After Fang Mo sealed the Dark Phoenix, the crisis at X Academy was temporarily resolved.
However, there remained a host of follow-up issues, such as how to explain the previous commotion caused by the battle between the Dark Phoenix and Fang Mo to the U.S. military.
Their fight was unbelievably intense, involving them uprooting a mountain to use as a weapon. The destruction was terrifying, drawing attention not just from the U.S. military but seemingly the whole world.
The chaos caused by Fang Mo and the Dark Phoenix was so exaggerated that even if X Academy wanted to cover it up, it seemed beyond their capability. Unless Charles were willing to abandon his principles and erase memories, which he clearly was not willing to do.
Fang Mo was also uninterested in dealing with the high-ranking U.S. officials, leaving the X-Men to handle the mess. Charles, Darwin, and Storm were extremely busy managing the aftermath of this incident. While Fang Mo's god-like strength allowed him to be above it all, they could not afford to do the same.
The influx of high-ranking visitors, whom they could not afford to offend, left everyone exhausted.
But the current problem extended beyond just the Dark Phoenix. The battle site had indeed alarmed some top leaders, but even before this, X Academy had killed many U.S. soldiers sent by Stryker, with Fang Mo showing no mercy. Now, the military demanding an explanation was another headache.
These two issues alone were already overwhelming the X-Men. And at this critical moment, it seemed Magneto was planning something again. According to intelligence gathered by Storm, there was an important United Nations summit this week with over 200 world leaders attending, held on an island called Ellis near the Statue of Liberty in New York.
Magneto's plan, as revealed by Senator Kelly's memories, was to use a genetic mutation machine to turn all these leaders into mutants. Despite their hatred for mutants, they wouldn't likely commit suicide once transformed. Politicians, with their self-serving natures, would pursue whatever benefits them.
Magneto's plan was clear, but his machine was flawed. If activated, it would cause genetic collapse, killing everyone and turning it into the worst terrorist attack in history, making even the most infamous acts seem minor.
Such an act would push mutants to a dead end, intensifying the conflict between humans and mutants to an extreme, life-or-death struggle.
Thus, the X-Men had to stop his insane plan. They had to manage the battlefield, negotiate with the military, and persuade Magneto to stop. However, there were only a few resident X-Men at the Academy, leading to a severe manpower shortage.
Fortunately, Charles sought help from others, and soon, many old X-Men members returned to alleviate the pressure, showcasing Charles' strong influence.
When the original X-Men saw Fang Mo, they were visibly shocked, with Banshee Sean even vomiting on the spot, claiming it was due to age and motion sickness, though everyone knew he was traumatized by Fang Mo's voice attack.
Their arrival gave Charles some relief, but the respite was brief as the high U.S. officials were agitated again, this time over the leak of information about an extinction-level meteor heading towards Earth, causing widespread panic.
Charles had to personally address this, planning to discuss cooperation with the U.S. President. The series of troubles were overwhelming, and with Jean Grey's sacrifice, everyone felt the burden heavier than ever.
As the staff for repairing the mansion was insufficient, Alex suggested seeking Fang Mo's help, which nearly led Logan to tear his mouth apart. Surprisingly, Fang Mo seemed indifferent to the idea.
Sitting on a bench and looking at the original X-Men, Fang Mo asked, "You want me to help? Seriously?"
"No, they were joking."
Logan glared at Alex, who was not far away, and said directly to Fang Mo, "We can handle these matters ourselves. The only thing you need to do is to stop causing us any more trouble."
"Who are you saying is causing trouble?"
Fang Mo raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.
"Am I causing trouble?"
Logan, with a darkened face, said, "I shouldn't have fought in that underground arena in Canada. I just wanted to have a drink, but now I've ended up with a huge mess."
"This isn't something I started," Fang Mo shrugged. "I was just minding my own business here. They came to provoke me one by one—Stryker, the Dark Phoenix..."
"That's what really bothers me."
Logan couldn't help but say, "It's like trouble automatically finds you the moment you appear."
"Emmm..."
Fang Mo pondered slightly after hearing this, "Actually, it has nothing to do with me. Even if I didn't show up, Magneto would still mess with that machine, Stryker would still attack the X-Men, and the Dark Phoenix waking up was only a matter of time."
"So you saw these future events and came here specifically to resolve them?"
Logan was suddenly taken aback.
"What you said makes sense," Fang Mo leaned back in his chair and said, "But now that the major problems have mostly been resolved, don't look for me to clean up the mess. Don't waste my time reading books."
"Reading books?"
Logan looked at Fang Mo strangely. To him, it seemed like Fang Mo didn't have any books at hand and was just daydreaming and sunbathing. "What book are you reading?"
"The Art of Craftsmanship."
Fang Mo lazily yawned. He had just unlocked a new crafting module, so of course, he had to read the book: "But only those I've dealt with can see this book..."
"Then keep it to yourself."
Logan felt a bit speechless but didn't bother to argue further.
Having regained his memory, Logan recalled that Fang Mo had always been so mysterious. As long as he didn't cause any more trouble, that was fine. After all, Logan had a lot of things to handle. Thinking this, Logan turned to leave.
"Wait."
Just as Logan was about to leave, Fang Mo suddenly called out to him.
"What else do you want..."
Logan turned back, wanting to say something, but as soon as he spoke, he noticed Fang Mo striking a strange pose on the chair.
Fang Mo's clothes suddenly transformed into a blue mechanic's uniform. He sat on the bench with his legs naturally apart, one hand casually draped over the backrest, and with the other hand, he slowly unzipped his collar, revealing a solid, broad chest.
"Yaranaika?"
Fang Mo's expression suddenly became profoundly enigmatic.
"...Huh?"
Everyone was taken aback, having not seen Fang Mo for decades, and they were momentarily confused, standing there dumbfounded.
"What kind of nonsense are you up to now?"
Among those present, only Logan couldn't help but ask.
Hearing Logan's words, Fang Mo smiled slightly, then reached into his pants and pulled out a large, thick black staff.
"This…"
Alex, who was beside him, couldn't help but ask, "What is this?"
"Oh, this is the Staff of the Silver Guardian... cough, the Gatekeeper's Staff."
Fang Mo explained seriously, "The gate here refers to a broad concept, such as the gate between life and death... By the way, your brother's death must have been hard for you, right?"
At this point, before Alex could respond, Fang Mo raised his hand again and pulled out a heavy tome with a blue-black cover, inscribed with indecipherable characters.
With the sound of heavy objects falling, everyone looked up and noticed several dark altars had appeared around them.
"…Huh?"
Seeing this, Logan suddenly reacted, "Wait, are you going to…"
Yes, during Stryker's invasion of the academy, Fang Mo had demonstrated this technique in front of him, reviving a long-dead soldier to interrogate him. The power to control life and death had deeply shocked Logan, leaving a strong impression.
Seeing Fang Mo pull out these familiar altars again, Logan immediately understood his intention.
Just as Logan thought, Fang Mo took out a nameplate, scribbled a few characters on it, then tossed it into the altar and began casting spells from the Abyssal Book.
As pure energy continuously flowed into the altar, the dark resurrection ritual commenced.
Blasphemous whispers filled the air, causing everyone to feel dizzy, disoriented, and somewhat unreal, as if they were in the deepest layer of a dream.
In this hazy and surreal perception, they saw ancient, timeless characters come to life, whispering, flickering, and dancing in the air. The sky inexplicably darkened, twisted stars mirrored the characters, together praising a great being.
Everyone felt a splitting headache.
Fortunately, the ritual ended shortly after.
With a flash of black light, a familiar figure appeared in the center of the altar.
Everyone instinctively looked forward, only to be shocked to find that the person was none other than the supposedly dead Cyclops, Scott.
However, Scott seemed a bit strange; his eyes were closed, and he puckered his lips as if waiting for a kiss, with an affectionate expression on his face.
"…"
The group was initially shocked by Scott's resurrection, but seeing this scene left them speechless.
Especially Alex, Scott's older brother, who found it unbearable to witness his brother's "air kissing" act, covered his face in despair, and choked back his words.
"Jean, my dear~"
At that moment, Scott spoke tenderly, "I am ready, come to me."
"…"
Logan, having spent a lot of time with Fang Mo, had developed a higher tolerance. He darkened his face and said, "Can someone give him a good slap?"
"I'll do it!"
Alex couldn't hold back anymore, stepping forward to slap Scott.
The slap made Scott stagger backward. As Alex was his brother, he immediately took out a pair of glasses, placed them on Scott's shoulders, and put them on him.
"…Alex?"
With the glasses on, Scott opened his eyes and was stunned, "Uh… why are you all here? What's going on? Where's Jean?"
"Hehe, she's in Charles' toilet..."
"Shut up!"
Before Fang Mo could finish, Logan gave him a fierce glare, then stepped forward to Scott, "Scott, here's what happened…"