"Who?"
The sudden appearance of a figure stunned everyone.
Scott and Jean were seeing Nightcrawler for the first time. They were clearly surprised by his dark blue skin, which reminded them of the shapeshifting Mystique under Magneto's command.
"Please…please don't kill me…"
Nightcrawler was kneeling on the ground, clearly terrified. He looked completely frightened and didn't dare to look at Fang Mo, stammering nervously, "I…I never intended to harm anyone…"
"Are you Wagner?"
In the end, it was Jean who spoke first, "You took Professor X, didn't you?"
"Yes…I am Kurt Wagner."
Nightcrawler nodded hurriedly, "I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't take anyone. When I came to, I was already running for my life. Some voice told me to hide and not be found by 'them'…"
"Who are 'they'?"
Scott immediately pressed for more information.
"I…I don't know…" Nightcrawler shook his head in confusion. "I don't even know why I'm running or what's happening."
"This…"
Scott frowned, "You're not faking it, are you?"
"I swear, I'm not lying!" Nightcrawler quickly defended himself. "I really don't know what's going on. I'm very scared…it's like a nightmare."
As he spoke, Nightcrawler instinctively glanced at the statue of Jesus behind Fang Mo.
"Maybe…"
Nightcrawler murmured softly, "Maybe God is testing me?"
Hearing this, Scott and Jean exchanged glances.
As if completing some silent communication, Jean stepped forward, crouched down, and gently placed her hands on Nightcrawler's head. "I'm sorry if this offends you, but I need to do this now…"
"What are you doing?"
Nightcrawler asked, bewildered.
The next second, he felt a mental force intrude into his mind.
"What…what are you doing to me?" Nightcrawler was visibly frightened. "What are you looking at? Stop, please…"
Jean didn't respond, continuing to use her ability.
Normally, she would have tried to soothe him first, but the crisis of Professor X's abduction had made her anxious. Moreover, after using Cerebro twice in a row, she felt unusually irritable.
However, this irritation seemed to enhance her abilities.
Using telepathy, she quickly saw fragments of chaotic memories.
Since her abilities were similar to Professor X's, he often taught her techniques. Jean knew these memory fragments indicated that Nightcrawler wasn't lying. His memory was indeed shattered, likely due to some form of control.
By piecing together these fragments, Jean managed to extract some useful information.
She saw a dark, damp facility filled with horrifying experimental setups and blood-stained cells. Someone was dripping liquid from a test tube onto the necks of prisoners, causing a sizzling noise.
Additionally, she saw Professor X with his eyes closed. He appeared unconscious, but it was an act. A familiar mental force had awakened Nightcrawler, leaving him with one command.
"Escape."
It was due to this psychic suggestion from Professor X that Nightcrawler had instinctively fled from the dark prison.
However, because his mind had been under the influence of some drug, his memories were fragmented and chaotic. Even Jean could only piece together a rough recollection, unable to see more detailed information.
"It seems he wasn't lying."
After examining his memories, Jean slowly released her hands.
"I wouldn't lie."
Nightcrawler quickly said, "I don't even know what's happening…who are you? Why are you looking for me?"
"To put it simply, someone used your abilities."
Jean rubbed her throbbing temples. "They controlled you to work for them, and you used your teleportation ability to…abduct Professor X from Xavier's School, who is also our mentor."
"What…what!?"
Nightcrawler was startled by this and immediately said, "I... I am sorry, but I really don't have any memory of this."
"I know."
Jean also seemed a bit troubled, "We don't mean to blame you, you are also a victim."
Originally, she thought that finding this Nightcrawler would lead them to Professor X, but unexpectedly, this Nightcrawler had amnesia, which meant the clues were now broken. Additionally, overuse of her abilities was giving her a headache.
"So what do we do now?"
Seeing this, Logan couldn't help but ask.
"Let's take him back for now."
Scott thought for a moment and then looked down at Nightcrawler, "He is also a victim. Let's take him back for treatment. Jean is already very tired, we need to go back and discuss further."
"But this is such a waste of time."
Logan said, "Didn't you say that Charles' power is very dangerous?"
"There's no other way right now." Scott replied helplessly, "Do you think we can come up with a solution just by staying here?"
"Didn't you say you were Jesus?"
Hearing Scott's words, Logan turned to Fang Mo and asked, "Can you use your divine power to find Charles directly or predict where he is?"
"If I knew everything, I wouldn't have been nailed to the damn cross."
"Alright."
Before Fang Mo could finish speaking, Logan seemed to have made up his mind and said, "If you solve this matter, I will agree to the brain surgery."
"That guy named Stryker, his lab is hidden in a dam."
Fang Mo said without hesitation.
"I knew it." Hearing Fang Mo's words, Logan was speechless and rubbed his forehead, "You really knew something!"
"Wait, did you say Stryker?"
However, upon hearing this, Scott also reacted, "You mean General William Stryker?"
"You know that guy?"
Logan turned to Scott, feeling a sudden realization, "Which Stryker?"
"In fact, we all know him."
Jean explained, "Mainly because of his son, Jason. General Stryker's son is also a mutant. A few years ago, he was sent to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters to study, but his personality was... rather bad. No one liked him, and he insisted on leaving, so he eventually left."
"General Stryker has always hated the X-Men."
Scott nodded and continued, "He thinks we deceived him because he believes that being a mutant is a disease, and Jason's disease was not cured."
"Disease?"
Logan frowned, "Even if it is a disease, it's not like we chose to have it."
"Yes." Scott sighed helplessly, "I don't want to wear these glasses every day either. But Stryker can't see that. He once stormed into the school and scared the other kids."
"So, General Stryker is really behind this?"
Jean thought aloud, "But what is his goal? To cure his son's mutant disease? Or..."
"To eliminate all mutants in the world."
Fang Mo interjected.
"Huh?!"
This sudden statement caused the expressions of everyone present to change: "Is this... really true?"
"Believe it or not."
Fang Mo shrugged indifferently.
"I think he's telling the truth." Logan, rarely siding with Fang Mo, said, "Although this guy likes to talk nonsense, he probably wouldn't lie about something like this."
"But the problem now is, which dam is his base hidden in?"
Scott couldn't help but ask, "There are too many dams in the United States. There are several large and small ones around here alone... So, do we storm in to rescue people directly? Or negotiate with him first?"
"Negotiation is definitely useless."
Logan said immediately without thinking, "If he didn't do it, he would deny it. If he did, do you think simple negotiation would work given how he argued with you before?"
"It might even make him more guarded."
Jean quickly added.
"Uh... actually."
However, at this moment, Nightcrawler, standing not far away, suddenly spoke up weakly, "If I can, I am willing to help you."
"What?"
This unexpected statement surprised everyone.
"After all, I am partly responsible for this." Nightcrawler said nervously with his head down, "You don't seem like evil mutants. If possible, I would like to make up for my past mistakes."
"Thank you for your kindness."
Jean was moved and said, "But now is not the time. Let's return to the X Academy first and figure out the exact location of the base."
"Do you know the exact location of the base?"
Logan asked again, turning to Fang Mo, "If you do, just tell us."
"I really don't know."
Fang Mo shrugged, "I told you it's just a prediction, not omniscience. True omniscience would mean knowing your browsing history, fetishes, the things you wrote as a child, your personalized signatures, app usage records, the adult content you've watched, the nonsense you've posted, the things you said when you were being a sycophant, the exact position of your prostate, and even the color of your wife's underwear... Now let me ask you again, Logan, do you really want me to be omniscient?"
"What on earth is going on in your head?"
Logan couldn't help but facepalm.
"Do you want to go in and have a look?" Fang Mo touched his chin, "I can construct dreams, so how about witnessing the glory days of the bizarre videos?"
"No."
Logan refused without thinking, "I don't want to shoot myself in the head again."
"Why are you like this..."
"Never mind, it's okay if we don't know the exact address."
While the two were bickering, Jean brought the conversation back on track, "Since we know it's General Stryker, let's go back and discuss a plan. If it doesn't work out, we can use the Cerebro amplifier."
"What?"
Scott frowned, "Jean, we should have other ways. You can't use that thing in your current state."
"It's okay, Scott, I know my limits."
However, Jean was very determined and didn't intend to listen to him.
After the discussion, everyone quickly decided to return to the X Academy first.
The return didn't take long.
Before long, they were back at the X Academy.
After explaining the situation to the others, Jean tried to use the Cerebro amplifier again. But this time it was troublesome because her mind was in an overworked state, and the side effects of using the Cerebro amplifier for the third time were greater than she had expected, causing her to pass out.
Due to the Phoenix Force, Fang Mo couldn't provide much effective treatment for her.
With the Cerebro amplifier out of commission, everyone quickly began thinking of other solutions.
Although they were mutants with various extraordinary abilities, Stryker was clearly no pushover. They spent most of the day with little success, and soon it was evening.
In the dead of night, unexpectedly, Stryker made the first move.
Under the cover of darkness, numerous well-equipped special forces soldiers quietly surrounded the entire academy, creating a tense and hostile atmosphere.