Shiller gently tapped on the table and said, "So now, what loss will the anti-mutants suffer? At most, it would be the Brotherhood leading the mutants to make some noise, but these disruptions don't affect them."
"When Magneto blows up a factory, the injured are just ordinary workers who work there. When Magneto confronts the military, those who get hurt are merely new recruits from the bottom ranks."
"Factory owners aren't waiting on the production lines for him to bomb, and the generals are safely ensconced in their safe houses, commanding their subordinates to fight for them."
"You're not suggesting that Magneto should start attempting assassinations, are you?" Strange widened his eyes as he said, "Not to mention anything else, Professor X would never agree to that. He wouldn't let you use Magneto like a tool."
Stark furrowed his eyebrows and said: "In fact, mutants have already proven that this path is unworkable. They have attempted to assassinate important politicians before, but every time, they have only met with united resistance from humans and more vigorous retaliation."
"They might be able to kill a few high-ranking individuals, but when the elite class feels threatened, they will retaliate by all means, and public opinion will turn against them."
"Mutual retaliation will only result in war in the end. But Professor X is quite clear that the mutants, given their size, can't wage a conventional war against humans. Even if they could, they can't control the force and once they turn Earth into ruins, where will they go to enjoy the fruits of civilization?"
Upon saying this, Strange clutched his forehead and exclaimed, "The status of mutants is like an unsolvable stalemate. If they don't fight, they'll be slowly drained by all sorts of conspiracies. If they fight and lose, they'll have no future. If they win, what they'll get is a wasteland…"
But Shiller dismissed him with a wave of his hand, saying, "When did I ever say that I wanted Magneto to start assassinating people? Isn't that just a waste of resources?"
"Then what are you planning on…"
Shiller smiled slightly and said, "These mutant haters have not realised the value of mutants, which is understandable because even mutants haven't realised their own value."
"So, the first thing we need to do is to have mutants realise their own value, and then make all anti-mutant ideologists recognise the value of mutants."
"In this way, the inherent value of mutants themselves will become one of the costs of exterminating them. Tell me, do you think capitalists would undertake an action if the cost invested significantly exceeds the profit gained?"
"The question is, how are you going to manifest their value? Don't tell me you plan to follow the route of vampires and emphasize their medicinal value?"
Strange's eyes lit up as he said, "Actually, that doesn't sound too bad. If we can extract some valuable mutant abilities and develop them into drugs, that would also enhance the intrinsic value of mutants…"
But Shiller shook his head again and said, "You're not going to propose spreading the X gene and turning everyone into mutants, are you?"
"Why not? If everyone is a mutant, then no one would discriminate against mutants."
"Didn't you listen carefully to what I said earlier? People who are against mutants aren't against them because they are mutants, but because discriminating against a certain race brings them benefits."
"If most people are mutants, then they will start discriminating against non-mutants. If everyone is a mutant, then they will discriminate against those who were the last to turn into mutants. If everyone becomes a mutant at the same time, then they will claim that there is a group of people who don't deserve to be mutants…"
"The issue with mutants is not the crux of the problem. If there were no X genes in this world, anything that sets an individual apart from the masses would be considered as the X gene, and would become the key reason for them to guide public opinion to attack a certain group of people."
"As long as there is money to be made, they can fabricate a hundred thousand genes to create factions and attract followers. These people are nothing but dogs driven by capital and interests. Even without tangible products, they are still able to create a lot of noise."
"And if tangible drugs are produced, do you think the end result would be - everyone can afford the drugs, everyone can become mutants with convenient abilities?"
"But in reality, what will happen is the upper class would use their resources to control the majority of the drugs, distribute them to a portion of the people to cultivate usage habits, and then keep raising the price to reap profits until they've squeezed these people dry."
"And when ordinary people can't afford these drugs anymore, they would then feed those dogs money to have them yell out — people who don't work hard to earn money to buy drugs have no purpose in this world."
"Those who can afford the drugs would use those convenient abilities to gain greater advantages and seize more opportunities, while those who can't afford them would be completely abandoned by society."
"Even if the ability is something as practical as flying or merely the ability to look more attractive, they would have a greater advantage in job interviews."
"You might feel that, for those who can't afford it, they can earn the money to buy it. But by that time, the first group of people who can't afford it will no longer have the opportunity to earn money. Even if the drug only costs 10 dollars, those who can't come up with 10 dollars will be eliminated by society."
"10 dollars may not sound like a lot, but if we had to count, the number of people who can't afford it would undoubtedly exceed everyone's expectations."
"Beneath the imposing buildings of a prosperous society, there are innumerous saplings that grow out of the barren land, but due to lack of enough nutrients, they can never thrive."
"The potions serve as admission tickets. From this point forward, society will divide into two classes. Those who can afford the tickets will have the opportunity to become better. But those who can't afford the tickets, who are denied all opportunities and trapped in a vicious cycle, will never have the chance to rise again."
"When the profit margin for basic tickets decreases, they will introduce intermediate tickets, followed by premium tickets…"
"The basic tickets will weed out those who can't afford potions to become more attractive. The intermediate tickets will eliminate those who can't afford potions to become stronger. Premium tickets will weed out those without funds for flight abilities. Eventually, society will belong to the ultimate winners, those who are beautiful, strong, able to fly freely, forever young, and dominate all resources."
"Underneath the utopian vision where everyone has superpowers, many people will overlook those who can't even afford a basic ticket. Let alone people who, due to their information gap, won't dare to follow trends. They aren't just meant to be eliminated."
"As for the mutants? Their predicament won't improve. Those who can't afford potions will believe mutants are accomplices of fraudulent businessmen and are the root cause of their own social elimination."
"And those who can afford the potions won't thank them, thanking only themselves for their hard work, earning money and seizing opportunities."
"Those who sell potions will only see the mutants as livestock, like cows and sheep. Once their historical mission is accomplished, it's better for them to keep their mouths shut and not dream about any special privileges."
The atmosphere in the room became increasingly oppressive. Simply contemplating this future was suffocating.
"So what's your plan?" After a while, Strange turned to Shiller and asked.
Shiller smiled, snapped his fingers, and two flyers landed in front of Stark and Strange. He then said:
"His Majesty Thanos, has established his own empire in the Dark Quadrant. He possesses infinite power and wealth, and everyone would swoon over his might and affluence."
"Now, on a fertile planet in a remote corner of the cosmos, he has discovered a powerful and potential-laden race—the mutants."
"A hero appreciates another hero. His Majesty Thanos' magnificent endeavor to conquer the universe cannot proceed without mutants. Now, as long as the mutants are willing to join the grand course of His Majesty Thanos, the planet, minerals, spaceships, resources, and most importantly respect—everything is at their fingertips in the Dark Quadrant."
Shiller stood up and said: "The mutants will become the sharpest blade for His Majesty Thanos in his quest to conquer the cosmos."
"They will march on with His Majesty Thanos, wreak havoc in the cosmos, plunder vast amounts of resources for the Dark Quadrant. But all these spoils were supposed to belong to the human race."
"I hope that by then, those who think that the extermination of mutants will not cause them any loss, don't weep too loudly."
Stark stood up, folded his arms, looked into Shiller's eyes and said: "False advertising and price manipulation, right? You ruthless… Doctor."
"The only problem is…" Strange also stood up and began to question Shiller: "Are you seriously planning to make them work for that Thanos? To plunder resources for him?"
"Indeed, it's plundering resources for him, which is what a Pope should do." Shiller replied by nodding, then let out a helpless sigh, shook his head and said:
"I've tried to assist with resource plundering. But it was intercepted by customs. What can I do? I tried my best!"
"If His Majesty Thanos could return, I would work with him to file a complaint against the customs authorities' abuse of power."
Shiller walked to the window. Outside, the autumn hues blanketed East New York in radiant splendor. Taking in this sight, he said:
"Humanity hasn't ventured out of the Solar System yet. But thousands of years ago, when humans first looked up at the starry sky from their uncivilized land, they believed that the brilliantly twinkling stars should belong to us."
"This is the epitome of both romance and greed. We shouldn't resist such greediness. Instead, we should strive to possess every star, including the beautiful yet hazardous meteors."
"Comparing mutants to meteors is an apt analogy." Stark walked up to Shiller, stood beside him and said: "Meteors are beautiful, but when they crash, no one is safe."
"How could they resist? In the face of such a magical race, instead of wanting to possess it, they've chosen destruction." Shiller's voice echoed. As Stark turned to look at him, he saw a glint of breathtaking greed in his eyes. He heard Shiller say:
"If you ask what I ultimately want to obtain, I just want humanity, my race, to possess every shining star, liberate every great individual shackled by the constraints of their minds, turning them into pioneers admired by future generations."
"Until, as time flows until its end, and every star in the cosmos is spread out, the sky will still be glittering with stars."