"Professor, really, there's no need to trouble yourself. Don't bother seeing me off. You're already in such a state; it's too kind of you to offer me a ride."
Lin Xiao waved his hand as he retreated into the corridor. Professor X watched him through the increasingly narrow crack in the door, raised his hand, and his lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he didn't say anything and could only wave helplessly.
Lin Xiao turned around and Storm leaning against the opposite wall, arms crossed, a half-smile playing on her lips. She had been waiting for a while; the faint conversation coming from the office had almost made her lose her composure several times.
"You two seem to be getting along quite well." Storm lowered her arm and tilted her head towards the stairwell. "Let's go, I promised to treat you to dinner."
Lin Xiao's eyes lit up, and he strode after him. The two walked down the stairs side by side, and when they reached the first floor, they found four people standing at the top of the stairs.
The leader was a young man in his early twenties with light brown hair, wearing a dark blue college hoodie. His hands were in his pockets, and his face was expressionless, but his light blue eyes were fixed on Lin Xiao. Behind him stood two men and a woman, all around the same age and wearing the same style of hoodie.
Lin Xiao recognized the one at the beginning immediately. He had seen the photo earlier, and Doupao had even shown him the information— the Iceman, Bobby Drake. His ability was to manipulate the temperature of water molecules, and his combat strength was rated B+. At the time, he had praised the kid, saying that he could save a lot of electricity bills in the future by working in cold chain logistics, and that he was worth five stars.
The Iceman took a step forward, blocking the way to the stairwell.
" Lin Xiao." He pronounced those two words with a flat tone, but each syllable seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth. "I know you came to the academy today at the professor's invitation, and I won't cause any trouble for the academy. But there's something I want to ask you in person, and I hope you can give me an explanation."
Lin Xiao tilted his head, his gaze sweeping back and forth between Iceman and the people behind him, the smile on his lips remaining unchanged, he simply nodded to let Iceman continue.
" Pyro, he used to be a student at Xavier's School of the Rising Sun, but he went with Magneto. No matter how wrong he went, he's still Mutants, one of our own. Look at what you did to him! Multiple fractures, severe burns, and serious nerve damage. The doctors say he'll never wake up again. I'm here today to ask you one question: didn't you go too far?"
At this point, the air in the corridor seemed to lose a layer of warmth. A thin layer of white frost formed on the floor tiles beneath the Iceman's feet.
Lin Xiao keenly noticed two figures appearing at the top of the stairs on the third floor. One was a bald man in a wheelchair, and the other stood behind him with red hair and green eyes. The two of them stood quietly in the shadows at the top of the stairs, neither intending to intervene nor to leave. It was as if they were waiting for a good show to begin.
Lin Xiao turned to look at Storm again. Storm had retreated to the wall, arms crossed, leaning against it, her smile widening.
He instantly understood. This was a test, a real test. He had talked with the professor in the office for almost half an hour, and the professor hadn't mentioned Pyro once, only offering empty praise—praising him for saving Mei Igarashi and for his open-minded attitude towards Mutants. He had felt something was off then; the old bald man was praising him too comprehensively, like he was writing an annual performance review. Now he realized the real test wasn't in the office, but at the stairwell.
"You're waiting for me here, but I'm not going to do things your way."
Thinking of this, Lin Xiao turned his head to face the Iceman again. The Iceman was clearly getting impatient. Lin Xiao took a deep breath, and his expression changed in a fraction of a second, becoming sincere and full of apology.
"You mean Pyro?" Lin Xiao lowered his head, his voice low and heavy. "Yes, I hit him. I don't deny it. He injured my friend in Brooklyn, an agent named Coulson, you might not know him. Coulson, how should I put it, he's the nicest guy I've ever met, the kindest nice guy who never offends anyone, and he takes on all the dirty work himself. This kind of guy was lying in the hospital with three broken ribs, internal bleeding, and a concussion, he almost didn't make it. I didn't think much about it at the time, I just wanted to find the person who hurt him and get an explanation."
As he said this, the girl behind the Iceman, whose eyes were red, moved her lips as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she just turned her face away.
Lin Xiao continued, speaking at a measured pace, as if recalling a scene he was reluctant to remember. "After arriving in Brooklyn, Pyro attacked first. He attacked me with flames, which I dodged. I only intended to subdue him, but his abilities were too strong, and I had to use considerable force. To be honest, I didn't expect to injure him so badly, and I've felt guilty for a long time. I'm willing to take responsibility for it. If the academy has any requests, whether it's medical expenses or rehabilitation resources, I will do my best to cooperate. But I also want to say that if I could turn back time and choose again, I would still go to Brooklyn. Because Coulson is my friend, and I can't just stand by and watch him get hurt like that without seeking justice, just as you can't just stand by and watch Pyro get injured and do nothing."
After he finished speaking, he raised his head, his gaze shifting from the Iceman to the girl with red eyes, and then back to the Iceman's face. His expression remained sincere and apologetic, but if someone looked closely into his eyes, they would notice a fleeting glint of cunning.
The Iceman fell silent. His clenched fist slowly loosened. The group behind him exchanged glances. The one chewing gum stopped, and the girl with red-rimmed eyes wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. They hadn't intended to fight Lin Xiao today. To attack a guest personally invited by a professor in the academy—what would become of the X-Men's reputation? They only wanted an attitude, a reason to let the matter drop. Now Lin Xiao had given them that reason. Although the wording was smooth, it wasn't entirely unreasonable; at least he had apologized and acknowledged the truth.
At this crucial moment when the atmosphere was subtly shifting, Lin Xiao made a move that no one expected. He took two steps back, precisely flashing behind Storm, grabbing Storm shoulders with both hands, and leaping behind Storm, revealing only half his face and one eye. His voice drifted from behind Storm, trembling slightly. " Storm, I came at your invitation. I admit my mistake earlier. Why aren't they leaving yet? Are they still holding a grudge? You have to protect me."
The corridor was silent for a full three seconds.
The Iceman's expression shifted from anger to confusion, from confusion to bewilderment, and then from bewilderment back to an indescribable complexity. He opened his mouth, only to find that the emotions he had been building up for so long had completely dissipated in an instant. What was he doing? I was just about to say I forgave him! What was he doing?
Storm looked down at the claws gripping her shoulder tightly and the legs wrapped tightly around her waist. Her expression froze, and a faint blush rose to her cheeks. She tried to maintain the composure expected of X-Men, but her trembling shoulders betrayed her unease.
At the top of the stairs on the third floor, Professor X, in his wheelchair, closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them again, he raised his hand and rubbed his temples gently, as if smoothing out something that was not so easily smoothed out.
Jean Grey behind him maintained her posture with her hands clasped, her expression still cold and aloof, but if you looked closely, you could see that the corners of her mouth were twitching slightly.
Storm finally spoke. Her voice was almost the same as usual, but a closer listen revealed a tremor in it. " Lin Xiao, get off me first."
"No, what if they hit me?"
They won't hit you.
"How can you guarantee that? You're not them."
"I am their teacher."
"Then why didn't you ignore them just now?"
Storm closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and said, " Lin Xiao, if you don't come down, I'll show you what lightning and thunder really mean."
Lin Xiao quickly withdrew his hand, jumped down from behind Storm, took two steps back, and straightened his collar. "I'm down. What you said earlier about you taking care of this is no longer your business."
Storm bit her lip, waved to Iceman, Iceman watched this scene in silence for a while, then turned around, nodded to his companions behind him, and the group quickly disappeared into the depths of the corridor.
Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C.., at the Capitol Building.
Tony Stark stood in the witness stand, one hand on the table, the other holding his phone. On the screen was a selfie Lin Xiao had just taken. One hand held the phone, the other made a peace sign, and behind him was a tanned, sexy woman with her hand on her forehead. Tony smirked and gave Lin Xiao a big thumbs up.
" Mr. Stark, please be serious." The hearing chair, a gray-haired senator wearing gold-rimmed glasses, had an expression so serious it could trap a fly. "Please put down your phone. We're here today to discuss a very serious issue: the ownership of Iron Man armor technology. These suits aren't toys; they're the most strategically valuable weapon systems of the 21st century. If you alone possess them, it's equivalent to owning an entire aircraft carrier battle group. This is unprecedented in human history."
Tony put his phone on the table, leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, and wore his signature smile.
"No precedent means it won't work? So, if there was no precedent before I created the suit, does that mean it won't work either? Senator, if you applied that logic to the Wright Brothers, humanity would still be crawling on the ground. Besides, what makes you think I lack a sense of responsibility? I shut down my company's weapons manufacturing division—one of the world's largest arms dealers. I spent a whole year using this suit to maintain order during at least three global security crises. Do you know what supervillains on the streets of New York have been reciting lately? The Eight Honors and Eight Disgraces. Whether I contributed to that or not is another matter, but it at least shows that the superhero industry is booming. And you, sitting in your air-conditioned room, just talking and demanding I hand over the suit—Senator, do you think that's reasonable?"
He paused, tilted his head, and added in an extremely sincere tone, "You don't mean to wear my armor to war, do you? Your physique—no offense—might need a larger, extra-large version."
The entire room erupted in laughter. The senator's face turned bright red, and he had to bang his gavel several times to quell the laughter.
Meanwhile, Tony's personal lawyer, a tall, thin man with meticulously combed hair, was engaged in a heated debate with a representative from the Department of Defense. The Department of Defense insisted that the Iron Man armor was "defense property" because Tony's father Howard Stark, had received research and development funding from the military. The lawyer calmly pulled a document from his briefcase and pushed it across the table.
"These are copies of all the contracts Mr. Stark. Howard Stark signed with the Department of Defense. Article 13, Section 3 of each contract clearly stipulates the ownership of intellectual property rights—all research and development results belong to Stark Industries, and the military only has the right of first refusal. First refusal does not mean ownership. If the military wants the Iron Man suit, they can, but they need to place an order. Currently, pre-orders are already booked until March of next year."
The expression on the Department of Defense representative's face became extremely interesting.
Tony gave the lawyer a thumbs up, then stood up, straightened his suit collar, and gave a slight bow to the hearing chairperson.
"Senator, I know you care about national security, and so do I. It's precisely because of this concern that I cannot allow the armor technology to fall into the wrong hands. As for who those people shouldn't fall into—I'm sorry, that list is top secret, and I cannot reveal it at a public hearing. Finally, I want to say that I am Iron Man, and the armor is an integral part of me. Asking me to hand over the Iron Man armor is equivalent to asking me to hand over my fingerprints, my genetic sequence, and my body. You wouldn't ask a soldier to hand over his body, would you? Iron Man is not a weapon system; Iron Man is me."
He turned and walked towards the door, then stopped after a couple of steps, turned back, and added in a casual tone, "By the way, I'm currently collaborating with S.H.I.E.L.D.. to develop a new superhero team. My teammates are all incredibly skilled and have amazing personalities. The armor is just supplementary equipment for them; I'd be the first to object to relying on it to maintain world peace. If anyone is interested in the team, you can check out Stark Industries ' official website; the promotional page is expected to launch next week."
He waved his hand, pushed open the door to the hearing room, and disappeared into a sea of flashes and shutter sounds.
Inside the Stark Industries limousine, Tony leaned back in his leather seat, took off his sunglasses, and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Outside the window, the streetscape of Washington., rushed past. Happy drove ahead, glancing at Tony's expression in the rearview mirror every now and then.
"Boss, going back to New York?"
"Return."
Tony leaned back in his chair, remained silent for a while, then reached into the inside pocket of his suit jacket and pulled something out.
It was a vial of blood.
The blood collection tubes were ordinary medical vacuum tubes, with the date and number of the blood collection written neatly on the label. The blood inside looked no different from ordinary blood in the dim light inside the car; it was dark red and slightly viscous. But Tony knew this was not ordinary blood; it was Lin Xiao's blood. These past few days, Lin Xiao had inexplicably drawn a tube of his own blood and had Peter give it to him.
When Peter handed him the vial of blood, his expression was extremely complicated.
Tony didn't ask any questions at the time. Now, holding the vial of blood, examining it closely, he noticed a note stuck to the tube. The note was small, the handwriting even smaller and crooked, clearly Lin Xiao's own. "Very nourishing, drink it yourself. Don't give it to anyone else, or I'll beat you up."
Tony stared at the words for a full five seconds, his lips twitching several times. He wanted to laugh, he wanted to curse, and he felt something gently bump into him from somewhere inside.
"Sir, should we send this vial of blood for testing?" JARVIS's voice came from the car stereo.
Tony flipped the blood collection tube over and shook his head slightly. "No need, just keep it. Put it in a private freezer with the highest encryption level. No one is allowed to touch it, and no one is allowed to know it exists. Not even Pepper."
The car was quiet for a moment.
"Sir, encryption has been set. May I ask what the purpose of this vial of blood is?"
"Just in case." Tony leaned back in his chair and put his sunglasses back on. "Just in case I'm about to die someday, we can use this to make me drink a vial of blood. I really don't know what Lin Xiao is thinking."