Taking Control of the Conversation

"Not bad. It seems there are smart people here besides Charles."

Magneto looked at Hawking with even greater appreciation.

Phoenix wasted no time. She immediately got up, went over to Nightcrawler, comforted him with a few words, then focused and used telepathy on him.

Very quickly, she found the exact location of Stryker's Experimental Base within Nightcrawler's sealed memories.

"It's at Winkler Industrial Park in the Canadian Rocky Mountains."

"That's impossible. I just came back from there. The place was abandoned. There was nothing there except a few wolves."

Wolverine wore an incredulous expression.

Phoenix explained:

"Logan, the base isn't aboveground. It was built underground, inside the dam at Alkali Lake."

With the base's location confirmed, the next matter was deciding who would go.

The initial lineup was Magneto, Mystique, Wolverine, Storm, Phoenix, Nightcrawler, and Hawking, while Colossus would remain behind to look after the children.

But at the end, Hawking raised an objection.

"My suggestion is that Professor Jean stay behind to protect the students, while Piotr comes with us to rescue the professor."

He did not want Phoenix going to the base. If she was stimulated and broke through the psychic barrier Professor X had placed in her mind, it would turn into a major disaster.

As a Level Five Mutant, Jean possessed the Phoenix Force, one of the Three Ancient Forces. If she unleashed her full power, she would be no weaker than Wanda, who wielded Chaos Magic and had slaughtered her way across the multiverse.

However, when she was young, she had been unable to control her powers, causing a car accident that killed her mother and split her personality.

One was her current kind personality, while the other was a dark personality filled with desire and destruction.

To prevent Phoenix from losing control, Professor X had used his psychic energy to construct a barrier in her mind, temporarily restraining that dark personality.

That was why, despite being a Level Five Mutant, Phoenix currently displayed only the strength of a Level Three Mutant.

If she was not stimulated, then in the future, as Phoenix's kind personality gradually developed and fully mastered the Phoenix Force, she would eventually be able to completely erase the dark personality.

"Piotr has only been training for a short time. He still can't coordinate well with us. Compared to Jean, he falls far short."

Storm frowned and objected.

Hawking explained with a serious expression.

"That is exactly why I suggest Professor Jean stay behind, because the students' safety here is also very important.

Last night's battle at the school must have alerted the nearby police. By now, the place is probably sealed off by a large number of police officers and personnel from relevant government departments.

Some of them may be Stryker's Subordinates.

If this shelter is discovered, the students' safety will be difficult to guarantee.

Professor Jean has psychic control abilities like Professor Charles. She can help us avoid police inspections and better protect the students."

"I think what this Little Hawking has said makes a great deal of sense."

Magneto was the first to voice his agreement.

He did not care about the safety of the school's students. He simply felt that with one less Jean around, there would be fewer obstacles to his plan.

As for Piotr, who could turn his entire body into steel, Magneto's powers countered him just like they countered Logan, so there was nothing to worry about.

"The little monkey has a point. For the students' safety, Jean, you should stay behind."

Wolverine also strongly agreed with Hawking's opinion. He liked Jean and was worried that she might be hurt during this mission.

Considering that Hawking did make sense, Storm finally agreed as well.

"Logan, promise me you'll save Scott!"

Seeing that everyone agreed, Phoenix could only nod. However, she gave Wolverine one instruction.

Professor X had been captured by Stryker, so Cyclops, who had been responsible for protecting Professor X, naturally had not escaped either. And Cyclops was her boyfriend.

"Stryker only obtained Cerebro's main unit last night. It will take time to transport it to the base, assemble it, and calibrate it.

Let's get some proper rest and recover our strength first. Then we'll leave tonight and attack at dawn, when they're at their most lax!"

Once the team was decided, Magneto also set the time for the operation.

No one had slept well last night. Magneto, who had escaped from prison, and Storm, who had gone to Boston to find Nightcrawler, had not slept at all. The most important thing now was to recover their condition before setting out.

Hawking had no objections. His Protagonist Template was still on cooldown, and he needed time as well.

In the villa's basement, after the meeting ended, Hawking headed straight there.

Besides a large supply of long-lasting food, there were also quite a few daily necessities stored there.

"Found them!"

After searching for a while, he finally found what he needed in a box—sunglasses.

"Too bad they're all kid-sized."

He picked out a pair shaped like Mickey Mouse and stuffed them into his pocket before leaving the basement.

Why was he looking for sunglasses?

Because tonight happened to be the full moon, and if he looked directly at the moon without sunglasses, he would transform into a savage giant ape with no reason left.

Of course, that was also his greatest trump card for daring to join this operation.

If they encountered a crisis that even the Protagonist Template could not resolve, one that even threatened his life, he could transform into his giant ape form to save himself. The giant ape form's Combat Power was ten times greater than his normal form.

As for everyone else, sorry, they could only pray for their own luck.

"Logan, I'm sorry. You're great and very attractive, but I choose Scott, so... don't do this again."

The moment Hawking walked out of the basement, he happened to run into Wolverine and Phoenix locked in a passionate kiss. Afterward, he heard Phoenix reject Wolverine and choose Cyclops.

Both Wolverine and Cyclops loved Phoenix, but compared to the wild Wolverine, Phoenix ultimately chose Cyclops, whom she had spent more than ten years with.

"Looks like you got your heart broken. Want one?"

Hawking pulled a cigar from the box in his pocket and handed it to Wolverine.

"Thanks. Compared to me, maybe Scott really is a better match for her."

Wolverine consoled himself.

He was a lone wolf who had lost his memories, always wandering around in search of himself. Even when he occasionally returned here, it was only a temporary stop.

"Hey, why does that cigar case of yours look so familiar?"

"Does it? I picked it up off the ground."

"Picked it up? I dropped that while drinking yesterday!"

"Oh, then it's mine now."

"That was my last box. Give it back!"

"Logan, don't be so rough. Isn't it embarrassing for an adult to snatch things from a child? Fine, fine, I'll give it to you. You can have them all, okay?"

"You're still a child. These aren't suitable for you. I'll keep them all for you and give them back when you really need them."

"Hahaha, I was just messing with you. I don't actually smoke."

Since he had not activated the Protagonist Template, Hawking's strength, though beyond that of an ordinary person, was still far below Wolverine's. In the end, the cigar case was still taken from him.

However, his final remark made Logan feel rather annoyed. So he had been overthinking it all along.