Protest

It took him only a few minutes to read through the entire report. He smiled and shook his head.

It was a report from a well-known television station.

The station had invited several experts to discuss, during last night's prime-time live broadcast, what impact his existence and actions would have on the younger generation of mutants.

Not long after the program ended, the report appeared online, summarizing the experts' views in writing.

And then, he had been given the eye-catching new label of "New Mutant Leader."

From a publicity standpoint, the station had used "New Mutant Leader" as its headline mainly to attract attention and stir curiosity, thereby increasing the report's click rate.

Although the "New Mutant Leader" label was somewhat exaggerated, it was not completely baseless clickbait.

The experts who participated in the program had all expressed similar opinions.

Mutants today were mainly divided into two factions.

One was the Doves, represented by Professor X and the X-Men, who advocated peaceful coexistence with the United States government and Ordinary People.

The other was the Hawks, represented by Magneto and the Brotherhood of Mutants, who advocated fighting for equal rights through force.

Though there were also some Fence-sitters who constantly switched sides between the Doves and Hawks, as well as mutants with no stance or ideas at all.

Generally speaking, however, the vast majority of mutants supported either the Doves or the Hawks.

And now, an entirely new faction had emerged within the Mutant Race.

It was the Liberals, represented by him—those who neither accepted the control of the Mutant Restriction Act and the Department of Mutant Affairs nor attacked other United States government agencies like the Brotherhood of Mutants, instead adhering to the principle of "if no one provokes me, I won't provoke them."

More importantly, most of the mutants who supported him were young mutants.

Simply put, they were people around his own age.

Although he had long known that a group of Liberals had emerged within the Mutant Race, imitating his way of doing things and advocating "if no one provokes me, I won't provoke them," he had never considered himself their leader.

He had never wanted to become the New Mutant Leader, nor did he intend to use his powers to help the Mutant Race fight for anything.

Mutants were indeed being treated unfairly now, but from a certain perspective, it was also something they had brought upon themselves by not daring to resist.

If those mutants had united and, like Magneto, used force to defend their lawful rights, neither the Mutant Restriction Act nor the Department of Mutant Affairs would have existed.

Fairness had to be won with one's fists!

If they did not even dare to resist themselves, they should not expect everyone else to possess noble moral standards.

Although Richard was also a mutant, he was a transmigrator. He had no strong sense of belonging to either the Mutant Race or this world.

To him, his life after transmigrating into this world was like playing a real game that could not be reloaded and had no system administrator.

Whether it was Wolverine and Sabretooth, the Mutant Agents of the Department of Mutant Affairs, or the others who had died by his hand, they all felt no different from NPCs in a game.

That was precisely why he had felt no discomfort about killing people, even though he had started killing on his very first day after transmigrating.

He knew this world was not a game, and those he had killed were not NPCs made of data, but living, breathing humans.

But in the short term, it would be difficult for him to shed his gamer mentality.

In his view, he would need to stay in this world for at least several years before that mindset gradually changed.

After reading the report released by the television station, he put the laptop into the System Space, picked up the knife, fork, and dishes, and took them into the kitchen to wash them clean.

Afterward, he returned to the table, took 1,000 US Dollars from the System Space, placed the money on the table, and weighed it down with a cup.

The 1,000 US Dollars were the lodging fee he had left for the Cabin Owner.

Living in the cabin without the Cabin Owner's permission was already rude enough.

If he stayed for several days and then simply left without leaving anything behind, that would be rather indefensible.

At least, that was how he saw it.

While cooking earlier, he had noticed that the food stored in the System Space was running low, enough to sustain him for only another day or two at most.

Considering that he had already stayed here for five or six days, he planned to leave today, head into San Francisco Downtown to buy new supplies, and then travel to the next city.

After leaving the lodging fee for the past few days on the table, he returned to the kitchen and picked up the garbage bag containing food waste.

The next second, he decisively used Teleportation and vanished into thin air.

San Francisco Downtown.

It had to be said, Teleportation was much more useful than Flash.

In just an instant, he had gone from the cabin dozens of kilometers away to downtown San Francisco.

Although he had never visited San Francisco before, that did not matter to someone who possessed Teleportation.

Unlike Flash, Teleportation required him to lock onto the location he wanted to travel to in his mind beforehand.

Once he had locked onto the destination, it did not matter whether he had been there before or whether he had any impression of the location in his mind. Neither would affect the use of Teleportation.

Simply put, as long as it did not exceed Teleportation's maximum range, he could choose his destination at will.

Building Rooftop of a building in the city center.

Richard stood at the edge of the rooftop and surveyed his surroundings, searching for the nearest large supermarket.

Without much effort, he spotted a branch of a major supermarket chain.

After discovering the supermarket, he did not immediately use Teleportation to get there. Instead, he first teleported to a nearby alley and tossed the garbage bag in his hand into a trash can.

Only then did he use Teleportation to enter the supermarket.

Telepathy!

The moment he teleported inside, he used Telepathy to freeze everyone in the supermarket.

The supermarket, which had originally been bustling with voices and foot traffic, suddenly became much quieter.

Other than the music playing over the speakers, the televisions playing in the appliance section, and the various machines still operating, the entire supermarket sank into an eerie silence.

Whether they were customers shopping in the supermarket, staff at the registers, or security personnel in the Surveillance Room, they all remained perfectly still in their previous poses, like exquisitely crafted wax figures.

After freezing everyone in the supermarket with Telepathy, Richard began shopping at an unhurried pace.

This was not his first time doing something like this.

Nor was he worried that the Department of Mutant Affairs would discover him.

Once he finished shopping, he would leave San Francisco for the next city. Even if the Department of Mutant Affairs knew he had appeared in this supermarket, they would have no way of tracking his whereabouts.

Time passed little by little.

After using Teleportation to shop for the daily necessities he needed in different sections of the supermarket, he pushed his cart and teleported in front of a checkout counter.

Although Zero-dollar Shopping was very popular in the United States now, he had no intention of doing it like those people.

Do not fail to do good because it seems insignificant; do not do evil because it seems insignificant! Taking the barcode scanner from the employee's hand, he began scanning the items and checking out.

Whenever he scanned and paid for items himself, he could not help complaining inwardly.

Supermarkets in the United States were fully capable of setting up Self-checkout Areas, yet whether it was a major chain supermarket or a small neighborhood store, they still used the "primitive" method of manual scanning and checkout.

After scanning every item in the cart, he glanced at the amount on the screen, took out the corresponding cash from System Space, and placed the cash and receipt together on the counter in front of the cashier.

Then, he tossed all the daily necessities he had bought into System Space in one go.

Teleportation!

Having finished buying his daily necessities, Richard vanished in an instant.

The next second, everyone frozen by Telepathy returned to normal.

What was this?

Looking at the cash and receipt that had suddenly appeared on the counter, the cashier, dressed in a supermarket uniform and wearing a cap, wore a puzzled expression.

Building Rooftop near the supermarket.

Richard sat on the edge of the rooftop, taking out a bag of chips and a bottle of ice-cold Otaku Happy Water from System Space.

Which city should I go to next?

As he stuffed chips into his mouth, he considered which city to visit next.

Although three months had already passed, he was still in California. He just was no longer staying near Los Angeles.

How about making a trip to Las Vegas?

Las Vegas was in Nevada, the state next to California, and it was not far from San Francisco.

If he used Teleportation, he only needed to cast it once.

When he had been bored before, he had specifically tested Teleportation's maximum range.

Two hundred kilometers!

That was the current limit of his Teleportation.

If he remembered correctly, San Francisco was only around nine hundred kilometers away from Las Vegas.

That meant he only needed to use Teleportation at most five times to arrive in Las Vegas safely.

Of course, that was assuming he did not get the direction wrong and lose his way.

Just as he considered whether to visit Las Vegas and experience the Local Customs and Practices of the city known as both the "Entertainment Capital of the World" and the "Gambling City," he heard sirens in the distance.

No matter which city in the United States one was in, Police Cars roaring past with their sirens blaring were always a striking sight.

Richard had not paid much attention to the sirens at first.

But when he saw the Police Cars speeding down the street and surrounding a group of mutants protesting at an intersection, his interest was suddenly piqued.

Although he did not know the protesting mutants, the signs and banners in their hands caught his attention.

Freedom Is Not a Crime!

Oppose the Mutant Restriction Act! Mutants should have the freedom to legally use their superpowers! Oppose the Department of Mutant Affairs' abuse of power!

Richard Wesley should not be wanted!