"We have to save Jean."
"She's suffering like she's being torn apart. We need to find a way to help her as soon as possible."
Chen Xiao and Shadowcat had barely entered the passage to the underground base when they heard a low, growling argument coming from the end of the corridor. Wolverine clenched his fists, veins twitching at his temples as he urgently repeated to Iceman, Colossus, and Storm, "We can't abandon her!"
Only when she saw the two arrive did the distant chill on Storm's face ease slightly. She nodded to them. "Vitas, you're here."
Chen Xiao lowered his eyes to conceal the emotion in them, while just the right amount of confusion appeared on his face. "Ms. Ororo, Mr. Logan, what happened?"
Wolverine opened his mouth, but before he could speak,
Storm raised a hand to stop him, her voice steady but carrying unquestionable authority. "This afternoon, Phil Coulson, an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. under the American government, visited and held an emergency consultation with me about Magneto's movements."
"According to Phil, Magneto is targeting Alcatraz-specifically, Worthington Labs..."
She briefly recounted the entire afternoon's conversation, highlighting the crucial turning point: Mystique, Raven, had lost her mutant abilities after a gene-suppressant round exploded. Magneto had abandoned her on the spot, and she had switched sides in anger, unexpectedly disrupting his arrangements and forcing him to launch his plan early.
Everyone except Chen Xiao froze after hearing this. Some frowned, while others drew sharp breaths, both shocked by Magneto's seasoned scheming and struck by how swiftly the situation had changed.
"Just now, Phil sent word confirming that Magneto has appeared in San Francisco, over a thousand kilometers away. He requested that the X-Men provide immediate support to stop him."
"That's the situation." After she finished, her gaze passed over Wolverine, and she sighed softly to herself.
In the end, she had softened.
By Wolverine's account, this mission was purely personal: saving Jean, who had killed Professor X with her own hands. The others might not have been willing to risk their lives.
But once she laid out the concrete responsibilities-S.H.I.E.L.D.'s involvement, the crisis at Worthington, and the survival of mutants-the nature of the matter changed completely.
They were still heading to San Francisco, still going to save someone, but setting out now would no longer be emotional blackmail. It would be their duty. Naturally, whatever hesitation the others felt vanished.
Just as Wolverine and Storm were about to give the order to assemble, Chen Xiao suddenly spoke. "Ms. Ororo, do we have a specific battle plan for this operation?"
"A battle plan?!" They all froze.
Looking at their puzzled faces, Chen Xiao raised a hand and rubbed his temple.
Of course they didn't.
One only had to look through the X-Men films to see the pattern: whenever something happened, this group charged straight in. No simulations, no division of duties, no ambushes. All recklessness, no strategy.
Opponents like Magneto, on the other hand, knew how to lure enemies away, mix feints with real attacks, and even exploit public opinion and use traitors to disrupt the situation.
The clearest example was the final battle in X-Men: The Last Stand.
They faced Magneto at the peak of Alpha-level, the awakened Omega-level Phoenix Jean, top-tier fighters including Pyro, Juggernaut, Quake, and Nightcrawler, plus an elite force of over a hundred ordinary mutants.
And the X-Men? Storm, Iceman, and Colossus were merely Alpha-level; Wolverine, Beast, and Shadowcat were roughly equivalent to level-three mutants. The whole team charged in to fight head-on without a single contingency plan.
They hadn't even discussed who would pin the enemy down first, who would lead the attack, or who would cover the rear, let alone devised an intervention for Phoenix losing mental control.
If not for the final plot reversal-Magneto losing his powers through carelessness, and Jean briefly regaining consciousness on the brink of death and willingly seeking death at Wolverine's claws-the entire team would probably have been wiped out.
At that thought, Chen Xiao felt weariness well up in his heart. He waved a hand. "Never mind. Forget I asked."
In any case, he already had his own arrangements for this battle. The others could provide cover at most. Actually subduing Jean would still depend on him.
"Wait. Count me in."
A steady voice came from a distance. Everyone turned to see Beast, Hank, striding toward them in an old X-Men uniform, faded from washing and worn around the edges.
Facing their astonished gazes, he spoke in a low but firm voice. "I've resigned from my cabinet post and plan to return to teaching here. Count me in for today's operation."
Seeing her old friend step forward, warmth flickered in Storm's eyes, and a relieved smile finally touched her lips.
With everyone present, her expression turned stern, and she gave a decisive order. "Everyone aboard. Prepare to depart."
"Ahem."
Chen Xiao cleared his throat. "Ma'am, sorry for the trouble, but could everyone board the jet and wait a moment? I need to take care of something."
"...All right."
Though she did not understand his intentions, Storm simply nodded in agreement out of her long-standing trust in him.
After watching everyone leave, Chen Xiao darted away, clearing the corridor in a few bounds and reaching the medical wing. He pressed his fingertips against the scanner, and the door slid open silently.
Entering the life-support chamber, he glanced over the red-haired woman who remained in a deep coma, then stopped before Scott's medical pod.
Through the glass lid, the young man's pale face looked peaceful, as though asleep. Chen Xiao fell silent for a moment, then said quietly, "Mr. Scott, this is for Senior Jean, too... I hope you won't blame me for taking this liberty."
Before he finished speaking, he had already begun disconnecting all the tubes and cables.
His arms suddenly tensed, muscles bunching and veins bulging. The next instant, he gripped both sides of the pod and heaved.
Clang! Crack! Snap!
The thumb-thick alloy mounting bolts twisted and snapped one after another, torn bodily from the base amid the shrill groan of metal.
He hoisted the silver-gray life-support pod onto one shoulder and walked steadily out through the door.
Fortunately, Professor X's team had anticipated the risk of a power outage at the base when designing them. Each life-support pod therefore contained an independent miniature circulation system capable of sustaining a patient's bodily functions for at least twelve hours.
That was also what gave him the confidence to take Scott away.
But when he stepped onto the repaired jet's takeoff and landing platform carrying this "silver coffin," everyone froze.
Then their faces abruptly went deathly pale.
"Vitas, what are you doing?!" For the first time, Storm's expression darkened at him.
The others also frowned deeply, their eyes full of confusion. Why was Scott, gravely injured and still unconscious, being carried onto the battlefield?
Chen Xiao's expression remained unchanged, his tone calm. "Saving people, of course. Both all of you and Senior Jean. This is the only workable method I have right now."
Shadowcat could not help asking, "Vitas, what do you mean?"
Rather than answer directly, he changed the subject. "I once discussed mutant potential with the professor."
"He said that the strength of an ability was never determined by genes alone. It was influenced by one's mental state, while the mind, in turn, could suffer a backlash from that power."
"The potential within the human mind is far vaster than we imagine. Extreme stimuli or intense emotional shocks can often bring forth extraordinary power."
"Senior Jean herself is a top-tier psychic mutant, with a strong will and astonishing potential. Right now, however, the newly emerged personality within her is severely interfering with her and suppressing her original consciousness."
"If we find a way to trigger a strong emotional response in her, perhaps we really can awaken her dormant mental potential, allowing her to regain control and master that power."
"Right now, she has just accidentally killed her own mentor with her own hands, and her mind is already on the verge of collapse."
"If, just before she loses control completely, we push Senior Scott in front of her and tell her plainly: either awaken immediately and stabilize your power, or watch the person you love most die by your own hand,"
"What do you think she'll choose?"
"Vitas, you're completely insane!" Storm, Shadowcat, and Wolverine all paled, astonishment written across their faces.
Chen Xiao remained composed and slowly shook his head. "No, I haven't lost control. On the contrary, I'm exceptionally clearheaded, because this is the only way to keep everyone alive right now."
"Ms. Ororo, Mr. Logan, you both personally experienced the pressure Senior Jean unleashed that day."
"You know better than anyone: if she loses control completely this time, no one will survive."
"Or do you already have a way to deal with her? If so, I'll take Mr. Scott back immediately."
Everyone was speechless. Storm and Wolverine stood in silence, struggle and bitterness churning in their eyes.
Just as Chen Xiao had said, they could either force her awake while some awareness remained and have her regain control, or wait until she went completely berserk and everyone was wiped out.
In fact, before setting out, they had already considered the possibility of Jean losing control.
But faced with that destructive power capable of tearing reality apart, even they had no solution, only helplessness.
Precisely because of that, they had subconsciously avoided the thought, afraid that thinking any further would shatter even their last shred of courage.
And now, Chen Xiao had mercilessly stripped away that fig leaf.
At that moment, Hank spoke quietly. "Vitas's judgment has a solid basis. Charles and I discussed the critical threshold for an eruption of mental will in depth years ago."
"Magneto is powerful, but there's still room to maneuver. If Jean loses control, however, it will be a slaughter with no chance of victory."
"At the final moment, we may truly have to rely on Scott. After all, he's the only person who can truly move her heart."
Seeing that Hank also nodded in agreement, Storm sighed softly and finally tacitly accepted Chen Xiao's plan, no longer trying to stop him.
Yet shame rose within her: as a teacher, her decisiveness and insight in this crisis fell far short of a student's.
Afterward, everyone boarded in succession. The ground began to tremble, and under the mutant students' gazes, the lawn beside the dormitory building slowly split open.
The lift platform below rose slowly, revealing a streamlined silver-gray stealth jet gleaming with a cold light.
Vroom!
Engines roared and flames surged as powerful vertical thrust lifted the jet into the air. Under countless young eyes, it pierced the clouds and headed straight into the sky.
Inside the cabin, the X-Men were tense, their weapons ready and their expressions solemn as though facing a formidable enemy.
But no one had considered one fatal question:
If Jean truly unleashed her full power, and that all-encompassing destructive telekinesis swept through everything, who could still reach her alive and deliver the life-support pod holding Scott?
San Francisco. Twilight spilled across the sea. Crowds fled along the coastline, cries and screams rising everywhere.