Professor X, Magneto, and Wolverine had to expend a great deal of effort to persuade Fang Yuan to abandon his "kill half the people and recruit the other half" plan.
Heaven only knows, when they had just resolved to sacrifice a small number to bring peace to the World, they'd felt they were turning into villains themselves.
But compared with Fang Yuan?
They were as innocent as children.
"Fang, you're too extreme," Old Magneto urged earnestly.
In the past he might have gone along with it, but having lived through the apocalypse he'd deeply reflected on his own mistakes and feared Fang Yuan would walk his old path.
"F…ine."
Fang Yuan answered with extreme reluctance.
He'd thought he could really let loose this time, but the X-Men were, after all, the conscience of the Mutant World.
"Then I'll just scare them a bit," Fang Yuan said, eyes rolling. "But we can't ignore the government—getting the authorities on friendly terms with Mutants can hugely sway public perception."
"We have Hank," Wolverine said decisively. "Isn't he working for the government?"
Henry McCoy, nicknamed Hank—Beast.
During this period Beast had left the X-Men to become a government official, keeping Mutants from being completely isolated at the political level.
"Not enough. Hank only gives Mutants a bit more media influence; he has no real power."
Fang Yuan suddenly recalled one of his rewards and broke into a trouble-making grin.
"I'll be busy safeguarding Mutants and won't have the energy to deal with the government, so… you'll need a professional to liaise with the authorities."
"Who?"
Old Magneto narrowed his eyes, sensing the candidate might be bad news.
"I'll have to check his schedule and introduce you later," Fang Yuan said with a laugh. "Right now the priority is shutting down your Mutant-conversion machine."
Magneto nodded.
"And Rogue!" Logan added.
That reminded Professor X, who hurriedly told Fang Yuan, "Fang, we'll need you to send us to Canada."
At this moment Rogue had just awakened her Mutant power and, panicking, had run away to Canada. Had she not bumped into Wolverine, Sabretooth—sent by Magneto—would have captured her long ago.
Being captured would have meant delivery to Magneto, but with Sabretooth's current room-temperature IQ, an accident was more likely.
"So you guys can't buy each member a cellphone?" Fang Yuan continued his rant. "I remember phones cost only a few hundred bucks at this point."
"A few hundred is cheap?" Logan was puzzled; how much did he earn from an underground fight?
"Phones… aren't suited for Mutants," Magneto finally managed. "And they're easy to track."
Fang Yuan accepted the explanation and refrained from mocking the Brotherhood for being so low-tech they couldn't even stop a hacker.
He knew it was a common ailment of sci-fi—and many other films: things that could be settled with one phone call were stretched into long dramatic arcs.
The group arrived again in Canada, Wolverine leading them to the Bar where he'd last fought.
Professor X spotted Rogue sitting alone at the Bar.
"Good to see you again, Mary."
Old Charles murmured.
Logan and Magneto smiled as well.
Less than an hour had passed, yet to them it felt like a lifetime.
Anna Marie—Rogue—had been one of the comrades who'd fought with them to the very end in the previous life.
Before they could greet Anna, a man rushed over and grabbed Logan's shirt belligerently.
"Give me my money back! Nobody takes a beating like that without a scratch!" the man yelled.
Logan now realized where the guy had come from.
"When we got back I was boxing in the ring," he explained.
The others understood—an ordinary boxer stood no chance against the living patriarch Wolverine.
In the old days, Logan's claws would already be at the man's throat.
But this was a Logan who'd weathered great storms, so he chose—pay up.
"Huh, where's my cash?" Logan muttered around his cigar.
Fang Yuan handed him back the drink he'd just paid for.
Logan finally remembered: "Oh, spent it."
Thinking Logan was mocking him, the man swung a punch in fury—only to be caught by Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan then whipped out a Hundred-Dollar Bill and waved it; the man's eyes locked onto it.
"Want it?" Fang Yuan asked.
The man nodded hard.
With a ten-dollar bet per fight, he clearly wasn't rich, which was why he'd confronted the Mutant despite knowing what Logan was.
"Easy, then," Fang Yuan smiled. "Just shout 'Long live Mutants!' ten times for everyone to hear, and the bill's yours."
The man hesitated—doing that in a Bar would be humiliating.
But… it was a full hundred bucks.
They usually dealt in Small Change; the man couldn't remember the last time he'd seen a Hundred-Dollar Bill.
He clenched his teeth.
Let's do it!
"Long live the Mutants!"
"Long live the Mutants!"
The rest of the Bar erupted; plenty of people shouted in protest.
"Hey! What are you yelling about?"
"You a monster too?"
"Shut it, you @#$%&*!"
Fang Yuan shrugged toward Old Charles and the others. "Looks like the Mutants of this World are really etched into people's minds."
Charles and the other two could only shake their heads bitterly.
Watching the riled-up Bar, Fang Yuan simply snapped his fingers; the next second a floating Hundred-Dollar Bill appeared above every patron's head.
"Shout and it's yours," Fang Yuan said with a smile.
The Bar fell silent for a dozen seconds, then someone quietly offered, "Long live the Mutants?"
The voice was too soft; the bill didn't budge.
But it broke the ice, so the next moment another voice bellowed, smooth as can be.
"Long live the Mutants!"
The bill dipped a little, and the Bar's atmosphere detonated; everyone, even the owner, roared—
"Long live the Mutants!"
"Long live the Mutants!"
They wanted to stand their ground, but the boss was paying too well.
Fang Yuan smugly lifted his chin at Logan's slack-jawed trio.
"See? Controlling public opinion isn't hard."
In the raucous Bar, only Rogue didn't squeal at the cash; she was clearly drawn to Fang Yuan's group.
When Fang Yuan feigned leaving, Rogue hurried after them.
She was in the middle of life's crossroads; seeing kindred spirits, she naturally wanted to get closer.
She stepped outside and found Fang Yuan's four smiling at her.
"Hello, Mary."
Professor X's gentle greeting echoed in her mind.
Only then did Rogue realize that not only Logan and the handsome Fang Yuan, but even the two old geezers with them were Mutants!
"Old geezers…"
Old Charles frowned; he hadn't expected to look like that in her eyes.
Fang Yuan almost laughed aloud—this was what came of Mutants hiding their names.
So, as the handsomest man present, Fang Yuan stepped forward without hesitation.
"We came for you, Mary."
Sure enough, an eighteen-year-old in Puberty, faced with the striking Fang Yuan, instantly softened.
"How do you all know me?" she asked brightly.
Rogue's gaze stayed locked on Fang Yuan, stars twinkling in her eyes.
Fang Yuan, used to such looks, answered calmly, "We're from Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters; we guide Mutant kids in mastering their powers."
"I'm Fang Yuan, this handsome guy is Logan, and this is Dean Charles Xavier." He introduced them one by one, but waved a hand at Old Magneto. "This is our Discipline Director, Erik Lehnsherr."
"Why Discipline Director?" Old Magneto asked, puzzled.
"Because students hate that job," Fang Yuan replied matter-of-factly.
Magneto bristled, nearly turning into Gandalf to duel him. "Nonsense—dozens of students would follow me out of there!"
Ignoring him, Fang Yuan turned to Rogue. "Will you come with us?"
Mary answered without hesitation, "Of course!"
Wolverine rolled his eyes—teenage girls were so easy to fool.
Fang Yuan shook his head inwardly; Rogue didn't quite fit his "pond" standards, but her power was priceless to him.
Absorbing others' abilities—every time-traveler's dream.
Though Rogue's absorption was temporary, Fang Yuan knew that in the comics she'd permanently stolen powers before.
In one Universe, for instance, she'd drained Captain Marvel dry.
The trick was basically… keep absorbing and you might hit the hidden jackpot.
Fang Yuan found her power fascinating; Rogue was classified as a Level-3 Mutant mostly because she couldn't control it—any touch passively siphoned others' abilities.
A normal human could easily die; Rogue had run away after a single kiss left her boyfriend in a three-week coma.
That flaw made her hate her power and dragged down her rating.
None of that mattered to Fang Yuan; even if her development was low, he could simply unload her template when he didn't need it.
Fang Yuan's real motive for helping Old Charles save the World was the Mutants themselves.
Compared with decades earlier, post-2000 Mutants were more numerous and far stronger—a gold mine.
His Majesty the Black King would kindly accept them.
But this World wouldn't lose out either.
"I'm stopping your apocalypse; a service fee is only fair," Fang Yuan told himself.
You will get 90 chapter ahead for this fanfiction.
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