After Kingpin subdued Madame Gao and Murakami, he instructed them to immediately return and integrate the entire Hand, seizing control of the forces held by the other three deceased Hand leaders as much as possible.
He promised that as long as they followed his commands, he would provide them with sufficient Life Coins in the future, allowing them to absorb enough life energy to extend their lifespans.
Kingpin had already planted the seeds of fear in Madame Gao's heart this time, and as for Murakami, he was directly attacked by the Fear Mud, leaving his heart completely filled with terror for Kingpin.
The Life Coins for prolonged life on one hand, and overwhelming fear on the other.
These two things were enough to control Madame Gao and Murakami, proving far more effective than most other methods.
Chief of the New York City Police Department, George Stacy, returned home, tired and dusty.
In the past few days, several Hand strongholds had been destroyed by Jessica, Danny Rand, and others, and the NYPD couldn't simply pretend to be completely unaware.
While George believed that the Hand's strongholds and factories should indeed be dismantled—the atrocities committed by these members were enough to warrant the death penalty for every one of them.
But that should be the job of the police.
Hand personnel who violated the law should be arrested and brought to trial.
Not have some self-righteous street heroes disregard the law, set up a private court, and decide the fate of these people, even if they are criminals.
However, the NYPD had been unable to find the people who were destroying the Hand's strongholds.
Or rather, for the frontline officers under George, having someone clear out the Hand's criminal strongholds one by one was exactly what they wished for.
Not having to risk their lives fighting dangerous Hand members was naturally a godsend.
And for precinct captains and various levels of leadership, being able to claim all the credit for busting these criminal factories, adding another entry to their record of achievements, why wouldn't they be happy?
Therefore, with no conflicting interests, they were destined not to put serious effort into tracing who exactly was targeting the Hand.
"What's wrong? You seem particularly troubled lately," Mrs. Stacy said as she took George's coat and placed it on the hanger.
George pinched the bridge of his nose and said helplessly, "Ever since Tony Stark fought that big battle in the skies above New York in his Iron Suit, the situation in the city seems to have suddenly become more complicated. A bunch of monsters and demons seem to have suddenly popped up."
"And those items with supernatural powers. Who knows where this thing called the Gaia Memory came from?"
Mrs. Stacy smiled gently, nodding, and poured George a hot cup of tea.
"George, your nerves are too tense. You need to relax and rest."
George took a sip of hot tea and shook his head with a wry smile: "With so many dangerous undercurrents in New York City right now, how can I possibly relax?"
Mrs. Stacy's expression became slightly serious: "Since you became the Chief of the NYPD, our family hasn't gone out to have fun together properly. How long has it been since you and Gwen had a good chat together?"
George Stacy sighed softly upon hearing this: "Alright, I have indeed been busy with work and neglected you all during this time."
"How about this, in a while, the Stark Group will be holding the Stark Industries Expo. I happen to be representing the NYPD to inspect a new anti-terror combat assistance device being exhibited by a company."
"The three of us can go visit the Expo together then. It can count as a family outing."
Mrs. Stacy shook her head: "Even when going out as a family, you still manage to factor in work."
Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.
The X-Men and the Brotherhood members gathered together.
"Charles?" Magneto, who had been leading a retirement life for years, asked with a slightly serious look.
Professor X sighed softly: "It's nothing serious. The terrifying power within Jean's body seemed to have been stimulated by some external factor."
"Fortunately, it calmed down in the end."
The former mortal enemies, the X-Men and the Brotherhood members, who now coexisted peacefully, exchanged glances and all breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, the power within Jean Grey's body was too terrifying. If it were to run wild again, the few dozen remaining mutants sitting here would likely instantly vanish from the face of the earth.
"What exactly triggered the power in Jean's body to surge again? That power had been quiet ever since that incident years ago," Magneto asked, somewhat confused.
Professor X shook his head, his expression strange: "Since Jean's condition has stabilized, it's better if we don't investigate further."
"Fine. Anyway, after a few more decades, when all of us are buried, there won't be any more mutants in the world," Magneto said with a hint of sadness.
Charles, however, chuckled: "That's not certain. At least, who knows how much longer Logan and Victor will live?"
Magneto's mouth twitched, and he shook his head, realizing his old friend was becoming more like a child the longer he lived.
"Since we're sure everything's fine, everyone go back to bed. It's late," Wolverine, Logan, took a puff of his cigar, exhaling a smoke ring as he spoke.
Charles looked at the X-Men and Brotherhood members coexisting harmoniously now, showing a very complex smile.
Since the unimaginably powerful force within Jean's body erupted 20 years ago, wiping out the X-gene source of powers for most mutants in the world, there were only this many mutants left on Earth. Charles and Magneto gathered them at the former Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, where everyone essentially began retirement life.
Past grudges and grievances were all forgotten.
During the confrontation with Apocalypse 20 years ago, the Phoenix Force within Jean Grey lost control and ran wild, erasing almost all X-genes worldwide.
The vast majority of mutants lost their superpowers and became ordinary people.
Furthermore, due to the disappearance of the X-gene, no new mutants would be born in the future.
The two giants of the mutant community, Professor X and Magneto, also lost their goal to fight for.
Thus, the X-Men and the Brotherhood had no reason to continue fighting.
The American government reacted quickly, immediately sending the head of the Weapon X program, Colonel Stryker, to a military tribunal on charges of illegal human experimentation.
After all, with the X-gene gone, the so-called Weapon X program naturally became a pipe dream, losing its utility.
At this point, the government definitely needed to show goodwill to Professor X and Magneto. Otherwise, the damage that an unrestrained Professor X and Magneto—two human strategic weapons—could cause was unimaginable.
However, the mutant population was destined to die out with the passage of time.
Professor X and Magneto also lost the motivation to cause any more trouble; it had become meaningless.
Furthermore, Professor X could sense that there were still extremely powerful mysterious entities in the world. He and Magneto were not without constraints.
Therefore, Professor X used Cerebro once more, leveraging his psychic abilities to erase the memory of mutants from the vast majority of people worldwide and destroying almost all relevant mutant data.
He and Magneto withdrew, taking the few dozen surviving mutants into seclusion at the former Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.
Author's Note: The world only has the X-Men, but not many mutants.
Writing about the X-Men is mainly for the Phoenix Force.
It's all for the sake of this one drop of vinegar that the whole dumpling meal was made.
I recall there was a comic version where Scarlet Witch used Chaos Magic to alter reality and eliminate most of the mutants on Earth.
So here, I've altered it, making it the Phoenix Force that erased the X-gene from nearly everyone on Earth.
Most mutants lost their abilities, and no new mutants will be born in the future.
A generation ago, an ancient Dragon Master (Iron Fist) pushed the Dragon Power to its limit, shattering a portion of the Phoenix Force near Earth.
A fragment of the Phoenix Force fell onto Earth, and the Phoenix Force within Jean Grey's body is this fragment that landed on Earth.
Therefore, it harbors an inherent hostility towards the Dragon Power, thus reacting when Danny Rand and Ao Xing activate their powerful Dragon Power.
(End of this chapter)