At four in the afternoon, Qiluoge Station gradually grew lively. Mutant students returned to school in groups of two and three, relaxed smiles on their faces.
Everything had gone as usual today, without a hitch. Storm and Wolverine leaned against the bus, chatting and laughing, their expressions relaxed.
But just then, a sudden commotion broke out outside the station.
"What's going on?"
"Look over there!"
"Oh my god..."
The students stopped in their tracks, eyes widening as they looked toward the street corner. Chen Xiao and the two girls were walking slowly toward them, unhurried.
What surprised them wasn't Kitty's dazzling beauty after changing into a silver dress. After spending so much time together, who didn't know she was striking to begin with?
Nor was it the sight of Chen Xiao carrying bags of all sizes, with a girlish backpack slung diagonally across his back. He had always been composed and capable; his good looks were nothing new.
The one who truly rooted them to the spot was Clarice.
She was still the same Clarice, but why did she suddenly seem like a different person today?
Clarice was wearing a dress in pure, vivid red, plain and unadorned except for a ring of airy red gauze along its hem, outlining a soft, flowing silhouette.
The hem fell just above her knees, but layers of gauze trailed from the back of her waist, spreading naturally like a fishtail and reaching the ground. They swayed gently with every step, like the flowing feathers of a peacock spreading its tail.
On her feet were delicate crystal low heels in a matching shade, accentuating her slender ankles. Together with the dress, they conveyed an understated yet unmistakable elegance.
Her long black hair had been swept back into a loose, slightly puffed bun, secured with an exquisite red bow clip, lending dignity to her refined appearance.
Her signature lock of purple hair remained at her forehead, lightly curled and falling diagonally into wispy side bangs. It perfectly accentuated her delicate features and cool beauty, along with that trace of mystery she couldn't conceal.
At that moment, she resembled a queen stepping out of blazing flames, dazzling and captivating.
At such a young age, she had already quietly begun to radiate an almost breathtaking presence.
Even Storm was stunned by the transformation and blurted out, "Is that... really Clarice?"
The middle school students were even more astonished, especially the boys, who all stared wide-eyed in disbelief.
Suddenly, a blond boy could no longer hold back. He rushed forward a few steps and exclaimed sincerely, "Clarice, you're dazzling! You're like a princess straight out of a fairy tale!"
"Exactly! You're so beautiful today that I can't look away!"
"Clarice, can we be friends?"
In the blink of an eye, not only the middle school boys but several older boys had gathered around her, talking over one another as they praised her bearing and offered their goodwill and affection.
Facing these enthusiastic boys, Clarice merely nodded politely, her expression calm.
Then she quietly stepped behind Chen Xiao, distant in manner, silent and restrained.
At that moment, Logan interrupted the commotion in a deep voice. "All right, boys, get on the bus first. You can talk when we're back at school."
"Mr. Logan, you're such a spoilsport!"
"I was only halfway through introducing myself!"
Despite a few quiet complaints, everyone quickly lined up and boarded in turn.
The seating arrangement was the same as that morning, but the person drawing the most attention on the bus had long since become the girl in red.
Once the bus drove away from campus and the interior gradually quieted down, Chen Xiao turned toward her with a smile. "How was it? Did you like having everyone crowd around you?"
The girl thought briefly before answering softly, "The clothes Vitas picked are beautiful. I really like them."
After a pause, she gently shook her head. "But having people crowd around me... I'm not used to it."
When they returned to school, Chen Xiao still didn't know that Scott had already set off for Alkali Lake.
After dinner, he took a little time to digest his food, showered, and entered the Virtual Battlefield again to fight that taciturn middle-aged opponent.
After falling seven times in succession the previous night, he had faintly touched the threshold of "connected force," twisting the strength of his entire body into a single stream that surged from the soles of his feet straight into his fists.
If he pushed himself again today, perhaps he could cross that threshold.
"I refuse to believe an opponent with the same attributes and star rating can keep getting the better of me. Come on!"
With that roar, Chen Xiao's fighting spirit soared in the virtual space, baleful energy churning around him as he boldly met his opponent head-on.
Thud!
On the sixty-third punch, his opponent drove a straight punch through the gap when his old force was spent and new force had yet to arise, shattering the bones and sinews throughout his body.
Huff... huff...
He snapped his eyes open, his face pale. After catching his breath for a moment, he closed his eyes and entered the battlefield again.
More than ten minutes later, he lasted until the seventy-first punch before opening his eyes again. After briefly regulating his breathing, he plunged back into the fight...
The third time, the fourth time... by the time he exchanged two hundred and eighty full-force punches, he had died eight times in a row.
"Huff, what's going on?!"
In the darkness, he panted heavily, confusion written all over his pale face.
Because before his seventh death, he had indeed achieved connected force,
With every punch, power exploded from his soles, climbing his spine segment by segment like a rising dragon before pouring entirely into his knuckles.
The power unleashed in that instant was five times greater than when he first began learning. Wherever his punches swept, the air actually formed rings of transparent ripples visible to the naked eye, overwhelmingly forceful.
Yet even then, he still couldn't defeat that man.
As they exchanged equally all-out blows, he always felt his force lacked a certain "cohesion." It wasn't heavy enough, sharp enough, or penetrating enough, like a raging fire that ultimately couldn't burn through his opponent's seemingly unremarkable yet indestructible wall.
In the end, after hundreds of head-on collisions, his strength ran dry, and a single punch shattered his heart meridians, breaking him apart completely.
What am I still missing? he asked himself silently, his brows tightly furrowed.
In truth, in just two days, he had reached a realm that many Eastern martial artists could barely touch after twenty years of arduous training. His progress was astounding.
But he was far from satisfied. He had bought this breakthrough with one near-death experience after another.
Winning a moment sooner meant enduring one less bout of agonizing pain.
The taste of death was too real, too hard to bear.
Full of doubts, he finally fell into a deep sleep.
Eight deaths had drained his will, and his mind had long since become unable to bear the strain.
The next day dawned clear, sunlight pouring down like gold.
The warmth dispelled a little of the weariness in Chen Xiao's heart, easing his mood somewhat.
That morning, he found a good spot on a lawn with an open view, stretched out, and lay down to quietly bask in the sun.
Feeling the subtle changes as his body temperature rose and his muscles and bones strengthened, he smiled faintly. "Sure enough, in this cold, harsh world, only sunlight can still reliably sustain a little warmth."
Before long, Clarice came over holding a comic book with a new cover.
The cover was brand-new and stylish, its pages as smooth as ever.
Seeing Chen Xiao resting with his eyes closed, she didn't disturb him. She simply sat quietly at the edge of the shade and opened the book, reading page after page.
It should have been a long, peaceful scene.
But just then, the conversation of two passing high school students drifted over from the classroom building:
"I heard Mr. Scott went away. Apparently, he went somewhere pretty far, so he probably won't be back anytime soon..."
Half asleep, Chen Xiao heard them but didn't react at first.
A few seconds later, his eyes flew open and he sat up, his face filled with astonishment.
Noticing something was wrong, Clarice looked up at him with concern. "Vitas, what's wrong?"
He didn't answer her, only asking hesitantly, "Clarice... did I just hear someone say Mr. Scott went away?"
She nodded gently. "Yes, I heard it too."
Chen Xiao's brows drew together. "He really did? Do you know when Mr. Scott left school?"
"I don't know." The girl shook her head gently.
A teacher going away on short notice was commonplace, perfectly normal even at a school for mutants.
After all, who didn't have personal matters to attend to?
But this time was different.
The person who had left was Cyclops, and it just happened to be only a few days after Wolverine returned to school.
Chen Xiao knew very well that the spark for the X-Men's third battle was precisely this: no sooner had Logan returned than Scott set off for Alkali Lake.
Then Jean Grey, dormant for over three years, awakened at the bottom of the lake. Her consciousness hadn't yet returned, but her instincts had already revived, and in that instant, her uncontrolled power completely consumed Scott.
The safest course now was actually to stand aside and watch.
The third battle was ultimately only a storm within mutantkind. The world wouldn't collapse, and he didn't need to get involved and risk his life.
With his current strength, he could neither stop the American government's compulsory "treatment" legislation under the guise of a "cure," nor suppress Magneto's fury, much less subdue Jean Grey, who was about to emerge from her cocoon.
But the atmosphere at Xavier's School had been steady and peaceful lately, just right for him to settle down and build his strength.
He didn't want to watch this rare sanctuary suddenly become shrouded in dark clouds.
Besides, Mr. Scott and the elder Professor X had taken considerable care of him during his time here.
Chen Xiao didn't consider himself a saint and had no intention of becoming a savior, but he believed in one principle: remember the kindness others show you; when something calls for you to shoulder responsibility, never back down.
So he had already planned to drag Scott back from the shores of Alkali Lake if he had the chance.
He hadn't expected Scott to grow restless just two days after Logan returned to school.
While everyone was out together yesterday, Scott had actually turned back alone and headed straight for Alkali Lake, moving so quickly that he hadn't even said a word.
Chen Xiao had just stood up, preparing to discuss things with Professor X, when a system notification suddenly sounded in his mind:
"Mission trigger conditions met. Issuing emergency mission." "Host, intercept Cyclops and escort him safely out of the Alkali Lake area before Jean Grey fully awakens. Mission success reward: Origin Points ×2." "Accept? Yes/No"
Chen Xiao's eyes lit up. "He hasn't reached the lake yet? There's still time!"
He had already wanted to try, and now that Origin Points were involved as well, he didn't hesitate at all.
His figure flashed, accelerating to two hundred meters per second. Trailing a fierce wind that tore through the air, he hurtled toward the office building, where the entrance to the underground base was located.
Whoosh!
In the corridor, a mutant student only felt a dark blur flash past his eyes, his hair suddenly blown up as a roar exploded beside his ears.
"Huh? What's gotten into Vitas?"