American comics: I am full of martial virtues and I love to be kind to others.

“You’re lucky,” the doctor said, but with a serious expression. “If you had arrived ten minutes later, the internal bleeding could have been fatal. Even then, full recovery will take at least six months, and your right arm may never fully return to its previous state.”

Sarah stood by the hospital bed, her eyes red and swollen, clearly from crying. "I should have insisted on taking you home," she said, her voice trembling, "I should—"

“It’s not your fault,” Lynn said with difficulty, his voice muffled by the oxygen mask, “It was my...carelessness.”

“We found an envelope in the parking lot,” Sarah said, taking an evidence bag from her bag containing the envelope. “There was a note inside.”

Lynn gestured for her to open it.

The note contained only a few simple lines of writing in Victor's handwriting:
Agent Lynn:
This is a lesson, and a warning. You are tenacious, but not invincible.

I can send someone else anytime, but I might not be so lenient next time.

Stop tracking me, or your partner will be next.

You should know that I mean what I say.

——V“

Lynn stared at the note, his eyes burning with anger and determination. But this was quickly followed by a deep sense of frustration—he couldn't even get out of bed; how could he continue tracking Victor?
“The FBI has decided to temporarily suspend your active duty status,” Sarah said, her voice strained. “You need to focus on your recovery. The case will be handled by other agents—”

“No,” Lynn interrupted her, but coughed from the excitement, aggravating his wound and contorting his face in pain.

“Lynn, look at yourself!” Sarah’s voice rose. “You’re riddled with fractures, you’re practically dead! You can’t continue this case, your body can’t take it!”

“He’ll kill more people,” Lynn said, each word strained. “If we don’t stop him, he’ll keep looking for victims, he’ll train more killers. Sarah, you saw those three men who attacked me—they were mutants, they were controlled by Victor. This isn’t just a simple serial killing spree, this is—”

“I know,” Sarah said, wiping away her tears, “but there’s nothing you can do right now. You need rest, you need to recover. Let others handle it—”

“Others don’t understand Victor,” Lynn insisted. “They don’t know his abilities, they don’t know his methods. If they used other agents, they would only send more people to their deaths.”

"Then what do you want to do?" Sarah asked, her voice filled with despair. "You can't even stand up!"

Lynn fell silent. He knew Sarah was right; in his current state, he needed help even for basic daily activities, let alone hunting Victor.

But to give up? To let Victor go unpunished? He couldn't do that.

“Are there any other options?” Lynn said slowly. “Besides the FBI, who else can deal with mutant criminals?”

Sarah paused for a moment, then understood what he meant.

You mean Professor X?

“They have more experience with mutants,” Lynn said. “Besides, if Victor is really building a team of mutants, that’s beyond the FBI’s capabilities. We need professional help.”

“But Xavier’s School of the Rising Sun isn’t a law enforcement agency,” Sarah said. “They don’t typically get involved in human legal matters.”

“This isn’t a human legal matter; this is mutants harming innocent people,” Lynn said. “And those three mutants who attacked me—they were victims too. They were controlled by Victor and forced to do things they didn’t want to do. Professor X should care about that.”

Sarah considered for a moment, then nodded. "I'll contact them. But Lynn, even if the Xavier's School agrees to help, you need rest. You can't be involved in this personally anymore."

“I know,” Lynn said, though reluctantly, “but at least let me participate in the discussion and provide the information I have. I’m the only one who has faced Victor face-to-face, and my experience might be useful.”

Sarah sighed, knowing she couldn't persuade him otherwise. "Alright, I'll contact Xavier's School. But you need to rest now; the doctor said you need plenty of sleep to help your body recover."

After Sarah left, Lynn lay alone in the hospital bed, staring at the ceiling.

The physical pain was one thing, but what tormented him even more was the feeling of helplessness. As an FBI agent, as someone who swore an oath to protect citizens, he now couldn't even protect himself, let alone catch criminals.

Meanwhile, Victor remained outside, continuing his plans, cultivating more tools, and creating more tragedies.

Those three mutants—judging from their methods of attack—were not born criminals. The woman even tried to stop the killing of a witness. This shows they still had a conscience and hadn't been completely corrupted by Victor.

But what would they become if Victor were given more time? Would they become killers like Sanders, completely convinced of the righteousness of their actions?
Lynn clenched his fist—at least his functional left hand—and secretly vowed that even if he couldn't act personally, he would make sure Victor was brought to justice.

Two days later, Sarah brought news.

“Xavier's School has responded,” she said, a glimmer of hope in her eyes. “Professor X has agreed to meet with you and hear your account of the situation. If he believes this case truly threatens the mutant community, he will consider intervening.”

"When?" Lynn asked.

"This afternoon. He will send someone to the hospital to see you—not the professor himself, but one of his students. A mutant named Wolverine."

Lynn nodded. He'd heard of Wolverine—or rather, Logan, one of the X-Men, a powerful warrior with healing abilities and metal claws. If Professor X sent him, it meant they really cared about this case.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the door to the ward was pushed open.

The man who entered was short but very muscular, wearing a leather jacket and jeans, looking more like a motorcyclist than a superhero. His hair was distinctive, sticking up on both sides like animal ears.

“Agent Lynn?” the man said, his voice deep and rough. “I’m Logan. Charles—Professor X—let me hear your story.”

“Thank you for coming,” Lynn said, trying to sit up, but his wounds made him abandon the idea. “I need the Xavier’s help.”

Logan sat down on the chair by the bed, crossed his legs, and took a cigar out of his pocket—then saw the "No Smoking" sign and reluctantly put it back.

“Tell me, what kind of trouble could have injured an FBI agent like this?” Lynn began to recount the whole story—from the Sanders serial killers to the discovery of Victor’s existence, the encounter at the art museum, and finally the attack in the parking lot. He described Victor’s abilities, his methods, and his goals in as much detail as possible.

Logan listened quietly, occasionally frowning, but without interrupting.

Logan remained silent for a moment after Lynn finished speaking.

“Mind control,” he concluded, his voice filled with disgust. “I hate that ability the most. At least with physical attacks, you can see them and resist them, but with mind control—you don’t even know if your own thoughts are still your own.”

"So will Xavier's School help?" Lynn asked.

“This Victor,” Logan said, “is dangerous, not only to humans but also to the mutant community. If he’s recruiting and controlling young mutants, turning them into weapons—that would make the situation for all mutants even more dangerous.”

He stood up and paced back and forth in the ward. “The problem is, we don’t know where he is. The Xavier’s Institute has brainwave amplifiers; theoretically, Charles could use them to locate any mutant, but if this Victor also has psychic abilities, he might know how to mask his own thoughts, making himself untraceable.”

“What about the three mutants who attacked me?” Lynn asked. “If we can find them, maybe we can track down Victor.”

“Perhaps,” Logan said, “can you describe their abilities? The more detailed the better.”

Lynn recalled the events of that night: "The younger one, probably around twenty-five, could create illusions. Very realistic illusions, almost indistinguishable from reality. The woman, about thirty, I'm not sure what her abilities were, but the other two seemed to obey her. There was also a strong man, around thirty-five, with superhuman strength and possibly enhanced endurance."

“Hallucinations, unknown abilities, superhuman strength,” Logan concluded. “These descriptions could apply to many mutants. But if Charles uses his brainwave amplifier to specifically search for combinations of these abilities, he should be able to narrow it down in the New York area.”

He walked to the door, then turned back to look at Lynn: "You know, if Xavier's gets involved, this is no longer your case. We have our own procedures, which may not follow FBI regulations."

“I know,” Lynn said, “but I don’t care about the procedure, I only care about the result. Victor must be stopped, and those three mutants need to be rescued. If the Xavier’s School can do that, I’m willing to step aside for this case.”

Logan looked at him scrutinizingly, then nodded. "You're different from other humans. Most people's first reaction to mutant crimes is fear and hostility. But you—you see those three who attacked you as victims as well."

“Because they are victims,” Lynn said. “I’ve met Sanders, and I’ve seen how a good man can be twisted into a killing machine by Victor. I don’t want the same thing to happen to anyone else, whether they are human or mutant.”

“Alright,” Logan said, “I’ll report to Charles. If he decides to intervene, we’ll contact you. But you—” He gestured to Lynn’s numerous wounds, “you need to recover. This isn’t something a person lying in a hospital bed can handle.”

“I will,” Lynn said, though he knew in his heart that once he had a lead, he would pursue it relentlessly, regardless of his physical condition.

Logan seemed to read his mind, a wry smile playing on his lips. "I've seen plenty of guys like you—stubborn, reckless. They usually don't end up well."

“But they accomplished their mission,” Lynn replied.

“Sometimes,” Logan said, then walked out of the room.

Over the next few days, Lynn lay in the hospital awaiting news while trying some basic physical therapy. The doctor said that if the recovery went smoothly, he might be able to use a wheelchair in a month and walk with crutches in three months.

But Lynn knew he didn't have that much time. Victor wouldn't stop to wait for him to recover.

On the fifth day, Sarah brought new news.

“The Xavier’s School contacted us,” she said gravely. “They’ve located one of the mutants who attacked you—the young man who created the illusions. But the situation is complicated.”

"What's the meaning?"

“They tried to talk to him, trying to persuade him to leave Victor,” Sarah said, “but the young man—his name was Marcus—insisted that he followed Victor voluntarily, and that Victor was helping them. Professor X examined his mind telepathically and found deep traces of mind manipulation, but they were very subtle, almost undetectable.”

“Victor is clever,” Lynn said. “He doesn’t do blatant brainwashing; that’s too easy to spot. He makes his victims believe those ideas are their own.”

“The problem is,” Sarah continued, “that even if Professor X knew Marcus was being manipulated, he couldn’t forcibly ‘fix’ his mind. That would violate the ethical code of the mutant community—to intrude into and alter another person’s mind without their consent, even if it’s for help.”

"Then what should we do?" Lynn felt a sense of frustration.

"Professor X said the only way is to find Victor himself and stop him from continuing to exert control. Over time, without continuous reinforcement, the implanted ideas will gradually weaken. But this will take time, possibly months or even years."

“We don’t have many years,” Lynn said. “Victor is recruiting more mutants right now. Has Marcus revealed Victor’s location?”

“No, and when the X-Men tried to track him back to Victor, he noticed and disappeared,” Sarah said. “They’ve lost the trail again.”

Lynn closed his eyes, feeling a profound sense of powerlessness. Even with the help of the Xavier's School, Victor remained as elusive as a ghost.

“But there’s good news,” Sarah said. “Professor X said that if you wish, you can go to the Xavier’s Institute for rehabilitation. They have advanced medical facilities and some mutants who can accelerate healing. While it won’t restore you immediately, it can shorten your recovery time to one-third of the original.”

Lynn opened his eyes: "What's the price?"

“There was no cost,” Sarah said. “The professor said you were injured protecting his students—those young mutants being used by Victor. He believes the Xavier's Institute has a responsibility to help you.”

Lynn considered it for a moment. Going to Xavier's School of the Rising Sun meant leaving the FBI system and entering an unknown environment. But at the same time, it also meant a faster recovery and a quicker return to the hunt for Victor.

“I’ll go,” he finally said, “when do we leave?”

“Tomorrow,” Sarah said, “they’ll send a plane to pick you up. Lynn—” She hesitated, “Are you sure? Xavier’s not an ordinary hospital; it’s full of mutants, some with dangerous abilities—”

“Sarah,” Lynn interrupted her, “I’m not afraid of mutants. What I’m afraid of is Victor continuing to get away with it and ruining more lives. If Xavier’s School can help me recover faster, I’m willing to go.”

Sarah nodded, though worry still lingered in her eyes: "Then I'll go with you."

“No,” Lynn said, “you need to continue your investigation in New York. Victor is still here, and so are the three mutants. The FBI needs to continue gathering evidence and continuing surveillance. I'm going to Xavier's School for rehabilitation; you stay here and work. We'll keep in touch.” (End of Chapter)