"After investigation, the attackers who stormed the rally have no connection to Trask Industries; the so-called hiring is pure fiction."
"Trask Industries is indeed developing robots, but the research aims to protect humanity from super-powered threats, not to hunt Mutants as rumored."
"The truth behind the incident is still under further investigation."
The authorities acted quickly; an official statement was released almost immediately.
To the public's surprise, Trask Industries turned out to be innocent.
Yet the uproar introduced many people to Trask and sparked keen interest in robots that could shield humanity from super-powered threats.
Though unexpected, the CEO of Trask Industries seized the moment and launched a publicity campaign at once.
"That's right—our robots are purely defensive."
"Hunt Mutants? Impossible. We'd never be that cruel."
"Military contracts? Perfectly normal—soldiers need protection too!"
"No, they will absolutely never pose a threat to humans…"
Smack!
Scott promptly turned off the TV—his girlfriend Jean was about to explode.
"He's lying!" Jean told everyone in the war room.
"I saw the head of Trask Industries hiring the Thug—right in the gang leader's memories!"
"So the authorities are covering for Trask," Jean said; Logan naturally backed her up.
He looked at Sebastian Shaw: "So, Mr. Expert in official relations, what's your move?"
Logan hadn't been present when Fang Yuan, Professor X, Magneto, and Shaw drafted the plan, so he was as curious about this sudden expert as Cyclops and the others.
But Logan felt he'd heard the name Sebastian Shaw somewhere before.
The X-Men naturally trusted Jean, so they were furious, yet Shaw stayed calm, smiling: "I told you—Mutants must trust the authorities."
"Jean, when reporters Interview you tomorrow, be sure to say that, despite doubts, Mutants accept the official investigation."
"Why?" Jean was stunned and reluctant. "And how do you even know reporters will come?"
Shaw offered no explanation: "No questions—just do it."
Jean and Scott exchanged glances; puzzled, they complied.
Professor X had ordered them to follow Shaw's lead, so the X-Men obeyed.
Anyone trusted by Professor X had to be reliable.
What they didn't know was that, once they left, Shaw immediately donned a pair of glasses, pulled out a notebook and began studying. Pages were crammed with his notes; flip to the front and you'd see the title—
Vought Success-Case Studies.
Though Sebastian Shaw looked confident before the X-Men, he'd never actually done this before, so cramming was essential.
The notebook summarized, in his own words, the deeds of Vought that Fang Yuan had recounted, plus his own reflections.
Since Fang Yuan resurrected him, Shaw no longer craved World domination; he'd become fascinated by Fang Yuan's methods of steering minds.
If he could help change the fate of Mutants in practice, the Sense of accomplishment would rival that of ruling the World.
Fang Yuan saw all this, which is why he handed the task to Shaw—letting Good Big Brother hone his skills.
After all, Fang Yuan didn't want to handle everything personally; if someone could grasp the Vought spirit, it would lighten his load.
The panel never said cross-World employee transfers were one-time only… This was the Good Big Brother Training Program.
A mature Good Big Brother shares his brother's burdens.
And of course, a qualified good brother cooperates with his Good Big Brother.
Trask Industries HQ.
The CEO was elated; for some reason the firm's core product had been exposed, yet it proved a blessing in disguise.
Many elites hostile to Mutants now waved wads of cash for investment—something previously unthinkable.
That was why Trask had slipped so easily out of the scandal.
Especially after the official statement, Jean Grey—long a Mutant advocate—publicly declared trust in the authorities, delighting the CEO.
"Bunch of idiots—sold by someone and still counting the cash," he gloated.
His grin lasted only seconds; a figure had appeared in his office.
Black robe, formal top-hat, white smiling mask over the face.
Startled, the CEO slammed the alarm—nothing happened.
The intruder tilted his head and complained: "Seriously? All these years and you've only upgraded materials? Your core tech isn't much ahead of Trask's."
"What?"
Before Trask could speak, Fang Yuan waved him silent.
"Forget it—you don't even have a name. What's the point of talking to you?"
President Trask's eyes instantly glazed over—Fang Yuan had already taken control of him.
Fang Yuan flipped through the orders on the president's desk from every side, then issued the company's first directive: "From now on, devote everything to building sentinel robots!"
For the next month, Trask Industries became the hottest topic of conversation.
Humans still made up the majority in this World, so a robot that claimed to protect them drew plenty of interest.
But alongside that buzz, the calls to register Mutants grew much quieter.
The X-Men saving people in public had an effect—many now saw that Mutants weren't all threats.
The key factor, of course, was that Senator Kelly, who'd been shouting the loudest, suddenly softened his stance.
He'd been the one attacked, yet after all this time the official investigation had let Trask Industries off easily while making zero progress on the real culprits—something Kelly found deeply unsatisfactory.
He realized his biggest threat seemed to come from inside humanity rather than from Mutants, and Trask's existence had left him—who advocated registering and studying mutants—far behind.
He was still chanting slogans while others had already rolled out finished products.
Wasn't he just making wedding clothes for Trask?
Senator Kelly naturally refused; he might hate Mutants, but he hated anything that hurt his own interests even more.
Yet while Kelly felt that way, it was intriguing that other congressmen were also speaking up for Mutants.
Through Trask's order book, Fang Yuan knew every one of those senators had backers placing Sentinel orders with Trask Industries.
Preparing to deal with Mutants while using a friendly attitude to dull their vigilance—classic United States behavior.
Normally, Trask's current Sentinels hadn't met expectations, so they weren't ready for mass release.
But after Fang Yuan took control of upper management, he accepted every purchase order; if production lines fell short, he even pulled out Athena to pilot Iron Man Suits and fill the gap.
Thus, within a single month, Sentinels began shipping on a massive scale.
"A New Force in Defense: The sentinel robot!"
"Military High Command States sentinel robots Are Not Targeting Mutants."
"Mutant Spokesman Shaw Expresses Trust in the Authorities!"
During the delivery period, headlines like these flooded the news, leaving ordinary folk stunned.
Even they could see the authorities had raised the knife while Mutants still claimed to trust them—were these people stupid?
Could Mutants really be this politically tone-deaf?
Of course, they never stopped to think: if Mutants had sharp political instincts, would they be in this mess?
Yet what was obvious to ordinary people seemed lost on the Mutants' chief spokesman, Shaw, who kept voicing trust for the authorities at every appearance.
Although some Mutants were already holding rallies and marches to oppose the Sentinels.
Shaw's status as spokesman, however, was backed by Professor X, recognized by the Mutant Affairs Department, and highly approved by the government, so—objections or not—his position only grew stronger.
Naturally, the authorities loved a compliant spokesman.
Shaw's attitude felt disgraceful, yet the authorities' feigned accommodation really did improve the public image of Mutants.
Behind the scenes, though, the Sentinels began secret trials.
Two ragged Mutants sprinted through a forest, glancing around warily as if fleeing something.
Two kilometers away, a silver-white Sentinel was activated by staff.
The next second the robot announced aloud:
"X-gene detected—commencing hunt."
The three-meter-tall Sentinel shot skyward and streaked toward the pair, quickly hovering above them.
"Shnk!"
It dived, its right arm turning into a blade that skewered one Mutant, but the man liquefied and slipped free, clutching his wound as he fled.
The Sentinel was faster; another blade stabbed in. The Mutant tried the same trick, but this time the robot burst into flames and simply evaporated the liquefied body.
The other Mutant, aghast, spat a glob of acidic mucus that sizzled against the Sentinel.
The machine bore no scratch; a swift stroke ended the second Mutant's life.
"Clap-clap-clap-clap-clap!"
The on-site officials burst into applause.
"Excellent!"
They were all delighted with the Sentinel's performance—far better than expected.
No one cared about the two dead mutants; whose lab didn't grab a few Mutants for research these days?
"The good times for Mutants are over," the lead official declared.
But the smile at the corner of his mouth looked more and more like some savior the Mutants had once invited.
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