Mutants Are People Too

"Chief, Coulson says the reporters are ready. What kind of statement should we release? Say that vampires lost control and attacked humans?"

Beside Nick Fury, Agent Hill asked, only to be vetoed by Nick Fury.

"Of course we can't say that. If we announce that vampires exist, people will wonder why they never knew such a race existed before. Then, once they start digging deeper, the previous agreements between governments and vampires will be exposed."

"After that, they'll learn that the governments tacitly allowed vampires to live as parasites within human society. That would deal a major blow to every country's reputation. Worse still, it might lead some people seeking immortality to deliberately seek out vampires and ask to be transformed. That's the real issue."

Hill froze for a moment. She had not expected a simple statement to be so serious. Carefully, she asked, "Then how should we release the statement?"

"Like the last few times, pin this on the mutants."

Nick Fury said, "Mutants have all kinds of abilities anyway. We'll say these people were all monsters transformed by a mutant, and that the mutant has now been killed by us. Nothing like this will happen again."

"Pin it on the mutants? But wouldn't Professor Charles have some objections?" Hill asked.

When the vampire situation had spiraled out of control earlier, they had even planned to ask the X-Men for help. If Bai Ye had not stepped in, and the X-Men had truly wiped out all the vampires, only for the human authorities to turn around and dump all the blame on the X-Men... then mutants would really have it too hard.

"It's fine. I'll talk to him personally when the time comes. It's all for the stability of human society, so the mutants will just have to suffer a little more." Nick Fury said this matter-of-factly.

At the scene, Bai Ye stood on blood-soaked ground.

Having just slaughtered his way through the battlefield, he stared in confusion at the reporters surrounding him with cameras raised and microphones practically shoved into his mouth.

These reporters got here way too fast. Bai Ye was astonished. Only five minutes had passed from start to finish. Where had such a huge group of reporters come from in the middle of the night? Their efficiency was even higher than the New York police.

"There's no need to explain. We all know you're the hero who just saved the citizens from the mutants." The lead reporter spoke, leaving Bai Ye even more bewildered.

"Uh, mutants? What are you talking about?" Bai Ye looked utterly confused. You already know?

"Of course we know. The authorities just released an announcement saying that an Evil Mutant used his abilities to transform thousands of innocent civilians into monsters that only know how to drink blood. If you hadn't stepped in to help, tens of thousands of people across the entire district might have died."

"Ah!" Bai Ye felt cold sweat trickling down his back. So everything really was a mutant conspiracy.

At the same time, Bai Ye finally understood why mutants had such a terrible reputation.

Whenever some unexplainable supernatural event occurred, whether it was ordinary people or the authorities, they all assumed mutants were behind it.

With things piling up over time, how could their reputation possibly not be awful?

"By the way, are you a mutant?" Suddenly, one reporter at the scene asked this soul-searching question.

"Of course not. I already made a statement before—I'm just an ordinary, normal human being." Bai Ye said righteously. He absolutely could not choose the wrong side on an issue like this.

A statement? Seeing Bai Ye's highly recognizable face, the reporters immediately recognized him. Wasn't this the high school student who had saved the bank ten days ago? Damn, so he had a history of saving people.

But at the same time, a new question arose. Holding a microphone, one reporter asked, "You say you're an ordinary human, so how did you become so powerful? Could you explain?"

"Of course. The reason I possess such great power today is entirely because of my exceptional natural talent and long, relentless training. As long as you train as hard as I do, everyone can become a Super Hero." Bai Ye said.

Everyone can become a Super Hero. The reporters all felt that Bai Ye was talking nonsense, but they still maintained their professional standards and asked, "Could you tell us specifically what your training involves?"

"No problem. In one month, my autobiography, Everyone Can Practice, will be published. It records my training methods in detail. As long as you learn from me, with enough time and dedication, you can become as strong as I am."

Bai Ye shamelessly advertised right in front of the reporters, leaving them speechless. The advertisement was far too blatant.

Thinking Bai Ye was just rambling, they immediately changed the subject. "Then what do you think of mutants?"

"Mutants? I think mutants are great." Not wanting to offend humans, but also unable to offend mutants, Bai Ye could only say firmly, "Mutants are people too, and they are born with all sorts of abilities that allow them to contribute even more to humanity."

The reporters had not expected Bai Ye, who had just killed thousands of mutants, to hold such an attitude. They continued questioning him. "But didn't you just stop a mutant conspiracy?"

"It's like the difference between black people and niggers. Law-abiding people are called black people, while immoral people get called niggers. That's perfectly reasonable, isn't it? Are you saying that because one nigger commits a crime, all black people are guilty? You don't think that way, do you?"

Bai Ye countered, making the reporter beside him break out in cold sweat. Bai Ye's bizarre comparison between mutants and black people left him with absolutely no idea how to respond. He could only laugh awkwardly twice and did not dare press the matter further.

Since the cameras carried by the reporters interviewing Bai Ye were broadcasting live the entire time, Bai Ye's words were transmitted through online media to many places.

Watching Bai Ye's remarks on the live broadcast, Magneto's face, which had been livid from the official statement, finally looked a little better. He glanced back at the massive machine being modified inside the base and said nothing.

At the same time, in a tavern, everyone watched Bai Ye's livestream on television with rapt attention. A young girl wrapped tightly in layers of clothing, her cheeks slightly baby-fat, stared at the broadcast with sparkling eyes.

Especially when Bai Ye said that mutants were people too, her resolve became even firmer. She pulled her coat tighter around herself, walked out of the tavern, and vanished into the wind and snow.

After amiably dealing with the reporters, Bai Ye turned around and saw Chief George and his officers standing some distance away, all looking at him with complicated expressions.

"Good evening, Uncle—no, Chief George." Bai Ye smiled and took the initiative to approach, lightly shaking his hand.

George asked, "Weren't you going to the movies with Gwen? And what's with these... corpses?"