Two days later.
With the anti-climactic failure of the Bait Plan...
Nick Fury finally learned to behave.
Without absolute certainty, he wouldn't rashly provoke Harvey again.
However, he didn't come away entirely empty-handed.
S.H.I.E.L.D. collected the DNA samples of the three street-level heroes: Luke, Jessica, and Matt.
This allowed the Harvest Project to advance steadily.
On one hand, this project aimed to develop a "Superman Serum"—that is, to develop technology that could turn ordinary people into super-powered powerhouses.
On the other hand, it served as a contingency plan. In case any superheroes went rogue or turned evil in the future, S.H.I.E.L.D. would have a way to counter them.
Nick Fury placed great importance on the Harvest Project. He believed it was the only way to defeat Harvey.
And after the combat report from two days ago was submitted to the Security Council, the high-level officials of various countries realized just how terrifying the destructive power of a superhuman with strength beyond imagination could be.
Unstoppable, undefeatable, and impossible to defend against!
The representatives of the Security Council's member nations urgently needed countermeasures.
Thus, they ordered the acceleration of Project Insight to prevent more unmanageable threats from appearing in the future.
At this moment, Nick Fury sat in his office chair, a funding utilization report for Project Insight resting in front of him.
Staring at this report, he gradually fell into his memories.
Two days ago, Charles had warned him.
"Director Fury, the agent I invaded just now, the memories in his brain were absolutely astonishing."
"He is actually a spy from Hydra!"
Nick Fury shook his head, pulling himself out of his memories, and looked back at the report in his hands.
No matter how he looked at it, it was an eyesore.
"If there are Hydra spies within the agency, and if they use Project Insight to wreak havoc, the consequences will be unimaginable!"
The naturally suspicious Nick Fury actually didn't want to accelerate Project Insight at such a critical juncture.
He wanted to slowly investigate exactly how many Hydra spies were in the agency, and then quietly purge them one by one.
But now, the pressure from the Security Council forced him to face a choice.
"It looks like I'll have to misappropriate funds again."
"For the sake of world peace, I have no other choice."
Having found a reason to convince himself, Nick Fury felt at peace as he began to misappropriate the funding allocated for Project Insight.
Following that, the world experienced a period of tranquility.
As the tolling of the New Year's bell slowly echoed.
It also signified that the Marvel Universe had entered the year 2013.
At the same time, Harvey grew another year older.
In the second-floor bedroom of the estate villa in the northern suburbs of New York.
Looking at his gradually maturing face in the large floor-to-ceiling mirror, Harvey couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "Mature men truly are the most charming."
Hearing someone admiring himself, Cho Chang's teasing voice came from behind.
"Were you also going to ask, 'Magic mirror, magic mirror on the wall, am I not the most handsome man of them all?'"
With a dark expression, Harvey turned around to see Cho Chang deliberately poking her head out of the covers to mock him.
"Is your skin itching for a spanking again?"
"Darling, I was wrong!"
Cho Chang giggled coquettishly. After offering a superficial apology, she pulled the covers up, hiding under the blanket to whisper secrets with Wanda.
"Hmph!"
Hearing her admit defeat, Harvey scoffed disdainfully and turned to walk into the bathroom.
Having enjoyed the fully automated juice-extracting services of the two women, he was currently in a state of post-nut sage mode.
Last night, the two women wore black sheer pantyhose maid outfits, red-soled high heels, topped off with blonde twin-tails.
This combo set that maximized attack speed nearly made Harvey lose himself entirely.
Fortunately, his willpower was firm enough, and he was still able to wake up punctually at eight in the morning.
After washing up, Harvey was just about to crawl back under the covers to catch some more sleep.
When he sensed outsiders approaching the estate.
"What's going on? Did the Muggle-Repelling Charm fail again?"
Harvey frowned and walked over to the window.
From afar, he saw Wolverine (Logan) pushing Professor X in his wheelchair, flanked by Shadowcat and Iceman.
The group approached the main gate of the estate openly and brazenly.
"Could the Muggle-Repelling Charm have been broken?"
Thinking of this possibility, Harvey's face turned incredibly ugly.
If the Muggle-Repelling Charm had truly failed, then if he wanted to maintain his peace and quiet in the future, he would have no choice but to use the Fidelius Charm to hide the estate.
But the casting conditions for the Fidelius Charm were both demanding and troublesome; Harvey really didn't want to use it.
"Ding-dong—"
Hearing the melodious sound of the doorbell.
Originally, Harvey had still harbored the faint hope that they might just be passing by.
But now, he had to face facts: the Muggle-Repelling Charm had been cracked.
Opening a portal.
Harvey stepped through the portal, arriving in front of Professor X and the others. The very first thing he did was ask how they managed to find this place.
"For that, we have to credit the magic-shielding device developed by Tony Stark,"
Charles said with a smile from his wheelchair.
Harvey remained expressionless. As expected, a guy cursed with knowledge was not simple at all.
In just a few short months, not only had he managed to develop the Anti-Magic armor, but he had also managed to crack the Muggle-Repelling Charm.
Although the Anti-Magic armor was just a prototype and was easily defeated by him...
Given time, there was a very high probability that Tony Stark could develop technology capable of countering magic.
But that was a matter for the future. For every foot the devil grows, the Tao grows a yard; no one can say for sure what the future holds.
Harvey glanced at the vigilant X-Men members beside him.
"I presume your visit here isn't to look for trouble, is it?"
Charles spoke with an amiable expression: "Mr. Harvey, we would like to talk to you about cooperation."
Professor X was 81 years old this year.
Now, even his white hair had fallen out from old age. His face was covered in age spots and wrinkles, and even his wise eyes occasionally flashed with a hint of cloudiness.
Clearly, at this point in time, the effects of the food-based gene suppression program targeting mutants were gradually becoming apparent.
This program, initiated in 2004, involved major global conglomerates adding substances to food and water that suppressed the reproduction of mutant genes.
This led to a gradual decline in the birth rate of mutants in recent years, and the physical condition of existing mutants was also affected.
Otherwise, with Charles's powerful psionic abilities, he could at least somewhat slow down his aging process and wouldn't look so senile and decrepit.
Hearing that the other party wanted to discuss cooperation, Harvey immediately frowned and asked, "What kind of cooperation do you want?"
Charles didn't speak. He merely shifted his gaze toward the 9 o'clock direction, where two high-tech surveillance drones were flying in the air.
Harvey noticed his hesitation. With a thought, the main gates of the estate opened on their own.
"Let's go inside to talk."
The group walked into the main villa of the estate and took a seat in the living room.
After sitting down, Harvey glanced toward the kitchen around the corner of the living room.
The coffee beans in the kitchen flew into the coffee pot automatically. After bubbling and brewing hot, it automatically added sugar and poured five cups of coffee, which then flew to the table in the living room.
Seeing this miraculous scene.
The members of the X-Men felt a vague sense of envy towards the wondrous magic of a sorcerer.
Especially since the walls of the living room were also hung with many moving magical landscape portraits, making them feel even more like they were in a fantasy world.
Having lived for so long, Charles had seen plenty of powerful mutants, but he had never seen a secretive sorcerer with such a vast array of techniques.