novelonline Chapter 4700 X Royal Clash (6)
Chapter 4700 X Royal Clash (6)
Chapter 4700 X Royal Family: Fierce Battle (Part Six)
When Dr. Gregor arrived at the office, she still looked extremely haggard. She didn't give the mutant leader a friendly look. However, Professor X was always adept at handling such situations, and he said gently, "I'm sorry to have brought you here in this way, madam. But we've received definite information that some people don't want you alive."
“You’re not much better than them either.” Dr. Gregor seemed to be using aggression to mask his anxiety. “Right now, you’re probably the ones who want me dead the most, aren’t you? After all, my research has killed so many of you.”
Magneto's expression shifted, but Professor X remained calm, saying, "First of all, the Redgate Orchid factory wasn't built by you alone, nor was it something you wanted to build. Secondly, all the mutants who went on the raid were prepared to sacrifice themselves."
A scene appeared before Dr. Gregor's eyes. It seemed to be a memory Professor X had projected onto her. She was initially startled and instinctively wanted to reject it, but she was quickly drawn in by the content of the scene.
“We have to do this,” said a mutant wearing goggles. “Professor, trust us. Everyone here knows the danger of this raid, and understands that death is close at hand. But we have to go; it’s our mission.”
"Scott, you..."
"There's no need to grieve for us. If dying in the face of superweapons designed for mutants can save more of our fellow human beings from harm, I can't think of anything greater than this death. Professor, what you need to do is give our souls a true home."
Besides this mutant, many other mutants stepped forward. They weren't some unknown nobody; on the contrary, they were renowned X-Men members whom even Gregor knew. Even Dr. Gregor had to admit that each of them was a powerful mutant without weaknesses, almost godlike to ordinary people.
Yet they still resolutely boarded the spaceship and rushed towards the super weapons factory that could kill them. Until their last breath, not one of them regretted it; their only regret was failing to complete the mission.
After her memory was interrupted, Dr. Gregor was already sobbing uncontrollably. She wasn't mourning for the mutants, but for her husband.
“He didn’t want to go at all,” Dr. Gregor said. “We loathe this fighting and have never wanted to use our knowledge to build any weapons. But we had no choice; the government came knocking. It was supposed to be just research in the lab, but later on, they seemed worried that the ultimate weapon produced in the factory wouldn’t be able to kill the most powerful mutants, so they demanded we test it in the field. Good heavens, that’s near the sun, and Iraq hates the heat…”
The woman completely broke down. Professor X comforted her for a long time before she continued, "We're not afraid of sacrifice, but we don't understand the meaning of all this. Mutants make such great sacrifices to build their own home, so what about us? What's worth sacrificing to prevent a race from establishing a nation on their own island?"
“This is a complete dirty political charade!” Dr. Gregor clenched his fist and slammed it on the table. “They’re worried that mutant nations are too powerful and threaten their position. They’re worried about their political achievements and votes, but they never worry about whether their people are doing well…”
Magneto remained silent. He had genuinely believed that these scientists were risking their lives to protect the Earth, but now it seemed that wasn't the case at all.
That makes sense. When the Jewish people established their state, they occupied other people's land; they created an island for themselves. Moreover, this island is inaccessible to humans and has no valuable resources, making it meaningless to humanity. Ordinary people are unlikely to feel intense hatred towards their actions. Those who are so extreme in their anti-mutant stance that they don't want to see any good things happen to mutants are a minority; most people are indifferent and don't care. As long as no one is harmed, this matter is indeed irrelevant to most ordinary people, and they have no reason to sacrifice themselves for it.
However, some governments worry that mutant nations will bring too much uncertainty and affect the global order, so they force ordinary people to sacrifice for them. Mutants are said to be dangerous and uncontrollable; it's really hard to say who is truly the threat to Earth.
After resting for a while, Dr. Gregor managed to recover from her emotional breakdown and began to talk about her husband's situation.
“About two years ago, when we first started working for the government, we backed up our personal consciousness. This was done using a kind of consciousness transfer technology called ‘flashes,’ which is not very mature yet. It was something Ira stole from the lab where he used to work.”
“We do this to prevent people from discarding us after we’ve served our purpose. Although we can’t be resurrected simply by relying on consciousness, we can take revenge by connecting our consciousness to certain important devices. So I did it.”
"You transferred your husband's consciousness into the mother model?"
“No,” Dr. Gregor said. “To be precise, it was added to the production line of the Nimrod Sentinel robot. The moment this powerful robot is produced, my husband’s consciousness will take over, and it will become his new body.”
What will he do?
“I don’t know either, but I think he might choose to retaliate,” Dr. Gregor said.
“Doctor, we asked you to come here precisely to discuss this matter,” Schiller suddenly spoke up. “The mutants are researching the Totem Resurrection Project…”
Schiller briefly explained to Dr. Gregor the entire plan to resurrect him by creating a body using the Klaxya totem and filling it with consciousness. Then he said, "We hope, if possible, to retrieve your husband's fragment before the Nimrod-type robot is created. That way, he can be resurrected through the totem resurrection plan and reunited with you."
Dr. Gregor was completely stunned. Magneto was also shocked; he couldn't understand why Schiller had told Dr. Gregor about the resurrection plan. Wouldn't it have been better to let the powerful Nimrod-type Sentinels take revenge on those who had forced him?
However, seeing that Professor X didn't say anything, Magneto didn't immediately question it either. But Dr. Gregor clearly realized this, and she countered, "Why are you telling me this? Wouldn't it have been better to let my husband destroy the Redgate Orchid factory?"
"First of all, you're probably underestimating the mother model. It's still uncertain whether your husband's consciousness can gain the upper hand. If he is devoured and merged, then the Nimrod Sentinel robot might not just be a robot, but could become an intelligent life form with an indestructible and powerful body and human intelligence. Mutants probably can't deal with such a monster, and your husband will die."
"Furthermore, even if his mind takes over, we don't know whether he will choose to retaliate against the mutant who killed him or force his military or government. If he chooses the former, the mutants will still suffer. We can't gamble."
Magneto then realized that Magneto was right. An ultimate weapon without human consciousness was already terrifying enough; if you gave it a human brain, mutants would be completely wiped out.
Even the most powerful super artificial intelligence is still artificial intelligence, and it has certain limitations. But intelligent life is different; its behavior is unpredictable, making it much harder to deal with. Coupled with an incredibly powerful body, it's practically a second Ultron Zero, and it's likely that all mutants in the multiverse are in danger.
Dr. Gregor frowned. "You mean, my husband's consciousness might be devoured by the intelligent agent designed by the master model? But the master model shouldn't..."
After she finished speaking, she didn't continue, seemingly unsure of herself. After a long pause, she spoke: "In fact, the Red Gate Orchid factory uses many technologies that aren't from humans; they were taught to us by those people. We haven't fully grasped them; we've just followed the instructions. So, even I, the designer, can't say for sure what the final product will be like..."
“That’s incredibly audacious,” Stark commented. “They didn’t even understand the technical principles before launching the project. You’re lucky this thing was even built and hasn’t blown up yet.”
Gregor sighed and said, "It's always the same. They only care about the effect, not the stability."
“However, can your totem be used by ordinary people?” Dr. Gregor asked. “My husband is not a mutant, nor does he have the X gene.”
“It should be possible,” Professor X said. “However, only the body can hatch. You must make sure your husband’s consciousness is intact, otherwise he will just be a walking corpse.”
“I will find a way to retrieve the flash.” Dr. Gregor hesitated for only a moment before saying, “If he can come back safely, I don’t want him to seek revenge.”
After saying that, she looked up at Professor X and said, "You are a truly respectable elder, Professor. I can serve you until my husband returns. Although I cannot fully comprehend the technology of the Red Gate Orchid Factory, I do have most of the information."
"How much can you remember?" Magneto asked.
“All that I know,” Dr. Gregor said. “Professor, you can go directly to my memory and look through it; I’ve organized it all into categories.”
Magneto sighed again. How could he forget that for these super genius researchers, memory palaces and the like were just basic skills?
“I will pass that on to the technicians,” Professor X said. “Thank you for your help, Doctor. You will be a friend of Clarkia forever.”
Magneto nodded as well. In fact, Dr. Gregor's willingness to hand over the data so easily was indeed beyond their expectations.
Schiller had already explained that preventing her husband's consciousness from entering Nimrod's body was also beneficial to the mutants. Whether Gregor wanted to reunite with her husband or not, the mutants would find a way to do so, so it wasn't entirely about helping Gregor. Dr. Gregor could have simply refused to provide the information.
Don't assume Professor X could force it. Humans in this universe have sophisticated anti-mind-reading devices and technologies like instant memory erasure; otherwise, mutants wouldn't be driven to this point. Dr. Gregor, as the principal investigator, should also be equipped with these devices. If she stubbornly refuses to speak, the mutants might not be able to find a way.
Schiller walked over, shook hands with Dr. Gregor, and said, “Believe me, Doctor. The day you and your husband are reunited is not far off.”
“Thank you for your kind words.” Dr. Gregor was still very tired. She looked out the window at the lush greenery of Clarkia, a hint of longing in her eyes. “My husband and I both come from desert countries and have rarely seen such a beautiful forest. For mutants, this must be a wonderful home.”
“I appreciate your kind words.” Magneto walked over and shook hands with Dr. Gregor. “Earth is a beautiful place, and we all have a responsibility to make it a better place. Don’t we?”