Chapter 4770: X Royalty: Rebirth (Twenty-Nine)

As for being classified as chimpanzees, mutants couldn't care less. After all, mutants had already been bullied to rock bottom—let alone gorillas, every vicious insult had been hurled at them. But now, as long as they admitted they were apes, they could drag their accusers down with them, turning them into a bunch of beasts capable only of impotent rage—thinking about it still felt satisfying.

If mutants were gorillas, then anyone arguing with them was just a fool throwing feces at apes. As long as you could abandon international opinion and wage a three-hundred-round battle with a group of rare wild animals, mutants wouldn't hesitate to fight back—let's see who's better at throwing feces.

In this situation, Europe was also disgusted to the point of helplessness. After all, they considered themselves old-world nobility, viewing Americans as uncivilized savages. If they truly fought this gang of gorillas, they'd lose both substance and face, left with no choice but to reluctantly give up.

Thus, internal strife ignited in America, Europe dared not intervene, and the entire Western world was basically knocked flat. Having also received considerable aid from China and Wakanda, the entire Clarke Archipelago wasn't just catching its breath—it was like being injected with super-soldier serum, a slight touch and it surged forward.

Ship after ship of supplies was transported in. Later, ordinary porters could no longer meet the mutants' needs—even having mutants like Magneto help didn't make moving them any easier, so they had to activate Stark's army of mechs.

To store supplies, you needed warehouses. Besides the caves beneath the volcano, the entire Clarke Archipelago had a highly complex cave system underneath; with slight modifications, it could serve as underground storage. Plus, many perishables could be directly kept by Namor in the deep sea—convenient and insulating.

Next came large-scale construction: first building dual-use military-commercial docks, then starting shipbuilding and dumpling-making. Mutants didn't really need warships, but rather trade-oriented cruise ships. Fortunately, building merchant ships was relatively simple—basically, just make a hull that can run, and you're good.

To ordinary people, large freighters were just cargo ships—no one would ever use such vessels as warships. For one, they're painfully slow; for another, they have zero defense. Even against pirates in small boats, they're helpless—crew can only hide in lifeboats while pirates loot the cargo. Clearly, these ships are only fit for commercial use.

So when Clarke Archipelago began large-scale production of heavy freighters, it didn't attract much attention from many nations. In their view, mutants building such things merely wanted to haul more cargo, taking advantage of humanitarian aid status to squeeze more from other countries. But they overlooked a serious problem: mutants themselves are weapons.

Whether the ship runs fast or not doesn't matter—they can tow it; lack of defense doesn't matter—they can use magnetic shields; not carrying weapons isn't a big deal—they can just jump ship. Who could withstand even a single strike from those Alpha-level mutants?

In other words, these hastily built cargo ships are actually Clarke Archipelago's warships. Other nations' reactions were just a bit slow—Clarke Archipelago went fully armed. Not only did they build slightly smaller cruisers, but they also constructed aircraft carriers.

For ordinary nations, building an aircraft carrier is no easy feat. First, you need to build engines, considering range; second, flight deck design, plus the technology to launch aircraft; third, carrier groups need escort ships—without them, a carrier alone is just a sitting duck. In short, carrier groups are something only major powers can afford; smaller nations shouldn't even dream of it.

But Clarke Archipelago's carrier group? Much simpler. First, build a super freighter—one with a deck area rivaling several football fields, a massive ocean-going cargo ship; then build a few small freighters—no need for anything fancy, just as long as they can move.

Next, assign Polaris as the carrier's engine, pulling the carrier across the sea at 60 knots; assign Human Torch as the main gun—wherever it's wrong, blast it; next, assign Shockwave, Sunspot, and other mutants as fighters—no need for catapults, just fly straight out. A perfect carrier is done—purely human-powered, cruising around Earth consumes energy equivalent to two burgers.

This thing can also haul cargo. After buying goods somewhere, no other ship is needed to meet up—just tow it yourself and go, utility maximized.

Better yet, virtually no maintenance burden. These ships are basically just a bunch of iron shells forcibly glued together, with the engine inside essentially just decoration—everything relies on mutants pedaling. Basically, after one cargo trip out and back, you've broken even, with no maintenance needed; if something breaks, just let Magneto pinch and knead it until it melts.

If, nowadays, nations at sea are running like high-speed rail—at minimum, also like trains—then mutants are completely like donkey carts. The most technically advanced part is the two donkeys in front, not the rear wooden carriage. But mutants happen to be nuclear-powered donkeys—pulling fast, still able to kick and leap, trampling the oceans, no one dares provoke.

After mutants made a few runs, they tasted the sweetness. Because when passing through pirate-infested waters, many ordinary merchant ships sought their help, asking them to escort. They also happened to rescue some freighters boarded by pirates in the cargo holds—those shipowners weren't just grateful, they also offered ingredients or similar as thanks.

Even once, three freighters were blocked in a certain strait, unable to pass no matter what. This wasn't entirely a pirate issue—local geopolitical tensions were also too intense. The boss went crazy with anxiety; coincidentally, mutants passed by nearby. The boss gritted his teeth, stomped his foot, and handed mutants a sum of money—just get the ships out, however you can.

To mutants, this was trivial. Which regional conflict would dare provoke them? Even if the other side was bold as brass, they couldn't possibly lose. Even if they truly couldn't win, they could shake Atlantis. Who dares provoke sea folk in the ocean? One hit from a water arrow and they'd behave.

So they escorted that ship fleet through the strait with ease. This made other ships trapped in the strait look furious in envy—each boss flared with divine wrath. In just a few days, mutants earned several million USD—this money was truly easy to make.

Actually, the most important thing on freighters isn't the cargo—it's the crew. Legitimate companies usually have contracts; if a ship sinks somewhere, employee death compensation becomes a huge expense, far exceeding cargo value. Moreover, once lives are lost, the company itself might face lawsuits—if they can't win in court, someone might go to jail.

That's why most large freighters have shelters. Employee training is: if pirates attack, never engage in gunfire—just dive into the shelter, let pirates take what they want, as long as no one gets hurt; otherwise, trouble follows.

Based on this principle, many bosses declared: as long as mutants can bring people out, the cargo is theirs to keep. At most, it's just a wasted trip—large international trading firms can absorb this loss, and if using cargo to offset debt, it's even more cost-effective.

Initially, mutants accepted everything on the list, since they indeed lacked various supplies. But later, when supplies became relatively ample, they started being selective—taking only what they needed, then collecting a bit of money just for token gesture.

The reason they didn't take more was also to earn reputation. This move genuinely boosted mutants' international standing—many sailors even regarded them as ocean guardians. Never mind whether money changed hands—company money is company's, but saved lives are one's own; most people can tell the difference.

Especially like Storm—when she acts, heaven and earth change color, truly resembling a sea god descending. Not to mention the real sea god Namor—his several interventions earned him many followers, even making Atlantis famous among sailors.

Mutants surging through the ocean naturally drew disapproval—first in line was America's carrier group, after all, they used to be the ones surging and crashing through the ocean.

In fact, the U. S. has nearly always held unlimited sea rights—except for a few individual nations' internal waters, not even all internal waters; the more peripheral ones, American carrier groups could come and go freely, no one could do anything about them.

But the emergence of the mutant fleet completely overturned this situation. Because they are truly the ones who can go wherever they want—once the magnetic shield activates, they don't appear on any radar. Not to mention the periphery of internal waters—even core positions, even internal water bays, they can reach—truly a ghost fleet.

Precisely for this reason, they ended up encountering the U. S. carrier group in the Pacific. Of course, it wasn't a direct collision, but being just a few nautical miles apart is practically the same as hitting. Fortunately, mutants braked quickly—otherwise, they'd have sailed straight into the U. S. carrier's face.

At the moment they emerged from radar, the entire U. S. carrier group was just a hair's breadth away from cardiac arrest. What's the difference between that and seeing a ghost in broad daylight?

But they did collide—already within firing range—so not fighting was impossible. Immediately preparing to launch aircraft, but precisely because they were too close, mutants unleashed a massive magnetic vortex that whipped upward.

First, a magnetic storm destroyed the radar, blinding the opposition; next, Storm summoned a typhoon in place, creating weather conditions that prevented aircraft takeoff; next, Namor caused waves that made it impossible for ships to depart stably—completely locking down the carrier group.

Of course, they knew their limits—didn't actually open fire, just pinned the opposition down, then began "holding the emperor hostage to command the princes," contacting the U. S. to prepare negotiations.

Actually, through this stir by the local Iron Man, the sanctions order became nominal. Although not fully lifted, it was already hollow—trade had returned to normal. Yet the U. S. still refused to recognize normal diplomatic relations with Clarke Archipelago, manufacturing many invisible pressures, causing many matters to stall.

Logically, it's not absolutely necessary to have diplomatic ties with them, but mutants just couldn't swallow this insult. Without slapping the chief architect of these sanctions, mutants could never feel their anger subside.

Because most mutants believe the volcanic eruption incident was carried out by U. S. agents dispatched by them—if they don't extract some wool from those sheep, this injustice wouldn't have been suffered in vain.

After patrolling the ocean for so many days, they finally caught the other side's little braid—must conduct righteous extortion, forcing them to pay up, pants and all.

But the U. S. truly could only negotiate. Because the carrier group was already under control, they had no power to retaliate, while mutants were furious en masse—truly capable of sinking them. Once the carrier group is completely annihilated, U. S. maritime hegemony would be thoroughly declared over.

All hegemony is public opinion hegemony, and vice versa—public opinion hegemony is all hegemony. Once constructed, public opinion hegemony has great inertia—regardless of actual strength declining to what extent, as long as the invincible image is maintained, hegemony can still be upheld.

But once the invincible image is shattered, public opinion hegemony cannot be sustained—then closely following, all other hegemons will be affected, even thoroughly crushed. So, victory or a stalemate in standoff are acceptable—even slightly losing can be glossed over via propaganda. But a crushing defeat that public opinion cannot correct is absolutely unacceptable.