Brotherhood

"Male lead?"

Domino’s words inexplicably annoyed Quicksilver. He said, "Both the male and female leads are newcomers. The box office is guaranteed to tank, okay?"

"That’s true."

Domino frowned. A movie definitely needed a star to carry it. Fire Palm laughed. "Being a star isn’t my dream. My dream is to be a chef.

"I actually used to be a chef. Later, I got kicked out of the restaurant because I fried eggs with my palm. Hmph, that bastard had no eye for talent. Eggs fried with my palm taste much better than eggs fried in a pan."

Quicksilver thought of something and asked in shock, "Wait, don’t tell me the fried eggs you serve us every morning were all fried with your palm?"

"What do you think?"

Fire Palm smiled and said, "All right, the New York branch is settled. I can’t act as your shill for the other branches anymore. You’ll have to work hard yourselves."

With that, Fire Palm waved and vanished. Quicksilver said with a disgusted expression, "I’m never eating fried eggs again."

"You should spend more time thinking about how to win over the other branches," Domino said. "We’re short on time."

"It won’t be a problem. The people are on our side."

Quicksilver spoke confidently. Other than Magneto’s die-hard loyalists, who wouldn’t want to live a normal life?

A few days later, Astra, head of the New York branch, knocked on the laboratory door. Magneto, who was polishing a component, said displeasedly, "Astra, I believe I said my research is at a critical stage and I don’t want to be disturbed."

"Erik, something’s wrong."

Astra walked in, his expression grave. "Someone may be trying to rebel again."

"Again? Wait, you mean someone wants to rebel like Human Torch did?"

Magneto’s gaze turned cold. The last incident had been an utter humiliation for him. Not only had his own people rebelled against him, but Iron Man had even saved him.

"Yes. The atmosphere in the base is off. Quite a few people are gathering together and whispering, just like last time."

Astra nodded. What had happened last time had also humiliated him, so he was particularly sensitive to anything similar.

"Do they really think I’m old?"

Magneto was furious. He asked, "Astra, have you found any clues?"

Astra shook his head. "There hasn’t been enough time. I haven’t found anything yet, but it seems quite a lot of people are involved."

"Is that so?"

Magneto thought for a moment, then said, "You’re too conspicuous, so you can’t investigate easily. Bring Quicksilver over and have him look into it. He likes peeping anyway."

Astra could not help laughing. He nodded and went to bring Quicksilver over.

Magneto explained the situation, then said, "Pietro, what happened with Human Torch must never happen again. Find the rebels."

Quicksilver blinked, feeling both awkward and guilty. Old man, are you asking me to investigate myself? "Leave it to me, old man. I guarantee I’ll find the rebels for you."

Quicksilver patted his chest in assurance. Magneto did not suspect a thing and said, "Good. The sooner you find them, the less damage they’ll do to the Brotherhood."

"No problem. I guarantee it’ll be quick."

Quicksilver really was quick. Half an hour later, he brought more than half the branch’s members to the laboratory and said, "Old man, I’ve already found out who wants to rebel."

Magneto looked over the crowd in confusion and asked, "Who? And why did you bring so many people here?"

"Because they’re all rebels."

Quicksilver said with an "honest" look, "And by the way, I’m the leader of the rebellion. I organized them to rebel."

Magneto was stunned. Astra was stunned. Toad and Sabretooth were stunned too. What the hell was this? The investigator had become the rebellion leader?

Magneto shouted angrily, "Pietro, this isn’t funny."

"I’m not joking."

Quicksilver raised his hand, signaling the people behind him to take out their phones. The screens showed the situation at each branch.

Quicksilver said, "Old man, not only are most of the mutants in the New York branch my people, the same is true of the other branches. They’re currently purging the opposition."

Magneto and the others froze, then hurriedly looked at the phone screens. They saw large numbers of mutants holding signs supporting Quicksilver.

The head of one branch said to Magneto with some shame, "Magneto, Pietro is right. We’ve decided to follow him."

"That’s right. Pietro is right."

Quite a few branches echoed him. Magneto trembled with rage. You could guard against thieves day and night, but never against the thief in your own house.

Beyond his anger, Magneto felt utterly chilled. Most of the mutants had betrayed him. To be honest, he even began doubting himself. Had he really done such a poor job? "Pietro, have you lost your mind? You’re rebelling against your own father?"

Astra shouted furiously, "And all of you, how can you follow Pietro in this nonsense?"

"Mr. Astra, this isn’t nonsense. Eighty percent of the Brotherhood supports us."

Domino said, "This is the will of the people. This is the trend of the times. Magneto, please step down and give your position to Pietro."

Magneto laughed in fury. "Domino, did you instigate Pietro? I knew it. Iron Man didn’t leave you in the Brotherhood with good intentions."

"Isn’t that only natural?"

Domino’s retort left Magneto speechless. He looked at everyone and asked, "I believe I’ve never wronged the Brotherhood. Why are you betraying me?"

The crowd fell somewhat silent. Quicksilver said, "Because the times have left you behind, old man. Back then, humans looked down on mutants, and mutants lived miserable lives. That was why they followed you and fought humanity together.

"But now, humans and mutants have made peace. They don’t want to keep being fugitives with you. They want to return to normal life and be ordinary people.

"Old man, times have changed. This is Iron Man’s era now. Your time has passed."

Magneto asked coldly, "Is that what all of you think?"

"Magneto, I’m grateful that you saved me, but I truly want a normal life. Iron Man has already promised to clear our names."

Fire Palm stepped forward and said, "With Iron Man around, humans and mutants won’t clash again. The Brotherhood’s mission has already come to an end."

The others nodded one after another. "Magneto, that’s what we all think."

Toad shouted angrily, "You ungrateful bastards! Without Erik, humans would have captured you for experiments long ago."

"The problem is, humans won’t capture us for experiments anymore. Iron Man and the Mutant Affairs Department will protect us."

Quicksilver shouted, "Old man, I have neither prestige nor fame, yet they’re all willing to follow me. Don’t you understand? Your way doesn’t work anymore. Iron Man’s way is the right one."

Magneto stubbornly said, "You’re all as foolish as Iron Man. Humans are only using us to deal with the Evil Believers. Once the Evil Believers are destroyed, they’ll definitely turn on us."

"How would they turn on us? The military is in Iron Man’s hands, the president is Iron Man’s puppet, and the public are Iron Man’s fans."

Quicksilver shouted, "Old man, the president wrote you a pardon. As long as you accept it, you can be a normal person from now on—a normal person who can walk down the street."

"A pardon? What a joke. Who the hell is the president that he thinks he’s worthy of pardoning me?"

Magneto shouted, "I will not abandon my path, because I am the one who’s right. Anyone who doesn’t believe in me, get out of my Brotherhood."

Quicksilver sighed. "Old man, it’s not your Brotherhood. It’s my Brotherhood. Most Brotherhood members support me."

"Pietro."

Magneto gritted his teeth. Iron Man had helped him find his son again, sure enough with no good intentions.

"Old man, can’t you stop being so stubborn?" Quicksilver said. "The times really have changed."

"The times may have changed, but humans never will."

As Magneto spoke, he controlled the mech to stride over. Everyone instinctively took a step back. If they really fought, they were no match for Magneto.

"Don’t worry. I won’t suppress you, though that wouldn’t be difficult for me."

Magneto snorted. "Since most of you no longer welcome me, I’ll leave. Astra, go pack our things."

"Erik, isn’t that letting them off too easily?"

Astra was dissatisfied, but Magneto shook his head. Once people’s hearts had scattered, what was the point of forcibly suppressing them?

Quicksilver asked in confusion, "Old man, if you don’t intend to attack us, why did you send the mech over?"

"Because I’m going to beat you up. A father beating his son is only natural."

Magneto controlled the mech to grab Quicksilver. Quicksilver was startled and tried to flee, but at that moment, the surrounding gravity suddenly changed. With a bang, Quicksilver fell to the ground and was pressed into it.

Quicksilver struggled to raise his head and shouted, "Gravity?"

Magneto sneered. "This is a gravity device I specially designed for you. Satisfied?"

Quicksilver shouted indignantly, "You actually designed a weapon specifically to deal with me? I’m your biological son."

"If you weren’t my biological son, I’d kill you right now."

Magneto cursed through gritted teeth, "I’m teaching you a lesson so you won’t get too arrogant in the future."

"Ha."

At that moment, two laughs came from outside the door. Everyone turned and saw Wang Bert pushing the Professor inside. They quickly made way.

Wang Bert laughed. "Magneto, how does it feel to be betrayed by your own son?"

"Iron Man, Charles!"

Magneto’s eyes narrowed. "It seems you don’t intend to let me go?"

"Bert promised me that I would be responsible for watching over you. Erik, I found a rather nice resort villa. We can retire there together from now on."

The Professor smiled. "Oh, right, how much savings do you have? I’m a little short on money."

"I don’t have any money. The Brotherhood costs too much to run. Uh, wait, why would I give you money?"

Magneto suddenly came to his senses and said displeasedly, "And when did I say I was retiring? Until mutants truly rise, I will never retire."

Wang Bert clapped. "What fighting spirit. Quicksilver, learn from your old man. That’s what a real tough guy looks like."

Quicksilver cursed, "Tough guy my ass! Hurry up and make that old man turn off the gravity device. Seriously, you people are going too far. You’re just standing there watching me suffer and doing nothing?"

"Who are you? Do I know you?"

Wang Bert asked with a curious expression. Everyone burst into laughter. Magneto shook his head and voluntarily turned off the gravity device.

Then Magneto said to Wang Bert and the Professor, "I won’t surrender. If you want to lock me up, there’s only one way—defeat me."

"That works. It’s a good chance to test your mech."

Wang Bert said, "Old Magneto, let this battle be Magneto’s final curtain."

"Magneto will not take a final curtain call unless he dies."

Magneto said coldly, "Even if I lose, I won’t admit defeat. As long as I get the chance, I’ll rise again."

The Professor smiled. "Erik, I’ll be watching over you from now on."

Magneto snorted. "Outside. Otherwise, I won’t have room to fight."

"Fine."

Wang Bert did not refuse and led everyone to the open ground outside.

A moment later, Magneto stood opposite Wang Bert in his mech and asked in a deep voice, "Iron Man, aren’t you going to summon your armor?"

"Who would be stupid enough to use metal weapons in front of Magneto?"

"Then don’t blame me for bullying you with weapons."

Magneto did not waste words. He flew into the mech’s chest and controlled it to throw a vicious punch at Wang Bert.

Wang Bert used Teleportation to appear behind Magneto. Then he swung a hand blade, and a pitch-black spatial rift flashed past. With a bang, the mech’s arm fell to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dirt.

Magneto did not panic. He controlled the fallen mech arm to slam into Wang Bert. Wang Bert was about to teleport when a powerful electromagnetic field enveloped the area, disrupting space.

Wang Bert sidestepped the mech arm and asked with a smile, "An electromagnetic field? Is that your trump card against me?"

"An electromagnetic field can disrupt space and prevent Teleportation. I tested it on Azazel."

As Magneto activated a gravity field to force Wang Bert onto the ground, he said, "Iron Man, summon your armor. I’ll give you time to put it on. Otherwise, you’re no match for me."

"This is the worst I’ve ever been underestimated."

Wang Bert sighed. He suddenly appeared beside Magneto and used a space blade to sever the mech’s right leg. Then he said, "You’re comparing Azazel to me? What the hell is he? How is he worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as me?"

"You weren’t affected?"

Magneto was startled and hurriedly intensified the electromagnetic field. Wang Bert shook his head, then split into nine figures, striking at Magneto’s mech from nine different directions. Magneto hurriedly ejected from the mech. Immediately afterward, the space blades chopped the mech into more than a dozen pieces, which clattered to the ground.

"Iron Man, nice one!"

Quicksilver cheered loudly. "Teach that old man a proper lesson so he won’t get so arrogant and think he’s invincible."

Magneto’s face darkened. This unfilial son—he never should have brought him back.

"Bert’s spatial abilities have clearly grown stronger."

The Professor was somewhat surprised. The old Wang Bert could never have destroyed a mech so effortlessly.

Is he still growing? How is that possible? He’s already the strongest mutant.

"Old Magneto, surrender. Don’t make this any uglier than it has to be."

Wang Bert said, "At worst, I’ll give you some information for free. You actually have a daughter too—a very beautiful daughter."

"I have a daughter too?"

Magneto froze, then angrily said, "Are you trying to trick me again? Iron Man, I will never surrender."

With that, Magneto raised both hands. The shattered mech exploded at once, turning into countless steel components. Then he thrust his hands forward, and the steel components shot toward Wang Bert like a raging torrent.