But there was little hope down that path.
If she could truly do it, she would not have repeatedly lost control, nearly killed the person she loved most with her own hands, much less erased her most respected teacher in a fit of rage.
Unless... The central hypothesis in one of Chris's laboratory's classified research reports suddenly flashed through his mind.
Boom! Boom! Boom!!
In Cure City, Texas, America, the building of a company specializing in "mutant suppression drugs" suddenly exploded. Flames shot skyward, and scorching blasts swept thick smoke through the streets, setting off screams all along the block.
At the same time, similar attacks occurred across the country in succession. Without exception, the targets were all subsidiaries of the Worthington Company or commercial outlets openly promoting mutant drugs.
In just two days, panic spread rapidly. Anti-mutant sentiment surged, and protesters carrying placards began appearing on the streets of many cities, their banners boldly declaring "Reject mutation" and "The drug is the only way forward."
The American government immediately held an emergency press conference, strongly condemning Magneto and his followers. It declared that all mutants involved in the attacks would be treated as felony suspects regardless of their motives, and warned other mutants, "Do not blindly follow them, or bear the consequences."
It also announced that, if necessary, the military would be authorized to intervene and impose compulsory controls.
At the press conference, officials also promised the public that mutant violence would be quelled in the near future; all mutants willing to cooperate with oversight and accept drug intervention would continue to enjoy full civil rights.
For a time, even the air seemed like a taut string, so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.
The X-Men naturally could not stay out of it. The White House once again sent a liaison to their door.
In the office, Storm looked straight at the visiting S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Phil Coulson, her expression grave. "Mr. Phil, I know why you're here."
"We also oppose the Brotherhood's extremist actions, and we're doing everything we can to hunt them down."
"Professor Charles is temporarily away from the school, and our leads have gone cold, but we've kept tracking them. Logan left this morning following what clues we had. Once Magneto's location is confirmed, the X-Men will act immediately."
Phil's expression was solemn. "We offer our deepest condolences regarding Professor Charles. Ms. Ororo, please accept our sympathies."
"As for Erik and his team's movements, we already have reliable intelligence."
"What? You've already pinpointed their location?" Storm's pupils contracted slightly, and her tone abruptly tightened.
Phil nodded. "At present, they've been gathering frequently in a mountainous forest outside Washington, signaling that they're about to attack the city."
"But cross-checking multiple sources has confirmed that this is merely a diversion."
"Their real target is San Francisco, over a thousand kilometers away-Alcatraz, off the coast, where Worthington Labs is located."
"The attack is highly likely to happen tonight, or tomorrow morning at the latest."
Storm knitted her brows. "So you're here to ask us to help set an ambush?"
"That's right." Phil nodded.
Storm sounded faintly approving. "Pinpointing their movements and predicting their target in so little time-you certainly live up to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s reputation."
"You flatter us, Ms. Ororo," Phil replied frankly. "The Department of Homeland Security originally led this case, but Erik had them dancing to his tune the entire time. Our director had no choice but to take over personally."
"And the key to obtaining such clear intelligence this time was one person's assistance."
"Who?" A trace of puzzlement crossed Storm's eyes.
"Raven Darkholme."
"Her?!" Storm visibly froze, her face full of astonishment and confusion.
After all, Raven, otherwise known as Mystique, had followed Magneto for decades, spending years infiltrating America's upper ranks to gather intelligence and carry out infiltration missions.
Phil spoke evenly. "A few days ago, Raven was arrested while gathering intelligence on the mutant suppressant. The day before yesterday, Erik broke her out while she was being transported to a special detention center."
"But something went wrong along the way. She was hit by a special suppressant round carried by the escort personnel, stripping her of her powers on the spot. Erik then simply abandoned her."
"Later, she happened to encounter me and volunteered to reveal clues to Erik's hiding place."
Whether that "chance encounter" really was coincidental or had been planned in advance was anyone's guess.
Storm's expression suddenly darkened. "Suppressant rounds? The suppressant has already been weaponized?"
Her pupils contracted slightly, and even her breathing stopped for an instant.
Seeing her grim expression, Phil gave a helpless twitch of his lips. "Ms. Ororo, don't look at me like that. I can swear that we knew absolutely nothing about this equipment beforehand."
"Hmph! Logan was right. The American authorities can't be trusted at all." Her voice was cold and utterly merciless.
At that moment, the last shred of trust in Storm's heart, already wary of the authorities, crumbled completely.
The suppressant had only been unveiled three or four days ago, yet the weapons had already been fully deployed.
That meant the entire plan had long been underway in secret. Even contingency plans for suppressing mutant resistance were ready. This so-called "compulsory medication" was no spur-of-the-moment decision, but something planned long ago.
"Ms. Ororo, these really are things beyond our power to stop."
Phil's tone was earnest. "The most urgent matter right now is stopping Erik from attacking Alcatraz and preventing casualties on an even larger scale."
"Under the agreement Mr. Charles signed with the government back then, the X-Men have a responsibility to intervene whenever mutants are suspected of felonies or violent activities."
"I simply don't know... whether the team as it stands is still willing to honor that commitment."
After a brief silence, Storm said quietly, "Rest assured. The professor may be gone, but the agreement remains."
Refuse to honor it? Of course they could.
But the price would be the revocation of the X-Men's legal status, Xavier's School's immunity, and even the underground base's research permits, all at once.
A faint, relieved smile finally appeared on Phil's face. "Good. From here on, as soon as Erik appears, we'll share the intelligence immediately."
The government personnel arrived in haste and left just as briskly.
Watching the convoy drive away, Storm's expression gradually grew grave.
Only after taking over as headmistress and overseeing everything did she truly understand just how heavy the burden on the professor's shoulders had been.
She had to look after every student's emotions and development while coordinating the X-Men's operational deployments;
she had to closely monitor the progress of the live-subject experiments and gene therapies in the underground base, while also navigating the various factions, negotiating, compromising, and striking a balance over and over.
At that same moment, in the underground training room.
Shadowcat, Colossus, and Iceman were leading several senior students with mature abilities through practical combat coordination training.
As a result, of all the active X-Men, Chen Xiao was actually the most idle. At that moment, he was lying on the lawn, dozing in the sun.
The students, meanwhile, had noticed little. They sat in their classrooms attending lessons as usual, though their smiles were less bright than before, and a barely perceptible reserve had settled over their brows.
Sunlight passed through the branches and leaves, casting dappled light and shadow across the woods. Suddenly, Wolverine, who lay on the ground, snapped his eyes open and rolled into a sitting position.
He was a complete mess: his clothes were torn, several wounds had yet to heal, and dried blood had crusted into dark red clumps on his flesh.
"Damn it, Jean!"
His heart tightened. Grabbing his jacket, he charged forward.
Vroom, vroom, vroom!
In less than half a minute, the roar of an engine drew closer from the distance, making the ground tremble slightly.
On the road, Wolverine slammed the throttle wide open. His motorcycle shot like an arrow from a bow, hurtling toward Xavier's School three hundred kilometers away at a hundred kilometers per hour.
At five thirty in the afternoon, the school bell rang right on time.
Chen Xiao slowly drew back the psychic power enveloping his body and opened his eyes, a trace of regret flashing through them.
"Trying to fully understand the X-Gene and master a second awakening in such a short time... I'm still rushing things."
With a slight shift of his thoughts, his body floated lightly upward before settling steadily on the ground. He clenched his fist slightly, and the surging power within him swelled like a tide. He nodded in satisfaction.
Over the course of the day, his strength had increased another notch.
His grip strength had jumped from 75 tons to 110 tons, while his punching impact had soared to 650 tons. The increases were becoming ever more astonishing.
"A shame. Another two or three days would have been nice." He sighed softly, turned, and headed toward the cafeteria.
When Phil visited that afternoon, he had spared a little attention to scan the campus, noticed something amiss, and heard the entire conversation between him and Storm.
The storm really was closing in.
Sure enough, just as Chen Xiao picked up his bowl, his ears clearly caught the savage roar of an engine coming from the school gates.
He immediately sped up, wolfing down a huge bowl of beef fried rice in a few mouthfuls.
The way he devoured his food as though starving left Clarice, sitting opposite him, stunned. She asked in confusion, "Vitas, why are you eating so fast today?"
Chen Xiao put down his chopsticks and sighed. "If I don't hurry, I'm afraid I'll be fighting on an empty stomach tonight."
"Huh...?" Clarice froze.
Before his words had finished fading, Shadowcat came jogging into the cafeteria, calling from a distance, "Vitas! Ms. Ororo has ordered everyone to assemble!"
"Coming."
Chen Xiao stood and casually ruffled Clarice's hair, his smile gentle. "Don't be afraid. After tonight, things will be peaceful for a good while."
With that, he hurried away with Kitty.
Watching their retreating figures, the young faces throughout the cafeteria grew quiet, worry creeping into the corners of their eyes.
Clearly, something major had happened again. Everyone assembling meant battle was imminent.
They could only hope that this time, no one would fall, no one would be missing, and everyone would return safely.
Scott's severe injuries and coma, Professor X's sudden death... The blows that came one after another had long since stretched these youngsters' nerves taut.
Whenever the Blackbird took off, their hearts lurched.
That was not merely the sound of an aircraft taking flight, but the trumpet call of another storm.
"Quest triggered. Main quest updated: chaos approaches. Host, destroy all Sentry units participating in this battle." "Quest completion reward: 2 origin points."
The moment Chen Xiao stood up, the system notification rang out in his mind.
...This time, the objective isn't to stop Jean from losing control, but to annihilate the Sentries?
Then even if she doesn't survive in the end, it won't affect me at all.
Looking at the quest notification the system had displayed, Chen Xiao narrowed his eyes, his expression darkening slightly. He did not want Jean to die. A living Phoenix carried far more weight than a shell stripped of its power.
But if he truly could not save her, he would never throw his own life away trying.