Marvel: A Lazy-Ass Superman Chapter 661: Rogue Crashes the Party Again

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Although the mutant battle lacked the careful choreography of a Hollywood blockbuster and certainly wasn't being filmed by professional cameramen from multiple angles, the combination of dazzling powers and explosive effects still had viewers glued to their televisions.

In a situation like this, the authorities obviously couldn't remain silent forever.

From the helicopter footage, it was possible to make out Coast Guard boats converging on Liberty Island.

Henry couldn't help but wonder maliciously whether the unusually long response time meant that the people at the top had been discussing the possibility of simply blowing up Liberty Island and wiping out both the X-Men and the Brotherhood's high-end combatants in one stroke.

As for why they ultimately didn't do it?

Henry certainly didn't believe it was because they were worried about the personnel previously stationed on the island.

He found it far more likely that, just before the mutant battle broke out, the American representatives at the World Leaders Summit had been enthusiastically using the Statue of Liberty in the background to promote what they considered America's enlightened ideals.

If they turned around and blew up their own Statue of Liberty immediately afterward, the hypocrisy would be far too obvious—and far too embarrassing.

Unfortunately, the heavily armed soldiers who had expected an easy victory couldn't even set foot on the island.

A water-controlling mutant simply overturned their boats.

Most of the vessels involved were only patrol boats and speedboats, not particularly large.

For a mutant with strong aquatic abilities, flipping a few boats wasn't difficult.

It was a reminder that when mutants enjoyed a terrain advantage, they could often fight far above their apparent power level.

At the same time, it meant that the U.S. military forces that could have acted as support for the X-Men had been tied down by the Brotherhood.

Then again, Magneto might show restraint when fighting fellow mutants, but he had no such reservations when dealing with ordinary humans.

Suddenly, the television feed shifted away from the water and focused on the Statue of Liberty's torch.

The original flame structure had been blown away.

In its place stood a massive metal device.

And inside that device was a person.

---

Henry immediately recognized it.

It was one of the mutant-conversion devices he had designed.

Several twenty-liter steel canisters appeared to be connected beneath it.

Those were probably filled with the X-Gene Activation Compound.

The problem was...

One of the key functions of the device was to stabilize Magneto's power into a specific magnetic field and spread it across a wide area, encouraging ordinary humans exposed to the activator to awaken mutant traits.

Yet the person inside wasn't Magneto.

Instead, it was an unfamiliar teenage girl.

Had the storyline somehow drifted back toward the movie version?

Henry distinctly remembered that his design wasn't supposed to drain Magneto to the brink of death, eliminating the need for a sacrificial substitute.

Or had Magneto modified something himself?

As every engineer knew, no matter how elegant a design was, nothing could defend against a user's sudden burst of inspiration and the absurd things they might do with it.

Henry immediately began shouting through his thoughts:

Who is that girl? Who is that girl?

A voice answered almost instantly.

What, is she a relative of yours? Why are you so worked up?

No. Isn't that machine supposed to require Magneto? Did he secretly have a daughter who inherited magnetic powers and put her in there instead?

Of course not. She's a newly discovered young mutant.

Her purpose is to free up Magneto so he doesn't have to suffer the exhaustion caused by operating the machine.

You didn't actually think Magneto would trust someone else to deal with the X-Men while he stayed out of the fight, did you?

That explanation came from Selene.

And honestly, it made sense.

Magneto might be old, but nobody questioned his combat effectiveness.

Between fighting on the front lines and operating a machine, the latter role was obviously more replaceable.

Besides, the device Henry designed could filter and reshape magnetic fields within a certain range, using them to stimulate the activation of dormant X-Genes.

That meant the operator didn't necessarily require Magneto's precise level of control.

As long as they could generate magnetic fields, they could potentially use it.

Under those circumstances, finding a substitute operator was entirely reasonable.

No two mutants possessed identical abilities, but finding similar powers wasn't especially difficult.

It just required a little luck.

And with Magneto's hands free, he could also stop missile attacks from the military.

After all, only a fool would assume the U.S. government wouldn't simply wipe everyone out because a few of their own personnel happened to be caught in the blast.

Just think back to what happened during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Anyone who had lived through that experience would have a hard time placing blind trust in government integrity.

It was no wonder Magneto wasn't willing to strap himself defenselessly into the machine and let it drain him dry.

He was willing to sacrifice himself for mutantkind.

That didn't mean he would recklessly throw his life away.

---

Henry continued the mental conversation.

Then how did you even find that girl?

This was something he'd always been curious about.

In the movie, Rogue awakened her powers after accidentally hurting a boy and then ran away from home.

No one should have fully understood the nature of her abilities or their potential.

So why had the Brotherhood targeted her from the very beginning?

Why had they tried so hard to capture her, dragging Wolverine into the situation in the process?

Selene, meanwhile, somehow produced a deck of tarot cards from nowhere and began shuffling them with practiced ease.

Then she turned toward Katharine Hepburn.

"Kate, I'm very accurate at fortune-telling. Want to try it?"

As a lifelong atheist, Katharine clearly had little faith in such mystical nonsense.

She gave Selene a skeptical look.

"Accurate, really?"

Selene shrugged.

"A friend of mine always comes to me for readings whenever he's lost and looking for direction."

"But he never asks whether something will succeed or what the future holds."

"He always says that if hard work can achieve something, then failure only means you didn't work hard enough."

"And if a fortune-teller says you'll succeed, then you become careless..."

She smiled.

"Does that guarantee you won't fail anyway?"

Katharine immediately replied,

"Sounds like he found an excellent way to avoid testing whether your predictions are actually accurate."

"If you're willing to do something, you'll get some kind of result eventually, won't you?"

Selene wasn't offended in the slightest.

Instead, she laughed brightly.

"True enough."

"But my accuracy operates on a different level."

"So? Interested?"

Katharine considered it.

"Then tell me about this boy's luck with women."

She pointed directly at the bewildered Kryptonian sitting nearby.

"Look at him. A young man spending all his time taking care of an old woman like me."

"I'm starting to wonder whether he has some strange preferences."

Grandma, could you stab a little less directly?

Kryptonians were made of flesh and blood too.

Just because something couldn't physically hurt him didn't mean it didn't hurt emotionally.

---

Selene immediately set the tarot cards aside and threw herself toward Henry.

"You don't need fortune-telling for that."

"If he wanted, I could be his girlfriend, his lover, his pet, his—"

"My ass! Be your mother, that's what!"

Henry shoved the immortal witch away.

Did she actually like him?

No.

She was clearly obsessed with his Kryptonian body.

"Oh? You want me to be your mother?"

Selene instantly ran back to Katharine's side and put on a wounded expression.

"Kate, I have to say..."

"This boy's tastes really are unusual."

Katharine Hepburn immediately pointed an accusing finger at Henry.

"Henry."

"Watch your language."

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