Bad News

For several days in a row, under Emma’s leadership, the X-Men swept through city after city.

Without exception, once the Descendants of Atlantis learned that the humans had vanished, they all became beside themselves with joy. They naively believed that the humans who had ruled them for several days would never return. In just one day, they had gone back to their former luxurious, carefree lives, completely forgetting the suffering of only days before.

"The Descendants of Atlantis are completely unreliable. I think you should send people to take control of these cities instead!" Watching the Descendants of Atlantis behave as though nothing had happened on the holographic console, Howard was thoroughly disappointed. He turned to Emma beside him. "Otherwise, if AIM launches a sneak attack, the equipment we left behind could be destroyed."

Provoking AIM had two purposes. One was naturally to teach AIM a lesson; the other was to take the opportunity to install equipment in the cities on the plains, allowing the Floating Temple’s holographic console to truly control those areas. Of course, that was still too early to discuss. For now, they could only use the holographic console to monitor those cities in real time.

Emma gave a helpless, bitter smile and shook her head.

Mutants had always suffered from two major shortcomings: either they were clever and devoted themselves entirely to research, or they were ignorant and only knew how to fight. Since most mutants looked unusual, their own inferiority complexes and the discrimination they faced from humans made it difficult for them to integrate into human society. As a result, their education levels were generally low. Only the small number of mutants with normal appearances could avoid such troubles.

This situation had only improved after Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters was established in the Savage Land. But it had been too short a time. Asking them to help manage an entire city was still rather difficult.

Seeing the hesitation in Emma’s eyes, Howard shook his head and said with a laugh, "It’s not as complicated as you think. If it really comes down to it, impose military rule. You don’t need to worry about anything else. Just keep an eye on them."

Emma hesitated for a while before nodding. "Let’s wait a little longer. The time isn’t right yet."

"You have another plan?" Howard’s heart stirred. Knowing Emma must have other intentions, he turned to look at her with surprise.

"It wouldn’t be wise to confront AIM head-on right now. I want to use these sneak attacks to slowly wear down their strength." The X-Men’s small numbers were ultimately a disadvantage. They would be far weaker in large-scale battles, but with their ability to come and go like the wind and their extraordinary powers, they were exceptionally good at ambushes.

Yet, to everyone’s surprise, several days passed and Strucker’s side showed no reaction at all. The cities the **X-Men had recaptured remained in the hands of the pleasure-seeking Descendants of Atlantis.

Since nothing they had anticipated had happened, Emma grew extremely anxious. She paced back and forth through the Floating Temple, repeatedly muttering, "What exactly is going on?"

"Emma, if you keep pacing like that, you’re going to make me dizzy!" Howard stopped Emma while turning to look at the holographic console. As always, it was calm, without the slightest change.

Emma stopped as he said, but her expression became even more severe. "Strucker must be plotting something!"

Howard actually had the same thought. He glanced at the holographic console again and said in a low voice, "We still don’t know the exact situation. I’ll go find Nick. He may have some information."

Watching Howard’s fading back, Emma suddenly fell into deep thought. After a long while, she murmured, "We should have our own intelligence network too." Having needed to rely on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s intelligence twice in a row made Emma realize the mutants’ enormous weakness in that regard.

Howard and Nick Fury were both good people. They would not harbor any ill intentions toward Alex or the mutants, but there was no guarantee that others would be the same. To avoid being controlled by others, it was time for the mutants to establish their own intelligence network.

While Emma considered how to begin establishing the mutants’ own intelligence network, in Attilan’s Fetal Care Center…

His Highness Alex wearily opened his eyes. After days without sleep or rest, he had finally fallen asleep yesterday. Upon waking, His Highness Alex first looked toward the transformation chamber in the distance. Inside the transparent chamber lay someone entirely wrapped in blue crystal. It was none other than Alex.

"Thirteen days!" Seeing that the blue crystal still showed no signs of cracking, His Highness Alex could not help but smile.

Terrigen Mist transformation required a slow process of mutation. Especially during this final waiting period, the longer the wait, the stronger the ability gained from the eventual transformation would be. Within the strictly hierarchical Inhuman race, the stronger one’s transformed ability, the higher one’s status and opportunities. Thirteen days was already a figure close to the very top.

At the same time, Howard found Nick Fury once again.

Seeing Howard, Nick Fury raised his head from the mountain of documents and casually asked, "How are things over there?"

"Not good." Howard pursed his lips, his brow faintly furrowed. "Emma took the initiative to ambush AIM, but over the past few days, AIM hasn’t made any moves at all. It’s so strange that it’s unsettling."

"It is rather strange." Nick Fury gave a surprised sound, then reached into the pile of documents beside him, picked through them, and pulled out several files before tossing them to Howard. "Take a look."

Howard had not expected this visit to actually yield something. He eagerly accepted the documents, but after reading only a few pages, he looked up at Nick Fury in astonishment. "What does this mean?" The documents were records of S.H.I.E.L.D. agent missions. What was strange was that many had ended in failure, and the reasons for those failures were inexplicable. It seemed that even the agents carrying out the missions had not figured out why they had failed.

"Recently, our agents have frequently failed their missions, and there have even been casualties." As Nick Fury spoke, the muscles in his face unconsciously twisted, giving him a somewhat ferocious expression. "I suspect that a new force has emerged."

After pausing for a moment, Nick Fury’s gaze suddenly turned sharp, and his expression became extremely solemn. "And there is a very high possibility that this force is made up of the mutants from Sebastian Shaw’s faction."

"Aren’t they all…" Howard thought of those mutants being held in the observation room in the Savage Land.

Nick Fury had gone to see them as well. The moment Howard began speaking, Nick Fury knew what he wanted to say, and he cut him off before he could finish. "Those are only most of Sebastian Shaw’s people. A small portion escaped. That is certain."

Howard froze, then suddenly understood. His face changed drastically as he shot to his feet. "Nick, you mean…?"

"Even if you hadn’t come today, I was going to send this information to you." Nick Fury nodded, his expression calm. "AIM’s strange response is very likely connected to them."

"They aren’t planning to target the observation room, are they?!" Howard’s heart skipped a beat as he once again thought of the mutants imprisoned there.

Nick Fury nodded, as though he had anticipated this long ago. "There’s a very high possibility. They need to expand their power, and they are determined to get those people."

"They’re in for trouble this time." Thinking of the blow they might suffer, Howard could not help laughing. Having spent so long at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, Howard knew very well how formidable the school was. If they dared to break into it, they would very likely be wiped out.