The whole school seemed to be submerged in flowers and bushes. It was built in what looked like the architectural style of the 1940's. The ground for the children's outdoor activity was only the size of a basketball court.
The school gate, which had obviously been hastily renovated, could only provide the s.p.a.ce for one car to enter or exit at a time. Roses, jasmines, irises and various other kinds of flowers were in full bloom in the flower beds outside the school gate.
In fact, the school was renovated from an old mansion.
If someone were to wait outside the school gate, they would realise a very awkward thing, and that was that the black iron gate was shut tight and no one would open the gate for them. They could not get past the gate unless they climbed over the wall. There was not even a doorbell!
In the distance, a black Volkswagen drove over. It made almost no sound at all, as if it was gliding on the ground. Only by sticking one's ear on the hood could the sound made by the smoothly lubricated engine be heard. The Volkswagen Phaeton, which sold for more than US $300,000 on the market, was low-key, n.o.ble and dignified, much like the pa.s.senger inside it.
The custom-made door on the side of the car opened, and a sliding board descended. A bald old man slid down the board on a wheelchair. His eyes were firm and wise, and there was a boundless clarity in them, like the blue sky. Although he was sitting on a wheelchair, when he looked at you, not only would he not appear small, he actually looked like a king staring at his subject from a throne.
His nose was very tall, and the statutory lines on both sides were obvious, adding a little dignity to his face, and together with his tight lips helped achieve a firm, dignified visage.
A young woman quickly came down from the car to help support his wheelchair. She conversed intimately with him. When the old man caught sight of the gate, he raised his eyebrows slightly and smiled.
"We seem to have had an uninvited guest arrive while we were out, Jean. Bobby and Pyro should be awake....Hopefully they didn't overdo it."
( Bobby=Iceman; Pyro=Fireman )
When the wheelchair was pushed in front of the iron gate, the gate opened automatically as if it was not locked at all. The old man actually smiled and nodded at the iron gate.
"Good afternoon, Ol' Tom."
The young woman called Jean pushed the old man onto the pathway. The old man looked around with great interest and finally pointed to the garden beside them.
"The visiting gentleman is very shrewd, unlike those who came here for the sake of money before him. He carefully observed the environment before he made the decision to sneak in. The infiltration method and infiltration route he chose were excellent. Interesting people like him are few and far between nowadays. Since I have some free time right now, why don't we follow his footsteps to have a look."
It was small wonder that the old man was somewhat surprised. Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters was not an ordinary place by any means. Even special forces who had undergone extremely intense training would be hard pressed to find and diffuse the traps and mechanisms set up inside.
Jean nodded with a faint smile and continued pus.h.i.+ng the old man forward. The old man kept smiling and nodding along the way. They had pa.s.sed through at least three traps, but none of them had been triggered. He got even more curious about the ident.i.ty of that person.
"Professor, if I remember correctly, the fountain ahead should be the place where Bobby would often practice his power. The uninvited guest's journey should end there....Bobby??!!!" Jean suddenly shouted.
A beautifully constructed marble fountain was in the garden ahead. The fountain was built as delicately and as luxuriously as the champagne tower in high-cla.s.s parties. Even the fountain water was drawn from below ground.
The young Iceman, Bobby, liked to put his hand into the clear fountain water and watch as the fountain water froze into a beautiful ice layer bit by bit, then melting down again.
Presently, the garden was there as usual, the fountain was there as usual, and Bobby was there as usual.
The only thing out of the ordinary was that the handsome teenager who liked to put his hand into the fountain was currently lying on the ground. The parts of his skin that were exposed were pale and fragile. However, he did not seem to be in any immediate danger, for the hand that was pressed to his eyes was still trembling, as if he had suffered from some kind of trauma.
Charles Xavier's deep eyes suddenly flickered. His expression then changed into one of amus.e.m.e.nt.
"Bobby seemed fine, but he's completely exhausted. He appears to have run out of energy. Evidently, he had attacked the guest, and then...Well, surprisingly, the guest either allowed Bobby to keep freezing him, or he continuously avoided Bobby's freezing attempts until Bobby's energy was spent. He then simply walked away."
"There's such a powerful man in this world?" exclaimed Jean in astonishment.
After that, they went to Pyro's favourite spot, the stove, and found....Pyro's jacket. Pyro himself was so tired that he had fallen asleep on the couch. His snoring was loud and clear. He even burned away half of his hair, an indication of the intensity of the previous fight.
They continued moving forward. The damage became quite serious after that. A part of the house had collapsed, and the cause was very familiar to Jean. It was caused by the fearsome destructive power of the young man called Cyclops, and currently, Cyclops was sitting dejectedly with his hands in his hair. He had a dull look on his face.
(TL: Now that there are two Cyclopses, in order to make a distinction between the two, I'm thinking of capitalising Cyclops when its referring to the mutant, and not capitalising cyclops when its referring to the creature. What do you guys think? )
Seeing Jean and the old man in the wheelchair, he said nothing. He simply pointed.
The place he pointed to was a very ordinary room.
The ordinary room was famous for being the place where Professor X, aka Charles Francis Xavier, headmaster of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, usually received his friends.
Eric Magnus, the mighty Magneto, was the most frequent visitor to this seemingly ordinary little room. In addition, it was said that some legendary figures, such as Iron Man, Batman and so on, had also been here before. It was also rumoured that this was where the legendary Illuminati Society was founded.
Everyone who entered and sat in this room had famous names.
As for those who could sit inside without being invited, it seemed that the person in front of them was the only one so far.
Professor X had an amused smile on his face. He turned towards Jane and gestured for her to let go. He entered the room by himself, a way of showing his respect. When the man inside the drawing room heard the sound of wheelchair, he stood up.
The man was young, his att.i.tude neither humble nor overbearing. He was polite though. He gave Professor X an apologetic smile.
"I'm Seaman, Professor Xavier. I'm very sorry to have to meet you in such a presumptuous way, but circ.u.mstances have forced me to do so."
Professor Xavier looked at Sheyan and said with a smile, "You have a mysterious fog about you...Is that the barrier of fate? If it is, I'm the one who should apologise. But before we start our conversation, I have a question. Those three students of mine may not be that strong, but there should be very few ways to defeat them without causing them harm. And yet, I don't feel a strong mental power from you."
Sheyan laughed and replied, "The answer isn't anything special. I just have really tough endurance. I can take attacks like a sandbag. People who punch sandbags will eventually run out of energy and give up."
"This metaphor is inappropriate," Professor Xavier laughed and said, "You're very strong."
Sheyan's face suddenly turned grave as he sighed.
"No matter how powerful a person is, they're insignificant against the wrath of nature. Professor Xavier, do you know that the world is about to end?"
Professor Xavier's face grew serious when Sheyan brought up the question.
"Yes, I do, but I doubt the credibility of the news."
Sheyan earnestly told him, "Professor, I can't tell you where I came from, but please take a look at some of the memories in my mind. I know you can do that. The vocal cords and the tongue together can deceive people, but memories can't. But, there are many powerful forbidden areas in my memory, so please be careful, or I'm afraid the rebounding force of those forbidden areas may hurt you."
Professor Xavier was a bit stunned, but he knew that the matter was grave, so he did not hesitate. He stared deep into Sheyan's eyes. For Sheyan, the process lasted for merely a second. Professor Xavier's face suddenly turned pale; he started sweating profusely and looked like he was going to fall from his wheelchair. He quickly pressed a b.u.t.ton on the wheelchair.
Jean rushed inside and stared at Sheyan warily. She only relaxed when the professor shook his head at her. She poured him a gla.s.s of water.
Silence descended upon the room. After a while, the professor said slowly, "Those memories I just saw, they're scenes from the future?"
"That's right," replied Sheyan bluntly, "They're scenes from the future I saw with my very own eyes."
"It's terrible..." muttered Professor Xavier, "My stubbornness cost me my last chance."
That caught Sheyan's attention.
"What chance?"
Professor Xavier took a deep breath before he replied, "A year ago, a friend gave me a similar piece of information, but I didn't believe him. I chose to do nothing. He didn't give up and has been working tirelessly since. I heard that he's made new breakthroughs. I've been maintaining contact with him, but I never believed him."
"It's not too late, Professor. I'm not alone! We're a strong group of people! Strong enough to create a miracle in the coming days!" Sheyan earnestly said.
Professor Xavier shook his head slightly.
"It's too late. I was out today because I was attending his funeral. He was killed in a car accident last week."
