X-Men’s Attitude

Jean and Ororo were at the hospital, visiting Attorney Olmo. He had just come out of intensive care. Although he was out of danger, he still hadn’t regained consciousness.

Earlier, Attorney Olmo and his friends had gone to the "sanatorium" under military control to speak face-to-face with the Mutant children. As a result, one child’s powers suddenly went out of control, triggering a massive explosion that sent all three of them flying. One died on the spot, while the other two suffered severe injuries and remained unconscious to this day.

That was the "truth" the military had released to the public. They had on-site videos and audio recordings as proof. The evidence was conclusive and irrefutable.

The military had tipped off the media, and for a while, all the major media outlets across the country eagerly hyped the theory of the Mutant threat. Mutants became like rats crossing the street, with everyone shouting for their deaths.

Although Jean had mobilized all her connections to suppress the outcry, the topic had already caught fire. Countless people were jumping on the bandwagon, rendering all their efforts completely useless.

Many more congressmen began giving speeches, claiming they would propose legislation to place Mutants under unified control in order to win the support of voters.

The situation was completely one-sided and growing increasingly dire. Jean and the others knew perfectly well that this was a trap, but they had no channel through which to speak out and could do nothing about it.

What worried her even more was that something might happen to Olmo while he was unconscious. If he died, there would be no witness, and the truth would become even harder to explain. Only after Olmo woke up could they rely on him, the victim, to testify personally. Combined with the information she had obtained from S.H.I.E.L.D., they might then be able to clear the Mutants of their unjust accusations.

She was discussing with Ororo how to take turns keeping watch there and ensure that Olmo woke up safely when the phone rang.

She glanced at it. The number was unfamiliar. When she answered, she heard Scott’s voice on the other end.

"Jean, we’ve escaped. Where are you?"

"Oh, God! Scott, this is such a wonderful surprise! You’ve been released? What about Professor Charles? Was he released too?" Jean cried out in delight.

"Released? Heh, Jean, it’s a long story." Scott let out a cold laugh. "I have many rescued Mutants with me. Arrange a plane to come pick us up. Quickly, before the military gets here."

"What? What happened?" Jean signaled to Ororo to contact a plane.

"Magneto rescued us. Everyone at the base was killed by him. Magneto has gone mad. We have to stop him before he acts. We’ll talk when we meet. Track the location of my phone. Hurry!"

Scott’s voice was extremely urgent. He had to get all the Mutants away before the military arrived, or a confrontation with them would be unavoidable.

Especially since he had already arranged for Iceman, Robert, and the others to begin collecting all kinds of evidence that Stryker had used Mutants in experiments.

Scott was a member of the moderate faction, but he wasn’t a fool. He knew how despicable those shameless politicians were behind closed doors and had not the slightest bit of trust in them.

Jean and Ororo were the only ones foolish enough to hope that others would release the Mutants who had been captured. If it were Scott, he would definitely look for those people’s dirty secrets and use threats and inducements to force them to cooperate.

With all the inhumane evidence of Mutant experiments inside Stryker’s base, he could use it to reach an agreement with the military’s higher-ups, rescue Professor Charles, and turn around the current unfavorable public opinion.

So there was a reason Professor X had chosen him as the future leader of the X-Men. Among a group of short people, he was the tallest. Although he was somewhat inferior in combat ability, to the moderate faction, a politically savvy politician was more important than a hero with overwhelming strength.

And all of this depended on his being able to leave with the evidence safely.

The moment Magneto had acted, the base should have sent a distress signal to the Pentagon. Although the Alkali Lake Industrial Center was hidden outside Federation territory, to the United States Armed Forces, that was merely a minor procedural issue.

Military support was surely already on its way.

The military would never allow this dirty evidence to reach the public. Silencing the witnesses was the best option.

If he failed to evacuate everyone before the military arrived, an armed conflict would inevitably break out.

Although he and Iceman, along with the others, were confident they could keep the military reinforcements here, that wasn’t in keeping with the X-Men’s usual style. It could create unexpected complications and affect his plan to rescue Professor Charles.

As he waited anxiously, the X-Men’s stealth aircraft finally arrived first.

Compared with the United States Armed Forces’ conventional fighter jets, the X-Men’s supersonic aircraft could reach a speed of several Mach, completely overtaking those that had set out earlier.

They organized the children into orderly lines and got them aboard the plane. Then they took off quickly, activated the stealth function, and headed for another secret X-Men base.

Once the plane entered cruising mode, Jean left her seat and walked over to Scott.

"What exactly happened? How were you captured? Didn’t Erik lose all four limbs? How did he rescue you again? What do you mean by saying he’s gone mad?" Jean was filled with questions.

Scott sighed and recounted in detail what had happened that night. He then described how they had been studied as test subjects at the base over the past few days.

Finally, he took out a portable hard drive, handed it to Jean, and said, "This contains videos and data on the live Mutant experiments we found inside the base. With this, we can rescue Professor Charles."

"As for Magneto… his four limbs have grown back. He also seems to have gained the ability to heal other people’s external injuries. Perhaps Stryker performed some kind of experiment on him, leading to this result."

Scott didn’t understand Magnetic Field Rotation and couldn’t tell what kind of power Erik had used to heal their injuries. It was already outrageous enough that martial arts training could produce superpowers. Now he could even regrow severed limbs, which was even more unimaginable.

"Magneto hates humanity now. He swore to exterminate all humans and establish a nation where only Mutants exist."

"We have to stop him before he acts. Otherwise, once war breaks out, the relationship between humans and Mutants will become completely irreparable."

As Jean listened to Scott, she transferred the data from the portable hard drive into the plane’s computer. The darkness revealed within made her heart pound with fear, and her emotions began to fluctuate violently.

As her emotions rose and fell, the entire plane began to tremble along with them.

Scott hurriedly shut off the computer. "Jean, calm down. Things are already chaotic enough. You absolutely can’t let anything happen to you now. If Dark Phoenix comes out again, everyone here will die."