The Avengers hastily left, while the mutants still needed to conduct the subsequent apology meeting, with the theme being to apologize to the various forces participating in the banquet. Although it was clearly a setup, as hosts, they failed to entertain properly and frightened the guests, leading them to apologize individually.
However, the guests who remained were not too bothered by it. To put it simply, dealing with mutants inherently involves risks. They've already been scared, have taken on the risks, and running away now would be unwise. Staying on might at least earn them a favor, which could be useful in the future.
Many smart ones chose to stay, such as envoys from SWORD and Wakanda, and even people from Latvia. Charles personally promised them that the mutants owed them a favor, and would fully assist them in the future, turning misfortune into fortune.
Despite the mutants performing poorly on the island, struggling to handle a volcanic eruption, it's because the island itself imposes limitations on mutants, restricting even Omega-level ones to Beta-level. The eruption was too sudden, affecting their response efficacy. But once off this island, each of them would be as powerful as planetary-level beings; obtaining their favor would be a pleasant surprise.
However, these people left soon, aware that mutants still had to deal with internal affairs, which are far more critical than diplomacy. Anyone with insight could see there was certainly an insider on the island, and quite a few of them — highly trained and competent ones.
"There's no need for me to say much," Charles said after others left, "Even if I wanted to shift all the blame onto The Avengers, it's not possible. Anyone with any sense would know they couldn't have acted directly, it had to be mutants on the island."
"What are you planning to do?" White Queen asked. She too attended such an important banquet, knowing well she might not be able to join Clarkia anymore. But being a business person, maintaining good relations with all sides is necessary; even if she can't join, there's no need to offend, thus she came.
"Firstly, don't blame each other. You should have anticipated that ever since Clarkia announced 'not giving up any mutant,' situations like this would arise. Because not all mutants side with mutants, infiltration was inevitable."
Apocalypse crossed his arms and nodded, "That's right. Many mutants who've lived in human society for too long prioritize their social identity among ordinary people and cannot detach from their human parents. If threatened or enticed, there's a considerable chance they might switch sides."
Namor furrowed his brow deeply, "It could only be those mutants you recruited from the mainland who are problematic. Because those of us who came voluntarily wouldn't deliberately cause trouble for Clarkia; we'd simply not come at all. As a king, I had no reason to come here to suffer with you."
Many mutants nodded. They were the ones Magneto sought after changing his approach, and while not all were influential and wealthy, they could at least stand independently with their own support, and weren't homeless, weak mutants. They didn't come to Clarkia seeking refuge but willingly invested in the mutant Utopia cause.
Such mutants causing such issues is unlikely since they gave up better lives elsewhere to invest in a just-starting, challenging new company, anticipating its growth and prosperity to advance further. Tampering before the company escapes the startup phase brings no benefit to these investors.
Yet, despite all that has been said, no one dared to speak too definitively. They believed this internally, but their subordinates might not be as unwavering. If infiltrators were found, and they had spoken too confidently, they might also face backlash.
"Here's my suggestion," Apocalypse spoke up, "I'll open my mind to you; you can examine my brainwaves. Any suspicious points, you can reveal them for everyone to judge. Wouldn't that clear my name?"
His words prompted another uproar among mutants. Truth be told, despite Professor X consistently showing kindness, most mutants both respect and fear him greatly, mainly because of his powers. Regularly viewing everyone's thoughts and memories is somewhat daunting.
Nevertheless, Apocalypse's attitude garnered everyone's admiration. It was indeed audacious; you might wonder how from ancient history to now he never had a guilty conscience?
"Whatever I've done, my intention was always for the good of mutants." Apocalypse slightly raised his head, "Even if I've attacked many among you, it's only because I wanted to first rule mutants, then conquer the world. I have no guilty conscience."
With these words, others found themselves at a loss for words. Should you accuse him of audacity, well, Apocalypse is the progenitor of mutants; back in his time, mutants were formidable, but in modern times, they've become miserable. Feeling his descendants are incompetent and wishing to take another shot himself seems reasonable.
"I can accept scrutiny too." White Queen said, "While I'm also a mind power user, only during diamond form can I resist the Professor's brainwaves, not otherwise. I'll refrain from using mutant abilities to resist, ensuring the scrutiny results are genuine and accurate."
"Then I shall too." Polaris stepped forward, "I have nothing to hide. Besides, I trust the Professor's character; he'll only check this matter. If he wanted to pry into our privacy, he would've done it already; nobody has secrets in front of Professor X, right?"
Many young mutants stood up too, mostly Professor X's students, with a few young ones from the Mutant Brotherhood. They truly trusted Professor X's character, knowing that even if he saw something, he wouldn't reveal it. This trust was built over years.
Ultimately, most mutants agreed to scrutiny, with some external mutant forces still unsure. But they dared not speak up, fearing standing against it now might quickly see them labeled as insiders, thus reluctantly agreeing.
"Then come to me willingly," Charles said, "I'll be waiting in my office; whoever comes, I'll check them. Once cleared of suspicion, you can rest for a while; I'll publish the results soon."
"Should we be scrutinized too?" Captain America asked from the Prime Universe, "Not that we're unwilling, but we've never undergone mind-reading before, unsure if this will..."
"You don't need to," Charles said, "Iron Man and Doctor Strange have already left. And your character is well-known. Of course, if you're willing, I won't refuse; proving innocence is naturally better."
Although knowing this might let a lot of information fall into the hands of the Central Universe, there wasn't a better way. Moreover, without Iron Man and Doctor Strange, those who remained were relatively mild, thinking that proving one's innocence wasn't bad either.
"What about us?" Matt asked.
"Iron Man can skip the inspection," Charles said, "his contributions to this matter are obvious, and he's not in great shape, better to let him go back and rest."
The mutants had no objections because Polaris had already explained the entire engine repair process to them, indeed it was Iron Man from the Central Universe who saved the crisis. If he were the behind-the-scenes manipulator, there'd be no reason for him to do so; skipping the inspection was normal.
The others had no objections either, after all, Charles was one of them, and wouldn't randomly talk about what he saw. However, because the mutants were inspecting first, they returned to rest first.
Stark had long been sent back to sleep, while the others sat on the sofa with a sigh of relief. Strange couldn't help but complain, "What is Charles up to?"
"You noticed it too," Matt said, "I thought I was the only one thinking this."
"What have you noticed?" Natasha asked.
"This whole matter is Charles' self-directed act," Shiller answered her, "there's no so-called behind-the-scenes manipulator, he was the one who damaged the engine."
"I thought it was you," Natasha spoke candidly, "it seemed a bit like your style. Although a volcano eruption was a bit petty, I thought you held back because of Charles."
"Although I noticed from the beginning, it was indeed not me," Shiller shook his head and said, "I also reminded you all, constantly steering the topic in this direction, but none of you seemed to catch on."
"I had a premonition," Matt said, "this hot spring thing is very strange. Still, as I said, facing various sanctions and pressures, the mutants first chose to build a hot spring, which clearly isn't normal."
"I felt it was Charles' method," Strange said, "creating problems in the Andromeda Galaxy, then pushing the blame onto the Three Great Empires, the Three Great Empires have been tricked by him several times."
"So that's how it is," Steve nodded and said, "though it appears the mutants lost a lot on the surface, they've actually gained more."
"What have they gained?" Bucky asked, "From what I see, there's only the local Avengers feeling guilty, what else?"
"Of course, it's the legitimate reason to catch insiders," Shiller proposed, "Without this agenda, suddenly saying you want to conduct a brainwave inspection, no one would agree. But with such a big incident, everyone's eager to prove their innocence, the inspection naturally proceeds, which allows them to quickly clear out the insiders in Clarkia."
"But they've also offended quite a few countries' ambassadors."
"The important ones haven't left, have they?" Steve drank some water, then put down his cup and said, "A bunch of fair-weather friends aren't as good as a few true friends, this reasoning holds in any era. At the United Nations, whoever has louder support seems powerful, but once outside the assembly, it still depends on the actual support strength."
"Exactly. As long as the mutants remain valuable, their allies won't abandon them. The worse Clarkia's predicament is, the greater the aid from allied countries. This incident is just them opening a path to request aid, also a reasonable justification for allies to provide humanitarian assistance without violating international treaties."
"Moreover, the Avengers' guilt is key, at least it can leverage the Stark Group and the Avengers themselves, to oppose the sanctions imposed by Washington. With Iron Man's temperament, things won't settle until the sanctions are lifted."
"In the international community, allies standing out to assist, coupled with the sanctions being fiercely countered by the Avengers, can quickly break through Clarkia's current diplomatic dilemma. And clearing insiders allows those certified by Charles to trust each other, becoming more united, stabilizing the internal situation."
After a pause, Shiller said, "With this move, the situation of Clarkia's internal and external difficulties won't last too long."