"A fake balance."
Adrian stared at Logan, who was possessed by Charles's consciousness, his eyes seeming to pierce thousands of miles to reach the mind controller deep beneath the Mutant Academy.
"Charles, you and Erik have been playing this opposing act for so many years—have you maybe started to believe it yourselves?"
Hearing Adrian's words, Charles, whose consciousness was far away at the Academy, fell into an unusual silence.
For the first time, genuine surprise flickered in his usually calm, water-like eyes.
His split with Magneto Erik was definitely the result of multiple factors working together.
Differences in beliefs, his followers pushing him, but the most basic reason came from a secret conversation on that night years ago.
Thoughts surged, and Charles seemed to return to the night that decided their fates, the eve of their public split.
"Erik, are you really sure?" A younger Charles looked at his close friend, his voice full of obvious worry.
Erik had been through too much hell—his soul was already covered in scars.
The only belief keeping him going now was to secure a future for Mutants. This future Magneto, whose name would shake the world, was determined to carve a bloody path for his people with his own strength.
"Charles! You should know me pretty damn well."
"Once I make a decision, I never look back."
Erik's voice was stern and solid as rock.
He was moving forward, step by step, along the path he'd set for himself.
"Besides, isn't this what you wanted too?"
"Don't put all your eggs in one basket. If I fail, at least you're still there."
Erik shot back, his gaze burning bright.
Charles went quiet. This master of the mind, who was always smooth-talking and insightful, felt speechless for the first time.
Since the exposure of Black King Sebastian Shaw's conspiracy during the Cold War, the threat of Mutants had been brought to the forefront by higher-ups in different countries.
As heroes who stopped Black King's conspiracy, Magneto and Professor X naturally became people various nations worried about.
Especially Professor X Charles.
The most powerful brain in this world could temporarily freeze perceived time and even effortlessly browse anyone's memories.
Someone like that posed a massive threat to politicians in all countries. While Magneto was powerful, there were ways to counterbalance him. But Professor X's existence? That was basically a nuclear deterrent.
This was also the main reason why countries didn't dare openly target Mutants.
If Professor X were to go dark, the entire human civilization could instantly drop back to the Stone Age. Nobody wanted to see that kind of lose-lose situation.
So Charles and Magneto, sticking to their respective beliefs, went down two different paths to find a way forward for Mutants: one to be humanity's enemy, the other to be humanity's friend.
For decades, they stumbled forward, exploring their race's future.
For a quick moment, Charles's eyes seemed to drift, like he'd truly achieved his long-held dream of peaceful coexistence between humans and Mutants.
But Adrian, standing in front of him, used harsh reality to tell him: humanity's fear of Mutants had never decreased. On the contrary, it'd grown day by day. The current appearance of peace was just because humanity didn't yet have the strength to flip the table.
"Looks like you already have your own ideas," Charles said slowly, pulling himself together.
Adrian gave him a really special feeling. The guy's attitude and vibe weren't anything like an eighteen-year-old kid. Instead, he was like some wise man who'd been through hell and back.
"I've got my methods."
"I hope we won't end up as enemies."
Adrian's tone was calm.
He definitely had no interest in sharing his plans with Charles.
The guy's stubbornness was bone-deep. If he found out Adrian planned to reshape social order, his first reaction would absolutely be to stop him. Because in Charles's mind, Adrian's actions were more like those of a dictator, an act of revenge against all of human society.
So Adrian had zero desire to open up. It was Magneto, though, who made him think about some kind of communication.
"Is that so?"
"Looks like we're destined not to walk the same path."
Charles sighed quietly.
Even though there was no tyranny or hatred in Adrian's eyes, past experiences also stopped him from having naive dreams about anyone.
Charles understood that trying to win over Adrian was basically impossible.
Still, this meeting also made Charles feel a little relieved.
At least Magneto couldn't win over Adrian either. Because Adrian wasn't some lunatic—he wouldn't have crazy ideas like transforming all of humanity into Mutants.
The genetic tech Magneto relied on was fundamentally half-baked, and that plan was insanely risky!
Charles gave Adrian a meaningful "look." Deep within Logan's consciousness, he also sensed that mental barrier.
This meant Adrian had already told Logan his plan. If he tried to force his way through, his mental energy might get hit with backlash, and he'd also completely piss off Adrian, which wouldn't be worth it.
After thinking it over, Charles gave up on the idea of digging through Logan's memories.
"I hope our next meeting will be as friends," Charles's voice gradually faded, his mental energy pulling back like a tide.
Logan's calm eyes regained their usual wildness.
"Damn it! Charles!" The moment he got his consciousness back, Logan roared in anger.
Thanks to Adrian's mental barrier protection, he'd clearly heard the entire conversation between Charles and Adrian and realized he'd been controlled.
"Alright, he's gone."
"As expected of the most powerful brain in the world—that much mental energy is seriously impressive."
Adrian said calmly.
Just how powerful was Charles's mental energy?
With Cerebro boosting him, even a Gold Saint who could create thought-forms and grasp the Seventh Sense Cosmo might not be able to match him in pure mental power.
Of course, everyone's got their specialty. In actual combat, ten Charleses wouldn't be a match for a Gold Saint.
"Good thing I was prepared and set up a mental barrier in your consciousness."
"Otherwise, our plan would've been completely exposed to Charles."
Adrian said gratefully.
Even if Charles couldn't completely stop him, he could definitely create huge problems in the early stages.
That wasn't what Adrian wanted to see. Sure, Charles was stubborn, but he wasn't someone who couldn't be won over.
"Hmph, I'll make him realize sooner or later that invading someone else's brain whenever he feels like it comes with a price," Logan kept his anger in check.
He knew damn well he stood basically no chance against Charles unless he could pull off a close-quarters surprise attack when the guy wasn't paying attention.
But that probability was tiny. With Charles's mental coverage, any slight disturbance wouldn't escape his notice.
"We're almost at the Vatican." Adrian looked at the faintly visible city walls in the distance. "Logan, this is where you get off. You should go now and stick to the plan."
"Alright!"
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