S.H.I.E.L.D. Appears

While Hawking had loaded the Goku Template and truly wanted to fight Magneto, saving people was more important than fighting. Even Goku would have been the same.

So instead of directly fighting Magneto to determine a winner, he used the Triple Afterimage Fist to fool Magneto and kill Mastermind first.

As long as Mastermind was dead, no one could control Professor X. Both mutants and humans would be safe.

As for Mastermind, his past was rather tragic. Unable to control his powers, he had accidentally killed his mother and had then been cruelly turned into a test subject by his father.

But it had nothing to do with Hawking. All he could do was say sorry.

He could not gamble the lives of all humanity on whether he could defeat Magneto, especially not the lives of himself, Wanda, Oleg, and Elena.

"Good. Very good. You're very good!"

The enraged Magneto slowly rose into the air, and the entire Cerebro Chamber began to tremble.

If not for Hawking, he could have killed every human on Earth in one stroke, made mutants the masters of this world, and fulfilled the greatest wish of his life.

"Erik, did you come to save me?"

Just then, Professor X's weak voice rang out.

With Mastermind dead, Professor X naturally broke free of his control and regained consciousness. He removed the Cerebro helmet, turned his wheelchair around with difficulty, and looked at Magneto, who was hovering in the air.

Seeing this, Magneto took a deep breath and finally descended.

"Charles, what did you see in that illusionary world? Are you still fighting for justice?

"Unfortunately, they didn't play by your rules. They even wanted to kill all mutants!"

Before Mastermind died, Hawking and the people from the Mutant School, who had stopped him from wiping out humanity, were all enemies. But now that Mastermind was dead, they were no longer enemies. At least, they should not be enemies for now.

It was like his relationship with Charles. Both were fighting for the interests of mutants, but their ideals and methods differed, so they had taken different paths.

But unless it came to a decisive moment—like transforming all the government leaders into mutants on Liberty Island, or just now when he had intended to kill all humans—they still needed each other.

So at this moment, Hawking had once again become one of the important forces among mutants in Magneto's eyes. He should not be killed, but rather recruited to Magneto's side as much as possible.

"Erik, people sometimes stumble and lose their way, but that does not mean they will remain lost forever. Sometimes, all they need is someone to lend a hand.

"As long as we work together, we can guide humanity in a better direction!"

Faced with Magneto's mockery, Professor X did not get angry. He still held fast to his beliefs.

"You're still so naive, Charles. Humans will only destroy us. There was never any coexistence between us. There is only kill or be killed."

Magneto snorted coldly.

Seeing the two about to fall into an argument, Hawking spoke up.

"How about we go outside and find somewhere safe to talk?"

This base was not safe. If something went wrong with the dam, they would all be finished.

As for the debate over their ideals, Hawking was not interested. He was not a mutant, and there was no true right or wrong in such matters anyway.

It all depended on which identity you considered your primary stance.

If you believed being a mutant was most important, more important than even your family and friends, then kill all humans.

If you believed family and friends mattered more, then who cared whether someone was a mutant? If someone wanted to kill your friends and family, would you refrain from resisting just because they were mutants?

In a world like Marvel, there was no need to argue over such things.

Nation against nation, race against race, skin color against skin color, mutants and humans, humans and Inhumans, Earthlings and aliens—if you seriously wanted to divide everything up, there would be far too many categories.

Going even further, both Earth and the Sun had been created by the Celestials. Mutants were merely products of the Celestials modifying human genes. There was no such thing as noble or lowly.

Crack!

At that moment, the doors to the Cerebro Chamber opened, and Storm, Wolverine, Cyclops, and the others rushed in.

Colossus and Wolverine had worked together to subdue Deathstrike, then escorted Stryker over and used the password to open the Cerebro Chamber doors.

Cyclops and Deathstrike had also returned to normal after Mastermind's death rendered the brain fluid ineffective.

"Forget it. Let's go!"

Seeing this, Magneto did not linger. Leaving those words behind, he turned and left the Cerebro Chamber with Mystique. Since the plan had failed, it was time to part ways.

"No, let them go."

Seeing Cyclops and Storm preparing to attack, Professor X, who had recovered a little strength, hurriedly stopped them telepathically.

This was different from Liberty Island last time. If they really fought here, Magneto's powers could destroy the entire dam. Magneto could fly away, but they would be in trouble.

And after learning from this incident, his thoughts had changed somewhat. Perhaps there was not no benefit in letting Magneto remain outside.

After Magneto and Mystique left, Professor X turned to Hawking.

"I'm sorry. I didn't expect you to encounter something like this the moment you arrived. And thank you for your help."

After Storm came in, he had read their memories and learned the full story. He knew everything Hawking had done to protect the school and save both mutants and humans.

He had not intended for Hawking to join the fight so early. He had only wanted Hawking to study properly and join the X-Men after graduation.

He had not expected something like this to happen as soon as Hawking enrolled. Fortunately, Hawking had helped. Otherwise, if Magneto had succeeded, it would not have been an outcome he wanted to see.

"I told you, you wouldn't regret your decision that day."

Hawking smiled.

But Professor X's next words wiped the smile off his face.

"However, I still need to say this: smoking and drinking are not allowed at school, at least not until you come of age."

Then he looked at Wolverine.

"And you. If you give him cigarettes again, I will turn your mind into that of a six-year-old girl and have Jean braid several pretty little pigtails for you."

At Professor X's warning, everyone burst out laughing.

Finally, after looking guiltily at the dead Mastermind, Professor X led everyone out of the Cerebro Chamber as well.

Mastermind had once been his student too, but even he could not make every student perfectly control their powers.

Meanwhile, outside the base.

Just as Magneto and Mystique walked out of the spillway, an arrow shot toward Magneto's head.

"Who?"

He used his powers to stop the arrow, but before he could examine it, the arrowhead suddenly exploded. The blast sent him staggering back several steps, and only Mystique's quick support allowed him to regain his footing.