Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics

Chapter 5766 - 789: X Royal Family: Rebirth (29)

The mutants didn’t care at all about being classified as chimpanzees. You have to know, mutants had been bullied to the bottom before; they had been called every vicious name, not just gorillas. But now, admitting they were chimps could successfully drag those who insulted them down, making them a group of impotently enraged beasts too. The thought was actually quite satisfying.If mutants are gorillas, then everyone who argues with them is a fool throwing poop opposite chimps. As long as you can abandon international scrutiny and fight rare wild animals in a showdown of six hundred rounds, mutants are not reluctant to fight back. Let’s see who can throw poop better.

In this situation, Europe was also disgusted to the point of having no strategy left. After all, they considered themselves old-world nobles and regarded America as unruly savages. If they were to really fight these gorillas, they would lose all face and dignity, leaving them no choice but to begrudgingly give up.

And so, with internal strife in America and Europe afraid to step in, basically the entire Western World was knocked down. Having also received lots of aid from China and Wakanda, Clarkia Island didn’t just recover in one breath; it was as if it was injected with a Super Soldier Serum, and suddenly sprang to life.

Ship after ship of supplies was being transported. Eventually, regular laborers couldn’t meet the needs of the mutants anymore; even mutants like Magneto couldn’t keep up, so they had to deploy Stark’s Mecha Army.

To store resources, you need warehouses. Apart from the caves below the volcano, there is also a complex cave system underneath Clarkia Island that, with a little modification, can serve as underground warehouses, where Namor could directly store many fresh goods in the Deep Sea, conveniently and keeping them preserved.

Next came grand construction works, first to build a dual-purpose military and commercial dock, then to start shipbuilding like boiling dumplings. Mutants didn’t need warships much; they needed cruise ships for trade instead. Fortunately, building commercial vessels was simpler; basically, you just needed a hull to get running.

For ordinary people, large cargo ships were just freighters; no one would ever think of using such ships as warships. Because, for one, they ran too slowly, and for another, they had no defenses. If encountered by pirates with small boats, there was no way to fend them off; the crew could only hide in escape pods and let them rob the cargo, clearly indicating the ships were only for commercial purposes.

Therefore, when Clarkia Island began large-scale manufacturing of heavy freighters, it didn’t draw much attention from many countries. In their eyes, the mutants building such things were merely aiming to carry more goods, to seize international humanitarian aid from other nations. But they overlooked a serious issue; the mutants themselves were weapons.

Whether the ships ran fast wasn’t important; they could tow the ships. Defensive measures also weren’t crucial; they could directly use a magnetic shield. Not equipping the ship with weapons wasn’t a big deal either; they could just board directly. Who could withstand a hit from Alpha-Level Mutants?

In other words, these hastily built cargo ships were actually Clarkia Island’s warships. Other nations reacted a little slowly, and Clarkia Island was already fully armed. Not only had they built smaller cruisers, but they had also constructed aircraft carriers.

For ordinary nations, building an aircraft carrier is a massive effort. First, you need to build engines and consider endurance; then, there’s the deck design, and you need catapulting technology. An aircraft carrier fleet also needs escort ships; having just an aircraft carrier makes you a sitting duck. In short, aircraft carrier fleets are things only major countries can afford; small nations shouldn’t even think about it.

But the Clarkia aircraft carrier fleet was much simpler. First, they built a super freighter, the kind with a deck area comparable to several football fields; then they constructed a few smaller freighters that just needed to run.

Then, they assigned Polaris to be the carrier engine, towing the carrier across the seas at 60 knots; they assigned Pyro as the main gun, blasting where needed; then they assigned Quicksilver, Sunspot, and other mutants as fighter jets, no need for catapults, just fly off directly. A perfect aircraft carrier was ready, purely man-powered, capable of circling the Earth using the energy of two burgers.

This thing could also carry cargo. After buying things somewhere, it didn’t need other ships to receive them, it could just take off by itself, full of practicality.

Even better, there was absolutely no maintenance burden. These ships were essentially a bunch of iron hulls forcibly glued together; the engine inside was merely decorative, all powered by mutants’ foot pedals. Going on one cargo trip would pay off its costs, and there was no need for maintenance. If anything went wrong, Magneto would simply squeeze it and melt it down.

If the ships other countries have on the sea are like high-speed trains, or at least trains, the mutants are completely like donkey carts. The most technical part is the two donkeys in front, not the wooden carriage at the back. However, coincidentally, the mutants are nuclear-powered donkeys, fast and capable of kicking people, dominating the seas, with no one daring to provoke them.

After a few trips, the mutants tasted the sweetness. When passing through some pirate-infested areas, several ordinary people’s merchant ships pleaded for their help to get across. They also casually saved some freighters boarded by pirates. The counterparts not only expressed immense gratitude but also offered some food supplies as thanks.

There was even one time when three freighters were detained at a specific strait, unable to pass no matter what. It wasn’t entirely the pirates’ fault; the situation’s conflicts were extremely intense locally too. The boss was desperate and coincidentally saw the mutants passing by; he gritted his teeth and stomped his foot, paying the mutants a sum of money, agreeing on anything as long as the mutants could get the ships out.

For the mutants, it was a no-brainer. Which regional conflict would dare to provoke them? Even if the opposition was incredibly daring, they wouldn’t stand a chance. Even if they really couldn’t handle it, they could always call Atlantis. Who would dare mess with the Sea Clan in the ocean? One waterjet blast would make them obedient.

So they escorted the fleet easily through the strait. This caused the other ships trapped in the strait to become anxious, and each boss was utterly impressed. Within a few days, mutants had millions of US dollars credited to their accounts; this money was really easy to earn.

Actually, the most important thing on the cargo ship isn’t the cargo, but the crew members. The more formal companies all have signed contracts, so if the ship sinks somewhere, the compensation for the employees’ deaths is a significant expense, much more costly than the goods. Moreover, if someone dies, the company itself may face lawsuits, and if they can’t handle the case, someone might end up in jail.

Therefore, most large cargo ships have shelters. The training the employees receive also emphasizes that if they encounter pirates, they should never engage in firefights. They should head straight for the shelter; let the pirates take whatever they want; as long as people aren’t harmed, it’s fine, or it’ll be troublesome.

Based on this principle, many bosses have stated that as long as the mutants can get the people out, they can have all the cargo. At most, it’s just a wasted trip; large international trading companies can afford this loss, and using goods to pay off debts is somewhat cost-effective.

Initially, mutants accepted everything because they indeed lacked various supplies. But later, when supplies became more abundant, they started picking and choosing, and accepting some money as a token as well.

The reason they didn’t take more was to earn a reputation. This move indeed boosted the mutants’ prestige internationally, and many sailors even hailed them as ocean protectors. You don’t have to worry about the cost; the company spends its money, but the lives saved are their own, and most people are clear-headed about this.

Especially for mutants like Storm, who change the color of the sky and earth with a single move, resembling the Sea God’s descent. Not to mention the true Sea God Namor, whose interventions have garnered many followers, even Atlantis has gained fame among the sailors.

Mutants rampage through the ocean, naturally drawing some disapproval, first and foremost from America’s aircraft carrier group, as they used to be the ones rampaging through the ocean.

Actually, America has always practically possessed Infinity ocean sovereignty; except for a few cases of other countries’ internal waters, even then, not all internal waters. For those along the outskirts, America’s fleet could come and go freely, and no one could do anything about it.

However, the emergence of the mutant fleet completely overturned this situation. Since they really want to go wherever they wish, with the magnetic shielding, no radar can detect their location. Not only the edge of internal waters but even the core areas, and internal bays, they are true Ghost Ship fleets.

Because of this, they collided with the U.S. Military’s aircraft carrier fleet in the Pacific Ocean. Naturally, they didn’t directly crash into each other, but being a few miles apart equates to a collision. Fortunately, the mutants stopped quickly, or else they would have sailed straight onto the face of the U.S. Military’s aircraft carrier.

The moment they appeared on the radar, the entire U.S. Military’s aircraft carrier group was just a step away from having heart attacks. What’s the difference between this and encountering a Ghost in broad daylight?

But since they encountered each other and were already within firing range, not fighting was not an option. They immediately prepared to launch aircraft, but it was precisely because they were too close that mutants turned around violently and launched an attack.

Storm first summoned a storm: first, a Magnetic Storm destroyed the radar, blinding the opposition; next, Storm summoned a typhoon on the spot, creating weather conditions preventing aircraft from taking off; then Namor raised waves, making it impossible for the ships to leave peacefully, completely trapping the fleet.

However, they were also aware of the boundaries, not actually opening fire, just trapping the opponent, then starting to use the emperor to command the nobles, contacting America to prepare for negotiations.

Actually, through Iron Man’s uproar, the sanctions were nominally abolished. Although they haven’t been completely removed, they’re already useless, and trade has resumed normalcy. Yet, America never recognizes normal diplomatic relations with Clarkia, creating lots of invisible pressure, causing many matters to progress unsmoothly.

Logically, there’s no absolute need for diplomacy with them, but mutants can’t swallow this anger. If they don’t slap the mastermind behind the sanctions, mutants won’t rest easy.

Most mutants feel that the volcanic eruption was caused by America’s Agent, and if they don’t pluck some wool from them, their grievances are in vain.

After circling the ocean for so many days, they’ve finally grabbed hold of their Achilles heel, and they must use righteous extortion to make them lose their pants.

Coincidentally, America can only negotiate. Because the fleet has been entirely controlled, they have no power to retaliate, while the mutants are livid, fully capable of sinking them. If the aircraft carrier group is entirely wiped out, America’s ocean hegemony will be utterly declared over.

All hegemony is a hegemony of opinion, and conversely, likewise, opinion hegemony is all hegemony. The constructed opinion hegemony has great inertia, regardless of their actual strength retreating, as long as the undefeated image sustains, they can still maintain hegemony.

And once the undefeated image breaks, the opinion hegemony cannot be maintained, then all other hegemonies will be impacted or even completely undermined. So, victory and a stalemate are acceptable; even a slight loss can be smoothed over with opinion propaganda. But a catastrophic defeat that cannot be rectified by opinion is absolutely unacceptable.