After reading the Daily Planet article, Professor X was deeply relieved. For the first time, the voices of mutants from Xavier's School had been heard—this was the loudest declaration mutants had ever made.
One stone stirred up a thousand ripples.
Magneto read the report too. Like Professor X, he had seen too many tragedies involving mutants, and far too many instances of indifference. Foolish humans always repeated the same mistakes. Even now, Magneto wasn't optimistic. "Behind every beautiful thing is a field of thorns. The more dazzling it is, the more dangerous it becomes. This Liu A'dou is just as naive as Charles." Magneto knew the ugliest side of humanity—and those people would never let this momentum continue unchecked.
"Do you think someone will make a move?" Mystique asked. Ever since Magneto had been poisoned, she had stayed by his side.
"Someone always will." Magneto knew there were always those who couldn't stand to see mutants doing well—just like how some people couldn't stand seeing others live better than themselves. Human malice was like expanding steam, limitless.
"But Frozen really is a good movie," Magneto added. Both he and Mystique had seen it.
Mystique agreed. She even felt a certain kinship with Elsa. She too had started off hiding, only showing her true self after going through a transformation. That's why she felt uneasy, knowing Elsa might become the next target.
But everything was too quiet. Unnaturally quiet—like everyone had already accepted mutants. The silence was unsettling.
No one knew what would happen next, but it definitely wouldn't be good.
In the deserts of Mexico, a U.S. military helicopter roared through the sky.
"We really appreciate this, Dr. Banner," said one soldier. "Without you, we couldn't have lifted the radiation alert out there."
"No problem. It's my responsibility," replied Dr. Banner, who didn't look very muscular and seemed a bit tired. Ever since his contact with S.H.I.E.L.D., he had been hiding on the run, but S.H.I.E.L.D. never stopped chasing him. This time, a small town on the edge of the Mexican desert had a sudden outbreak of mass vomiting and hospitalizations. As the world police, the U.S. military responded. S.H.I.E.L.D. offered a deal to Dr. Banner: help fix the issue, and they'd leave him alone afterward.
Naive as ever, Banner cheerfully agreed. The radiation source turned out to be a strange rock, which had already been disposed of. Now, on the way back, Banner was looking forward to being free from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s surveillance. Just thinking about it made him happy.
"Doctor, look—what's that outside?"
Banner instinctively turned his head to look out the helicopter window, exposing his pale neck. The soldier across from him struck like a cobra, jabbing a needle into Banner's neck.
Banner instantly passed out. The soldier stood up, pressed Banner's head down, then used a knife to cut open the back of his neck and inserted a small white chip into the wound.
It was an X-Factor suppressor chip, capable of sending a signal to the brain to destroy the X gene. Originally a core component inside Sentinels, it had been modified to work on living organisms.
Everything had been a setup—from the mysterious radioactive rock to this moment. And naive Dr. Banner had walked right into the trap. He would be turned into a weapon for mutant extermination.
Without hesitation, the soldier threw Banner out of the helicopter, several hundred meters above the ground. Then he pulled out a remote control and said, "Hail Hydra."
The helicopter exploded into a ball of fire in the sky, leaving no trace behind.
As Banner tumbled through the air, closer and closer to the ground, his body awakened in the face of death.
ROOOOAAARRR—
The Hulk had arrived.
BOOM!
From such a height, an ordinary person would have been crushed on impact. But for the Hulk, it was nothing more than a casual leap. His shirt tore, his shoes flew off, and only his pants stayed on, covering the most critical part.
"ROAR—" The Hulk let out a deafening roar that shook the desert, then launched himself into the air, slicing through the sky as he charged toward the city. At that moment, his brain was constantly receiving signals to attack mutants. The implant scanned all nearby life forms over and over again. As soon as it detected someone with the X-gene, it would trigger an attack.
The people behind this plan intended to use the Hulk to eliminate mutants—and honestly, it wasn't a bad idea.
Meanwhile, in Antarctica, Liu A'dou had optimized the system and resolved the delay issue. However, the bionic muscle still needed time to grow. Taking advantage of this waiting period, he returned to New York. Elsa had nearly completed her music training. Whether it was vocal performance, instruments, or composition, all her teachers were amazed by her talent. Even without her ice powers, she could've been an outstanding musician.
With the excellent music Liu A'dou had prepared, the instructors already knew Elsa would be adding "singer" to her resume alongside "actress."
Liu A'dou knew it was time to find Iron Man and ask him to honor his promise. Unfortunately, flipping through a stack of gossip magazines revealed that Tony was currently out of the country. He'd have to wait until the man returned. In the meantime, preparations for the concert couldn't stall. They didn't need the venue just yet—first, they had to finalize the song list. Also, it wouldn't do to let Iron Man pay for everything; Professor X should contribute a little too.
Frozen had grossed two billion dollars worldwide. The global economy in this world was stronger than most, and the dollar had more purchasing power than in other worlds. That meant this two billion was no small sum. After cutting a hefty slice for marketing, theater chains, and the Hollywood unions, the biggest beneficiaries were Professor X and Liu A'dou. Liu A'dou had pocketed over three hundred million, and the professor even more.
But despite the cash on hand, Liu A'dou didn't touch it. He still wanted Professor X to put in some effort. It would help strengthen their collaboration and bring him closer to the mutant community. Professor X wasn't stingy about that kind of money anyway. Besides, Liu A'dou was confident he'd make it back for him—just like with the film, where the professor invested tens of millions and got several times the return.
After hearing Liu A'dou's plan, Professor X also began gathering input, encouraging the faculty and students to brainstorm ways to showcase mutants positively.
Wolverine let out a long sigh of relief. After almost two months of playing babysitter, he was finally free. He wasn't too interested in the project, but seeing how excited the kids were did make him smile a bit.
Wolverine liked the atmosphere at the academy—it was warm, comforting. However, things between him, Cyclops, and Jean Grey were becoming increasingly complicated. Wolverine had started pursuing Jean without any concern for how she or Cyclops might feel. He simply followed his instincts.
Cyclops, on the other hand, had begun to notice a shift in Jean's behavior. She had never interacted with many men before, and Wolverine was unlike anyone she'd known. There was something wild about him—a bad-boy charm that drew women in. Wolverine made no effort to hide his feelings. When he wanted someone, he made it obvious. Compared to Cyclops' reserved and restrained emotions, Wolverine was like a blazing fire.
Jean found herself drawn to that fire, yet her sense of morality reminded her that she was still in a relationship with Cyclops.
Cyclops, for his part, truly wanted to protect his relationship with Jean. But his own personality kept tying his hands. In the end, it was likely Cyclops himself who would bow out—not just from the love triangle between him and Wolverine and Jean, but also from the X-Men entirely. And once that happened, he might never bounce back. He wouldn't blame Wolverine. He'd blame himself for not being enough to keep Jean's heart. That's just the kind of person he was.