"Is Charles there?" After a long silence, Zhou Yi was the first to break the ice. It was better to say something at this moment than to say nothing at all.
There was a long silence on the other end of the phone before Ororo's voice, thick with a nasal tone, came through.
"The Professor isn't here. He went out with an old friend."
"When will he be back? I'll contact him then!"
"Are you so heartless that you don't even want to say a word to me?" With a soft sigh, Ororo revealed her feelings to him. Even now, she still felt like she was in a nightmare. She couldn't understand why things had come to this point.
Everything had been going in a good direction at first, so why did it turn out like this because of a small matter? She tossed and turned for many nights, unable to figure out the problem. Finally, today, she could no longer bear it, and asked the person involved.
"I'm sorry, Ororo!" She waited for a long time, but only received these words. "We are not suitable for each other, and the longer it takes, the greater the harm. I don't want to regret it after a big mistake is made, so I have to cut it all off now."
"Why, why?"
Ororo was on the verge of tears. Hearing her sobbing, Zhou Yi felt a mix of frustration and a heavy weight in his chest. He gritted his teeth, forcing himself to remain calm as he spoke.
"Ororo, the most important thing to you will always be your mutant brethren. But the most important thing to me is my family. If one day you had to choose between the two, what would you do?"
"That can't happen! You can't do this to me because of something that can't happen, it's not fair! Yi! It's not fair."
Ororo cried, each sob a knife slicing through Zhou Yi's heart. He desperately tried to filter the sound from his mind, but he couldn't. He wasn't strong emotionally, never had been.
"No, Ororo. It's not impossible. Mutants are too chaotic, I've seen what you're like. Most of you are no different from lunatics when you get fanatical. Magneto goes crazy and doesn't even spare his own kind, he can abandon his own children. What difference would his followers make? It used to be Rogue and those poor people, what if it's Xiarui Si in the future, what am I supposed to do?"
"And you, Ororo. Charles's beliefs have influenced you too deeply, I know what you would choose between me and your brethren. Last time you chose your brethren, and next time it would be the same. I can endure you hurting me, but I can't endure you hurting my family."
"Ororo, I love you. I've never denied that. But I love my family more. I have to make a choice in advance, and I have already made it. I'm sorry, Ororo. If hating me makes you feel better, then hate me."
After saying this, Zhou Yi fell silent. Even if what followed was a storm of wind and rain, thunder and lightning, he would endure it. Family was the most important thing in his heart, and he could endure anything for them.
After waiting for a long time, all he received was a sigh. The sigh didn't come from Ororo, but from Charles.
"Ororo has fallen asleep. She hasn't been doing well these past few days!"
Charles' voice held both blame and regret, but Zhou Yi didn't want to delve into the issue with him. It was their problem, and it had nothing to do with Charles. So when Professor Charles took Ororo's place in the conversation, Zhou Yi had already become a man consumed by his plan.
"Professor, you've come at the right time. I need to tell you that my plan has already begun."
The professor on the other end of the phone sighed again, this time not for his student's troubled emotions, but for the future of mutants. He frowned deeply, his aged wrinkles filled with hesitation and worry.
"Zhou Yi, I think you should be more cautious. This might not be the best time to implement your plan!"
"Waiting, waiting, you're always waiting. Charles, so many years have passed, you've already lived through most of your life, yet you still haven't waited for what you consider the best time. Charles, it's not that there's no opportunity, it's that you don't have the courage to seize it."
"But you know sometimes the opportunities you think you have can bring even more terrible crises, Zhou Yi. I don't know if your plan is suitable or not, maybe the world isn't ready to accept us!"
Charles was still politely refusing, unwilling to change what he had held onto for decades at Zhou Yi's whim.
"Charles, you can only control yourself, not other people's thoughts. I don't want my sister to live outside of this world like you. I told myself I would create a beautiful future for her, no matter what. I've worked so hard, and I won't stop just because you refuse."
Professor Charles closed his eyes, and after a long time, he asked, "If that's the case, why are you telling me?"
"Some things, you need to know. This is their decision. I'm just informing you, Charles. The choice isn't yours!"
At this point, Zhou Yi hung up the phone. Listening to the dial tone, Charles was stunned for a long time before lowering his stiff arm. He knew that mutants would be drawn into another unpredictable storm, and this time, he would no longer be the helmsman.
This situation inevitably filled his heart with many worries. He didn't know how the mutants should conduct themselves this time, nor did he know what decision he should make.
Pushing his wheelchair to the window, he looked at the rebuilt manor and fell into a long period of contemplation. He was step by step deducing Zhou Yi's actions, hoping to see a hint of his plan from his behavior. But even with his incredible intelligence, he couldn't see what he didn't know.
Zhou Yi's cautious nature proved beneficial at this moment, eliminating the possibility of many people secretly manipulating things.
Charles was still deep in thought when someone knocked on the office door.
"Come in?" Charles raised his head in confusion, and only then did he notice a group of students entering. A group of the oldest students. He suddenly had a bad feeling. "Children, what are you doing here?"
Leading the group was Rogue. This student, who had joined halfway, had never felt a strong sense of belonging to the school, so compared to the other students who stammered and couldn't articulate their thoughts, she was the most open.
"Professor, we want to leave the school and work in the city!"
"Why do you have this idea? Doesn't the school satisfy you?" Charles stared intently at the group of students, almost losing control of himself as he had never tried to pry into his students' thoughts before. He desperately wanted to know why, why these children would choose to leave at this moment.
"Professor, the school is great, and everyone is happy!" Rogue glanced around at the other students, seeing the hope in their eyes, she said with a pang of guilt. "But we're not children anymore, Professor. We are adults, and we need to live an adult's life instead of being protected like children in a cradle."
"I lived outside for a long time, and honestly, those were difficult years, incomparable to the life at the school. But there's one thing the school never had, and that's freedom. Outside, I can live each day freely, but here, I'm just locked in a cage."
"Child, that's just your illusion. You should know how dangerous the outside world is for us. We just want to protect you as much as possible. We've never thought of taking away your freedom." Charles was still trying to persuade them, hoping that these children were just acting on impulse and would soon forget about it.
But he was disappointed. This wasn't a choice made on impulse. It was a plan that had been in the works for a long time.
"Professor, overprotection and the deprivation of freedom are not that different. And the world is not as dangerous as you think it is anymore," Rogue said, placing two documents in front of Professor Charles.
"What's this?" Charles took them but didn't open them. He had already guessed that this was part of Zhou Yi's plan. So before reading, he wanted to hear his students' thoughts.
"Here is an employment agreement from the New York Police Department. The New York City Police Commissioner will hire us to join the police and fire departments, becoming part of them. We'll enjoy the same treatment as those normal people, and the police department will also help us build a positive image!"
"The other one is a recruitment contract from the Glory City Corona Group. They need a portion of people with special abilities to clear out the remaining bio-monsters. In return, they will provide generous rewards and ask the local government to give these people honorary citizenship."
While Rogue was saying this, Charles had already finished reading the documents in his hands. The content of the documents wasn't much different from what Rogue had said, and that was what Charles feared the most.
At this moment, he wished it was a contract full of loopholes, desperately exploiting the value of these children. Because then he could point it out openly, thus making these children stay.
But these documents weren't like that. Zhou Yi offered the most generous terms, conditions that would attract countless followers even in a normal human society. Especially for the mutant community, which had always been discriminated against. He thought and thought, finally having to place his hopes in his own authority and his students' blind obedience.
"You should know that these things are very dangerous. At any time, you could suffer irreparable harm from a small accident. Why not stay at the school instead of taking such risks? You can enjoy many years of happiness until you finish your studies. At that time, if you still want to work, you can become a teacher at the academy! Even now, you could try starting as a teaching assistant."
"Professor!" Rogue interrupted him. "We are adults, unlike those children. They can enjoy carefree times, but we want to earn our own benefits with our own hands. You may not care about spending money on us, but we care about being treated as parasites. I'm sorry, Professor. I won't stay. I've already made my decision."
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