Meanwhile, on the X-Jet flying to New York.
Professor X looked at Magneto with a solemn expression and said, "I just read the Director's memories. Humans are stronger than we imagined, and Earth isn't as safe as we thought. Perhaps we should temporarily set aside some of our differences."
The moment Magneto crushed the telepathic scrambler, in addition to paralyzing everyone at S.H.I.E.L.D., he also took the opportunity to read Director Nick Fury's memories, learning of the existence of the Skrulls and the Kree.
If it were before, he would have been confident that with his own abilities and the X-Men, he could protect the students of the school, slowly change humanity's prejudice against Mutants, and allow humans and Mutants to coexist peacefully.
But after today's battle and reading Nick Fury's memories, he understood that it would be extremely difficult.
If not for Hawking's sudden outburst, all of them would have been captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. by now.
To be honest, he was very glad he went to Sokovia and recruited Hawking to be a student at the Mutant School.
So at this moment, he shared the intelligence he knew with Magneto, hoping Magneto could return, just like in their first battle, and face the current situation with him, even if only temporarily.
"Charles, I can cooperate with you, but you must understand one thing: if I have the chance, I will still destroy humanity and create a World of only Mutants.
If the entire World were Mutants, I don't think those so-called aliens would be anything to worry about."
Magneto looked at Professor X, his expression still arrogant.
He had always believed that Mutants were the next step in human evolution, a higher form of life than humans, even gods. Mutants weren't afraid of aliens that humans couldn't deal with.
The prerequisite was to first get rid of the despicable humans who loved infighting and backstabbing.
"When that time comes, I will stop you. At least until then, we are both fighting for the interests of Mutants."
Professor X replied with a smile.
He didn't expect Magneto to be truly cooperative; achieving a preliminary consensus was enough.
"Professor X and Magneto joining forces. It seems we can develop well for a few years."
Seeing Professor X and Magneto shake hands, Hawking couldn't help but nod internally.
The combination of Magneto and Professor X was definitely a case of one plus one being greater than two, a true alliance of the strong.
Professor X's strength lay in dealing with all living and thinking beings, while his weakness was cold machines and high-tech weapons.
Magneto, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. Most high-tech weapons could rarely exist without metal, meaning they would inevitably be countered by Magneto.
"Hawking, I've decided I'll never call you Xiao Houzi again. How about Ape Demon? Or Great King Kong isn't bad either!"
At this moment, Wolverine lit a cigar and smiled, patting Hawking's shoulder.
Having seen the place where he was experimented on and having tortured Stryker, he had recovered most of his memories and resolved his inner conflicts.
So he decided to make Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters his new home and truly join the X-Men. Perhaps he could occasionally guest star as a teacher at the school, teaching combat and history.
"Ape Demon is better, or Ape God. Great King Kong sounds too rustic!"
Hawking, now relaxed, no longer cared about being given nicknames. Instead, he started chatting animatedly with Wolverine.
Death Woman, sitting behind the two, looked at Wolverine, who was talking to Hawking, with a very complex expression.
Her real name was Yuriko Oyama, a martial artist from Osaka and a Mutant with regenerative abilities.
A few years ago, Stryker found her and told her that her father, who had been missing for several years, had died at the hands of Wolverine. He showed her a video of Wolverine killing her father.
To seek revenge on Wolverine, she joined the new Weapon X project.
However, after the successful modification, she did not embark on her desired path of revenge against Wolverine. Instead, she was controlled by Stryker using Mastermind's brain fluid, turning her into a killing machine.
During the years she was controlled, she also learned the true reason for her father's death.
It turned out that her scientist father was forcibly abducted by Stryker from Osaka to help complete the Weapon X project, and the video of him dying at Wolverine's hands was actually an accidental killing when Wolverine escaped the Base.
Therefore, the real murderer of her father should have been Stryker.
"Hey, beautiful, if you have nowhere to go, you can come to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. I think Professor would welcome you!"
At this moment, Wolverine also noticed Death Woman's gaze from behind and smiled, extending an invitation.
He felt sorry for accidentally killing Death Woman's father and was very grateful that Death Woman, after regaining consciousness, was willing to help them fight against S.H.I.E.L.D.'s attack.
"Indeed, the school will likely need many teachers in the future."
Hawking also nodded in agreement.
For him, the stronger the Mutant School, the better, as it meant he, Wanda, and Pietro would be safer.
Forty-odd minutes later, the Harry Potter template loading time ended. Hawking looked at the vanishing firebolt and invisibility cloak beside him and couldn't help but think before closing his eyes:
"Since there's even a firebolt and invisibility cloak, maybe the Goku template will also have kinto'un. Next time I load a template, I'll try shouting for it."
As Hawking fainted due to the template's side effects, Professor X looked over.
"Little Hawking, are you really a Mutant?"
He couldn't read Hawking's mind, nor could he sense the unique Mutant brainwaves emitted by Hawking, so he couldn't determine if Hawking was a Mutant at all.
He had only previously judged him to be highly likely a Mutant based on the abilities Hawking displayed and the tail growing from his backside.
But after tonight's battle, he was no longer so sure.
Because the abilities Hawking displayed were simply too numerous: a powerful body and energy, giant ape transformation, and summoned weapons and clothes with special abilities, and so on.
This had exceeded his understanding of Mutants. At least so far, he had not seen any Mutant with so many abilities.
"Never mind. Whether you are or not, you are a student of our school and a future X-Men."
In the end, Professor X also felt relieved.
Actually, at this point, dwelling on whether Hawking was a Mutant was no longer that important.
Hawking attended the Mutant School and fought to protect Mutants, so he was a part of this big family.
Moreover, even if Hawking wasn't a Mutant, his younger brother Pietro was one hundred percent a Mutant.
That was enough.
"Charles, sometimes I truly envy you. Your school has too many elites, but unfortunately, many of them are wasted by you."
Magneto, standing next to Professor X, was also looking at Hawking at this moment.
Compared to the handful of people in his Brotherhood, Charles's school had far too many talented Mutants.
"Eric, my place is a school, and not all students like to fight. They should have their own choices for the future."
Professor X explained with a smile.
Magneto shook his head after listening:
"But if they don't learn to fight, how can they protect themselves in a dangerous human society?"
"Let's not talk about this. It'll be more than two hours until we reach the school. How about a game?"
Professor X took out a chessboard from a drawer in the X-Jet.
Seeing this, Magneto took off his helmet and placed it aside, a rare smile appearing on his face:
"I'll go easy on you!"
"No, you won't."
Professor X also smiled.
At this moment, they seemed to have returned to the past.