If the Government Finds Out...

"Stop!"

When Sean saw Yuriko's ten long nails about to plunge into Phoenix, he hurriedly shouted. If she got stabbed to death... wouldn't the X-Men go to war with him?

Who would benefit from that?

There was no need to ask. Naturally, it would be the mutant supervillain, Polaris Lorna's father—Magneto of the Brotherhood!

Yuriko barely managed to retract her nails before they pierced Phoenix's body, only tearing her clothes.

"She wanted to kill you!"

Yuriko looked at Sean in confusion.

"I know, but that version of her can't exactly be considered her!"

Although Phoenix was temporarily out of control, Sean couldn't guarantee how long those brain illnesses could restrain her. He had to buy time!

"Ava!"

"I'm here!"

Ava Ellis suddenly appeared at a corner of the wall not far from Phoenix. Her stealth skill was quite advanced.

"Watch her condition. If there are any signs of her waking up again, warn me! If there really isn't enough time... kill her!"

Sean said with a conflicted expression.

No matter what he did, he would be taking a considerable risk.

The worst outcome would be having to make a choice... Dark Phoenix or the X-Men?

Sean decisively chose to become enemies with the X-Men rather than face Dark Phoenix!

Ava Ellis nodded quickly, thinking that this woman's soul was truly tempting. It would be great if a situation arose where there was no time...

With a demon like Ava Ellis watching her, at least Sean no longer had to worry about Phoenix suddenly waking up.

According to the Black Ledger's rules, Phoenix Jean Grey already had an actual debt with him. A tiny one, only a few cents. Sean still couldn't figure out where that debt had come from.

Maybe it was from the wall Dark Phoenix had smashed, or something like that. In any case, having a debt was enough.

What came next would be very easy to handle.

Another utterly shameless ability of the Black Ledger...

It could lend someone a new debt without the debtor's permission~

That was practically invincible. Who would dare owe him money? As long as Sean wanted, they would never be able to pay it off!

Those brain illnesses from before weren't worth much, and Phoenix clearly couldn't let him treat those illnesses now. There was no way he could keep fleecing her.

He could only pile up debt!

He still had 8,913 points of source essence remaining.

Although that was still far from the Phoenix Force inside Jean Grey, which was worth over twenty thousand, it at least exceeded the value of Jean's other abilities.

Lend all that source essence to her!

It wasn't enough to exchange for her Phoenix Force, but another function of the Black Ledger could be used on her!

Collateral!

A debt of 8,913 points of source essence exceeded the combined value of Phoenix's other assets. Given the Black Ledger's nature, it would definitely demand something worth more than that amount as collateral.

The Phoenix Force became the first choice.

Freeze the collateral!

That was Sean's plan!

He might not be able to take it away, but as long as he made it impossible for her to use it, that was enough!

It was just a little painful watching his source essence balance drop to zero~

Only after doing all that did Sean finally let out a sigh of relief. That was fucking nerve-racking! Fucking thrilling!

"Ava~ It's fine now!"

Sean had planned to directly remove Dark Phoenix's personality, but unexpectedly discovered that Dark Phoenix, the Phoenix Force, and Jean Grey's abilities had formed a single whole. There was no way to remove them separately.

In other words... what the Black Ledger had frozen was now a complete Dark Phoenix!

That was interesting~

Sean took back those worthless brain illnesses. These things were essential for screwing people over; he couldn't waste them on Phoenix for nothing. They wouldn't even earn much interest.

It erupted suddenly, then ended just as suddenly.

The battle had lasted less than a minute.

Linda Carter comforted the frightened Wendy and Kelly and her daughter. The nurse was fairly bold; what had just happened seemed to have had little effect on her.

Sean didn't concern himself with the cleanup. Ava and Linda would handle it.

As for Phoenix, the bed in the treatment room suited her well enough.

After tidying up his somewhat messy office, Sean sat there and examined the ledger.

He was extremely curious about those few cents of debt. He needed to know where it had come from, and whether there might be some way to make use of it in the future.

After all, he had managed ledgers before. Though he wasn't a professional, he could at least do some simple accounting.

Yet he found nothing in the ledger. A few cents... tsk... what was going on?

Even by lunchtime, Sean still hadn't figured out how those few cents of debt had come about.

He just couldn't figure it out~

As he ate the lunch Ava had prepared, the thought of those few cents continued circling through his mind~

"Dr. White, that lady is awake." Linda Carter suddenly walked in and said.

Sean raised an eyebrow and said indifferently, "If she's awake, have her compensate us for the things she broke."

"Uh~"

Linda hadn't expected that answer and was momentarily stunned. She had thought Dr. White would go check on her~

"Okay."

Less than a minute later, Phoenix Jean Grey rushed in.

"Sean White! What did you do to me?"

At that moment, she was astonished, because she had suddenly discovered that her power now responded as easily as an arm or a finger. It had become remarkably... easy to use~

It was no longer difficult to call upon, nor was it wildly unstable like before.

Sometimes, when she had nightmares, the entire building would shake slightly, not to mention the furniture in the room.

Cyclops Scott had once complained that the furniture constantly needed replacing, or one day its legs would simply snap.

But now...

That inexplicable resistance had suddenly vanished, delighting her. Yet... it also felt somewhat strange.

Sean looked up at her, the corner of his mouth curling as he asked in an odd tone, "What did I do to you?"

He looked Phoenix over from head to toe. Tsk~ This woman really was something. She had a pretty face, a great figure, and her personality~ was acceptable.

But she wasn't his type. Sean didn't like skinny little girls.

"Seventeen million, eight hundred and twenty-six thousand dollars. When are you going to pay for your treatment~?"

"..."

A herd of bulls stampeded through Phoenix's mind... chaos~

"Let's continue talking!"

Sean's eye twitched. Again?

"The matter of you being able to take away X abilities..."

"Wait. To me, those are all symptoms. I'm only treating illnesses."

"How could that possibly be an illness?"

"Isn't it? What's going on with you, then?"

"I..."

Phoenix's expression shifted slightly, and her gaze became unfocused. She was beginning to waver.

"My situation... is rather special."

"Mm. Every one of you is special."

Sean really couldn't be bothered to argue about this. He had spent 8,913 points of source essence. He could have copied another X ability, but Phoenix had ruined it. How could he possibly be happy about that?

"How did you... cure me?"

Phoenix did not continue with the previous topic. She herself was no longer sure whether mutants were really ill; Sean had completely led her thinking astray.

"It cost a great deal. All my efforts from the past few months went into you, so shouldn't you settle the treatment fee first?"

Without changing his expression, Sean blurred the distinction between the debt and the treatment fee.

If he could talk Phoenix into it, he could take Dark Phoenix out in one piece.

However...

"I can't afford that fee."

Phoenix answered rather awkwardly.

Sean's shoulders immediately slumped. "Fine, then consider it a loan~"

"Dr. White!"

A pleasant voice sounded from outside the door.

It was a very young voice.

Phoenix immediately seized the opportunity to say goodbye, then fled in a slight panic. She didn't respond to the matter of the loan~ What a pity~

It was Gwen Stacy.

Commissioner Stacy had come with her.

Commissioner Stacy looked around the clinic, then asked with a frown, "Did something happen here?"

A wall with a massive hole in it, a ruined desk, and the wreckage that had been gathered together but not yet thrown away.

It was a very typical case of violent destruction.

"Nothing major. A patient suddenly went berserk and broke these things."

"..."

Commissioner Stacy looked at the thickness of the wall and cursed inwardly. You would need explosives to break through a wall that thick, wouldn't you?

Gwen Stacy, however, didn't think as much as Commissioner Stacy did. She happily called out, "Hello, Dr. White! I'm very happy to see you again!"

"Hello to you too, Miss Stacy."

Sean looked Gwen Stacy over and found that she was even younger than he had expected. She might only be thirteen, perhaps even twelve... though she was quite tall.

"Dr. White~"

Gwen became a little bashful, leaving Sean somewhat stunned~

Commissioner Stacy was the one who rescued his daughter from the awkwardness.

"Dr. White, we currently don't have the means to pay the treatment fee, so~"

"We'll handle it as a loan?"

"Yes, that's what we mean."

Sean looked at Gwen Stacy.

The young girl nodded awkwardly.

"Fine. Monthly interest... two percent. No lower than that."

"Ah~ All right." Commissioner Stacy agreed with an ugly expression.

Two percent monthly interest was truly not low, slightly higher than the bank's rate for the same period. But what choice did he have? This man had cured his wife's cancer. Two percent it was.

"Don't feel pressured. Loans here can be indefinite, of course, as long as you can afford the interest."

Sean offered Commissioner Stacy a word of comfort.

The commissioner's expression turned awkward. If his wife's illness hadn't drained their savings, more than two hundred thousand dollars would not have been such a huge sum to him. His annual salary was not low.

But now, he had better honestly repay the loan.

While Sean was making awkward small talk with the Stacy father and daughter, Storm hurriedly gathered the X-Men at the Xavier Institute.

"Sean White can take away a mutant's X ability!"

Storm's words immediately made the other X-Men frown.

"In what way?"

Wolverine tilted his head slightly and asked with a frown.

"It's still unclear. I suspect it has something to do with that ledger of his."

"Where's Jean?" Cyclops asked.

"She said she wanted to talk with Sean White, and told me to come back first and inform everyone."

Storm was slightly embarrassed.

"I'll go find her."

Without another word, Cyclops moved to leave.

"Wait, Scott."

Professor X, Charles, spoke up.

Storm: Sean White must be restrained!

Colossus: If the government finds out about Dr. White's ability...

Everyone: ...

There were actually two updates today, both 3K chapters~

Any votes for Old Tree?

Where did the debt come from? Haha, this chapter didn't say~