Retreat

The Mutant Brotherhood was not a thoroughly evil terrorist organization. It was more like a Mutant Mutual Aid Society. Many of its members were not bad people; they simply wanted somewhere to survive, or wanted to fight for mutants’ future.

Fire Palm was one such ordinary mutant. In his view, Magneto had sent them to find Rogue in order to recruit her, so his attitude toward her was quite gentle.

Unfortunately, Rogue was terrified. She screamed as she tried to undo her seat belt and escape to the other side, but the belt suddenly jammed. No matter how hard she tried, she could not unfasten it.

Seeing this, Fire Palm signaled for Mutant Scissors to come help. Scissors nodded, turned two fingers into blades, then bent down to cut Rogue’s seat belt.

"Don’t move around. If I cut anything else, I won’t be responsible."

Scissors deliberately frightened Rogue. Her body stiffened, and she no longer dared to move. She was tense, terrified, and deeply aggrieved.

Scissors soon cut through the belt, then carried Rogue down from the truck. She did not dare struggle, because his scissor fingers were pressed against her body.

Fire Palm glanced at the battle nearby and shouted, "Sabretooth, don’t make trouble. We’re leaving."

Sabretooth rammed Wolverine away with his head, then gave Fire Palm a low growl. The meaning was clear: You go first. I’ll play with this guy for a while.

"Let’s go."

Fire Palm did not waste words and led everyone away. Just then, a blizzard suddenly swept through the area, followed by a bolt of lightning crashing down in front of them.

"Storm."

Everyone hurriedly looked up and saw Storm descending like a goddess, clad in leather and a cape. Notably, her eyes had turned completely white.

Cyclops emerged from the woods nearby, holding his sunglasses in place as he shouted, "Put down the girl."

"You traitors again."

Fire Palm could not help roaring, "Do you have any idea how humans treat us mutants? Fine if you won’t help us, but why do you have to obstruct us?"

The other mutants were equally indignant. In their eyes, the X-Men were traitors to mutantkind.

Storm remained silent. Cyclops said, "Magneto’s methods are wrong. The situation for mutants is improving. Don’t remain stubborn."

"Improving? They won’t even spare children."

As Fire Palm roared, he secretly made a hand signal. Scissors immediately threw Rogue to Mutant Speedster.

Speedster did not waste any words. He slung Rogue onto his back and fled into the woods. He was incredibly fast; in the blink of an eye, he had vanished from everyone’s sight.

"Storm, leave this to me. Go after that guy."

Cyclops shouted as he prepared to fire his laser. At that moment, a shadow hand suddenly grabbed his right foot and flung him to the ground. Mutant Shadow had made his move.

Mutants were used to calling themselves by codenames. Some extremists even believed that names were slave names given to them by humans.

Storm hesitated, then prepared to pursue Speedster. Just then, a sharp pain struck her mind, and she fell from the sky. A mutant had launched a psychic attack against her.

Fire Palm, Scissors, and Big Bear immediately pounced on Storm, preventing her from taking to the sky again.

"We must complete Magneto’s mission. Only Magneto can save mutants."

Shadow controlled the shadow hand to swing Cyclops around. Cyclops was furious and flipped the switch on his sunglasses in midair. A red beam struck the shadow hand, instantly burning it to ashes.

Shadow did not retreat. He did everything he could to control two shadows and send them lunging at Cyclops. At that moment, a laser struck his chest. He screamed as he flew backward and passed out in the snow.

"You think I’m an idiot?"

Cyclops scoffed. Notably, Shadow was not badly injured. His clothes had been burned, and he had been knocked unconscious, that was all.

It was not that Cyclops’s laser was too weak, but that he had held back.

In fact, whether they were X-Men or Brotherhood mutants, they would hold back when facing the other side. Both sides had a tacit understanding—mutants did not kill mutants.

Notably, Wolverine never cared about that tacit understanding. In his view, an enemy should be killed.

After taking care of Shadow, Cyclops did not waste time. He immediately turned and fired lasers at Fire Palm and the other two. They rolled and scrambled away in a miserable state.

Storm took the opportunity to fly into the sky and chase after Speedster.

Storm soon found Rogue and the nearly dead Speedster. Yes, Speedster was close to death—his body was horribly shriveled, and he lay on the ground with terror written across his face.

When she saw Storm flying over, Rogue cried and frantically waved her hands. "It wasn’t my fault. I was so scared that I touched him."

"It’s all right. It’s all right."

Storm descended from the sky, comforting Rogue as she examined Speedster on the ground. After a moment, she said, "Don’t worry. He isn’t dead. We’ll heal him."

Rogue burst into tears of joy. "He’s not dead? That’s great, that’s great."

Storm asked, "What’s your name? Why did Magneto capture you?"

Rogue looked completely confused. "Who is Magneto?"

Storm was a little startled, then said, "We’ll talk slowly after we get back."

Meanwhile, the battle on the other side had also come to an end. Cyclops’s lasers were too fierce for Fire Palm and the others to withstand. Left with no choice, they could only retreat with the unconscious Shadow.

Sabretooth was unwilling, but after hesitating, he followed Fire Palm and the others. He was not confident he could handle both Wolverine and Cyclops at once.

Wolverine, covered in blood, climbed up from the ground and asked Cyclops irritably, "And who the hell are you?"

Cyclops found Wolverine equally unpleasant and coldly replied, "Cyclops."

"You look more like a one-eyed freak to me."

Wolverine snorted and was about to drive after Rogue when Storm flew back with Rogue and Speedster.

Wolverine let out a sigh of relief and shouted, "Rogue, are you okay?"

Rogue stared at Wolverine in shock and said, "I’m fine, sir. Are you hurt? There’s so much blood on you."

"What’s a little blood? Damn it, that bastard ruined my clothes. I just bought this outfit at a New York fashion store before I started work. Designer stuff. One piece cost as much as ten of my old outfits."

Wolverine was a little annoyed. The weather was cold, so he had worn several layers. Now they were all ruined.

Everyone was speechless. He was bleeding like that, yet he was worried about his clothes instead of his body? Had he gotten hit in the head?

"The Mutant Brotherhood may return. We need to leave here quickly."

Storm said, "The jet is parked over there. Come with us."

Rogue was about to agree when Wolverine said, "Wait. We never agreed to go with you. Rogue, get in the car. I’ll take you to New York to meet the BOSS—the man on your poster. He’s my employer."

Rogue was delighted. "Really?"

Cyclops asked, "Who is your BOSS?"

Wolverine had wanted to snap at Cyclops, but remembering that the other man had helped save Rogue, he answered, "My employer is Bert Wang, chairman of the Universe Recycling Company."

"Bert Wang?"

Cyclops and Storm frowned at the same time. Cyclops said, "With the Mutant Brotherhood’s influence, Bert Wang can’t protect this girl. She has to return to Mutant Academy with us."

"Mutant Academy? The academy run by that goody-two-shoes?"

Wolverine had heard Wang Bert mention Mutant Academy. He snorted and said, "If my BOSS can’t protect her, then you soft-hearted rookie soldiers definitely can’t."

Seeing the two were about to argue, Storm shook her head and said to Rogue, "Rogue, you’re in danger right now. I recommend that you come with us to Mutant Academy."

Everyone turned to look at Rogue. After hesitating, she stood beside Wolverine. After all, she had known him longer.

Storm frowned slightly. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Get on the jet and leave here first. I promise you, if you truly want to leave afterward, we will not stop you."

Cyclops said coldly, "Mutant Academy has never forced anyone to stay."

Wolverine hesitated, then nodded in agreement. Driving was too slow and would make it easy for them to be attacked again.

Thus, the four of them took the unconscious Speedster back to the jet. Then, the runway-free jet took off from the ground and flew toward New York in stealth mode.

"This plane’s pretty advanced. When I get the chance, I’ll have the BOSS buy one too."

Wolverine was a little surprised. He took out a cigar and prepared to light it, but everyone stared at him.

"I was just going to smell it."

Wolverine awkwardly put the cigar away. After thinking for a moment, he asked Cyclops, "Can I make a call?"

Storm tossed Wolverine a special communicator. "Use our communicator. Regular phones interfere with the equipment."

Wolverine did not stand on ceremony. He called Wang Bert and told him what had just happened, then subtly asked, "BOSS, do you know something?"

"I know a lot of things."

Wang Bert laughed and said, "Logan, put it on speaker."

Wolverine did so. Then Wang Bert said, "Cyclops, I’ll give you a chance. You get to decide whether Logan and Rogue go to Mutant Academy."

"I decide?"

Cyclops was startled. He asked, "Why do I feel like you’re full of malicious intent?"

"Because I am full of malicious intent."

Wang Bert laughed heartily. "Cyclops, choose carefully. If you choose wrong, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life."

Cyclops had a firm personality and was not affected by Wang Bert. He snorted. "Playing games. Since you say I get to decide, then I decide that Rogue will come to Mutant Academy with us."

"Fine. Logan, go with Rogue and protect her."

Wang Bert agreed decisively. "Oh, right, Rogue. Here’s a piece of advice."

Rogue asked in confusion, "What advice? Also, are you Mutant Savior, Mr. Bert Wang?"

"Mutant Savior?"

Cyclops and Storm looked contemptuous at the words. In their eyes, only one person in the world was qualified to call himself that—Professor X.

"That’s right. I’m Mutant Savior, Bert Wang."

Wang Bert laughed. "Rogue, Logan has a habit of killing people in his sleep. Don’t go near him when he’s sleeping at night."

"Killing people in his sleep?"

Everyone stared at Wolverine in shock. Wolverine angrily said, "Since when do I have a habit of killing people in my sleep? Bert Wang, just because you’re my BOSS doesn’t mean you can slander me whenever you want."

"I’m your BOSS, but I never slander people. All right, that’s it."

Wang Bert said, "I have other matters to deal with, so I’m hanging up. Logan, take it easy. Don’t get thrown out. That would be embarrassing."

"What do you mean, take it easy?"

Wolverine was confused, but Wang Bert did not answer and cut off the communication.

Wolverine gave an annoyed snort, tossed the communicator back to Storm, and turned to Rogue. "Even though I don’t have a habit of killing people in my sleep, you’d better not disturb me while I’m sleeping. I used to be a soldier, so I’m a bit sensitive."

Rogue suddenly understood. "So you really do kill people in your sleep."

Wolverine was speechless. Had all his explaining been for nothing? Too lazy to say more, Wolverine closed his eyes and went to sleep. Several hours later, the jet arrived at Mutant Academy, where Jean had been waiting to take Speedster to the Medical Room.

The moment Wolverine saw Jean, his eyes went wide. He felt like he had fallen in love again. Silver Fox? Well, she had not been revived yet. He would worry about that after she came back.

Feeling Wolverine’s burning gaze, Jean was a little shy, and even a little pleased. Yes, pleased. Although she loved Cyclops, Cyclops was far too rigid, and life with him was as bland as water.

Seeing Wolverine stare so openly at his girlfriend, Cyclops frowned deeply. He vaguely understood what Wang Bert had meant by regret.

"Stay away from my girlfriend."

Cyclops gave Wolverine a warning, then went to meet his girlfriend. Wolverine snorted. Wolves loved taking what belonged to others, and he was definitely going to pursue Jean.

Meanwhile, Wang Bert was contacting Psylocke. "Did you put the item on Senator Kelly?"

"I already slipped it into his coat pocket."

Psylocke watched Senator Kelly board a helicopter ahead of her and asked Wang Bert worriedly, "BOSS, you aren’t planning to make a move against the senator, are you? Even if his reputation is ruined now, he’s still a senator. How many senators does America even have?"

"I’m not the one making a move against him. Someone else is. Don’t worry, I know where the line is."

Wang Bert smiled and said, "Psylocke, come to my office to settle this job’s payment. While you’re here, we can discuss the cooperation I mentioned before."

"Okay, I’ll return right away. I happen to have something I want to tell you too."

Psylocke nodded. She was very interested in the major deal Wang Bert had mentioned.

Psylocke did not know that shortly after Senator Kelly went out to sea, Mystique knocked him unconscious. Then Mystique returned to her blue true form and took Senator Kelly to Magneto’s hideout.

In his office, Wang Bert watched the moving red dot on the screen and nodded in satisfaction. This way, he would be able to find out where Magneto’s hideout was.

Wang Bert had no intention of following the plot, because that would be disastrous—Magneto intended to turn representatives from more than two hundred countries into mutants. If that happened, everything Wang Bert had done before would have been in vain.

No matter what, this had to be stopped before it could begin.