Chapter Fifty-Eight: Wars of the Past

Nick Fury shook his head. "No, the Cuban Missile Crisis had nothing to do with vampires. It was merely the opportunity that led to their discovery."

"According to historical records, the Cuban Missile Crisis was ultimately resolved through mutual compromise, but only a handful of senior officials in both countries knew that the crisis had actually erupted. Their warships had even exchanged fire."

"In a sense, war had already begun, but from the very start, it was stopped by someone."

"Who?" Gu Zhongyan asked instinctively.

"Magneto," Nick Fury replied seriously.

"Magneto?" Gu Zhongyan was taken aback, then suddenly realized—wasn't this the plot from the film X-Men: First Class?

Mutants, war profiteers, the Hellfire Club's master, 'Black King' Sebastian Shaw, possessed the ability to absorb and emit energy. To maximize his power, he sought to trigger nuclear war, absorb the energy of nuclear weapons, and rule the world.

The young Magneto, Erik Lehnsherr, along with a not-yet-bald-and-lame Professor Charles Xavier, formed the first X-Men, and faced off against Shaw in the bay.

In the end, Shaw was destroyed through the combined efforts of Charles and Erik. Yet, during this process, Erik was increasingly influenced by Shaw's political views, creating a rift between himself and Charles.

Through the battle in the bay, Erik and Charles finally parted ways—one became Professor X, advocating peaceful coexistence between humans and mutants; the other insisted on the rise of mutants through the elimination of humanity, calling himself Magneto.

This special race of mutants, hidden within human society for thousands of years, began to draw the attention of world leaders, and gradually became familiar to ordinary people.

Observing Gu Zhongyan's contemplative expression, Nick Fury continued, "The emergence of Magneto—or rather, mutants—made ordinary people like us, especially those in power, realize that the secrets of this planet far exceeded our knowledge."

"At the same time, out of apprehension toward mutants, no major nation dared to initiate war lightly, which set the tone for global peace and development from the 1960s to the present day."

Hearing this, Gu Zhongyan sneered, "Apprehension? It's nothing more than discovering a group of uncontrollable beings among their subordinates, fearing their own positions are threatened."

"Have those politicians really opposed mutants over the years? What they oppose is not mutants, but the fact that they themselves are not mutants. If given the choice, they'd desire Magneto's or Professor X's powers more than anyone."

Faced with Gu Zhongyan's sarcasm, Nick Fury did not refute him, merely shrugged.

"It doesn't matter. In any case, the appearance of mutants unsettled the world's leaders. They began frantically searching for other special individuals, hoping to bring mutants under their control."

"Vampires were discovered during this large-scale operation."

"At first, people assumed vampires were merely another kind of mutant, and used this as an excuse to attack the mutant community, fueling conflict between ordinary people and mutants."

"But soon they realized—the legendary race of vampires truly existed."

"If the emergence of mutants only left world leaders surprised and feeling out of control, the existence of vampires utterly enraged and terrified them."

Nick Fury sighed. "After all, no matter how unique mutants are, they remain within the bounds of humanity—the threat is only to their rule. But those blood-drinking vampires treat us humans as livestock."

"Mankind, who pride themselves as the soul of all things and rulers of the world, suddenly discovered they'd become someone else's food within the fence. How could they not be furious?"

"Thus, to avoid panic, nations never disclosed the existence of vampires to the public. Yet behind the scenes, a global campaign to exterminate vampires swept across the world."

"For example, the popularity of tanning fashion in America since the sixties—can you guess why?"

"And why, during that period, did the number of vampire-themed films rise, with most vampires portrayed as hideous creatures, so different from today's noble and elegant cinematic vampires?" Nick Fury gazed deeply at him.

"Screening and precaution?" Gu Zhongyan understood.

After all, vampires had obvious weaknesses—they couldn't endure sunlight. Amid a nationwide tanning craze, those unaffected by the trend might not necessarily be vampires, but it was clear vampires would be hiding among them.

For an era with less advanced technology, this method was highly effective for uncovering vampires.

As for the proliferation of films, though they didn't reveal the existence of vampires, they exposed many of their weaknesses, so ordinary people—even if they encountered vampires—could resist to some degree.

Without inciting mass panic, it was indeed a clever strategy. If what Nick Fury said was true, humanity really had fought a great war against vampires once.

So why had things changed now? Gu Zhongyan looked puzzled.

Seeing his confusion, Nick Fury continued to explain, "When war first broke out, humanity achieved a sweeping victory. Despite their fearsome nature, vampires had many weaknesses. In the mechanized modern era, vast quantities of silver bullets could easily wipe them out."

"But we underestimated the vampires. A species that has survived on Earth for millennia must have some hidden cards."

"When we had eliminated most vampires and nearly pushed them to extinction, a powerful vampire appeared—Dracula."

"Compared to the vampires we encountered, Dracula's abilities were far greater."

"He possessed strength, speed, endurance, and reflexes far beyond ordinary humans, was unafraid of sunlight, and had extraordinary regenerative abilities. Most physical attacks could not harm him; even if wounded, he could swiftly heal any damage."

"Silver, garlic, and crucifixes could inflict some harm, but could not destroy him as they did ordinary vampires."

"Moreover, he could command bats, turn into mist, shapeshift, summon storms and lightning, transform into bats, wolves, werewolves, and half-human bat monsters."

"Mirrors and cameras could not capture his image, making tracking him nearly impossible."

"Most terrifying of all, Dracula possessed a hypnotic power unique among vampires—those he transformed would become his loyal servants."