Chapter 256: Peter's Birthday

(12:00 PM)

A small sedan sped along the road.

The space inside the car was extremely cramped. Ororo, with her long, snow-white hair, gazed at the broken cigarette in her hands, filled with sorrow.

The corpse of the broken cigarette emitted a foul stench, polluting the entire space. His brain had been pried open, and the brain matter inside had long since vanished.

"Ororo, let him rest in peace." Ye Nan's voice came from the mouth of the Terminator. "Holding him like this isn't a solution."

"I have already lost him once; I do not want to lose him again. I will keep watch until the darkness swallows me whole," Ororo said slowly.

Back when Professor X wiped her sea of memories, her hair had turned white overnight. Because she had forgotten the love that was once etched into her bones, she loathed herself—loathed herself for forgetting the broken cigarette.

"Ororo, you..." Ye Nan wanted to persuade her further, but the words died on his lips. Ororo in this state had clearly fallen into a demonic obsession, yet he had no standing to lecture her.

"Sigh, I hope time can help you forget the pain. Ororo, remember, people must always live on; you cannot spend your whole life living in the pain of the past."

Ororo raised her head, looking blankly into the distance. After a while, she lowered her head again, lost in thought.

"Ye Nan, I ask you, if Professor X doesn't hand me over, will you bomb the X-Mansion?" Wolverine Logan suddenly asked.

"I won't." Ye Nan's voice came through. "I have no hatred for those children, and I will not slaughter the innocent."

"Aren't you afraid they'll come looking for you later?" Wolverine Logan asked again.

"I am afraid, but even if I am afraid, I cannot bring myself to do it." Ye Nan gave a bitter smile. "Am I very hypocritical?"

"Just indecisive. I'll ask you one last question." Logan's expression suddenly turned solemn. "How do you intend to treat mutants?"

Silence—a deathly silence, as if Ye Nan had already left. But Logan waited, waiting for an answer.

After a long while, Ye Nan's voice came through again. "I stand on the side of humanity, but regarding mutants, my thought is understanding and tolerance."

"Not every mutant is a criminal who harms others."

"I personally believe that mutants should be the same as ordinary humans. They should not have any special privileges, nor should they suffer any discrimination. Mutants who have harmed people should be punished according to the law; mutants who have never harmed anyone should not suffer any discrimination."

"And to achieve this, we must bring mutants under government management, letting them live under the sun like ordinary citizens, rather than living in the shadows of society, sneaking around for a lifetime."

"But there is an unavoidable difficulty here, and that is how to make people accept mutants." Logan pondered for a moment before voicing his doubt. "You are also aware that ordinary people have many misunderstandings about mutants. They take it for granted that mutants are an unstable factor in society, and they reject them."

"If the Mutant Registration Act is successfully passed, what kind of harm will mutants exposed to the light suffer? Have you considered this clearly?"

There was a hint of anger in Logan's voice.

He was also a mutant, and he viewed mutants as his own kind. Faced with such a proposal that was highly damaging to mutants, he did not hope for it to pass.

Yet Ye Nan was his son's boss and his brother's friend; he was destined to stand in the same camp as Ye Nan.

To be in a camp but unable to identify with its philosophy—this kind of pain was a torture.

"Long-term pain is worse than short-term pain. Rather than enduring humanity's misunderstandings endlessly, it is better to expose it all at once. After enduring the brief, sharp pain, the public, having become familiar with the nature of mutants, will attempt to accept them..."

"Don't forget, the power of mutants is something humanity needs. Mutants should be heroes."

"Of course, I still have a trump card in my hand that can accelerate the speed at which humanity accepts mutants."

"What trump card?" Logan asked.

"Super Soldier Serum," Ye Nan said, feigning mystery.

"Captain America?" Wolverine Logan glanced suspiciously at the Terminator, hesitating to speak.

"You actually know Captain America?" Now it was Ye Nan's turn to be suspicious.

"I once crossed paths with him," Logan said. "At the time, in order to infiltrate the Nazis, I betrayed Captain America's unit, and as a result, I fought him."

"And the result?" Ye Nan asked with great interest. This was a plot point that had never appeared in the movies, causing the fire of gossip in his heart to burn fiercely.

"Between you and Captain America, who won and who lost? What is your evaluation of Captain America's abilities?"

While gossiping, Ye Nan did not forget to inquire about Captain America's abilities.

He would not forget his conflict with S. H. I. E. L. D. Although the last conflict ended in his total victory, the S. H. I. E. L. D. Director at the time was still missing, reportedly having gone to search for Captain America.

Even though he no longer held Captain America in high regard, Captain America could command numerous superheroes; neither his intelligence nor his connections were things Ye Nan could compare to. He didn't want to wake up one day and find an Avengers Alliance coming for revenge.

"We fought back then, but it was roughly a draw. I didn't use my full strength, and he didn't go all out either. As for the man himself," Logan pondered, "it's hard to say. He is loyal to the American spirit, yet not pedantic; he has even opposed America before. On the other hand, his leadership skills are outstanding, his combat ability is not weak, and most importantly, he is sufficiently steady."

"Such a person is a natural leader."

Upon hearing this, Ye Nan pondered for a moment. "Captain America, I see."

On the other side, Ye Nan severed the connection with Wolverine Logan and slowly stepped down from the car.

As for Logan, there was no longer any need for him to pay attention; what he needed to do now was attend Peter's birthday party.

"Is everything settled?" Angela asked with a gentle expression.

"Mm, everything is settled. Next, let's go have some fun." Ye Nan scooped Angela up and carried her down from the car.

"Ripley, remember to bring Angela's wheelchair out."

"Mm, Dad, don't worry." Ripley responded, then walked off the car and went around to the back.

Held in Ye Nan's arms, Angela's small face turned bright red. "Don't be like this, it's not good if others see."

"Who would think it's not good if they see!" Ye Nan said with an air of dominance. "You are my wife. Whoever dares to say it's not good, I'll dig out their eyeballs and call them blind."

"Alright, alright, people who don't know might think you're a bandit." Angela flicked Ye Nan's nose. "You're even naughtier than me."

"Who said I'm naughtier than you? I'm not a woman." Ye Nan frowned, protesting against Angela.

Upon hearing this, Angela immediately put her hands on her hips, striking the pose of a shrew scolding in the street. "Who said only women can be naughty? I'm going to call you Little Naughty, Little Naughty!"

With Angela held by Ye Nan, her hands on her hips, it looked ambiguous and flirtatious, causing Ye Nan's lust to surge.

"Anyway, you are my person. Why don't we just get it done tonight?"

As Ye Nan spoke, his lust grew even more intense. He was not a man who practiced abstinence, but he was not one to indulge his desires either. It was just that this time, being teased by Angela, he found it somewhat hard to endure...

"No, you promised me." Angela looked at Ye Nan with a pitiful expression, fearing that Ye Nan would suddenly turn into a beast.

Angela's words immediately dispelled Ye Nan's thoughts. All his desires vanished without a trace, and he became entirely awkward.

"I'm sorry, Angela. I just couldn't control myself for a moment."

Back then, Angela and Ye Nan made a pact: as long as her illness remained uncured, Ye Nan could not have her, because she feared her child might inherit her condition. In her own words, she was unwilling to let her child suffer the same pain she endured.

"It's okay, I understand." Angela shook her head gently, indicating she didn't blame Ye Nan.

Suddenly, the atmosphere became awkward. Ye Nan stiffly carried Angela to the door of Peter's house and pressed the doorbell.

Ding-dong!

"Hi!" Mary opened the door. Seeing it was Ye Nan, she immediately became happy. But when she saw Ye Nan holding Angela, a trace of gloom flashed in the depths of her eyes. However, the gloom vanished quickly, leaving only a brilliant smile on her face. "It's you, Ye Nan."

"Mm, today is Peter's birthday, how could I not come?" Ye Nan chuckled, ignoring the Angela in his arms. "Not just Angela, my daughter is coming too."

"You have a daughter?" Mary was shocked upon hearing this.

"Mm, my adopted daughter. Come, Ripley, meet your Aunt Mary." Ye Nan beckoned Ripley over and introduced her to Mary. "This is my adopted daughter, Ripley."

"Ripley, this is your Aunt Mary."

"Hello, Aunt Mary." Ripley greeted her obediently.

Looking at Ripley, who wasn't much younger than herself, Mary immediately realized she had been a bit uncomposed just now. She immediately put on a smiling face and admitted her mistake. "Sorry, I was a bit uncomposed just now."

When mentioning 'Aunt', Mary's expression was somewhat unnatural. She wasn't old yet, and having to call herself an aunt made her feel like she was aging.

"Children don't mind." Ye Nan waved his hand as a matter of course.

"Child!"

Mary looked at Ripley, who was only a few years younger than her, then looked at the expression on Ye Nan's face, and was speechless.

"By the way, Mary, how have you been lately? I heard from Peter that you've been acting in stage plays. How is it? How does it feel?" Ye Nan asked as he walked inside.

"Oh, it's Mr. Ye Nan." Peter's Aunt May saw Ye Nan enter, immediately put down her work, and came to greet him.

"Hello, Aunt May." Ye Nan greeted her with a smile.

"Yo, everyone is here." Ye Nan looked at the people in the room: Aunt May, Harry, Stark, and a strange fat man. With them, plus Ye Nan, Angela, Ripley, Mary, and Peter who hadn't returned yet, the whole house seemed a bit crowded.

"We aren't like some busy person, busy with who knows what all day long," Stark said sarcastically.

"Pfft." Ye Nan spat. "I'm not like some people, who only know how to chase skirts all day long. Why don't you go pee and look at your own reflection? With your look, those modern girls would throw themselves at you? They're just after your money."

"I'm the one who should 'pfft'." Stark mimicked Ye Nan, spat, and scolded angrily, "Someone like me..."

Before Stark could finish, Ye Nan interrupted him. "Stop being narcissistic. Even if you're narcissistic, it doesn't change the benefits your status brings you. If you have the ability, go become a beggar on the street and try to pick up modern girls. If you succeed, I'll give you a million."

"Do I care about your million?" Stark said disdainfully...

Ye Nan and Stark started arguing, and the words they exchanged were all nutritional-less drivel.

"What's wrong with those two? Aren't you going to stop them?" The strange fat man asked Harry beside him, somewhat unable to understand.

Clearly the two were arguing, yet their friends didn't have the slightest intention of stopping them.

"Just get used to it. They argue whenever they meet; it's become a habit." Harry shrugged, showing no reaction to their argument.

They didn't know how many times they had argued; no matter where they were, they would argue. Yet this kind of arguing, far from affecting their friendship, actually made their relationship much closer.

Thinking of friendship, Harry's gaze turned somewhat sinister. Ever since his father died, he had been searching for the whereabouts of the murderer who killed his father. Soon, he locked his target onto Spider-Man, but no matter what, he couldn't find Spider-Man's location.

Back when Peter handed Spider-Man's photos to the newspaper several times, he realized Peter knew Spider-Man. For this, he pressured Peter several times, but each time Peter refused to reveal his father, making him very angry, and his relationship with Peter dropped to freezing point.

Crack!

A sound of the door opening came from outside. Ye Nan immediately stopped arguing with Stark. The moment Peter opened the door and entered, he shouted along with the others.

"Happy Birthday." (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to the mobile site (.) to subscribe and tip. Your support is my greatest motivation.)