"Wait, I've found Stryker's location, the current position is at..."
Hearing Charles's exclamation, Saiki Kusuo quickly looked at the map.
However, Stryker's appearance was far too brief. The map covered the entire secret chamber, and Saiki couldn't see it all at once.
Saiki had only finished looking at the left side when Charles exclaimed.
"Why did it suddenly disappear again? Could the machine be broken? Impossible..."
Since he couldn't see the whole map at once, Saiki decided to time travel several more times until he found Stryker's location.
He told Charles not to worry about whether it was a machine problem or a Stryker problem, and turned to leave, planning to wait outside for Kitty to come find him. After a moment's thought, he gestured for Charles to take off the device and wheeled him out of the room.
"I think it's better if you read my memory first."
Charles, still preoccupied with what went wrong, looked up blankly. "What?"
Then came another scream.
This time, it wasn't a black hole. Charles simply vanished from right in front of him.
Saiki went through his 3654th, 3655th, and 3656th time travels. During these attempts, he deliberately delayed, avoided the secret chamber, and even had Charles prepare himself.
No matter how many times Saiki warned him, Charles was always captured.
Watching Raven and Erik bickering again, Saiki turned to Kitty and asked her to continue sending him back.
Unfortunately, this time Kitty shook her head.
"I'm sorry, I came to tell you that I'm too tired," Kitty said, looking exhausted. "So, you'll have to stay here for a day. I'll come get you when I've rested."
This had happened a few times before, so Saiki wasn't surprised.
After all, Kitty was only a 13-year-old girl. Helping him time travel over 3000 times was no small feat. Saiki wasn't a capitalist who exploited civilians, so naturally, he let Kitty rest properly.
He wandered aimlessly around the X-Mansion. Raven, fresh from her argument with Erik and unable to stand the sight of him freeloading, gave him an order, demanding that he join the strike team to rescue Charles.
Saiki had originally planned to refuse, but after Raven said, "Charles helped you 3655 times, and you're not even willing to help him once? Are you even a man?" he obediently followed behind the strike team.
"Where's Captain Erik?" Kitty, now in her combat suit, asked Raven.
Raven's movements visibly stiffened as she adjusted her clothing. She mentally cursed Erik several dozen times, but on the surface, she acted nonchalant.
"He has some family matters to attend to. He won't be coming."
Everyone understood what those "family matters" were. The worst part was that the guy said not to notify him even if Charles died, fearing it would bring bad luck to his wife and child. He even included a resignation letter, saying that if the leader of the X-Mansion changed, he would resign.
That bastard! If it weren't for the fact that his wife and child were now widows and orphans, and therefore somewhat pitiful, she would have sliced him to pieces long ago.
"I have a way to make Erik come here obediently." Harboring the thought, "If I'm miserable, nobody else gets to be happy," Saiki approached Raven.
Raven turned to look at him, her eyes full of inquiry.
"You ask him, 'If the wife you impregnated finds out that you have a child who's already an adult – oh, perhaps two adult twins – what do you think your wife's reaction will be?'" Saiki said, pointing to the silver-haired young man peeking hesitantly through the doorway.
Raven: "...???"
What his wife's reaction would be, Raven didn't know. She only knew that Erik, the deadbeat dad who abandoned his child, was probably going to meet a miserable end.
Knowing a huge secret, Raven gleefully called Erik. It wasn't long before Erik stormed back to the school from his home.
He scanned all the members of the strike team present, finally stopping on Saiki.
"Was it you?!" Although it was a question, his tone was extremely certain. Erik couldn't think of anyone besides Saiki and Charles who would be so nosy.
Wait, wouldn't saying that mean he was admitting to being a deadbeat dad who abandoned his wife and child? Although he had a few one-night stands in his youth, he was single at the time. He swore on Charles's chastity that it was all consensual and absolutely couldn't have resulted in any pregnancies.
What he found most unbearable was that Raven claimed that woman had forced herself on him, resulting in a pregnancy. This was a matter of a man's dignity, and he had to come and explain himself.
Erik aggressively questioned Saiki, acting as if he wouldn't let him off the hook unless he gave a reasonable explanation.
The ground around them began to shake violently. Raven, seeing this, called out to him.
"Erik, this is the school. Don't cause any trouble."
However, Erik ignored her and directly formed the metal fragments from the ground into a sharp blade, holding it against Saiki's neck.
"Speak. If you don't give me a good reason, I'll kill you."
Saiki gestured for him to calm down, reached out, and snapped the blade at his neck. Then, he took a step to the side, revealing the person behind him.
The silver-haired young man gave Erik a sweet smile, his dimples making him look quite adorable. He was a likable child, Erik thought. The next second, the boy blurted out:
"Dad."
Erik, suddenly a father, was stunned.
Except for Raven and Saiki, the other members of the team were all like, Whoa, what a huge piece of gossip!, trying their best to hide their excitement and huddling in the corner to watch the drama unfold.
Erik was startled by the silver-haired young man's sudden claim, but he quickly calmed down and asked.
"Excuse me, what is your mother's hair color?"
The silver-haired young man, excited to see his father, looked puzzled but answered obediently.
"Golden, Dad."
Erik's face immediately darkened, and he rebuked sternly, "I have brown hair, and your mother has golden hair. How did you end up with silver hair? A genetic mutation? Trying to claim me as your father? Kid, do you want to experience the power of me, the X-Men's 'Ghost Captain'?"
Silver-haired young man: "…"
Raven frowned and asked, "What's 'Ghost Captain'?"
"A nickname I just came up with," Erik replied matter-of-factly. He originally wanted to use his title from ten years ago, but that title, given his current status as a public-serving X-Man, was inappropriate and would attract a lot of hate, so he made up a temporary one.
Raven rolled her eyes to express her disdain for this lame nickname.
Erik continued to berate the silver-haired young man. "I can understand your lack of a father and your urgent desire to find one, but you're so young and not learning good things. Do you know how much harm this kind of lie can cause?"
He finished speaking and turned to Raven, instructing her, "After Charles is rescued, have him enroll this kid in school. I think this kid needs a good beating to learn some manners. Put him on my team."
The silver-haired young man looked aggrieved. "I'm not lying."
As he spoke, he rummaged in his pocket for a long time and finally pulled out a letter, handing it to Erik.
Erik's eyelids twitched.
"If you don't believe me, look at this. This is the love letter you wrote to her back then. My mother has kept it all these years."
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