How Can Using a Little Rhetoric Be Called Deception?

Jimmy screamed as he tumbled onto a wide sofa. Once he realized he was no longer falling, he instinctively pushed himself up with both hands and sat straight. He looked up to see Mr. James Zion, whom he had met briefly the day before, standing before him with a beaming smile.

Jimmy looked left and right, scanning the room's furnishings. His dizzy brain struggled to process the situation, unable to fathom how, in the blink of an eye, he had been dropped out of thin air into a strange room.

"We meet again, Jimmy," Xiang Qian said, noting the boy's unease.

Jimmy responded awkwardly, "H-hello, Mr. Zion. Where am I?"

"San Francisco, in the hotel where I'm staying. It's not too far from Alcatraz Island." Xiang Qian gestured toward the window. "Look, you would have been able to see the Golden Gate Bridge from here, but the bridge is gone now."

Jimmy cast an uneasy glance out the window and stammered, "H-how did I get here?"

"I brought you here, using a little trick." Xiang Qian subconsciously rubbed the Sling Ring on his left index finger.

Jimmy sat stiffly on the sofa. He had a belly full of questions, but every time he looked at Xiang Qian, he stopped himself; the conflicted expression on his face betrayed his thoughts entirely.

"I know you have many questions. No rush; you can take a look at this first." Xiang Qian placed a tablet on the coffee table and pushed it toward him.

The high-definition camera mounted on a drone transmitted the horrific scene unfolding on Alcatraz Island in vivid detail.

Great plumes of fire seemed to come alive, flowing across the U.S. military's defensive lines. One soldier after another was engulfed by the flames, letting out shrill, agonizing screams.

I-beams that had once served as structural components of the bridge were ripped away by an unknown force. They were hurled through the air in graceful parabolas, raining down incessantly upon the heads of the soldiers. They lacked sharp points, but their sheer weight alone was enough to cause devastating damage.

From time to time, massive sheets of ice would manifest above the military lines to block the falling steel, yet soldiers continued to fall.

Mutants swarmed the military positions like an ant colony. The soldiers fought back tenaciously, firing their weapons, and one mutant after another was struck down.

The I-beams that continued to float into the sky were no longer being thrown; instead, they were being fused together, transforming into a wide wall of steel. A short-haired mutant woman with an androgynous look dashed to the front lines under the cover of the steel wall and slammed both hands onto the ground.

A visible shockwave rippled outward along the earth. Wherever the shockwave passed, the soil and rock churned violently. The military position seemed to be hit by an earthquake of magnitude eight; countless obstacles and bunkers were torn from the ground, and the soldiers inside were sent reeling.

The outer perimeter of the U.S. forces began to collapse, with large numbers of soldiers retreating toward the buildings. Walls of ice erupted from the ground to provide cover for the retreating troops.

Watching the carnage on the screen, Jimmy asked with a trembling voice, "What is happening? Didn't Mr. Worthington say the laboratory wouldn't be dangerous?"

"He also said you were sick. Do you feel like a patient?" Xiang Qian wagged his finger. "Mr. Worthington's words shouldn't be a topic for intelligent people to discuss, alright?"

Jimmy nodded blankly—though he didn't quite understand.

"The mutants who stormed Alcatraz Island are here to kill you," Xiang Qian said, pointing at the screen. "Just as I told you before, they believe you are a scourge to mutants and will bring great disaster upon them."

"I'm not..." Jimmy looked even more nervous than he had the day before. After all, yesterday it had been mere idle chatter, but today he was witnessing a bloody slaughter in real time.

"I know you aren't, and many mutants know it too. But people's perspectives aren't always aligned. These people..." Xiang Qian gestured toward the radical mutants continuously crossing the bridge to reach the island, "they cannot be reasoned with."

Jimmy curled into a ball on the sofa. "W-will they kill me?"

"There are also many people protecting you," Xiang Qian replied, bypassing a direct answer. "However, those who want you dead will not give up easily. Even though you aren't on the island now, the moment they get word of your location again, they will inevitably keep coming for you."

"And then?"

Xiang Qian tapped the screen again and sighed. "Then, as you can see, those who protect you and those who want you dead will continue to fight. Killing, death, endless conflict, until one side gives up completely."

Jimmy stared at the screen, his eyes stung by the glaring blood and the casualties scattered everywhere.

"How can I make them stop? Sir, is there anything I can do?"

Xiang Qian smiled with satisfaction, as if gladdened by a child's courage and sense of responsibility.

"Do you remember the promise I made to you yesterday? I promised to give you a choice. Now is the time for me to fulfill that promise," Xiang Qian said earnestly. "You have a chance to choose—a way to end the conflict before us and prevent further bloodshed."

"What choice?"

"I can send you to a hidden place and make the world forget you entirely. When everyone can no longer find you, they will have no reason to fight, and more bloodshed and death can be avoided."

Jimmy listened quietly, feeling as though there was a power in Xiang Qian's calm voice that could touch the soul.

"I can arrange for you to go to school, where you'll have the chance to meet friends. But from then on, you cannot use your own name, nor can you contact your parents. You must say goodbye to your past completely—that is the sacrifice you must make."

"Do I have to hide for the rest of my life?" Jimmy asked softly, still hesitant.

Xiang Qian answered with certainty, "Of course not! I will do everything in my power to find a substitute. When the day comes that people no longer need to extract medicine from you, you can go home. Of course, it might take a long time, or perhaps you'll have to discover the answer yourself when you're older."

"Just like how you cured your own illness?"

"Yes, just like how I cured myself."

Xiang Qian leaned down, meeting Jimmy's gaze with a calm, profound, and sincere look. Jimmy slowly stood up from the sofa, and the growing resolve on his face brought a genuine smile to Xiang Qian's lips.

"I'm willing to go. I accept your arrangement, sir."

From their first meeting to today's conversation, the psychological offensive, meticulously woven with one tactic after another, had achieved the ideal result.

Jimmy, a boy in the midst of adolescence, was at an age where children always held beliefs that seemed naive but were, in fact, sincere. They genuinely believed they were destined for some mission, and they were genuinely willing to shoulder burdens for the world.

Although Xiang Qian had told Jimmy to make his own choice, given those beliefs and the carefully designed guidance, Jimmy's decision was entirely within Xiang Qian's expectations.

What was even more interesting was that even though he had used tactics from start to finish, every word Xiang Qian spoke was the truth—he had never once violated his principle of not deceiving children.

"I'll send you off now. There are people waiting for you on the other side who will handle everything," Xiang Qian said, rubbing the Sling Ring. "By the way, have you ever been bungee jumping, like how you arrived just now?"

Recalling the sensation of free-falling, Jimmy felt a jolt of terror.

"Sir, I'm not really—ah!" With another exclamation, Jimmy fell through the floor and vanished.

Xiang Qian looked at the spot where Jimmy had disappeared, puzzled, and muttered to himself as if still speaking to the boy, "Next time, you should say it a bit faster."