Charles and Erik

Tang Tian, having dealt with Rockfort Island, brought Alfred Ashford to New York City. It was now 1943, and Magneto and his mother were about to arrive at the concentration camp.

Professor X and Mystique would also appear soon. Tang Tian's Umbrella intelligence forces had already located them. Wesker had been sent to Germany to find Magneto in the concentration camp. On Tang Tian's side, he decided to wait and see. He could also consider sending Mystique to Umbrella Corporation for training first. After all, genes that allowed someone to transform into a spy at will were extremely valuable. The Sentinels in Future Past had extracted her genes, so Mystique had to be obtained. The plot of X-Men: First Class, more than a decade later, was also very important.

In the wealthy Chester district of New York City, the future Professor X, Charles Francis Xavier, lived here. It was a classical English-style villa, surrounded by lush green trees and grass. Lingering echoes seemed to wrap around the villa brimming with natural charm, and the entire place was filled with a poetic, intoxicating atmosphere.

Charles had lived here since childhood. After discovering that he was not ordinary and possessed the ability to read memories and even manipulate minds, Charles knew he was special. However, he did not believe he was the only one with such abilities. Still, during several tests of his powers, he frightened others. That forced Charles to hide himself away, afraid that people would see him as a freak.

Americans, when it came down to it, deeply disliked and suppressed those born with special abilities. Yet they worshipped Captain America, who had been created through science. After all, no one disliked extraordinary power, just as warriors liked weapons. But when people could not possess such power themselves, jealousy, envy, and greed followed. Discrimination against mutants was, in truth, born from the desire for extraordinary power and the inability to obtain it.

Captain America was invincible on the battlefield, and Charles admired him greatly. Sometimes, kind-hearted Charles wished that he, or others with special abilities like his, could be accepted like Captain America and serve the public. Because of that childhood wish, Charles embarked on the path of harmony between humans and mutants, unlike Magneto, who wanted mutants to become rulers. One path was one of domineering conquest, while the other was one of peaceful integration with humanity. Those two paths created the two most powerful mutants: Professor X and Magneto.

On a dark and windy night, as the clock struck twelve, Charles suddenly felt that something was wrong in the house. He opened his eyes and got up, activating his telepathy to sense the strange presence around him. After discovering that something was off in the kitchen, Charles pulled a baseball bat from the corner of his room and gripped it tightly. Feeling its weight calmed him slightly. Before long, he reached the hallway outside the kitchen and walked down the stairs one step at a time, occasionally hearing clattering sounds from within.

Charles entered the kitchen nervously and saw, in the dim light, his mother standing in front of the refrigerator. He immediately hid the baseball bat behind his back and asked in confusion, "Mom, what are you doing? I thought you were a burglar."

"I didn't expect to scare you. I just wanted something to eat. Go back to sleep," said the child version of Mystique disguised as Charles's mother with a smile. But Charles was no fool. He could clearly sense that something was wrong, so he did not move. The child version of Mystique grew anxious, because she had only intended to fool Charles before helping herself to food in the kitchen.

"What is it? Is there something else? Hurry up and go to sleep," the child version of Mystique urged.

Charles remained silent. The child version of Mystique's greatest mistake was becoming Charles's mother. His mother always had the servants go to the kitchen, and she had never been so gentle.

"I'll make you a cup of hot chocolate," the child version of Mystique continued, unaware that she had already exposed herself.

"Who exactly are you? My mother would never be so gentle, and she would never go to the kitchen. Now tell me who you are." Charles stared coldly and sternly at the person before him, who looked exactly like his mother. From the beginning, Charles had known that this person was an impostor.

Charles's icy voice indeed startled the child version of Mystique. Seeing that she had been exposed, Mystique returned to her true form. The elegant middle-aged woman from moments ago became a small girl with short reddish-brown hair and blue skin.

"Aren't you afraid of me?" Mystique did not show the fear of being discovered by her master. Instead, she asked in confusion. That was understandable. There were no monsters like the Hulk of mid-Marvel yet. Mystique was now one of only two monsters, so naturally she frightened people. The other monster was the spatially gifted Red Devil.

"You know, I've always believed that I wasn't the only one with special powers. I think we're the same kind of people. Charles Francis Xavier. Raven." Charles was not angry after seeing Mystique reveal her true form. Instead, he smiled and extended his hand as the two introduced themselves at the same time.

"Are you hungry? We have lots of delicious food here. Take whatever you want. Actually, you don't need to steal anymore. You can live like a normal person." Charles smiled. The child version of Mystique also smiled. The rise of mutants had officially begun.

Meanwhile, at Umbrella's underground research facility in New York City, the Bioweapons Research Institute.

"Well, that was truly touching. But for the sake of mutant gene research, you may have to be separated for more than ten years." Tang Tian watched the footage switching on the Red Queen's display and muttered expressionlessly to himself.

"But I wonder how things are going over there. I wonder who is stronger, Wesker or Black King Shaw." Tang Tian thought about Wesker's operation in Germany.

At the same time, in a Jewish concentration camp in Nazi Germany, the gloomy sky matched the mood of the people below. Nazi soldiers separated the Jews and brought them into the camp. Once they entered, their fate had already been decided. Death might have been their only release.

After Nazi soldiers separated Erik Lehnsherr from his mother, Erik looked at the closing steel gate without fear and continued rushing forward. No one knew whether the Nazi soldiers had a shred of humanity, but they did not shoot Erik dead. Still, three strong soldiers restrained him and prepared to drag him away. Fueled by rage, Erik suddenly unleashed powerful magnetism and immediately twisted the steel gate. Realizing the severity of the situation, one soldier promptly knocked Erik unconscious. Only then did the disturbance in the camp end. The remaining soldiers stared fearfully at the harmless-looking unconscious boy.

After learning the cause of the disturbance, the camp commander, the mutant Sebastian Shaw, understood that another mutant like himself had appeared. His original plan had been to train Erik as his right-hand man and make mutants the rulers of the world. Thus, he began his plan by bringing the unconscious Erik and his mother before him.

A helicopter bearing the Umbrella emblem suddenly hovered over the Jewish concentration camp. Then, someone descended from its cabin on a cable. Dropping from thirty meters in the air, the person's feet smashed the concrete ground into a spiderweb of cracks. Hearing the helicopter, the Nazi soldiers hurried out. When they saw the Umbrella Corporation emblem, they breathed a sigh of relief. The Nazi soldiers all knew that Umbrella's German branch had provided Hitler with massive loans and weapons, which was why Hitler had not suffered any major defeats. Thus, all Germans knew that they could provoke anyone but Umbrella.

Wesker, dressed in a black trench coat and sunglasses, stared coldly at the gates of the concentration camp. Having fused with the Progenitor Virus long ago, Wesker could finally fight. Whether this mission succeeded or failed, Tang Tian would promote him to control a branch company. To Wesker, this was his first battle and the moment of his rise.

PS: Next chapter, Wesker vs. Shaw. The battle between mutant genes and the Progenitor Virus begins. Please support it.