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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter Sixty: Heartfelt, Old Iron
Magneto was not the type to beat around the bush. Since Bai Luo had asked, he wouldn’t waste time with small talk; he got straight to the point: "I hope you can join us."
This wasn’t the first time Magneto had invited Bai Luo, but it was the first time he had formally asked him to join their ranks.
Bai Luo wasn’t particularly surprised.
He couldn’t be surprised. First of all, Magneto’s escape was a plot point straight out of the movies—Mystique injected an excessive amount of iron into the body of one of Magneto's guards, allowing him to perform a “human iron extraction technique” and escape effortlessly. In a world filled with iron products, Magneto’s abilities were sometimes insurmountable.
Moreover, as the saying goes, nothing happens without reason. Bai Luo didn’t believe that Magneto would willingly hand over his green-haired daughter to him. Considering this guy’s character, it was clear he was here to recruit him.
Bai Luo couldn’t help but silently scoff: As a heavyweight mutant, your behavioral patterns are too easy to guess.
Furthermore, Bai Luo understood that Magneto had misunderstood his earlier actions at Charles Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, thinking he was willing to side with mutants.
Bai Luo indeed wanted to stand with mutants, but he didn’t want to align himself with Magneto. Although Lao Wan seemed like an interesting character in his eyes, he was quite stubborn and had anger issues. Plus, he had already struck up a deal with S.H.I.E.L.D., and it looked like he was about to con—no, persuade—the biggest financier, Tony Stark, to join them. Jumping ship now and teaming up with Lao Wan would be like “going down the wrong path.”
Yet Bai Luo still feigned surprise and said, “You want me to join? I think you should know that I’m not a mutant.”
Magneto replied, “But your sister is a mutant, and you have been helping us. You helped Charles’s school out of crisis and assisted me in finding my daughter Lorna. In this era, mutants need help. Although you are not a mutant, you are not an ordinary person either; you are also an extraordinary being. In this regard, you are no different from mutants.
“This world is undergoing rapid development and change. You once called yourself a prophet and even predicted Lorna’s existence. I believe you understand better than we do that the future will belong to people like us. The term ‘mutant’ is derogatory; in my view, mutants are the superior race of the new century.”
Bai Luo sighed as he recalled how he had confidently convinced Magneto that he was a prophet.
After pondering for a moment, Bai Luo said, “Lao Wan and I have known each other for twenty years; we can consider ourselves friends, right?”
Magneto felt that Bai Luo's statement aimed to bridge their relationship and nodded slightly.
On the side, Lorna Dane rolled her eyes in disdain, thinking to herself how shameless it was for someone her senior by thirty or forty years to claim friendship.
But she was just thinking about it, nothing more.
Bai Luo continued, "Since we are friends, let me speak a few truths. Setting aside what the future holds, Lao Wan, I know you have a certain influence among mutants, but let me ask you a question: do you have a fixed headquarters?"
Magneto replied, "What do I need a headquarters for?"
"Look, Charles' X-Men have a Mutant School, S.H.I.E.L.D. has several headquarters spread across the globe, and even someone like Howard Stark, who is known for his womanizing, has a Stark Tower. What about you? Do you have a campsite? Or some dilapidated unfinished building?"
He was clearly mocking the X-Men, but no one in the room could catch the old references Bai Luo was making; only Magneto's expression turned slightly awkward.
Magneto thought for a moment and said, "I just got out of prison. Soon, my Brotherhood will have a real base."
"A base is one thing," Bai Luo waved his hand dismissively. "The most important thing is: do you have money? Do you have equipment? Mutants are indeed powerful; having a group of them is like having an army. But do you really plan to send your subordinates into battle barehanded and then come back to eat steamed buns? Also, do you have intelligence? If you're really planning to carry out some terror actions, Charles' X-Men will definitely be the first to stop you, right? S.H.I.E.L.D. will come to thwart you too. Do you know their every move? Are you relying on Lorna to keep an eye on Charles? You probably know she would never help you spy on the X-Men's intel."
"Cough." At that moment, Mystique couldn't take it anymore. She cleared her throat and called out, "Bai Luo."
Bai Luo promptly fell silent, still wearing a smile as he looked at Magneto.
Magneto's face had turned green by now.
It was quite disheartening.
Lorna Dane glanced between Magneto and Bai Luo. To be honest, she didn't particularly like either of them but wasn't overly annoyed either; after all, the former was her father, and Bai Luo had helped significantly during Strucker's raid on the Mutant School. So now as she looked at Magneto, she felt a bit sorry for him—how could Magneto appear so defeated in Bai Luo's words?
Moreover, the key point was that Lorna found Bai Luo's arguments quite reasonable.
Magneto was staring intensely at Bai Luo. He opened his mouth but didn't know what to say; honestly, he felt an impulse to smash something at that moment.
Especially since Bai Luo was still smiling innocently at him.
But Magneto also understood that these points raised by Bai Luo were indeed things he had overlooked; although they were hard to hear, they were painfully accurate.
At that moment, the door to Bai Luo's room was suddenly knocked on.
Bai Luo frowned slightly, stood up, and asked, "Who is it?"
A familiar female voice came from outside: "Aren't you going to take me out for dinner?"
It was Natasha's voice. The Black Widow, who had disappeared for a whole month, had shown up at this very moment.
Bai Luo glanced at the door and then at Magneto sitting nearby, and in an instant, he understood.
Natasha arriving at this time for Bai Luo's "candlelight dinner" was no coincidence.
Her previous urgent mission was likely to track down the escaped Magneto. Only someone like Magneto could keep Natasha on his trail for over a month without any results. Now that Magneto had come to Bai Luo's place, it was clear that Natasha had received the news and followed him here directly.
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