Chapter 4755: X Royalty: Rebirth (Fourteen)

The U. S. State Department issued an article stating that Clark Asia's political direction is entirely wrong, and cooperation with China will never bring peace to the world; if they continue to act unilaterally, the United States and all its allies will launch multi-faceted sanctions against Clark Asia's economy, trade, and culture. Please listen to the station's detailed report...

The U. S. President posted on his social media that Clark Asia's contact with the God Spear Bureau is "unacceptable," and Clark Asia cannot establish any long-term good trade relations with any country other than the United States and its allies; if they have such intentions, the United States will certainly take countermeasures.

The Kremlin just issued a statement prohibiting any mutants within its territory from using Clark Asia's flower to enter Clark Asia. Russian citizens attempting this are urged to stop such illegal border-crossing behavior; otherwise, customs will not recognize any cross-border movements, which may result in citizens being stranded overseas...

The latest article from the British Mirror indicates that MI5 may be considering stricter strike measures, targeting Clark Asia's maritime trade operations and its island homeland, both of which could face sanctions from the British Navy...

"Click." The TV was turned off. The main universe Iron Man let out a long sigh, almost gritting his teeth as he said: "How long have we been away, and they've already offended so many countries. How did they manage to do this?"

"Think positively," Thor said while stuffing food into his mouth, "we've only been away for such a short time, and here we already have TV signals. We can even receive several channels, indicating their technological development is quite good."

The main universe Iron Man couldn't help but roll his eyes; he was about to say something when he suddenly coughed violently a few times. Captain America beside him pulled him down, saying: "Your injury hasn't healed yet, so don't shout. Hurry up and rest."

"I just can't stand mutants destroying the fruits of our joint labor." The main universe Iron Man said, "The situation on Clark Asia Island has improved considerably, but at this time, offending so many countries—how can trade and diplomacy proceed normally? Cough, cough, cough..."

"I'm also puzzled," Black Widow said, narrowing her eyes, "how did they get in touch with the God Spear Bureau. By rights, they shouldn't have any contact."

The local Avengers were obviously discussing this issue as well. Nick walked in, placed the documents on the table, and looked at them saying: "The latest intelligence from Wakanda shows they've already begun some cooperation with Clark Asia. Regarding sanctions, they remain silent, even unwilling to engage in diplomatic condemnation, which means their shared interests must be substantial."

"What could it be?" Captain America asked.

"Medical." Nick said firmly, "The two countries with the highest levels of advanced medical care in the world are most likely to join forces to monopolize medical technology, which would be easy for them to achieve. What puzzles me is, if mutants had thought of this earlier, they wouldn't have ended up with no allies at the UN General Assembly."

"You mean..." the local Iron Man also narrowed his eyes, "their leadership has changed?"

"That's the only possibility." Nick sat down, let out a soft sigh, rolled up his sleeves, and then said, "S. H. I. E. L. D. conducted a very comprehensive study and analysis of Magneto and Professor X. Both are idealists, but they also clearly lack practical operational experience, lack political acumen, and even lack basic common sense."

"Such a move—first courting Wakanda, then turning to the God Spear Bureau—could not be the work of two political novices. As I said, if they had known this trick earlier, Clark Asia wouldn't have been driven to this point. After our analysis, we unanimously concluded that Clark Asia's regime may have undergone a change."

"But if other mutants had this trick, they wouldn't have waited until now to use it." Ant-Man raised a question, "Although it's not about seizing power, offering an opinion is always easy—so why would they only now think of changing course?"

"So we don't believe it's other mutants in this universe who gave them inspiration; it's more likely from another universe."

"You mean those visitors from other universes? Forgive my bluntness, but their interests are not entirely aligned with mutants, just like the main universe Avengers—they also don't want this universe's mutants to develop too well, because that might conflict with their goal of becoming leaders of the Multiversal Human Alliance."

"Could it be the central universe?" Captain America asked, "That Shiler absolutely has a problem."

"That doesn't sound like Shiler's style." Nick said, "When he acted before, you all saw it. No one can deny that the Shi'ar Empire's invasion and the subsequent chain of events had nothing to do with him. While this doesn't prove he lacks diplomatic talent, it does show he doesn't like using Earth's diplomatic methods to solve problems. He prefers using dimensional reduction strikes to leave others with no choice."

Upon saying this, everyone fell silent. They had fought in the universe for so long, yet only by grasping the opponent's fatal weakness did they barely drive them back near the Mercury line, and even then hadn't fully won, needing mutants to hold the line; they were merely returning for temporary rest, and if the situation worsened, they'd have to go back out.

And all this, though it may be their opening move, but how the Red Door Lan Factory just happened to open into a portal—no one can say for sure now, but roughly speaking, their being deceived played a significant role, yet Shiler must have had a hand in it as well.

If he were someone who liked solving problems on Earth through horizontal and vertical alliances, he wouldn't have pulled this off, because clearly this approach is more difficult and riskier; having done it this way, there's no need to resort to even more complicated methods.

"Could it be the mutants from these two universes?" Black Widow asked again, "They indeed could have come over, right?"

"That's exactly my guess." Nick nodded, saying, "S. H. I. E. L. D.'s agents in Wakanda filmed the recent diplomatic reception footage, but because they dared not get too close, the image isn't very clear. See if you can recognize which universe this Charles Xavier is from."

He handed out the documents, and everyone received a photo. Nick added: "According to the informant, the visiting guests seemed quite young, with no helmet or brainwave amplifier on their heads, appearing like ordinary youths. But the king's attitude was good, and he even kept them for a meal."

Upon hearing this description and glancing again at the photo, Spider-Man suddenly understood, declaring firmly: "It must be them from the central universe."

Others turned to him, and Spider-Man continued: "Across the multiverse, young Professor X and Magneto are not rare. But those with youthful appearance and seasoned tactics are likely only the central universe's pair, because they two are rejuvenated."

Others were somewhat surprised, and Spider-Man added: "Their universe indeed has rejuvenation substances—I'm not sure exactly what, but their universe's Spider-Man also became young, which I can confirm."

Those present weren't particularly interested in the rejuvenation matter, since most are long-lived modified humans, and they also aren't lacking in methods to maintain youth, only weighing whether the cost is acceptable.

What surprised them was that the visitors were actually from the central universe. Since it seems the main universe is the more interventionist party, the central universe's Iron Man has been loafing from start to finish, aside from showing up in the lab contention battle, he's had no major actions.

"These two are very formidable." Spider-Man evaluated, "The central universe's mutants occupy an entire Andromeda galaxy, surviving the siege of the three great empires, even making them dare anger but not speak. Meanwhile, on Earth they also have their own independent nation, and have long since established normal diplomatic relations, even maintaining good ties with various countries—never hearing of any sanctions against them. Mutants travel freely between Earth, the solar system, and the Andromeda galaxy, even participating in various Earth construction projects, far surpassing our universe's mutants to an unknown extent."

Nick frowned slightly, saying, "I've heard of this, but is it really just their two accomplishments?"

"But you can't deny that if they hadn't grown to such potential, mutants would certainly have been left behind in the central universe's development—yet they kept pace. And now, discussing the past is meaningless; these two are likely the most politically adept mutant leaders in the entire multiverse, aren't they?"

Captain Allen said with a headache, "If so, sanctioning them would be unwise. I've never understood why the U. S. government keeps opposing them. If this were my era, they'd certainly be the object of everyone's competition."

"Too bad, it's no longer wartime." Black Widow shook her head, saying, "I can roughly guess why Mr. President wants to sanction them. Sanctioning them is a pretense; restricting the East is the real goal."

"I actually feel a bit regretful that the Shi'ar Empire's troops didn't reach your doorstep." Doctor Strange said astonishingly, "Without the knife at the throat, humanity will never understand what unity means."

"Originally, breaking into the solar system still doesn't count as a knife at the throat." Thor let out a light scoff, "I thought it was already stabbed into the eye socket."

No one argued with him on this. One can only say the current state is such: human technology isn't advanced enough, and understanding of the universe isn't comprehensive. In their view, the sun is already very distant, and the Red Door Lan Factory is a facility they built near the sun after capturing so many scientists and using alien technology. Tell them a stellar system is equivalent to your bedroom, enemies charging into the solar system, and it's no different from a home invasion—they still wouldn't grasp it.

Moreover, Doctor Strange was clearly speaking in anger. Earth hasn't reached the point where it can place enemies this close to strike. Using alien intimidation might work immediately, but it's simply too dangerous—so not taking this step is actually for the best.

But upon reflection, did Shiler, who devised this plan, watching the departing troops, have no other thoughts? After all, his plan to use alien intimidation to force human unity appears to have failed—did he really have no follow-up?

"I don't understand either." Spider-Man looked at everyone staring at him, shook his head, and said, "The doctor is very capable, but not necessarily omnipotent. Maybe he didn't think we could win."

"It's not that we won." Captain America said, "The weakness was his gift to me—that is, he himself ended his plan. Why do you think that is?"

Everyone shook their heads, no one could figure it out. If Shiler hadn't given the weakness, they'd probably still be fighting desperately, and judging from the situation then, the Jupiter line might already be lost. The Shi'ar Empire isn't advancing bit by bit; the next line after this might well be the lunar line.

Just a little more delay, and humanity would face catastrophe, the plan to force human unity through alien intimidation might even succeed. What made Shiler suddenly decide to give up, directly cheat for the Avengers, and let them repel the Earth threat in one go?

No one present knew, and could only speculate. But researching this now is meaningless; they need to figure out how to balance Clark Asia's relations with governments worldwide, rather than letting the two sides fight again on Earth. This tests not only the mutant leaders' level, but also their political acumen.