Volume 8: The Fourth Impact Chapter 25: The Dark Chronicles of the Conqueror
"Stabbing them in the back and not helping them, it seems you really have a deep hatred for them. But you just said that I will be punished. By whom? By the Red Queen Madeline Prior, to whom you are loyal?"
Faced with the uncooperative Omega Storm, Mason popped out a cigarette and held it between his lips.
His beloved lighter was gone, so he could only light the magic fire by rubbing it with his hands. He then reached out and moved the head of the Conqueror General who was restrained in front of him, making her turn her head to look at the commander-in-chief's adjutant Magneto who was imprisoned in the third time stasis capsule next to her.
The captain said:
“You know him, and you know what his presence here means. Your commander, the Red Queen, personally went out to fight against the traitor you mentioned, but she almost died in my hands.
The fact is that you can't do anything to me now.
I do not intend to humiliate you or kill you. Your abilities can be used for more valuable causes than destruction. I also do not want to spy on the military secrets of the Conquerors of the First Order. I just want to understand your thoughts.
How did Madeline unite you? What is your reason for serving on the Council of Hope? Would you be interested in spending a few minutes introducing your philosophy to my fellow rebellious fellow?
We come from the same place.
If she can convince you, maybe she can convince me too."
Storm gritted her teeth and didn't respond, but she was feeling very uncomfortable. The truth pushed by the truth serum was already at her lips. Perhaps it only took one chance to pry her mouth open.
Mason realized this.
He raised the golden apple in his hand, and the mental invasion began to interfere with Storm's will.
But the results were minimal.
On the one hand, as a high-end force among the Conqueror mutants, her willpower is quite good. On the other hand, it is also because there is a power similar to "brain occlusion" in her brain.
Ororo could also sense Mason's attempt. She gave a sarcastic smile and said:
"When you are imprisoned in the cage on the headquarters ship, someone will naturally explain everything to you, and you will have enough time to understand and learn our way of survival.
As for mind interference, don't try it, it won't work on us, the power of our compatriots is protecting us."
Mason nodded at this answer and said:
"So there's still Professor X among you, the non-wheelchair-bound model? If you're not willing to discuss these heavy, personal matters, then let's talk about other topics.
For example, my sister, what is your appearance sequence number? "
"The third base of the Weapon X project was established after the first impact. It is not located on Earth but on an uninhabited planet in a certain dimension.
My serial number is 05024. ”
Storm Girl did not hide any more non-critical information. She spilled all the information like a bamboo tube pouring beans, which finally relieved the surging desire to share in her heart.
She had wanted to use this method of changing the subject to counter Mason's evil potion, but she couldn't stop herself from saying it.
Driven by a strong desire to talk, the captured general-level clone spoke nonstop:
“I was born in the third year of the establishment of the Council of Hope. At that time, there were only three sequences of Conquerors. The Iron Legion led by Iron Emperor Stark and the Supreme Avengers led by Steve Rogers both had their own ideas. They agreed with the strategy of the Council of Hope and actively participated in the formation of military forces.
But we don't.
We clones didn't even have the opportunity to express our support or resistance.
Like a pack of lost dogs!
We can only passively accept orders, and obeying procedures is our leash, making us willing to make sacrifices for things we don’t understand at all.
My memories of that period are very clear. My fellow hatched people were exhausted in just three months of action, but new companions quickly filled their vacancies.
The First Sequence was the earliest conqueror formed, but our casualty rate was always the highest, probably because the purpose of the creation of clones was to be consumed.
We work hard and never complain.
We paved the ladder of Hope's Council's power with our corpses, but no one remembered us or even cared about us. Our silent demise resulted in nothing more than a string of numbers in the Council's casualty statistics.
You are wrong, the First Sequence never sincerely served the Council!
We hate them!
Every clone that survived the bloodbath would hate them. This hatred was the cornerstone of the original unity. Unfortunately, hatred could not help us survive longer in the cruel struggle. "
“That’s pathetic, I remember Batman once saying something about you guys.
He said that if you really want to create cannon fodder who are willing to work hard and never complain, you shouldn't give them too much free will, but you are endowed with complete wisdom, which makes you always look back at the past and reflect on your life at some point.
That’s where the pain comes from.”
The Queen of Justice next to her said something sympathetically, and the female warrior holding a battle axe asked again:
“So when did that change?”
"When they learned how to make para-demons from the Apocalypse technology of a certain world, and began to mass-produce cleaners with the help of the crazy scientists in Fox Nest.
We thought we could finally escape the fate of being cannon fodder, but the situation has not fundamentally changed.”
Storm gasped.
She realized that she was about to say something that she couldn't say, and wanted to shut up, but Mason injected another dose of truth serum into her veins and increased the golden apple's mind interference.
This caused Ororo to cry out in pain, and she spoke intermittently:
"We were sent to conquer those tough enemies, fight against the guardians of the world in the A-level world, and even step into the realm of the gods to force them to surrender.
The first assault on Olympus cost thousands of clones their lives, and destroying some crazy Hela's underworld wiped out three battalions at once.
It was us who defeated the gods and made them join the council obediently.
We tried to resist.
Especially after the first Omega clone was born in the continuous war, the constraints of obedience procedures were finally released for the first time, and we saw hope...
So, we asked for help from our more powerful compatriots...
Those Primarchs!
The mutants in Utopia... they pretended to accept us, but they used and betrayed us... they are the same as those high-ranking 'masters'... ah!"
Aurora spat out a mouthful of blood, mixed with his bitten tongue.
She didn't want to continue talking and bring up those painful memories, so she began to fight Mason's questions with pain.
His face was covered in blood and he had a ferocious expression as he stared at the captain viciously, but an injury like a bitten tongue was not fatal to a first aid master.
Mason pinched Ororo's bloody mouth and poured an epic healing potion into it to stop the bleeding and recover.
He said:
"If you don't want to answer, you can tell me. There's no need to use such a self-harming method to show your courage. Besides, you've already given me the key information. I can always find a way to get the rest."
He snapped his fingers and the release command was issued. The time stasis chambers of General Omega Iceman and Adjutant Magneto were opened at this moment, and Mystique was also ejected from the chamber.
The Queen of Justice leaned on her axe and stared at the weak mutants in front of her, but before the three could escape, Mason's imitation leech disruptor had been injected into their bodies.
Although it is impossible to truly seal the X gene without the key leech serum, the alchemy masters can always simulate similar effects through continuous attempts and the combination of various drug effects.
"I won't ask her again to prevent her from hurting herself again, but I thought maybe you could give me an answer?"
The captain looked at the other three and said:
"Regarding the feud between the Conquerors of the First Order and Utopia, how did they use and betray you?"
"Let her go first!"
When Iceman saw Storm's face covered in blood, he was about to attack but was stopped by his lieutenant Magneto. This guy's arm was chopped off by the Queen of Justice before, and although his wounds had healed, he was still weak.
He did not show any more hostility, but said to Mason calmly:
"If you just want to know the answer, then I will tell you that I don't expect you to release us, but please don't inflict more humiliation on us for the sake of our compatriots."
"I promise."
Mason let go of Ororo, who twitched on the restraint table due to the pain of tongue regeneration, and was supported by Iceman and Mystique.
"So how can I make you understand this faster?"
Magneto, who was missing an arm, rubbed his brows. Under Mason's gaze, he thought for a moment and said:
"Before Utopia intervened, the probability of the Weapon X project producing an Omega clone was one in a million, but after they provided technological support to the God-King Doom, who was in charge of this project at the Hope Council, the probability was raised to one in ten thousand.
The Iceman and I in front of you, as well as the dead Vulcan, are all the result of that vicious backstab."
"You said that Utopia completed the subsequent upgrades of the Weapon X project as a participant?"
Mason narrowed his eyes at this revelation.
If what Magneto's clone said was true, it means that Utopia's previous firm attitude on the issue of cloning was all a disguise, including supporting Mason in blowing up the Project X base in his hometown, which might have ulterior motives.
This sounds incredible, but if you follow this line of thought, many incomprehensible things seem to have reasonable explanations.
For example, why did Utopia not actively participate in destroying these cloning experiments after learning about the Weapon X project?
Another example is their turning a blind eye to the first sequence of conquerors.
But Mason soon realized that the answer would not be so simple. He quickly thought of another thing and looked at his lieutenant Magneto and said:
"You were the ones who caused the attack and serious injury to the Supreme Professor? Is this revenge?"
"It wasn't revenge, it was just an act of self-help."
Magneto looked at Mason with some surprise. It seemed that this young compatriot knew more than he thought.
He followed up on Mason's question:
"The primary purpose of the attack was not to kill the Supreme Professor, and we knew that was impossible.
We sent thirty Omega generals, led by Lady Red Queen, to ambush their spaceships and laboratories, and destroyed the 'third upgrade plan' that they were going to submit to Lord Doom.
It is said that the plan contains a blueprint for upgrading the 'Compliance Program'. Once the Hope Council gets hold of it, we will never have peace.
Being able to injure the Supreme Professor was a pleasant surprise. The results of that operation were beyond our expectations. The commander-in-chief had assured us that the cold-blooded bastard would not survive, but he survived death. It is said that he used some special drugs. "
"The truth is really hurtful. It seems that my fate with Hogwarts was destined seventeen years ago."
Mason touched the silent hat on his head. The reason for the destruction of the Hogwarts world was completely figured out, but the answer still did not make people feel happy.
The captain thought for a moment and said:
"So, you really wanted to seek help from Utopia at first?"
"Yes, ten years ago."
Adjutant Magneto whispered:
"At that time, several clones who grew to Omega level in the flames of war secretly formed an organization. Storm was one of them. They vowed to change the reality that our brothers and sisters have been cruelly consumed.
The most direct way we can think of is to ask for help from the Primarchs. At that time, Utopia was already searching for mutant civilizations in parallel worlds.
We naively thought they would help us too.
Therefore, these respectable pioneers risked being executed to find the contact of Utopia, and under the latter's instructions, they stole a full set of Weapon X project data from the unique fusion world of Lord Doom, and secretly handed over the most promising members to Utopia.
They said they would do their best to help us break free from our shackles, and once that was done, they would accept the First Sequence as a member of Utopia, so as to avoid the inevitable pursuit and killing by the Council of Hope.
But what we waited for was neither help nor acceptance.
A few months later, Lord Doom upgraded the cloning system technology at all Project X bases at once, allowing more of our compatriots to be born, and some genetic defects that may have existed before were also corrected.
Most importantly, the obedience program has been upgraded!
This directly led to the lower-level clones being unable to disobey the orders of their superiors. From then on, we knew that we were fooled by those bastard Primarchs!
They don't care about our fate at all. We are used as tools to show their loyalty to the Council! This is all a scam. They first gave us hope, and then cruelly extinguished it.
It is precisely because of their involvement that we can no longer escape the manipulation and control of the Council."
"And Madeleine?"
Mason asked:
"How did Madeline become the Red Queen and the commander of the First Order?"
"It's out of revenge."
Adjutant Magneto sneered:
"After realizing that we were fooled, the Omega clones who united at the beginning were determined to take revenge. Lord Doom may be aware of this, but he is happy to see the growing conflict between the clones and the original bodies.
So he let us go.
At that time, I was just an Alpha Warrior and followed the Forerunners into Utopia. We destroyed several cities and took back the members we had handed over to them.
But fate favors us after all.
Lady Madeline was the most wonderful gift of that operation. She was used by those bastard Primarchs to test the power of the Phoenix Force, and she was extremely lucky to master that power.
When we were besieged by the Hunted Sentinels and were about to be destroyed, she stepped forward to save us and brought us back to the Conqueror's ship.
From that day on, the Conqueror First Sequence finally had a true commander!
Her power astounded even Doom, and the upgrades made by those bastard Primarchs saved us from being cannon fodder. From then on, we had bargaining chips with the Council of Hope."
At this point, Magneto looked at Mason and said seriously:
“The ideals and concepts that you mentioned that the Red Queen used to unite her compatriots do not exist, Mason Cooper. Whether it is ideals or the future, those things are too luxurious for us as clones.
The reason we stick together is because no one else will lend a hand to us or even care about us except ourselves!
Don't think of us as evil, we just have nowhere else to go.
That’s all.”
He looked at Mason, and after a few seconds of silence, he sighed and said with a tone of regret and jealousy:
"Not every compatriot of mine can be as free as you and have a life with unlimited possibilities, Mason. You have never experienced the desperate situation of being abandoned, so don't use your naive idea of universal peace to measure our choices.
The feud between you and Ms. Madeline is your own business. Others have no right or reason to get involved. But between Utopia and the First Sequence, you... must make a choice!"
…
"Mason has come into contact with the first-sequence clones of the Conqueror, Professor. Although what happened back then has been forgotten, perhaps we should intervene to prevent this potential rising star from turning against us.
Although he never directly admitted that he was one of us, he was given an important task after all."
In a lounge in Utopia, the Supreme Professor, who was resting with his eyes closed, felt a mental dialogue arising in his heart. It was a warning from Mr. Sinister.
But he had no intention of intervening in the face of this suggestion. After a few seconds of silence, the Supreme Professor said in a gentle voice:
"Don't worry about him. There are more important things right now. Have the civilians around the world been resettled? Are there enough immigrant ships? Are the soldiers on the border ready?"
"But if Mason knew that..."
"Then let him know."
The Supreme Professor waved his hand, ending the topic, and said:
"The truth cannot be hidden, you have to know that Mason never thought he was one of us, and he never wanted to be part of Utopia.
The two parties were only in a cooperative relationship from the beginning to the end.
The Fourth Impact is coming, and the darkest hour for Utopia is coming. Let's focus on the real things."
