Changes

The morning light pierced the darkness of the night, illuminating the sky and earth. Logan, a cigar dangling from his lips, stood atop the Sokovia Clock Tower, overlooking the city that was awakening. Erik frowned in thought, and the two stood there in silence for a long time.

"Old Magnet," Logan suddenly spoke, puffing out smoke from his cigar, "Wasn't this decision too hasty?"

Erik didn't answer immediately. He raised his hand, and the distant metal weathervane began to slowly rotate. "What will Charles say?" he asked softly, more like talking to himself.

"Ha!" Logan scoffed. "That nice guy? He'll probably spout that 'violence can't solve problems' nonsense again." He took a deep drag on his cigar. "But in all my years, I've seen the exact opposite—sometimes, violence is the best solution."

Erik's gaze swept over the military installations on the city's edge, filled with burly Sokovia, their weapons remarkably sophisticated. "You know what's most ironic?" he said in a low voice, "the Mutants in this city are actually living very safely."

Logan followed his gaze. On the street, Mutants children were playing and frolicking, and in the shops, Mutants and ordinary humans were trading. Everything seemed so... normal.

"But what was the price?" Logan narrowed his eyes. "I smell too much rust. How many lives were sacrificed to bring peace to this city?"

Erik suddenly laughed, a laugh that felt foreign to Logan. "You think there aren't bodies in the basement of Xavier Institute?" he said softly. "Charles just chose not to look."

The sound of church bells drifted from afar. Logan noticed that the metal parts on the Clock Tower were trembling slightly with Erik's fingers.

"That kid Chen Tian," Logan exhaled a smoke ring, "Reminds me of an old friend."

Stryker?

"No," Logan shook his head, "It's Victor. The same crazy eyes, the same... ruthless methods." He paused, "But at least this kid's on our side."

In the morning light, two figures stood silently. In the distance, a helicopter was landing.

"So," Logan finally broke the silence, "We're really going to be that arrogant brat's henchmen?"

Erik raised his hand and put on the helmet that protected him from Professor X's mental abilities. "No," he said, "We're just protecting our fellow human beings in our own way."

Logan grinned, tossed his cigar on the ground, and stomped it out. "Ha! That's easy for you to say." He turned and headed for the stairs. "But... it's not so bad to be a villain once in a while."

As the two figures disappeared atop the Clock Tower, no one noticed the silver-haired figure in the shadows. Vergil sheathed his Yamato, a barely perceptible smile playing on his lips. The morning breeze swept by, carrying away the last wisp of smoke from his cigar.

Chen Tian lay on the grass on the hillside, his hands behind his head, a blade of grass dangling from his mouth, looking relaxed and carefree. 2B knelt beside him, with some drinks placed nearby.

"Master, Erik and Logan have already set off." 2B's voice was soft, as if afraid of waking Chen Tian. "They took the equipment you prepared."

Chen Tian's lips curled slightly upward, his eyes still closed. "It seems our two trainee members are already impatient."

"Very good, 2B, go and relay this to Melina. Give them as much intelligence as possible. Except in unavoidable circumstances, do not deploy Red Room agents to avoid exposing the Red Room to Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D.. again."

2B nodded slightly, a stream of data flashing across her eyes. "I've already notified Commander Melina. Master, Melina says the second 'Sky Red Room' is under construction. This platform is larger than the previous one, capable of housing at least 100,000 people, but it requires even more resources."

"Yes, build a few more. Then move the Sokovia citizens and the Mutants who come later up there, leaving an empty city for Hydra."

Chen Tian opened his eyes. "Regarding resources... those gangsters in Hell's Kitchen are incredibly wealthy. Rather than leaving them to harm the common people, we should use them ourselves. With three blood bags to provide nutrition, we won't have to worry too much about resources. 2B, send Ban over and tell him not to empty Hell's Kitchen out completely. Leave some 'bad guys' so we can make even more money."

"Mr. Ban has been notified," 2B replied softly.

"Ah~" Chen Tian stretched, "The layout here is basically complete. We just need to wait for the next time teleportation."

"Master, what should we do about Wanda and Pietro's mention of 'explosion' and Hydra's Baron Strucker?"

"That's simple. Wanda and Pietro will definitely join the Adjudicator in the future. Even if they join the Arbitrators in our original timeline, they'll only have dual roles, just like me."

"So, I've left an encrypted file for Melina. It contains plans for the next few years. Also, when Wanda and the others get older, Melina should pass it on to the two kids, so they Strucker under the guise of revenge. When that happens, remember to have them find a way to absorb Strucker's funds and technology. However, the prerequisite is that we really have to disappear in the explosion, which is a very difficult thing to do."

Chen Tian sighed, "The energy of the Time Stone is too unstable; we never know when it will trigger."

"There will always be an opportunity, Master." 2B lowered her eyes slightly.

"Yes, there's always a chance." Chen Tian lay back down on the lawn.

Time flies. In the two months since Erik and Logan joined the Adjudicator, the two have been constantly gathering information about being hunted through the Red Room's intelligence network. Through this information, they have rescued 200 Mutants. Of these, 100 chose to live a peaceful life, 50 chose to become logistics personnel for the Red Room, and the remaining 50 became the Adjudicator's reserve force.

With the addition of these Mutants, the Adjudicator continued to grow stronger, but their extreme methods still attracted the attention of the World Security Council.

The World Security Council dispatched the X-Men to capture Erik and Logan. A fierce battle ensued, during which Vergil entered the fray and defeated the X-Men. He even captured Storm Ororo Monroe. After being persuaded by Chen Tian and Erik, Storm agreed to temporarily join the Adjudicator.

For this reason, Storm was labeled a 'traitor' by the World Security Council. A warrant for Storm arrest was issued worldwide, along with those for Erik and Logan.

Ironically, the organization that grew stronger Erik and Logan saving World Security Council is called the Brotherhood of Mutants Mutants. Isn't that a kind of time loop?

Mystique, Raven Darkholme, a friend of Magneto and Professor X, somehow contacted Erik after learning about the matter. After Erik explained the Adjudicator's ideology to her, she was worried that the organization's creed was too extreme, so she took the initiative to find Chen Tian and had a "friendly" conversation.

No one knows the details of the 'conversation,' but Mystique became one of the Adjudicator. However, her role was somewhat different; she was the supervisor within the 'The Adjudicator,' responsible for overseeing any deviations from the 'The Adjudicator' organization due to its extreme ideologies.

To this end, Chen Tian also assigned other personnel to the 'Oversight Council', such as Melina and Red Guardian Alexei. Of course, their abilities might not be as good as Erik and Logan's.

But Chen Tian couldn't resist; he was good at winning prizes, and he recently won a set of armor—or rather, Cloth —from the Bronze Cloth of Saint Seiya Omega: Lupus Bronze Cloth.

This Cloth is truly useless to Chen Tian now, yet a pity to discard it. Why? Because wearing this armor doesn't grant him the same Cosmo as Saints, which only strengthens his body and spirit. Perhaps there are more areas to explore, but Chen Tian won't abandon his previous power to develop new ones.

Even more strangely, this set of Cloth seems to be different from the character Chen Tian summoned. According to Vergil and Diablo, this set of Cloth can remain in the world. What does that mean is that even if Chen Tian is teleported away by the Time Stone, this set of Cloth will not return to the Summoning Space with Chen Tian.

So this suit was left to Melina to restrain the radical Mutants.

"It's all about strengthening the body and mind, how could that possibly be enough to deal with Mutants?" Some people will definitely ask this question. Melina tested the level of physical enhancement while wearing this Cloth, which is equivalent to the combined strength of three super soldiers. As for mental strength, it didn't generate any superpowers like telekinesis, but after testing, the stability of her mental strength was so high that Professor X couldn't detect it at all.

Perhaps, by the time Chen Tian returns to the future, Melina will have become a female version of the Hulk. By the way, what's the Hulk's sister's name? She-Hulk?

Ahem, I digress. Anyway, if Melina wears this suit and continues to develop it, her future power will be formidable. As for whether she will develop Cosmo that could threaten Chen Tian's position... emmm, the Sparda Family silently brought up the Dragon King's Smile.

(Vergil: Want to take Chen Tian's place? I think Dimension Slash can feed him peanuts.)

What about Chen Tian? What is Chen Tian doing? He is clearly the leader of two major forces, but he is like a hands-off manager, doing nothing.

Ha, you're right, he's pretty laid-back.

No, to be precise, under Vergil's training, he began to try to combine Satoru Gojo's power with Nero's power, since Satoru Gojo's 'Azure' and 'Hell' were both very valuable.

It's about Limitless, and it's quite useful, haha. Speaking of which, when Chen Tian was training with Vergil, he tried using the 'Limitless,' and wow, he almost ended up like a 2.5-level Wu.

Satoru Gojo died at Sukuna's hands because of the Spatial Slash. Spatial Slash, does that sound familiar? Vergil can do it too... and he's even more skilled at it... except he calls it 'Dimension Slash'.

Sukuna's slashes are more physical, while Vergil's Dimension Slash are more about dimensional destruction.

Look at them, how sophisticated they are! The destruction of dimensions, wow! Sukuna, study hard, watch closely.

Vergil said that if he wanted, he could sever the entire time and space of a designated area for a short period of time.

Chen Tian chickened out. As expected of a big shot, cough cough, being called a kid by such a big shot, Chen Tian didn't find it so hard to accept.

During this period, Chen Tian continuously developed new abilities, such as combining the Blue Rose Gun with 'Zi', so that each shot could deal small 'Zi' damage.

There's also the use of 'Azure' and 'Hell' to combine with Nero's fighting style, creating moves that are faster and more destructive.

Want to know the power of these techniques? Ask Madara.

(Ban: I don't know either. Suddenly a Demon Hand appeared and started beating me up. Just as I was about to dodge, Chen Tian's bullet hit me. After dodging the bullet, I was pulled back and forth like crazy. The most frustrating thing is, my Shinra Tensei and Banshō Ten'in can't pull him in! Comrades, feed me peanuts! The Sparda Family freaks!)

"Pietro, you need to concentrate." Chen Tian stood still, blocking Pietro's rapidly approaching attack.

"Your speed is extremely fast, making it difficult for most people to react. Therefore, your attack method should be concise: if you miss your first strike, retreat and look for another opportunity."

"I understand!" Pietro's figure disappeared again.

From a distance, Erik carefully guided Wanda.

"Wanda, my abilities are different from yours, but I can teach you a lot about control." Erik's index finger spun in the air, and a piece of iron under his control constantly deformed, forming different shapes.

"Your ability has a power to alter reality, something I've never seen before in my life. You could say that, if developed to its fullest potential, you could change the entire world. Therefore, you shouldn't be rushing to think about how to increase your destructive power, but rather learn to control it."

Erik is very observant because he heard from Chen Tian that the twins have a close connection with his ex-girlfriend Margot, but Chen Tian didn't explicitly tell Erik whether the two were his children. In the movie, the two have no relation to Erik, but in the comics, their identities keep changing.

As for a paternity test? Chen Tian had thought about it, but was too lazy to do it. It was Erik who suggested the test, so why should he do it? After all, Erik had never fulfilled any of his responsibilities as a father.

Just as Chen Tian was training Pietro Erik was training Wanda, 2B approached from a distance, "Master, Ms. Melina has sent a message."

Upon hearing 2B's words, Chen Tian reached out a hand and placed it on Pietro's head as he rushed past. He then turned to look at 2B and asked, "What did you say?"

"Ms. Melina says that the 'Sky Red Room - City' has been completed and the relocation plan can begin soon."

"Okay, let's go take a look." Chen Tian turned to look at Pietro, whom he had accidentally pushed to the ground, smiled awkwardly, and quickly helped him up. "Are you alright?"

Pietro didn't speak, his face covered in grass clippings and dirt, looking resentful.

Chen Tian smirked and patted Pietro's head. "Let's go, we need to go back to Sokovia."

The Sokovia sunset painted the entire sky red. Chen Tian stood on the terrace of the city hall, watching the orderly evacuation of the people below.

Humans and Mutants walked side by side, and children's laughter echoed through the streets, a scene that softened Erik's gaze.

"It went more smoothly than I expected." Erik walked to Chen Tian's side. "I thought some people would resist leaving their homes."

Chen Tian chuckled softly, tapping his finger lightly on the railing. "Humanity's fear of the unknown will always exist. But when we presented the evidence of Hydra's instigation of a civil Civil War, and the holographic projection of Sky City..." He paused, "The instinct for survival triumphed over everything."

In the distant evacuation zone, Pietro was using supersonic speed to help people carry their luggage, while Wanda was using Chaos Magic to assist elderly people with mobility issues. Logan stood on the cordon, a cigar dangling from his lips, his sharp eyes scanning every corner.

"They're growing up so fast," Erik said, gazing at the twins with a tender voice.

"Yes, but they still need to grow. In the future, they will be one of the 'The Adjudicator,' but I hope even more that they will be 'Arbitrators.'" Chen Tian watched the two little ones busy at work. "We will bear the ugly side, but the flowers must still face the sun."

"Yes, it's better for young people to be more cheerful and outgoing," Erik laughed.

"Alright, Erik, go down and help. After all, you're quite capable of carrying things." Chen Tian patted Erik on the shoulder.

"Hey kid, what are you going to do?" Erik asked with a helpless smile.

"Me? Of course I'll handle things here." Chen Tian spread his hands.

Erik knew that Chen Tian was just using this as an excuse. During this time, he had already seen through Chen Tian's true colors—a hands-off manager. After watching Chen Tian enter the city hall, he shook his head helplessly, controlled his abilities, and flew towards the evacuation zone.

Chen Tian walked into City Hall, leaned back on the sofa, and 2B handed him a can of Coke at the opportune moment. Chen Tian took it and took a sip. "2B, what's the situation with S.H.I.E.L.D.. and Hydra right now?"

After placing the food on the plate in front of Chen Tian, 2B said, "Master, during this time, they have also noticed something amiss with the flow of funds, which has led to several conflicts. Currently, they have shifted their focus to their own system, trying to find the problem within its own framework."

"Then tell Melina to be mindful of her actions. By the way, have you completed those investments she was asked to make?" Chen Tian put down his cola and picked up a slice of pizza.

"Ms. Melina has already made the corresponding investments."

"Okay, is there anything else I forgot to do?" Chen Tian asked, his words muffled as he chewed on pizza.

"There are many things that need to be done by you, such as overseeing the transfer work and processing Ms. Melina's intelligence..."

"Stop, stop, stop. Don't tell me about these things. Let Erik and Melina discuss them separately..." Chen Tian waved his hand at 2B.

As soon as Chen Tian finished speaking, a verdant light emanated from his body. Chen Tian was taken aback, "Why at this time...?"

"I see," Chen Tian laughed. "Wanda said that when I died in the explosion, it was exactly the time of the teleportation."

2B's little face was full of surprise, but her body began to fade away slowly.

Chen Tian snapped his the Snap, and 2B entered the Summoning Space.

He felt an endless heat wave surging up from beneath his feet.

The explosion at the city hall shattered the Sokovia twilight. Amidst the towering Kakkō, metal fragments and broken stones rained down.

Erik froze on the spot, his pupils contracting sharply, reflecting the all-consuming flames. "No... this can't be..." His metal knuckles cracked as he clenched his fists, freezing the incoming metal fragments in mid-air.

Logan's cigar fell from his lips. His Beast -like sense of smell instantly caught a familiar scent—the remnants of Chen Tian's clothes. "That kid..." Wolverine's claws shot out uncontrollably, "What the hell is he up to now?!"

Pietro's figure froze in the instant of the explosion. "Chen Tian!!" The boy's voice tore through the air.

Wanda's Chaos Magic erupted uncontrollably. Crimson energy surged across the street like a tidal wave, freezing falling debris in mid-air, and the little girl's legs buckled, causing her to kneel on the ground.

"He promised..." Wanda's voice trembled. "He said he would be with us..."

Storm Ororo summoned a whirlwind to shield the crowd, but her eyes remained fixed on the epicenter of the explosion. As X-Men, she had witnessed too many sacrifices, but this time... it was different. That always-smiling young man, really...

Melina, clad in the Canis Major Cloth, descended from the sky, her brow furrowed. "Everyone!" Her voice, amplified by the instruments, reverberated throughout the evacuation zone. "Proceed to the rendezvous point as planned! This is Chen Tian's order!"

Erik suddenly sprang to his feet, a torrent of metal swirling around him. "Orders?! He's dead! All you Red Room people care about is—"

"Shut up, Erik!" Melina interrupted decisively. "Now! The most important thing is to get the people we're protecting safely evacuated! There can't have been only one explosion here!"

She turned to the dazed twins, "Especially you two, Wanda, Pietro."

Pietro suddenly rushed in front of Melina, the wind pressure generated by his supersonic speed dispersing the surrounding dust. "Us? What happened to us?"

"Revenge." Wanda's voice was so cold it didn't sound like her own.

The girl slowly stood up, Chaos Magic condensed into a dark vortex in her palm. "I will definitely find the culprit behind this explosion!"

Logan frowned at Erik: "Hey, Old Magnet, something's not right..."

Erik turned around. "Let's go."

Where to?

"Do what he said before," Magneto's voice came from inside the helmet. "Sky City needs a guardian, Mutants need a home."