Chapter 864

This time, he's not fighting alone.

In the Arkham Sanatorium's office, Schiller smiled and said: "Many secret organizations will leak information about this plan to him and offer trivial suggestions."

"What puzzles me is, what's in it for you? Don't tell me you're acting out of pure kindness, just wanting to help mutants?" Strange sipped water and said: "I have no special feelings toward mutants—not hatred, but no fondness either. Back in middle school, I missed an exam because a mutant classmate's power suddenly erupted. They're a nuisance."

"I think whether it's using Asgard to clear Red Lantern equipment, leveraging molten steel production to pressure Wakanda, or relying on Nick's equipment support, all are temporary fixes," Stark sighed. "The conflict between ordinary people and mutants will never end. Even if the public wants to end it, someone won't let it end—it'll never end."

"That's just how humans are: they always pick the weakest among their own to bully. The rich bully the poorest among them; the poor bully those even poorer—even beggars bully those weaker and skinnier than themselves. That's human nature." Stark shook his head.

"Indeed, without the Red Lantern plan, they'll have Plan B and Plan C. As long as mutants aren't eradicated, the conflict won't stop…"

Schiller leaned back in his chair and looked at Stark. "Why do ordinary people so strongly reject mutants?"

"Of course, because they're uncontrollable."

"On the surface, yes—but it's far more than that."

Schiller nodded. "Correct. A mutant's sudden power surge can cause harm, but think carefully—who exactly is harmed?"

"Who?" Strange looked at Schiller curiously. He sensed Schiller had another "insight," and he was very interested.

Schiller gave a mocking smile. "Suppose one day, a mutant's power erupts on the subway. Who's more likely to be hurt? The politician who arrives in luxury cars with a row of bodyguards—or the office worker rushing to catch the subway every day?"

"The latter, of course," Strange answered without hesitation. He paused, then added: "Those rich folks don't ride the subway."

As he spoke, he kept glancing at Stark, who awkwardly pursed his lips. "I'm not comfortable with physical contact, and subway signals are terrible—they disrupt my work…"

"Another example: a mutant's sudden surge injures two people at once—one is Peter, still a teenager before his spider mutation, and the other is Tony, equally young but already inheriting a vast fortune. Both suffer equally severe injuries. Who is affected more?"

"Definitely Peter," Tony crossed his arms. "His family's financial situation is barely above average—barely scraping by. If Peter gets hurt, his uncle and aunt will be terrified. At least one of them will have to stay at the hospital with him."

"With one breadwinner out of work, household income drops by half, but expenses surge several times over—just to treat Peter's injuries. As for me? A normal injury isn't a problem. Even if I were disabled, I could build myself prosthetics."

"So we can summarize: the likelihood and severity of harm caused by mutants are far greater for the poor than for the rich."

"Because there are vastly more poor people than rich ones," Strange tapped his armrest. "How many people like him exist worldwide? Most are like my old family—getting by okay, but with almost no savings…"

"Right. Right now, in this country, a tiny elite minority decides the fate of the vast majority, correct?"

Stark and Strange exchanged a glance and nodded. Schiller continued: "These elites know well that mutants pose little real threat to them. Their chance of encountering a mutant surge is far lower than ordinary people's. Even if injured, they can afford the losses."

"But have you noticed? This group's anti-mutant sentiment is far stronger than the general public's."

Strange rubbed his chin. "From my hospital experience, it seems true. We often treat mutants injured by mutations. Ordinary nurses or interns might complain the wounds look scary or are too complex to handle, adding to their workload."

"But our vice director constantly curses, saying these mutants should just die and never show up in his hospital."

"Why do you think that is?" Schiller asked.

Strange frowned, thought for a moment, then said: "Mutant wounds are hard to treat, sure—but human injuries from accidents are just as bad. If you've seen victims of severe car crashes, you know: human trauma has no 'most bizarre,' only 'more bizarre.' Nurses see it all the time."

"But the hospital I worked at was private—the director held shares, and his income was tied to hospital revenue. When a mutant power surge causes mass casualties, the hospital fills up with victims, and reporters swarm in—they love covering these stories."

"The director can't kick them out because of media pressure. But most of these patients can't afford the hospital's exorbitant fees. Worse, they occupy recovery wards, blocking patients who had booked premium rooms. Those booked rooms? Only the truly wealthy. With fewer premium room bookings, this quarter's financial report will look terrible…"

"So, the anger and hatred of the masses toward mutants mostly stem from threats to survival—missed work or school, increased workload, even death in accidents. But for most elites, their hatred toward mutants stems from losses to interests beyond survival."

"Mostly true," Stark said. "I've heard shareholders complain—they've never even met a mutant. They just hate mutants because they have to spend more on security to prevent potential uncontrollable incidents."

"True," Schiller propped his elbows on the armrests. "But not everyone deserves to lose. They work hard to run their businesses; it's natural to resent losses."

"But there's another, more typical kind: they preach ideology, but their hearts are in business—they gain more profit from opposing mutants."

"Some politicians use this stance to win votes; some corporations take sides to please the majority. And these people? They have far more influence than ordinary folks—they decide the country's future."

"In other words, most people don't oppose mutants out of sympathy for the masses—they oppose them because it's profitable. The planners of this scheme are the same."

"They don't hate mutants and then block their inclusion in the Solar System Development Plan. They block mutants' inclusion to grab a bigger share of the pie—and then they hate mutants."

Schiller glanced at Stark and Strange; both nodded. They agreed Schiller made sense.

In fact, many of the loudest anti-mutant voices have never even seen a mutant.

Scanning media coverage of anti-mutant sentiment, many outlets get basic facts wrong—even one newspaper mistakenly called the mutant X-gene the Y-gene, and a crowd below cheered, saying the Y-gene should be eradicated.

"In summary: since these people oppose mutants for profit, they can just as easily worship them as gods—if the profit is high enough. Black is them; white is them. Their flip-flops depend only on how much money is involved."

Stark narrowed his eyes at Schiller. "You want to bribe them? But right now, the biggest profit they gain from opposing mutants is shifting domestic tensions. If you want them to reverse course, you'll need to offer something even bigger."

Schiller shook his head. "That's one method—but it's exhausting. I've tried it before. I told them I could permanently solve domestic tensions. They called me a far-left lunatic."

"I'm not doing that kind of thankless work again. Let's try another approach," Schiller smiled.

"We can't increase the profit they gain from praising mutants—but we can increase the cost they suffer from rejecting them."