Lu Yifang's Judgment

In Lu Yifang's memory, he clearly recalled two endings for mutants from the movies.

One was where they were destroyed alongside most of humanity by the Sentinels. The other was where, in the future, humanity finally roughly understood the secrets of the X gene. Scientists created special genetically modified crops, which were widely promoted and made into various foods. Mutants who ate them would weaken or even die, and the X genes of potential awakeners would be suppressed.

Obviously, as a mutant who felt this deeply, Lu Yifang naturally didn't want to see either outcome. To prevent the future he could foresee from happening, Lu Yifang certainly wouldn't sit idly by.

If he blindly followed Professor X, the second ending was very likely to play out. Old Magneto was different. If you tried to push a Mutant Registration Act that harmed mutant rights, he'd stir up trouble to show you. That was what Lu Yifang admired most about Old Magneto.

On the other hand, as Lu Yifang saw it, mutants who had activated their X genes had no reproductive isolation from ordinary humans. Children born to two mutants weren't necessarily mutants, and children born to ordinary humans had a chance of being mutants too.

The X gene wasn't much different from a common recessive gene. Almost every human was a carrier of the X gene. From a biological science perspective, aside from having superpowers, mutants were no different from ordinary humans.

Mutants were humans. Powerful humans.

In fact, Lu Yifang didn't even acknowledge the term "mutant." Wasn't "metahuman" a much more fitting name?

While Lu Yifang was lost in thought, Magneto, who he was using as a stool, suddenly spoke.

"Yifang, you approve of my methods."

"Of course. Although the result of this matter was a huge mistake, the starting point was undoubtedly correct." Lu Yifang nodded and said.

What a good kid. He didn't need any molding—ahem, teaching—to have such correct values, and he had tremendous potential himself. It was truly remarkable. At this moment, Magneto felt so gratified he could almost cry.

If Lu Yifang weren't still too young, too inexperienced, and lacking in many areas, Magneto would have even considered passing on his legacy to him.

"Yifang, can you help me up?" Magneto said at that moment. He was getting old, after all. Being sat on by a young man like this was bad for his lumbar discs.

"Alright." After stating his stance, Lu Yifang figured Magneto's hostility toward him had probably decreased. Most importantly, at this distance, Lu Yifang was confident no one could escape his control.

With Lu Yifang's support, Magneto slowly stood up. After stretching his joints, Magneto sighed emotionally, reached out, and patted Lu Yifang on the shoulder.

Even though Lu Yifang had ruined his plan, beaten him and his men, and even used him as a stool, Magneto knew Lu Yifang was a good kid. Of course, he chose to forgive him.

"Yifang!" Storm's voice came at that moment. Behind her were Cyclops and Jean. While Lu Yifang and Magneto were fighting, the three had already broken free, and Rogue had been rescued, supported by Jean.

"Annoying flies." Seeing the three approaching, Magneto's mood soured. He turned and waved at Lu Yifang.

"Yifang, let's go."

"Who said I'm going with you?" Lu Yifang shrugged, looking innocent.

"Didn't you say you approved of my methods?" Magneto turned around, looking confused.

"That's right, but I didn't say I'd go with you. Besides, who said you could leave?" Lu Yifang said, pulling out a rope from who knows where and tying Magneto up tightly.

"Just kidding. I'm still waiting to drag you back and claim credit from the professor."

"What exactly did Charles give you to make you follow him?" Magneto said anxiously.

"Then listen up." Lu Yifang suddenly stopped and put his hands on his hips. "He gave me full tuition waivers, room and board, plus a ten-thousand-dollar scholarship."

"Are you kidding me?" Magneto stared wide-eyed at Lu Yifang. You sold me out for such petty favors? Am I, the great Magneto, not even worth ten thousand dollars in your eyes?

"You can't do this to me. Do you know what you're doing? Charles doesn't value your talents enough. Only I can guide you onto the right path." Magneto growled.

"You're wrong. I know exactly what I'm doing." Lu Yifang said, flicking Magneto's helmet lightly. Magneto immediately passed out.

Of course Lu Yifang knew what he was doing. He admired Magneto, but actually falling for Magneto's bluster would be the height of stupidity.

Think about what Magneto had done today. He tried to destroy all of New York. For that crime, being dragged out and shot for five minutes would still be too light. Even if Lu Yifang helped him escape, so what? Magneto had already attracted the attention of all major forces. In the days ahead, he'd have to carefully hide and skulk, facing all kinds of dangers. The risks were obvious.

Sure, being around Professor X wasn't absolutely safe either, but the Mutant Academy was still a decent place to stay for now.

Lu Yifang knew his power was strong, but he had only just awakened his abilities. He still needed a long time to explore and get familiar with them. The risks around Professor X could serve as training to temper himself. But following Magneto? Forget it.

Stepping onto the stage before he was fully grown, and as a major villain boss at that, would be the worst possible scenario. Even if he had the strength to beat Magneto now, under the targeting of those with ulterior motives, his weaknesses would be found, and he'd die a very, very miserable death.

So this wasn't about what treatment Professor X offered. Was Lu Yifang the kind of person who could be bought with money? Did he care about that ten thousand dollars?

Well, okay, maybe a little. Trust in my integrity. Really, just a little.

"Incredible, Yifang. I can't believe you actually defeated Magneto." Looking at the unconscious Magneto, Storm covered her mouth in disbelief.

"Are you okay now?" Suppressing her shock, Storm looked at Lu Yifang with concern.

"Not really." Lu Yifang pouted.

"Huh?" Hearing this, not just Storm, but Cyclops and Jean also looked over.

Lu Yifang deliberately adjusted his clothes.

"Magneto was really tough. The X-Men uniform I just put on got damaged. I really liked this outfit. The academy should be responsible for giving me another one, right? No, make it two. That's what we agreed on the plane."

Storm: "..."

"Can't you care about something important at a time like this?"

"This is important, okay?" Lu Yifang raised a finger seriously. "After I entered the orphanage, everything I wore from head to toe didn't add up to more than fifty dollars. Most of my clothes were donated by welfare organizations. This battle suit, if I estimate the cost, is definitely no less than a thousand dollars. How can I be okay with it being ruined like this?"

"Of course, if you don't want to issue a new uniform, you can just give me the cash equivalent." Lu Yifang suddenly changed the subject, looking a bit hopeful.

"Alright, Yifang. Let's talk about this later." Cyclops walked over to Magneto.

"Magneto has made such a huge mess. The military and S.H.I.E.L.D. should be arriving soon. We have to take Magneto back to the academy to see the professor immediately. That's the most important thing right now." Cyclops said, dragging Magneto quickly toward the plane.

With the roar of the thrusters, just before the military's jets and warships arrived, the stealth-mode plane had already broken through the encirclement.

But sitting on the plane, Cyclops, Storm, and Jean didn't look happy. Instead, their expressions were somewhat grim. Magneto loved making big news, and the most infuriating thing was that he only caused trouble and never cleaned up after himself. They and Professor X always had to deal with the mess.

Imagine the aftermath of today's events—Professor X was definitely going to drag them all over the place again.

Only Lu Yifang was in a decent mood right now. After all, none of this was his problem as a student. If the sky fell, the bald professor would hold it up, and if that failed, Cyclops and the others would step in.

It was precisely because he had nothing weighing on his mind that Lu Yifang suddenly sensed something off. "Hey... don't you think we forgot something?"

"It does feel like we forgot something, but it probably wasn't important." Cyclops thought about it for a moment, then placed his hand on the throttle.

Meanwhile, on the wide river below the plane, Wolverine Logan, who had barely managed to swim to shore, widened his eyes as he watched the aircraft take off and fly away right in front of him. After a long pause, he spat out three letters from his mouth.

"MMP!!"