Even the Professor Gave Him This?

Storm left arm and looked towards the back seat.

The China man in the black suit had his eyes closed, his head bobbing with the car's movement.

"Robert, go to East Seventh Street. I have a house there."

"Alright, Ms. Ororo! Hold on tight!"

In the back seat, Sing Sing's ears twitched.

Go to her house?

This won't do!

He quietly checked his right ear; the small wound from before was almost scabbed over.

In a few more minutes, not even a red mark will remain!

If we really get to her lair, the lights will shine...

Bandaging?

Bandaging my ass!

His elaborate scheme to suffer a painful injury was about to be exposed!

What will we use to coerce this weather-controlling agricultural rainfall expert into signing a labor contract?

No!

We must take the initiative into our own hands.

They dragged the two of them back to their lair and got them on their pirate ship; once they wanted to get off, it was too late!

"Cough cough... cough!"

Sing Sing coughed, opened his eyes, and pretended to be barely breathing.

"You're awake? You're bleeding, we need to stop the bleeding!"

"My injury can't be treated by ordinary quacks," Sing Sing gasped for breath. "Go to the Western Suburbs... the Wasteland behind the abandoned chemical plant."

Geggebu glanced in the rearview mirror, sweating profusely. "Director Stephen! There's not a soul in sight over there. What are we going to do there?"

"Stop talking nonsense!" Sing Sing sat up straight. "There's a car waiting for us over there! If you miss your flight, I'll dock your pay!"

With a sharp turn of the steering wheel, the Mustang swerved and headed straight for the Western Suburbs.

Storm frowned. "The car that's picking us up? Where are we going?"

"Go back to the X Academy."

Storm fell silent for a moment, "X Academy... I haven't heard that name in a long time. And it's been a long time since I've been back."

Sing Sing leaned back in his chair.

Storm's current state clearly indicates that she has something on her mind.

Old Charles, that stubborn mule, stays in the dilapidated school every day pretending to be profound, while his former core members are now wandering outside, living a life of hardship.

There's definitely something juicy going on here!

If we don't understand these people's pain points, how can we effectively address their needs and issue them employee badges?

"I said," Sing Sing pulled out a crumpled cigarette and put it in his mouth, "That old man, Old Charles, is always there sighing and lamenting, leaning on his cane."

"You guys were a top-tier team that saved the world, how come you just collapsed like that? You didn't even pay any severance pay?"

Storm sighed. "That was a disaster none of us want to talk about."

She turned her head to look at the receding night view outside the window, her tone bitter.

"Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants, in collaboration with the Hellfire Club, developed an extremely dangerous device."

What are they trying to do?

"They are trying to forcibly transform the entire United States population into Mutants."

Sing Sing raised an eyebrow.

"Damn. Isn't this just an illegal pyramid scheme? Forcing people to recruit others? This Magneto has a good business sense."

Storm ignored his bizarre analogy and continued.

"The professor discovered their plot. This forced conversion will kill millions of ordinary people."

"So the entire X-Men were mobilized to stop them."

"That's good, superheroes save the world, a standard patriotic script. And then what?"

"Then..." Storm's voice was tinged with anger. "William Stryker and Bolivar Trask learned of this. They joined forces with the military and the government, deploying heavy infantry and the original Sentry."

"They don't want to stop the disaster at all; they just want to take advantage of the three-way conflict to wipe us all out!"

"Tsk."

Sing Sing let out a cold laugh.

"These politicians love to play double-crossing. They cast a long line to catch a big fish, using you guys as a battleground, and in the end, they take everything."

No wonder Old Charles has completely lost faith in the United States government.

Anyone who gets tricked like that would be considered lucky not to bomb the Pentagon.

That battle... was too brutal.

Storm closed her eyes, and she saw again the land stained red with blood.

"The military was firing indiscriminately. The Brotherhood and Hellfire were in a bloodthirsty frenzy. We were caught in the middle and suffered heavy casualties."

"Everyone's gone mad. Nobody's stopping."

"The professor used Cerebro to connect the consciousness of everyone on the battlefield. He requested a ceasefire and asked everyone to retreat first."

"But it was no use. Hatred and fear completely overwhelmed reason. In the end, it was just pure Carnage."

Storm's shoulders trembled slightly.

"And then what? Who won?" Sing Sing pressed.

"No one won, and the professor finally broke down."

He forced the brainwave device to operate beyond its capacity, pushing his mental energy to its limit.

"In that instant, the entire battlefield... tens of thousands of people... were frozen in place."

Tens of thousands of people?

Forced immobilization?

Ox!

"Not only that, he forcibly controlled Azazel, making him teleport to Magneto's side and remove the helmet that could block Mind Stone!"

"Then, he pulled the consciousness of Magneto, the Hellfire's top brass, Stryker, Trask... all the leaders into a closed Mental Space."

Awesome!

Sing Sing silently gave Charles a thumbs up in his heart.

When physical methods failed to convince the public, they resorted to holding a closed-door online group chat.

What did they talk about inside?

"Nobody knows." Storm shook her head with a wry smile. "After the Mental Space dissipated, Magneto put on his helmet and led the Brotherhood and Hellfire troops away."

Stryker and Trask also withdrew their troops without a word.

"A chaotic, meat-grinding battle ended just like that, inexplicably."

Storm leaned against the car window, looking forlorn.

We thought it was all over. We thought we could start over.

"But the day after returning to the academy, the professor announced that the X-Men were being disbanded."

He saw all the students off, shut down all the facilities, locked himself inside the college, and never stepped out the door again.

"From that day on, we became homeless wanderers."

The carriage was quiet.

Geggebu sniffled in front of her, her transparent face covered in tears.

This silly guy probably thought of the grievances he felt from squatting in the chicken coop every day.

Sing Sing rubbed his chin.

In the realm of consciousness, Old Charles must have reached some shady compromise with those politicians and tycoons.

In exchange for self-imposed imprisonment and the disbandment of armed forces, can we secure a ceasefire from those lunatics?

How foolish!

The peace achieved through compromise is just like the year-end bonus the boss promised – it's all a complete bubble!

"Alright, stop with the sentimentality. Your problem is that you don't have a proper organizational structure!"

"If you're leaving, then so be it. Out with the old, in with the new. This wretched place in United States can't accommodate you, but we have plenty of jobs in China waiting for you to shine!"

"Sizzle!"

The Mustang stopped at the edge of the Wasteland.

"Director, we've arrived! But there's nothing here!" Geggebu looked around.

Sing Sing opened the car door and got out, a night breeze blowing in his face.

"Watch closely."

Relying on his memory, Sing Sing reached out and groped around in mid-air for a couple of moments before pressing a hidden button.

"Drop--"

A faint blue ripple spread through the air.

A streamlined, black Tactical Shuttle with bat-like wings appeared before the three.

Storm's head was buzzing.

The professor actually gave this to him?!

What kind of spell did this man cast on the professor?!

Just when both of their worldviews were shattered.

Sing Sing straightened his suit and tie, and walked to the cabin door in his leather shoes.

"What are you all standing there for? Follow me closely. I'll show you what the benefits of a business trip from a reputable company are like!"

Inside the cabin, the Vanisher had been staring blankly at the Slug, stood up.

"Boss! You're finally back!" The Vanisher was so excited he almost jumped out of the hatch.

Sing Sing pointed to Storm and Geggebu behind him.

"A newly hired colleague."

"Get on the bus! We're going back to the college to sign the employment contract!"