Chapter 28

“This is the plan I drafted earlier. It still needs some refining,” Norin said, handing a sheet of paper to Charles.

Charles carefully accepted it, knowing the contents involved critical information about mutant survival and required utmost secrecy.

“First, I noticed a fatal flaw during this operation.”

“I heard Ororo mention that the X-Men report their missions to the United Nations in advance and even notify local governments?”

Charles nodded. “That’s a decision Hank and I made together.”

Beast, sitting beside him, also seemed puzzled. Wasn’t gaining government trust a good thing?

Despite the worsening environment for mutants, there were still voices like Senator Kelly constantly preaching fear and advocating for their control or imprisonment.

Yet, Charles and Hank had worked hard to win over some political figures who defended mutants publicly.

But mutants were still a minority. Through deliberate propaganda, those in power portrayed mutants as monsters—devils who threatened humanity with their genes.

Fear and hatred grew. Many people wanted to exterminate mutants.

Even so, Charles remained firm about registering the X-Men with the United Nations. Their identities and abilities weren’t secrets.

Norin shook his head.

“Your intentions were good, but you underestimated the depths of human malice.”

Charles, despite his telepathic abilities, was too optimistic—too trusting of human nature.

He had the powers of a god but chose restraint.

If he’d truly examined humanity’s dark side, he would’ve seen the immense forces eager to destroy mutants.

Because he didn’t act sooner, mutants were now cornered—resisting only when survival hung by a thread.

Charles wasn’t a suitable leader, and Erik was too radical. Neither approach worked.

And this was the Marvel Universe—full of beings far stronger than Magneto.

While Magneto might be the strongest mutant for now, beings like Hulk roamed freely, and countless sorcerers lurked in the shadows.

“Is it really that serious?” Charles asked, confused.

Jean and the others also turned to Norin, waiting for an answer.

“Serious? It’s beyond serious.”

Norin’s tone hardened.

“Answer me this—haven’t you noticed anything odd during your recent missions?”

Charles looked at Scott and Ororo, who knew more about field operations.

Ororo hesitated. “Now that you mention it, something did seem strange.”

“In several operations, the targets’ defenses were unusually weak, and personnel numbers were low. Even critical scientists weren’t present, and there was a lack of research data.”

Hearing this, Charles’ expression grew grim.

He had overlooked this before. But now, Norin’s observations made the situation clear—something was wrong.

“You’re suggesting we have enemies within the United Nations?”

“Exactly,” Norin confirmed. “They’re probably capturing mutants and conducting experiments in secret.”

Norin briefly recounted his earlier experiences, adding weight to his claims.

Charles nodded thoughtfully.

“We’ll need to be more cautious from now on. Let’s minimize exposure during missions to avoid alarming our enemies.”

Hank, looking ashamed, apologized.

“Sorry, Professor. I thought registering with the UN would help mutants.”

“It’s not your fault,” Charles reassured him.

“We agreed to it together. We just underestimated the situation. Even the United Nations can’t be trusted completely.”

Charles sighed, realizing his ideology had been too naïve.

Logan, impatient, grumbled, “Then let’s stop reporting to the UN altogether!”

Charles shook his head.

“We can’t unilaterally break our agreement with the UN. Doing so could trigger conflicts and push more people to oppose us. We need to tread carefully and find ways to operate discreetly without outright severing ties.”

While Charles and Hank discussed solutions, Norin remained silent.

He knew his role was to raise questions, not provide all the answers—especially as the group’s future leader.

Once the discussion slowed, Norin offered another suggestion.

“I propose eliminating most academic courses and replacing them with more practical training.”

“Every mutant with combat potential should learn crisis response skills. Even non-combatant mutants need basic survival and military training. At the very least, they need to know how to raise alarms and call for help effectively.”

While the school already had combat training, it was limited to official X-Men members and recruits.

Charles wanted mutant students to live normal lives, not be molded into soldiers.

But Norin knew that approach wouldn’t work in the face of extinction.

Mutants were outnumbered and discriminated against. Without proper training, they couldn’t even protect themselves, let alone survive.

Scott immediately objected.

“No! They’re just kids! Forcing them into military training would make us no better than the people who want to enslave us!”

Norin scoffed.

“Kids? You think the people pointing guns at us care if they’re kids?”

“To them, mutants deserve to die!”

“They’ve already started turning mutants into mindless killing machines!”

“So you’d rather see these kids graduate unprepared, only to be captured and dissected in experiments because they can’t defend themselves?”

Norin’s harsh words left the room silent.

Jean looked conflicted, while Hank and Ororo exchanged uneasy glances.

Scott, however, stood his ground.

“Not everyone wants to fight, Norin! You can’t force people to abandon their lives just because of your paranoia!”

Norin’s eyes narrowed.

“It’s not paranoia if the threat is real.”

“I’m not asking everyone to become soldiers—I’m asking them to be prepared. If they’re too weak to fight, they’ll die. It’s that simple.”

“We’re not playing games here, Scott. This is survival.”

The room remained tense as Scott clenched his fists but said nothing more.

Charles finally spoke up.

“Norin has a point. We need to rethink our priorities and strike a balance. We’ll implement some of his suggestions and focus on improving defense training.”

Scott’s face softened, but he still seemed uneasy.

“Fine,” he muttered. “But we’re doing this carefully. No forcing anyone.”

Charles nodded, signaling the discussion was over.

Norin leaned back, satisfied.

He had planted the seeds of change.

The X-Men weren’t ready for war yet—but they would be.