After his war of words with the mutants, Liu A'dou instantly became famous at the academy. At the very least, everyone knew who he was now—and had witnessed how sharp his tongue could be.
Professor X, however, grew even more convinced that Liu A'dou wasn't an ordinary person. To be able to speak so persuasively and turn public hostility into curiosity was no small feat.
Professor X called the teachers together to explain Liu A'dou's plan. The teachers were internally cringing, feeling like this whole scheme of tying the survival of mutantkind to something as frivolous as filmmaking and celebrity hype was utterly ridiculous.
Looking at the students the professor had trained—stubborn, rigid, dead serious—this mess would only improve once Wolverine eventually joined them, bringing some much-needed street smarts to their ivory tower.
"Professor, isn't this a bit inappropriate?" Cyclops voiced his concern.
Jean Grey agreed, frowning. "Professor, this is his idea, isn't it?"
The professor nodded, already convinced by Liu A'dou. "Mr. Liu, why don't you explain it to everyone again?"
Liu A'dou sighed. More speeches? Not even a glass of water to go with it. But then again, getting asked to speak again was a form of recognition—after all, sometimes words were deadlier than tanks or planes. Every great protagonist in every world seemed to master this supreme art of persuasion, so Liu A'dou couldn't back down now.
He explained the entire plan again. Although it made sense, the teachers just couldn't wrap their heads around it. Could this really work? Packaging mutant celebrities and making movies sounded completely unrelated to securing mutant rights.
"Professor?" They still had doubts.
Liu A'dou couldn't stand it anymore. What a bunch of indecisive cowards—how could they ever achieve anything great with this mindset? "You can stick to your old methods, but honestly, I'd say your chances of success are in the single digits. Why not take a different path, find common ground while setting aside differences?"
Professor X became even more certain Liu A'dou was Chinese. That phrase—"find common ground while setting aside differences"—was straight from Chinese diplomatic strategy.
"Take a different path… find common ground while setting aside differences…" The more the teachers thought about it, the more profound and elegant it sounded. As educated individuals, they found themselves intrigued. Even though the idea of manufacturing mutant celebrities still felt frivolous, there was one more concern: "But Professor, we don't have any experience with that world," Cyclops pointed out. These people barely watched anything beyond the news—what did they know about showbiz?
"That's not a problem. I do," Liu A'dou said confidently. He was planning a zero-cost operation—a blockbuster movie that required nothing but filming equipment. No props, no actors, no special effects. Once the movie made money, all the profit would go straight into his pocket. Distribution, theater connections—Professor X had friends all over the world. He could handle that part.
Liu A'dou's scheme was solid. He had to support his family now, and soon he'd have to support an entire army of Saints. In the original story, Saints had backing from wealthy patrons. But in this world, Liu A'dou had no land, no property, and neither Zeus nor Athena were going to pay him a salary. He had to fund it himself. And once these future Saints started taking his money, they'd think twice before biting the hand that fed them.
While Liu A'dou's plan was tentatively moving forward, Ada was starting her first day on the job.
According to her fabricated records, she had experience working in Gotham City and had completed FBI tactical training. She could've been promoted to detective, but she had applied to start as a beat cop instead—because she knew that patrol officers were the first to arrive on any scene. If she wanted to cross paths with superheroes, being on the front lines gave her the best odds. And so, Ada Wong became a frontline officer.
She drove around the district with her partner Helen, a chubby Black woman who had over ten years of experience on the force. Helen didn't seem to like Ada much, giving off an air of disdain.
White people looked down on Black people, and Black people looked down on Asians—a perfect little chain of prejudice.
Helen drove while Ada sat beside her. Neither of them spoke. They just patrolled in silence. Though it was only her first day, Ada could already feel Helen's hostility—spilling coffee on her "accidentally," taking wrong turns on purpose… but Ada was smart enough not to fall for any of it. Still, the thought of working long-term with someone like Helen was draining.
"Unit 666, report to Boston Street for a building fire. Maintain order at the scene."
"Roger that," Helen responded over the radio, flipped on the sirens, and turned the car toward the fire.
Ada didn't expect action on her very first day. She was actually looking forward to seeing what New York City had in store.
WEE-OO WEE-OO—
The fire had broken out on the fifth and sixth floors of a ten-story residential building. When they arrived, they saw dozens of residents who had already evacuated, gathered anxiously on the sidewalk.
"Everyone, step back! Move away from the street so the fire trucks can get through!"
The crowd cooperated, but their worried eyes stayed fixed on the burning building. The flames were spreading fast, threatening to reach the seventh floor at any moment.
"Dispatch, this is Unit 666. The situation is serious. Requesting immediate backup," Helen reported.
Meanwhile, Ada kept the crowd back, clearing space for the incoming fire trucks.
"Kid—!" Ada heard a desperate scream in her ear and saw a shopping bag drop onto the street, spilling its contents all over the ground. A young mother pushed through the crowd, about to charge toward the burning building.
Ada grabbed her arm. "It's too dangerous!"
"My children! My kids are still inside!" The woman struggled like a madwoman, trying to break free.
"Calm down! What floor, which unit?" Ada asked firmly.
"Sixth floor, unit two!" The woman's eyes were bloodshot with panic, but thankfully Ada's strength held her back.
Rushing in would be suicide. The sixth floor was right in the middle of the blaze, where the fire was at its worst. But Ada couldn't just stand there and watch children burn to death. "I'm going. You stay here!"
She turned and dashed into the building, leaving Helen completely stunned. Was this rookie out of her mind?
By the time Ada reached the fifth floor, the heat hit her like a wave, and her breathing grew labored. The fire was devouring the oxygen. In this situation, Ripple was useless. Ada took a deep breath and activated her Microcosmos, channeling energy through her body as she pushed through the heat.
The flames surged toward her, but the Microcosmos forced them back, allowing her to move forward. But the deeper she went, the worse the conditions became. Flames raged. The hallway was collapsing in places. One wrong step could send her falling through the floor, and debris rained down from above.
With every breath harder to take, Ada finally reached the unit, but the door was shut tight.
Apparently, the mother had left the kids home while she went shopping, never expecting a fire to break out. Now, the kids were trapped inside.
Ada reached for the doorknob—it was scorching hot. She knew the fire had likely reached the other side. If she kicked the door down recklessly, backdraft could erupt, turning both sides into a raging inferno.
She had to move fast. Ada's mind raced. She came up with an idea. She punched the wall, cracking it open, allowing the air pressure to balance between both sides. Then, with another punch, she smashed a hole right through the wall.
"Is anyone there?" She shouted.
The living room was already ablaze, but the fire hadn't reached the bedrooms yet. Squinting through the smoke, Ada listened—and heard a faint sound from one of the bedrooms.
Without hesitation, she charged through the thick smoke and slammed open the bedroom door, only to find not frightened children, but a figure in a red and blue checkered suit with a giant black spider on the chest, wearing a mask with silver-tinted lenses.
"Spider-Man?" Ada hadn't expected to run into him in the middle of a fire. Spider-Man was holding two boys, standing by the window, ready to leap.
"Officer, it's too dangerous. Get out now," Spider-Man called as he jumped out the window with the two kids.
Just then, the fire flared up again. The open window sucked in fresh air, fueling the flames like a shark scenting blood, surging straight toward the bedroom.
Ada cursed under her breath but suddenly heard another sound from the wardrobe. Was there someone else?
She rushed over and opened the wardrobe to find a little girl, about nine years old, trembling inside. Clearly, the two boys Spider-Man had just rescued were her brothers.
The girl was on the verge of passing out. Ada didn't have time to hesitate. She scooped the girl up and, copying Spider-Man, leaped toward the window.
Meanwhile, Spider-Man had just returned the boys to their mother, who collapsed to the ground in relief, clutching her sons. But the mother suddenly cried out, "Where's Lina? Where's Lina?"
Spider-Man froze. Was there still another child inside?
Everyone gasped in shock. Just as they were celebrating Spider-Man's heroics, another figure jumped from the building, and the crowd instinctively covered their eyes in fear.
Ada, clutching the girl tightly, thought to herself, Don't just shout "God"—someone catch us already!
Spider-Man noticed the commotion and looked up, but before he could react, Ada had already taken matters into her own hands. Out of nowhere, she pulled out a pair of handcuffs, and with breathtaking precision and timing, she locked one cuff around her wrist and threw the other end onto a security grate outside a third-floor window.
Click! Everyone heard the unmistakable sound of the cuff locking in place as Ada dangled from the third-floor window, holding the girl securely.
"Lina!" The mother's legs wobbled as she stood up again, her body surging with maternal instinct.
"Get them down!" the firefighters yelled as they rushed forward, but Spider-Man was faster. One leap, and he was at the third floor in an instant.
Ada's stunt had everyone holding their breath. This female officer was incredible—who would've thought to use handcuffs like that? Even Spider-Man felt a bit ashamed. As a mutant himself, his instincts hadn't been half as sharp or as steady as this rookie cop's. If it weren't for her, that little girl might've died because of his oversight.
"Take the girl to her mother. The firefighters will get me down," Ada said to Spider-Man.
Spider-Man nodded. "Thank you."
"It's my job," Ada replied. If Liu A'dou hadn't kept nagging her to keep a low profile, this wouldn't have been half as troublesome.
Spider-Man returned the girl to her mother. Before leaving, he glanced back one last time at Ada, who was now being carefully rescued by firefighters using the ladder truck. Something told him this wouldn't be their last meeting.
With that, Spider-Man turned and leapt away, swinging through the city skyline on his web, quickly vanishing into the steel jungle of New York.