Speaking of the New Xanadu Country, people from two cosmoses finally had some common topics to chat about. Tim and Jason were already curious about this nation that did not exist in their cosmos, while Shiller and his group clearly had some opinions on the current state of the nation, which triggered a lively conversation between them.
In fact, ever since the establishment of this nation belonging to mutants, the overt and covert international attacks had never ceased. After all, a nation formed by superpower users was inherently a threat to other countries.
Although other countries needed a process to develop nuclear weapons, providing some space for maneuvering and delaying, at least there was an effort, the Mutant nation was different—they were inherently nuclear bombs, and not just one or two, but virtually all of them were.
The leading two superweapons, one strong and charismatic, the other cunning and smart, were simply a perfect leadership combination. More importantly, no country or organization in the world had the capacity to assassinate these two.
Although their founding came earlier due to altered history, due to various international pressures faced at the time they ventured into developing the Andromeda Galaxy, nothing had changed, and Magneto still led a group of people out as pioneers to colonize the Andromeda Galaxy.
If anything had changed, it was probably that the long-distance travelers finally had a home to return to; this elder who had experienced two World Wars was no longer chased from one piece of land to another but had found a dual home for his body and spirit.
But spiritual consolation couldn't stave off hunger. Whether it was the nations on Earth or the bases in the Andromeda Galaxy, their development was not going smoothly. At its core, it boiled down to the issues within the mutant education system.
A nation without education has no future. In theory, they could have started building their education system since they had their own land, but the problem was that young mutants were too unstable, needing to spend almost all their youthful years to learn how to control their powers.
This resulted in their inability to study conventional topics like science and business management. Even with the support of the Dreamland School, not everyone had a super brain. With a low population base, there naturally weren't enough talents.
The greatest flaw in mutants lay here—the capability to perform didn't necessarily mean intelligence, and intelligence sometimes came with flawed abilities. Those with talents needed time to master their powers, and those without talent couldn't benefit from studying either.
Just dealing with various overt and covert attacks with the previous generation of mutants was already a struggle, let alone making further progress.
Harley had certainly analyzed this point and chose the mutant nation as her first foothold in this cosmos. The other side was in dire need of talents, while she lacked angel investors. It was a perfect match, and with her clever brain, Harley quickly demonstrated her value in business management and gained the trust of the mutants.
The collaboration between the two sides was rather pleasant. Shiller and Steve could feel from recent news that New Xanadu Country had made some investment moves. In Shiller's view, the prospects of these investment projects were quite promising, clearly beyond the capabilities of mutants. If Harley was behind these moves, that would make sense.
However, it seemed like Harley had not yet played her trump card. Shiller believed she could see that the future of mutants was actually in the Andromeda Galaxy, and the operations on Earth were just icing on the cake.
But Harley, after all, was not a mutant, and mutants could not truly embrace her sincerely. Getting involved in Andromeda Galaxy matters was not so simple.
The existence of mutants made the younger visitors from other universes very curious, but these social issues couldn't be clarified in a moment. Even if Shiller explained in great detail, how much they could comprehend still depended on their personal insight.
Tim's insight was obviously the highest. He knew that if he wanted to invest in this universe, mutants would be the best choice, but the investment environment, that is, the cosmic situation and the situation of the Three Great Empires, still needed examination.
Dick simply found the various abilities of mutants interesting and had no particular opinions about other aspects. Jason felt that mutants were too urgent now. The internal atmosphere was not good. If they couldn't adjust, they would eventually cause a huge mess.
Shiller actually agreed with Jason's view. Now, the mutants were immersed in an atmosphere of self-doubt. They couldn't understand why, with all the advantages over normal humans, they were still not developing well.
If it were said that they were isolated from the world with no comparisons to make, it would be one thing. But ever since their formation, they had been beside a huge entity, watching others rise from ruins to prosperity and now being considered the heroes of the world.
It's still the same question that plagues humanity at its extremes: "Why is this so?"
Over the years, they too hadn't stopped reaching out arbitrarily—whether it was Mother Nature suddenly raising a few islands above the sea level, finding a few design drawings in the jungles of Hokkaido, or young mutants abruptly falling in love with foreign girls and marrying them.
But the mutants themselves knew that even equating their performance to "putting lipstick on a pig" was only slightly borrowing revolutionary friendship. The Eastern Great Nation was one that could be pushed to do anything when cornered, but supporting mutants was not feasible; mutants genuinely couldn't make it.
Afghanistan might not be the true "graveyard of empires," as it hadn't conquered China, but mutants truly represented an imperial quagmire. China-America-Soviet Russia—none could succeed with them.
Tim, listening to Shiller's explanations, felt somewhat moved. At moments like this, he could better understand the concept from Eastern culture that "water spills over when full." Mutants were strong, but sometimes strength didn't solve problems and brought even bigger issues instead.
After chatting for a while, it was time for lunch. Having soaked enough, they decided to dine at the resort's center.
The girls had actually come out earlier. Pamela had gotten a cabbage from the cafeteria kitchen, and they ran to the gym on the second floor to test the deadlift capability of the cabbage, watching the others enter the activity building from the second-floor windows.
The finer restaurants were on the third floor. They agreed to meet on the third floor. Shiller picked up a menu as he passed the restaurant's reception, as expected, it was the expensive, unappetizing, and inauthentic type of Japanese food.
Although Japan had lost its land, there were still many Japanese abroad, but most of them had been away from home for many years and were not renowned chefs themselves, resulting in subpar dishes.
Why else would it be that nowadays, it's mostly Chinese people who advocate for the continuation of Japanese culture? Without the country, the animation became even better to watch, Japanese food tastier, and even the Japanese language sounded more pleasant to the ear.
It's the same principle with artists: their work was worth little while they were alive, but it surged in value after their death. Japanese culture is a precious legacy of the East Asian culture sphere, emphasis on 'legacy'.
Shiller looked disdainfully at the exorbitant figures on the menu, unwilling to eat, but feeling that the ingredients prepared the night before weren't enough for another meal, he reluctantly ordered a little.
As expected, the food was both expensive and scant, with plates piled on and then taken off, and after more than an hour of eating, everyone was still basically hungry.
After the meal, the head chef came out to thank the diners, and Shiller was surprised to find that he was indeed a genuine Japanese. Whenever Japan was mentioned, he seemed tearfully emotional, but the words "secret delight" were nearly written all over his face.
Since the country no longer existed, there weren't many people left who could prepare such dishes, and now, Japanese cuisine was several times more expensive than in another universe. The chef's salary must be similarly high.
Shiller and his group gave up, but some of the youngsters were at an age of growth, and since they weren't full, they went to a nearby supermarket and bought a huge load of snacks, returning to their residence with large and small bags.
As soon as they got back, Harley pulled Shiller aside, whispering mysteriously, "How do you sell superpowers?"
"What?"
"I heard you claim to do any kind of business. Can you sell me superpowers?"
"Aren't you studying magic?" Shiller asked; he hadn't forgotten that Harley had taken classes at the Karmathagic Magic Academy, so theoretically, she just needed some energy to use magic.
"Magic won't do." Harley shook her head and said, "That's clearly Kamar-Taj's way. I want to be a superpower user."
"A mutant type of superpower user?"
"Pretty much."
Shiller thought for a moment and said, "Actually, you could just amputate a limb and then claim to be a mutant, seeing as many of the Epsilon Class are disabled."
"I told you I want to buy it! And you plan to sell me this?"
"I thought that with the money you can spend, you could only afford this."
"Then you're really underestimating me, I have enough money to buy this entire community now."
Shiller, taken aback, said, "Seriously, you don't know how expensive the land in Los Angeles is?"
Harley scoffed, "That's why I said you're underestimating me."
"Where did you get all that money?" Shiller narrowed his eyes at Harley, and after a long pause, he said, "If Magneto knew you were this ruthless, do you think he would let you go?"
"Professor X can read minds, and these two old men stick together every day. You don't think he knows by now, do you?"
Shiller pursed his lips. It seemed Professor X and Magneto were really going all in, which was normal since there weren't many willing to die for mutants. Harley must be one of the top ones.
"You want superpowers to infiltrate their ranks, don't you?"
"It's those two who need to give an explanation to the other mutants," Harley sighed and said, "Right now, my identity is Professor X's daughter lost to the world, sister to the Legion."
"They all guess that my mutant ability is the same mind-reading ability as Professor X, so I haven't been exposed yet, but I don't have the X-gene, so it would be bad if I were discovered."
"So what you want is the X-gene?"
"I definitely don't want that unfortunate thing, it's too unstable. What if it really caused me to lose limbs? I need a more obvious superpower, so no one would think to check me."
"That means someone is already trying to check you."
"Because, after all, I'm not really a mind reader," Harley frowned, dissatisfied as she said to Shiller, "Just like I know, you're not really either, and someone can always tell."
Shiller stroked his chin and said, "This might be difficult, what kind of superpower do you want?"
"The more obvious and flashy the better, ideally with a grand mutant power-out-of-control ceremony, so the whole world knows I'm a mutant."