American comic: From Beijing with Love, starting with a mutant.

What you're saying sounds like a utopia. But... I don't believe it.

Upon hearing this, Stephen Chow became furious.

"Hey! I have a short temper! Our Huaxia 749 Bureau is a legitimate state-owned enterprise with full staffing! Seven types of insurance and three types of housing funds! Weekends off! High-temperature allowance! Scan this QR code! See it clearly? Enterprise Credit Information Disclosure System! Electronic business license with the national emblem watermark!"

"Would I cheat you out of those two aluminum canes? Those two broken sticks wouldn't even fetch enough to buy a bowl of potato noodles if you sold them at the scrap yard!"

Zhou Xingxing held his phone screen directly to Charles's nose. A pop-up window appeared on the screen saying "Cut your money on Pinduoduo and you're only 0.01 yuan away from withdrawal." He frantically swiped it open and showed his license again.

"It's not that I don't trust your organization, it's that I don't believe America would release people so easily, and I don't believe I can leave."

The professor waved his hand, stopping Stephen Chow from taking out his phone.

"Stryker's eyes, and all those eyes above, are on me. If I step out of this manor, a missile can be here in ten minutes."

"That's so exciting?" Stephen Chow stroked his chin. "Then your security is terrible."

Professor X looked at the Beast: "Hank, go and get that black leather notebook from my desk."

The beast grunted reluctantly and rummaged through a pile of tattered cardboard boxes in the corner, pulling out a crumpled notebook.

Professor X took the notebook, pulled a pencil from his suit pocket, scribbled a few words on the paper, tore it off, and handed it to Stephen Chow.

"I can't leave. But I hope you can do me a favor," Charles said, looking at him. "Take these three children away."

"Your handwriting looks like a doctor writing a prescription. What is this? Gloucester? Long Neck? Bailey Hoskins? Are these all online names?"

Professor X sighed: "Among mutants, they are the most marginalized and marginalized. Nobody needs them, not even the Brotherhood. I only ask that you give them a bite to eat, nothing fancy, just enough to keep them from starving."

"A marginal person?" Stephen Chow perked up and rubbed his hands together.

"I love turning trash into treasure—no, I mean, I love recognizing and utilizing talent! Tell me, what earth-shattering, awe-inspiring skills do these three possess? Can they tear apart an aircraft carrier with their bare hands or capture a Decepticon alive?"

Deadpool leaned closer, craning his neck to look at the note: "I bet this guy called Longneck can stretch his neck out! He'll use it to peep into the women's bathhouse! I've seen that script!"

Charles ignored him: "The ability to have a long neck is indeed to stretch the neck. The limit is... 1.8 meters."

The basement was silent for two seconds.

Stephen Chow blinked: "1.8 meters? What kind of ability is that? Are you going to busk under a pedestrian bridge performing as a giraffe? Or become a cautionary tale for orthopedic hospitals about cervical spondylosis?"

"Because of his unusual appearance, he couldn't find a job and used to have to pick up trash on the streets." The professor closed his eyes, his tone heavy with sorrow.

"Picking up trash? That's a real talent! Our neighborhood property management is desperately short of people like him who can repair streetlights and unclog drains! No need for a ladder, he can just stick his 1.8-meter neck into the green belt to remove a hornet's nest! This job is guaranteed! The base salary during the probation period is 2,500 yuan, plus room and board!"

The wild beast listened in silence.

Cleaning up a hornet's nest?

Do you think mutants are like monkeys in a wildlife park?!

Stephen Chow pointed to the second name: "What about this one called Gegebu? The name sounds like she's from an ethnic minority group."

“Robert Herman,” Charles explained, “a man. His body… was transparent pink bio-paraffin. You could see his bones and internal organs directly. People called him ‘The Torch of the Inhumans’ because he was extremely flammable, he would ignite at the slightest touch.”

"Pink and transparent? You can even see the internal organs?" Deadpool gasped.

"If I were to get an endoscopy, I could save on the registration fee! But this attribute isn't ideal; it might attract the fire department's attention and get my water meter checked."

"Flammable?" Stephen Chow's eyes lit up. "This is a natural human-shaped charcoal grill for hot pot restaurants! Or you could use it to start a fire in a steel mill's blast furnace!"

"No, he just wants to raise chickens," Charles interrupted Stephen Chow's grand plan.

"His biggest dream is to be a chicken farmer. He used to be in Hellfire Academy, where he was used as cannon fodder. He escaped and is now hiding on an abandoned farm, where he doesn't even have the money to buy chicken feed."

"Raising chickens? What an ambition! Our Academy of Agricultural Sciences is just worried about who will incubate our newly bred free-range chickens! With his fiery temperament, he could just sit in a pile of eggs and use it as a constant-temperature incubator! We'd even save on electricity! I'll arrange a 'Master Poultry Breeding Technician' position for him right away!"

Professor X was stunned.

How come he never noticed before that these abilities are in high demand?

"And the last one?" Stephen Chow tapped the note.

"Bailey Hoskins. That name sounds like a villainous big boss. What are his abilities? Telekinesis? Or laser beams?"

Professor X remained silent for a long time, so long that Deadpool couldn't help but yawn.

"Pele's ability... is self-destruction."

"Self-destruct? That's impressive! If you encounter a tough opponent, you can just take them both down with you! How powerful is it? Could it flatten a building?"

"It's very powerful. But..." Charles looked at Stephen Chow, "he can only explode once."

"One burst?" Stephen Chow picked at his ear. "You mean, he's done with his skill and then he's dead?"

"Yes. His body structure cannot withstand the remodeling after the explosion. Once he activates his ability, he will be completely annihilated."

Professor X smiled wryly: "Because of this ability, he was extremely insecure. He dared not make friends, dared not get angry, for fear that he would blow himself up in a fit of anger."

"Damn it!" Stephen Chow jumped up from the sofa and pointed at Charles, cursing loudly.

"You old man, you have no sportsmanship! You want me to recruit a disposable item? Is this hiring a worker or a terrorist?!"

"I'm paying for his social insurance and housing fund. If someone steps on his foot on his first day at work and he gets so excited that it 'bangs', our bureau's funeral expenses won't even cover it! We'd have to pay out of pocket in compensation! You're really exploiting our socialist system!"

Deadpool nodded frantically beside him: "Exactly! He's even less reliable than me! At least I can put myself back together after I break, but his just leaves ashes after he explodes! Even the cleaning lady finds it too much trouble!"

"I know this is asking the impossible. Bailey is a good kid, he never intended to hurt anyone. He just... wanted to live. In America, he would either be captured by the military and used as a suicide bomber, or one day he would lose control in fear. Only you... only you, Stephen, you just said you don't use mutants as weapons. I'm begging you, give him a chance."

Zhou Xingxing scratched his hair in frustration and stuffed the tattered note into his pocket.

"Alright, alright, stop with this melodramatic farce! It makes me sound like some evil capitalist. One-time use is one-time use, so what? I'll just send him to the deep mountains and forests to be a forest ranger. Anyway, you'll never see a ghost there, so even if I wanted to explode, no one would care."

Stephen Chow pointed at him: "Let's get this straight, taking these three people with me is to settle some old problems for you. Taxi fare, agency fee, and compensation for the exhaustion of this international business trip... you'd better give me a proper invoice today to reimburse me!"