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*****
Charles, Logan, and the crisis surrounding those mutant children were temporarily resolved.
The mastermind behind it all was dead.
The strongest Z-weapon had been taken out by Mike; a large number of Y-weapons had been destroyed as well, and the Alkali Genetic Modification Institute's power was greatly reduced.
Logan and Charles had recovered their strength; they could once again fight for mutants for decades to come.
Every one of those outcomes was worth celebrating.
So after the battle, right on that cliff, they celebrated all night long.
Late at night, after the children had fallen into exhausted sleep and Charles and Logan were also fast asleep, Mike poked Gwen.
Gwen, who had been pretending to sleep, immediately woke. She looked reluctantly at the friend she had spent months with, then set a photo of the two of them down beside Laura and quietly slipped out with Mike.
"Dad, we don't need to help anymore?"
"No."
With Charles here, these children would be safe.
"Oh."
Gwen answered gloomily.
Mike ruffled Gwen's hair and asked, "You don't want to?"
"Mm — everyone's our friend!"
"But you had many friends in my world too. Don't you miss them?"
Gwen blushed and smiled sheepishly.
Well, these past few months had been very enjoyable; she hadn't really thought much about Peter and the others.
She put her hands together and mouthed a few quiet apologies in her heart.
Mike took out the wristband-like time-space device, handed one to Gwen, and put the other on his own wrist.
A few days earlier he had adjusted the device the way Tony had taught him; now all he needed was to press the button to leave.
Strick was dead. Although the Alkali Institute wouldn't completely collapse overnight, it would certainly be in turmoil for some time.
Mike had obtained a large amount of research material from Dr. Rice; he'd prepared a copy for Charles as well — it should prove helpful.
Beyond that, he'd collected extensive evidence of human experimentation. Once those records went public, they would cause a significant stir.
As for the genetically modified crops that erased mutant genes — Charles and the others had learned about them too and would surely find a way to handle the problem.
Regarding Dr. Rice himself, Mike left the decision to Charles. After some consideration, Charles spared him for the time being, asking Rice to help develop an antidote to reverse the effects of the GM crops.
Mike had done everything he could; the rest would be for Charles and Logan to handle.
"Let's go."
Mike said lightly, then turned to look at the house behind them once more — and froze.
Heads of all sizes were pressing out from the doorways and windows, staring at the two of them. Faces were filled with gratitude.
Seeing Mike still motionless, Gwen turned and looked too. Seeing everyone's expressions, her eyes reddened; she waved to the others.
Mike smiled, squeezed Gwen's hand, and called to the group, "Goodbye!"
He had not planned to say farewell, but he'd been stopped.
"Thank you! Mr. Kent!"
Amid the chorus of thanks, Mike and Gwen pressed the buttons on their time-space devices.
Space fractured. A passage appeared behind them and pulled the two of them in.
Watching the pair vanish, some children burst into tears, some continued frantically waving, while Laura clutched the photo Gwen had left and forced a smile.
They would see each other again — that was certain.
"Charles, why did Mike and the others come all the way here to help us? Are they from another world? What did they want?"
Laura had already told him that Mike and the others were from a different world.
Over this time together, Charles and Laura had grown closer; they were increasingly like father and daughter.
Charles did not answer at once. He said quietly, "Logan, do you have a father?"
"Of course — who doesn't?" Logan replied.
Charles smiled and suddenly said, "Mike is a good father."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Logan looked puzzled, but Charles only smiled mysteriously.
A few seconds later, Logan, now sullen-faced, asked, "What do we do next?"
Charles replied calmly, "First, publish the human experiment documents and stir public opinion. Then we'll gather the remaining mutants, choose a new country, and rebuild the school."
"All right!"
…
Mike's house.
In the empty living room, space suddenly split open; Mike and Gwen were squeezed out of the time-space corridor.
Aside from changes in their clothing — and the fact that Gwen looked a bit older — they were much the same as when they had left.
The house was still the same house.
Mike put the time device away, asked Gwen for her device back, and slipped it into a dimensional pocket.
"I'm going upstairs!"
Gwen called as she dashed up.
She wanted a shower, then to see her friends.
When they left the other world it had been night there, but in this world it was daytime. Since she had to reset her body clock anyway, she decided not to sleep.
She was eager to see her friends.
"You slow down!"
Mike shook his head with a chuckle and went to his own room.
But the moment he entered, he sensed something was off.
His super-vision turned on. He swept the room, checked the date, and couldn't help but pat his forehead.
It looked like something big had gone wrong — that Gwen…
A thought had barely formed in his head when Gwen barreled into Mike's room screaming.
She stared at Mike in disbelief. "Dad — time, time…"
Mike sighed, feeling a little embarrassed. He rubbed his head and laughed awkwardly, "Haha, I seem to have made a small mistake while tuning the time-space device."
"A small mistake? This is not a small mistake!" Gwen wailed, face twisted. "This is six months later. Didn't you say we'd only jump a few minutes?"
"So… it's just a small mistake…"
"Why don't we go back again?"
Mike shook his head. "No need. It's fine."
He wouldn't risk trying to traverse again. If the first jump had been only minutes after they left the Wulfen world, another attempt might cause another error; if they misjumped twice and used up the energy, they might be unable to return — that would be a real problem.
Gwen pursed her lips and, after a long moment, said helplessly, "But this way I've grown half a year for nothing."
"Foolish girl."
Mike looked at her with mock exasperation. "Even if you had crossed back, you still would have aged by half a year."
They had stayed in the Wulfen world for over six months…
Gwen thought for a moment and muttered, "True. Even if we had gone back ten years, that half-year wouldn't come back."
With that, she mumbled and left Mike's room.
First she would take a shower; she was so annoyed she could scream!
Gwen stamped her foot in a huff.
(End of chapter)