Reborn with Steve Stand

Chapter 676: Attack on Xavier Academy

Although all the residents of X Academy are mutants, the original intention of its establishment was merely to be an academy for sheltering mutant children.

Since it is an academy, there are certainly rules to follow. The mutant students here attend classes during the day and follow a regular schedule, so they are mostly asleep by now as it is late at night.

Under the cover of darkness, a well-equipped army silently gathered here. They began to skillfully set up perimeter defenses, establish intercept points, and then proceeded to infiltrate the academy step by step.

In the hallway on the first floor of the academy, a mutant boy, who had gotten up to use the bathroom, noticed a shadow not far away as he walked past the hall.

"...?"

Curious, the boy approached and hesitantly greeted, "Uh... hello? May I ask who you are..."

However, what responded to him was the cold, dark muzzle of a gun. The soldier in camouflage combat gear said nothing, immediately pulling the trigger. There was a sharp sound, and several tranquilizer darts hit the boy's neck.

He didn't even have time to cry out before collapsing to the ground, unconscious.

After dealing with the boy, the soldier signaled to his comrades, and soon a flurry of footsteps echoed as more soldiers rushed in, invading in all directions.

As previously mentioned, although the residents here are all mutants, most are children and not particularly vigilant. Moreover, not every mutant has powerful abilities; some have very weak powers, such as making sugar lose its sweetness or changing the color of their own tongue—abilities that are useless in combat.

As for the combat members here, the X-Men were either out on missions, in their secret base discussing future strategies, or resting due to exhaustion. Hence, they were unaware of the current situation at the academy.

These soldiers, clearly well-trained, seemed accustomed to handling mutants. They moved in small teams, opening dormitory doors one by one, and firing tranquilizer darts at the sleeping children, sending them into a deeper sleep. It wouldn't be long before they were transferred to some lab for horrific experiments.

Soon, more than half the students were subdued. However, the soldiers then opened a door to find a student who was awake due to insomnia. Initially, they didn't pay much attention and raised their guns, intending to tranquilize her. But they quickly realized their mistake. The girl, seeing the gun, screamed in terror.

Her mutant name was Scream.

"Ahhhh!!!"

Rather than a sound wave, it was more like a direct mental assault, similar to Charles' psychic attack but much weaker. Crucially, her ability attacked indiscriminately over a wide area.

In the next moment, the entire academy was in chaos. Countless students, clutching their ears in pain, sat up in bed and saw the armed soldiers, who were also in pain.

"What is..."

The students were initially stunned but quickly understood the situation and began to flee. Some students with stronger abilities started to resist. For instance, a member of the X-Men reserves, Colossus, transformed his entire body into solid steel and punched the soldiers out of the room.

The commotion outside alerted the others in a meeting, who rushed out to assess the situation. Discovering the soldiers, the X-Men were furious. Having just captured Professor X, the soldiers were now attacking their home, prompting immediate retaliation.

With the X-Men joining the fight, the battle quickly turned. Darwin, Sean, and others worked on evacuating and calming the students, while Logan, Cyclops, and Storm focused on repelling the soldiers. Cyclops and Storm, as X-Men, were more restrained, typically knocking out or driving off the soldiers. Logan, however, was not an X-Man and, enraged by the soldiers' actions, killed several of them.

However, it was evident that Stryker had come prepared. Following the failure of the covert operation, the soldiers swiftly changed tactics. Soon, there were loud noises outside—whirring rotors, grinding treads, and synchronized footsteps. Reinforcements had arrived.

Despite the X-Men's formidable combat abilities, the soldiers fought ruthlessly, using tranquilizer guns to knock out mutants and immediately dragging them away. The rest kept the X-Men busy with modern weaponry, making it difficult for them to keep up.

Logan, less affected by tranquilizers, charged through the fire, rescuing captured students. Although he could heal quickly, the pain from his wounds remained.

"Ugh..."

After taking down three squads, he paused to catch his breath.

At that moment, Cyclops, Scott, ran over.

"The numbers are increasing."

Scott's expression was clearly tense as well: "Jean is still unconscious. Ororo is watching over her, but this can't go on. Many of the children have already been taken by them..."

"So, what do you plan to do?"

Logan resisted the urge to light a cigar and looked over at Scott.

"Where's Fang Mo?"

Scott looked around: "Darwin said he's the most powerful mutant on this planet. He saved Jean before, so if he's willing to help, we can definitely resolve this. Where is he now?"

"He seems to still be sleeping," Logan replied.

"Sleeping?" Scott was taken aback upon hearing this: "With everything happening here... you're saying he's still sleeping? How can he sleep through this?"

"How should I know?" Logan said, wiping the bloodstains off himself.

"Then I'll go find him," Scott said, turning towards the stairs. "Hold on just a bit longer..."

Before he could finish, Logan grabbed his shoulder firmly.

"I advise against it," Logan said with a furrowed brow. "Trust me, if you can solve this on your own, don't bother him. Otherwise, things might get even worse..."

"But things are already bad enough!" Scott couldn't help but shout. He was a teacher at the academy and cared deeply for every student. Seeing them taken right before his eyes, how could he not be anxious? And with Jean still unconscious, if the soldiers took her too... he couldn't even imagine the consequences.

"I'm going to find Fang Mo!"

Determined, Scott broke free from Logan's grip and ran towards the stairs.

"Hey! Wait..." Logan called out, but before he could finish, he felt a strong sense of danger and instinctively leaned back.

At that moment, a cold gleam flashed past his face.

Stepping back several paces, Logan extended his adamantium claws and looked up, spotting a woman in a leather jacket nearby.

Noticing Logan's gaze, the woman slowly raised her hands. To Logan's shock, her ten fingernails began to extend, transforming into ten long, slender silver blades.

"What!?" Logan was stunned for a moment.

But the woman didn't hesitate and lunged at him, aiming her claws straight at his face.

Logan quickly blocked with his own claws, and with a sharp clang, he realized her claws were undamaged. He instantly understood: this was the same strange alloy inside him. Who was this woman?

"Who are you?" Logan asked, "Have we met before?"

The woman remained silent. Seeing her attack blocked, she swiftly raised her other hand, slashing Logan's face and leaving five long cuts.

"Hiss..."

Logan winced in pain and kicked the woman away.

However, she was agile. Despite being kicked away, she quickly regained her balance and attacked again, slashing Logan's abdomen.

Simultaneously, Logan thrust his claws into her chest.

But the next moment, Logan's worst fear was realized. The woman, despite her severe injury, looked unfazed. She raised her other claw, preparing to attack Logan again.

"Alright," Logan sighed. "Looks like this just got a lot more complicated…"

...

Setting aside Logan for now, the scene shifts back to Scott.

Scott hasn't been at X Academy for very long, so he doesn't know as many secrets as Charles and the others. Now that the academy is facing a serious crisis, he just wants to save as many people as possible.

Thus, he thought of Fang Mo.

To be honest, Scott didn't trust him much at first.

After all, Fang Mo gave a very bad first impression, with an indescribable air of frivolity, and seemed to have some connections with Magneto's faction.

But since Fang Mo saved Jean, Scott's opinion of him changed.

Since he was willing to help save people from X Academy, he shouldn't be a bad person. Moreover, he also helped look for Professor X. It seems Mr. Darwin was right; Fang Mo indeed had a deep friendship with Professor X in the past.

So, in that case…

He probably wouldn't leave these students to die, right?

In any case, thinking this, Scott hurriedly ran to the guest room where Fang Mo was staying.

Along the way, he encountered some soldiers blocking his path, but his laser beams were among the top attacks in X Academy. Even at reduced power, it was easy to repel these soldiers.

So, it didn't take long.

He arrived outside the guest room and knocked hard on the door.

"Fang Mo! Mr. Fang Mo!"

As Scott shouted a few times, the door creaked open, and a girl in a maid's outfit stepped out.

"Mr. Scott, could you please keep your voice down?"

Ah Xue politely smiled, "The master really doesn't like being disturbed while sleeping. He might get angry with you."

"I am willing to bear the consequences."

Scott immediately replied without thinking, "The situation is urgent…"

But before he could finish, Ah Xue interrupted him with a light laugh, "The last planet that disturbed the master's rest no longer exists, you know."

"…Huh?"

Scott was stunned by these words.

But just then, footsteps were heard again from inside the room. Scott looked up and saw a little girl with long black hair walking barefoot, curiously staring at him with her purple eyes.

"What's going on outside?"

The little girl tilted her head and asked, then seemed to remember something and turned to Ah Xue, "Auntie Xue?"

"…"

Even though Scott was wearing special goggles, he could see that Ah Xue's fair face seemed to darken, a vein popping on her forehead.

"You…"

Ah Xue looked down at the little girl, seemingly wanting to scold her, but glanced at Scott, deciding to maintain her composure in front of him, she sighed deeply, "The master is really teaching her all sorts of nonsense…"

"Who are you?"

The little girl wasn't bothered and looked up at Scott, "Are you a friend of my mom's too?"

"Little one, I'm here to see Mr. Fang Mo."

Seeing the interaction, Scott guessed the little girl's situation and quickly crouched down, giving her a kind smile.

"Hmm…"

The little girl looked up at Scott, seemingly thinking about something, then suddenly extended her small hand towards him, "Give me your glasses first."

"This…"

Scott hesitated. These glasses were his power inhibitors. Without them, he couldn't control his laser beams and would have to close his eyes to avoid causing harm.

But considering the urgency, he gritted his teeth and took off the glasses.

"Here you go, little one."

Scott handed over the inhibitors, "Is this okay now?"

"Wait."

Soon, Scott heard the girl's voice again. He felt someone tugging at his clothes, guiding him forward. After about ten seconds, the hand let go.

Then, there was the sound of someone climbing onto a bed, followed by a few small calls.

"Hmm…"

Scott vaguely heard Fang Mo's voice, confirming that the little girl had indeed brought him into the room and was trying to wake him up.

Scott quickly prepared a speech in his mind, planning to tell Fang Mo the situation as quickly as possible and ask for his help to fight off the increasing number of soldiers. Tanks and helicopters were already outside, and soon, they might even bring in tanks, which would be overwhelming.

However, as Scott was preparing his speech,

"Whoa!!!"

Suddenly, Fang Mo's shocked voice echoed in the room, "Who the hell are you… Why are you in my bed!?"

"I… um…"

A panicked voice, almost crying, followed.

"…Huh?!"

Scott, still with his eyes closed, was stunned. This voice… it sounded like one of his students!