Chapter 5749: Chapter 4772: X Royal Family: Rebirth (12)

Strange quickly brought the medicine over. There really weren’t broad-spectrum antibiotics, but there were some fever reducers. After Stark took them, there was no obvious change in the short term, so they could only stay and watch over him.

"Which one of us goes?" Shiller asked. "We really should send at least one person, or it’ll look way too cold-blooded."

"I’m not good at fighting in the cosmos," Matt was very self-aware. He said, "I can sense a lot of things, but moving around isn’t very convenient. You guys should go, I’ll stay here and watch him."

"Me?" Steve said. But after thinking for a moment, he added, "I don’t really have any large-scale means of destruction either. It’s better if the two of you go."

"But we’re Doctors," Strange said.

"We only need one Doctor here." Shiller stood up and said, "Charles and Tony both need you to take care of them, so I’ll go."

The moment he said he would go, the others all felt uneasy, but what they were worried about wasn’t his safety, it was the safety of the front line.

"I remember you’re not very good at fighting," Matt said. "Why don’t we go back to the Central Universe and call a few more people?"

"No need. Ordinary people feel uncomfortable staying on this island, and the Mutants are too busy. Besides, who said I’m going to the front line?"

"The front line is in crisis. If you’re not going to the front line, where are you going?"

Shiller smiled and said, "Precisely because the front line is in crisis, going to the front line is useless. All right, you take good care of him here, I’ll be back in a bit."

Shiller left the room and did not head straight for the front line, he didn’t even leave Clarkia Island. He went directly to the Clarkian Totem and found the Holy Five People Group, who were incubating a body.

The Holy Five People Group were the backbone of the Revival plan. They were five Mutants capable of incubating bodies, and they had always stayed near the Totem under strict protection. The Mutants highly revered them, believing them to be Saints who guarded the Mutants’ future.

However, Shiller wasn’t here for them either. Just now, the revived Magneto had already walked out from the Totem.

He took the clothes from a nearby Mutant and put them on. Shiller looked at him and said, "I’m going to the Shi’ar Empire. I might be able to solve the Mutants’ problem. Want to come?"

"Of course. I won’t let that group who hurt Charles get away." Magneto narrowed his eyes slightly. "Perhaps you’re right. Mutants have never been too tough—we’re not tough enough. We worry too much and always end up as the victims."

The trip to the Shi’ar Empire was actually very simple; they could go straight through the Sun Transmission Gate, otherwise it really would take some effort. Shiller once again put on Mephisto’s skin and rendezvoused with Magneto on the Ferocious Feather Star.

"You go find Scott," Shiller said. "Calm him down or stall him. I’m going to have a talk with Gabriel."

Magneto said nothing and did as told. His relationship with Scott was pretty good now, and Scott would listen to him, so holding him back wasn’t difficult. Still, he was a bit puzzled about what Shiller wanted to talk to Gabriel about.

Though, thinking about it, it made sense. If Gabriel hadn’t ordered the hit on Professor X, then the one who did it might also be Gabriel’s enemy. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, so working with him wasn’t unacceptable.

"All right, you’ve cooled down by now, haven’t you?" Shiller walked in from outside the door and said, "I know that even if you didn’t order it, you still allowed it to happen."

"I have no need to do that," Gabriel turned around.

"That spiel you fed Scott doesn’t work on me. If you were really that kind of completely emotionless, purely profit-driven person, you wouldn’t have had to wait for my help to successfully usurp the throne."

Gabriel’s eyes widened slightly. He stared at Shiller and said, "You look a bit different, glib-tongued Devil."

"My friend is sick. I’m not in a great mood and I don’t have time to waste words with you. If you don’t agree, I’ll put Scott on the throne. Don’t you think that’s a solution that’s good for everyone?"

Gabriel narrowed his eyes. Shiller continued, "Professor X is worried Cyclops will be controlled by you. But if he himself becomes Emperor, there’s no such risk. He’s your older brother and feels deeply guilty toward you. After he takes the throne, he’ll definitely do his best to make it up to you, so you don’t have to worry. For the Mutants, he’s a perfectly acceptable ally. And his own abilities are enough to handle that position. What do you think?"

"Impossible," Gabriel said in a low voice. "The throne can only be mine."

"Since that’s what you think, then behave yourself. Otherwise, the way I pushed you onto the throne is the same way I can push someone else up. Your Majesty the Emperor, every Tyrant’s fate is to be overthrown in exactly the same way."

Gabriel clenched his teeth. He seemed to want to say something, but then realized Shiller was right. He simply couldn’t suppress the domestic rebellion. Those nobles had already had tendencies toward independence back in D’Ken’s time, and now they were acting without any scruples.

"Can you help me deal with them?" he asked.

"No." Shiller answered very bluntly. "But the Mutants will want revenge. You can cooperate with them."

"Then what are you here for?"

"To talk you into something else." Shiller paused for a moment, then said, "What’s your take on the forces stationed in the Solar System?"

"News of the rebellion spread long ago. I can’t control them at all. If you’re hoping I can make them withdraw, then you’re overthinking it."

"I wasn’t counting on that," Shiller said. "Why would you think those soldiers still have a chance to come back?"

Gabriel frowned at him, and Shiller went on, "Tell me the weapons and the soldiers’ weaknesses, I’ll report them to the Earth Government, and then I’ll have them swallow those soldiers whole. Just like I told you before about The Avengers’ weaknesses."

"Why do you think I’d do that?"

"I told you, you have no choice."

Gabriel looked into Shiller’s eyes and felt an inexplicable fear. He didn’t know where it came from; it just suddenly sprouted in his heart. This Devil had stopped hiding his cruel, evil face.

You don’t worry about anyone in the Shi’ar Empire at all. You can start a war without a burden, and slaughter is practically Instinct to you. Because at your core, you hate them far more than you hate any member of the Human race. You even think that your time on Earth was the best period of your life.

Gabriel had never expected him to call this out so directly. His hand went to the hilt of his sword in an instant, gripping it tight. He took a deep breath and said, "They dragged me off Earth and killed my mother. I’ve only ever had one goal, and that’s to destroy the Shi’ar Empire."

"All that talk from Professor X about Cyclops chasing power is totally groundless. I didn’t offer any Explanation because I wanted to watch the misunderstanding deepen. I admit it, I wanted to see that hypocrite who abandoned me suffer." Gabriel finally revealed his true purpose. "Being betrayed by his favorite student must hurt like hell, right? But when he abandoned me back then, he should have seen this day coming. This is his payback."

"Right now you only need to think about one question." Shiller completely ignored that little speech. "Do you still want to go back to Clarkia or not?"

Gabriel’s hand clenched again, giving away his inner anxiety and panic. His Adam’s apple bobbed hard as he said, "Why would I go back to a place full of my enemies?"

"Because that’s the Mutants’ home. They don’t want to abandon any Mutant, including you. And that moved you, didn’t it?"

"That ’no one gets left behind’ crap is all lies!" Gabriel finally lost it. "They’re all complete hypocrites. On the surface they treat every teammate and student equally, yet I’m the only one they threw away. They even erased the memories of the people closest to me. That’s absolutely unforgivable!"

"Fine. Then think about what you’re going to do with Cyclops. He’s definitely going to try to talk you into coming back. He’s not going to give up."

"I’m not going with him."

"Then you’re going to break his heart. You know he’s innocent. He never actually hurt you, and he’s the person closest to you."

Gabriel turned away, not wanting anyone to see his expression. He fell silent and didn’t respond again, but that was an attitude in itself. After a long while, he said, "The combat unit’s files are in the personal guard’s headquarters. If you want them, go get them yourself."

"I don’t want the regular files. I only want the weaknesses that can kill in one blow."

"There’s no such thing!" Gabriel shouted.

"You definitely have them," Shiller said. "Otherwise you’d be even more eager than I am to wipe them out. Because once they come back through the Teleportation Portal, they’ll be the greatest Strength threatening your rule. You must have a weakness that completely counters them."

Gabriel pressed his lips together, took a deep breath, and said, "The Energy Crystal can forcibly absorb the consciousness of marked soldiers. It was originally meant for Revival, but it can be used for other things."

Once he had that information, Shiller didn’t linger. He still went to the personal guard’s headquarters and grabbed the files—those were for mopping up the battlefield. After all, you need a list when you’re picking up spoils.

When he got back to Earth, he brought all the intel and files to Captain America. Captain America stared at him in surprise for a good while, but chalked it up to Shiller using his own intelligence System to dig into that unit. Still, he took the material and immediately went off to draw up a plan.

Just as Shiller returned, Matt told him that, sure enough, the servers hosting Clarkia Island’s virtual assets had been attacked. But they seemed to have a way to protect the servers that no hacker could break. It wouldn’t be long before the sanctions started.

"They don’t have much time left to bargain," Shiller shook his head. "The Avengers have already got their hands on the Shi’ar Empire army’s fatal weakness. The war will be over soon."

"Why do I get the feeling this wasn’t your original plan?" Steve called back. "You must have had a lot of other goals, right?"

"Not that many." Shiller shook his head. "Originally, I wanted to use this unit and the relationship between Gabriel, Scott, and Professor X to trigger a Split in the Shi’ar Empire, and keep the Sun Transmission Gate in the Sun active long-term. Then I’d take another living island with the same origin as Clarkia and remodel it into a moving territory that could travel between the two nations. That would’ve solved the Mutant problem perfectly. That’s all."

"And now?"

"Now the Shi’ar Empire probably won’t break apart that badly, though it won’t be in great shape either. As for the living island, they can find it themselves. All I want now is to get this over with as soon as possible and take Tony home."

"You don’t need to worry that much," Matt said. "Tony’s fever has gone down, and he’s a lot better. The Life Support System in the Battle Armor keeps him from being affected by the island. Besides, from what I can see, he hasn’t had his fill of fun yet."

Shiller let out a long sigh. "If I let him do whatever he wants, he’ll run himself into the ground. But you all just got here; of course you’re not satisfied yet."

"Everything needs a beginning and an end," Steve said. "We still want to watch Clarkia grow. And later, Bucky and Natasha might have some free time too. After seeing the scenery photos we sent, they want to come over and hang out."

Shiller still seemed intent on sticking to his position. Only Strange got up from the couch and said, "Instead of worrying about them, worry about yourself. If Tony has to rest, all his work will end up on your desk. There’s a ton to do to build Clarkia Island—oversight on agriculture and developing industry. You sure you can handle all that?"

"...Shiller, in charge of developing industry? No, no, no!" Stark bolted upright from his sickbed. "He’d better not touch anything! I have zero interest in spending the rest of my life stuck on this island!"

Everyone burst out laughing.