Doctor White's Combat Prowess

Chapter 1: Doctor White's Combat Prowess

Among the people scattering in all directions, Sean stood out like a sore thumb as he remained rooted in place.

An elderly woman even kindly tugged at him and told him to hide quickly. Bullets didn't recognize people.

Sean thanked her for her kindness and followed the crowd to take cover, entering a shop.

Once inside, things got a little awkward. The store had glass doors, floor-to-ceiling glass windows... and nothing but a dazzling array of women's lingerie and posters of sexy lingerie models.

No wonder no one else came in here. They had experience.

The only place to hide in the shop was behind a counter with marble cladding. It probably offered some protection, but whether it could stop bullets... Sean had his doubts.

He ducked behind it anyway, only to find two people already there.

One was probably a salesclerk, while the other was clearly a customer. Apparently, the fitting room curtain hadn't made her feel safe enough, so she had hidden behind the counter in the lingerie she was trying on.

When she saw Sean squeeze in, the woman tightly hugged her arms and eyed him warily.

Tch. What was there to look at?

The sporadic gunfire outside went "bang bang pop pop," nowhere near as intense as a Hollywood shootout. Curious, Sean even poked his head out for a look.

The moment he did, he couldn't help complaining.

At least two of the four thugs were mutants.

One was covered in green lumps and was fucking bulletproof. Another had iron skin and was bulletproof too. No wonder they weren't panicking even while facing at least four police officers.

The conflict between mutants and ordinary people was endlessly magnified by people like them.

Fortunately, he hadn't exposed the fact that he was a mutant. For now, he had managed to blend into the superpowered crowd.

Dubois's giant python had also taken several bullets. It seemed to be in pain and was venting its frustration on the cars in the street.

Just as Sean was wondering how Python Queen had gotten such a huge snake into the downtown area...

Smack!

A stray bullet pierced the tempered glass and struck beside Sean's head, chipping the counter.

(((???)))

He had almost been shot in the head!

That was fucking terrifying!

He hurriedly ducked back. Although he knew the ledger would share the damage for him, it was best not to test that kind of thing.

The sirens grew denser and denser. The dispatch center had probably sent every nearby patrol car over.

But no matter how many police officers there were, they had no way to deal with the four thugs and the giant python for the moment. Still, an incident like this would probably draw the X-Men.

Fighting mutant crime had always been their job.

Sure enough, Storm made a flashy entrance with wind and lightning. After a burst of crackling and wails, the outside fell quiet.

Not long after, a flustered figure ran into the lingerie shop and crouched down with Sean and the others.

"..." Sean stared at the newcomer speechlessly.

"..." The newcomer was equally speechless upon seeing Sean.

"Why are you hiding?" Sean asked.

The newcomer was none other than Python Queen, Dubois. She wore a fitted office outfit and black-rimmed glasses, looking quite convincing.

"I... I was frightened by those thugs." Python Queen glanced at the two unrelated women and spoke in a low voice.

Sean gave a derisive snort, utterly disdainful of her. Frightened by the thugs? More like frightened by the X-Men.

"What about my property?" Sean asked, glancing at her sideways.

The giant python's hissing had been perfectly audible amid the lightning strikes just now.

Before Python Queen could answer, a police officer outside shouted anxiously, "That snake went into the subway station! Hurry! Use the public broadcast to evacuate the subway!"

"I already arranged it," Python Queen hurriedly said.

Sean rolled his eyes at her. As long as his property was fine, that was all that mattered. He still had to fleece that snake in the future!

The wailing sound of ambulances began to rise, while the NYPD started searching the surrounding area for injured people.

Other than a few people in cars who had bumped their heads, there were basically no serious injuries. Americans really were well trained in this regard.

"Why are you two still hiding here?" The woman wearing nothing but lingerie finally couldn't take it anymore. The police outside had already begun gathering the injured, yet these two were still crouching here in her way. How was she supposed to move?

"Uh..." Sean felt a little awkward too. He had simply thought it would be safer to lie low a while longer. As for Python Queen, she was afraid the police would recognize her.

Ignoring Python Queen, Sean walked out of the lingerie shop and immediately spotted three X-Men.

"Storm," Ororo Munroe; "Cyclops," Scott Summers; and "Colossus," Piotr Rasputin. Storm needed no introduction—she controlled wind and lightning. Cyclops's eyes could fire powerful plasma beams, comparable to high-energy particle streams. Colossus could transform his entire body into living steel while still moving freely, the X-Men's main tank.

They were talking with the police.

The people affected by the incident had also gathered together to discuss it. Their words were nothing but how hateful mutants were and how they should all be locked up.

Some more radical people even believed mutants should be executed!

It wasn't as though there were no reasonable people. Someone pointed out that the ones who had stopped the criminals just now were mutants too.

But what good did that do? The root of the issue was that mutants possessed abilities beyond ordinary people, not that they committed evil. There were far more ordinary people who did evil!

Hatred mostly came from jealousy.

Hardly any of those words were friendly toward mutants, and the X-Men heard plenty of them as they coordinated with the police.

Every one of them looked grim.

Though only Storm's expression could actually be seen. What expression could those other two stone-faced men possibly have?

This time, even the NYPD commissioner had come out. George Stacy was personally handling the handover with Storm.

Every criminal this time was a mutant. Just keeping them under control was troublesome. Ordinary handcuffs couldn't restrain the petite woman among them, who could manipulate the shape of metal.

Sean was rather curious, so he moved closer to see who these four mutants really were.

But a police officer stopped him.

His action also caught Storm and the others' attention.

"Sean White!" Storm muttered through gritted teeth.

George Stacy gave Storm a puzzled look and asked, "Who is that?"

"A blackhearted bastard doctor who lends money at usurious rates!"

"White... White Clinic?"

"Yes."

Storm was rather surprised that the New York police commissioner knew of this illegal clinic, but she didn't think much of it. It would be even better if Commissioner Stacy could shut down White Clinic.

Commissioner Stacy gave his assistant a few instructions, telling her to handle the handover with the X-Men, then walked toward Sean.

"Doctor White? I'm George Stacy."

Sean naturally knew that this was Gwen Stacy's father.

"Were you the one who cured Helen?"

"..." Who was Helen? The woman in bed? "If you're referring to the woman in Room 1704, then yes."

"How did you do it?"

George Stacy wasn't some ignorant fool. He knew exactly how serious his wife's illness had become. Yet his daughter had told him at noon that she had been cured. He hadn't believed it at first.

But after arriving at the hospital, the doctors told him that the examination results showed every lesion and symptom had disappeared.

Alongside his joy was a trace of fear.

It had been cancer with brain metastasis—the deadliest kind of lung cancer. And it had suddenly been cured...

If his daughter and sister-in-law hadn't been present the entire time, he would have thought some mutant had transformed into his wife.

Sean looked at the police commissioner as though he were an idiot. You wanted to know how I did it too?

"Oh, sorry. That was presumptuous of me. I just find it unbelievable."

"It's fine. Remind Miss Gwen Stacy that she'd better pay the $1.66 million debt on time. Otherwise, things will be difficult for me here."

Sean grinned and accepted George's apology, then abruptly brought up the house-call fee. If George's introduction hadn't reminded him, he might have forgotten that he still hadn't collected it.

George Stacy looked awkward the moment he heard that.

His wife's illness over the past two years had drained nearly all their savings. If not for the fairly generous income from his position as police commissioner, their family wouldn't have lasted this long.

$166,000... he couldn't afford it.

"Well..."

George faltered. It wasn't that he thought it was too much. Trading $1.66 million for his wife's healthy body was a bargain beyond comparison. But he truly couldn't shoulder the debt right now.

"You don't have it?" Sean asked in surprise.

George nodded awkwardly, his face flushed red.

"No problem. Have Miss Gwen Stacy come to the clinic tomorrow, and we can switch to installment payments."

George didn't understand why Doctor White insisted that Gwen handle this matter, but he didn't think anything else of it. He only recalled that Gwen had been the one to make the agreement with this doctor in the first place. Perhaps he was merely respecting the contract.

Just as he was about to agree, Storm spoke up. At some point, she had walked over.

"Sean White! Have you tricked another little girl into taking out a usurious loan?"

"Again?"

Sean felt a headache coming on. I never tricked anyone, okay?

"Ororo, when did I ever trick a little girl?"

"Call me Munroe! We're not that close."

She was dodging the issue. This woman really was vicious.

Cyclops walked over at that moment and asked Storm, "Is this Sean White?"

"Yes, that's the bastard."

She spoke very quietly.

Cyclops nodded. Since Sean couldn't see his eyes anyway, he took it as a nod directed at him and returned the gesture.

"Tricking little girls? Usurious loans?"

Commissioner Stacy frowned, staring at Sean with hawk-like eyes.

Sean's teeth hurt. Storm, just wait until you fall into my hands.

"Miss Munroe, tell me when exactly I tricked a little girl. If you don't make it clear today, I'll send you a gift."

Storm's body visibly stiffened. A gift from the Black Ledger... what good could that possibly be?

"What about Lorna? Wasn't she tricked by you?"

"You're just being unreasonable? You're really something!"

Sean curled his lip, ignored everyone, and turned to leave.

Storm panicked. If he really sent her a gift... that would be terrifying.

"Hey! Don't leave! Stop!"

Cyclops's expression turned cold as he reached out and pressed down on Sean's shoulder. He used considerable force, clearly intending to shove Sean to the ground.

Sean was already in a bad mood, and now someone actually dared lay hands on him? Elektra could bully Sean casually because they knew each other well, and it was more playful than an actual fight. But in a real fight, combat skills supported by limitless stamina were no joke.

Without a word, Sean grabbed the hand, ducked beneath it, then turned and twisted, spinning Cyclops around.

His feet didn't stay idle either. He kicked Cyclops behind the knee, forcing him to drop to one knee.

Then he slapped Cyclops beneath the chin, snapping his head sharply backward.

Before Storm could react, Sean reached out and removed Cyclops's visor. A red shockwave immediately blasted into the sky. Cyclops, Scott, hurriedly closed his eyes. Just like that, a powerful mutant became blind. For the time being, he couldn't freely control his eyes.

With the advantage of surprise, Cyclops was no match for him at all.

Storm reacted quickly, immediately flying backward to get away from Sean. But just as she took off, before she could unleash any lightning, she suddenly dropped from the air. The sound of ledger pages flipping came from Sean's body.

Storm had suddenly gained 150 kilograms of weight, all of it fat...

She couldn't keep her footing when she landed and rolled backward twice. The sexy Storm instantly became a round ball. Everything had happened so quickly that no one else had time to react.

Now only Colossus remained. Sean raised his head and looked at him.

Not only did Colossus make no move, he spread his hands and took two steps back.

"White, we mean no harm. You know that."

Sean nodded.

"I know. She just wanted to teach me a lesson."

Colossus glanced at Cyclops, whose neck Sean held as he could only stare at the sky, then at the pitiful Storm, who couldn't get back on her feet.

"Then..."

Sean shook his head.

"He didn't."

Storm struggled to steady herself and shouted furiously:

Σ_(???"∠)

"Sean White! This isn't over!"

Storm: My weight?

Sean: I gave it to you.

Storm: (???dish??)??3??

I wanted to write more, but the power went out. I'm really terrible at typing on my phone.

PS: I made a few minor revisions. Typing on a phone causes a lot of problems.