Greenwich Village on New York City's West Side, formed around 1910.

There are many writers, artists and so-called idealists living here, and there are colleges and universities nearby, and the young and new students of the university often like to gather here.

Most of them behave in a perverse manner, as if deliberately revealing an attitude that is out of step with the world, representing another way of life, an American counterculture.

Charles was initially reluctant to rent a house, always fearing that the "musicians", "painters" or hippie-like crowds on the streets would be too noisy, but because of the easy proximity to NYU and Raven's love of the atmosphere, he eventually settled in.

Every day from his home to school, Charles walks through the adjacent Blake Street, which is typical of Greenwich, England.

Three-storey Victorian brownstone townhouses with French Baroque architecture and duplex roofs.

Charles had considered the Blake Street house earlier, but it was too big for both him and Raven.

It was already a little chilly in the autumn, and Charles Xavier, wearing a double-breasted gray stand-up collar trench coat with his hands in his pockets, strolled past one of the largest villas on the street, where two strange men in brown suit jackets were looking around at the door.

I don't know why, their temperament and movements are like those of a professor who teaches Eastern philosophy in school, and one of them, a short, yellow-skinned old man with a hand behind his back, strokes his beard from time to time and nods frequently.

Charles shrugged his shoulders, it was normal to see how strangely dressed or behaved strangely.

He took one last look at another, younger white man, holding a compass-shaped brass metal plate in his hand, circling around 177 Blake Street.

Charles didn't pay any attention and walked towards the school at a faster pace, and today he planned to communicate with his colleague Mr. Eric Lansall about Raven being taken to his house to "sit as a guest".

.........

"Master Wang... This one, the location of the house is good, and the area is large and small are very suitable. ”

The tall, thin white man who looked to be about forty years old was fiddling with a brass plate full of tiny square words, pinching his fingers and muttering a few words rather nondescriptly, happily speaking in a Chinese-language with a serious accent and wrong sentences.

With his right hand stroking his short gray beard and his left hand behind his back, his index finger and little finger bent, he also pinched a strange handprint, and looked up at this three-story villa with a duplex attic roof.

With his stomach held up, he spoke in a more eccentric and crappy English accent:

"It's not bad, it's just a tight fit, Mark, your knowledge is still not at home, and you have been using feng shui for so long, but it is rare for a Westerner like you to learn this level."

Master Wang's English has no other advantages except for self-confidence, but he speaks coherently and fluently, but it is unknown how much Master Mark understands next to him.

The two seem to be practicing their spoken English on purpose, one speaks Huaxia and the other speaks English, but they can really understand each other like this.

"The house looks vacant, go knock on the door to see if there's any, who the owner is, this position has to be taken down."

Master Wang finally gave a few instructions, and then walked around with a figure-eight step, and he raised his arm uncomfortably, feeling that the kind of clothes on his body were still not pleasant, and they were not as comfortable as the long gowns and robes.

Looking at the busy traffic and the urban environment of the United States, the round eyes look both complicated and helpless, but also with unconcealed curiosity.

After chatting for a moment with a lady in the uniform of a real estate administrator at the door of No. 177, Master Mark strode over to Master Wang, who was inquiring about a price at a hot dog stand on the side of the road with his hands behind his back, and stumbled:

"Q, it's clear, this property belongs to, Horlite Group."

.........................

The Empire State Building a few miles away.

Located at 350 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, the 381-meter-tall, 102-story skyscraper has been the world's tallest building since its completion in April 1931.

After the completion of the Empire State Building, the Howlite Group occupied all floors of space on the 66th floor and above, and used it as the headquarters of the giant group with power throughout the United States and Europe.

New York's working elite and urban beauties who hear someone talk about working at the Empire State Building will ask the same question: Are you above the 66th floor?

The building has 85 floors, over 200,000 square metres of lettable office space, 73 lifts, and on the 86th floor, Oxlett Group has an indoor and outdoor observation deck that can be visited by the public at regular intervals.

Part of the remaining sixteen floors is the Art Deco Tower, and the hundredth floor at the top is an empty dark gold long-table conference room, where the ceiling is nearly nine meters high, and the space of thousands of square meters is empty, except for a blue-black quaint rectangular stone table.

Except for the head of the Howlett family, no one can open and use this room, and the high-ranking members of the group may only have the opportunity to enter two or three times in their lives.

James Howlett held a rare all-hands meeting today to introduce a new executive to the heads of various departments and directors in this solemn conference room.

A group leader in the Western capital world who can subvert a field with a casual stomping of his feet, except for being surprised by the lady introduced by Mr. Howlett himself, is exceptionally young and beautiful.

There were even a few senior gentlemen who couldn't help but wipe their glasses and stare at this Mr. James II, who was as young and handsome as he was when he met more than ten years ago, without the slightest trace of time.

“...... Therefore, Miss Frost's Special Talent Department is not related to the specific business of any of the Group's commercial departments, but any help and requests from this department must be coordinated with the highest priority......"

After the meeting, the high-level executives who walked out of the giant bronze door couldn't help but exchange glances, muttering whether Mr. Howlett was the same person back then.

Mr. Jayne Gatsby is old, rarely involved in the affairs of the group, and retired completely after organizing a large overseas job some time ago, leaving only Mr. Foss, who has the closest relationship with the head of the family, but there is no strangeness on his ancient face.

"What a pomp and circumstance you've got here...... Think of my father's many years of money and status, although he had a small fortune and always boasted that he was already a high-class person, but he never had the opportunity to touch even the most marginal gentleman on this stone table in his life. ”

Emma was wearing a white lady's suit, with broad shoulders and a thin waist, white and tender jade feet and a pair of transparent high heels, and long golden hair, beautiful and heroic, full of oppression.

She looked at the special glass walls on three sides, and the scene of Manhattan and the whole of New York was at her feet, and the council room was like a heavenly palace, above the world.

"It's just a group force outside, mainly because it can save a lot of things."

Sitting on the high-backed stone chair at the top, James smiled and continued:

"Mutants are no longer a secret to the high-level of various countries, although the Hellfire Research Institute on the Soviet side has been completely destroyed, but Xiao's experimental methods have long been leaked out, as the probability of mutant gene dominance is increasing, plus it may be artificially catalyzed, what you have to do later will be very hard."

Emma walked up to James, leaned against the table, and said confidently:

"Relying on the group's deployment in various commercial, industrial, manufacturing and other fields, we only need to set up some special schools and hospitals and other basic links, and we can collect a lot of information about mutants and guide them, but-"

She paused for a moment and smiled.

"It's just that I'm worried that Professor Xavier's S.H.I.E.L.D. mutant force research department will conflict with us."

"There will be more and more mutants, and there are even experimental means to speed up this process, and if the United States goes on to co-opt powerful mutants as extraordinary combat power, it is not a thing to worry about."

"The terrible thing is to use these magical beings with broken scientific understanding as slice research, objectify, demonize mutants, and even set off racial hatred and extinction one day."

James's face was calm and he couldn't see any emotion, but the brilliance in his eyes was extremely dangerous.

"Okay, you're officially going to work from today, Miss Emma Frost, I'll go first, I may not be in New York recently, you don't have to worry."

James suddenly patted Emma's slender and tight thighs and stood up, Emma was stunned for a moment, and asked strangely:

"Where are you going? Are there any other things that you need to deal with personally? ”

"Wandering around, looking for some strange legends or bizarre events, I've been feeling like there's an invisible layer in the sky lately... Membrane? There should be more special powers in this world than we know now. ”

"Isn't Asa Zuo with you?"

"Forget it, he wants to accompany Raven more now, and my flight speed is very fast everywhere now, and sometimes I am troubled with him......"

Emma watched as James's body burst out with blood-red life energy, and he was like a humanoid high-energy aggregate, soaring into the air, soaring into the sky from the roof of the Empire State Building, bursting the sound barrier, and shooting away into the distance.

.........

In a first-year physics class at NYU.

The three rows of seats in front were packed with girls, and the competition was fierce, and the entire classroom was full.

To be sure, the vast majority of the students here are not supposed to take this physics class, or even physics students at all.

As the most junior teaching assistant in the university faculty system, Eric Lansell's popularity has surpassed that of most well-known professors and scholars.

Charles walked outside the lecture hall, leaned in through the doorway to take a look inside, and suddenly realized that he was not the most popular teacher among girls at the school.

“...... Okay, that's all for today's lesson, you can learn about the Grand Unification Theory at this stage, it's some kind of conjecture about 'truth', Tommy, go back and tell Garfield, don't think that there are too many people to listen to the lecture and I won't find out that he skipped class. ”

The female students in the front row were talking earnestly about Mr. Lanshel's outfit today, he took off his coat and wore a slim black shirt, with broad shoulders and a tight and straight back.

When the girls saw his gaze, they were bold enough not to dodge.

Finally, after a long time, the students in the classroom gradually dispersed, and Charles cleared his throat and walked in with a little trepidation.

"Hey! Eric, I could really feel the admiration in the classroom just now, I don't have to-"

Professor Xavier, who was greeting him, watched Eric Lanshel raise his palm to himself, almost thinking that he was going to control something, and then watched him lean over and take out a helmet with a somewhat dark red color from his bag, and put it on his head, only his face was exposed, and then the shark smiled:

"What's the matter, Charles."

Eric proudly tapped the quaint helmet that looked like metal, but with a bit of rock texture, as if he had been waiting for a long time to meet today.

Charles Xavier was strangely stunned, and then he realized a little, he reached out his telepathic power, but Eric's brain could no longer "enter" at will, as if the portal that could let his spirit enter was blocked by a boulder.

"It's ......"

Charles re-examined the helmet that Eric was wearing, and with the black handmade slim shirt on his body, it was a little handsome.

"Made of materials that can resist telepathy, Emma has tested, and her full mental piercing can only bring a slight tingling, although it can't be completely isolated, but at least it can weaken more than ninety percent."

Charles Xavier was even more surprised, that Miss Emma Frost's psychic power was different from his, extremely aggressive, very sharp.

Unlike herself, who is better at controlling and radiating a huge range of life groups, Emma's power is more targeted, and if even she can only be slightly affected through the helmet, then she will have no choice.

Eric took off his helmet freely, mostly jokingly, not really hostile and defensive to Charles, he combed his slightly messy hair, stroked the rough texture on it, and continued:

"The helmet is mainly made of lead, which is a magnet-repellent metal, so I can't control it, and it's a bit heavy, so I have to improve it later."

Eric weighed it in his hand a few times and put it back in his bag, he had always carried it with him since he got his hands on this custom-made mind-shielding helmet, and he had been waiting for this day for a long time.

"It's amazing..."

For the first time, Charles knew that lead could isolate telepathy, that everything was mutually reinforcing, and that there was no absolutely incomprehensible power.

Eric looked at Charles's complicated face, satisfied with the effect he wanted, he asked again about the purpose of this colleague, and saw that he cleared his throat and raised his chin slightly, like a parent of a student who is asking for guilt.

"I know Raven is a guest at your house, ahem, as his brother, I think I should talk to you."

Eric looked up and laughed, patted Charles on the shoulder, and pulled him out of the classroom as he strode out of the classroom, chatting casually as he walked on the campus road:

"Raven gets along very well with everyone, my dad likes her very much, if you have the chance, I really hope you will come too, and that shy young man, no matter what doubts you have, you can go and see for yourself."

Charles shook his head noncommittally, he was somewhat repulsed by this Mr. Howlett and his family's behavior, especially after joining S.H.I.E.L.D. as an advisor to the mutant force department, he saw a lot of inside information, and behind some big events, there was a faint shadow of the surname Howlett.

"Eric, I want you to understand that the world has its own order and rules, and people who try to put their will or desires above ......"

"It's not going to end well?"

Eric asked rhetorically in a calm tone, saying that the NYU campus has no walls or gates, and is connected to the surrounding neighborhoods, parks, and streets.

They walked to a casual neighborhood where chess enthusiasts often played against each other, looked at an empty table with broken chess pieces in a random place, and sat down like that.

Eric picked up a black king chess piece and looked at it, the cuffs of his shirt were pulled up to reveal a forearm, and there was a line of number tattoo 24005 on the inside, he pondered for a moment, raised his eyebrows and said:

"Daddy said to me a long time ago, accept yourself, but he never said accept the world, your talent is very high Charles, no matter what ideals you have, how you plan to put them into practice, who you cooperate with, it is your freedom, but-"

As he spoke, Eric had already set up the scattered chess pieces, the black pieces were on his side, opposite the white pieces in front of Charles, he leaned over and placed the last black soldier, raised his head, and said with a bit of slaughter.

"—out of our way."

It was just a moment of fierce spirit, and in the blink of an eye, Ariel finally said with a big grin:

"Daddy is really like he looks on weekdays, just a handsome and easy-going young man, but the madness in his heart has been covered by the boredom of the current world, he can't wait for someone to jump out, if I were you, I wouldn't be that person!"

Charles always watched Eric's movements, tone and demeanor, although he had only seen Mr. Howlett once, but he could feel that Eric Lanshel was following and learning from that man in many ways, consciously or unconsciously.

He fixed his mind, and did not continue the topic, but said lightly:

"Do you know how to play chess, I've always played well."

"Of course, but I doubt your victory depends on your chess skills."

Eric smiled slyly, looked at Charles, who moved his chair and moved a white soldier, his blue eyes raised to look directly at him, and said forcefully:

"I've always played by the rules when it comes to any game."

Syllable! Eric also advanced Black's soldiers.

............................

"So mutants have this particular gene? X gene? ”

Edgar Hoover in . L.D. Strategic Science R&D was looking at the blood cells under the microscope and asked the researcher next to him.

Although the current research on mutants is mainly focused on the Mutant Power Research Department, this issue has attracted widespread attention in all fields of genetic science, especially the scientists who focused on the research of super soldier serums in the early days, and have spontaneously done a lot of exploration and understanding of this.

And Director Hoover was more trusting of the former German scientists who had put the Paperclip Project together, because they were the best people for him.

"Yes sir, sudden, heritable mutations in genomic DNA molecules are often caused by changes in the X gene, and at the molecular level, gene mutations refer to changes in the structure of genes in the composition or order of base pairs......"

Hoover listened impatiently to the crackling tirade of a researcher with a thick German accent, and he glanced at the laboratory table on the other side of the room, where a child-sized dwarf was stepping on a small square stool, writing something seriously.

It suddenly occurred to him that this freak was a mutant.

"You just need to tell me if this blood sample belongs to a mutant!"

"Yes, yes sir."

Hoover finally interrupted the researcher's chatter, and he picked up the sample from the slide and looked at it under the incandescent light for a long time, as if he had memorized how to identify mutants.

Loosened his tie slightly, put away the sample, put it in his inner chest pocket, and didn't stay, this was the blood he got through Dr. Schneider in the White House.

Hoover pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked the researcher a more anthropological question.

"What do you think of the mutant community."

The German-American researcher was stunned, he was accustomed to solving problems within his professional scope, rather than expressing his views on such racial and ideological issues, especially since his own identity was so sensitive.

Seeing that he didn't say anything for a long time, Hoover didn't say anything more, and as soon as he walked to the door, he heard a deep voice say simply:

"They are the antidote."

Hoover scratched his bearded chin, he had never liked to grow beards, and slowly turned around, looking at the dwarf who had raised himself and lowered himself to work, still looking at the information in his hand, and listened to him say again:

"They are the antidote to the contradictions of this world."

"How?"

The dwarf jumped off the low stool, although he was less than one meter four, but his words and deeds did not show any flinching, he closed the folder in his hand, straightened his black square-framed glasses, looked at Director Edgar Hoover, who was afraid of three points for all high-ranking officials in the United States, and said eloquently:

"Human beings are herd animals, and we are always doing things from an individual, to a family of three or five people, to a city, a country, a nation, and even a race, uniting one part to eliminate another, and mutants are a perfect race that is opposed to all human beings."

"They are to us what Homo sapiens were to Neanderthals, one will eventually be replaced by the other, and they will also become the saviors of the divided and opposing worlds at present, the common enemy of all mankind, the ultimate enemy of common struggle and confrontation."

Edgar Hoover has really opened his eyes to the science department of S.H.I.E.L.D. these days, not only seeing the "hydra" doctrine of Hydra scientists naturalized from the "Paperclip" project, but also discovering such a wonderful person.

He stretched out his large, wrinkled and loose skin, but still strong, and shook it with the young dwarf researcher who looked to be no more than thirty years old, and asked in a loud voice:

"May I ask who you are?"

"Bolívar Trisk, it's a pleasure to meet you, sir."