Xavier's Academy

"Professor, you can't blame yourself for this. You didn't mean to do it."

"It's just like the principles you taught us back then. They apply to you, too."

Wolverine sighed and spoke up to comfort him.

Back then, the reason mutants were feared by humans was partly because a small number of mutants had used their abilities to commit crimes.

But most of it was because, when mutants first began to manifest their powers, the fear in their hearts made them completely unable to control those abilities, which ended up dragging in their family, friends, and innocent people around them.

Every time those mutant children were brought to the school, the Professor would give them counseling, helping them find the courage to live again.

In truth, the Professor had been just like those children. His epilepsy had made his brain lose control, and that was what had caused such a tragedy. He himself suffered more from it than anyone else.

"I'm not a child. Since I made a mistake, I have to bear it."

"I can't make it up to the dead. All I can do is find a way to help the living live a little better."

The Professor looked at the children in front of him, and a smile appeared on his face again.

If he had not seen these children and found hope in his heart again, he probably never would have been able to face those painful memories of his own. He would have drifted through life in a daze until death.

"But Professor, after all these years, the government might have taken the school back already."

At that moment, George spoke up.

The location of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters was indeed good. It was in the outskirts of New York's Bronx—not too remote, but still some distance from Manhattan, where incidents happened most often.

Even the Chitauri invasion had not spread that far.

Most importantly, from what he knew, the Bronx was at the northernmost end of New York, and it was the most chaotic borough in all of New York. Its residents were mainly of African and Latin American descent.

If Hell's Kitchen was the most chaotic place in the wealthy district of Manhattan, then the Bronx was the most chaotic place in all of New York.

All kinds of gangs were entrenched there, and its crime rate ranked among the highest in the entire United States.

A place like that was perfect for him to fish in troubled waters and make money. Even if people died, it would not draw the government's attention.

The only thing was, after so many years, how could such a huge castle still be empty?

Professor X wiped away his tears and explained, "Although I'm wanted, it isn't a public warrant. The government doesn't want to blow the matter up, and they don't have enough evidence to arrest me."

"So on the surface, my identity still exists, and most of my assets are still there, including that castle."

"It's just that I can't show myself, and I can't use any assets. Otherwise, the government would be able to follow those clues to find and arrest me..."

"So that's how it is."

George did not understand much about this area, but after Professor X's explanation, he could more or less grasp the general idea.

Professor X's hidden identity was the headmaster of the Mutant School, but on the surface, he was the famous heir of the Xavier family—a true capitalist magnate.

If one really talked about it, he was even more influential than Stark Industries in certain respects.

The rise of Stark Industries was mainly because of Tony's father, Howard. Before that, it had not really counted as some especially huge corporation.

But the Xavier family was an aristocratic house with a long history, passed down through the generations and deeply rooted.

Without solid evidence, arresting the heir of the Xavier family in public and confiscating all the Xavier family's assets would make all the old capitalists feel a sense of crisis.

Because if today you could seize the Xavier family's property without evidence, tomorrow you could find a reason to seize theirs. When that time came, everyone would be in danger.

And could the government produce solid evidence that the Professor had killed people?

Of course not. The Professor had epilepsy. His brain had gone out of control, and he had directly killed the people around him with psychic power. Even on surveillance footage, it would only look as if everyone's brains suddenly short-circuited and they collapsed dead. There was no way to prove the Professor had killed them.

On the other hand, they also had to consider the negative impact. If it was confirmed that the Professor, who had helped the government deal with crises many times before and had been received and awarded by the president many times, had suddenly killed so many people—

Then the government would likewise have to bear responsibility. Its influence would drop, and even the president would be greatly affected.

So at the time, they could only arrest and imprison him in secret. They could not put it out in the open. In fact, the entire incident had always been deliberately downplayed.

"If that's the case, then it really is a pretty good choice."

George thought it over carefully and approved Professor X's proposal.

The Westchester Incident had happened twenty-five years ago, which was 1984. Back then, Tony Stark had only been fifteen and had just entered the undergraduate program in electrical engineering at MIT.

Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers, had not even become a pilot yet. Nick Fury was still an ordinary S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, and Star-Lord Peter Quill was only six years old, with his mother still alive.

So over at the Mutant School, maybe there really was no one managing it, and it had been left empty all this time.

Most likely, the police the government had sent to search the place back then had not even discovered the basement beneath the school.

"I have no objections, as long as the children are safe."

Gabriella also raised her hand in agreement. She felt that since the Professor and George both thought it was feasible, then it should be fine.

She was only an ignorant nurse from Mexico. What she had to do was take good care of the children, not make random comments. She knew her place very well.

Seeing that everyone agreed, Wolverine no longer opposed it.

In truth, how could he not want to go back and see the school again? That place had once been the harbor of his soul.

As for Calliban, wherever the Professor and Wolverine went, he would go too. He did not care exactly where it was.

And so, the Truck changed direction and headed all the way toward New York.

Because there were too many children, and none of them had any identification, they did not enter any cities along the way. They only bought supplies in small towns they passed, and when they were tired, they drove to remote places to rest.

After two days, they finally arrived in the Bronx in northern New York.

Perhaps because he had faced himself squarely, the Professor's condition had improved slightly. Although he still could not use his abilities the way he had before, occasionally influencing an ordinary person's thoughts was not much of a problem.

That made their journey much smoother.

During that time, to keep from being tracked, they changed trucks several times.

They would sell the truck to one secondhand market, then go to another and add some money to buy a different model of used truck, switching back and forth constantly.

After arriving in the Bronx, they did not go directly to the school that had been converted from the Professor's Four Gardens Castle. Instead, George and Wolverine disguised themselves and went ahead to scout it out.

The situation was indeed just as the Professor had expected. It had remained empty and unoccupied; it was only that, because no one had lived in the castle for so long, it felt far more dilapidated.

Once they confirmed the school was safe, they waited until night, then quietly led the children over the wall and into the school, settling in the castle's basement.

The castle's basement had two levels. Aside from the Professor's Brainwave Amplification Room and the former X-Men Training Room, there were more than a dozen empty rooms. If everyone made do, there was more than enough space for them all to stay.