A Divine Book as a Gift
For all Mutants, the words "loss of powers" are more vicious than a death sentence.
If her powers were simply stripped away, turning Mutants into ordinary humans, many Mutants might beg her to take them away.
But Miss Sinister only wanted to toy with these Mutants.
"Smack!"
Sing Sing slammed his hand on the table and pulled his sunglasses down a bit.
"So what? I'm not Mutants!"
Lao Zhou remained completely calm. His 749 Bureau was teeming with talent; if the decisive battle truly came, wouldn't it be fine to simply leave the Awakened out of the picture?
"So, Professor, which mouse hole is this woman hiding in right now?"
Charles shook his head.
"The Silver Peak Consortium has hundreds of secret underground facilities across the United States, but I don't know their exact locations."
Holy crap!
Lao Zhou was shocked. The clues they had previously uncovered indicated that Silver Peak only had twelve core strongholds, most of which had been destroyed so far.
Old Charles actually said there were over a hundred?
This is truly a long and arduous journey...
Sing Sing squinted his eyes.
In the blink of an eye, the bloody scene of the containment tower replayed rapidly in Sing Sing's mind.
Even if you dismantle this body of mine, my consciousness will still be transmitted back to the main server!
"I'll be fully healed in the incubation chamber in Louisiana in three minutes!"
Louisiana...
Sing Sing suddenly spoke up, "There should be a secret stronghold of Silver Peak in this place, right?"
Hank thought for a moment, then went to the control panel, his large fingers creating afterimages as he tapped the keycaps:
"Louisiana... Silver Peak's assets... screening for high-energy-consuming industrial electricity..."
A red dot lit up on the screen as the satellite map zoomed in rapidly, finally settling on the dark, muddy shadows of the Mississippi River estuary.
Forty kilometers south of New Orleans, deep within the Black Swamp Preserve, lies a Sugar Refinery has claimed to have been closed for twenty years.
Sing Sing Chow grinned and put his brown-tinted sunglasses back on.
Seeing the cold glint in Sing Sing's eyes, Charles couldn't help but offer a reminder:
"Stephen, even if you find the lair, that woman's Mind-Reversal Field..."
"Old Charles, your life is just a trap set by your superpowers."
Sing Sing took a deep breath, and his powerful Inner Qi surged silently through his expanded meridians.
Claudine's Mind-Reversal Field is effective at neutralizing superpowers, but what if he encountered someone like himself who relies solely on physical strength and energy?
That realm, which is seen as a nightmare by Mutants across America, is nothing more than a thin veil.
"I'd like to see whether her antimatter waves are more powerful, or my Pig Butchering Knife is faster!"
Sing Sing straightened his bow tie, turned around, and strode towards the hall door.
Professor X glanced at the Beast, about to say something, when he saw the China man return, rubbing his hands together with a grin.
"Old Charles, Old Han... no, Hank, which room does Scott stay in?"
"I'll go check on him!"
The Beast scratched his head and then told Sing Sing where Scott lived.
After confirming that the other party had really left, the Beast looked at the equally dejected Professor X.
"Charles, are you sure those two won't start fighting?"
"I have no idea..."
The professor took a sip of his drink. "A fight would be good, at least it would force him to use his abilities. I do hope Stephen can resolve his inner conflict..."
Upon reaching the end of the second-floor corridor, the room door was tightly shut.
There were even old towels stuffed in the cracks of the door to block out the light.
Sing Sing glanced at the tattered door with the "Do Not Disturb" sign pasted on it, without even a second's hesitation.
He raised his size 42 black leather shoe and kicked the door lock solidly!
The door shattered and crashed onto the floor.
"Cough cough cough... Who?!"
The room was dimly lit, with the curtains drawn tightly shut.
The ground was littered with empty wine bottles and cigarette packs.
Scott Summers, who was curled up on the soiled sheets, jumped out of bed.
He was disheveled, with a full beard, and as he pressed his hand against his glasses, he roared, "Get out! I told you not to bother me! Close the door behind you!"
"What are you calling out for? Are you trying to call back your soul?"
Sing Sing walked in with one hand in his pocket.
"It's you? Get out! You're not welcome here!"
Sing Sing didn't stop and walked straight up to Scott.
"Tsk tsk tsk, look at you like this..."
"The X-Men captain is now holed up in a run-down shack that even cockroaches wouldn't want? Clutching two bottles of horse urine and pretending to be depressed—who are you trying to fool with your melodramatic act?"
What do you know!
The veins on Scott's neck bulged. "You have no idea what I've been through!"
"These eyes... these cursed eyes, they can protect no one but slaughter and destruction!"
"I should rot in the darkness! That way, no one else will die because of me!"
"Smack!"
The sound of a slap interrupted his hysterical roar.
Scott was knocked to the side, completely stunned.
"Are you more awake now? If not, I'll try again with your left hand."
Sing Sing pointed at his nose and said something piercing:
"Mistaking cowardice for profundity, and escapism for atonement? You're just making excuses for your incompetence!"
"Did your compatriots die at your hands just to see you like a stray dog?"
"The massive purge has begun outside! Our fellow citizens in the Morlock Settlement are being Carnage like livestock!"
"Your fellow Mutants are waiting for a leader who can guide them to survival! And what about you?"
Sing Sing sneered and took half a step closer.
"You're hiding here wiping away your tears, you don't even have the courage to take off your glasses and look at the sun!"
"Scott, what's truly blind isn't your eyes, it's your courage that's long since shattered!"
"Shut up! Shut up!"
Scott was struck in the deepest, most rotten wound in his heart, and he descended into utter rage.
The scarlet high-energy light waves surged wildly behind the thick red quartz lens.
The violent energy and wind pressure almost blew Sing Sing's hat off.
But Sing Sing remained motionless, quietly watching the two balls of destructive red light.
Scott raised his fist but ultimately didn't bring it down.
The red light dimmed little by little behind the lenses, eventually turning into two streams of scalding tears.
The man collapsed to his knees on the dirty, messy floor.
Sing Sing lowered his eyes and took something out of his pocket.
It was a hardcover book with several bold and powerful characters printed on it.
How Steel is Made
Sing Sing Chow casually pulled a business card with a gold-embossed national emblem and an official document stamp from his suit pocket and slipped it onto the first page of the book.
"Snap."
The heavy book was slammed firmly onto Scott's chest.
"Read Pavel Korchagin carefully."
Sing Sing turned around and stepped over the broken threshold.
"A person's life should be lived in such a way that when he looks back on his past, he will not regret wasting his years, nor be ashamed of having accomplished nothing."
"If you want to die, wait until you've completely wiped out those scumbags before you find a place to hang yourself."
"The business card has a phone number. I've figured it out. 749 Bureau is recruiting senior engineers for directional optical tunneling year-round, with room and board provided."
The sound of leather shoes faded into the distance.
Cyclops, who was kneeling on the ground, picked up the books and business cards that had slipped to the ground.
His fingers traced the business card, and a spark seemed to fly into the depths of his lifeless, numb eyes.
Sing Sing walked out of the main house and looked around.
Seeing that no one was around, Lao Zhou closed the door, leaned against the wall, and took off his hat to wipe his sweat.
"Hey... that's fucking exciting!"
"I actually Cyclops? Hehehe..."