against us when we join forces."
"It's just a bunch of tin cans." Someone else said, "The previous surprise attack team got wiped out because they were too careless. We're well-prepared this time; what do we have to fear from them?"
"I must remind you," Magneto said solemnly, "The previous surprise attack team included Cyclops, Phoenix, and Wolverine. They were also very powerful mutants, but they too met their end at the Red Orchid Factory."
"It's different," Apocalypse interrupted, "The X-Men who frequently operate on Earth have had their information almost completely collected by the Sentinel Robots. Those robots are too counteractive against you, once they act, you can't escape. But we're different."
"We rarely appear on Earth, even the strongest Prime Sentinels lack the experience to combat us. Even if they're prepared, it'll be hard for them to go head-to-head with us."
"No," Magneto said again, "Once the Mother Module awakens, Nimrod-level Sentinel Robots will soon be online. They are super Sentinels that counter all mutants without discrimination; I fear we are not their match either."
He paused for a moment, then continued, "I'm not saying this to undermine our confidence, but because we need to come up with a foolproof strategy. Mutants no longer have room for failure."
"What do you think, Doctor?" Professor X asked in Shiller's mind, believing Shiller would have a solution, and now was the best time to propose it.
Shiller shook his head, replying in his mind to Professor X, "A foolproof strategy is not to go."
Professor X furrowed his brow, but Shiller continued, "I'm not offering an opinion because I know I can't stop it."
"Do you think this plan can't succeed?"
"The plan must succeed, but it may not necessarily succeed in the surprise attack aspect. They can go, and I'll handle the rest."
"Why do it this way?" Professor X asked gently, "Erik values your opinion, if you say something, he'll likely listen."
It was clear that while Professor X wanted to rescue the members of the surprise attack team, he didn't wish for Magneto to go himself, or rather, he wasn't too optimistic about Magneto's actions this time, filled with worry, even hoping Shiller could step in to stop him.
"No, Professor. War is not a gamble; victorious wars have never been won by gamblers calculating precise pros and cons. If you retreat because the risk is too high, then you'll have nothing left to defend. Those things that make them charge forth knowing the dangers ahead, those are the keys to ensuring your homes remain protected long-term. How could I persuade you to give these up?"
Professor X was silent; how could he not know? This was exactly why he couldn't outright convince Magneto. He was aware that if this plan failed, mutants would have no future, but if it succeeded, uniting all mutants and establishing a truly great nation would no longer be a dream. No one could fail to be moved by this rescue mission.
It's like the plot in "Saving Private Ryan" or similar films. Is it worth it to go to such lengths to save one person? From a resource standpoint, of course not. War cannot bear waste; every bullet must be spent in the right place to inch closer to victory. No matter how skilled a soldier is, it's not worth investing so much to save him.
However, human nature cannot be measured by profit. When a war hero is trapped, and his country doesn't give it their all to rescue him, the negative impact is immeasurable. So, even if it means disregarding costs, one must save him. And once successful, the gains are unimaginable. A battle hero who survives great peril becomes a living spiritual totem of a nation and a people.
To put it more plainly, once this skill is activated, the fighting spirit of all soldiers increases by 30%, public support rises by 50%, and national cohesion increases by 50%. And these factors play a significant role in war, even determining the life or death of a nation and a people.
"But isn't this just going back to the all-or-nothing model?" Professor X, having heard all the conversations between Shiller and Magneto, knew Shiller didn't like such actions with life hanging by a thread.
"I said not to hope for success through surprise raids and assassinations, but this doesn't quite count as a surprise attack; at most, it's a performance."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean I have another plan," Shiller smiled as he said, "They should just go ahead; everything will go smoothly."
Professor X didn't understand and thus kept paying attention to Shiller's actions. However, after Shiller left the meeting midway, he didn't do anything further and just returned to his room to catch up on sleep. After waking, he began traveling in Krakoa.
However, Main Universe Iron Man rushed out of his bedroom in a hurry. He shouted, waking all the Avengers.
After a previous big battle, everyone was very tired, and almost everyone was catching up on sleep. When they came out of their rooms, they were all bleary-eyed. Thor slammed his hammer on the table with a "bang": "You better have a reason, Tony Stark."
Captain America was already used to it. He ran his fingers through his hair, wiped his face, and walked over to sit on the sofa. The others also took their seats. Spider Man went over to grab some snacks and drinks, placing them on the table. Hawkeye cracked open a can of cold beer while Thor stuffed chips into his mouth.
"Something big has happened!" Iron Man said, "Guess what I found in the leftover files in the lab?"
"What?" Captain America frowned.
"Those mutants might not be dead," Iron Man said excitedly, "Their bodies are gone, but their consciousness still exists!"
"How do you know?" Black Widow asked with some doubt.
"I found some clues in the transmitted data from the Red Orchid Factory." Main Universe Iron Man didn't care if they understood, projecting a hologram onto the wall and began explaining to himself, "In the latest system logs, there's a clearly abnormal section. The data record shows something was uploaded into the factory's system. All this abnormal data appeared at exactly the same time as the mutants' deaths…"
Captain America paused for a moment, then asked, "Why didn't the lab administrator notice?"
"They might have noticed but didn't care," Main Universe Iron Man said.
"But this sounds like a major shift," Dr. Banner asked, frowning, "How could they ignore it?"
"Not only did they ignore it, but they also deleted that log. I managed to recover the data, and that's how I found the irregularities."
"Why would they do that?"
While others were still questioning, Black Widow showed a knowing expression and said, "There's a traitor among the researchers."
"You mean there's a mutant among them?"
"Very likely, it's just someone overworked without bonuses, unable to go home even after a victorious battle," Black Widow shook her head, "This is clearly an act of revenge."
Some couldn't understand because they hadn't worked much. But Spider Man nodded and said, "Indeed, if someone had to work overtime due to a major event, thinking they could take a long vacation after its resolution but were then told they had to continue working, they might just wish for Earth's destruction."
"But not just one person would see this," Captain America pointed at the projection on the wall, "Surely not everyone would betray?"
"The first person who saw it deleted it, and the rest didn't have the energy to pursue it," Main Universe Iron Man said, "Most people there, either in the lab or scientists, lack inspiration and have no interest in doing extra work. Most are more like zombies following routine."
"They don't want to be involved in this project," Black Widow critically pointed out, "No scientist is willing when taken away by the government and military. Even if everyone tacitly hides it, it wouldn't surprise me."
"What impact would this have?" Captain America asked again.
"Significant impact, very significant!" Iron Man flew up directly. He approached the wall and pointed at the projection, "Those people got into the factory system, do you know what this means? They could take control of the factory in the form of virtual consciousness!"
"What?!" Thor stood up immediately, "You mean these mutants can control the Red Orchid Factory?"
"If we don't take action, it might happen sooner or later," Iron Man said, "The Mother Module should have security measures in place, but the problem is, there are experts among the mutants. Among the assault team members, quite a few have abilities tied to their souls, like Phoenix. If she, with Phoenix, breaks through the security measures and directly controls the Mother Module, how will she handle the Human Government that killed them?!"
Captain America took a deep breath: "But the Mother Module is used to produce Sentinel Robots; the Red Orchid Factory shouldn't be able to directly attack Earth, right?"
"No, it's not a cannon. But what if they modify the Sentinel Robots' programming after controlling the Mother Module to massacre humans?"
Captain America couldn't sit still; he said, "This absolutely can't happen. The consequences of the mutants controlling the factory are catastrophic, especially since the deceased assault team members aren't rational. In their fury, they might do many crazy things, putting Earth and humanity at risk."
"How can we prevent this?" Dr. Banner asked, "Right now, we can't even break through the outer defense installations, let alone access the system's interior."
"I don't believe they didn't leave a backdoor in the system," Main Universe Iron Man thought for a moment and said, "Unfortunately, the plan to raid the lab failed, and those researchers were taken away; otherwise, we could have found a way through them."
"So what do we do now?" Captain America looked at him and asked.
"It's not the time for infighting," Main Universe Iron Man was somewhat frazzled and said, "We need to find The Avengers of this universe and have them contact the Human Government. We absolutely cannot let the mutants control the Red Orchid Factory."