Three-Way Balance

A red sedan and a blue sedan drove from the entrance of the Triskelion toward downtown.

The red vintage sports car in front was Lola, Coulson's beloved car, capable of hovering and flying. Inside sat Nick Fury, Captain Marvel, Black Widow, and Hawkeye.

Following behind was the X-Jet driven by Mystique, capable of jet-powered super acceleration and invisibility. Hawking, Magneto, and Professor X sat inside.

"What's wrong with you two?"

From the passenger seat of the vintage sports car Lola, Nick Fury keenly noticed through the rearview mirror that Black Widow and Hawkeye in the back seemed distracted.

"That kid named Hawking seems to have the ability to see through a person's fate."

Hawkeye did not hide anything and gave Nick Fury a detailed report of everything that had happened in the lounge.

Nick Fury pondered for a moment after hearing this, then shook his head.

"You were fooled by him. The kid may be young, but he is remarkably mature.

"You could tell from both his performance in the battle earlier and the fact that Natasha failed to get any useful information out of him today."

"What about the things he said?"

A trace of hesitation appeared in Natasha's eyes.

Nick Fury pointed at the Brainwave Disruptor around his neck and explained.

"When Magneto broke our disruptor back then, Professor X must have invaded our minds. Naturally, he knew some intelligence about you two. That kid probably took advantage of that."

Natasha and Barton were both top agents. Under normal circumstances, they could not have been fooled so easily.

The main reason was that Hawking's identity as a Mutant and the exaggerated abilities he had displayed earlier were indeed highly convincing. What he said also happened to concern them personally, which was why they fell for it.

However, this also made Nick Fury view Hawking in a new light. At such a young age, it was already remarkable that he possessed such terrifying strength because of his Mutant identity. Yet he had even managed to use the intelligence in his hands to successfully fool two top agents.

With both this kind of strength and brains, once he grew up, he might be even more terrifying than Professor X and Magneto combined.

"I see. What a pity about my three children."

After hearing Nick Fury's analysis, Black Widow and Hawkeye immediately came to their senses. Hawkeye, however, was clearly somewhat regretful.

Meanwhile, in the blue car behind them, Hawking also roughly learned the contents of their negotiations with Nick Fury from the conversation between Professor X and Magneto.

In essence, S.H.I.E.L.D. would give up on registering, cataloging, and monitoring Mutants, especially those at the Mutant School. It would also do its best to facilitate the establishment of the Mutant Affairs Department, allowing Mutants and humans to coexist peacefully.

In return, whenever S.H.I.E.L.D. needed the help of Mutants with special abilities, Professor X would send the X-Men to provide friendly assistance whenever possible.

As for Magneto, he certainly did not agree to have members of the Brotherhood of Mutants assist S.H.I.E.L.D.

The condition Nick Fury offered was that the government would remove its wanted status for the entire Brotherhood of Mutants, provided that Magneto and the Brotherhood of Mutants no longer carried out terrorist attacks.

If Magneto was discovered leading the Brotherhood of Mutants in terrorist attacks again, S.H.I.E.L.D. and Professor X would join forces to deal with the Brotherhood of Mutants.

Hawking was not particularly surprised by this outcome.

S.H.I.E.L.D. was connected to the World Security Council, whose members were important leaders from countries around the world. Professor X simply could not refuse the conditions Nick Fury had offered.

Moreover, in the original timeline of Days of Future Past, Professor X had planned to make humans accept Mutants by developing the X-Men into superheroes, and he had later truly put that plan into action.

As for Magneto, he had no choice but to agree to these conditions now.

Unlike before, being wanted by the government had not mattered much, because his individual strength was formidable. He could lead the Brotherhood of Mutants through government encirclements at any time.

But S.H.I.E.L.D. was far more powerful than those government forces, whether in technology, agents, or the monstrously powerful Captain Marvel.

If he did not cooperate with Professor X and instead led the Brotherhood of Mutants alone while remaining wanted by the government, then once S.H.I.E.L.D. moved against him, neither he nor the Brotherhood of Mutants would be able to escape.

Thus, Professor X, Magneto, and Nick Fury were currently in a state of mutual restraint.

Professor X and Magneto joined forces to restrain Nick Fury, preventing him from tyrannically monitoring and arresting Mutants. Professor X and Nick Fury joined forces to ensure that Magneto would not dare casually launch terrorist attacks again.

Nick Fury and Magneto also subtly placed Professor X under tremendous pressure, because neither of them was as kind as he was. Given the chance, either might sacrifice his side to achieve their own goals.

However, due to their many years of friendship and their shared identity as Mutants, Professor X and Magneto were currently far more closely connected to each other than either was to Nick Fury.

This three-way balance could not last forever. Once any side found an opportunity to grow strong enough to easily deal with the other two, the balance would inevitably be broken.

And if a fourth or fifth party intervened, the balance would likewise be broken.

But for Hawking, this was already good enough. As long as the three sides could maintain this arrangement for a few years and give him time to increase his strength, nothing else really mattered.

Everyone now believed that he was a powerful Mutant capable of fighting Captain Marvel.

But in reality, only he knew that if it was not a full-moon night, and if he did not load that one-hour Protagonist Template, he was usually just a complete weakling, the kind who could be dealt with by a single handgun.

"This place looks pretty good!"

After getting out of the car, Hawking looked at the French restaurant ahead, whose mere decor made it obvious that it was high-end, and could not help licking his lips.

It was rare to get the chance to fleece a rich guy. Today, he was going to eat until he was stuffed!

The food at the Mutant cafeteria was indeed good, but how could it compare to a high-end restaurant like this? Besides, because his appetite was so huge, Yug had changed the food prepared for him into the kind that came in massive portions and was filling.

He could eat his fill at every meal, but the taste could only be described as mediocre.

"Waiter, please bring me twenty servings of this Apple Black Sausage and Pan-fried Sole Fish."

The moment he sat down in the private room, Hawking immediately picked up the menu and began ordering from the waiter beside him.

Nick Fury, sitting across from him, smiled at this.

"Little Hawking, you don't need to order for all of us. Just order what you like to eat."

"Mr. Fury, those are what I ordered for myself. Um... I usually eat quite a lot. If you think I ordered too much, I can order less."

Hawking immediately put on an embarrassed expression.

Professor X, Magneto, and Mystique beside him all wore strange smiles when they heard that, but none of them said anything.

After spending two days with Hawking, they knew exactly how much he could eat.