Jean Grey possessed a degree of telepathic ability herself, and she heard Professor X's secret transmission. With that, the video came to an end.
In the Eternal Space, Tony Stark frowned.
"With the two most powerful mutants—Magneto defecting to Apocalypse and Professor X subdued—who's left on that Earth to stop him?"
Natasha pondered for a moment.
"Jean Grey? Professor X clearly places great importance on her."
Erik crossed his arms and replied dismissively,
"Jean Grey may have remarkable talent and potential, but in the end, she's still just a child who hasn't fully grown.
Charles may have taught her many things, but he never taught her how to face truly powerful enemies—how to fight.
Perhaps one day she'll become someone reliable, but honestly, based on what we've seen in the future footage, I don't think she's ready to shoulder the burden of saving the world."
Magneto's assessment was fairly objective.
From the footage shown so far, Jean Grey was indeed one of the more mature students at Xavier's school—but only relatively speaking. When crisis struck, she clearly hesitated and faltered.
That reaction was normal for an ordinary person. But when it came to saving the world, Jean Grey was not qualified—at least, not yet.
Tony Stark shrugged.
"Charles would've wanted you to stand up—but you surrendered first. So who else can he rely on?"
Erik glanced at him calmly.
"Raven looks far more like a leader than Jean Grey."
Homelander frowned in confusion.
"What exactly does Apocalypse want? If he wanted to destroy the world, he could just launch the nukes."
Bruce Banner said gravely,
"He wants to force human civilization to regress thousands of years—to turn a species that has begun exploring beyond its own planet back into ignorant worshippers kneeling before statues. Apocalypse wants to rule the entire world."
Natasha nodded.
"That's right. He wants humanity to submit—everyone to submit, mutants included."
She then turned to Magneto, her expression serious.
"Erik, if you think rationally, you should know that the new world Apocalypse wants to create is not the one you desire."
Erik curled his lips slightly.
"And how do you know what I want? One way or another, Apocalypse represents mutants. In a world he leads, mutants replace humans as the rulers of Earth."
"No—you're wrong, Erik. Completely wrong," Tony Stark said coldly.
"If that's truly what you think, then I should lower your threat rating. Apocalypse represents mutants? That's impossible. The only thing he has ever cared about—has always been himself.
To him, ordinary humans are no different from ants. But mutants aren't much better—at best, they're domesticated ants.
Do you really think Apocalypse cares about mutants' well-being?
He doesn't. He will only continue stealing mutant abilities, stepping over countless corpses and rivers of blood, until he crowns himself the one true god of the world.
And even if he creates a world ruled by mutants—do you think humans won't resist?
Thousands of years ago, he was dragged down from his throne by the very 'insects' he despised. Thousands of years later, I'm certain history will repeat itself."
Erik met Tony's gaze without expression.
In truth, everything Tony said had already crossed his mind. Viewing the future from a third-person perspective allowed Magneto to see more clearly than his future self.
He agreed with much of what Tony said—but agreeing inwardly didn't mean admitting it aloud.
Magneto still had his pride.
At that moment, a new question appeared on the light screen:
[Which of the following helped successfully rescue Mystique, Beast, Quicksilver, and Cyclops?]
A: Wolverine (Logan Howlett)
B: Professor X (Charles Xavier)
C: Jean Grey
D: Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff)
Natasha raised an eyebrow.
"Can we eliminate A and B right away? Professor X is being closely watched by Apocalypse—sending a secret message was already difficult enough. There's no way he could help with a jailbreak. As for Wolverine, he hasn't even appeared."
Tony glanced at option C.
"Based on the information we've seen so far, C seems the most likely."
That was a reasonable assumption.
From a narrative standpoint, the next development should have been Jean Grey stepping up—rescuing everyone, then uniting with the others to save Professor X and confront Apocalypse.
Apocalypse was clearly the final boss. Before fighting him, it made sense to clear the lesser obstacles—and Stryker's secret base was one such obstacle.
As Professor X's prized student, Jean Grey was naturally expected to handle that challenge.
Soon, the answer countdown began. Most players lacked confidence, but after a brief hesitation, Erik Lehnsherr was the first to hit the buzzer.
"This one—I choose A."
Seeing someone take the lead, the others followed quickly.
Tony frowned and glanced at Magneto before deciding,
"I choose C."
Natasha chose C as well. Bruce Banner followed suit. Homelander hesitated, looked at both sides, then ultimately followed Magneto and chose A.
The countdown ended, and the correct answer was revealed:
[Congratulations to player Erik Lehnsherr for answering correctly! +4 points.]
[Player Homelander answered correctly. +1 point.]
[Player Tony Stark, player Natasha Romanoff, and player Bruce Banner answered incorrectly. −1 point each.]
Tony sighed.
"Damn it. Missed again."
He had placed his bets on Jean Grey several times already—every time convinced she was the safe choice—only to be disappointed again.
It felt like betting on Argentina or Germany in the World Cup.
Natasha asked curiously,
"Erik, why did you choose A? Wolverine hasn't even appeared."
"Because Stryker's base is where Logan was once experimented on," Erik replied calmly.
"Logically speaking, there's a good chance he'd been captured there as well."
He shrugged.
"It was just a guess. Natasha, be careful—I'm catching up to you."
On the scoreboard, Natasha still held first place, but her recent wrong answers had erased her once-commanding lead.
Now, she was only three points ahead of Magneto.
...
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