The Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters was not a school; it was a fortress draped in the disguise of an aristocratic estate. Situated deep within the quiet, forested exclusivity of Westchester County, the grand, gothic architecture of the mansion felt both antiquated and unnervingly secure. Its very tranquility seemed to scream secrecy.
In the Principal's office, the air was thick with the scent of leather, old paper, and a faint, almost imperceptible ozone-like tang—the silent residue of immense psychic power. Professor Charles Francis Xavier, or Doctor X as Zhou Yi remembered him, sat behind a massive mahogany desk. He offered a genuine, welcoming smile, yet every fiber of Zhou Yi's being screamed in silent, visceral alarm.
Zhou Yi regarded the man in the wheelchair with a complex mixture of reluctant admiration and profound, crippling paranoia. Xavier was the spiritual leader of the mutant race, an intellectual giant, and a man whose life was a testament to peace.
But more importantly, he was a psychic powerhouse whose mental reach could crush armies or scour the secrets from the deepest recesses of a soul. With a single thought, Xavier could peel back the layers of Zhou Yi's meticulously crafted second life and expose the truth of the man who was once a cynical corporate shark, now reborn with the terrifying, suppressed power of the Omnipotent Star.
A single glance, a casual stray thought, and my life is over, Zhou Yi thought, maintaining a stiff, cordial posture. He had dedicated eight years to burying his memories and his inherent abilities deep, locking them down with mental barriers of a quality even he didn't fully understand.
But Xavier was the master key to all locks. He was the one risk Zhou Yi was unwilling to take, yet the only solution for his sister, Sharice.
Perhaps sensing the electrical tension radiating from the younger man, Xavier's smile softened further. He offered a gentle, almost teasing observation, his tone light but his eyes intensely perceptive.
"Mr. Zhou, you carry the heavy weight of the world on your shoulders, and an even heavier fear of me. But rest assured, I am only the Headmaster, not the boogeyman."
Zhou Yi twitched an uncomfortable smile. He didn't like being called out, especially by a mind reader. "A powerful jest, Professor. I believe anyone who truly grasps the nature of your abilities would feel a necessary, acute sense of caution when facing you. It's respect for power, not fear of the man."
Xavier slowly advanced his wheelchair, gliding silently across the Persian rug to face Zhou Lan, who held the quiet, wine-haired Sharice tight against her.
"Mr. Zhou speaks of caution, but I speak of trust. Ms. Zhou Lan, you have my solemn promise. This school is dedicated to the dream of harmony, where mutants find not just refuge, but a foundation. Your daughter is now one of us, and we will offer her every resource to master her gift and adjust to her new reality."
Zhou Lan, emotionally exhausted and utterly overwhelmed by the sudden intrusion of the supernatural into her mundane life, felt a fragile wave of relief wash over her. She kissed Sharice's luminous forehead.
"Professor, I put my faith in your school and your vision. My poor Sharice. You will find friends here, my brave one. Your mother and your brother will visit you often, I promise."
Sharice remained silent, burying her transformed face into Zhou Lan's coat, but her small hands tightened their grip on Zhou Yi's trousers, a silent, desperate plea not to be abandoned.
The quiet understanding was suddenly, sharply broken.
"Ms. Zhou Lan," Professor Xavier said, his voice dropping slightly, the light pleasantness replaced by a tone of profound, academic concern. "Before we settle the final details, there is a matter concerning your son, Mr. Zhou Yi, that we must discuss."
Zhou Lan's already fragile composure fractured. "Yi? What about him?" she choked out, her voice rising in near hysteria. She clutched at the idea that perhaps her son, her anchor, was somehow afflicted as well.
Xavier raised a calming hand. He didn't rush, picking up his teacup and setting it down with deliberate care.
"Mutants are, scientifically speaking, humans with a single genomic difference—the X-Gene. It's the source of our strength, our intelligence, and our spectacular abilities. However, the X-Gene is far more widespread than the public knows. It exists in the genomes of countless individuals."
He paused, letting the information sink in, especially for the bewildered Zhou Lan. "It is only dominant in some, such as your daughter, Sharice Ferguson. This dominance results in immediate, obvious powers and physical transformations."
His intense blue gaze then fixed on Zhou Yi.
"But the X-Gene can also be recessive. These individuals carry the power, possess the inherent difference, yet remain outwardly and functionally human—until an intense event forces that gene into activation. Mr. Zhou Yi, your profile—your financial acumen, your unnatural composure, your… presence—strongly suggests you are one of these latent mutants. A sleeper."
Zhou Lan gasped, covering her mouth with a trembling hand, her eyes wide with mounting panic. The very earth of her reality was crumbling beneath her.
Zhou Yi, however, remained outwardly impassive. He met Xavier's gaze, but his internal focus was entirely on the professor's mind. He spoke, not as a question, but as a confirmation of Xavier's own action.
"How did you breach my defenses and learn of my ability?"
"I am truly sorry, Mom," Zhou Yi said, turning to his mother and taking her shoulders gently. His apology was genuine, but his tone was absolute. "I kept this from you for so long, but it was for your protection. You have to understand, I had my reasons for building a wall around myself."
Xavier nodded, his sympathy genuine. "He is right, Ms. Zhou. The path of any individual with extraordinary abilities, who merely seeks a quiet life, is paved with necessary deceptions. I have witnessed too many tragedies where secrets were confessed, only to lead to betrayal or catastrophic misunderstandings. You are indeed fortunate that your son possesses such control."
At the height of her distress and revelation, Zhou Lan's eyes fluttered. Xavier, acting swiftly and with profound care, exerted a gentle, targeted psychic push. Zhou Lan's fear-laced thoughts slowed, her muscles relaxed, and she slowly, gracefully, slipped into a deep, untroubled sleep in the plush armchair.
Zhou Yi felt the almost invisible spiritual ripple—the mental touch of a master—and his composure cracked. He fixed Xavier with a cold, predatory stare.
"Never again," Zhou Yi grated, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper, a tone that contained the silent promise of apocalypse. "Do not touch her mind or Sharice's mind again. Or I will dismantle this beautiful fortress of yours, brick by telekinetic brick."
As he spoke, the golden light of the Omnipotent Star flared in his eyes. A pulse of raw, unfettered power—not psychic, but solar kinetic energy—erupted from his will. The force wasn't directed at Xavier, but at the costly, ornamental carpet surrounding the wheelchair.
The carpet fibers flattened instantly, and the tiny dust motes and fragments of pebble-sized debris on the floor suddenly, violently compacted themselves, forming a miniature, localized vortex of immense pressure. The floorboards beneath groaned in protest.
The demonstration was terrifyingly precise: localized, controlled, yet undeniably powerful enough to be a crushing warning.
The force vanished just as suddenly as it had appeared, but the display was loud enough to alert the two people Zhou Yi knew were waiting outside. The door burst open, and two figures rushed in—a handsome man in a visor and a beautiful, striking redhead.
The redhead, Jean Grey, acted instantly. Her arm shot out toward Zhou Yi, and a massive, invisible pressure seized him. It felt like a giant, icy hand had clamped around his torso, lifting him a foot off the ground.
This was telekinetic warfare—the transformation of pure psychic energy into physical kinetic force. Jean was one of the strongest psychics on the planet, and she was fighting to neutralize a threat.
But Zhou Yi was more than a psychic. He was the sun made flesh.
A silent, golden-hot roar erupted in his chest. His eyes flashed, burning with the light of a star. His mental command was simple, absolute: Stop.
The invisible force holding him instantly faltered, meeting an equal, opposite, and more primordial pressure. The power not only neutralized Jean's telekinetic grasp but rebounded with a focused, surgical strike.
A wave of force, hot and heavy as magma, slammed into both Jean and the visor-wearing man, Scott Summers (Cyclops). They were physically shoved backward, slamming into the wall with a jarring th*ud that rattled the old windowpanes.
"Please, stand down, Mr. Zhou Yi. Scott and Jean are merely acting in defense," Professor Xavier's voice resonated, not in the air, but directly inside Zhou Yi's mind—a deep, calm, monotonous voice that transcended sound.
The invisible combat ceased. Zhou Yi lowered his feet, his breathing steady, his glare fixed on the two stunned mutants pressed against the wall.
The old man in the wheelchair hadn't moved a muscle, yet his mental projection had completely diffused the crisis. Zhou Yi had to admit, the Professor was a frighteningly admirable adversary.
The two young mutants, Jean and Scott, clearly recognized the psychic order. They peeled themselves from the wall and silently moved to flank Xavier, protecting the master, their expressions a mixture of cold fury and professional resentment.
Xavier ignored the lingering tension. "Scott, Jean Grey. They are both my former students and current teachers here at the academy. Your sister will be under their direct guidance."
He addressed Scott directly. "Scott, please escort Miss Ferguson and help her settle into the academy. We have some matters to finalize with Mr. Zhou Yi."
The strange, bespectacled Scott—Zhou Yi knew he was Cyclops, a powerful leader in his own right—nodded stiffly. He gave Zhou Yi a long, measured look of profound disapproval, a silent judgment that Zhou Yi dismissed instantly.
I am stronger than you, therefore your judgment is irrelevant. It was the ruthless rule of the superhuman world. Scott then turned to Sharice, his tone becoming surprisingly gentle.
"Please follow me, Miss Ferguson. From this day forward, the Xavier School will be your second home, a place of safety and growth."
Zhou Yi bent down and patted Sharice's newly red hair. "Go on, little one. This is a new chapter, a new environment. Mom and I will be back to retrieve you every weekend. No exceptions."
Sharice, who had witnessed her older brother's sudden, silent, and destructive power, was no longer merely shy; she was awestruck. She looked up at him with her large, luminous green eyes.
"I'll listen to you, Yi. But you promised. You must come back for me this weekend. And there will be absolutely no 'accidents' like before!"
Zhou Yi ruffled her hair affectionately. "Don't worry, little terror. I'll bring you the biggest, gaudiest gift I can find. Something that burns brightly."
Satisfied by the commitment, Sharice slowly released his trousers and followed Scott out of the office.
Once the heavy door clicked shut, the silence felt heavier, the air crackling with unspoken dialogue. Xavier smiled faintly.
"I see you have an exceptional family, Mr. Zhou, and a depth of devotion to them that is truly commendable. It is, perhaps, your greatest strength."
Zhou Yi chuckled, the sound devoid of humor, and turned back to face the Professor and the watchful, powerful Jean Grey. "I suppose that's just a normal human situation, isn't it?"
Professor Charles sighed, turning his wheelchair to face the large window overlooking the grounds where groups of student mutants were tentatively practicing their abilities.
"What you call normal, Mr. Zhou, is a fragile, threatened thing. I have seen too many families torn apart the moment the X-Gene manifests. The fear, the rejection, the physical transformation—it shatters marriages and destroys parental bonds. The unguided children often spiral into nihilism and madness, becoming the very monsters the humans fear."
Zhou Yi listened, his mind calm. He understood the profound, existential crisis of the mutant condition. Their powers weren't just about utility; they were about identity. A transformation from human to beast, from normal to outsider, was a devastating, self-annihilating trauma. Without moral guidance, without a place to belong, these mutants were ticking time bombs.
And humanity, with its innate fear of the other, would respond with predictable, crushing certainty. The mutant race was suffocating, their living space shrinking with every passing news broadcast and political statement.
Xavier, the man who sat before him, was indeed a saintly figure. He was fighting a war of expansion, desperately trying to carve out a habitat for his people, one mind, one mutant at a time. It was a triage solution, a thankless, exhausting labor of immense moral character.
Zhou Yi knew the old man was a good man, perhaps one of the only truly good men in this chaotic world. But that didn't mean he was safe.
"I appreciate the sentiment, Professor," Zhou Yi finally said, meeting Xavier's gaze with a terrifying clarity. "But let's get to the point. My family is secured. Now, let's discuss the price of this sanctuary. You didn't reveal my latent status for free. What do you require of the latent Omnipotent Star?"