"What exactly gives you so much confidence?" Logan asked, curiosity momentarily overriding his anger. He had personally experienced Rogue's ability, and frankly, it was a terrifying nightmare. The feeling of having one's entire being—spirit and body—sucked dry was definitely not a fond memory. He was sure Zhou Yi, having just experienced it, understood the danger.
"Technology provides me with all the confidence I need! I've always believed in a saying from a great man in my homeland: 'Science and technology are the primary productive forces.'"
"Go to hell," Logan grumbled, closing his eyes, signaling the end of the conversation.
That was precisely what Zhou Yi wanted. He drove the car in peace and soon arrived at Newark Airport. The private jet he had arranged was already prepped for departure.
While there were no explicit laws prohibiting Mutants from using large public transport, many consciously avoided planes. They preferred to travel anywhere in the World by car, or even on foot, rather than interact with tools utilized by masses of humans.
Human discrimination was one factor; another was that their long-standing isolated lifestyle had conditioned them to be reclusive. These deep-seated issues all needed addressing. Zhou Yi had a strategy in mind, but the final decision still rested with the Mutants themselves. He could only facilitate, not dictate.
To avoid unnecessary friction and prevent Magneto and his followers from tracking him, Zhou Yi had arranged this flight immediately after Professor Charles requested his help.
"Amazing! It's really a private jet!" As they stepped out of the car, one of Charisse's friends exclaimed this. Zhou Yi glanced over. It was Vivien Leigh, one of the companions who had joined Charisse on their last grand adventure. Unlike the shy Kitty, Vivien had a far livelier personality, somewhat similar to Charisse, but much more subdued.
"Alright, pals. We'll be spending the next few hours on this plane. Relax, everything has been arranged. As Charisse's friend, I guarantee you a comfortable journey. Right, Handler?" The last sentence was directed at a middle-aged man in a Pilot in Command uniform who had come to greet them.
He was the highly-paid Pilot in Command Zhou Yi had hired exclusively for his single plane. While the price was steep, his superb piloting skills were easily worth the cost.
"The World of the rich," Logan muttered under his breath, swatting away the polite offer from a beautiful flight attendant to take his luggage. He hoisted his worn suitcase himself and followed the bustling attendants into the cabin.
With him leading the charge, the somewhat reserved Children, spearheaded by Charisse, quickly scrambled inside.
Soon, only Zhou Yi, Ororo, and Jean Grey remained on the tarmac.
"Yi, is all this truly necessary?" Ororo still felt a lingering constraint. Despite her close relationship with Zhou Yi, she had never taken the final step. The main barrier was her inability to fully accept Zhou Yi's extravagant lifestyle. That upper-class existence always made her, a Mutant from a humble background, feel a little inferior.
Zhou Yi understood this sentiment, but changing his lifestyle for Ororo was both unrealistic and unnecessary. He believed Ororo would eventually overcome this mental hurdle, and he was patient enough to wait.
"Of course, it's necessary. My mother has been pressuring me relentlessly. She wishes she could call twenty times a day just to see her lovely little daughter sooner. Besides, the faster we move, the harder it will be for Magneto and his group to track us. With luck, they might even miss this summit entirely. Wouldn't that be a happy outcome for everyone?"
"Magneto has many Mutants under his command who are loyal. We don't know if some of them possess specialized sensory abilities that could detect our movements," Jean Grey pointed out, anticipating the worst-case scenario. By planning for the worst, they could find the most suitable solution. In short, she wasn't blindly optimistic about Zhou Yi's strategy.
"There's a saying: 'When the soldiers come, the generals will block; when the Water comes, the Earth will cover.' We are the proactive party. If Magneto wants to catch up, he'll have to be led by the nose for a while."
Zhou Yi was supremely confident on this point. Magneto and his followers might have powerful abilities, but Zhou Yi possessed equivalent resources. Moreover, Zhou Yi's vast economic strength and political background gave them an enormous head start.
"Alright, let's proceed with your plan for now." After careful consideration, Jean Grey conceded to Zhou Yi's opinion. Ororo naturally offered no further objections. In terms of strategic planning and resources, Jean Grey and Zhou Yi were clearly more professional.
"Trust me, there is no problem that cannot be solved. Magneto is just a man, not an unbeatable opponent." In front of the women he cared for, Zhou Yi's confidence was infectious. And a confident man is precisely the kind of man women are willing to depend on.
Zhou Yi's conviction easily reassured Ororo and Jean Grey. They trusted his ability to manage the situation, relaxing and allowing him to take charge.
After seeing Ororo and Jean Grey onto the plane, Zhou Yi turned to Handler, the Pilot in Command, and spoke with a knowing tone.
"Mr. Handler, I trust you understand your responsibilities, correct?"
"Don't worry, Mr. Zhou. My job is strictly to fly the plane; everything else is irrelevant to me. You are the Master of this aircraft, and you can bring aboard whomever you wish. Even for the sake of my salary and my mortgage, I will be completely honest and keep my mouth shut." Mr. Handler was an intelligent man. He knew what to say and what to keep confidential for his client. This wisdom was magnified after he took on a substantial bank mortgage.
Zhou Yi expressed deep satisfaction with Handler's words. He patted Handler's shoulder and smiled.
"Then the rest is up to you. I expect a comfortable journey."
"Of course, sir. A generous boss like you deserves ten times our hard work and effort."
Waving his hand, Zhou Yi entered the cabin. The remaining matters were Handler's responsibility. While it was Zhou Yi's plane, an aircraft is nothing without a good Pilot in Command—he was the Soul of the machine. Fortunately, Handler earned his title.
Under his skillful operation, the plane smoothly lifted off and soared along the scheduled route across the ocean toward Europe.
Long after the plane had taken off, their opponents finally received the intelligence they sought.
On a small, deserted island near New York, Magneto Erik sat quietly on a suspended metal chair. As one of the most powerful Mutants in the World, Erik's abilities were virtually insurmountable in modern human society.
He was the master of magnetism. Modern human society is entirely dependent on the range of influence his ability covered. He could effortlessly control metal elements; human cities were constructed from steel and concrete, and human armies were forged from steel. All of this, in his eyes, was meaningless. So-called cities and armies were no different from paper cutouts to him.
This alone was enough to make humanity terrified of his existence, and the power he wielded went far beyond simple ferrous metals. Magnetism is one of the most fundamental forces in the Universe. By mastering it, he held the key to potentially infinite power.
Since his Awakening, Erik had continuously developed his abilities, and even now, his progress had not halted. Though his body was aging, his control over magnetism had reached an astonishing degree.
At his current level, he could sense the Veins of the Earth's magnetic field. To some extent, he could even interfere with the movement of this massive celestial body. While extremely strenuous, it was not impossible for him. He simply found such an action pointless, and he never wasted his energy on meaningless endeavors.
Magneto Erik was an intensely utilitarian man and an extreme racial supremacist. This might be tied to his horrific early experiences as a prisoner under the Nazis. His every word and action carried the gloomy ruthlessness of that dark period.
Except for his profound love for his own Mutant race, he was almost the complete opposite of Professor Charles. Yet fate, in its cruel way, had inextricably bound them together: they were the most important people in each other's lives, friends who had shared life and death.
As best friends, they rarely disagreed, except on one single issue: the future of Mutants. Because of this core disagreement, they had been forced onto completely opposite paths. No matter how far apart they walked, they could never leave each other. Their destinies were thoroughly entangled.
Just as now, as soon as he received information about Rogue's existence, she had already fallen into the hands of Professor Charles's side. This placed Erik's plan into an extremely passive state. If there was one person in the World he least wanted to engage with, his good friend Professor Charles was that person.
This was not solely due to their friendship. Professor Charles's ability was also an existence that could be called utterly overwhelming. Think of the Mutants with various powers, the ordinary, unaware people bustling in the World. For Charles, with just a thought, he could turn all of them into his willing slaves—the kind who would die without regret.
From a pragmatic standpoint, the fact that Charles had not yet unified the World, or carved out his own territory to become a great Devil King, suggested one thing: he was a truly good man, even a morally perfect one.
Not everyone uses their abilities for good when they acquire power, nor does everyone have the courage to decisively abandon that power when they possess too much. But Professor Charles achieved both, and he did so with exceptional resolve.
Even now, Professor Charles actively restricts his abilities. While he remains the most powerful telepath, he is far from his full potential. Only Erik knew the extent of this gap, having witnessed it all. It was also due to Erik's expertise that he helped Professor Charles create a machine that could amplify his abilities back to their original Peak level.
Speaking of machinery, one cannot ignore Erik's other identity. He was, without a doubt, the best precision instrument manufacturer in the World.