A sudden gale swept in from the sea, and moments later the sand began swirling toward Fang Yuan as if drawn by something.
Through the haze, a tall, straight figure gradually appeared before Fang Yuan. At the same time, the company panel chimed in.
[Employee Sebastian Shaw cross-World transfer successful!]
[New World detected. Temporary designation: 10005-2. Rename?]
Fang Yuan naturally chose yes, and his new name was just as blunt.
[Current World renamed: X-Men Original Timeline World!]
World numbers didn't matter; Fang Yuan focused ahead—the person in front of him was what counted.
"Hmm?"
Fang Yuan's long-absent voice sounded.
"Wasn't I dead?"
Sebastian Shaw was bewildered; freshly revived, he was still dazed.
"Exactly, but I brought you back." Fang Yuan said.
Only then did Shaw notice Fang Yuan standing nearby; his reason finally returned.
He surveyed the surroundings—familiar yet unmistakably different—and chuckled. "How long has it been?"
"Roughly thirty-eight years, but this World's situation is a bit different."
Fang Yuan used Telepathy on Shaw, sending him the current state of the original World, sparing himself a Q&A session.
Good Big Brother stood motionless; after a long while he opened his eyes, having digested the information Fang Yuan fed him.
"Vought Corporation actually reached this stage." Shaw flashed Fang Yuan a broad grin. "You really did it—you rule human thought!"
Shaw was thoroughly satisfied with the Mutants' status in the X-Men World. Fang Yuan had indeed played the entire World, yet genuinely improved the Mutants' plight.
Or rather, in the X-Men World they were now called the Awakened.
"So what's the story with this World?" Shaw asked.
Fang Yuan explained briefly: "This is a World where I never appeared. After Charles and Erik defeated you, they parted ways over differing ideals. To this day, the Mutants' situation hasn't improved—it's even worse."
"I still lost even without you?" Shaw caught the key point, shaking his head with a smile. "Seems my approach really doesn't work."
The transferred Shaw still carried the same magnanimity he'd shown when yielding the Black King title to Fang Yuan.
Win or lose—what mattered was that the Mutants won.
Thus he felt especially close to Fang Yuan.
But toward this World's Professor X and Magneto he had far fewer kind words.
"Those two greenhorns—after all these years they still haven't achieved a thing. Disgraceful!" he scoffed.
"So the reason you brought me here is…?" Shaw asked, though he already had a guess.
Fang Yuan nodded. "Exactly. I want you to teach them how to fight for Mutant rights!"
"Since I'll be hopping Worlds, I can't keep an eye on this place. You're the perfect one to guide them."
Thanks to the scenes Fang Yuan had just streamed into Sebastian Shaw's mind, no one in this World understood the Vought model better than Good Big Brother.
"I used to want to rule the World. Aren't you afraid I'll ruin your plans?" Sebastian Shaw asked with a half-smile.
Fang Yuan curved his lips in confident confidence: "I trust my judgment. Between personal ambition and the collective interests of Mutants, you now care more about the latter!"
Shaw burst into laughter, shaking his head. "Winner takes all—you've got me pegged."
Fang Yuan was right. Perhaps at first Shaw still dreamed of ruling the World, but after Fang Yuan defeated him and showed him the Awakened's current state, Shaw's ambition shifted from personal domination to safeguarding the entire Mutant community.
Shaw himself was a paradox: even when he sought World domination, he rarely harmed fellow Mutants.
So he gladly accepted his transformation.
Shaw also knew that Fang Yuan was a cunning schemer; without some backup plan, how could he have revived him in another World?
Could Fang Yuan's victory in their wager back then really have been pure luck?
They were both smart; some things didn't need spelling out.
Shaw was certain that if he ever harbored ulterior motives, Fang Yuan had a hundred ways to make this World unbearable for him.
"I accept." Shaw nodded.
After seeing the beautiful life Mutants enjoyed in the original World, learning that this World's Mutants still suffered in misery was more than he could stand.
He wanted, like Fang Yuan, to give this World's Mutants a good life—a deeply rewarding goal for Shaw.
"What do I need to do?"
Good Big Brother was raring to go; once he agreed, he asked Fang Yuan straightaway.
"The most pressing issue right now is a certain senator clamoring for Mutant Registration."
Fang Yuan certainly wouldn't refuse such an enthusiastic employee and immediately explained to Shaw.
"Right now the top priority is to give Mutants an official voice. You once handled the top brass of both the Bear and the U.S. at the same time—this should be easy for you."
Shaw nodded.
Of course; it was his old line of work.
But Shaw also asked, "Will the Mutants in this World cooperate with me?"
That point was crucial; it determined whether he would have to start from scratch in recruiting help.
Fang Yuan answered with a faint smile, "I've already done the groundwork for you. The X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants will both cooperate."
"But before that, you need to go see Old Charles and Old Eric."
The smile on Shaw's face never wavered. "No problem."
He was rather curious—just how far had those two greenhorns, who once fought him tooth and nail, grown after all these years?
Fang Yuan wasn't in a hurry to take Shaw to meet the elderly Charles and company; after all, he'd been away from the World for decades, and Good Big Brother needed time to readjust.
Two days later, at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.
A moonless, windy night, deep and silent.
Fang Yuan had arranged to meet the two old men.
"Who exactly is this professional you mentioned? Why all the mystery?"
Old Magneto said, growing impatient.
He himself was a man of stature; he couldn't imagine anyone more high-maintenance, someone so important that the two most prominent Mutant leaders of the age had to greet him in person.
"We know every prominent Mutant of the next twenty years—give us a name and we can march straight to their doorstep," Old Magneto muttered.
He wasn't normally long-winded, but these past two days he'd had a constant sense that something bad was about to happen.
"True—you two do know this person," Fang Yuan replied, then offered a word of caution. "Since we've already survived the Apocalypse, try not to be too surprised by whoever shows up."
"Maintain your composure."
Hearing that, Old Magneto's sense of foreboding deepened.
Old Charles, on the other hand, had no such worries; he simply stared ahead, curious what stunt Fang Yuan would pull.
With a grin Fang Yuan opened a portal, and the expert he'd spoken of stepped through. Old Professor X and Old Magneto finally saw who it was.
"Him?"
Old Charles was stunned; the choice truly came out of nowhere.
"Him!"
Old Magneto was far more agitated—even the streetlights trembled.
"Sebastian Shaw! It's you!"
Now he understood his bad premonition: Fang Yuan's so-called expert was the very man who'd murdered his mother.
"Hi, Eric!"
Shaw acted as if he didn't notice Magneto's fury, raising a hand in greeting. When Magneto ignored him, he simply turned to Old Professor X.
"Charles!"
Old Professor X wore a faint smile—exactly the composure Fang Yuan had requested.
Seeing Magneto's murderous look, Good Big Brother casually waved a hand.
"You've already killed me once; are you going to let old grudges blind you to the bigger picture?"
Old Magneto's face was gloomy, his heart torn.
Old Charles glanced worriedly at his old friend but said nothing.
At length Old Magneto drew a deep breath and snorted coldly. "You'd better truly be able to turn things around for Mutantkind."
In the end Old Eric chose the greater good.
As Shaw had said, he'd already avenged his mother once.
And Fang Yuan was right—Sebastian Shaw really was better than they were at handling officialdom.
Shaw flashed a confident smile. "So long as you don't get in my way."
Good Big Brother felt invincible; he'd always excelled at dealing with government types, and with the advanced experience Fang Yuan had given him from Vought, Sebastian Shaw was supremely confident.
Old Magneto stood to the side, sulking.
Professor X stepped over to comfort him. "Eric, we're here to save the World, to save Mutants—so don't be upset."
At his old friend's words, Old Magneto heaved a heavy sigh.
He'd given so much for this World; he really wanted to reverse Earth's magnetic poles.
Unfortunately, the movie version of himself didn't have that kind of power.
"Where do we start to change Senator Kelly's mind?"
"And Sentinels—that's the most important!" Old Magneto interjected.
Fang Yuan stayed silent, letting Good Big Brother take the lead.
"Senator Kelly?" Shaw frowned slightly and looked at Professor X. "Can't you control minds?"
"I prefer not to use that unless absolutely necessary; controlling one person won't solve a society-wide problem for Mutants," Old Charles replied.
Shaw shook his head. "Pity Emma could only read minds and plant illusions—if she'd had your ability, I'd have ruled the World decades ago."
Professor X fell silent.
Could this Black King really avoid leading Mutants astray?
You will get 90 chapter ahead for this fanfiction.
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