In the end, Liu A'dou didn't take over as Wen Fenghuang, but he had discussed a lot with the middle-aged man, confirming the early framework of a future plan. He knew the timing wasn't right yet, so he had to endure for now. But as long as the plan succeeded, when aliens arrived, China would have a strong voice on the global stage.
The chimes of Christmas had already passed when Liu A'dou encountered people pouring out of a nearby movie theater. This was in Chinatown, probably a theater run by Chinese owners. Liu A'dou thought to himself, They really are working hard.
As his car drove by, the faces of the men and women leaving the theater were filled with smiles. The movie had been so good they felt like buying another ticket to watch it again, but unfortunately, the next showing was already sold out.
When Liu A'dou returned home, he found that Ada Wong and Elsa weren't asleep yet. They were sitting in front of the TV watching a soap opera. Seeing A'dou return, they didn't even greet him and just kept watching.
Liu A'dou glanced at the show. It was actually kind of interesting, so he sat down and watched with them.
By the time morning came, the three of them had actually fallen asleep on the sofa. Luckily, the heater was on, so they didn't catch a cold.
Now that the movie was done, Liu A'dou needed to find something else to do—like bringing Elsa to the upcoming World Summit. Liu A'dou's goal was to make Elsa the face of all mutants.
The summit was scheduled for New Year's Day, and the X-Men had been incredibly busy lately because Rogue had been taken from her home.
On top of that, a U.S. Senator had suddenly undergone genetic mutation due to some kind of special radiation.
Professor X was certain this was Magneto's doing—Magneto planned to use Rogue's ability to transform all of humanity into mutants.
Rogue could absorb life energy, powers, and memories through skin contact. Magneto's radiation machine required a massive drain of life force to operate, so his plan was to transfer his power to Rogue and have her operate the machine instead.
The cost? Rogue's life.
Wolverine, who had once traveled with Rogue and treated her like a little sister, was now desperate to find her.
But none of them had expected Mystique to disguise herself as a school staff member and sabotage Cerebro, contaminating it and leaving Professor X in a coma.
With the X-Men leaderless, it was just then that Liu A'dou and Elsa arrived. A'dou had planned to take Professor X with him to the summit, but he had walked right into a crisis.
The X-Men were at a loss. Without Cerebro, they had no way of locating Magneto.
Wolverine was especially on edge, itching to sink his claws into someone.
"Liu, your information network is pretty wide. Heard anything?" Jean Grey suddenly asked.
Storm and Cyclops both turned to look at Liu A'dou as well.
"What could a movie producer possibly know?!" Wolverine sneered, completely looking down on skinny little Liu A'dou. He just couldn't understand why everyone kept including him in their discussions.
But Liu A'dou, knowing exactly what Magneto was after, calmly said, "I'm afraid he's targeting the world leaders at the summit."
"How do you know that?" Wolverine snapped, clearly annoyed.
"It's simple," Liu A'dou replied. "Because he's Magneto—a terrorist who will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. If he can turn all the world leaders into mutants, they'll lose any justification to oppose mutants."
"But that radiation kills people," Storm pointed out. She had personally witnessed the senator turning into a puddle of sludge after being exposed to the machine—dead and beyond recognition.
"You think that high-and-mighty maniac cares? He doesn't believe his plan can fail," Liu A'dou said coldly. If all the summit leaders died, that would mean all-out war between humans and mutants.
Though Magneto claimed to fight for mutantkind, in reality, he was nothing but a short-sighted radical.
Magneto's plans were always extreme and dangerous, built on sacrificing countless lives. The mutant nation he dreamed of was nothing more than a fantasy—an unattainable utopia.
Jean Grey nodded. "I think it's very possible. That's exactly the kind of person Magneto is." Before Liu A'dou showed up, Jean had planned to try using Cerebro herself, but his visit interrupted her. Her control of the machine wasn't anywhere near Professor X's level, and forcing it might fry her brain, turning her into a vegetable.
Wolverine had feelings for Jean. Seeing her agree with Liu A'dou just made him more annoyed. "Even if Magneto's really targeting the summit, what makes you think you know where he's going to strike?"
"I'm guessing the Statue of Liberty," Liu A'dou answered calmly.
"The summit really is being held nearby," Jean confirmed. "We'd better get moving."
"I'm going too, and Elsa's coming with me. Who knows how many of Magneto's people are with him? The more of us, the better."
"No way!" Wolverine blocked Liu A'dou. "This isn't some school trip. You stay here," he snapped, glaring at A'dou. "You have no idea how dangerous mutant battles can be."
Liu A'dou just smiled. "Of course I do. But I can still help. Like flying the plane, for example. Come on, it's already dark. We need to move."
Without waiting for anyone's approval, Liu A'dou took the lead and somehow turned into the one giving orders.
"Liu, you can fly?" asked the Tinkerer, a skinny guy with round glasses and a leather apron covered in wrenches, screwdrivers, and pliers—like a living toolbox. Though not very familiar with Liu A'dou, they'd met before.
Seeing A'dou head for the cockpit, the Tinkerer rushed over to confirm, while the others caught up, all staring at Liu A'dou suspiciously.
Liu A'dou smiled slightly, flipped a few switches, and fired up the engines. The roar of the turbines said it all. "I trained in Hawaii. I'm good."
"Everybody buckle up, we're taking off."
But they weren't quite ready yet. The team had to gear up first, putting on tactical suits made from high-density polymer material, offering some level of protection.
Wolverine tugged at his collar. "Too damn tight. Do we really have to wear this?"
Liu A'dou silently sighed. Another grumpy old man. The guy was fully dressed already, yet still complaining. "Hurry up, people."
"Elsa, we don't seem to have anything in your size," Storm pointed out.
Elsa didn't even consider putting on one of those suits. She didn't wear jeans, let alone something that looked like leather tights. With a flick of her wrist, her clothes transformed into the sky-blue queen's gown from the movie. "I'm used to this."
Too flashy. The rest of the team suddenly felt outclassed. Elsa looked like she was heading to a royal ball, not a battlefield.
Wolverine, clueless about Elsa's true power, started to question whether these people were really professionals. Was this some kind of joke? Did I sign up with the Boy Scouts? But he had no time to regret it, because Liu A'dou had already lifted off.
The Tinkerer stayed behind, opening the roof of the hangar and watching them fly off.
The jet, modeled after the Blackbird, was even more advanced, with space for over a dozen people. Of course, to maximize space, the X-Jet had no built-in weapons. The mutants on board were the weapons.
"I'll approach the Statue of Liberty hugging the water. Storm, give us cover."
"No problem!" Storm's eyes glowed as she filled the sky with a dense mist, cloaking the jet.
Liu A'dou could already sense the life energy signatures on the statue. Four mutants.
Only four? he thought. Is that all Magneto brought?