Chapter 2653: The Mayfly World (18)

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The answer is, of course, no.

The X-gene certainly does not follow regression to the mean, nor can it become stronger and stronger like a synthesized watermelon, for if that were the case, the cosmos would have exploded due to entropy a long time ago.

After many years of research and decoding by the human race, it was ultimately discovered that this X-gene was nothing else but pure randomness.

Two ordinary humans might give birth to a child with the X-gene; two mutants might give birth to an ordinary human; an ordinary human and a mutant also might give birth to both an ordinary human and a mutant.

Two powerful mutants might give birth to an ordinary human, they might give birth to Epsilon Class disabled mutants, or they might give birth to powerful mutants.

The only somewhat credible rule that is internally circulated is that powerful mutants are more likely to produce powerful mutant offspring with ordinary humans.

This rule mainly comes from Magneto and Professor X, all three of Magneto's children are strong because their father is a powerful mutant and their mother is an ordinary human.

Professor X has a strong son because his father is a powerful mutant and his mother is an ordinary human.

Beyond this, among the students recruited by Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, many are the combination of a mutant and an ordinary human, only that the parent who is a mutant is not that strong, but the children they produce are at least not disabled.

Thus, these relatively strong Alpha and Omega Level Mutants generally believe that interbreeding with ordinary humans can produce stronger children; as for mutants interbreeding with mutants, there has yet to be any union between two sufficiently powerful mutants, so it is difficult to deduce any pattern.

However, from the perspective of the lower social echelons, many discriminated Epsilon Class mutants also face difficulties in interbreeding with ordinary humans, most of them tend to marry equally disadvantaged mutants, but their fertility status is completely random as well, it does not become weaker and weaker nor does it become stronger from weakness.

This leads to a rather embarrassing problem for mutants: if they were to bring all the powerful mutants to one planet, allowing them to pair up and have children, that planet is doomed not to become a planet of powerful mutants, because there will definitely be ordinary humans and Epsilon Class among the children.

And based on the birth rate of powerful mutants, after several generations, this planet would become New Earth, with mutants still being the minority.

Although not on Earth, Magneto could completely implement a third-class citizenship system, making ordinary humans slaves, but the problem is that the numerous Epsilon Class still require a lot of resources and can't produce, in the end, they still have to rely on powerful mutants to support them. So in the end, who would be the slave to whom?

These speculations flashed rapidly in Clark's mind, and he almost instantly understood this truth, then he spoke with conviction, "You are repeating the same mistakes."

How could Professor X not understand this? He still said in a very mild manner, "We just want to give mutants hope, let them know that there is a Heaven for them in the distance, so that they can have a sense of belonging and unite."

Clark shook his head and said, "This will take a very long time, and it may not even be effective."

"Perhaps it's not so complicated." Clark said as his deep blue eyes stared at Magneto, who turned away his head, damn those blue eyes.

"How did your current predicament come about? I heard from Doctor Schiller that it's because you can't find mutant talents in agriculture and animal husbandry right now, and ordinary people can't understand your situation."

"The reason you can't find talents in this area is because a country has settled them all down, they're living peacefully and have reached a level of stability that they have no desire for progress."

"If that is the case, it shows that there is a Utopia for mutants somewhere in the world, why bother building another one?"

Magneto had to turn his head back and look at Clark, he said, "Those people are not on the same page as us."

"But they are united, aren't they? Even you two global leaders of mutant civilization failed to sway them with personal invitations; surely you tried tempting them with wealth and power, right? How good must their lives be to reject you time and again?"

Magneto and Professor X did not want to discuss this topic, but Clark continued, "You want to build a Utopia in a distant place because as long as the mutants on Earth can't see it, they can imagine how great it could be."

"But imagination is just that, imagination, and no amount of media stunts can compare with seeing something with one's own eyes. Moreover, the vast majority of mutants are born on Earth; they have a more tangible experience of everything that happens here."

"Which one do you think they would trust more, the aspect of mutants in a country nearby that they can easily travel to, or the notion of a virtual Heaven in the Andromeda Galaxy that is far away and intangible?"

"We could also let them..."

"But they'll understand that there's a selection process for those going there." Clark said, "I'm just a journalist, and you can't hide this from me. They will say that those you invite for a visit have all received money, or they say such things under your coercion or bribery; they won't believe it."

"Isn't China doing the same?"

"At least China has opened travel visas to all countries on the surface, albeit for a limited time, but this is telling everyone that we are not afraid for you to come and see. As long you can afford a plane ticket, you can come and see if what we do is genuine."

"Even if some people can't afford the price of a plane ticket, this makes them understand that making up such far-fetched deceptions would be too costly, impossible even. Even if it's all for show, even if only a few cities can achieve it, it would still require an immense amount of manpower and resources. Compared to this, the cost of your deception is very low, making it even less credible."

Magneto was silent and did not rebut, and Clark said, "I don't understand why you refuse to learn from someone else's successful experience, is it just because of ideological reasons?"

Magneto shook his head and said, "You could say that, or you could say it's not. That's the attitude of their government, but no other government besides them would allow mutants to do this, and we don't have our own government."

"Then establish one."

"Nobody would agree to that, and that's precisely the problem." Magneto said, "Once we do it, we will inevitably be attacked by all."

"Then go find allies."

"We don't have allies. Even the Chinese government would not express support for us just because we want to establish our own nation, and not even the mutants in China would, they have never considered themselves one with us."

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"Then don't establish a nation under the identity of mutants," Clark said, leaning forward with his hands on the table and looking into Magneto's eyes.

Magneto was slightly stunned; he really didn't understand what Clark meant. What did it mean to not establish a nation under the identity of mutants?

But Shiller finally understood what Clark was getting at with such a roundabout approach. He couldn't help but laugh. Seeing Magneto's perplexed expression, he struggled to press down the corners of his mouth, knocked on the table, and drew Magneto's attention before speaking.

"You say you want to establish a nation for mutants; everyone will definitely disagree. But if you say you want to rebuild the Former Soviet Union, then everyone will definitely cheer for the founding ceremony of the mutants' nation."

Shiller could clearly hear Professor X spit out his coffee.

Magneto couldn't help but rub his forehead. Looking at Shiller, he said, "Don't think I don't know, you actually…""

"We're not talking about me right now; we're talking about you. You said the Chinese government will not support mutants, that's true, especially since they definitely won't support mutants represented by the Brotherhood. The mutants within China also have no good feelings toward you."

"But you can't deny the strength of the nation and its solid stance towards allies. As long as you can establish relations with the country, the name under which you do so is ultimately irrelevant."

"On the contrary, there are few supporters of their country's system in the world today, and with the arrival of the interstellar age, the fight over ideologies is bound to resurface one day."

"Or rather, all nations are now fully engaged, and the interstellar arms race they are conducting is to prove their ideology correct, just like during the Cold War."

"It's foreseeable that in the new round of arms races, each side will need allies. Mutants cannot remain a neutral force and last to the very end, or do you prefer to cooperate with America instead?"

Magneto's expression darkened; he knew that what Shiller was saying was true, and signs of this trend were already beginning to emerge.

Having experienced the Cold War himself, he knew that such a competition might not be a bad thing, especially at a time when the future stage was so vast and immeasurable. Competition and confrontation instead act as catalytic agents for development.

So people like Nick and Shiller did not oppose this kind of race. The major powers were in tacit agreement, acknowledging the emergence of this situation.

If so, the competition would inevitably intensify, and everyone would do everything possible to attract allies. Trying to remain neutral and flip-flopping in such a situation would be the stupidest decision.

Magneto had personally witnessed the fate of those small countries that courted death, and the situation for mutants currently was even worse than for those small countries.

They were not players with land and population; they were more like a knife, a weapon endowed with magic. Players at least faced moral censure when beaten, but no one blames anyone for using any means to snatch a knife.

If it really came to that point, he would have no choice; they would have to take the initiative to strike first, to plan ahead in order to find a place to stand in the grand next era.

Would China be a good choice?

Magneto didn't know, but he did know he couldn't choose America. America only wanted a knife; they didn't allow their weapons to have any autonomy. If Magneto was willing to be reduced to a mere weapon, then why would he have stirred up such chaos in American territory?

If he was willing to bow down, the Brotherhood wouldn't be deemed a terrorist organization. His unwillingness to lose autonomy was the fundamental reason for the organization's birth and its methods.

Shiller had long seen that Magneto had an abnormal need for control over himself and others, stemming from his earlier years when he couldn't control many things. This psychological trauma led him to overcompensate.

But unfortunately, America was also a country with a strong desire for control. It didn't want mutual cooperation but rather absorption and dominance. A zero-sum game was a term written into the American national spirit; their unchallengeable authority was fundamental to their global dominance. This inevitably meant they would never bow to anyone else.

Neither side willing to bow would naturally prevent any cooperation from happening. And since America wasn't an option, that left only one choice.

Magneto still appeared somewhat hesitant as he said, "I am not opposed to cooperating with any country, but I must know what I can get from such cooperation. Could it really be a true nation?"

"Does having the title of a nation really matter to you?" Clark asked. "If you actually control somewhere, must you call yourself a king?"

"Of course not," Magneto said with a hint of disdain. "I'm not that childish."

"Then it will be easy to handle. Since you've already been doing the work of a terrorist organization, why can't you make your operations even bigger?" Clark spread his hands and said, "What's so great about attacking American military bases? Don't you know what's really important to America?"

Magneto looked at him.

"How do you feel about the title of Mexican Insurgents?"

"I... What?????"

Magneto turned towards Clark after hearing this.

"You're insane."

"Are you scared?"

Magneto had no choice but to look towards Shiller again, his eyes asking—"Where did you find such a lunatic?"

But Shiller just shook his head and thought to himself: "He's not a lunatic; he's just a good friend to humanity."