Shadow of the Beautiful World

Your city is well planned, but it's a bit small, much smaller than I imagined.

On the streets of the small Utopian city with a small area, Merlin looked at the houses on both sides of the street and the towers that conveyed energy. He said to Ororo, the Storm Maiden who was taking him on a tour:

Your fiancé is really generous, so easily shared Wakanda's energy transmission technology with moderate mutants.

Because the first batch and the second batch of mutants who applied to live in Utopia are actually not many.

Ororo explained:

A small city is enough to accommodate them. When the number of people here exceeds 100,000, we will start the second phase of the expansion project. The professor said that he hopes that all mutants living in Utopia will join this expansion operation, So that they can consider this place their real home.

As for these energy towers...

Ororo said to Merlin:

The technology they use is not Wakanda's technology, but an energy transmission system I asked Shu Rui to design for us. It is much behind the technology used by Wakanda... But speaking of it, I feel that Shu Rui has recently Always avoiding me, is that little girl hiding something from T'Challa and me?

Well, I don't know.

Merlin said blankly:

She moved out of my house very early. I have no idea what the princess of Wakanda is doing, and honestly I don't care.

Yeah, you've been promoted, so you must be busier.

Ororo glanced at the two meticulous and burly agents in suits and sunglasses who were following Merlin, and she said:

There are bodyguards, Merlin, you are really a big shot now.

Should I be honored to be called a big shot by Her Majesty the Queen?

Merlin pushed his glasses, and he said softly:

I generally don't run around and show my face like Fury. As for these two agents, they are just performing their duties. Although I don't need their protection, it is always a good thing to be loyal to their duties.

He said to Ororo:

One more thing. I heard from Lorna that the professor is going to move Xavier College to Utopia, so the school in New York will be closed? This means that I will pick up my sister home on weekends, just Have to cross half the world?

No, it's not that exaggerated, Merlin.

Ororo shook her head as she explained:

The professor just intends to send senior students to Utopia. Several tactical training grounds simulating actual combat environments will be built here to improve their ability to manipulate their own power. It is also much quieter than bustling New York. Teenagers would be more suitable here, at least they won't think about sneaking out to play every day.

Children as old as Ruiwen and Lorna will continue to stay in New York, and the academy there will become a branch campus on the mainland. Of course, just like Utopia Academy, Xavier Academy will officially start in the next quarter. Enroll mutant children of the right age on a large scale.

That's all right.

Merlin nodded, and he said to Ororo:

But don't forget to register...Every mutant who enters the academy needs to register with SHIELD, this is what we agreed.

I really don't understand why the professor agreed to your request.

storm says:

What's the difference between this and the Mutant Registration Act?

Of course, Ororo.

Merlin said softly:

One is active, one is passive, one is kind, one is malicious, one is for protection, and the other is for persecution.

The two forms of existence are the same, but the starting point and meaning are completely opposite.

He said to Ororo:

At least you don't have to worry that we will take the initiative to release the information of those children to the outside world. On the contrary, if they are willing, then after they grow up, S.H.I.E.L.D. will help them find jobs and gain a foothold in society, if they don't dislike it , jobs at S.H.I.E.L.D. will be open to them as well.”

At least in s..l.d., the power of mutants is very much needed.

Merlin looked at the pier at the end of this street in Utopia, and said:

I believe that with our efforts, the gap between ordinary people and mutants will eventually completely disappear, and we will merge into one. This is the need for order and what we must do. However, at this stage, the gap still remains. exists, so we have to take some precautionary measures.

Hey, hey, don't touch me, I just want to interview...don't push me!

There was a noisy sound behind Merlin and Ororo. When they looked back, they saw that the agent behind Merlin was pushing a young reporter. The camera behind the latter had been filming, as if they were planning to do something.

Merlin recognized the reporter, Eddie Brock, isn't this the stunned young man who interviewed him at the ghost base last time?

Let him come here.

Merlin waved his hand, and the agents in charge of protecting him immediately moved out of the way. Eddie glared at the indifferent agents beside him dissatisfiedly, then snatched his microphone back from the other guy, straightened his collar, Walked towards Merlin.

The latter said to him very gently:

I know you reporters always like to add fuel to the flames and fan the flames, but please believe me, my subordinates are not trying to make things difficult for you, they are just performing their duties...

It's okay, I just want to interview the two of you.

Eddie didn't seem to care. He poked the microphone in front of Merlin's eyes and said to Merlin:

May I ask this gentleman, what do you think of the fact that mutants have built their own city?

This is very good, this is great, it shows that mutants are beginning to replace individual thinking with group wisdom, they will become a whole, and try to integrate into human society and become a member of a common civilization.

Merlin pushed his glasses, and said calmly:

Of course, I know this is definitely not what you want to hear, so let me tell you what you want to hear.

The gap between mutants and humans has not been eliminated, and the establishment of Utopia is only the first step in contact between the two sides. You and I can predict that, whether it is among them or among us, many people do not want to see a peaceful future. Arrival, whether it is out of vigilance, jealousy, or disgust with the previous friction, the dispute will not stop.

But fortunately, there are people on both sides of the camp who are working for real peace. I mean, as long as you guys in the media stop fanning the flames, everything will be fine.

Having said that, Merlin looked at Eddie, and he said:

Are you satisfied with this?

Eddie glanced back at the cameraman, who gave Eddie an ok gesture, so Eddie turned his head and said to Merlin:

Okay, thank you, but you are wrong, not all journalists are as irresponsible as you said.

Watching Eddie leave, Merlin reached out to take off his glasses, took out a handkerchief, wiped the lenses, and put them on again. Beside him, Ororo asked in some surprise:

Didn't you hate these reporters before? Why do you take the initiative to accept interviews now?

When he approached me, the live broadcast signal was cut off.

Merlin pushed his glasses indifferently, and said:

The clips stored in that camera have also been deleted. This unlucky reporter's interview with me will never be successful.

Let's go, the professor and the director are still waiting for us.

——————————————————————

Merlin and Ororo found the professor and Fury on the pier. The professor was surrounded by a group of reporters and poked dozens of microphones in front of his wheelchair. Always pay attention to the professor's speech, hoping to find some details that can trigger explosive points.

It was like an impromptu, small press conference.

Eddie Brock, who had just interviewed Merlin, was also among them. His assistant had replaced a new camera, and it seemed that he had discovered that all the data of the previous camera had been deleted.

But the professor has experienced too many things, and he doesn't get rid of the scene in front of him at all. The old man is sitting in a wheelchair, talking slowly, and looks very honest, but if you listen carefully, it's nothing more than when he was touring around to give lectures. The set of theories, the description of the same origin of human beings and mutants, the prospect of future cooperation between the two parties, the beautiful blueprint and so on.

It appears that more people are paying attention to this than we thought.

Merlin walked to a small cafe on the side of the street and sat across from Fury who was drinking coffee in a low-key way. He said to Fury:

Look at these reporters, these media outlets, the whole world is watching this.

Don't worry about them.

Fury wasn't worried either, saying:

High-speed information exchange is the characteristic of this era, which makes the whole world more closely connected than any previous era, but in this era, it is impossible for any major event to occupy people's eyes and ears all the time. I dare say, at most 3 After a month, no one will take the initiative to bring up the matter of Utopia... Such an event without any gimmicks will not be able to attract the attention of ordinary people for a long time.

As for those reporters...

Fury glanced at the reporters gathered on the pier, and said softly:

They don't have to worry. The era of self-proclaimed uncrowned kings is over, so what if they publish some reports that attract people's attention? The truth is always boring, and what people want to read is not the truth.

People nowadays...as long as what you say is hype, then they will believe everything.

Um.

Merlin nodded.

As the secret service chief who has led s..l.d for a long time, he also has a say in this matter.

For a while, there were rumors about vampires in New York, and it almost caused a panic, but when Merlin found a few biologists and talked nonsense on several popular talk shows, After associating vampires with certain diseases of photophobia and bloodthirsty, and reporting some sensational but entertaining news through a few lace tabloids, the panic about vampires in the city quickly decreased.

People always like to follow others, and like to figure out the answer to things from their own point of view, but unfortunately, as Fury said, as long as their inner desire for curiosity and watching the excitement is satisfied, there is really no truth or anything. unimportant.

Look! Those mutants are coming.

Ten minutes later, Merlin turned his head, and saw a white passenger ship slowly moving towards Utopia Island not far from the pier, further away on the sea.

Just like the Mayflower immigrant ship carrying the Puritans hundreds of years ago, that ship was full of the first batch of mutants who immigrated to Utopia.

Most of them are mutants whose bodies are mutated so that they cannot live normally in human society, and most of them are old, weak, sick and disabled, but the professor and his students don't care.

Most of the mutants who are able to support themselves have their own lives in human society, and the professor and S.H.I.E.L.D. have no intention of forcibly stripping them from human society. After all, Utopia is a shelter just like the afterlife. It is prepared for those mutants who cannot survive on their own.

It is a large rear area, not all mutants will come to live here, but after it is established, mutants will have a common home.

Regardless of their status in modern society, and regardless of their social status, they will have a common home.

This is the first and most important step for the mutants, a loose civilized group, to unite.

Hey, it really feels like an immigrant setting foot on a new continent.

Merlin and Fury stood side by side by the window of the small cafe, watching the immigrants set foot on the pier with the help of the X-Men. The reporters frantically took pictures, making the pier shine in broad daylight. A twinkle of light.

Although this scene was somewhat contrived, it still moved many elderly mutants who came to watch the ceremony to tears.

Someone suggested that 2003 be called the 'Year of Mutants'.

While watching the hot comments on the ceremony on the Internet through Icarus, Merlin said to Fury:

There are still many people who have proposed to award this year's Nobel Peace Prize to Professor Charles...Look, our professor has many fans in human society.

Charles Francis Xavier, he was an icon, an important icon.

With his hands behind his back, Fury said to Merlin slowly:

The bridge between mutants and humans, he deserves this title. As long as the professor is still there, there will always be room for conversation between us and mutants, so we must protect him, Merlin, and he will be with us. Pushing mutants into the world...that's the really great thing.

Um.

Merlin nodded and was about to speak when a communication request from the ghost base appeared on Icarus' lens. Merlin answered the call, and his expression changed after only one sentence.

He turned to Fury and said:

I have something important...I have to leave first.

What's up?

Fury asked:

You're going to have to speak for Pierce later.

Let Hill go instead of me.

Merlin drew his wand and said to Fury:

It's a very important thing. It's something I've been paying attention to for several years... Remember the empty 'Seventh District' of the Ministry of Defense?

Fury's expression also changed. Merlin looked at him and said softly:

I found the real 'Seventh District'.

()

Sogou