The distorted light of the portal gradually dissipated, and Logan stumbled to his feet. Erik floated in the air. They looked around and found themselves standing on the spire of an abandoned church, overlooking the entire city covered by moonlight.
"Sokovia?" Logan frowned, sniffing the air—gunpowder, engine oil, and even a faint trace of blood.
"That's right." Vergil sheathed his sword and took off his hood.
Erik's metal cape slowly swayed in the air, "This place... is very peaceful."
"It wasn't before." Vergil's voice was calm, "But, we came, and Sokovia became what it is now."
Logan frowned, "You?"
Vergil didn't answer, he just turned and walked to the edge of the church, then leaped down. Logan and Erik exchanged glances and followed closely behind.
When they landed, the church doors slowly opened, and an Asian man in a black trench coat stood at the entrance, beside him a silver-haired, blue-eyed woman holding a strangely shaped long sword.
"Welcome." Chen Tian smiled, hands in his trench coat pockets, "Erik Lehnsherr, Logan Howlett..."
Logan's muscles instantly tensed, "Who the hell are you?"
"Chen Tian." He nodded slightly, his smile unwavering, "I was the one who sent Vergil to save you."
"Vergil?" Erik and Logan looked at Vergil, who was slowly walking towards Chen Tian.
"Why did you save us?" Erik asked.
Chen Tian didn't answer, still smiling, he motioned for the two to follow him into the church. Logan snorted, his sense of smell didn't tell him there was any threat inside the church.
So he followed first, and Erik also slowly floated into the church.
The heavy wooden doors of the church slowly closed behind them, shutting out the moonlight. Candles flickered on ancient chandeliers, and the long table was laden with roasted lamb legs, fresh bread, fruit, and several bottles of aged whiskey.
Logan unceremoniously grabbed an entire roasted chicken, tearing off a large piece of meat, grease dripping down his beard. He chewed a few times, narrowed his eyes, feeling the ingredients in the food, then nodded to Erik: "Not poisoned."
Only then did Erik pick up a crystal glass. He took a sip, his gaze fixed on Chen Tian: "Now, tell me—why did you save us?"
Chen Tian chuckled, his finger gently tapping the table: "Because of your value."
"Value?" Logan sneered, "I hate riddlers the most."
Chen Tian's finger gently tapped the table, a slow rhythm, as if waiting for something.
Logan impatiently threw the gnawed chicken bone onto the plate with a clatter: "Hey, kid, stop playing games. You didn't save us just to treat us to a meal, did you?"
Erik's gaze remained cold, but the metal wine glass slowly rotated between his fingers, clearly also waiting for an answer.
Chen Tian smiled slightly, raised his hand and waved, and the projection in the center of the church suddenly lit up. In the image, World Security Council members were seated around a round table, arguing fiercely about something.
"This is a recording of a meeting from three hours ago." Chen Tian's voice was calm, "They are discussing whether to abolish the Superhuman Registration Act."
In the projection, a Council member with gold-rimmed glasses slammed his hand on the table: "Mutants are out of control! Magneto openly attacked S.H.I.E.L.D., the X-Men defied orders—we cannot tolerate this threat any longer!"
Another Council member sneered: "Professor Charles Xavier thinks signing that act will make Mutants integrate into society? Ridiculous. They are aliens after all."
Logan's eyes showed a fierce glint: "These sons of bitches..."
Erik's expression remained calm, but the metal wine glass in his hand silently twisted and deformed.
Chen Tian turned off the projection, his gaze sweeping over the two: "Do you see? In the Council's eyes, Mutants have never been equal. They only care about control—either be their obedient hounds, or be branded as criminals."
He stood up, "Are you content with such a World?"
"So what do you want to do?" Erik threw the deformed wine glass onto the table.
"I hope you will join me."
Logan tilted his head back and took a big gulp of whiskey, the spicy liquor burning down his throat. He bared his fangs and scoffed, "Join you? Overthrow the World government? Ha! I've lived for so many years and seen too many idealists like you—they either get shot in the head by government Agents or stabbed in the back by their own people."
"No, Logan. I never intended to overthrow any government. Adjudicators are not heroes, but knights walking in the darkness."
Chen Tian stood up and looked at Erik, "Erik, you know many Mutants who haven't joined Professor Charles Xavier's academy, they all face a problem: being arrested, taken away, and becoming experimental subjects."
Erik didn't speak, just stared at Chen Tian.
"Should Mutants be prey? Or hounds? This is wrong, but what can you do?" Chen Tian spread his hands, "The people who hunt Mutants are the World Security Council and S.H.I.E.L.D., Erik, can you dismantle the entire World?"
"Then do you have a way?" Erik asked softly.
Chen Tian nodded, "I can make Sokovia a home for Mutants, and the Adjudicators will be their protectors."
Logan disdainfully exhaled a breath of alcohol, "Heh, easy to say. Protection? Home? I've lived for over a hundred years, and I've heard such pretty words until my ears are calloused." He slammed the glass onto the table, "Sokovia is a tiny place, how can it fight the whole World?"
Erik also looked distrustful, "If that's all, you won't convince me."
Chen Tian smiled and motioned for 2B to hand the tactical tablet to the two. As Erik was about to take the tablet, Chen Tian spoke, "Erik, Logan, this tablet contains my secret, so, before you look, you need to consider the consequences."
Erik and Logan exchanged glances, both seeing hesitation in each other's eyes.
Logan saw that neither of them could make up their minds and cursed, "Damn it, let's just look. Maybe there's really something in there that can prove this kid's words. His smiling face just pisses me off, so full of confidence."
Erik looked at Chen Tian, who stood with his arms crossed, looking completely confident.
Erik took a deep breath and tapped the tablet, and the Red Room logo popped up.
The two looked at the logo and abruptly looked up at Chen Tian.
"You're from the Red Room?" Erik asked in shock.
"I knew it! The Red Room? Damn it! This kid is lying, I don't believe any spy organization is this kind-hearted!" Logan stood up immediately, his Wolverine claws extending from his fingers.
Chen Tian smiled and motioned for Logan to calm down, "Erik, you're wrong, the Red Room is mine."
"Where is that madman Dreykov now?" Erik demanded, "I don't believe he'd let you take over the Red Room so easily."
"Yes, so he's dead, and so are his loyalists." Chen Tian motioned for Erik to continue looking at the tablet, "There's a lot in the tablet, you can keep looking."
Erik lowered his head and continued to look at the tablet.
The tablet displayed the crimes Dreykov committed while in charge of the Red Room, such as: training female Agents called 'Black Widow,' all of whom were subjected to brainwashing after Dreykov caused tragedies for their families; and the Red Room's cooperation with HYDRA, including but not limited to, assisting HYDRA in carrying out terrorist attacks and capturing Mutants in various places.
"Where did the Mutants captured by the Red Room go?" Erik looked up slightly, but his words were already tinged with anger.
"Emm, most of them were released, a small number chose to stay, and now they either work as Red Room logistics personnel or live in Sokovia." Chen Tian walked over to Erik and tapped the tablet, and a dozen personnel lists popped up.
These lists contained information on Mutants, male and female, old and young, "Erik, if you're worried I'm deceiving you, I can have these people come forward."
Erik stared intently into Chen Tian's eyes, and Chen Tian did not flinch.
"No need, I can tentatively believe that point, after all, if this were a lie, it would be easily exposed." Erik threw the tablet onto the table, "Then what is this 'Adjudicator' you speak of? What does 'knights walking in the darkness' mean?"
Chen Tian walked to the steps in front of the church's pulpit and sat down on them.
"Heroes?" Chen Tian chuckled, "Heroes are symbols of light, embodiments of hope—but this World is never changed by hope alone."
"Heroes abide by rules, don't kill captives, don't harm civilians, and are even willing to abandon the pursuit of criminals for the life of a stranger, because they are heroes, they must bring light to the people." He looked up slightly, "But, I think you also know, it is precisely this 'benevolence' that allows enemies to rise again and again."
Logan snorted, "So? You're saying we should be like executioners, killing everyone we see?"
"No, Logan." Chen Tian's smile held a hint of wickedness, "We are only responsible for hunting those prey that escape into the darkness."
"Are you saying we're supposed to be the killers for those so-called 'heroes'? To eliminate the enemies they 'mercifully' released?" Erik frowned, stroking his chin.
"You could say that, or, we could eliminate these enemies in the 'darkness' before they even appear in the open." Chen Tian rested his hands on his knees, "Heroes, adhering to their bottom line, can be Arbitrators, while we only need to eliminate, becoming Adjudicators."
Erik and Logan listened to Chen Tian speak the same English words, feeling a bit confused, as both Arbitrators and Adjudicators are pronounced the same in English: 'Arbiter'.
"Arbitrator..." His voice carried a certain rhythm, "is the maintainer of rules, the symbol of order." The stained glass behind him depicted Angels judging the human World, "They stand in the sunlight, measuring good and evil with benevolence and tolerance."
"And we Adjudicators..." A shattered crucifix sculpture beside the stained glass, in the dim shadow. "We stand in the shadows, executing judgments with bullets and blades." When dark corners are beyond the reach of order and rules, when morality becomes a criminal's amulet—that is our reason for existence."
"Arbitrators dare not openly protect good Mutants who are hunted simply because they did not join the Superhuman Registration Act, but Adjudicators dare."
"Arbitrators will release criminals because of rules, but we just want them to die in a ditch."
The Angel painting on the church's stained glass twisted in the moonlight, and candlelight danced in Chen Tian's pupils, stretching his Shadow into a distorted darkness. He slowly stood up, his black trench coat billowing like night in the airflow created by his movement.
"Do you know Nightcrawler of New York?" Chen Tian suddenly asked, his voice echoing under the dome, "The vigilante who insists on not killing? What was the result? Kingpin escaped five times, and each time new bodies piled up like mountains."
"And look at Hell's Kitchen." Chen Tian's finger swiped through the air, "How many crimes have those gangs and lawbreakers committed there? Don't those government violent agencies know? No, they are happy to collect bribes from those guys."
Magneto's eyes sharpened: "What exactly are you trying to say?"
Chen Tian turned, and the tablet in front of Erik and Logan switched to footage of Mutant experiments: "Look at your dissected Mutant brethren. S.H.I.E.L.D. knows, the World Security Council knows, but they choose to turn a blind eye." His voice suddenly rose, "And Professor X is still clinging to his fantasy of peaceful coexistence!"
Wolverine slammed his fist on the table: "Enough! Charles at least—"
"At least what?" Chen Tian suddenly smashed the projector, "At least let more Mutants be sent into laboratories?" He pointed to Sokovia outside the window, covered by moonlight, "Here, we saved civilians harmed by the outbreak of civil war, and rebuilt their homes! Ask yourselves, do those so-called World Security Council members who advocate peace care about the civilians who died in the civil war?"
Chen Tian slowly spread his hands.
The candlelight in the church suddenly flickered violently, and three figures materialized from the shadows.
Dante leaned against a mottled stone pillar, a red trench coat casually draped over his shoulders, an unlit cigar dangling from his mouth. He nonchalantly spun the two guns in his hands, their silver-white and black-gold barrels telling everyone of their danger.
Madara stood with his arms crossed in the moonlight cast by the stained glass, an ominous glow flickering in his Rinne Sharingan. He looked down at everyone from above, a faint sneer playing on his lips, as if everyone present was not worth his speaking. In the darkest corner of the church, a short-haired girl with chestnut hair stood silently.
Lia—or rather, the Devil King in a girl's skin—watched everything with her scarlet eyes. She looked at Erik and Logan with a playful expression, the smile on her lips looking innocent, yet sending shivers down one's spine, a sense of fear welling up from within.
"We are in the darkness, unrestrained, fearless, solely to eliminate crimes in the darkness."
"Logan, Erik, the Adjudicators need more companions, willing to walk with us in the darkness."
"So, do you want to join us and cause a ruckus in the dark side of the World?"
-----------------------
Completed English PDF of this fan-fic on my Patreon shop if you want to support and own the full fan-fic in one go. Just grab the PDF and binge the entire story from start to finish!
Guys, I've uploaded some High Quality english translated fanfic on my Patreon shop! Feel free to check it out-if you're interested, you can grab a copy and support me there.
Here are a few titles of recently uploaded fanfics:
" Marvel Rise of the Spider-Verse "
" Marvel: The Multiverse Wanderer "
" Marvel: Wrath of the Dark Superman "
" Marvel Rebirth of Doomsday "
" Marvel's Divine Game Producer "
"Marvel's Gravity God Shinra Tensei From the Start"
" Marvel: Hyperion Journey "
"Marvel Starting from Spider-Man No Way Home"
many more are available
Your support means a lot-thanks in advance, legends!
patreon.com/SuperTL
(End of Chapter)