"Y-You... are you one of those two people?"
Hearing Raven's words and recalling the report from earlier that day, the president's voice rose in disbelief.
In fact, the Black King's plot had been exposed halfway through his battle with Ron.
The fleet personnel had reported the matter to their superiors, though no one believed it at first. They wondered whether the radio operator had lost his mind.
Someone had pulled a nuclear submarine out of the seabed? Two people had fought in the sky like gods, radiating terrifying nuclear energy? Had he read too much of the Bible and mythology?
Or had he smuggled marijuana aboard a warship and gotten high?
But before long, once it was confirmed that the two most powerful super fleets on Earth had been destroyed, America's upper echelons fell into shock and bewilderment. Following the investigation, they suddenly discovered that, at some point, a group of special mutant humans had emerged among humanity, possessing all manner of strange abilities.
The powerful among them possessed abilities that resembled miracles.
Since this had happened in foreign waters, it was difficult to suppress. The matter was also far too significant, and it had already spread everywhere, causing worldwide uproar and panic.
"That's right, but I was the one who stopped it.
"As for the person who destroyed the fleets afterward, he was an extremist among our companions. We have already gone our separate ways."
Ron stated that he stood on the side of justice and had absolutely nothing to do with a terrorist like Magneto.
"You really are..."
With his suspicions confirmed, the president jumped from his chair in terror, trembling as he stumbled backward.
His scalp tingled as he stared at Ron as though looking at some monstrous calamity.
According to the information reported from below, the man who had destroyed the two strongest fleets on Earth by himself had been unable to even intervene in the battle between the young man before him and Sebastian Shaw.
"You're always making such a fuss. How am I supposed to talk to you?"
Behind the desk, Ron looked at him helplessly from his seat.
"I'm sorry. Please forgive my lapse in composure."
Suppressing his fear, the president swallowed and sat back down.
"So you came today to explain this matter, to prevent any misunderstandings?"
He asked cautiously, no longer showing the slightest displeasure.
Everyone aboard the two fleets had been buried beneath the sea. The ships' black boxes were still on the ocean floor and had yet to be recovered, so almost no one could clearly explain what had happened.
"More or less, but that isn't all."
"Mr. President, you are one of us mutants too. Shouldn't you do something for mutants?"
The smile gradually faded from Ron's face. He slowly leaned forward with a serious expression, carrying an indescribable pressure.
"I..."
In the next instant, Kennedy felt that his earlier ominous premonition might be about to come true.
Ron possessed terrifying power strong enough to overthrow a nation, and he held Kennedy's weakness firmly in his grasp.
Perhaps... perhaps the person sitting behind that desk and issuing orders in the future would be someone else.
"I never understood why presidents always loved to smile.
"Now I know. That was his ability."
After ending their "friendly and cordial" meeting with the president, Ron took Raven away from the White House and returned to the hotel where they were staying temporarily.
Raven brought up how, at the end of the meeting, she had curiously asked about the president's ability. After hesitating, the president had told her what it was.
"A smile can create a sense of affinity in people who don't resist it, gradually building goodwill.
"His ability being that? I'm not surprised in the slightest."
Ron shook his head.
As a boy who loved to smile, his smile was his greatest weapon.
It might not stop bullets, but it was enough to let him thrive in politics.
"Are you leaving?"
Raven took off her women's suit jacket. Wearing only a thin shirt, she turned around with worry on her face.
During Ron's "discussion" with the president, she had sensed that many of the arrangements were being handed over to her for coordination with the president.
It made her feel as if Ron were about to leave.
"I'll be leaving for a while."
"Where are you going, Ron? I... I want to go with you." Raven walked over softly and hugged him, her face full of reluctance.
"I'll come back to see you from time to time. I won't be gone for long."
He indirectly refused her, wrapping his arms around Raven in return. Before the saddened woman could say anything else, he kissed her.
The two slowly fell back onto the bed.
In another hotel room, Hank, who had transformed into Beast and could not conveniently appear before others, was still waiting for Ron and Raven to return and tell him the result.
But he waited and waited until midnight. Only when Ron went downstairs to buy some things they were short on did he remember Hank and notify him in passing.
After that day, as the first light of dawn broke, Ron spent some more time in the X-Men universe with Raven, keeping her company.
Another major reason he dared to entrust matters to Raven was her ability. Once her potential had been awakened, her power had gradually grown stronger, and she had become a humanoid Sentry.
She could copy all physical superpowers of mutants below Level Four.
Template mutant Raven, price: 100,000.
Aside from the Black King's energy absorption, which she could not copy, she had copied his ability to store and release plasma energy, survival of the fittest, and super-speed regeneration.
She also possessed the White Queen's ability to turn into diamond and become immune to Psionic Ability.
After Ron used the president to rescue the White Queen from the CIA, he had her assist Raven with affairs. Raven was too young, after all, and some matters required someone with more mature experience. It was enough for Raven to grasp the overall direction on his behalf.
The White Queen had been able to assist the Black King in establishing and running the Hellfire Club, developing its influence and drawing in the upper echelons of two countries. She was undoubtedly capable and experienced.
Not wishing to return to prison, and shocked by Ron's abilities, the White Queen submitted to him, just as she had followed Magneto after he originally rescued her.
"Mutants are a global issue. Stirring things up in only one country is useless. You either need to intervene internationally, or become part of the international community yourself."
What Ron intended to do was actually very simple: first establish a small country during the early stages, then transform it into a nation of mutants and take in all mutants.
Internationally, any mutant could automatically obtain citizenship in the mutant nation at birth. If they committed a crime, they would be extradited back to the country for trial, avoiding all persecution.
What Raven and the White Queen needed to do was prepare for the establishment of that country.
Then, once he returned, he would formally establish the nation, take over everything, and continue from there...
The Boys Universe.
A familiar room.
Ron's figure suddenly appeared.
"It's really been a long time since I came back."
He looked over the familiar furnishings, sighed, then walked to the window and looked outside.
His younger brother Ryan was playing with a sandcastle in the yard.
He turned on the computer and went online, preparing to see how time flowed between the two universes before proceeding with the next step of his plan.
He also had some ideas for Earth in The Boys Universe.
Compound V was truly a good thing.
Before you continue