I Heard...

"Scott, wait."

Just as Cyclops was about to head to White Clinic to find Jean, Professor X stopped him.

"Jean is already on her way back."

Not only Cyclops, but Storm also breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that.

The pressure Sean had brought her was simply too great.

After hesitating for a while, Colossus voiced his thoughts.

"Well... if the government found out about Doctor White's ability..."

He did not continue, but Storm, Cyclops, and the others understood perfectly well.

"For now, no one besides us knows."

Professor X spoke calmly.

"You may not understand the situation of the little girl Ororo and Jean went to see today. That child's muscle strength was enough to easily tear apart her own bones. Ever since she was little, she had basically grown up in a cycle of fractures and healing. It was extremely painful. Jean and Ororo went there this time only to see whether there was any way to ease her suffering. Gamma-level X abilities still have far too many flaws."

There was a sense that the professor wanted to say something but held back.

"So this was the first time Sean White used the power to take away X abilities?"

Storm was not particularly perceptive. She was simply very concerned about the professor's first statement.

"That is correct. He probably did it to save that child."

"But that ability is far too terrifying!"

"It is fine. Sean merely likes collecting interest. He does not care much about other mutants, except..."

"Vanessa?"

Storm did not know whether to laugh or cry. Sean White, who had practically become mutants' greatest enemy, actually had a mutant girlfriend. The world truly was strange.

Vanessa got along well with all of them, but her boyfriend... heh heh.

"I think Sean White's ability must be kept secret. If the government uses Sean White against mutants, the consequences would be unthinkable. The best solution would be to have him stay at the school."

Storm felt that she had to express her opinion.

"Restrict Sean White?"

Cyclops began seriously considering Storm's suggestion.

Colossus sighed inwardly. Everyone knew it was impossible to restrict Doctor White, so why waste their thoughts on this matter? Colossus could not understand it.

Professor X suddenly sat upright, gripping the armrests tightly with both hands. It showed just how agitated he was.

The X-Men's attention was drawn to the professor's reaction.

"Sean White... he can even..."

The professor did not continue. He felt this secret would be best kept forever, but he also knew very well that it was impossible.

Psychic abilities were not particularly rare among X abilities. Though some were weak and some strong, they truly were not uncommon.

Vanessa would expose this secret sooner or later. It left him deeply conflicted.

Sean White could actually duplicate X abilities! This was practically... the power of a god!

Even he could not help wondering whether, if he had Logan's ability, he might be able to walk freely in the future.

"Can even do what?" Wolverine did not wait for Professor X to finish and simply asked outright.

"Sean White can grant people new X abilities."

Professor X spoke heavily.

"!!!"

Shock and disbelief~

The mixture of those two emotions instantly swept through everyone.

Storm imagined how terrifying Wolverine's combat power would become if he possessed Nightcrawler's teleportation ability.

Cyclops, meanwhile, wondered what kind of powerful opponent the Brotherhood would become if they received Sean White's help.

Colossus wondered what price such a thing would require.

Wolverine's thoughts were the simplest. If he could fly, he would not need to borrow Scott's car anymore.

"What kind of price would there be?"

Colossus was the first to ask.

"It certainly would not be small."

"An ability like Logan's is worth half a ton of gold."

Professor X gave them a quick explanation.

"Half... a ton?" The muscles in Storm's face twitched. That price frightened her.

"At such a price, Sean White could not afford it either. He can only offset it with debt. That at least proves he cannot casually take the X abilities from us."

The X-Men and Professor X discussed the matter in the office.

Unbeknownst to them, the school's long-eared listeners had already heard it. Before long, the entire school's students would know that there was a doctor who could remove X abilities.

For most children, this was nothing. Most of them were no different from ordinary people.

But for a few individuals, especially Rogue, this news was undoubtedly heavenly music.

She had long grown tired of her ability. Not only was it of little use, she could not even be intimate with her boyfriend!

That sharp-tongued Doctor White...

Rogue decided to give it a try!

Sean knew nothing about what was happening at Xavier Institute.

After seeing Stacy and her father off, he began pondering the previous battle again. When Phoenix had pinned him in midair, he had tried to break free of the restraint. He had considered using the powerful-muscles ability he had just acquired from the little girl named Kelly.

But unexpectedly, he discovered that an ability whose debt had not been paid could not be used. Want to use it? Fine, please use Origin Essence to duplicate it!

That was rather frustrating. It was not what he had imagined at all.

Only after Kelly and her mother paid off those more than ten million could that ability be unfrozen and used freely.

So that was how it worked~

If those were the rules, could he use Polaris's ability?

Sean decided to run a test.

At Xavier Institute, Polaris, Lorna, was idly playing with a handful of steel balls, making them form all sorts of strange shapes.

A petite girl sat across from her. "Lorna, do you really owe Doctor White 1.7 billion dollars?"

"Yeah~"

"Just because you borrowed five cents from him?"

"Yeeees~~~~"

Polaris answered weakly. She had answered that question many times already, and every answer felt like a stab straight into her heart.

"How did five cents become 1.7 billion dollars~?" The girl began counting on her fingers, but how could her little brain possibly calculate a ten-digit problem?

"No need to calculate. Thirty-five days, doubling every day—1,717,986,918 dollars and forty cents. I have already memorized it..."

Polaris looked as though she had lost the will to live.

"Wow~~ That sounds like so much!"

Another stab~

Polaris's heart ached~

Because of her emotional fluctuation, the pile of steel balls began moving faster.

"I just heard that Doctor White can take away mutants' X abilities~"

The girl spoke softly, as though sharing some great secret.

"Hm?"

Polaris froze. In her impression, Sean was merely someone who messed around with illnesses, always giving people embarrassing diseases. Teacher Ororo had turned into a huge fat woman, and then there was her... that humiliating condition!

But taking away X abilities! That was a little too exaggerated.

Seeing Polaris's expression, the girl knew she did not believe her.

"It's true. Dazzler heard it with her own ears."

"Kitty! Are you telling the truth?"

"Of course it's true."

Polaris's heart was in turmoil. It was true...

Wouldn't that mean he could take away her ability whenever he wanted?

Her hand tightened, and the steel balls spun even faster.

Seeing that Polaris was unsettled, Kitty also felt she had misspoken.

She said awkwardly:

"He seemed to have done it to save a little girl who was nearly killed by her own X ability. He probably... would not mess around, right?"

The moment Kitty finished speaking, the steel balls floating above Polaris's head shot in every direction like bullets!

Polaris's face turned deathly pale~

Her ability... had really disappeared!!!

"Ah~~~~"

A scream came from the distance.

"Ah?" Polaris and Kitty cried out at the same time.

Far away in Manhattan, Sean fiddled with Polaris's ability for a long time but found no way to use it himself or give it to anyone else.

He realized that unless the 1.7 billion debt was paid off, he could at most take it out and put it back. No other operations were possible.

Then he might as well put it back~~~

However he took it out, that was how he put it back~

Tsk~ Why did that sound a little... you know~

Two or three updates today. The next update will announce whether there will be a third~