Retirement Life Far from Leisure

Peace Road, 2nd arrondissement of Paris, France. This street, with its quaint and charming scenery, is also one of the world's most fashionable shopping streets.

The streets exude the relaxed and leisurely atmosphere of the France; trash is swept aside, and stylish, beautiful women stroll by. But if you get closer, you can smell a strong perfume scent mixed with a slight unpleasant odor masked by the perfume.

If anyone asks, regardless of gender, they'll all say the stench comes from the garbage on the ground. No one will admit it's from their own body.

Such contrasting scenes within the same setting embody the unique romantic and free spirit of the France.

Whoever comes will be deeply impressed.

Right there in the street-side café, two elderly men, both in their prime but already semi-retired, were playing chess.

Such a leisurely scene is not uncommon in this fashionable city, and of course, no one will bother them.

Under normal circumstances.

Today, on this sweltering day, a burly man, also dressed in a black overcoat, plopped down in the seat next to two old men playing chess.

He was a large, white man with dark brown hair and graying temples. His angular face exuded shrewdness and experience, and anyone could tell at a glance that this man was not someone to mess with.

But the most striking feature was that he covered his left eye with an eye patch, as if from over a hundred years ago.

Like pirates roaming the high seas.

The two old men playing chess were not exactly welcoming of this unexpected guest. But they didn't chase him away.

The waiter served the customer a cup of black coffee.

"You should try the coffee au lait here; at least it's not so bad," said the bald old man in the wheelchair.

The one-eyed burly man said, "It's alright, it's not the main character."

Another elderly man, with short hair, a thin face, and a weathered look, said, "So you've come to arrest me? I had no idea France was under your jurisdiction."

S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic, Hazard_Intervention,

Espionage_Logistics_Directorate is under the United Nations Security Council, and we have jurisdiction worldwide.

"Oh, then please produce the arrest warrant and read it aloud, then get me up. But I can't guarantee what will happen." The old man with hair grinned, his smile radiant. His pleasant mood of meeting and playing chess with his old friend had been interrupted, and he certainly didn't mind causing a ruckus.

The one-eyed, burly man didn't respond to that. He took a step back and said, "I'm just here to ask questions, not to arrest anyone. At least you wouldn't think I'd come alone to arrest you, would you?"

"No comment." "Ask away." Two people, two different answers. The two friends exchanged a glance, then said, "I'm not going to tell you anyway." "I don't necessarily have the answer."

One spoke bluntly, the other softened their tone; the outcome seemed the same. However, the one-eyed burly man had anticipated this and asked nonchalantly, "Where is Jean Grey?"

"I don't know," the bald man in the wheelchair replied directly.

"You all renamed that school the Jean Grey Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters in his honor."

You're not trying to tell me that you've given up on him and that you have nothing to do with him anymore, are you?

The bald man in the wheelchair said, "Changing the name was a decision made jointly by the current principal, Raven, and others. I'm retired, I don't care about that. Besides, even if I still care about him, what's the point of finding him? Hand him over to the government for trial?"

"What If...? the White House still wants to command the X-Men, let them restore the hotline and contact the people at the base. Coming to me won't do any good."

The one-eyed, muscular man said, "You know that's not what we think."

"Come on, Nick Fury. Is it really necessary to say things against your conscience in front of me? I don't even need to read minds."

I knew you were just spouting nonsense. Yes, you can keep your promises and not lie to me. But you don't represent your entire organization, do you?

"I will not tolerate any hidden threats," Nick Fury stated his unwavering principle.

"I want a pardon. A pardon signed by the president, with official legal force, agreeing to forgive and forget about Qin's past actions," Professor Xavier Charles Xavier requested.

"The White House agreed to your request in exchange for alien warships. You failed to deliver."

Charles said with dissatisfaction, "On the battlefield, the U.S. military recovered all the wreckage of those alien spacecraft; the X- X-Men didn't keep a single one. But why do you think we could leave behind an alien warship without support?"

"Where are the U.S. military? They waited for tens of minutes without a single fighter jet coming? Go back and ask those soldiers who were there; see if a bunch of infantry could capture a warship. We're just Mutants, not gods!"

"In any case, without a pardon, I'd rather Jyn hide away and protect herself. We both know that if we want to keep him under our noses, the Mutant Control Center is a cage, and so are the X- X-Men."

"At least I can choose what kind of life he should lead, instead of him being locked up in a lab as a guinea pig, or wasting his life in prison."

Actually, if Nick Fury used his resources, he could find Jean Grey. The key is how to actually win her over.

The simplest way is to have Charles Xavier, who is like a father to him, persuade them.

As Mutants capable of withstanding spaceships, Nick Fury couldn't think of any way to subdue his opponent if force were to be used. Even deploying the Howling Commandos might not be effective.

However, negotiations are always like this: first, they offer a price no one can accept, but then they indicate a compromise...

The second condition is easier to accept. So Nick Fury said, "Then the other person..."

Where is that Joker? Who is he? Where is he?

Magneto Lehnsherr, Erik had remained silent until now, finally spoke up. He said with disgust, "That guy is a madman. Like a grenade with the pin pulled and the safety lever popped open."

"You know it's going to explode, so you have to get the grenade as far away as possible before it blows you up. Trust me, you definitely don't want to keep it in your hands."

"Of course, I don't mind if that grenade explodes in that godforsaken strategic logistics place; in fact, I'd be happy to see it. But you don't think we care about that guy's whereabouts, do you? Go look in the mental hospital; they're everywhere there."

Nick Fury took out a photograph, placed it on the table, and asked, "Is this the Joker?"

The man in the photo is River Phoenix, a Hollywood prodigy and the youngest Best Actor winner at the Venice Film Festival. When the head of this intelligence organization presented him with such a photo, Charles asked, puzzled, "How did you come to this conclusion?"

"This is the result of my analysis team reconstructing the Joker's appearance from contours, ignoring the ink on his face, based on limited surveillance footage. Is it him?"

No one expected that this Kryptonian could manipulate his facial muscles to alter his appearance. Therefore, the reconstructed face was simply someone else's face. However, Professor X had seen his original appearance, so he never imagined that the face with makeup would be a completely different one.

For some reason, Professor X decided to keep the young man's identity a secret. Partly, the X- X-Men weren't obligated to share intelligence with the U.S. government, not to mention that their fight against Magneto was essentially a case of the U.S. military providing excellent support.

Besides, intervention by the U.S. government often pushes a good person to extremes. So he shook his head and said, "I don't know. Please check it yourself."

1

Nick Fury pressed further, "Then why would he help you?"

"Perhaps he's just a passing righteous messenger," Charles said dismissively.

Erik, standing nearby, chimed in with approval, "Ha. If you ask me, no one can predict the behavior of a mentally ill person, can they?"