The dilapidated Lincoln pulled over to the side of the road, and Logan and the others got out of the car one by one.
"Hey, just park it at the entrance, okay?"
The parking attendant looked warily at the Lincoln, whose windows were shattered and body was riddled with bullet holes, and couldn't help but remind them.
Logan paid him the parking fee after getting out of the car and nodded.
Then, they took Charles and Miles out of the car, placed them in wheelchairs, and Logan and Caliban pushed them towards the hotel casino.
Laura, wearing children's sunglasses, was clearly seeing so many people for the first time and looked around curiously, wanting to see more.
"Let's go, stop looking." Logan pushed Charles past him, reminding her.
"Logan." Miles, in the wheelchair, suddenly spoke, "I just saw the medicine Charles hid in the seat crack of the back seat."
That was medicine used to suppress Charles's seizures, but it tasted terrible, and Charles always secretly threw it away for various reasons, tricking Logan into thinking he had taken it.
"Oh, sh*t!" Logan cursed, let go of the wheelchair, and went back to the car to look for the medicine.
He didn't have much medicine left, nor much money, so he had to conserve every bit.
"Miles!" Charles said helplessly, "This isn't good… Family members should be considerate of each other…"
"Shut up, Charles!" Logan turned around and snapped, interrupting Charles's statement.
So Charles could only glare resentfully at Logan, then at Miles, like a child who had done something wrong.
Miles was unmoved by this, his gaze silently sweeping around the casino.
Exquisitely decorated domes, dazzling chandeliers, a sparse flow of guests, and… countless electronic devices.
Within the immediate vicinity alone, Miles detected no less than five cameras.
"Good, this place is good…"
Miles's lips curled slightly, a hint of coldness flashing in his eyes, and at the same time, the cerebrospinal fluid extractor on the back of his head lit up with a faint red glow.
…
In the hotel mall, the group changed into new clothes and then booked two suites as temporary resting places.
Charles, Laura, and Miles, the old and the young, stayed in the hotel room, while Logan and Caliban prepared in another room.
"Bang!"
On the TV, a cowboy shot down the man in front of him, then smiled.
"This movie is very famous, Laura… It's over a hundred years old…"
Charles carefully explained the Western movie to Laura, who listened, half understanding.
"Miles, what are you thinking?" Charles then turned to Miles and asked, "You've been very quiet since just now, even speaking those words I don't understand very rarely. Frankly, this isn't like you. Is something on your mind?"
"I'm trying to connect to the internet, Professor." Miles fiddled with Gabriela's phone in his hand, "You know, personal phones have internet connectivity. I'm trying to see if my new ability can connect to the internet through a phone."
"I need to correct you, Miles. That's not your new ability, but your inherent potential. It's just that you may have never tried it in this way before." Charles said.
"Mm." Miles nodded, "I don't recall being conscious much in the lab. The few times I was, they only ordered me to try using my ability to 'control' others for tests."
"I guarantee, if they knew you had the ability to manipulate electronic devices, they would be regretting it bitterly by now." Charles chuckled, "Unfortunately, they no longer have the chance."
Miles said nothing more, but silently added in his heart.
That's not necessarily true.
"So, how's your attempt to connect to the internet?" Charles continued to ask.
"Not good." Miles shook his head, "I can directly control this phone to connect to the internet, but I cannot directly influence the 'information' on the network, because physically, it's too far from me."
"Mobile networks in cities are realized through signal base stations spread throughout the city." Charles asked, "Can you sense where the signal base stations are here?"
"On the building to the south." Miles replied.
At the same time, a kilometer away from the group, the signal base station on the building suddenly stopped operating. Consequently, everyone's mobile network in the vicinity collectively lagged for a moment.
As Miles restored the base station's operation, everything returned to normal, and only a few people even noticed the entire process.
"It seems you succeeded." Charles chuckled.
"Sort of." Miles said, his heart stirring.
A group of people appeared in a camera outside the casino, most of whom had metal-textured mechanical prosthetics, holding firearms, looking fierce and menacing.
In one of the cars, Miles also "saw" a familiar face.
Zander Rice.
"They're here."
…
At the same time, in another room, Logan was tidying Gabriela's belongings when he found a comic book in her bag, "Uncanny X-Men."
"…" Logan was silent for a moment, then took off his glasses and got up and walked into the room where Charles and Laura were.
He first glanced at the movie playing on the TV, then picked up the comic book and asked Laura, "Is this what you usually read?"
Laura looked at him, still silent.
"Look, Charles, the X-Men have a new fan." Logan said calmly, then continued, "You know everything in here is made up, right? Maybe a quarter of it is true, but it's not all like that."
"In the real World, people die, and there are no self-promoting idiots in spandex to save them…"
"Logan…" Charles spoke, wanting to interrupt.
However, Logan was unmoved and still said somewhat angrily, "This is ice cream to comfort losers. That Nurse has been feeding her some beautiful-sounding nonsense…"
"Professor Charles!" Professor Charles was about to continue to interrupt, but just then, Miles, who was beside him, suddenly spoke.
"They're here."
So, the others stopped arguing and all looked at Miles.
"Who?" Logan asked.
"The people who were chasing us before, the 'Raiders' hired by the institute, and Dr. Zander himself…" Miles slowly said, "They'll find this place soon, probably in about ten minutes."
"F*ck, have they been following us all along?" Logan cursed, then glanced at Charles, "Charles, we have to leave immediately!"
"We can't leave." Miles said softly, "They've already started surrounding this place."
"Charles?" Logan turned to Charles again, seemingly seeking confirmation from him.
"Trust Miles, Logan." Charles said, looking at Miles and asking, "Miles, what do you think we should do?"
"Ambush, break through." Miles said, "It's best to kill Dr. Zander, otherwise he'll keep coming after us."
"Do you know what you're saying, kid!" Logan glared at Miles and said, "How many people do you think we can kill with just us?"
"Trust me, we can…" Miles said softly, "This is the best chance to kill Zander…"
"Listen to him, Logan." Charles said, "Prepare for battle."
"F*ck!!" Logan spat harshly, then asked, "How exactly do we do it?"
"Put on wireless headphones, and then just follow my orders." Miles replied, "I just found a few special forces infiltration combat case studies online. Our strength gives us a chance to defeat them one by one…"
"…" Logan listened to Miles's confident tone, feeling a bit angry and wanting to laugh.
However, Laura silently got up and went to change clothes to prepare for battle.
"Logan." Charles smiled at Logan, "Trust him."
Then, as Logan and Laura left, only Charles and Miles, one old and one young, remained in the room.
Charles looked at Miles and suddenly asked, "You actually knew they were coming after us, Miles."
Miles was silent.
"You left them a trail, or you were wearing their tracker." Charles continued, "The reason you didn't tell us before was because you didn't think it was the right time."
"All of this is to set up a death trap for Dr. Zander, isn't it?" Charles asked with a smile.
Miles sighed, then said, "I'm sorry, Professor, I had to do this."
As expected, Miles's thoughts could not be hidden from the old Charles, who was best at seeing through people's minds.
"Frankly, I didn't want you to do this." Charles continued, "You'll put us in danger, but… I understand you, child."
"Huh?" Miles was startled.
"We are family, Miles." Charles said, "Between family, it's about understanding and helping each other."
"So, go ahead and do what you want to do."
…
On the street outside the casino, Dr. Zander, who had been tracking the locator signal to this location, stared intently at the screen, his brows furrowed.
"Sir, we have surrounded the area and can begin operations immediately!"
A man in a black suit wearing sunglasses reported to Dr. Zander.
His name was Anthony, and he had been chosen as the temporary new leader of the Raiders due to Donald Pierce's death.
"...Be careful of 'X-0'." Zander said, "I have a bad feeling. 'X-0' originally wasn't conscious for more than two hours a day and wouldn't use his ability so frequently, but now… the number of times he's acted is exceeding my expectations."
"We understand, sir." Anthony said, "We will certainly be careful. We can guarantee that the moment we see that kid, we'll shoot him in the head!"
"Don't kill him directly, use tranquilizer guns!" Dr. Zander shook his head, "I have a feeling that the little guy might have undergone some 'changes' that could surprise me, so I want him alive."
"No problem." Anthony nodded, "What about the others?"
"Do as you please." Dr. Zander replied.
"Hey, that's good."