"Ma~~ma, mama."
"Good girl, say Papa."
Artoria was very happy today because the little brat who only knew how to wreck the house could finally speak. Although she called her the wrong name, Artoria still corrected her pronunciation over and over again. Looking at the oblivious Mordred, Artoria had her first taste of what it felt like to be a parent. This feeling was inexplicably satisfying! Artoria rubbed Mordred's little cheeks and, watching her wail unhappily, Artoria felt more and more delighted. But just when Artoria was having a blast, a slap suddenly came from the side, swatting her hand away. Artoria didn't feel surprised at all.
"Don't tease her like that."
Maria glared at Artoria reproachfully. Sure enough, affection skips a generation. Artoria had lost most of her mother's love at this moment. She just played with her own child and was already treated with hostility by her mother. This kind of family affection existed in every country. Artoria scratched her head with a sigh. How boring. She might as well go play some games! Glancing at Mordred, who had been carried away by Maria, Artoria expressed that she was extremely bored. If having children wasn't for entertainment, then it would be meaningless.
"Master, Ms. Raven is looking for you to discuss something important."
Just as she was preparing to lie in her warm bed and play a game on her phone, Saturday suddenly sent Artoria a message. This made Artoria pause. Usually, this Raven was a very silent person. She didn't know what purpose she had when she first turned into a handsome guy to hit on Artoria. At that time, Artoria thought it was something instigated by Magneto and didn't pay much attention to it. It wasn't until Artoria learned the news that the entire Brotherhood had 'disappeared' that she confirmed that Mystique did not have 'her body in Cao Camp but her heart in Han.' Only then did Artoria comfortably and completely accept Mystique, Raven. Why would this usually well-behaved girl come to find her today?
"Let her wait for me in the study."
Thinking for a long time, Artoria considered it and decided to have Raven go to the study quickly. This room had high confidentiality; usually, very few people went in except Artoria. Having spent so long with Raven, Artoria analyzed that Raven was definitely the type of person who would only ask for help when she encountered a major issue she couldn't solve herself. Therefore, Raven coming to find her today definitely wouldn't be a small matter. And since it was a matter she had encountered and couldn't solve, Artoria didn't want her family to get involved. So, she set the meeting location in the relatively secluded study. Although it felt like she was having an affair, their relationship definitely wasn't that ambiguous, right!? Artoria thought, feeling a bit lacking in confidence.
"You've gone too far, Eric."
While Artoria was meeting with Raven, a huge commotion occurred inside the Hellfire Club. Magneto, the leader of the Brotherhood who had disappeared under the eyes of all the high-level officials, had actually appeared at the Hellfire Club, and was even confronting the White Queen. It was estimated that this would leave Richards dumbfounded. His old buddy wasn't going to look for trouble with ordinary people, but was instead looking for trouble with fellow Mutants. This was something he wouldn't dare to imagine on a normal day. After all, a good reputation was what allowed his fellow Mutants to trust him and be willing to join. Arguing with his own people like this would ruin his reputation.
"Gone too far? Hearing this from you makes me feel very surprised. After all, we are the same kind of people, aren't we!?"
Facing the White Queen's accusation, Eric smiled like a gentleman, but his eyes were filled with disdain for the White Queen. He knew of this woman's dirty and bloody methods. Over the years, this woman had poached his people many times, which made him very annoyed. But the helpless thing was that those people had all left with this woman voluntarily. Moreover, he had some grievances with this woman, very deep grievances. Even now, he wanted to kill this woman, who was bright and beautiful on the surface but dark and evil inside, regardless of the consequences. But for the sake of the future of Mutants, he held back. Although he was also a person who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals and was no better than this woman, he dared to admit it! This woman, however, shifted all the bad deeds onto others. Such behavior was what he despised the most.
"Eric, do you really want to fight?"
Hearing Magneto's words, the White Queen's beautiful eyebrows knitted together. This stinky man actually dared to talk to her like that. If it weren't for the fact that this was her territory and any fight would result in her suffering the greatest loss, she would have already started fighting with this stinky man. Although her tone was very calm, the White Queen's attitude indicated that she was very angry right now. She had recently invited a very important guest to come over. If her plan failed because of Magneto, she would make Magneto pay a painful price.
"That depends on your sincerity."
Seeing the White Queen's gnashing expression, Magneto felt incredibly refreshed at this moment, like drinking a cold Coke on a 40-degree summer day—it was simply the most satisfying thing imaginable. Seeing this little woman, usually so arrogant, in such a state made the previous hatred diminish significantly. However, his purpose in coming here wasn't just to make the White Queen uncomfortable, but to earnestly recruit the Mutants here to join him in resisting humanity. Recently, he discovered that humans seemed to have obtained a drug capable of permanently eliminating the Mutant gene and their abilities. Although the investigation wasn't complete, this agent was a threat to Mutants, and it must not be allowed to become widespread; otherwise, Mutants might face total extinction.
"You want to annex the Hellfire Club!"
The White Queen was no fool. A woman who could hold up a piece of the sky here was no idiot. Watching Magneto's confident, determined appearance, she understood instantly what this stinking man meant. He wanted the Hellfire Club. Thinking of this, the White Queen revealed a mocking smile. She squinted at Magneto. Although her words sounded like a question, her tone was affirmative. She believed she hadn't guessed wrong, but she still thought Magneto was too naive. Did he think he could take her club with just these few people? Was he looking down on her too much?
"You can think of it that way."
Facing the White Queen's mocking smile, the corner of Magneto's mouth twitched, then he pretended not to see it. He disdained explaining to the White Queen, and even less did he want to cooperate with people. So, he would just take them all for himself, and everything would be solved. This was Magneto's way of solving things. Sometimes he was also looking for powerful partners (poaching people from Richards) to help him realize his great dream. If Richards and this little woman listened to him, then the era of Mutants ruling humanity would slowly arrive.
"You are an ambitious man, Eric, but you are not suitable to be the leader of Mutants."
Hearing Eric's 'arrogant' words, the White Queen stopped her subordinates from attacking. Seeing this, Eric was full of confidence, thinking the White Queen was'sensible' and wanted to join his ranks. But he didn't expect to receive such a critique. This really angered Eric. Like Richards, Eric, who had spent most of his life trying to fight for a grand path for Mutants, felt his efforts were being denied. He believed that besides himself, no one was qualified to lead Mutants, and only he was the most qualified.
"Then let's fight!"
Before Eric could launch an attack, the White Queen struck first, ordering her subordinates to attack. Although she felt pained that her territory would be destroyed, the opponent was clearly no pushover; this battle had to be fought, so she couldn't worry about her things anymore. She would fix them after the fight! It must be said that after so many years of low-profile development, the White Queen's subordinates were quite talented, but the people Magneto brought were also elites, such as Sabretooth. Even without Eric's command, they could fight on their own. While dodging attacks, they began their counterattack. The Mutant battle ignited at the Hellfire Club. Artoria knew nothing about this and was still analyzing Magneto's behavior with Raven.
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