Jimmy screamed as he fell onto a wide sofa. When he realized he had stopped falling, he instinctively braced himself with both hands and sat upright. He looked up and saw Mr. James Zion, whom he had met briefly the day before, standing before him with a warm smile.
Jimmy glanced around, taking in the furnishings. His head was still spinning, and for a long while he couldn't make sense of how he had suddenly fallen into an unfamiliar room.
"We meet again, Jimmy." Xiang Qian could see how uneasy the boy was.
Jimmy responded awkwardly. "H-hello, Mr. Zion. Where am I?"
"San Francisco, in the hotel where I'm staying. It's not far from Alcatraz Island." Xiang Qian pointed out the window. "Look, you used to be able to see the Golden Gate Bridge from here, but it's gone now."
Jimmy anxiously glanced 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 awkwardly on the sofa. He had a lot of questions, but whenever he looked at Xiang Qian, he hesitated to ask. The conflicted look on his face gave away his thoughts completely.
"I know you have a lot of questions. There's no hurry. You can take a look at this first." Xiang Qian set a tablet on the coffee table and pushed it over.
A high-definition camera mounted on a drone had captured every detail of the terrifying scene unfolding on Alcatraz Island.
Great gouts of flame seemed to come alive, flowing through the U.S. military's positions. One soldier after another was swallowed by the fire, their cries of agony ringing out.
The I-beams that had once formed part of the bridge were being torn from its structure by some unknown force. Like javelins, they traced elegant arcs through the air, raining down on the soldiers below. They had no sharpened tips, but their sheer weight was enough to inflict horrific damage.
Large patches of ice appeared from time to time above the U.S. military positions, blocking the falling beams, but soldiers continued to go down.
The Mutants surged toward the U.S. military positions like a swarm of ants, while the soldiers fought back stubbornly with gunfire. Mutant after Mutant was hit and fell.
The I-beams still rising into the sky were no longer being hurled. Instead, they were joining together one by one, forming a broad wall of steel. A short-haired Mutant woman dressed in an androgynous style rushed to the front line under its cover, then slammed both hands down toward the ground.
A visible shock wave spread across the ground. Wherever it passed, the earth and rocks churned violently. The U.S. military positions seemed to have been hit by an earthquake measuring eight on the Richter scale. Obstacles and bunkers were flung into the air, and the soldiers inside staggered about.
The U.S. forces on the outskirts began to rout, with large numbers of soldiers retreating toward the buildings. Walls of ice rose from the ground, shielding them as they fell back.
Watching the battlefield on the screen, strewn with casualties, Jimmy asked in a trembling voice, "What's happening? Mr. Worthington said the laboratory wouldn't be dangerous."
"He also said you were sick. Do you think you're a patient?" Xiang Qian wagged a finger. "A smart person shouldn't take Mr. Worthington's claims as something worth discussing, all right?"
Jimmy nodded blankly, though he hadn't quite understood.
"The Mutants who stormed Alcatraz Island came to kill you," Xiang Qian said, pointing at the screen. "As I told you before, they believe you're the bane of Mutants and will bring great calamity upon them."
"I'm not..." Jimmy was even more nervous now than he had been the day before. Yesterday, they had only talked about it casually. Today, he had witnessed a bloody slaughter with his own eyes.
"I know you're not, and many Mutants know it too. But people don't all think alike. These people..." Xiang Qian pointed at the radical Mutants streaming across the bridge onto the island. "They can't 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 didn't answer directly. "But those who want to kill you won't give up easily. You're off the island for now, but as soon as they get word of you again, they'll keep coming after you."
"Then what?"
Xiang Qian tapped the screen again and sighed. "Then what you see here will keep happening. The people protecting you and the people trying to kill you will go on fighting. Killing, death, without end, until one side gives up for good."
Jimmy watched the scene on the screen. The glaring blood and bodies scattered everywhere hurt his eyes.
"How can we make them give up? Sir, is there anything I can do?"
Xiang Qian smiled with relief, as if delighted by a child's courage and sense of responsibility.
"Do you remember the promise I made to you yesterday? I promised you a chance to choose. Now it's time for me to keep that promise." Xiang Qian spoke earnestly. "You have a chance to end the conflict before you and prevent more bloodshed."
"What choice?"
"I can send you somewhere hidden, where the whole world will forget you. When no one can find you, they'll have no reason to fight, and we can prevent more bloodshed and death."
Jimmy listened quietly. He felt that something in Xiang Qian's calm voice had the power to move people.
"I can arrange for you to go to school, where you'll have a chance to make friends. But from now on, you can't use your own name or contact your parents. You'll have to leave your old life behind completely—that's the sacrifice you'll have to make."
"Will I have to hide for the rest of my life?" Jimmy asked softly, still uncertain.
"Of course not!" Xiang Qian answered firmly. "I'll do everything I can to find a substitute. One day, when people no longer need to extract medicine from you, you'll be able to go home. Of course, it might take a long time. You might have to wait until you're grown up and find one yourself."
"Like you did when you cured your illness?"
"Yes, just like I cured myself."
Xiang Qian leaned down and met Jimmy's gaze, calm and deep-eyed, utterly sincere. Jimmy slowly stood up from the sofa. As his expression grew more resolute, Xiang Qian smiled from the heart.
"I'm willing to go. I'll accept your plan, sir."
The psychological campaign, carefully woven from one persuasive line after another since their first meeting, had now achieved the best possible result.
Jimmy was a boy going through adolescence. At that age, children often held beliefs that seemed naive but were actually sincere. They truly believed that they must have some kind of mission, and they truly wanted to take on a responsibility for the world.
Although Xiang Qian had told Jimmy he could make his own choice, given that belief and the carefully designed persuasion guiding him, Jimmy's decision had been entirely predictable.
What was more interesting was that although Xiang Qian had used persuasive tactics from beginning to end, every single thing he said had been true. He had never broken his principle of not deceiving children.
"I'll send you away now. Someone is already waiting for you there, and they'll take care of everything." Xiang Qian rubbed the Sling Ring on his hand. "By the way, have you ever tried bungee jumping? Like when you came here just now?"
Remembering the free fall he had just experienced, Jimmy's heart leaped with fright.
"Sir, I'm not sure I—" With another scream, Jimmy fell down through the floor and vanished.
Xiang Qian stared at the spot where Jimmy had disappeared, then muttered to himself as if speaking to the boy, "Next time, you should speak faster."