Reading settings
Chapter 229: Naive and Sweet
"A secret?" Tony was noncommittal, looking at Wanda with some amusement.
A naive fool who thinks she's clever—that described Wanda right now.
"Just say it. Is Magneto causing trouble again?" Tony suddenly leaned in, his face almost touching Wanda's. The sudden warmth, spraying onto her slightly flushed cheeks, startled Wanda, and she let out an involuntary cry.
"Ah!" Wanda raised her hand, instinctively about to strike.
But Tony grabbed her wrist.
"You know, you don't even know how to trick anyone. When I was your age, I had already learned how to haggle with unscrupulous merchants. I could get into a huge argument over a few dollars."
Tony shook his head and slowly released her wrist. Wanda glared, and the moment she was free, she tried to slap him again, only to be caught by Tony once more.
"You've practically written your thoughts all over your face, like a fool," Tony sighed, using his free hand to extinguish his cigarette in the ashtray.
"If I were you, I would never use such a clumsy excuse. If you want to use me to stop your father, I would approach it directly from the angle of mutual benefit. I'd carefully analyze the great advantages of stopping Magneto and the terrible consequences of ignoring or helping him, rather than using a clumsy pretext as a bargaining chip for a conversation."
Tony sized up the angry and humiliated Wanda, looking at her obviously immature methods and the simple schemes written all over her face. Unconsciously, he sighed.
He suddenly felt that while he wasn't old, his psychological age was almost that of an uncle.
Having experienced too much, schemed too much, and chased too much, he was no longer the person he used to be.
"So, will you help or not?" Wanda asked in a low voice.
"What exactly is Magneto planning that his own daughter would openly ask an outsider to oppose him?"
"You're not an outsider. Erik has praised you more than once." Wanda huffed, leaning back against the sofa and counting Magneto's praises on her fingers. "Deeply cunning, you fooled everyone with a rookie-like disguise, and you even fooled yourself with your own act. Your growth rate is astonishingly fast, and you can win people over while you grow. And most importantly, you're ruthless. He praised you as a worthy successor, because you're no good."
"...That last sentence is the main point, isn't it?" Tony suddenly laughed. He hadn't expected Magneto's evaluation of him to be so high. But it made sense. Magneto was a radical through and through. Any member of his race who could stand against ordinary humans was a good one.
"I secretly discovered that he's been researching a powerful machine that can turn the disadvantaged position of Mutants around in one fell swoop."
Wanda's first sentence made Tony's brows furrow deeply.
Are Mutants weak? Not at all. Their only "weakness" was their population base, which was far smaller than that of ordinary humans.
Moreover, Tony clearly remembered that he had visited the Brotherhood of Mutants before, but Magneto had refused to see him. The reason Azazel gave him was that Magneto "was in the middle of something very important."
"A machine to activate the X-Gene in ordinary humans?" Tony frowned. "That would kill a lot of people. Forcibly changing a latent X-Gene into a dominant one is like using crude methods to turn an ordinary human into a superhuman. Most ordinary humans would be unable to withstand the power of the bursting X-Gene."
Wanda was stunned again, her beautiful eyes wide. "You knew? But how? It took me so much effort to overhear it."
Over... overhear?
Tony shot a strange glance at this naive and sweet girl, whose life experience and emotional intelligence were somewhat lacking.
Magneto, a natural master of Magnetokinesis, wouldn't know there was a human magnetic field nearby? He wouldn't know it was his daughter eavesdropping?
This was very interesting. Magneto didn't stop Wanda, and he even praised Tony lavishly in front of her and her brother... What was he planning? What signal was he trying to send? Cooperation? A show of force, implying he had Tony all figured out? Or perhaps, an escape route in case of failure?
"Interesting..." Tony stroked his chin, his sharp eyes sizing up Wanda with a playful and intrigued expression.
This was a major issue. Not to mention that the machine was still a prototype and using it rashly would have disastrous consequences—describing it as "bodies piling up everywhere" would be an understatement.
If Magneto really went through with it, even if it got out of hand, many superhumans who kept a low profile would not be able to sit still and would intervene to stop him.
Like Superman, who was diligently farming in Kansas, focused on being a good farmer. Or Wonder Woman, who was studying the art of sculpture in some museum.
Tony tapped the table at a fixed rhythm.
Wanda's beautiful eyes stared intently at Tony. As she listened to the tapping, her own little thoughts began to stir.
She actually knew a lot about Tony; otherwise, she wouldn't have come looking for him.
"Say something! Are you going to help or not? If you don't stop him, many people will die, and many of your subordinates will die too. They're all ordinary humans," Wanda urged, growing anxious after a moment.
"Help? Stop him? Don't even think about it. I can't be bothered to get involved. Confronting Magneto is Professor X's job, not mine," Tony sneered, sprawling ungracefully on the sofa and giving Wanda a cold look from across the coffee table.
"I have no beef with Old Man Magneto. Why should I stop him?"
"Then will you help him?" Wanda pressed.
"I'd have to be bored out of my mind to help him," Tony snorted.
As far as he knew, Magneto's initial plan was to turn all the world leaders attending the summit into Mutants. That had absolutely nothing to do with him; in fact, it might even be beneficial for Earth.
Earth was bound to fall into chaos, with various Extraterrestrial Visitors arriving one after another. Ordinary humans were too fragile. Compared to the enormous funds and supreme intellect required for Black Technology, it was more effective to let ordinary humans gain superpowers, which would greatly enhance Earth's combat capabilities.
It might even lead to the Awakening of a large batch of Mutants with astonishing Potential.
*Smack!*
Wanda was furious. She angrily raised her hand and slammed it on the table, accidentally revealing a bit of red Chaos Magic that made the table shake violently.
"You bastard! Despicably standing by to watch the show, with no intention of stopping this sin!" Wanda stood up in a huff, used a burst of Chaos Magic to open the door, and walked straight out.
Watching the back of Wanda's red dress disappear into the distance, Tony chuckled lightly, picked up the cigarette, and lit it again.
"Using a genuine 'Naive and Sweet' personality as a disguise... She truly is Magneto's daughter."
If he wasn't mistaken, Wanda's primary objective in coming here was to find her brother. Her secondary objective was to contact Tony and ensure he wouldn't help Magneto.
Both objectives had been achieved.
(end of chapter)
"A secret?" Tony was noncommittal, looking at Wanda with some amusement.
A naive fool who thinks she's clever—that described Wanda right now.
"Just say it. Is Magneto causing trouble again?" Tony suddenly leaned in, his face almost touching Wanda's. The sudden warmth, spraying onto her slightly flushed cheeks, startled Wanda, and she let out an involuntary cry.
"Ah!" Wanda raised her hand, instinctively about to strike.
But Tony grabbed her wrist.
"You know, you don't even know how to trick anyone. When I was your age, I had already learned how to haggle with unscrupulous merchants. I could get into a huge argument over a few dollars."
Tony shook his head and slowly released her wrist. Wanda glared, and the moment she was free, she tried to slap him again, only to be caught by Tony once more.
"You've practically written your thoughts all over your face, like a fool," Tony sighed, using his free hand to extinguish his cigarette in the ashtray.
"If I were you, I would never use such a clumsy excuse. If you want to use me to stop your father, I would approach it directly from the angle of mutual benefit. I'd carefully analyze the great advantages of stopping Magneto and the terrible consequences of ignoring or helping him, rather than using a clumsy pretext as a bargaining chip for a conversation."
Tony sized up the angry and humiliated Wanda, looking at her obviously immature methods and the simple schemes written all over her face. Unconsciously, he sighed.
He suddenly felt that while he wasn't old, his psychological age was almost that of an uncle.
Having experienced too much, schemed too much, and chased too much, he was no longer the person he used to be.
"So, will you help or not?" Wanda asked in a low voice.
"What exactly is Magneto planning that his own daughter would openly ask an outsider to oppose him?"
"You're not an outsider. Erik has praised you more than once." Wanda huffed, leaning back against the sofa and counting Magneto's praises on her fingers. "Deeply cunning, you fooled everyone with a rookie-like disguise, and you even fooled yourself with your own act. Your growth rate is astonishingly fast, and you can win people over while you grow. And most importantly, you're ruthless. He praised you as a worthy successor, because you're no good."
"...That last sentence is the main point, isn't it?" Tony suddenly laughed. He hadn't expected Magneto's evaluation of him to be so high. But it made sense. Magneto was a radical through and through. Any member of his race who could stand against ordinary humans was a good one.
"I secretly discovered that he's been researching a powerful machine that can turn the disadvantaged position of Mutants around in one fell swoop."
Wanda's first sentence made Tony's brows furrow deeply.
Are Mutants weak? Not at all. Their only "weakness" was their population base, which was far smaller than that of ordinary humans.
Moreover, Tony clearly remembered that he had visited the Brotherhood of Mutants before, but Magneto had refused to see him. The reason Azazel gave him was that Magneto "was in the middle of something very important."
"A machine to activate the X-Gene in ordinary humans?" Tony frowned. "That would kill a lot of people. Forcibly changing a latent X-Gene into a dominant one is like using crude methods to turn an ordinary human into a superhuman. Most ordinary humans would be unable to withstand the power of the bursting X-Gene."
Wanda was stunned again, her beautiful eyes wide. "You knew? But how? It took me so much effort to overhear it."
Over... overhear?
Tony shot a strange glance at this naive and sweet girl, whose life experience and emotional intelligence were somewhat lacking.
Magneto, a natural master of Magnetokinesis, wouldn't know there was a human magnetic field nearby? He wouldn't know it was his daughter eavesdropping?
This was very interesting. Magneto didn't stop Wanda, and he even praised Tony lavishly in front of her and her brother... What was he planning? What signal was he trying to send? Cooperation? A show of force, implying he had Tony all figured out? Or perhaps, an escape route in case of failure?
"Interesting..." Tony stroked his chin, his sharp eyes sizing up Wanda with a playful and intrigued expression.
This was a major issue. Not to mention that the machine was still a prototype and using it rashly would have disastrous consequences—describing it as "bodies piling up everywhere" would be an understatement.
If Magneto really went through with it, even if it got out of hand, many superhumans who kept a low profile would not be able to sit still and would intervene to stop him.
Like Superman, who was diligently farming in Kansas, focused on being a good farmer. Or Wonder Woman, who was studying the art of sculpture in some museum.
Tony tapped the table at a fixed rhythm.
Wanda's beautiful eyes stared intently at Tony. As she listened to the tapping, her own little thoughts began to stir.
She actually knew a lot about Tony; otherwise, she wouldn't have come looking for him.
"Say something! Are you going to help or not? If you don't stop him, many people will die, and many of your subordinates will die too. They're all ordinary humans," Wanda urged, growing anxious after a moment.
"Help? Stop him? Don't even think about it. I can't be bothered to get involved. Confronting Magneto is Professor X's job, not mine," Tony sneered, sprawling ungracefully on the sofa and giving Wanda a cold look from across the coffee table.
"I have no beef with Old Man Magneto. Why should I stop him?"
"Then will you help him?" Wanda pressed.
"I'd have to be bored out of my mind to help him," Tony snorted.
As far as he knew, Magneto's initial plan was to turn all the world leaders attending the summit into Mutants. That had absolutely nothing to do with him; in fact, it might even be beneficial for Earth.
Earth was bound to fall into chaos, with various Extraterrestrial Visitors arriving one after another. Ordinary humans were too fragile. Compared to the enormous funds and supreme intellect required for Black Technology, it was more effective to let ordinary humans gain superpowers, which would greatly enhance Earth's combat capabilities.
It might even lead to the Awakening of a large batch of Mutants with astonishing Potential.
*Smack!*
Wanda was furious. She angrily raised her hand and slammed it on the table, accidentally revealing a bit of red Chaos Magic that made the table shake violently.
"You bastard! Despicably standing by to watch the show, with no intention of stopping this sin!" Wanda stood up in a huff, used a burst of Chaos Magic to open the door, and walked straight out.
Watching the back of Wanda's red dress disappear into the distance, Tony chuckled lightly, picked up the cigarette, and lit it again.
"Using a genuine 'Naive and Sweet' personality as a disguise... She truly is Magneto's daughter."
If he wasn't mistaken, Wanda's primary objective in coming here was to find her brother. Her secondary objective was to contact Tony and ensure he wouldn't help Magneto.
Both objectives had been achieved.
(end of chapter)
