Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics Chapter 6061 - 5077: Fate of the Fighter (23)

What does Greed want to do to the Court of Owls? Bruce started thinking. Greed cutting in on this batch of people must have a scheme; it definitely won’t just be simple money or status. What is it that the Court of Owls has that Greed wants?

Bruce realized almost immediately that right now there was only one thing at the Court of Owls that could truly be called valuable, and that was the Mother Module—the factory that produces the Sentinel Robots.

Of course, Dark energy was certainly valuable too, but Greed knew that the Barbados side was managed by Bruce, and normally he wouldn’t shear his own people’s sheep. But this Mother Module factory thing, the Central Universe really might not have it at all.

Over in the Central Universe there’s no need to deal with Mutants, so even if they’d once had a Mother Module factory online, it would have been just small-scale stuff, probably already destroyed long ago. Most Mutants in the Central Universe have never really experienced how powerful Sentinel Robots are.

Once you enter the Multiverse and suddenly discover there’s even something that Heavenly Suppresses your own existence, the Mutants of the Central Universe will definitely feel a sense of crisis. Sentinels are just too uncanny—if they can’t crack the secrets of the Sentinel Robots quickly, once these things start hitting the Central Universe, it’ll be too late.

If you want to do research, you have to have samples. And just having samples of the Sentinel Robots isn’t enough; you also need the factory that produces them and a complete production line. Only then can you better crack the secrets of the Sentinel Robots. And right now, the Mother Module factory of the Fusion Universe is in the hands of the Court of Owls—no wonder Greed wants them.

Bruce was also a bit curious where exactly the Court of Owls had moved that factory to. One thing’s for sure: it’s not under the ground of Forward York City. Could it be in Outer Space?

Bruce thought it over. He felt the Court of Owls shouldn’t have the ability to move the factory beyond the Nine Major Kingdoms. Or rather, if the Priests had that idea, they’d definitely have filed a report already. Within the Nine Major Kingdoms, and without being found by Thor, that leaves only one place: inside the Jotunheim masking zone.

Thinking of this, Bruce suddenly understood. Don’t be fooled by the fact that Jotunheim’s lab was built by Mutants; the one living in there is Reed Richards. That guy absolutely wants to crack the secrets of the Sentinel Robots too.

Or put it this way: with Sentinel Robots being such an unreasonable counter to Mutants, there isn’t a scientist alive who wouldn’t be curious. If the Court of Owls and Reed Richards reached an agreement to put the factory inside the masking zone—letting Reed study it while it keeps producing powerful Sentinel Robots—then it’s not just the Mutants who’d be blind to it under their own noses; Thor definitely wouldn’t have thought of it either.

No wonder Reed dove into Jotunheim and then went quiet. He’s not the sort to sit in prison obediently. And the closely bonded Fantastic Four haven’t stirred up much trouble either. Sure, part of that is because they’re somewhat in the wrong, but it might also be because Reed has been keeping them calm—he might currently be studying the Sentinel Robots.

Getting anything out of Reed won’t be easy. Bruce folded his arms and sat down in his office chair; next up, he’d just have to see how Greed planned to play this.

"So this is the Mother Module factory?"

In a huge hollowed-out space, two silhouettes were walking in through the main gate. In this factory that looked like some giant beast, the two of them seemed extremely tiny. The woman in front had a head of dazzling red hair—Scarlet Witch Wanda herself.

She was wearing a full Scarlet Witch uniform, and her face looked a bit tired. The man walking at her side was Reed Richards, his figure tall and straight, his tone steady; his state looked much better than Wanda’s.

"Yes, this is where the Sentinel Robots are produced." Reed looked up at the enormous factory dome. "Who would ever think that this super-weapon manufacturing plant is buried under Jotunheim? The lab above was built personally by Mutants—they’ll think this place is safe, so they won’t come down to inspect. Thor doesn’t want to provoke me either, so the factory has been preserved until now."

Wanda said nothing, and Reed looked at her with some surprise and said, "I thought you would be furious that I hid the Mother Module factory."

"A tool is just a tool." Wanda’s tone was very low, as if this were her true voice, filled with angry Strength. "I don’t even think the Sentinel Robots are guilty. People can’t put a gun on trial. The key reason is that pinning the blame on the tool itself is just another kind of cowardly escape."

Admiration showed in Reed’s eyes as he continued to size up the massive machine in front of them and said, "I didn’t expect you to come to me. After all, right now I’m a criminal."

"In this world, there are many people capable of figuring out the essence of the cosmos, but most of them don’t have that strong a thirst for knowledge, or they’re too timid and hesitant. I have to find someone who has both the ability and the courage. That person can only be Reed Richards."

"Then why not go to the one from your own cosmos?"

Wanda wasn’t the slightest bit surprised that Reed had already realized she wasn’t the Scarlet Witch of this universe. She just said calmly, "Calm waters don’t make good sailors. The cosmos I come from is too quiet; the Mutants there haven’t even encountered Sentinel Robots. Reed Richards is very young—he’s not as experienced as you are."

Reed chuckled and said, "That’s true. We used to be the Prime Universe. In the entire Multiverse, we’ve been through a lot of hardship. There’s not much I haven’t seen."

"You never studied this factory before?" Wanda asked. "You never suspected there was something off about the Sentinel Robots?"

"Of course I suspected it, but I couldn’t say anything." Reed’s expression gradually darkened. "I couldn’t even intervene. Otherwise, an even more terrifying disaster would come crashing down."

Wanda stared at him. Reed went on, "The Mutant’s fate is to be wiped out over and over again, and the Sentinel Robots are an indispensable part of that process. If I get involved, there are only two outcomes: either I myself turn into some kind of Sentinel Robot, or I get controlled by something and end up creating even more terrifying Sentinel Robots."

"Granted, I don’t really care what shape I end up in, or what new thing I’ve built, but if the Mutant’s fate is going to bring me a ton of trouble and waste my time, I don’t want in."

"So you figured it out long ago, and just stood by watching."

"I have my own fate." Reed said, "I admit my curiosity is excessive, I’m reckless for credit, and the experiment projects I study are far from safe. But I hope you understand one thing: I have never had suicidal tendencies."

Wanda frowned slightly; she could hear Reed was hinting at something. Reed Richards is a bit split: on one hand, he’s Mr. Fantastic in the Fantastic Four, and the Fantastic Four is a very warm, loving big family, also keen on fighting crime and protecting Earth’s safety, and Mr. Fantastic does quite a lot on that front.

But on the other hand, Reed Richards is a mad scientist, always tinkering with weird experiments that then go wrong, or just stirring shit in some Mysterious organization for no reason—like Mr. Fantastic and Reed Richards aren’t even the same person.

Mr. Fantastic is a proper nice guy, cares about ordinary people’s suffering, which is why he spends so much time knocking down street crime, and also cares about his family members, has a great relationship with the others in the Fantastic Four—even goes and comforts The Thing, helping him look for ways to change his appearance.

Reed Richards, though, has low EQ, a toxic tongue, and is hard to deal with. He either builds prisons for Superheroes or tries to exile The Hulk, and in every big event he has to meddle twice—he feels uncomfortable if he doesn’t stir something up.

Looking at it now, he may not be free of fate’s influence either, Wanda thought. What Reed said makes sense: if those dangerous experiments of his backfire, he’d be the first to be turned to ash. No matter how curious he is, he wouldn’t be literally gambling his life every single time, right?

And what makes Wanda feel even more off is: all those experiments that went wrong never managed to kill Reed. If it’s one or two times, you can call it a lucky escape—but how many times has it been now? He punched a hole into the Antimatter Universe, shook Earth and even half the cosmos upside down, and he himself was perfectly fine, didn’t even scrape his skin. No matter how you look at it, this isn’t just him having god-tier footwork.

Wanda couldn’t help pressing hard at her forehead. "Why is there so much irrational crap in our lives, and yet no one ever notices?"

"Plenty of people have noticed; they just can’t say it." Reed folded his arms. "You really think Batman hasn’t sensed anything off?"

Wanda looked at him again. Reed continued, "Not just Batman. Iron Man, The Flash, Doctor Destruction, Doctor Strange—do you think this bunch failed to notice that the disasters that keep dropping on them, yet always somehow spare their lives at the last second, are a bit too many?"

Wanda didn’t answer, but she knew in her heart: if people that smart can’t even see this, they might as well quit.

She herself hadn’t noticed because the Central Universe is just too peaceful, with basically no recurring disasters. For her, the most frequently recurring ’disaster’ is not getting along with other parents in the community, or running into tough patients while working the ER. It’s pretty much the same for other people in the Central Universe.

But in those other universes, with that kind of disaster-heavy environment, anyone with half a brain should’ve started wondering whether God has it in for them. If every disaster were different, or had some reasonable explanation, fine—but some are obviously forced.

Take these Sentinel Robots, for example: they’re created out of nowhere, inexplicably restrain Mutants, then inexplicably go over and massacre Mutants, and the Mutants are just totally wiped out. Even if she had her two sons write an essay, they wouldn’t come up with such a clumsy plot.

Same story over in Batman’s territory. Every time a disaster hits, first kill The Flash—that’s already absurd enough. As for The Flash himself, after all those time-travel runs, he still can’t save his parents, which is even more bizarre.

Wanda drew in a deep breath. "Have you figured out what exactly the Sentinel Robots are about?"

"That’s why I brought you here." Reed pointed up above that giant machine. "There’s a protective barrier up there. I can’t get in at all. Can you give it a try?"

Wanda raised her head and looked upward. She narrowed her eyes but didn’t see any Energy fluctuation there. She spread her arms and slowly flew up, stared for a while longer, and didn’t dare use The power of Scarlet; instead, she drifted forward bit by bit—and then felt herself blocked by an invisible membrane.

The strangest thing was: she still didn’t sense any Energy fluctuation, which is almost impossible. The Scarlet Witch herself is basically an Energy life-form, able to turn into The power of Scarlet at any moment. When Energy meets Energy, there’s no way there’s zero change.

Seeing how she reacted, Reed seemed unsurprised. He said to Wanda, "You have to recognize it first, before you can observe it."

"What do you mean?" Wanda looked down at him.

"You have to understand the cosmos first, before you can observe certain cosmic structures." Reed let out a long sigh. "Tell me about The power of Scarlet."