A Fellow Countryman Sets Off Fireworks to Scare You

"I'll take you to see my mentor!"

Seeing that Sing Sing agreed, Mondo excitedly lunged towards the wall.

The moment they made contact, the wall rippled, and Mondo's chubby body slid into it.

Soon, a two-meter-high passage opened on the wall, and Meng Duo's naive voice came from the depths of the cavity:

"Come in, Mr. Zhou. I can take you directly to see your mentor!"

Sing Sing stood at the entrance, peering around cautiously.

Extradimensional folding? Or molecular recombination?

Forget it... when in doubt, quantum mechanics. These foreigners' mutant abilities all rely on magic, right? Even I, who cultivate immortality and martial arts, can't figure it out.

As long as we can bring this silly child back, everything will be fine.

With that in mind, Zhou Chu stepped directly into the passage.

Silver Fox stood there, hesitant.

Enclosed spaces, unknown routes, Mutants with bizarre abilities...

This violated all the taboos she had as an assassin.

Let's go!

Sing Sing poked his head out from inside. "Don't worry, if Little Chubby dares to do anything naughty, I'll cut this passage into a roujiamo (Chinese hamburger)."

Knowing that he still needed his help, Silver Fox gritted his teeth and followed him inside.

The passage closed, Mondo led the two through the underground of Seattle.

After circling around for more than an hour, Director Zhou, who was squeezed together with Silver Fox, suddenly lost his footing and fell out of the wall.

In an underground space, a campfire burns in the outpost.

Sitting next to him was a burly man about two meters tall, dressed entirely in silver, but his skin was covered in cracks.

A young Asian girl in a bright yellow trench coat was sitting on the oil drum next to him, chewing bubble gum and peering at Sing Sing through her sunglasses.

After Mondo's body solidified and transformed back into a round, chubby fellow, he happily ran towards the burly man.

"Mentor! Mondo's back! Mondo's brought in reinforcements!"

Piotr Nikolayevich Rasputin, known as the "mentor," struggled to his feet, supporting himself on the edge of the oil drum.

"Finally, we meet, Stephen Chow."

Why does the art style feel so strange?

Colossus's voice was very deep, with a heavy Russian accent.

"Do we know each other?"

"Qin and the professor have both talked to me about your deeds."

Colossus walked up to Sing Sing Chow and shook his hand:

"They told me you're someone I can trust. If you can help me rescue my sister, I'm willing to join you. I, Piotr, will never refuse any hard work."

Holy crap?!

Sing Sing appeared calm on the surface, but inside he was overjoyed!

That's Colossus!

A purebred, top-tier Palu who works around the clock, boasts maxed-out defense, and is honest and loyal, never switching sides!

Just by saving a younger sister, you can effortlessly lure this top-notch workaholic into the 749 Bureau?

Maybe we can even get one free, and smoothly bring his equally gifted sister back to China to be formally employed...

This kind of windfall is even more exciting than getting your fifty-dollar deposit back!

After the initial euphoria, Director Zhou's keen intelligence sense picked up on the key point.

Jean Grey!

Sing Sing began to think seriously.

He discovered that this was the second time Qin had interfered with his recruitment efforts!

When I was in Japan last time, Ichirai Hisako mentioned the koto.

Now even Colossus claims to have the guidance of a lyre?

What exactly is this woman's position right now?

"Okay!"

Sing Sing Chow grinned, suppressing his surprise and doubt. "Based on your promise, I'll take this job!"

Seeing that Sing Sing agreed so readily, Colossus's stiff face broke into a smile.

He turned to the side and pointed to the girl in yellow sitting on the oil drum. "This is Fireworks, Li Qianhuan. She's also a former X-Men member, a trusted ally."

"Li Qianhuan?"

He looked the young woman in the bright yellow trench coat up and down, and unconsciously started making suggestive remarks:

"Hey, it's a fellow Chinese from my hometown! Want to work for Director Zhou? After we finish our business, I'll take you to Chinatown for some spicy crayfish!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Li Qianhuan, who hated being treated like a little girl, rubbed her right index finger and thumb together.

"Sizzle!"

A ball of pinkish-blue plasma energy shot straight at Director Zhou's handsome face!

"Boom!"

The dazzling fireworks exploded right in front of my face.

The light faded.

Sing Sing remained calm and collected, blowing away the wisp of smoke remaining on his fingertips.

"Are all young people these days so hot-tempered? If this happened in China, it would be considered illegal fireworks!"

"According to the Public Security Administration Punishment Law, you could be detained for fifteen days, I'm telling you!"

Li Qianhuan jumped off the oil drum, glaring at him angrily. "Don't try to get close to me with that childish nonsense! Who said you're some kind of fellow villager!"

Cute

"Qianhuan, stop fooling around."

Colossus patted the girl on the shoulder. "Mr. Zhou, she's just... too worried about the children who were taken away."

"It's alright, it's alright. It's a good thing that young people are energetic."

Sing Sing's playful demeanor vanished. "Let's get down to business. I know your defenses are what they are, so how did things get like this? What's in that underground Core Zone?"

Anger flashed in Colossus's eyes when the Core Zone was mentioned.

"A week ago, while searching for surviving compatriots on the outskirts of Seattle, we were ambushed by a heavily armed special forces unit."

"Those people have all undergone insane genetic enhancement. They not only possess mutant abilities, but their bodies have also been implanted with mechanical armor and toxin emitters."

"We fought desperately, but the enemy outnumbered us too much. And..."

Colossus closed his eyes. "And the leader, that guy, is a true tyrant from hell."

What's his name?

"Sugar Man."

Colossus uttered this absurd name.

"That monster called Sugar Man took a liking to Illyana's abilities. He forcibly injected her with some kind of inhibitor and brought Illyana back to the Core Zone."

"The abilities of the Magik are not just limited to teleportation."

Li Qianhuan continued, "Her power connects to an alternate dimension called 'Limbo'."

"Sugar Man is a crazy geneticist. I suspect he wants to use Magik's abilities to break down dimensional barriers and obtain even more terrifying energy."

Sugar Man?

It sounds so sweet.

Sing Sing frowned in thought, "This guy called Sugar Man is quite ambitious. But he's taking too big a step; he might just tear his own balls."

"Strike the snake at its vital point. The enemy is currently hiding underground like a turtle shell; it wouldn't be wise for just a few of us to charge in directly."

"Then how do we rescue them?" Mondo asked anxiously.

I have a plan.

Sing Sing looked at everyone and said, "Since we can't figure out the strength of the stronghold, let's capture someone."

"Find the guy who's Carnage and creating panic in the streets, and extract information from him."

Colossus nodded. "How do you need Qianhuan and I to cooperate with you?"

"No."

Sing Sing raised his hand to stop him, glancing at his skin that looked like it was cracking into QR codes.

"Your injuries really need time to heal, so don't get involved. As for this street urchin wandering around..."

He tugged at the collar of his trench coat.

"Leave it to me."