Those on different paths cannot work together

Jean and Ororo had been extremely busy these past few days. Along with their mutant friends who had not been captured, they had been pulling strings everywhere, practically visiting every friend of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters in hopes of rescuing Professor X and Cyclops through conventional means.

Their efforts had achieved some results. After all, quite a few people had received Charles’s help before. But even more of their "friends" had been evasive, giving ambiguous answers.

Their excuses for refusing were all remarkably consistent: Professor X Charles and Magneto Erik had secretly colluded, making them suspect that the former X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants had been putting on a double act.

The Brotherhood of Mutants was responsible for offending people, while the X-Men took the opportunity to rescue them and win their gratitude.

They now strongly suspected that the troubles they had encountered back then had all been caused by mutants working behind the scenes. If the mutants had not been meddling, perhaps everything would have gone smoothly for them.

Jean and Ororo had argued themselves hoarse over this. They had been run off their feet, yet still failed to rescue Professor X and the others. Even the children had vanished without a trace, and they did not even know which prison they were being held in.

They had no idea that those people were currently in Stryker’s research facility, being used as experimental animals. Otherwise, they would have been even more frantic.

But Professor X and the others had already been missing for several days, and the two of them still had no leads at all. They could not help feeling utterly discouraged.

"Jean, should we ask our master for help?" Ororo asked hesitantly.

Jean hesitated for a moment, then shook her head. "We should probably not. You saw what happened that day. He showed no mercy at all, completely disregarding the fact that he was in the middle of a city, surrounded by civilians."

"Although I haven’t heard that the Federal Government is hunting him, they must still be extremely wary of him. The Federal Government already suspects that we colluded with terrorists. If we get involved with him as well, I’m afraid it’ll be even harder to rescue anyone."

"Besides, more than a dozen mutants died after being caught in the battle’s aftermath that day. I don’t even know how I’m supposed to explain that to Professor X and the others when they return."

"We’re not on the same side as him. He’s the kind of person Magneto used to be, treating human lives as worthless. We should keep our distance from him as much as possible from now on."

Ororo sighed and asked, "How is the lawyer doing? Any news?"

"The military has refused to disclose any relevant information, citing suspected terrorist involvement. However, with the help of the Children’s Rights Protection Foundation, the military has softened its stance somewhat. Perhaps they’ll release the children soon."

Ororo let out a long breath of relief and patted her chest. "Thank God! Fortunately, there’s been some progress. Otherwise, I’d feel as though all my efforts were pointless. Only now do I realize how difficult things have been for Professor X and the others!"

As the two were talking, a call suddenly came in.

"It’s Attorney Olmo. There may be news."

Jean answered the call. After saying a few words, she immediately hung up and stood to leave.

"The military has asked the Children’s Rights Protection Foundation and Attorney Olmo to go over. They may be allowing visits. Let’s go see."

The two drove to the Pentagon and entered a conference room, where a military representative received them.

"To protect the children’s rights, the military has made a special exception and agreed to brief you on the situation. However, considering your safety, the military will provide video recordings instead of allowing a face-to-face meeting."

Jean protested, "They’re children. There won’t be any danger to our safety if we meet them."

"Whether there’s a safety risk isn’t up to you to decide. I have a risk assessment report provided by the relevant experts here, and you’re free to examine it. In addition, we have a list of the soldiers who were killed or wounded during the arrests."

The military representative casually tossed over a thick stack of documents. Jean could guess the conclusion without even looking.

"You can’t judge their normal state based on how they fought back when they were under threat." Ororo was deeply displeased by his words.

"We’re responsible for the safety of the Children’s Rights Protection Foundation staff present," the officer said flatly.

Jean was about to say something more, but Attorney Olmo held her back and reminded her in a low voice, "Let’s take this one step at a time. We can’t rush."

Jean had no choice but to suppress her anxiety and sit down.

Seeing that no one had any further objections, the officer pressed the remote. A little girl appeared on the large screen.

She was sitting in a chair, dressed casually, with a doll in her arms. Judging from the background, she was somewhere in an outdoor garden.

"Is she a child from your school?" a Children’s Rights Protection Foundation staff member asked quietly.

Ororo answered in a low voice, "That’s Emily!"

The staff member nodded and continued watching the screen.

The little girl in the video began to speak. "Hello, everyone. I’m Emily Xiu Si. I used to live at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters."

"I’m a Mutant."

"My ability is extremely dangerous."

When they heard Emily’s words, both Jean and Ororo frowned. That did not sound like something Emily would say.

"When my emotions fluctuate, numerous spatial rifts appear in the surrounding environment. Anyone or anything within that area will be sliced to pieces."

"Fortunately, the military uncles found me and brought me to this sanatorium."

"I eat well, sleep well, and live a very relaxed and safe life now. I won’t pose a threat to other humans."

"The military uncles are also helping me find medicine to treat this dangerous ability. Once I recover, I’ll be able to return to society."

"But I still can’t control my ability freely, so I can’t leave this place."

After she finished speaking, the air beside Emily suddenly rippled. Several spatial rifts appeared in front of her. The screen shook violently, then went black.

The officer walked onto the stage and addressed everyone. "Fortunately, this wasn’t a face-to-face meeting. Otherwise, you would already have been sliced into pieces."

Jean’s whole body trembled. She stood up and shouted, "You threatened a child into lying in front of everyone! How shameless!"

Ororo was furious as well and spoke in a harsh tone:

"Emily may be a little girl, but she has never liked dolls. She likes Transformers!"

"Besides, being a Mutant is not a disease, and Emily would never say something as idiotic as wanting to be cured."

"And those spatial rifts at the end weren’t her ability going out of control. She usually keeps her ability well under control, and none of her companions have ever been hurt because of her!"

The officer glanced at the two of them and said lazily, "Choosing the wrong toy for the children was a mistake by the sanatorium’s attendant. I’ll report it to the sanatorium later."

"Whether being a Mutant is a disease has nothing to do with me. You should take that up with a doctor."

"The reason her companions weren’t harmed by her ability is that they were all freaks. We ordinary people can’t withstand something like that."

Thanks to the readers Ye Shang Kong Ming, Bei Xuezi, Ya Jiangyoua, and reader 20170518001944892 for their rewards!