Peter encountered a puzzle that began when he bought ice cream earlier: Genosha did not seem to operate on the concept of "transaction," at least not when they bought ice cream or ate a meal—they didn't have to pay.
When faced with this confusion, Wanda's answer was quite unexpected.
"Genosha doesn't need those things... I don't mean that transactions don't exist in Genosha; actually, monetary exchange still exists. But for basic necessities like food, medical care, and education, citizens of Genosha aren't required to pay any funds."
Wanda said something that seemed to break conventional understanding: "Although a considerable number of mutant abilities only hinder their daily lives, overall, the abilities mutants gain can still greatly enhance their self-sufficiency. The wealth a single mutant can create might be several or even dozens of times what an ordinary human creates. And that wealth provides the entire nation with far more tax revenue than it needs. This gives us the confidence to implement complete free services for all basic public welfare programs."
This didn't entirely resolve Peter's confusion. Logically, he believed that 16 million mutants could generate the productivity needed to make all basic needs free. However, he found it hard to believe that a nation established only six years ago could implement all of this without obstacles. Even with Magneto's iron-fisted rule, it seemed unrealistic. Of course, he didn't really understand all the details, but he instinctively felt it was strange.
And the strangeness didn't stop there.
Children, especially those under six, were noticeably few.
"Why do I hardly see any young children playing outside?"
Peter's question caught Wanda, who was waiting for their meal, off guard. She looked outside with confusion and realized the problem was indeed present. After pondering for a while, she seemed to recall something: "The reason Genosha's birth rate is low might be because Genosha requires parents who wish to conceive to undergo genetic screening. After all, as you just saw, some people's mutant genes have absolutely no special effect, and some are completely negative, even potentially harming their physical condition."
"Meaning, if those genes are deemed... unsuitable for inheritance, then they aren't allowed to have children, is that right?"
"Yes. My father believes that these mutant genes are like hereditary diseases in humans. If parents naturally possess genes that could lead to a child being mentally unsound or having various illnesses, they shouldn't let that child be born into the world to suffer. It's inhumane."
Peter understood. He didn't continue to ask the question: Who decides which mutant genes are suitable for inheritance and which are utterly useless. This was entirely Magneto's absolute authority, and it was evident that he hadn't fully explained these details to his daughter.
Wanda Maximoff was indeed a girl who truly loved Genosha and understood it, and she believed her father was working for the future of mutants. Naturally, Magneto himself likely felt the same way; it was just that their understanding of the goal was slightly different.
If Magneto needed it, he could engineer a mutant population geared toward war or toward other specific aspects. With about 80% of the world's mutants now gathered here, Magneto was fully capable of influencing what kind of next generation mutants would breed.
Or, perhaps Peter was simply overthinking, and Magneto really had changed for the better? Peter wasn't sure if that possibility truly existed, but given Old Man's personality, the chances were slim.
"I feel like... you're thinking about my father, wondering if he's a bad person."
Wanda's words pulled Peter back to reality, but he shook his head. "I don't think it's about good or bad, but rather... maybe what your father considers 'beneficial to mutants' might be different from your view. Of course, I could be overthinking it."
"That's normal, but he will grow old eventually, and he's also said that the future is in our hands, the younger generation. When that time comes, we can push things toward the right path."
"Yes, toward the right... wait, I thought your father was already over seventy? Doesn't that count as growing old?"
"That... is hard to say. He was already almost sixty when we were born. He remarried after founding Genosha. When he was seventy, he and my mother had a younger sister for my brother and me, named Lorna, who has rare long green hair."
Lorna... Polaris.
Speaking of which, Old Man really was robust; having a child at seventy!
While Peter was muttering to himself, the waiter brought their lunch. Surprisingly, the server was a contemporary of theirs with short silver hair and very quick movements.
"Your two steaks, medium-well. Sorry, my sister doesn't like her steak too rare."
Pietro Maximoff darted out, placing two medium-well steaks on the table with a mischievous grin—and it truly was just steak. But in an instant, sauce appeared on the steak, it was brushed with honey, garnished with a few washed four-leaf clovers and cherry tomatoes, and two sodas were presented in one swift motion.
A side note: Although he moved like a gust of wind, Peter could actually clearly track every one of Quicksilver's movements. His speed hadn't reached supersonic levels, perhaps because he simply didn't need to, or perhaps... he wasn't capable of that speed yet?
Faster than Quicksilver was Wanda's sigh, which was a mix of exasperation and embarrassment.
"Salt and pepper, white pepper, fennel... do you need a side salad? Never mind, eat the steak first."
"Sorry, Peter, I need to talk to my brother."
Wanda sighed helplessly, raising her hand to catch the zipping Pietro with a blast of crimson energy. Pietro, meanwhile, had an innocent expression: "Hey, I already cleaned the garden, Wanda."
"That's not what I need to talk to you about, dear brother. Let's talk outside."
Peter simply smiled and nodded, watching Wanda haul Pietro away. Using his superhuman hearing, he listened to Wanda grit her teeth while yelling her brother's name, accompanied by a sound akin to the pitiful squeal of Tom the cat being beaten. A few minutes later, Wanda smoothed her hair, walked back in looking resigned, and sat down with an apologetic expression.
"Sorry, my brother is just like that..."
"No, it's fine. I know a few classmates who might be even more boisterous than him," Peter reassured Wanda with a smile. "Besides, this steak actually looks great. Let's eat."
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