Chapter 3105

"Success?"

Shiler was a bit surprised now—if such a thing truly existed, whoever obtained it would be invincible, wouldn't they?

It seemed he had guessed what Shiler was thinking, and Leyla said: "Of course it wasn't a complete success; otherwise, there wouldn't be so much life left in the universe. They must have conducted partial trials, succeeded, and then believed that increasing the dosage would allow them to rule the entire universe."

"Who are these 'they' who succeeded in the trial?" Shiler pressed.

"Of course, the former Skrulls." Leyla thought for a moment before saying: "Their technology is far superior to that of the Shi'ar Empire. I suspect the Shi'ar people must have seen their experimental records, found this idea promising, and thus invested so heavily in it."

That reasoning made sense—after all, this plan sounds too absurd. Without solid evidence to back it up, the Shi'ar Empire wouldn't just throw money around for no reason; they couldn't possibly be this serious about it.

The question is, how did the Skrulls manage to succeed back then?

When asked again, Leyla said she didn't know. She explained that the plan to use viruses to establish antibodies was devised by that doctor; she only carried it out, and she herself didn't understand the specific principles.

Rocket Raccoon then followed up with another question: "So why did you take on the High Evolutionary's work? Surely you don't think he and Doctor Dolakal just happened to be on the same wavelength?"

"Of course not," Leyla said. "Actually, his original plan for me wasn't this. I told him it could be done this way, and only then did he devise the virus."

"Then why exactly did he help the mutants? And what exactly is the disaster he keeps talking about?"

"I said I don't know." Leyla spread her hands. "I took his job partly because he offered high pay, and partly because he's also a formidable biologist—I might need his help later."

"Alright, Miss Leyla, you've said enough for today. You must be tired—why don't you go upstairs to rest?"

Leyla glanced at Shiler, said nothing, and gave Rocket Raccoon a look, signaling him to accompany her.

Not long after, Rocket Raccoon returned. Shiler stared at him, but Rocket Raccoon shook his head and said: "No, she didn't tell me anything."

"I'm not asking about that—didn't you two catch up on old times?"

Rocket Raccoon gave a wry smile and shook his head: "Weren't we just reminiscing a moment ago? What's there to say about those things?"

"Do you think she's telling the truth?"

"I can only say her words make some sense." Rocket Raccoon and Shiler sat together on the bench, and Rocket Raccoon turned to Shiler, saying: "What do you think? Is she telling the truth?"

"Nine parts true, one part false." Shiler said: "Only then is it a perfect lie. Since you said she's a skilled liar, perhaps she'd choose to do exactly that."

"Which part is false?" Rocket Raccoon asked, curious.

"Naturally, the part about the Life Fusion Plan." Shiler sighed: "I think she didn't lie—she just didn't tell the whole story. She must know more."

Rocket Raccoon swung his legs and said: "If the old Skrull Empire's experiment had succeeded, why did they still go extinct?"

"That shows that while it's powerful, it's still not enough." Shiler leaned back against the bench, gazing at the sky: "This part should be true. The old Skrull Empire was on the verge of collapse back then—naturally, they couldn't have conducted any large-scale experiment. Perhaps what they produced had certain miraculous properties, but it couldn't serve as a decisive weapon."

"You think this thing might have fallen into the Shi'ar Empire's hands?"

"Very likely." Shiler nodded: "No matter the species, politicians don't act until they see the rabbit—unless they truly saw how powerful this thing is, they wouldn't invest so heavily."

"The question is, what exactly is this thing, and is it harmful?"

"That requires investigation." Shiler said: "I'll call Charles first—even if he doesn't know the full picture, he might at least grasp some clues."

"You don't seem the least bit anxious." Rocket Raccoon said: "This matter wouldn't have anything to do with you, would it?"

Shiler shook his head: "I just don't care."

"Why don't you care? What if this thing actually succeeds..."

"This thing can't possibly succeed." Shiler said: "Not because it would be useless, but because it can't be made."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Of course—this is my turf. I eat dry rice. Would I let them fuse all life in the universe?"

"But there must be a way to stop them."

"Then there's no need for me to go personally—don't we already have someone ready to deal with them?"

"What?"

"Mutants."

Rocket Raccoon was momentarily confused, but quickly said: "Although both of these things Leyla experienced, they're actually unrelated in reality. The possible fusion lifeform the old Skrull Empire created and the biological uprising the mutants now face have no direct connection."

"It doesn't exist now—we can just make it exist."

"What do you want to do?"

"Obviously, make a phone call."

Shiler dialed the number, and soon connected with Professor X—unsurprisingly, Magneto's voice came through the other end, suggesting they've reconciled.

Shiler began his output.

He first spoke of Leyla's matter, mainly discussing Leyla and Little Raccoon's past, and how he recently discovered Leyla's activities in the Andromeda Galaxy—he said nothing about why Leyla had come.

Both were interested in the stories of the old Skrull Empire and the Half-World Madhouse, but upon hearing that this plan and certain experimental products might have been inherited by some Shi'ar individuals, they lost their ease.

Rocket Raccoon heard from the call that Professor X might know these things, but clearly didn't know the specifics of the plan, nor what the Shi'ar people had obtained from the experiments.

Even Shiler paused midway for a moment—Professor X might have confirmed something, but after a long while, it seemed no conclusion had been reached.

At that moment, Rocket Raccoon wondered: maybe there was no actual experimental specimen, just some reports—but he didn't know how, and their conversation shifted to whether they'd have brainwave-shielding equipment.

Speaking of which, that's also plausible—the technology of the three great empires is highly advanced; anything humans can research, they can too. After learning of Professor X's abilities, it's only natural they'd research a dedicated brainwave-shielding device.

The inability to investigate this matter put great pressure on Professor X—so-called "no silver here, three hundred taels," the less they could find, the more it proved something fishy was going on.

When questioned again, Shiler merely said he'd obtained some information, and told them out of concern that these people might cause trouble in the Shi'ar Empire and disrupt mutant rule—he absolutely refused to mention the biological uprising in the Andromeda Galaxy.

However, as the call was about to end, Shiler still feigned concern and asked: "How's the Andromeda Galaxy situation?" Professor X clearly didn't elaborate, hastily hung up.

"Is that it?" Rocket Raccoon looked at him and asked.

Shiler nodded: "Yeah, otherwise what else would there be to do?"

"Then you'd better explain exactly what you did."

Shiler patted Rocket Raccoon's head and said: "You're still better off being just a raccoon—want me to fix you up something?"

Rocket Raccoon immediately jumped up and said: "What do you mean? Are you mocking me for being stupid?!"

"Of course not—you're the smartest raccoon in the universe."

"I..." Rocket Raccoon was momentarily speechless, then after a second realized Shiler wasn't praising him—he almost flared up in anger.

Shiler stood up, Rocket Raccoon following behind him; seeing Rocket Raccoon walking too slowly, Shiler simply picked him up directly.

"I indeed only told Professor X about the previous half-world's affairs; this matter may indeed have nothing to do with mutants, but people make associations."

"The Old Skrull Empire conducted life fusion project experiments, suspected of producing something, and now a biological riot virus has erupted in the mutants' Andromeda Galaxy — aren't these two things easily associated together?"

"But the Old Skrull Empire is a mechanical civilization, not skilled in biological experiments... oh, I understand now, so that's why you wanted to tell them the experimental results might have fallen into the Shi'ar Empire's hands, the Shi'ar Empire excels at biological experiments."

"Exactly; the key is the mutants' process of ruling the Shi'ar Empire cannot be called smooth — have you ever heard a phrase called 'a guilty conscience'?"

Rocket Raccoon isn't truly stupid either; he thought for a moment and understood, saying: "Mutants worry someone might know they actually swapped the Empress?"

"Exactly; even if no one knows now, someone will know later — if these people become a resistance faction, and that thing the Old Skrull Empire successfully experimented on happens to fall into the resistance's hands, mutants will face major trouble."

"But they are truly mired in trouble right now — how do they know this isn't some people learning they usurped the throne, then using the successfully experimented weapon against them?"

Rocket Raccoon nodded; he felt Shiler's words made sense, but he still had one question, so he asked.

"Then how do you know Professor X won't find anything out investigating this? His mind-reading ability is very strong — what if that group in the Shi'ar Empire has no defenses at all?"

"Wouldn't that be even better?" Shiler said: "They can't even guard against Professor X, letting Professor X directly invade their brains, figuring out what that mysterious fusion god is — wouldn't that be equivalent to me figuring it out?"

Rocket Raccoon thought it over and agreed; if Professor X finds out, for cosmic safety he should also tell Shiler — enemy in the open, me in the dark, plenty of ways to deal with them; if Professor X doesn't find out, due to guilty conscience they'll link the two matters together, and mutants will proactively go after them.

Rocket Raccoon gave Shiler a thumbs-up, saying: "You are the smartest human in this world."

"Can't say that." Shiler shook his head saying: "After all, right now in this farm there's someone contending for the title of smartest human."

At this moment Rocket Raccoon looked up and discovered they had arrived at the Stone House basement; pushing open the door he heard Stark and Reed, those two turkeys, arguing again.

"I'll say it again — your experimental conclusion is simply inaccurate; then can your investigation results be accurate? You're completely just guessing blindly!"

"Who told you this experimental conclusion is inaccurate — just because I didn't experiment in front of you it's inaccurate? Don't you think you're being a bit unreasonable?!"

The two confronted each other needle-point against wheat-awn, while lab assistant Susan stood to the side with a helpless expression.