The Ancient One turned her head sharply. "You saw this too?"
Marcus was momentarily taken aback, then his face straightened into a serious expression.
"Master Ancient One, I saw two different potential endings. One is that they were almost wiped out by the Sentinels. The other is that the Mutants are directly wiped out by genetic decay. I don't know which of these two results is the correct one."
He was once again spinning a tale. Bragging and nonsense are free, after all. He figured that if he made the situation sound dire enough, perhaps the Ancient One would relent and allow him more freedom.
"Since you've seen such visions, you should know that there is no way to solve this matter permanently," the Ancient One stated, her voice firmer this time. "Therefore, let them sort out the Mutant issue themselves."
Marcus feigned confusion. "No, since we know the Mutants' ending is not good, shouldn't we find a way to help them? Why let them figure it out on their own?"
"As I said before, the matters of the material world are left for them to resolve. Our goal is to protect the magical side and prevent mysterious magic from affecting the operations of this world. Your prophecies are not very strong yet; otherwise, you would be able to see more of the future. When you see those futures, you will know that what happened to the Mutants is actually what they brought upon themselves."
The Ancient One continued, giving a rare lecture to Marcus.
"They have already been suppressed by humans, yet they are still constantly fighting among themselves. You can help such a race for a while, but you cannot help them for a lifetime. The most important thing for any race is to learn to save itself! Self-help is the only way out. Putting hope on others is simply self-destruction! Our duty as Supreme Sorcerers—maintaining the safety of the magic dimension—is an aspect of self-help. Without us, the Dark Dimension Lords like Dormammu would simply swallow our universe. Do you understand?"
Marcus frowned after hearing this. "Okay, I get it."
He knew the Ancient One was determined. In truth, Marcus also felt that the Mutants often courted their own demise. Even as a human, he actually disagreed with Professor X's methods, just as he disagreed with Magneto's extreme thinking.
The Mutants could have had more options. For example, finding a safe haven for all Mutants, like the nation of Wakanda or the home of the Inhumans. Level 4 Mutants like Professor X and Magneto, plus Omega-level Mutants like Jean, could definitely deter humans. At least before the two leaders died, the Mutants shouldn't have been entirely liquidated by humanity.
But instead, the two leaders constantly undermined their own people. One was constantly provoking humanity, making humans fear Mutants even more. The other's actions constantly weakened the strength of the nascent Mutant force, choosing to place their future faith in humans. Constant internal friction was indeed courting death.
"Good. The young Mutants are waiting for you now; they want to thank you individually," the Ancient One said, thinking Marcus had been "convinced" by her lecture.
Marcus walked to the residence prepared for the Mutants.
"Mr. Sorcerer, thank you," Colossus said, acting as the leader, thanking Marcus again.
Marcus smiled. "You don't need to thank me. If you really want to thank me, let me touch your transformation."
Colossus's face froze. The other party had mentioned this when they left. Was the sorcerer interested in him personally? Or was he interested in the Colossus state?
Hopefully it's the latter.
"Ka Ka Ka ~"
With the sound of metal rubbing, Colossus's body became completely encased in organic steel before Marcus's eyes.
"Wow, cool!"
Marcus reached out and stroked Colossus's metallic skin.
[Ding! The detection failed and cannot be picked up.]
The familiar voice sounded in Marcus's mind.
The binding failed!
He had been hearing that voice for two years in Kamar-Taj, due to the one day "skill CD" time. He wondered if the rule was the same for Mutants.
He then proceeded to touch all the young Mutants.
The result was the same: "Detection failure."
Sure enough, the system itself needs to be carefully studied.
All of this was witnessed by the Ancient One, who was observing from a distance.
"This apprentice is indeed a bit abnormal," she thought, genuinely helpless. In every brief prophecy, she always saw him constantly touching someone else, looking excited, like he was seeing a peerless beauty.
Shaking her head, she chose to leave.
Just after the Ancient One left, Colossus spoke decisively.
"Mr. Sorcerer, since you are also a Mutant, can you save the rest of us?"
They had begged the other Sorcerers, but none dared to go without the Ancient One's consent. Furthermore, he could see that the Ancient One had little interest in saving the Mutants. Now, their only hope was Marcus, the Sorcerer who was also a Mutant.
Marcus felt the gaze of the Ancient One disappear. He finally felt a little relieved.
"It's useless. Xavier's School has already been captured. But at the moment, I can take you to another place."