Future Logan discovered that this Brotherhood was far more evil than he had imagined.
Brainwashing was one thing, but they didn't even pay; it was pure freeloading!
Is this something a human would do!?
What made it even harder for him to accept was that the one doing this was actually Charles, the person he trusted most!
Charles looked at Future Logan's worldview-collapsing expression and the corner of his mouth twitched.
He blamed his own youthful ignorance at the time for listening to the nonsense from that guy Darian, who said that special times called for special measures. As a result, he was left with this dark history, which had actually been preserved.
Seeing the wariness in Future Logan's eyes, Charles was at a loss for words.
"Forget it, saying any more is useless. It's better to let you see the truth with your own eyes."
Charles placed his fingers on his temples and activated Telepathy.
Future Logan felt a large segment of strange memories suddenly flood into his brain. Images flashed by rapidly, and he stood there, slightly dazed.
"Th-this is..."
"This is what we experienced back then."
Charles smiled and said: "We established the Brotherhood with only one purpose from beginning to end: to protect the interests of Mutants, allowing more Mutants to live openly in society without needing to hide or fear the strange looks of others."
On this point, the Brotherhood had indeed succeeded.
It was precisely because of the existence of the Brotherhood, coupled with Charles's efforts over the years, that the status of Mutants in society had improved significantly.
Not to mention reaching the level where white-skinned people could walk around freely, but it was slightly higher than black-skinned people; they were no longer the lowest existence in society... well, except for black-skinned Mutants.
But compared to the days when they were even worse off than black-skinned people, this was a massive improvement.
Charles continued: "And we recruited you and Victor back then to deal with Sebastian Shaw and stop his evil conspiracy. We needed manpower at the time, so we approached you two. You saw what happened later; after the mission was completed, I lifted the influence I had on you, but you chose to stay behind."
He made no mention of Victor.
That guy's personality was too terrible; it was better not to lift the control for now, otherwise, who knows how much trouble he could cause.
After digesting the memories in his mind, Future Logan discovered that he had indeed chosen to stay of his own volition.
The reason was simple: that day happened to be Jean's enrollment day...
What an embarrassing guy!
Future Logan inwardly despised his younger self fiercely, slowly retracted his claws, and the wariness on his face vanished.
"Sorry, I thought you were the Brotherhood I knew."
Based on the memories in his mind, Future Logan knew that Charles had not become a bad person.
Darian, this Brotherhood leader, wasn't some big boss either. Although his personality was extremely terrible, at the very least, he couldn't be considered a villain.
Of course, he wasn't a good person either!
Seeing that Charles had taken the initiative to lay everything out, Darian immediately felt it was boring; he had originally wanted to watch the commotion for a while longer.
He asked casually: "The Brotherhood you mentioned, could it be the one led by Magneto?"
Future Logan was suddenly startled: "How did you know?"
"Of course I know. A while ago, I visited many parallel Universes. In quite a few Worlds, there are X-Men and the Brotherhood. I even fought alongside the X-Men inside the copper body of the Statue of Liberty and defeated Magneto and his Brotherhood."
Darian's tone was relaxed; traveling through parallel Worlds was no big deal.
Charles and Future Logan were both stunned listening to this.
The former was astonished that Darian could travel to parallel Universes, while the latter was astonished that what Darian described was actually his own personal experience.
Future Logan looked incredulous: "We did have that experience, but how come I don't have any memories of you?"
Darian waved his hand: "That's very normal. The development trajectories of many parallel Universes are roughly the same, but they deviate at a certain point in time, thereby giving birth to another parallel Universe. It's like a river; the upstream looks the same, but if it encounters a rock or a fork in the middle, it splits into two rivers. Parallel Universes work on the same principle."
"The fact that you haven't seen me proves that the parallel Universe I traveled to is not the one you are in."
Future Logan was a bit confused.
No way around it; in the parallel Universe he was from, his life was basically spent smoking, drinking, and... fighting.
Unlike the Old Wolf in Logan, who had plenty of time to sit down, read books, read newspapers, and improve his knowledge level.
Charles, however, understood and said in surprise: "Darian, you have even traveled through parallel Universes?"
Darian nodded: "To tell you the truth, the time I was away, I was just wandering around other parallel Universes and even met several elderly versions of you."
Charles became interested upon hearing this: "Oh? What are the elderly versions like?"
Darian laughed: "Pretty good. You were paralyzed from the waist down and also went bald."
Charles: "???"
This is called pretty good?
"I went bald?"
Charles was greatly alarmed, not even caring about being paralyzed from the waist down.
Darian nodded: "Yeah, the kind that reflects light under the Sun, with not a single hair left."
Charles laughed dryly, trying to comfort himself: "As expected of parallel Universes, there's actually a bald version of me. Fortunately, my version isn't a bald one."
Darian laughed: "You're overthinking it. Every Charles I've met is bald. This is a law of nature, just like Erik's helmet or Logan's Adamantium. This is a destined fate. In our mage terminology, this is an Absolute Point in Time; you can't escape it."
Charles: "..."
Darian ignored the self-isolating Charles and asked Future Logan: "So, you ran into our timeline—what are you trying to do?"
Future Logan's expression instantly became serious.
"To save the future!"
He did not hide anything and told everything that happened in the future.
As Charles listened, he snapped out of his self-isolating state, and the expression on his face became increasingly grave.
He had only read Future Logan's thoughts and hadn't checked the other's memories; he hadn't expected the other party to be involved in such a serious matter.
Darian's reaction, however, was calm.
He had already heard spoilers from Wade and had read the complete set of X-Men comics, so he naturally had some understanding of the Sentinel Robots.
If he wasn't mistaken, this should be the plot of X-Men: Days of Future Past that Wade mentioned.
Simply put, the future World was like Logan, a timeline filled with despair. Mutants were once again facing an extinction crisis, so the survivors decided to send Logan back to the past, wanting to nip the source of the disaster in the bud before it happened.
Future Logan said seriously: "Charles and Magneto said that Mystique is the key to everything. All the Sentinel Robots were born because of her. We must find her and stop her from assassinating the creator of the Sentinel Robots, Bolivar Trask. That is the only way to cancel the Sentinel Program and change history."
After hearing his words, Darian and Charles's expressions became a bit strange.
Charles coughed and reminded him: "Um, Logan, Raven is also a member of our Brotherhood, and she's right here."
Future Logan was stunned.
Right, in the memories Charles transmitted to him, Raven was a veteran-level member of the Brotherhood. Where else would she be if not at the X-Mansion? Future Logan frowned: "Then would she want to go assassinate Trask?"
Darian laughed, looking certain: "Impossible. Apart from training every day, her mind is full of shopping. Where would she have time for assassinations?"
Future Logan: "..."
Wouldn't that mean his mission was directly completed?
But the problem was, nothing had changed!
Seeing Future Logan's bewildered expression, Darian raised an eyebrow: "Actually, I've wanted to say this for a long time. Are you sure this timeline of ours is really your past?"
"This..."
Future Logan was stumped by the question.
Indeed, this so-called past could not be said to be exactly the same as the past he knew; it could only be said to be completely unrelated.
In this timeline, Charles never created the X-Men; instead, he became a veteran of the Brotherhood. Those who should have been X-Men members, including himself, had all become members of the Brotherhood.
According to the Charles from his timeline, Charles and Erik at this period had long parted ways; the two never interacted and would fight whenever they met.
But right now, Charles and Erik not only hadn't separated, they were like best buddies, finding a place every day to live in their own little World, spending much more time together than Charles did with his old lover, Moira.
Most importantly, the target of his time travel, Mystique, had absolutely no intention of assassinating Trask.
Future Logan began to doubt if he had run into the wrong set.
"That's not right. Kitty Pryde clearly sent me back fifty years. I should have indeed returned to the past. Why is this past not quite the same as what I know?"
Future Logan really couldn't figure it out.
He could handle physical action, but using his brain was really not his strong suit.
Charles said in a deep voice: "Regardless, that Sentinel Program is indeed a significant problem. We must stop its implementation."
He probed Future Logan's brain slightly and discovered that the Sentinel Robots were terrifyingly strong.
They could change forms at will, copy the abilities of different Mutants, and their numbers were like locusts. Where they passed, no Mutant survived; they were simply unstoppable. Charles didn't even dare to keep looking; such a future was simply too desperate.
He absolutely could not let such a future happen.
[NPC Charles Xavier has issued a new quest to you]
[Quest: Sentinel Program]
[Objective: The Sentinel Robots are the culprits behind the extinction of Mutants. Stop the promotion of the Sentinel Program.]
[Rewards: EXP +3000, Mutant Reputation +10, Anchor Fragment *3, Random Item *2, Random Equipment *1, Dungeon Quest Item *1]
[This quest is a prerequisite for the Dungeon Quest. Upon completion, the Dungeon Quest will automatically unlock.]
A Dungeon Quest actually has prerequisites?
Darian was a bit surprised; it seemed this Dungeon Quest wasn't going to be simple.
However, he was quite interested in the Sentinel Robots.
This was something that could drive all Mutants to a dead end. If he could obtain that technology...
Thinking of this, Darian instantly switched to a righteous expression: "That's right, this Sentinel Robot technology is too dangerous. If it falls into the hands of those with ill intentions, the consequences would be unimaginable. This dangerous thing must be in our hands to ensure absolute safety."
"Then what should we do?" Charles asked.
"Leave this to me."
Darian waved his hand, not revealing his specific plan.
Charles didn't pursue the matter to the end.
He roughly guessed that Darian intended to use some unconventional methods, methods that might very well violate his moral bottom line.
But concerning the future of Mutants, Charles thought for a moment and chose to turn a blind eye.
Future Logan's matter was not made public; the only ones who knew were Darian and Charles.
Darian told Future Logan to continue disguising himself as the original Logan, stay in the X-Mansion for a few days as normal—eat, train, seek out Jean—just don't get exposed, and tell him when there were results.
Future Logan thought about it and realized this was the only way.
After all, he couldn't voluntarily return to the future. His only hope now was that by stopping the implementation of the Sentinel Program, he could change that desperate future of his.
Forest Villa!
Emma picked up a water bottle by the bed and gulped it down several times, only then removing the severe dehydration DEBUFF.
She glanced at the bedroom; there were equipment fragments all over the floor. She couldn't help but roll her eyes at Darian on the bed, then walked to the cabinet without any concealment, started picking out new equipment in front of Darian, and put them on one by one.
Darian really didn't understand women's thinking.
They just fought so many tough battles that their legs were trembling, and instead of lying down and resting, they still had the energy to get up and change clothes.
Emma put on a more conservative outfit, took a document out of the four-dimensional pocket on her chest, and tossed it to Darian.
"The information you wanted has been investigated. Bolivar Trask has a company under his name called Trask Industries. It started out doing genetic research and biotechnology, then transitioned to military weapon development and has deep cooperation with the United States Government."
Darian picked up the document and leaned against the headboard to flip through it.
Trask was a dwarf; although his body was small, his mind was still agile, an omniscient... genius scientist.
According to Future Logan, this person was the creator of the Sentinel Robots and the most important piece in causing that desperate future. As for how important?
In Future Logan's timeline, Raven assassinated Trask.
Therefore, the United States Government saw the terror of Mutants, captured Raven on the spot, obtained her DNA, and based on the research data left by Trask, developed even more powerful Sentinel Robots, ultimately leading to the near extinction of Mutants.
It could be said that without Trask's death, there wouldn't be that desperate future.
"He is indeed a talent."
After reading Trask's information, Darian said to Emma: "Help me contact this guy. Tell him I'm very interested in his philosophy and ask if he's interested in exterminating Mutants together."
Emma: "???"