"Mr. Eric, coming specifically to see me at this hour, it shouldn't just be for a casual chat, right? What exactly is this extremely important matter you just mentioned?"
Drinking coffee and listening to Magneto's continuous small talk, which was still the same old spiel about Mutant ideology, Hawking decided not to waste any more time and got straight to the point.
Usually, in a conversation between two people, whoever loses their patience first will fall into a disadvantageous position, losing the initiative.
But Hawking didn't think that way; he believed that as long as one's strength was sufficient, one would never lose the initiative.
Even now, without transforming into a Giant Ape or loading any protagonist template, he could suppress Magneto, so naturally, he didn't need to waste time comparing patience with Magneto. Finishing their discussion early and going home to reunite with his family was what he wanted now.
Seeing that Hawking couldn't hold back first, Magneto also knew when to stop playing coy. With a serious expression, he said:
"Hawking, S.H.I.E.L.D. is preparing to deal with us Mutants!"
"What? You're not joking, are you?"
Hawking's brow immediately twitched.
Among Nick Fury's current subordinates, apart from Captain Marvel, there weren't many who could fight. Carter, Hawkeye, and Black Widow could only contend with ordinary X-Men.
Facing him, Magneto, and Professor X, Captain Marvel alone simply couldn't hold them off.
This was also why Nick Fury was willing to accept trilateral negotiations back then.
Moreover, at this point in time, Avengers like Thor, Hulk, Iron Man Tony, and Dr. Stephen Strange had not yet appeared, nor had they been recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D. It shouldn't be like this, should it?
Could it be that Magneto himself wanted to stir up trouble?
In the current situation, Nick Fury, if he had any brains at all, wouldn't cause trouble. He felt that it was more likely the Magneto in front of him who wanted to cause trouble.
Magneto, the old fox, had clearly anticipated Hawking's suspicion. He gestured to Mystique beside him. Mystique nodded and took out some documents from her handbag, placing them on the table.
"These are some documents I obtained from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s interior after infiltrating it."
"As expected of the number one female Mutant spy, able to infiltrate even S.H.I.E.L.D."
Hawking picked up the stack of documents and quickly scanned through them, his expression growing more solemn the more he read.
"I didn't expect that Mutant child who could neutralize superpowers would actually be taken by S.H.I.E.L.D."
In X-Men 3, there was a Mutant child codenamed "Cure." All super-powered individuals who approached him would lose their abilities, which would only return after they moved a certain distance away.
Later, a company called Worthington developed a serum that could turn Mutants into ordinary people by studying this Mutant child's ability, and they also created corresponding weapons.
Magneto, fearing that humans would use this serum to eliminate all Mutants, gathered a large number of Mutants in an attempt to destroy it.
However, in reality, this serum couldn't permanently turn Mutants into ordinary people; it merely temporarily suppressed their abilities.
He had actually sent people to look for this company before, but he found that the Worthington company in this Universe was just an ordinary biotech company and hadn't found the Mutant child studying related serums.
He thought it was because of different Universes, so this plotline didn't exist here.
It turned out that S.H.I.E.L.D. had already intercepted it, and not only had they developed corresponding weapons, but they had also created collars and handcuffs that could suppress Mutant abilities.
This made him think of the handcuffs that suppressed Doctor Strange's magic abilities when he was captured in the movie Doctor Strange 2; perhaps they were improved based on this.
"Mr. Eric, why didn't you tell Professor about such an important matter first, and instead came to me?"
Hawking closed the documents and asked expressionlessly.
Actually, he wasn't surprised by S.H.I.E.L.D.'s actions. Nick Fury was always like this, always wanting to control all dangers in his own hands.
However, his own strength was insufficient, he couldn't control the situation, and instead caused greater trouble, only reflecting and restraining himself somewhat after the HYDRA incident.
It was like how he always wanted to study something far beyond his capabilities, like the Tesseract, hoping to use its energy to create powerful weapons, which resulted in an alien invasion.
However, Hawking wasn't afraid. He wasn't a Mutant, and those weapons might temporarily turn Magneto and Professor X into ordinary people if they were ambushed.
But if they hit him, they would be completely useless.
Even if that Mutant child was brought next to him, it probably wouldn't have much effect.
In his view, that Mutant child's ability shouldn't just suppress Mutant superpowers; it should be able to suppress all energy within a few meters around him.
Because not only Mutants, but even Red Tank, whose power originated from the Dimensional Demon Gods Cyttorak, would lose his abilities after approaching that Mutant child.
But his power system didn't belong to this World in the first place, so whether it would be restrained or not was another matter.
If it really would be restrained, given his physical condition, he would still exceed the limits of normal people and could solve the problem from the source in minutes.
Moreover, with his strength, as long as he didn't want it, that Mutant child couldn't get close to him.
Only Mutants like Magneto, who were almost like ordinary old people without their abilities, would be so afraid.
"You should know your Professor very well; he's too indecisive. After he finds out, he definitely won't agree to launch an attack on S.H.I.E.L.D. with me first. Instead, he'll go to Nick Fury to clarify the situation.
If Nick Fury realizes these things, we will have already lost the initiative.
So I want to cooperate with you, and then we'll join forces to destroy S.H.I.E.L.D. first, and then tell Charles the whole story. I believe he won't blame you then."
Magneto stared intently at Hawking, his eyes full of anticipation.
From his understanding of Hawking over the years, this kid was far more decisive and ruthless than he appeared on the surface.
For something that endangered all Mutants, and threatened his own and his family's safety, he would most likely side with him.
Just like when he killed Stryker, Hawking was no stranger to acting first and reporting later.
"I'll think about it!"
Hawking tapped his fingers on the table and did not reply immediately.
If he were truly a Mutant, he might actually go through with this with Magneto.
Unfortunately, he wasn't, and he always felt that things weren't that simple, because even with serums and weapons that could temporarily suppress Mutant abilities, he felt that with Nick Fury's mind, he wouldn't easily launch an attack.
Because if it went wrong and escalated into a war between humans and Mutants, even if they won, the casualties would definitely be heavy.
This was not the outcome Nick Fury wanted.
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