Chapter 5741: Chapter 4764: X Royal Family: Rebirth (4)

Shiller was still the earliest riser. Last night’s gale and heavy rain not only didn’t disturb his sleep but instead granted him a dreamless night. He awoke fresh and alert. As he opened the window, only the light drizzle remained, with raindrops trickling down the veins of broad-leaved plants. A rich aroma of coffee wafted in from outside the door.

"Good morning, Mr. Coffee," Stark yawned, casually grabbing a blanket from the sofa to drape over himself. He settled into the sofa, preparing to doze back off. But soon, Matt’s video call interrupted him.

"Quick, look, Little Jack, do you see Uncle Steve?" Matt came over holding his phone, capturing Steve in the frame. Steve smiled and greeted the person on the other end, but quickly realized, "Where’s this signal coming from?"

"There’s no signal; this is Battleworld communication. Erica took the kids to Battleworld, and their counterparts are amusing him there."

"How could I forget," Steve said, tapping his forehead. "Little Thomas must have been taken to Battleworld too. Thankfully, he went to see Scarlet Witch; otherwise, I’d be worried about the safety of other superheroes."

"Has his mutant ability stabilized?" Matt asked curiously.

"Not entirely stable; the dark matter data around him keeps changing. It could probably drive a dozen scientists nuts."

"Scientists aren’t that fragile," Stark muttered. He dozed for a moment before getting up to make coffee. Steve said, "I’ve made yours. Just..."

"I can’t get used to your coffee," Stark began to say, just as Steve pressed down on his shoulder. The nano armor swiftly covered half his body. Stark tried to move but didn’t move; tried again, still didn’t move.

"Please," Stark said. "Don’t hassle me first thing in the morning. Your coffee is the best, okay?"

Steve finally let go of him. Matt laughed uncontrollably. He shook his head, folded his arms next to Steve, and whispered, "When will he ever stop provoking you?"

"He’ll try to provoke anyone," Steve said. "He’s like this every morning."

Steve was right. Because next to arrive in the living room was Strange. When the two of them got together, it’s more than a fiery confrontation; in the time it takes to make a coffee, they’ve argued over 80 times. The debate between technology and magic starts with who grabs the frothing ball first.

Peter, on the other hand, was the one who struggled the most to get up. Had he not promised to check out the fields last night, he’d surely still be asleep now. He emerged with a mess of hair that looked like a bee’s nest, wearing a form-fitting burgundy turtleneck sweater, with big black-framed glasses—akin to a worn-out college student.

He drifted through the living room like a wandering soul, collapsed into the beanbag sofa, and fell asleep immediately, until he detected the rich smell of pizza. Stark was dangling a stringy piece of pizza over his nose.

Without opening his eyes, Peter opened his mouth to take a bite. Stark didn’t have any intention of teasing him and directly stuffed the pizza into his mouth. Peter, cheeks puffed, curled up on the sofa like a hamster, munching while sleeping.

"I brought the map of Clarkia," Steve, though not as early a riser as Shiller, seemed the busiest with his tasks. He said, "The mutant skilled in translation told me that some areas of Clarkia remain undeveloped and are somewhat dangerous. But today, we’re mainly visiting developed areas."

"This plain here is what Shiller mentioned, a good spot for farming. The map shows it’s a basin and should be suitable for planting. As for the dock that Tony mentioned, it seems they built it solely for aesthetic purposes. Though I don’t see what’s aesthetically pleasing about it."

"What about that lake?" Matt asked, leaning closer. "I’m really curious about what creatures are in it. I’ve got to fish something out."

After finishing their quick breakfast, each sipping a somewhat palatable cup of coffee, they wore raincoats and boots, grabbed their tools, and set off toward their destination.

"Professor! Professor! Professor Xavier!" Cyclops stood in front of a dilapidated building, calling inside, "Please come out, Professor. I’m begging you, I know you’re in there. We need to talk."

After a long while, a helmeted figure appeared around the corner. Cyclops took a deep breath and said, "Professor, I really don’t want to help Gabriel seize power. My starting point has always been the mutants. I hope you can believe that."

Cyclops’ voice was hoarse, cracked with emotion. His breathing was labored, clearly overwhelmed but trying hard to hold it together. Professor X said, "I believe this is how you feel. But, are you sure about your choice of ally? Scott, you’re always a smart student. Can Gabriel really easily let go of his hatred for us and become your close brother again? You should be able to imagine that, right?"

"I can, Professor, I can." Cyclops finally broke down and cried, "But he’s also a victim. He was abducted to the Shi’ar Empire, where he endured inhuman tortures. Just barely returning to Earth, he was abandoned by us. I really can’t help but feel guilty towards him..."

"I can relieve you of your guilt," X Professor said, "just like before. Come, child. Come home with me..."

Cyclops staggered towards Professor X, in his moment of breakdown, he just wanted to run to the arms of his most familiar mentor. But just then, a scorching beam of laser swept across, instantly, several ships from the Shi’ar Imperial Royal Guard broke through the glass and flew into the building. Main guns cross-fired, nearly obliterating everything here.

Cyclops was incredulous as he watched Professor X’s chest being pierced through. He finally completely broke down, letting out an anguished scream: "No!!!!!!"

"No, Peter, don’t do that." Shiller stopped Peter, who was trying to pick up the plants lying on the ground. He said, "If we’re going to till the soil later, just turn these things on the ground into it. This can make the soil more nutritious."

Peter nodded. He looked around, and actually, this was quite a vast plain, almost stretching beyond the horizon. But in fact, when they came down earlier, they had walked down the mountain path for quite a while, proving that this was indeed a basin.

For ordinary farming, a basin has pros and cons. However, for mutants, terrain doesn’t really matter; it doesn’t even have to be flat land. But a plain certainly saves some effort.

"Let me teach you how to plant potatoes, Peter." Shiller said enthusiastically, "Do you know how to plant potatoes?"

"Uh, bury a potato?" Peter tried to imagine but was evidently lacking. He said, "My imagination for all planting sectors mostly stops at digging a hole, putting seeds in, and watering them."

"Actually, you’re not wrong." Shiller said, "That’s how most of the process is. But the process of clearing the land and seedling cultivation is a bit different. Potato seedlings are grown using tubers. First, we need to cut the potato..."

Shiller genuinely started explaining, and Peter listened quite attentively. After talking for a while, Shiller paused and looked at Peter, saying, "Don’t you find it boring? After all, this knowledge generally isn’t useful."

"Who says?" Peter said, "Doctor, you simply can’t imagine that one of my lifetime goals is to eat a plate of Creational Fries. Creational Fries means that even the potato was grown by myself. The whole plate of fries is entirely my own labor’s result."

Shiller laughed, "That’s fantastic. Then I should really want to eat a piece of Creational Grilled Fish."

"We’ll go fishing later." Peter said, "Although Matt already went, he should still be baiting the spot. We’ll go over when the fish school starts to float."

"He’s going to blame you for catching ready fish again." Shiller pouted, "Last time, he baited there for over two hours without catching a single fish. I caught one next to him, and he blamed me for stealing his fish."

"And later, did he catch anything?"

"Of course not a single fish, or I wouldn’t be talking about it." Shiller shook his head and said, "He even snatched my fish, insisting on giving Erica an explanation."

The two started cutting potatoes with a laugh; don’t ask where the potatoes came from. There is an entire seed bank in the gray mist, all edible fruits. Honestly, there’s so much stored food that it’s okay to take some out to grow.

Halfway through the work, Shiller took out an apple and handed it to Peter. Peter didn’t think much of it and took it to take a bite. It wasn’t until he finished eating half that he asked, "Where did the apple come from?"

He looked around, didn’t find any apple trees, and then looked at the apple in his hand—looks like an apple, tastes like an apple, seems to be an apple. Where did this come from?

"I brought it." Shiller said, "Just don’t tell others and secretly eat it, otherwise it would seem like we’re showing off in front of the mutants. They’re having a tough time; we can’t flaunt in this way."

"Can’t we share some with them?" Peter asked, "Of course, I know you must have brought quite a lot, definitely enough to eat."

"If we share with them, they’ll just eat it." Shiller said irritably, "I really don’t know what these people are thinking, occupying such a large island for so long without farming. Do they plan to sit around and eat the mountain empty? Then why do they need this island?"

Peter was stunned for a moment, then said, "Yeah, if they’re eating cold-chain transported fast food, they can eat it anywhere. They can rent a building too. Having a fixed territory is surely for pioneering agriculture and industry development, right?"

"They still have so much to learn." Shiller shook his head and said, "Let’s hope Charles and Erik can teach them something."

Sebastian was having a headache in the laboratory in the Central Royal Court. The two major leaders of the mutants had not returned, and there were many troublesome issues with building the dock. No one could make a decision, and he dared not decide on his own. The longer it dragged on, the less hope there was, and the money within reach seemed like it was about to fly away, making him anxious.

At this moment, he heard a noise at the door. Sebastian quickly went over because it sounded somewhat like Magneto’s voice. As he opened the door, there stood Magneto outside. But it was an all-black version of Magneto.

"How come..." Sebastian scrutinized him, "I mean, sometimes going back to the classic style isn’t bad."

"Mm." Erik gave a nasal response. He didn’t like Sebastian at all; in the central cosmos, this guy’s Hellfire Club made a lot of noise but did little during the pioneering process. It took some effort to clean up after them.

Sebastian was completely a fence-sitter and a villain, disregarding everything for profit, contrary to most idealists. Many mutants didn’t like him. But he also had self-awareness; he wouldn’t mingle with those who disliked him.

Erik sat down and removed his helmet. Although Sebastian was not looking in that direction, a glance out of the corner of his eye stunned him—how come this Magneto is so young?????