When Xiang Qian pushed open the lab door, which had been left ajar, the U.S. soldiers and X-Men guarding the building had already reached the end of their rope.
Iceman Bobby's layer of ice had held Magneto back for less than ten minutes. By the time Bobby heard that Juggernaut had smashed through a wall and was preparing to plug the breach again, quite a few Mutants had already stormed inside through the opening.
Whether they could fly, jump, or climb, every Mutant who made it inside was a hard-line fighter with considerable abilities. They couldn't break through the ice shell from outside, but once they entered the building, they rarely met any resistance.
Magneto was still the most terrifying. Metal objects within reach formed a broad, heavy shield large enough to block the entire hallway, while tiny metal fragments swept through one room after another like a storm.
The survivors retreated to the basement, where there was only one entrance, making it easy to concentrate their fire and hold the position. Wolverine Logan and Beast Hank carried Storm and Cyclops on their backs as they followed Worthington Industries' clerical staff and researchers deep underground.
It was a dim, abandoned room. If Xiang Qian had been there, he would have thought it was the very place where the bathroom fight in The Rock had taken place.
Storm and Cyclops had both been seriously injured in the fighting and were unconscious. Colossus and Iceman were still upstairs in the main building, helping the U.S. soldiers fight. Shadowcat had volunteered to bring the little boy, Jimmy, back while everyone else retreated.
"I never thought that one day, I'd be stuck playing nurse on a battlefield," Logan grumbled.
Hank patted Logan on the shoulder in understanding. "Take it easy, buddy. We all know you're a tough guy, but there's nothing you can do against Magneto."
Wolverine Logan had a body of steel and an immortal healing factor, making him even tougher than Colossus Piotr. But Magneto had him completely countered. He'd run straight into his natural enemy.
"Why hasn't Kitty come back yet?" Hank said anxiously. Before he'd finished speaking, a petite figure emerged through the wall beside them.
"I'm back." Kitty was slightly out of breath from running. "Jimmy—the boy—is gone."
Hank was shocked. "How could that be? Did Magneto's people get there first?"
"No, they didn't. When I arrived, Juggernaut hadn't even had a chance to break in yet." Kitty recalled the terrifying scene she'd witnessed. "And Juggernaut was badly injured."
"You'll never believe it. Someone badly wounded Juggernaut with just one handgun. He's still lying on the ground. God, I've never seen anyone bleed that much. I almost threw up..."
Hank hurriedly asked, "Did you get a good look at who did it?"
"I don't know. That man was wearing a mask, so I couldn't see his face." Kitty remembered what he'd said. "He was terrifying. The way he looked at Juggernaut... It was like he was looking at a pig waiting to be slaughtered."
Logan looked thoughtful. When he heard Kitty say that Juggernaut had been injured with a handgun, he suddenly remembered seeing an incredible pistol ten years ago at the foot of the Statue of Liberty.
"Was it a P226? And when it fired, did red patterns appear on the gun? Was the man who fired it black-haired and a little shorter than me? Was he polite when he spoke to you, and a bit of a smooth talker?"
Kitty nodded after each of Logan's questions. But at the last one, she instinctively protested, "A smooth talker? No, I thought he was quite the gentleman."
Hank caught on too. He exchanged a look with Logan...
"James!"
"James!"
They spoke in unison.
"Damn it, I knew that little brat was up to something behind our backs," Logan said angrily.
"James? James Zion?" Kitty asked curiously. "Is he the James Zion our classmates talk about all the time?"
Hank rolled his eyes and gave the little cat a heartfelt warning. "Remember what I said, Kitty. The way that man spoke to you wasn't being a gentleman. We all call that being a smooth talker!"
Xiang Qian had no idea that the X-Men's opinion of him had taken another hit. He was happily copying data in the lab.
Worthington Industries' researchers had retreated in such a hurry that all Xiang Qian found when he arrived was a mess. The refrigerated cabinets that should have held the medicine were empty, and the safe contained only some unimportant paper documents.
Various instruments lay scattered about, and wires were strewn across the floor. Fortunately, the computer terminals that controlled and recorded the experiments were still intact.
Xiang Qian couldn't find anything like a disk drive, but the records of all the past experiments were still on the computer terminals. Although he couldn't directly obtain the final results, he could still derive a great deal of crucial data by analyzing the experimental process. It would just take more time.
Yes, even copying the files was taking longer. There was simply too much data. Xiang Qian could only wait.
In the hallway outside, Juggernaut was still letting out low growls. The sounds of fighting downstairs could be heard faintly, but the gunfire was gradually growing sparse.
The radical Mutants were slowly gaining the upper hand. The U.S. soldiers were either dead or in retreat.
When Xiang Qian drew on the magical power of Kamar-Taj, he could "see" from the perspective of his soul that many people were fleeing in panic into the passage leading to the basement. But any deeper into the basement, and even his soul's perspective couldn't see much.
Then he "saw" three people appear in the hallway outside.
"God, Juggernaut?" a woman cried out. Xiang Qian could hear her loud and clear from inside the lab.
From his soul's perspective, Xiang Qian clearly made out the newcomers: Magneto, Pyro John, and Nightcrawler.
In Xiang Qian's eyes, the three had varying degrees of spiritual strength. Juggernaut, lying facedown on the ground, had an extraordinarily powerful soul, and a strange, deep-red light radiated from its depths.
Xiang Qian couldn't hear what Magneto said. He could only hear Juggernaut's muffled voice.
"An X-Men girl went inside. Didn't see the kid. The kid's gone."
"The bastard who hurt me is right next door. Help me catch him. I'll tear him in two... No, I'll smash him into a pulp and make sausages out of him."
"A handgun..."
Xiang Qian listened with interest, privately wondering whether Magneto could figure out who he was from Juggernaut's fragmented words—and whether he would remember the P226 in his hand.
"What would he do if he remembered?" Xiang Qian wondered silently. Suddenly, he saw a blur burst through the door and charge straight at him.
The figure came so fast that by the time the sound of the door opening reached Xiang Qian's ears, it had already rushed right up to him.
In that split second, Xiang Qian understood.
Magneto had indeed guessed who he was. He was also extremely wary of the "handgun" Juggernaut had mentioned, so he'd sent Nightcrawler in first. He intended for Nightcrawler to use his speed to subdue Xiang Qian—or take the gun from him.