piratefiction Chapter 830: Left—
Chapter 830: Left—
“Political correctness?”
Seeing Fang Mo acting all cryptic, everyone seemed a bit puzzled.
“I’ve heard a little about it.” Charles thought for a moment, then tentatively asked, “But is it the ‘political correctness’ I’m thinking of? No matter how I see it, that doesn’t seem like the most terrifying weapon of America.”
“Ah, that’s where your thinking is off.”
Hearing this, Fang Mo smiled slightly. “Before those demons invented the ‘box weapon’—ahem, before Einstein invented E=mc2—people didn’t realize that a tiny atom could contain such enormous power. It’s the same principle here: at present, nobody knows how terrifying the power of ‘white-left political correctness’ can be.”
“I-Is that so?”
When they heard this, everyone exchanged confused looks.
“So how does it work, exactly?”
Erik was the first who couldn’t hold back his curiosity. He immediately asked, “This sounds like some kind of political maneuver...different from your usual methods. Could you explain it in more detail?”
“Sure.”
Fang Mo nodded cheerfully, then pulled out a book and waved it in front of everyone with a grin. “Actually, it’s pretty much as described in this book. First, you package yourself as a victim or as a marginalized group, then let all the idiots fall for it.”
“That book you’re holding is...?”
Everyone stared blankly at the book in Fang Mo’s hand. “Mein Kampf?”
“Ahem, I grabbed the wrong one.” Fang Mo remained calm as he stuffed the book back inside his jacket. Then he pulled out another book and took a glance at it. “Let me see...’The Man Who Changed China’... damn, this one doesn’t work either.”
He exchanged it again.
Only then did Fang Mo finally take out a black-covered book.
Everyone peered closer and saw faint writing on the cover that read, “I Have a Dream.”
“...Isn’t that Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech?”
Charles responded immediately. Among all of them, he had the highest level of formal education. As everyone knows, Magneto might not be a real king, but Professor X is a real professor.
“I see.”
Hearing that, Erik instinctively furrowed his brow. “So you want mutants to rise up and fight for their rights?”
“More or less.” Fang Mo didn’t deny it; instead, he laughed and added, “It’s just that our situation is somewhat special, so we might need more extreme measures.” Řἁ₦ƟbĘS
“What do you mean?”
The others were intrigued upon hearing this. After all, Fang Mo’s plan wasn’t to slaughter all humankind but to fight for rights. That was something they could more or less accept. If humans and mutants could coexist peacefully, wouldn’t that be ideal?
“First of all, we absolutely must portray ourselves as victims.”
Soon enough, Fang Mo raised a finger and explained to everyone, “Then we spread fear... Of course, the fear I’m referring to isn’t about making people afraid of mutants. Instead, we use evidence to show that ordinary people can also become mutants.”
“Wait, why do we have to pose as victims?”
Erik couldn’t help but ask. He leans toward the militant faction of mutants, always wanting to wipe out humanity and create a world for mutants only. To him, playing the victim seemed somewhat at odds with that ideology.
“It sounds... workable, I guess?”
But Charles didn’t pay Erik any mind and continued to look at Fang Mo. “And then? What do you plan to do next?”
“Simply create an enemy that we can denounce from the moral high ground.”
Fang Mo spread out his hands. “Not merely an enemy of mutants—rather, an entity that all of humanity must fear and loathe. Of course, this enemy doesn’t exist yet, so we’ll have to keep pinning blame on it and smearing it until we’ve built up the right image.”
“What do you mean?”
Even Charles didn’t quite understand now. They were going to create an enemy from thin air?
“In any case, just leave it to me.”
“That’s simple.”
Charles responded immediately, “If the future you described is real, then Mystique is sure to show up in Paris to assassinate Bolivar. We just wait for her there.”
“There’s an even simpler method,” Erik added. “If a certain person would make up his mind and use Cerebro, we could locate her immediately.”
“I can’t do it. All those voices make my head feel like it’s splitting. Sometimes I even wish I were just an ordinary—” Charles refused before he even finished speaking. But then he remembered what Erik had just said, about how he’d abandoned them. Mid-sentence, his words got stuck.
“I...”
Charles’ face showed hesitation.
“Charles?”
Hank looked at him.
“All right. I’ll agree to try—at most,” Charles took a deep breath, “but it’s not for you, Erik. It’s for Raven.”
“It’s certainly not for me,” Erik replied without missing a beat. “It’s for our fellow mutants.”
...
In any case, after their discussion, they decided to return to the Xavier School.
Perhaps due to Fang Mo’s presence, the timeline had changed slightly; the Paris summit was still a few days away. That gave Charles enough time to re-familiarize himself with his powers.
During this time, Logan stayed by his side, giving him encouragement—much as in the original timeline—and also letting Charles read his memories to witness that grim and desperate future. Possibly because his physical injuries had healed, or because his consciousness had spanned time and he’d been counseled by his older self, or both... In a short while, the telepathic Professor X was back, and significantly enhanced—he didn’t even need a wheelchair anymore.
So Charles immediately began searching for Raven.
To everyone’s surprise, Mystique had already arrived in Paris and was apparently posing as a high-level representative, just waiting for the conference to begin.
“She’s already there...”
Inside Cerebro’s chamber, Charles’ face showed astonishment.
“Then don’t contact her directly,” Fang Mo said promptly. “If you disturb her now, she’ll bolt again, and we’ll have to chase her all over creation.”
“So what now?”
Charles asked.
“Just wait two days and go to the conference in person,” Fang Mo replied. “By the way, now that you’re already using that contraption, help me locate a few mutants and bring them here—preferably those with fairly weak abilities. Or maybe get some of your former students and staff back.”
“Those with weak abilities? What are you going to do with them?”
Charles was puzzled and reflexively tried to peek into Fang Mo’s thoughts.
“...Huh?” Fang Mo arched an eyebrow, immediately pulling out a bloodstained wooden stick, clearly a warning.
“No, no, no! It’s just that I’ve only just regained my powers, and I’m not used to it! My bad!!!”
Charles quickly raised both hands, surrendering.
Thus, under Fang Mo’s behind-the-scenes direction, the formerly shuttered Xavier School reopened and took in several hard-up mutants. For the plan’s sake, Fang Mo soon took these newly arrived mutants away before they could interact much with the others, leaving everyone else in the dark about his doings. A few days later, he returned them to the school, all seemingly suffering from memory loss.
Once Fang Mo had arranged accommodations for these “students,” the Paris conference was about to commence. So everyone flew to Paris.
What Fang Mo himself hadn’t expected was that just as he arrived—carrying banners, a projector, and a stack of documents—ready to make a big scene at the conference, his system chimed unexpectedly.
[System Notice: A new module trait has been detected. Researching it will unlock its download privileges.]
[System Notice: ‘Moe-fication’ concept analyzed. You have gained download access to a new module.]
[System Notice: Monster Moe-fication Module now downloading.]
“...Nani?!”