Chapter 866

"This time, he's not fighting alone."

In the office of Arkham Sanatorium, 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 just being magnanimous and want 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 Gate Lan equipment, leveraging molten steel production to pressure Wakanda, or relying on Nick's equipment support, they're all temporary fixes." Stark sighed and said: "The conflict between ordinary people and mutants will never end. Even if the general public wants to end it, someone doesn't want it to end—and then it never will."

"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 the inherent flaw of humanity." Stark shook his head.

"Indeed, without the Red Gate Lan 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 hate mutants so much?"

"Of course, because they're uncontrollable."

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

Schiller nodded and said: "Correct. A mutant's sudden power surge causes harm, but think carefully—who exactly is harmed?"

"Who?" Strange looked at Schiller curiously. He sensed Schiller was about to offer another "brilliant 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 get hurt? The politician who arrives in luxury cars with a row of bodyguards—or the office worker rushing to catch the subway every day?"

"Definitely the latter," Strange answered without hesitation. He paused, then added: "Those rich bastards don't ride the subway."

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

"Another example: a mutant's power surge injures two people at once—one is Peter, still in his youth and not yet mutated into Spider-Man, and the other is Tony, equally young but already inheriting a massive fortune. Both suffer equally severe injuries. Who is affected more?"

"Definitely Peter," Tony crossed his arms. "His family's financial situation is barely above subsistence level. If Peter gets hurt, his uncle and aunt will be terrified—they'll have to leave someone at the hospital to stay with him."

"One of two breadwinners stops working—family income drops by half, but expenses surge several times over due to Peter's medical bills. As for me? Minor injuries aren't a problem. Even if I were disabled, I could build myself prosthetics."

"So we can conclude: the likelihood and severity of harm mutants inflict on the poor are far greater than on the rich."

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

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

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

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

Strange rubbed his chin: "From my experience working in the hospital, it's true. We often treat mutants injured by their own powers. Regular nurses or interns might complain the wounds look gruesome 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 our 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 so are many human injuries. If you've seen victims of severe car crashes, you know human trauma has no 'weirdest'—only 'weirder.' Nurses see it all the time."

"But the hospital I worked at was private. The director held shares—his income was tied to hospital revenue. When a mutant power surge causes mass casualties, the hospital gets flooded with patients, followed by reporters who love covering these stories."

"The director can't kick them out because of media pressure. But many of these patients can't afford the exorbitant private hospital fees. Worse, they occupy convalescent wards, blocking patients who had booked premium rooms. Those who book premium rooms are the truly wealthy. With fewer premium beds available, this quarter's financial report will look terrible…"

"In other words, 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 of mutants stems not from survival threats, but from losses to interests beyond survival."

"Mostly true," Stark said. "I've heard shareholders complain. Many have never even seen a mutant. They just hate mutants because they're forced to spend more on security to prevent potential catastrophic outbursts."

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

"But there's another, more typical kind: they mouth ideals, but their hearts are in business. From opposing mutants, they gain even greater profit."

"Some politicians exploit this stance to win votes. Some corporations take sides to please the majority of users. And these people, ironically, have far more influence than ordinary people—they shape the nation'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 same goes for those who designed this plan."

"They don't hate mutants and then block their inclusion in the Solar System Development Plan. They block mutants' inclusion to grab a bigger slice 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 reports on mutants, many get basic facts wrong. One newspaper even claimed mutants' X-gene was a Y-gene—and a crowd below cheered, saying Y-genes should be eradicated.

"In summary: since this group opposes 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-flopping depends only on how much money is involved."

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

Schiller shook his head: "That's one approach—but it's exhausting. I've tried it before. I told them I could permanently solve domestic tensions. They called me a radical leftist lunatic."

"I'm not doing that kind of thankless work again. Let's try another method." Schiller smiled and said:

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