Marvel: Starting with the forced creation of villainous characters

Chapter 71: First Contact with Mutants.

After giving his name at the front desk, Mark took Emma to meet the president of the Carter family, who looked to be almost 40.

He's over 60 years old.

However, given the Western tendency for people to appear older than their actual age, this Irene Carter is probably only around 35 years old.

Irene Carter also looked at Mark with curiosity. Sharon Carter claimed that Mark was her godson, and even the Mark Company was named after him.

So Irene Carter didn't act arrogantly; on the contrary, she was very humble.

After all, although she was also from the Carter family, their blood ties were very distant, even beyond the fifth degree of kinship.

"Hello, Mark, my name is Irene Carter, you can call me Aunt Irene," Irene Carter introduced herself kindly.

Mark had no choice but to act young and call her "Sister Irene".

"Hello, Sister Irene."

Mark didn't call her "Auntie," firstly because he couldn't bring himself to say it, and secondly because a woman in her thirties probably wouldn't like being called "Auntie."

After the two introduced themselves, Mark got down to business and asked, "Sharon, you must have heard about this, right? We need a weapons workshop."

"It's all prepared for you. Is this the little genius who needs it?" Irene Carter looked at Mindy.

Irene Carter didn't underestimate Mindy; after all, this was the Marvel universe, a world where geniuses were as common as dogs.

"Follow me," Irene Carter said, and then led the way.

"By the way, has Dr. Stern's biological lab started operating yet?" Mark asked casually from behind.

As she led the way, Irene Carter answered meticulously, "Dr. Stern is setting up the laboratory, which will probably be ready for use in about two weeks."

Mark nodded, then asked about the recent situation of Mark's company.

Currently, Mark Corporation's main source of revenue is the military, which previously cooperated with Stark Industries, followed by the Department of Defense, which recently signed an order with Mark Corporation, as well as some smaller orders from other states.

Aside from the existing orders, the recent orders have all come from members of Shadow Touch.

This was originally a mutually beneficial deal, with both sides taking kickbacks. They weren't losing their own money, and both the members of Shadow Touch and Mark Corporation benefited.

The only ones who are somewhat pitiful are the taxpayers, but that has nothing to do with them, after all, the United States has its own unique circumstances.

Compared to a coffee cup priced at $5000, the kickbacks received by members of Shadow Touch are relatively low.

"The company shouldn't be short of money right now, right?" Mark asked again.

Irene Cardi nodded and said, "Orders have been pouring in lately, and the company's finances are in very good shape. We currently have no less than 30 billion in working capital."

Mark raised an eyebrow; Mark's company's revenue was even better than he had imagined.

Mark didn't interfere with the company's development; after all, professional matters should be left to professionals, even though Irene Carter was a relative.

However, in America, those with connections who lack ability are still a minority, and Irene Carter was chosen by Agent Sharon Carter, so even if her abilities are not as good as Pepper Potts' (Iron Man), they are not too bad either.

Upon arriving at the prepared weapons workshop, Mindy eagerly remarked, "I might have to work here for a while."

"As long as you're happy." Mark smiled and nodded.

Anyway, Mindy has already been enhanced by the glimmer of light, so even if she fights criminals at night, she won't die suddenly from working overtime during the day.

Having achieved his goal, Mark left Mindy at the company and went home alone.

Standing in front of the elevator in the apartment building, Mark looked at the elevator display showing the second basement level and began to wonder if he should move to a villa or estate.

While large apartments are nice, waiting for the elevator can sometimes be quite annoying.

ding dong~

When the elevator doors opened, Mark saw three burly men already inside.

Mark also curiously looked at the three people in front of him, feeling that they looked somewhat familiar.

Especially the one with the thickest hair, with a full beard, why does he look so much like Wolverine?

and many more.

Mark finally realized why these three people looked familiar.

A younger version of Professor X and Magneto, plus Wolverine—how could they not be familiar with each other?

These three people have somehow ended up together. Could it be that the current timeline is the timeline of Reverse Future?

But that doesn't make sense either; the timing doesn't match.

After all, it's almost 2009 now. Reversing the timeline to the future, especially the past timeline, should have taken place during the Vietnam War.

As soon as the elevator arrived, Mark rushed out.

Back in the bedroom, Mark immediately created a mirror image of himself.

After controlling the mirror image to become invisible, it followed behind Professor X and the others.

The mirror image is formed by the convergence of energy, has no brainwaves, and contains no metal, so Professor X's telepathic abilities did not detect that someone was following him.

In front of room 3017.

Seeing that no one answered the door after knocking for a while, Eric asked somewhat impatiently, "Charles, are you sure that person is here?"

"I'm pretty sure he's inside, but he probably sensed us too, and he probably doesn't want to see us," Professor X explained.

"I'll do it," Charles said, placing his fingers on his temples.

Charles asked in a gentle tone, "Caliban, aren't you going to come out and see your old friends?"

After a while, just as Magneto was getting impatient, the "click" of the lock being opened rang out, and a pale-skinned, sickly-looking old man poked his head out from inside.

Upon seeing the younger versions of Professor X and Magneto, Caliban's pupils contracted sharply, and his body stiffened. His first reaction was to close the door.

But Wolverine reacted quickly and held the door open.

Logan retorted, "Caliban, you weren't this cowardly when you were in the underground black market."

How could Caliban's sickly body compare to Wolverine's strength?

He resignedly opened the door: "Come in, it's a bit dark in the room, and there are quite a few empty bottles on the floor, so please be careful."

The three of them entered the dark room together. After some fumbling, Caliban turned on the bedside lamp next to the bed, and a faint light illuminated the dark room.

Eric looked at the room's layout with some confusion.

Professor X, who was standing nearby, kindly explained, "Caliban's superpower has a flaw: it makes him extremely afraid of sunlight."

Eric suddenly realized what was going on, and then looked at the other person with some pity.

Caliban looks too old, just like Professor X back then.

After shakily settling onto the sofa, Caliban slowly asked, "Who are you? Which organization do you belong to? What do you want with me?"

At this point, Caliban realized he had no power to resist this group, so he simply opened fire.

After all, no matter how bad the situation gets, it's still just a matter of dying.

No sooner had Caliban finished speaking than Eric eagerly said, "We need your help. We need you to help us find more of our compatriots."

Before he even arrived, Charles had already told him that Caliban's superpower was sensing mutants.

At first, Caliban's superpowers could only sense mutants, but as Caliban developed his superpowers, he was able to sense the superpowers of those around him.

However, due to the decline of the X-gene, Caliban's superpowers have developed a flaw: he can now only sense superhumans and can no longer distinguish mutants.

Caliban pointed to the vodka bottle on the ground and said with a bitter expression, "You're too late. Now my superpowers can only sense superpowered people; I can no longer distinguish mutants."

To prove his point, Caliban continued, "I had tried to seek refuge with my fellow countrymen before, but I only found one super soldier, and he was quite old. Then I found a superhuman, but he was a sorcerer, and he almost erased my memories."

Eric and Charles exchanged a glance upon hearing this, surprised that Caliban's superpowers had been affected in this way.

Eric said firmly, "We don't lack confidence now; we can take our time to find it."

"Why don't you look for it yourself? I remember you have that ability." Caliban looked at Charles with suspicion.

Charles explained helplessly, "The brainwave amplifier was stolen, and even the data was destroyed. Without the brainwave amplifier, my superpower sensing range is not as wide as yours."

"For the great revival of mutants, we need your abilities," Eric declared, raising the banner of racial righteousness.

In the past, Caliban would have scoffed at Magneto's words, but things are different now. In his old age, all alone and destitute, he has begun to yearn for his own kind.

Caliban glanced at the three of them, but he had many questions he didn't ask, such as why the mutant double had suddenly become so young.

But having spent years in the black market, he knew that knowing too much about certain things was not a good thing.

Caliban nodded: "I can give it a try, but I can only help you find superpowered individuals. Whether they are mutants or not is for you to determine yourself."

Eric assured him, "I can handle identifying mutants. You just need to help us find the general target."

"Actually, there are three—no, four—superpowered individuals in this building. Two of them moved here a while ago, but the other two only recently awakened their superpowers," Caliban explained excitedly.

"Especially those two in the back, they are very likely newly awakened mutants." After Caliban finished speaking, he looked at the door, or more precisely, at Mark standing in the doorway.

Mark, who was listening with great interest, instantly lost his enjoyment of the gossip after hearing this.

Oh no! I've gotten myself into this mess.

Everyone followed Caliban's gaze toward the empty doorway.

Just as Eric and his companions were wondering what was going on, Caliban, with a strange laugh, invited them, "As a fellow visitor, won't you come out and greet us?"

Realizing he had indeed been exposed, Mark sighed and then revealed his mirror image, this time without impersonating anyone.

Because Caliban's words just now have already given them away.

Mark raised his hands and said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, I'm just quite interested in you guys."

To be honest, Mark didn't want to be enemies with Professor X and his team, especially with the mutants from both sides joining forces, plus Wolverine.

Such a powerful lineup should be attacking the White House, not grinding against this newbie boss.

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