Chapter 16: Sometimes, what you see with your own eyes isn't necessarily the truth

Coulson accelerated the car. The two remained in silence throughout the journey; he neither sought to strike up a conversation with Annie nor looked at her again, focusing solely on driving. Annie, perhaps exhausted from the party, lay half-reclined in her seat, listlessly clutching her teddy bear.

The red sports car sped past one vehicle after another on the road, gradually heading toward the remote outskirts. He didn't stop until they had wound into a secluded mountain road, devoid of both streetlights and passing traffic.

"So, what exactly do you want to do by bringing me here? Strange stranger? Fake Uncle Coulson?" Annie stepped out of the car, surveyed her surroundings, and then tilted her head, looking at the "Coulson" before her with a mischievous grin.

Annie realized she had been brought to a small lakeside on the outskirts of the city. However, she wasn't worried. She had seen through this fake Uncle Coulson long ago; she had simply chosen not to call him out.

Annie just wanted to know what "he or she" actually wanted!

Because Annie had not detected any magical fluctuations from this Coulson, which was quite interesting. To be able to transform into Uncle Coulson's likeness without any magic was truly miraculous, and Annie was deeply interested in this special ability! This was also why she hadn't exposed him initially.

The "Coulson" before her possessed the exact appearance and voice of the real Uncle Coulson. If Annie weren't able to distinguish soul fluctuations through her magical vision, any ordinary person—even Aunt Melinda—wouldn't be able to tell the difference! Annie found this fascinating, didn't she? How did the transformation happen? Was it a power like a chameleon's?

"Stop joking, Annie. I don't know what you're talking about!" The fake Coulson stubbornly insisted, while glancing around as if waiting for someone.

"Lying is very impolite, you know. No two leaves in the world are identical! Likewise, there are no two identical souls! Show yourself, you impostor!"

Seeing that the opponent still refused to admit it even at this point, Annie pointed her finger at him in irritation!

Annie was a powerful mage, after all; did he think his stubbornness would make her helpless? A surge of magic rippled through her fingertips as she released two consecutive minor spells: *Spell Counter* and *Dispel Transformation*.

The magical fluctuations of the two spells rapidly swept toward the target. The appearance of the fake "Uncle Coulson" immediately melted away like dissolving snow, transforming into another form: a woman with red hair and blue skin, completely naked, but with her entire body covered in fine, similarly blue scales.

"You! How did you do that!?" Mystique cried out in panic. It was the first time someone had forced her directly back into her true form from a transformed state, and it left her terrified.

"It's just magic. Is it really that strange?" Annie muttered disdainfully. They were just two simple minor spells; was there really a need for such an uproar?

On the contrary, she had been curious about her ability to transform without magic, but seeing it now, it really was just a natural talent like a chameleon's. Looking at those fine scales covering her entire body and that blue skin, she wasn't human at all. Annie felt she could never learn such an ability, nor would she want to; it looked disgusting! It was terrifying! It gave her goosebumps.

*Clap, clap, clap!*

As Annie dispelled the fake Uncle Coulson's transformation, the sound of applause rang out!

By the light of the car, Annie saw an old man wearing a metal helmet and clad in armored robes, emerging from the woods by the small lake with two followers. He finally decided to show himself! No more playing hide-and-seek? Actually, she and her teddy bear, Tiberius, had discovered him hiding in the woods long ago.

The newcomer walked forward slowly, looking at Annie with an expression of admiration!

"What astonishing talent! It seems you are a mutant as well? Join our Brotherhood! Little Annie, I know you. Come, join us in the greatest cause of mutants: to fight for the future of all mutants in the world!"

This man was Erik Lehnsherr, known as Magneto! Long ago, he had founded an organization called the "Brotherhood of Mutants."

He believed that ordinary humans hated and feared mutants, and that the series of persecutions they forced upon mutants were utterly unreasonable and shameful! He had to change this status quo! Mutants should not be captured and persecuted by these inferior humans; as superior beings, mutants were the inevitable result of human evolution! Mutants should rule this world, and those ordinary humans should serve them like slaves!

A while ago, he had spotted a young girl on a live television broadcast. After some investigation, he discovered that this girl named Annie seemed to be a very powerful mutant.

She could not only control fire but also use it to create a powerful fire bear. Therefore, after much effort, he had meticulously planned and organized this operation. He had personally stepped out to attempt to recruit this young girl, hoping to bring her into the Brotherhood of Mutants to strengthen their power!

"Mutant? I'm not a mutant, Mister Weirdo!"

Annie had lived with Coulson and Melinda for so long, and since the two high-level agents had no intention of hiding anything from her, she naturally knew what a mutant was. She certainly wasn't one of those strange mutants!

"I'm a mage, not some weird mutant!"

"A mage?" Hearing this word, Erik couldn't help but frown. Had he truly made a mistake?

He turned to look at the subordinate who had followed him out. Although this subordinate wasn't strong, he possessed a special ability: within a certain range, he could distinguish between mutants and non-mutants and could roughly estimate the strength of a mutant's level.

And now, Erik found that his subordinate was shaking his head at him, the meaning quite clear: this little girl was indeed not a mutant!

*In that case, should we silence the girl?* another subordinate beside Erik asked with a look.

Erik shook his head. If he were facing an army or armed militants from another organization, he would never show mercy! To achieve his goals and for the great cause of mutants, he would use any means necessary! But right now, he did not want to strike a young girl, because it had nothing to do with their cause!

Looking at the several SHIELD SUVs rushing toward them in the distance and the helicopters beginning to appear in the sky, Erik felt that since they had made a mistake, they should let it go. He didn't want to get further entangled with SHIELD here. Thus, after giving the girl one last look and nodding to her, he and his three subordinates took flight, vanishing silently into the night sky.

*Eh? What a magical ability!* Annie suddenly wondered if all mutants were this powerful. Without magic, without incantations, and without using spells, they just flew up like that? It was so amazing; she really wanted that!

Furthermore, Annie discovered that the old man with the iron helmet possessed a power that felt very familiar to her, which was why she hadn't attacked him directly! It was a power of a "Domain"—his seemed to be a magnetic field? It was a strange and powerful sensation! Could it be that the opponent had reached a level close to a demigod? Annie possessed Domains herself! However, hers was a Domain of fire! And also a Domain of darkness! Though, she had never told anyone about that dark Domain.

"Annie! Are you okay?"

Melinda jumped out of a black SUV, holding her gun and looking around vigilantly while signaling other SHIELD agents to disperse and search the area. However, she knew they seemed to have arrived late, as no traces of enemies were found here.

She had originally been resting at the villa today; women, after all, have those days when they feel unwell.

Therefore, the task of pick-up and drop-off had been handled by Coulson alone. She was very confident in Coulson's abilities, and combined with Annie's formidable strength, Melinda didn't think anyone foolish enough would dare to cause trouble. So, at the beginning, she had been quite at ease!

However, she had waited at home for a long time, and when it exceeded the scheduled time by more than half an hour, she realized something was wrong! One must remember that being an agent is a very punctual profession; Coulson would know that.

So, she quickly opened the tracker, only to find that Coulson's car had not been driving toward the seaside villa, but was instead speeding toward the suburbs in the opposite direction! After several failed attempts to reach Coulson via his internal comms, Melinda knew something had definitely happened! Consequently, she decisively called for backup and rushed here with the agents on duty nearby.

"Right! Annie, where is Coulson? Where did he go?!"

Melinda breathed a sigh of relief upon finding Annie unharmed and seeing no signs of combat nearby. Only then did she remember Coulson. Where on earth had he gone? What was going on?

"Over there!"

Annie pointed toward the trunk of Coulson's car with a mischievous grin. She had discovered Uncle Coulson inside long ago. A mage's perception is very sharp; no one can easily deceive a mage!

"Mmph! Mmph! Mmph!" Melinda opened the trunk and glared irritably at Coulson, whose mouth was taped shut and whose body was bound like a mummy, leaving him unable to move and only able to stare at her with wide eyes.

"Coulson, why are you here? Who did this?"

Melinda tore the tape off Coulson's mouth and asked crossly. The esteemed Level 6 agent Coulson! He had actually been ambushed and stuffed into the trunk of his own car? If this news got out and reached the Director, there would surely be another massive outburst of temper!

"I wanted to ask you that! Melinda! Why did you ambush me? Not only did you knock me out, but you also tied me up here? I'm telling you! This isn't over, let me go!" Coulson roared at Melinda in a huff. He didn't understand why she would do this!

"Ha! This is truly...!" Melinda was about to explode with rage!

She had been in a bad mood for the past few days, and now she had dragged her exhausted body here to save him, only for him to turn around and blame her? Simply wonderful! Thus, she slapped the tape back over Coulson's mouth, slammed the trunk shut, and locked him back inside.

"Annie! Let's go home!"

"Mmph! Mmph-mmph!! Mmph-mmph-mmph!!!"

"Arre? Is this really okay?" Annie watched the closed trunk, hearing Uncle Coulson's struggling sounds from inside. Her eyes darted around as she thought of something funny.

She roughly knew why Uncle Coulson misunderstood Aunt Melinda. It must have been the work of that chameleon-like mutant! But she didn't want to say anything for now. Watching these two bicker seemed quite fun. So, Annie decided she would tell them the truth just a little bit later. Yes, that was the plan!

(Tiberius:...)

(End of Chapter)