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

Charles Wiesel remained seated on the worn-out sofa, his expression complex.

"Stephen..."

Professor X spoke, his voice weary: "I thank you on behalf of those children. If it weren't for you, they probably wouldn't even have been able to leave behind a complete corpse."

Stephen Chow casually took out a cigarette, put one in his mouth, and lit it.

"This is a legitimate international rescue operation; we're all being paid by the government to do this. If you really feel bad about it, why don't you bring me a receipt later and I'll reimburse you?"

Professor X gave a wry smile but didn't respond, instead becoming serious: "I'll talk to those kids. I'll persuade them to come back to China with you. At least there they'll be treated like normal people."

Ouch?

Why is this old man being so cooperative today?!

If they brought all of these back to Bureau 749, Director Wang would be so happy he'd be rolling on the floor!

This year's Outstanding Worker award and bonus are practically guaranteed!

Stephen Chow stood up, grabbed the professor's hand, and shook it vigorously up and down.

"Rest assured, as long as they are willing to sign a contract, benefits will be arranged immediately! We will never force anyone to do dangerous work!"

......

Silent all night.

The next morning, Stephen Chow kicked Deadpool awake, who was still snoring.

"Get to work!"

Deadpool writhed on the ground, extremely unwilling: "What are you doing? What time is it? Even the donkeys in the production team need at least eight hours of sleep!"

"Stop talking nonsense! Come with me to town to do some shopping! Our department values ​​humanistic care; these new employees were so frightened yesterday, they need some good food to help them recover today, right?"

"Good performance, two points added to your practical assessment!"

Deadpool's eyes widened at the mention of bonus points: "Mission guaranteed! I'd rob a supermarket if I had to!"

Two hours later.

Westchester County, farmers market.

Stephen Chow is standing in front of a meat stall, arguing with the owner.

Deadpool followed behind, with seven or eight plastic bags hanging around his neck and two live chickens in his hands.

"Can we get reimbursed for all this stuff we bought using company funds?"

"cannot."

"Holy crap! And you're still buying so generously?"

"You don't know anything! You can't catch a wolf without risking your cub! If I can manage to lure...and bring a few back, I can double the cost of this meal from all my subsidies!"

As noon approached, barbecue grills were set up in the open space of the college.

Stephen Chow, wearing an apron, was brushing oil onto the grilled meat.

He had conscripted a wild beast, and its two large, hairy hands were skewering meat.

"Stephen, I'm a scientist with six PhDs! You're making me skewer lamb here?!"

"So what if they're scientists? Scientists need to eat too! Labor is the most honorable thing, don't you know? If you find that too much trouble, go chop some firewood for me in the back hills, and show off your muscles while you're at it!"

Soon, the aroma of roasted meat filled the air.

Several heads peeked out from the main building.

After resting, and with the reassurance of Professor X and Beast, the two big brothers, they were able to recover.

The group's mental state has clearly improved a lot.

The woman with the injured wrist was the first to come out. She looked at Zhou Xingxing, who was grilling meat, and hesitated.

Stephen Chow grabbed a handful of meat skewers and handed them over.

"Try it. It's a secret, unique seasoning. After you finish it, I guarantee you'll forget about that damn basement."

The woman took the skewer of meat and took a bite. The juices burst in her mouth, and the taste was ridiculously good.

Her eyes reddened. "Thank you."

With one person taking the lead, the rest of the group also came out of the house one after another.

Deadpool was standing next to him, holding a large metal basin, handing out trays and frantically promoting the food.

"Come on, everyone, eat more! This was personally grilled by the director of the Overseas Talent Introduction Office of Bureau 749! After this meal, we're all family!"

"From now on, I'll follow my godfather and live the high life, never having to worry about being sliced ​​up again!"

With the barbecue and Deadpool's shameless and overly friendly manner, the atmosphere quickly became lively.

Stephen Chow stood behind the grill, munching on a cigarette, watching the guys wolf down their food with a sense of accomplishment.

This is life!

What human experimentation? What capitalist exploitation?

That's utter nonsense!

Having enough to eat and a job are the most important things!

After a hearty meal.

Everyone sat on the grass to rest.

Charles, leaning on his cane, slowly walked over to Stephen Chow's side.

The old man looked quite well, but perhaps remembering his once glorious academy, he suddenly became worried again.

"I did my best."

Stephen Chow's heart skipped a beat.

What does that mean?

Has the situation changed?

"The psychological trauma they suffered was too deep; those days were a nightmare they couldn't shake off. Most of them just wanted to find a secluded place to hide away and live out the rest of their lives."

Stephen Chow frowned.

"Not a single one wants to go?"

"No." Charles pulled a few crumpled pages of paper from his pocket and handed them over.

"Three people are willing to go back to China with you."

"One of them is Pelé."

Upon hearing Pele's name, Stephen Chow breathed a slight sigh of relief. "You have good judgment! It wasn't for nothing that I saved you first."

"These are the profiles of the other two people. Take a look."

Stephen Chow took it and glanced at it.

Name: Ethan Walker

Code name: Spot

Sex: Male

Age: 17 years old

Place of birth: Cleveland, Ohio

Variant ability: Defect perception

Ability description: It can see minute cracks, metal fatigue, welding defects and material aging marks on the surface of objects that are difficult to see with the naked eye, but it cannot repair them, nor can it see through walls.

Limitations: Target must be seen in person; maximum distance is approximately 20 meters; basically ineffective on humans.

Name: Olivia Carter

Code name: Flower bud

Gender: Female

Age: 25 years old

Place of birth: Des Moines, Iowa

Mutation ability: plant growth promotion

Ability description: Increases plant growth rate by approximately 20% to 40%, alleviates pests and diseases, and improves germination rate.

Limitations: Almost ineffective against mature trees, unable to create plants, and unable to control vine attacks.

Stephen Chow folded the paper and put it in his suit's inner pocket.

It would be a lie to say I wasn't disappointed. I thought I could bring back an eight-person team in one go, but now I've cut five of them.

The sins committed by these capitalists will ultimately have to be borne by them, with their KPIs being reduced!

However, Stephen Chow didn't show it on his face at all.

He threw the cigarette butt on the ground and stomped on it.

"Forced relationships are never sweet. We don't engage in human trafficking, nor do we use moral blackmail. Anyone willing to come back with me is welcome."

"But I still need to go to Los Angeles to find Longneck and Gegebu, and hopefully Storm too. They'll be staying with you for a few more days. For those who want to leave, I'll have Deadpool send them away, how about that?"

Professor X hesitated for a moment, glancing at Deadpool who was fighting with Beast for skewers: "It's not that I don't trust you, it's just... that guy's got something wrong with him..."