"Mutants usually awaken during adolescence. It's the period when human vitality is at its peak, while the body and mind are still unstable. If they experience a stimulus at this time—such as severe emotional stress or a physical shock like an illness—the X gene lying dormant in their bodies has a very small chance of activating.
"Many ordinary people are afraid of Mutants, but in fact, there's no need for that. Studies show that ordinary people who might carry the X gene make up eighty percent of the entire human population." At the blackboard, Storm gave an animated lecture on Mutant biology.
Down below, Lu Yifang listened with great interest. After the Abomination incident had been brewing for a full week, he had finally gotten his wish and returned to the Academy.
Everything had gone smoothly, except that it now took him an hour to get to school. Fortunately, schools in the United States started later, and there was no such thing as early-morning study hall, so Lu Yifang wasn't worried about being late.
Of course, even if he missed Cyclops's practical class that morning, it wouldn't matter. Storm's concern was completely unnecessary; Cyclops would turn a blind eye to Lu Yifang. After all, unlike a theory class like Storm's, the idea of Cyclops and Logan teaching practical skills to a student who could beat Magneto senseless made them both a little uneasy.
That was also why Lu Yifang really did prefer theory classes. Besides genuinely finding Mutant knowledge interesting, he didn't have to restrain his powers the way he did in practical classes.
While Lu Yifang listened attentively, someone was watching him—and they were two friends he knew well: Ice Man Bobby and Fireman John.
When the afternoon bell finally rang, the two of them hurried after Lu Yifang as soon as he stepped out of the classroom.
"Dude, where have you been this past week?" John came over and patted Lu Yifang on the shoulder.
"I found a pretty good part-time job," Lu Yifang replied.
"Part-time job?" Bobby and John exchanged a glance, both looking baffled. They'd never heard of a student at the Mutant Academy going out to work part-time.
"Oh, right." Bobby stepped closer. "Yesterday, Storm came to our dorm and took all your things. She also said you'd be a Day Student starting today. That's ridiculous. I've never heard of our school having Day—"
"But it's true," Lu Yifang said, glancing back at Bobby before speaking earnestly.
"Bobby, you have to trust the teachers."
Bobby fell silent at the sight of Lu Yifang's serious expression. Seriously, could he blame Bobby for not trusting the teachers? Lu Yifang was the one acting weird. A student at the Mutant Academy who could go out to work part-time and didn't live at school—could anyone believe that? In all the years the Academy had been around, Lu Yifang was probably the only student this bizarre.
We're students at the same Mutant Academy. I'm reporting you—you're obviously from a completely different world than the rest of us.
"Any other questions? I'm heading out." At the end of the corridor, Lu Yifang turned to look at Bobby and John.
"Yeah, I have one more question." Bobby hesitated, unsure whether he should ask.
"What were you doing that night?" Bobby eventually chose to skirt around the issue, confident that Lu Yifang would understand what he meant.
As for the Abomination incident, although S.H.I.E.L.D. had done its best to hide the truth, urban legends still circulated. One of them claimed that "a Mutant who called himself an Absolute Ability User killed the Abomination."
These stories were nothing more than rumors. Someone as carefree as John might read one to pass the time and then forget all about it. Bobby, on the other hand, had quietly kept it in mind. On the night of the Liberty Island incident, Lu Yifang hadn't been in the dorm, and during the Abomination incident, Bobby had seen him rush toward the city center at a terrifying speed.
A mysterious, powerful Mutant had been involved in both incidents. Add to that the air of mystery Lu Yifang had always carried, and Bobby couldn't help suspecting who he really was.
"That night? I went to rescue someone," Lu Yifang replied.
"So are you or aren't you—" Bobby pressed.
"Why don't you guess?" Lu Yifang said, patting Bobby on the shoulder. Then, under Bobby's bemused gaze, he strode out of the school gates.
Standing at the gate, Lu Yifang glanced toward home, then finally turned his gaze in the opposite direction.
"It's still early. No need to head home yet. I might as well stop by S.H.I.E.L.D. first."
Half an hour later, Lu Yifang was standing in front of the S.H.I.E.L.D. building. He wasn't there to ask Fury about his job, though. Instead, he headed toward the recovery ward.
After taking a few familiar turns, Lu Yifang stopped in front of a room and took a deep breath before knocking.
"Come in," a young woman's voice called from inside.
"Hey, how are you feeling today?" Lu Yifang asked with a smile as he opened the door.
On the white bed, a brown-haired girl with a pale complexion turned her head. When she saw Lu Yifang, a smile immediately appeared on her face.
"Pretty good. The doctor said I was lucky—the rusty piece of metal didn't hit any of my organs, and I've been recovering well after the surgery. I should be able to get out of bed in a few days. If everything goes well, I'll be discharged next month," the girl explained with a smile.
"That's good news. Sounds like the doctor did a great job." Lu Yifang nodded, picked an apple from the fruit basket nearby, and began peeling it slowly.
"No, the doctor said I should thank the person who brought me here." The girl looked at Lu Yifang and blinked.
"The doctor said that when he first saw me, he thought the blood loss from such a huge wound meant I couldn't possibly survive more than half an hour. And since I'd been injured by rusty metal, he'd prepared for a very long operation. But once I was in the operating room, he found that my abdominal cavity was completely clean. That meant he finished the operation in less than two hours."
"Thank you," the girl said gratefully.
"What are you thanking me for, Katie? Aren't we friends?" Lu Yifang waved it off and lowered his head to keep peeling the apple. He was good at it; the peel had already come off in one long strip.
"Just friends?" the girl asked softly.
The apple peel fell to the floor. Lu Yifang froze for a moment, then looked up at Katie.
Their eyes met, and the atmosphere changed at once. Lu Yifang might have been inexperienced, but he wasn't some clueless male lead from a harem anime. He had a normal head on his shoulders and enough social sense to understand the hint.
In an instant, Lu Yifang felt his mind go blank and his blood surge through his chest. He licked his dry lips, thinking he should say something.
"I... Single dogs don't want dog food... Damn it, what?" Lu Yifang pulled out his phone, which had suddenly started playing a song. Someone was calling him.
At that moment, he wanted to smash the phone to pieces. Who the hell was interrupting him? Still, after taking a deep breath, Lu Yifang decided not to throw it.
Not because it was a brand-new phone he'd gotten yesterday, of course, but because it was a custom phone from S.H.I.E.L.D. Only a handful of people, including Fury and Professor X, knew the number.
So he had to answer. What if it was important?
"Sorry, I need to take this outside," Lu Yifang said, giving Katie an apologetic look.
"Here, I'll be right back." He handed Katie the peeled apple and hurried out.
As she watched Lu Yifang leave the room, a trace of disappointment passed through Katie's eyes. But it soon faded. She wasn't the sort of girl to wallow in self-pity.
Things hadn't gone as planned this time, but she could find another chance. After coming so close to death, Katie had gained a new perspective on a lot of things.
She was a little withdrawn, not a timid, indecisive girl. She'd already made up her mind, so she would simply pursue him with determination.
Of course, Katie did have one worry. The only thing she feared was becoming a burden to Lu Yifang. She'd seen his anxious expression while she was half-conscious, and though it had touched her, she didn't want anything like that to happen again.
"Power... I don't want him to worry about me because I'm hurt again," Katie murmured.
"Thump!" In the instant Katie's attention wandered, the apple in her hand suddenly passed right through her palm and fell to the floor.
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