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

Stephen Chow's fingers, holding the microphone, rubbed back and forth against the casing.

I tried different grips twice but still couldn't find a comfortable position.

In a daze, he saw the Las Vegas underground base again, with Luke curled up in a corner, his thin shoulder blades pressed against the wall.

After waiting for a few minutes, Professor Jiang Si grew impatient: "Are you planning to hold on until next year?"

"What do you know? I'm getting into character mode! Professional actors have to get into character before they even start singing."

"What are you doing as an actor when you're a secret agent who sells pork?"

Stephen Chow ignored him, composed himself, and held the microphone close to his mouth:

"Luke, you once asked me what mutants really are. I didn't answer then because the cafeteria was open for lunch, and ribs were more important than philosophy."

"Later I figured it out. The word 'mutant'... let the reforms go, but we can't lose people, people are the foundation."

Professor Jiang Si stared intently at the screen: "Go on, keep going! Don't stop!"

"Shut up! I'm just getting into the swing of things! Can't you respect my feelings? If you interrupt again, I'll call Wenxi over to discuss science with you!"

Professor Jiang Si shut his mouth.

Zhou Xingxing cleared his throat and said gently, "You did a great job guarding the three acres of forest and the firebreak; the organization is preparing to apply for an award for you. But I'm angry that you've made yourself like this."

The blue waveform rises, with a higher amplitude than before.

"It's fine if you stay behind to shield yourself from the fire; I would have stayed too if I were there. But you didn't even leave yourself a way out!"

"Your company brought you back from the United States to process your immigration status and assign you a job. The Academy of Agricultural Sciences has reserved a workspace for you, and your colleagues ask you every two days when you're going back."

"And you, you can't fly anymore, you can't see, and you open your mouth and say you're worthless! So all the paperwork we did for you was just a waste of paper, and we were all just playing around?"

"Even if you lose two wings, get a new arm, and have your eyes replaced, the organization will still recognize you. If you dare to resign without permission, I'll treat it as absenteeism!"

The waveform on the screen spiked, several data lines crossed the warning markers simultaneously, and red lights lit up one after another.

Jiang Si rushed to the control panel to switch channels, almost throwing Xiao You off his shoulder.

"week…"

Stephen Chow gripped the microphone tightly: "I'm here, speak slowly."

"Brother Zhou...you're still...so noisy."

Professor Jiang Si quickly took notes: "Success! Consciousness feedback and semantic recognition are perfectly matched, it's a success!"

Stephen Chow moved the microphone further away, ran his thumb across the bridge of his nose, and when he spoke, he reverted to his usual irritating tone.

"Look at you! You've barely learned to speak and you're already attacking your superiors! This kind of thinking is extremely dangerous. Once you recover, you'll have to write an 8,000-word self-criticism, and it'll be sent back for rewriting even if you're missing a single punctuation mark!"

"I won't write it."

"You've gone too far! You're staying in a state-owned hospital room, using state-owned electricity, and you dare refuse reasonable requests from your superiors?"

"Damn it! Shut up! Don't break his newly reconnected nerves!"

Frustrated, Jiang Si reached out and blocked the microphone: "Only the speech center is connected right now! All motion signals are locked. He can't open his eyes, turn his head, or move his fingers. Say something comprehensible!"

Xiao You peeked out from Jiang Si's shoulder and gave Zhou Xingxing the middle finger.

Zhou Xingxing looked at Luke through the glass, his words circling around in his throat, but in the end, only a few sentences that didn't sound like something a leader would say.

"If it hurts, say so. If you're scared, say so too. Stop trying to be brave. There's no rule in the company that heroes can't cry out in pain."

"it is good."

"Don't try to scare people with that body donation nonsense. Professor Jiang didn't accept it, and I won't sign it either. You can provide more research data while you're alive than you can in a culture tank."

"Brother Zhou, I was just..."

"Just what? Just that you can't waste your time after a failure? Who taught you that ridiculous logic?"

The speaker fell silent for a moment, then the static lessened considerably: "I will live."

"That's more like it. After you get out of here, I'll take you out to play. The Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace—you can choose yourself. I'll save you a window seat."

"Is it reimbursed?"

Stephen Chow's face immediately fell: "Who taught you this? Someone in the hospital ward is giving you financial training?"

The speakers were silent for a moment.

"You."

Professor Jiang Si snatched the microphone and pressed the hibernation button with his thumb: "Initial power-on has reached its limit, neural response is stable, prepare to resume drug induction."

Stephen Chow looked at the motionless person inside through the glass: "Sleep well, cooperate properly, I'll wake you up later."

"Brother Zhou..."

"What? You don't want to write the self-criticism? We can discuss it. I'll reduce it from 8,000 words to 7,900."

"Thanks."

After saying this, the mayfly fell into a deep sleep.

Zhou Xingxing watched as Professor Jiang Si randomly clicked on the control panel, looking exactly like when he was piloting the X-Men shuttle.

Before he could say anything, he was kicked out of the room by the energetic professor.

Looking back at the door guarded by Xiao You, Zhou Xingxing felt somewhat depressed.

What kind of behavior is it to use someone and then kick them away?

After changing back into his suit, Stephen Chow went outside and looked up.

Goodness, there isn't a single building around here that I recognize.

The gray-white buildings are lined up along the foot of the mountain, without any unit names.

The house numbers are marked only with letters and numbers, and there are double sentry posts at each intersection.

Mobile maps are more convenient; the surrounding area is completely empty.

Stephen Chow circled around twice, and the access control turned red every time he swiped it.

How come a high-ranking official like him only has the authority to breathe freely in the corridor?

Just as he was about to ask someone for directions, the sunlight overhead was blocked by a large shadow.

Looking up, Zhou Xingxing, squinting, only saw a dark shadow falling from the sky.

Zhou Xingxing stepped aside, his right hand resting on the butcher's knife: "What kind of monster is this! How dare you attack a section-level cadre in a key national research zone!"

"Boom!"

A dark shadow crashed down in front of him, revealing the face of the Moon Boy through thick hair, with a temporary pass for the research area hanging on his chest.

"Zhou, I've missed you so much!"

The hug from the Moon Boy made Stephen Chow's chest throb several times, and his hat was pushed askew to his ear.

"Let go! You can miss me, but don't send me away!"

The Moon Boy quickly let go of him, chuckling, "Zhou, did you come to see me?"

Hearing this, Stephen Chow nodded without even blushing: "Of course, how are you doing here?"

"This place is great, we get meat every day! Two kilograms in the morning, three kilograms at noon, and even beef leg for dinner!"

The Moon Boy counted on his fingers: "I've learned welding and lathe operation these past few days!"

"I was wondering why you smelled so good here, and I was just thinking of coming out for a stroll. I never expected you would actually come to see me!"

Before he could resist, the Moon Boy grinned, grabbed Stephen Chow's sleeve, and headed towards another laboratory building.

"Come on, I'll show you around my studio!"