A few days later, Ian received good news—Mystique, Raven, had been unexpectedly captured and was being held in a mobile prison by the government.
"Should we rescue her?" Aisha asked. She was aware that John had his eye on Raven.
"Not yet. Just have someone keep an eye on the mobile prison where Mystique is held. Be careful—don't let Magneto find out!" Ian instructed.
"Raven was caught at Worthington Labs. Magneto has been actively recruiting mutants lately. Are they planning to attack Worthington Labs?" Aisha quickly guessed Magneto's intentions.
"To be precise, he's targeting the 'cure'!" Ian corrected.
Recently, the mutant issue had been heavily sensationalized, with even rumors of forced injections spreading.
But in reality?
This was just a media stunt orchestrated by the shareholders behind Worthington Labs to boost sales. In fact, selling the 'cure' wasn't even their main goal—raising stock prices through this wave of public opinion was.
The real power players in politics and the military never considered the mere thousands of mutants in the U.S. a serious threat.
More importantly, completely eliminating mutants wouldn't benefit them at all.
Ian didn't even need to investigate this—before making their move, the people behind Worthington Labs had already informed the Carnegie family.
The so-called war, the supposed extermination of mutants—these were just roles Magneto assigned himself.
But Magneto had no choice.
The appearance of the 'cure' had indeed unsettled many mutants. If Magneto didn't take action, the Brotherhood would start falling apart.
Meanwhile, at Xavier's School, with Jean's return and Scott's disappearance, they had no energy to deal with these matters.
Magneto moved even faster than Ian had anticipated. In just a few days, he had located Raven.
His entire rescue operation was under surveillance by the Spirit Eye, and Ian had full knowledge of it.
Spirit Eye was a member of the action team whose mutant ability allowed him to form psychic contracts with animals, sharing their vision.
Using over a hundred birds, he had placed major U.S. cities under discreet surveillance—far more effective and covert than satellites.
As expected, Magneto's rescue played out just like Ian knew it would—Raven was shot, temporarily losing her mutant ability, and was then heartlessly abandoned by Magneto.
However, Magneto achieved his goal. He not only discovered the secret of Worthington Labs—Jimmy—but also recruited two powerful new subordinates: Multiple Man and Juggernaut.
Ian was quite interested in these two as well. Their abilities were incredibly useful. But for now, he had no intention of fighting Magneto over them.
After all, if things followed their natural course, there would be opportunities to acquire them later.
Once Magneto and his team left, Ian appeared at the scene, personally draping a coat over Raven and taking her away.
"Who are you?" Raven asked coldly. She pretended to be calm, but the pain in her eyes was impossible to hide.
"I'm Ian Carnegie," he answered.
Raven, of course, knew his identity. She then asked, "Why did you save me?"
"We need your abilities," Ian answered honestly.
"My abilities?" Raven let out a self-deprecating laugh. "I don't have them anymore."
"No, they're still there. You just can't use them temporarily," Ian told her the truth.
For an experienced survivor like Raven, deception wouldn't work. Only sincerity could possibly win her over.
"They're still there?" Raven was skeptical.
"Worthington Labs' 'cure' is actually just a suppressant. It inhibits the X-gene, but it doesn't remove it. Once the drug's effects wear off, your abilities will return," Ian explained.
Raven didn't say anything more. It was clear that Magneto's abandonment had hit her hard.
Back at Carnegie's School, Ian entrusted Raven to Selene.
"Selene, this is Mystique, Raven. Take good care of her," he said.
Raven wasn't a fragile little girl. With Selene's guidance, she would likely recover soon.
Meanwhile, after uncovering the secret of Worthington Labs, Magneto accelerated his preparations.
The conflict between humans and mutants continued to escalate, and public opinion grew increasingly hostile toward mutants. However, Magneto's ranks only swelled.
Suddenly, Ian felt a surge of immense power. Even across half the country, he could clearly sense the disturbance in the natural order.
There was no doubt—this was the Phoenix Force!
As expected, Aisha quickly delivered urgent news:
"Professor X is dead—killed by Jean Grey's out-of-control powers!"
The 'death' of Professor X signified that this event was reaching its climax. For Ian, it also meant that the time for reaping benefits was near.
Upon receiving the news, Ian's first thought was of Raven. He immediately rushed toward the school.
At that moment, Raven was walking through the campus with Selene. The children's laughter had visibly improved her mood.
But suddenly, Raven was gripped by a strange sense of unease.
Selene steadied her. "Are you alright? Do you feel unwell?"
"I suddenly feel anxious… like something bad just happened. Could it be Erik?" Raven's brows furrowed—her first thought was that something had happened to Magneto.
"Magneto? I'll check for you," Selene said as she took out her phone to review the intelligence gathered by the action team that day.
Selene had high clearance and access to all the information collected.
"Magneto is fine," she soon confirmed.
"That's good—"
"I'm not finished. Magneto is fine, but Professor X is dead. Killed by Jean Grey's out-of-control powers," Selene added.
"Charles?! How is that possible?"
The news left Raven utterly shocked and in disbelief.
"It was indeed Professor X. The reports say he was completely disintegrated by Jean's power," Selene confirmed.
Raven suddenly felt drained, as if all strength had left her. Fortunately, Selene was there to support her.
"How could Jean have killed Charles?" Raven still refused to believe it.
"Jean Grey has completely lost control. The power she's displaying right now is at Level Five—she has entirely surpassed both Professor X and Magneto. Killing Charles would have been effortless," Ian's voice interrupted. He had arrived just in time once again.
"But Professor X is famous for his intellect and preparation. He wouldn't be that easy to kill!"
"Are you saying Charles isn't really dead?" Raven looked at Ian with hope.
Ian didn't answer directly. Instead, he hinted, "As far as I know, the professor had a twin brother—who was in a vegetative state."
"Mind transfer technology!" Raven immediately recalled a theory Charles had once mentioned.
"Whether it's true or not, we'll find out soon enough."
Just as Ian finished speaking, two photos appeared on his phone.
Both showed a man who looked identical to Professor X lying in bed—one with his eyes closed, one with his eyes open. The first was expressionless; the second showed a painful grimace.
These two photos confirmed everything.
Professor X had hidden his twin brother well. Despite the many students and teachers at the school, no one had ever discovered him.
But even he couldn't evade the all-seeing Spirit Eye.
At the moment of his mind transfer, Professor X had been unable to fully suppress his abilities. The resulting energy disturbance had been detected by the birds Spirit Eye had stationed above the city.
A few contract-bound sparrows and mice were all it took to locate Professor X.