Chapter 895: Starry Splendor (38)

Inside the Avengers base, Ma Te looked at Spider-Man's face and said, "You want to investigate this incident where the military created monsters? You think it might be related to the assassination of Nick Fury?"

Peter nodded and said, "We must uncover all the threads behind this to understand what they are actually doing, what else they intend to do, and only then can we have a way to respond."

"For this, I definitely can't do it alone. No matter what, I only have two hands. While saving people, I can't deal with monsters; if I deal with monsters, I can't investigate the truth. I can't split myself into three or four people, and even if I could, it wouldn't be as good as our teamwork. After all, we each have our own strengths..."

"I have to say, Peter, you've grown a lot in these past few years. It truly surprises me that you can say these words." Ma Te stood up, began rummaging through his backpack, and then said, "Remember? Before, you always felt that your own two fists were enough to defeat all enemies and save New York."

"I still want to defeat all enemies and save New York, but I think the method can be changed." Peter placed both hands on the table, his expression becoming uncharacteristically serious.

College life and various magnificent experiences had also given him some mature traits, like a sapling that had already grown a woody structure, destined to grow into a sturdy and strong tree in the days to come.

He spoke up: "A long time ago, I didn't understand a remark Dr. Schiller made to me. He said that no person is an island; they must leave traces behind as they live in this society..."

"The traces of all people will form a great web. On this web, no person and no thing can escape, and these are the most important things for saving this world, besides fists."

"At that time, I had a premonition that when I used this skill, the situation would be dire to the extreme—perhaps just like now."

Peter's fists gradually tightened. He said, "The Director of S. H. I. E. L. D. has sacrificed himself, Level 8 Agent Coulson has sacrificed himself, Hill is still being hunted, the military is pressing step by step, others are dealing with even greater waves, and I..."

"I must come up with a way to resolve the hidden guns aimed at us from the root. I cannot allow them to fire cold shots from the shadows while everyone else is facing the sun, preparing to step into the sea of stars."

"Perhaps, all along, I haven't been able to be of much help, but I must protect these people who lead humanity forward. Even if my talent and power are still insufficient to leave a name in human history, humanity must seize this opportunity to take a step further in this era..."

Ma Te walked over and patted Peter on the shoulder, feeling his body trembling. He said, "Don't feel troubled, Peter. You are not fighting alone."

"Schiller was right. A great web woven from interpersonal relationships will be the key to your victory."

After saying this, Ma Te put down his phone and said, "I have already sent messages to the other members of the Avengers I can contact. They will be here in a while. We need a war meeting to see what kind of conspiracy lies behind this."

Having said that, he lightly hammered the table and said, "No matter what kind of person Nick Fury was, he was the Director of S. H. I. E. L. D. and made indelible contributions to the Solar System Development and Construction Plan. He should not have died by a black gun from his own kind. If such a thing has already happened, then the person who did it must pay the price."

After a while, Vampire Hunter Eric, Eddie Brock, and Seeing Natasha all arrived at the Avengers base. Seeing Natasha pressed the earpiece in her ear and said, "Those mutants can't make it."

After sitting down, she took a deep breath and said, "I know you are all confused about what is going on. This has to start from a top-secret project, the Red Orchid Project..."

As the female agent spoke, everyone present learned about this top-secret project targeting mutants. Seeing Natasha continued, "Nick expressed extremely strong opposition and fell out with the military over it..."

"The intelligence I received is that the military's three launch plans all failed, causing extremely heavy losses. Because of Nick Fury's strong opposition beforehand, they felt it was S. H. I. E. L. D. playing tricks."

"So they killed Nick Fury? Are they crazy?" Ma Te asked. "They dared to take action without any evidence?!"

Seeing Natasha sighed and said, "The problem is that both Coulson and I feel this matter is very incredible. The military shouldn't be so impulsive to provoke such a large conflict; this has already touched the bottom line. But this, on the contrary, makes us feel that they likely possess evidence."

"You mean, it really could be Nick who did it?" Eddie looked at Seeing Natasha and asked. Seeing Natasha also looked at him. "You have to know, Nick's title as the King of Agents is not for nothing. Or, if I say Nick Fury, as the Director of S. H. I. E. L. D., has no unconventional methods, do you believe it?"

"But even if Nick sabotaged their launch plan, he is still righteous." Peter emphasized, "Any plan aimed at the extinction of any race is extremely evil."

Eddie's voice suddenly deepened. He said, "Whether he was the one who did it is not important. The key is that the military took action."

He said in a hoarse voice, "We cannot get stuck in the logical game of who took action first, but should focus on the fundamental purpose of them doing these things."

Eddie stood up, walked to the side of the whiteboard, and while writing, said, "They wanted to deal with mutants, so they came up with a Red Orchid Project. Then, they killed Nick, who wanted to hinder this project. So, there is a question: after they did all this, why did they still create that red monster?"

"He wanted to use that kind of monster to eliminate mutants." Ma Te spoke up, while Eddie shook his head and said, "No, they should be very clear that creating a monster that cannot fly and has no lethal means against groups is no way to kill all mutants."

"If we follow their logic, after clearing Nick, who hindered the Red Orchid Project, the next step should be to continue their plan, but they didn't do that."

"Look at what they have done: created a big monster through some unknown means, used certain agents to muddy the waters inside S. H. I. E. L. D., and there's also the Vampire Count Dracula who popped out of nowhere. Do these have anything to do with the Red Orchid Project?"

Peter narrowed his eyes and said, "That's right. Since Nick is already dead, they have no need to do these redundant things. Wouldn't it be enough to just continue the plan?"

"Unless..." Ma Te revealed a cold smile. He said, "They have no way to continue this plan anymore. The previous failure was already the limit of what they could accept."

After saying this, he looked at Seeing Natasha and said, "Do you have intelligence on the total investment in the Red Orchid Project?"

Seeing Natasha shook her head and said, "Five years ago, this project already entered S. H. I. E. L. D.'s files. At that time, we only knew the military had a top-secret project underway, but we didn't know who it was targeting, nor did we pay extra attention to this project."

"A project failure can never be without a price." Peter spoke up and said, "Rocket costs are not low, especially five years ago. The price to be paid for three consecutive rocket launch failures is likely unimaginable. And the measures they have taken now are to remedy this. So the question arises: why do they think continuing to target S. H. I. E. L. D. and mutants is a remedy for this project?"

"Because they can gain more benefits from this kind of behavior." Blade Warrior Eric spoke up and said, "Although I don't understand the situation of mutants, over these years, many people have raised funds under the guise of fighting vampires."

After thinking for a moment, Peter spoke up: "I think, behind this project, it is very likely that many anti-mutant organizations are supporting it. The military is just going with the flow. The project failed, and the pressure came onto them."

"So, they must come up with other methods to remedy it, to make those forces believe they can still go further on the road of exterminating mutants, so they can continue to obtain investment from those people."

"And this is the weakness we can exploit."

Peter looked at the words on the whiteboard. Suddenly, certain clues connected. A flash of inspiration hit his mind. He said, "As long as those forces see the hope of exterminating mutants, they will continue to invest..."

"Anti-mutant sentiment was originally a scam ring after ring." Eddie looked at the whiteboard and said, "One person raises a banner, stirs up public sentiment, makes them pay attention to this matter, and spend money for it. The person who raised the banner takes the money, finds another person, tells him to be anti-mutant, tells him that as long as you succeed, I will give you the money. Thus, another person also becomes an anti-mutantist..."

"He raises a banner, goes to stir up another group of people, obtains their money, takes the money, and goes to invest in other anti-mutant projects. They just go ring after ring like this, until they found the military."

"Is the military anti-mutant because they hate mutants? No, it's for the money of this group of investors ring after ring, for the benefits they can provide..."

"And the weakness of this scam lies in the fact that they must produce some results to launch a bigger scam. And the problem they are facing now is that no one has produced any results."

Ma Te snapped his fingers and said, "It's like, if you want to sell houses, you have to build a model unit. If you want to sell food, you have to print a menu first. Anti-mutant sentiment has been going on for so many years, yet mutants are still living openly in this world. There isn't even a model unit. What are they going to use to scam money?"

Peter's eyes turned, and he said, "The so-called Red Orchid Project is actually building a model unit. But why would they come up with such a plan? Isn't it very simple to build a model unit?"

Peter took a piece of paper, wrote a string of symbols on it, and then said, "This is what I invented, a serum that can eliminate all X-genes. As long as you give a mutant a shot, they are no longer a mutant. Wouldn't such a model unit work?"

The entire room was silent for a full two minutes. Seeing Natasha was the first to stand up, shook hands with Peter, and said, "Congratulations, leader of the global anti-mutantists, Peter Parker. You are the light of humanity."

Eddie took that piece of paper and said, "This is our most powerful weapon."

"Now, a certain famous laboratory that cannot reveal its name has developed a serum that can completely eliminate X-genes. In just two short seconds, a mutant will disappear from this world."

"If this news is released, what will those ordinary people whose emotions have been stirred up think?"

Ma Te continued his words: "They will definitely think, why doesn't the government produce it quickly, one shot per person, and then force all mutants in this world to inject this serum? It's best to give them ten shots each to ensure they will never turn back into mutants."

"When fanatical emotions are stirred up, those who once stirred up the emotions of ordinary people will also be kidnapped by this emotion. By then, whoever dares to question the authenticity of this serum, or proposes that it must be checked before use, will definitely be besieged by these fanatics."

"They can only go with the flow, continue to add weight to this emotion, and attempt to harvest more wealth from those ordinary people..."

"The problem is, can Congress and the military do this? Not to mention whether they can force all mutants to take the shot, can they really produce these serums? Or rather, will they think doing so is worth it?"

"Of course not." Seeing Natasha spoke up: "This is a lose-lose for both sides. Congress is for stability, and the military is for making money. Doing this completely does not conform to the fundamental interests of both of them."

"When both of them are put on the war chariot, do you think their butcher knives will be swung at the mutants who have Professor X and Magneto, or at those scammers who have nothing but rings after rings?" Eddie asked.

Peter looked at the paper and said, "But the problem now is that S. H. I. E. L. D. cannot provide help, the military is pressing step by step, and forces like Hydra also want to fish in troubled waters. If we are constantly held back, we won't be able to realize this plan. We have to find some help..."

He paused, and then said: "I have an idea."