Chapter 68

"Damn it, put me down. I'm going to kill you." Logan roared, and as someone who couldn't die, he never feared making things worse. One could say that courting death had become a routine for him. With his immortality, Logan was just that capricious.

However, someone couldn't stand it anymore. Jean Grey, seeing Logan in the same miserable state as Scott had been, couldn't bear to see him continue to be bullied. She found an excuse to intervene.

"Yi, can you give it a rest for a while? What good does this do?"

Of course, there was no benefit. In fact, due to the Professor's request, Zhou Yi had gotten himself into a big mess. From a certain perspective, he was the real victim.

"You have to understand, I didn't start this." Shrugging his shoulders, Zhou Yi slowly put Logan down under Jean Grey's disapproving gaze. As soon as Logan hit the ground, he was about to charge forward, seemingly ready to fight Zhou Yi for another three hundred rounds.

Jean Grey used her telekinesis to stop him and tried to calm his raging mind with some mental ability. However, with Zhou Yi present, her calming seemed to have little effect. So Jean Grey had to ask.

"Yi! Can you leave for a while? If you don't mind, you can take over a class for the kids. Logan's mental state needs to stabilize, and I can't do that with you here."

Looking at Logan, whose eyes were almost spitting fire, and Jean Grey's pleading expression, Zhou Yi could only nod.

"Alright, since you're asking, I'll try being a teacher. If Ororo comes back, just let her know. But, Jean, be careful!" With that, Zhou Yi picked up his coat and pushed the door open, walking out.

As Zhou Yi left, Jean Grey felt Logan's mental agitation surge and then slowly subside. It was like when someone reaches the peak of anger but doesn't explode, they eventually calm down. Logan began to control his emotions.

"Logan, you're too impulsive." Slowly withdrawing her mental energy, Jean Grey directly criticized Logan's temper. Acting on impulse and ending up beaten like this, even needing her to intervene, wasn't the behavior of a mature man.

Logan panted, his chest heaving. After a long while, he steadied his breathing and asked Jean Grey with a puzzled look, "You said he's not a mutant? Then what about his abilities?"

Jean Grey frowned; Logan's questioning made her uncomfortable. But she patiently explained, "Yi is a very rare natural superhuman, not one of us mutants. There are more than just us in the world of superhumans."

Hearing Jean Grey's explanation, Logan's eyes showed a hint of confusion. A fragment of memory surfaced in his chaotic mind: amidst a hail of bullets, a man with a shield charged into the enemy ranks, suddenly turning back to shout something at him, but Logan couldn't hear what he said.

He tried hard to recall this fragmented memory but couldn't remember the details. Soon, this memory fragment mixed with his chaotic thoughts and was lost. This vague feeling about his memory made Logan extremely frustrated, and he even directed this frustration at Jean Grey.

"You should have told me earlier!" He waved his hand irritably, still immersed in the search for his memory. This made him miss the dissatisfaction in Jean Grey's eyes.

Being the target of misplaced anger wasn't a pleasant experience, especially from the real culprit. Jean Grey's character prevented her from directly criticizing Logan, but it subtly worsened her impression of him. A woman's heart is never too broad.

Zhou Yi, who was always confident, wasn't worried about what might happen between Logan and Jean Grey. If he could handle Scott, he could handle this Wolverine. He believed Jean Grey knew who the best choice would be.

So he naturally walked into a classroom, smiled at the young people inside who looked at him in surprise, and said,

"Good morning, everyone. Jean has some matters to attend to today, so I'll be substituting for her. We'll be having..." He glanced at a psychology textbook in a student's hand. "Psychology class!"

The students below began to whisper. The most obvious were the girls and their friends he had met in the morning. They probably never expected a parent to substitute for a class.

Of course, one student's reaction surprised Zhou Yi: the fire-playing kid. He sat upright, looking at Zhou Yi like a model student. If only he could remove the fanaticism from his eyes, it would be perfect.

"Quiet down, everyone. Especially you, Rachel, your vacation is still under negotiation, so there's no need to be so excited." Zhou Yi poured cold water on Rachel's enthusiasm and tried to be a competent teacher.

"Can anyone tell me what Miss Jean covered in the last class? Since I came in a hurry, we haven't discussed your class progress."

There was more whispering and a low complaint from Rachel, but someone was willing to answer Zhou Yi's question.

"Sir, Miss Jean asked us to think about how human psychology affects the lives of mutants." It was John who spoke, despite Zhou Yi's dislike of his gaze. Zhou Yi thanked him, as his help prevented the awkward silence.

"Thanks for your help, young man. Alright, let's continue this topic." Zhou Yi casually sat on the podium. "First, let me introduce myself. I'm the brother of the most mischievous girl here, Rachel. Many years ago, when I came to this school, I was tested and, unfortunately, I'm not a mutant."

At this, the students below erupted in surprise. Zhou Yi's identity shocked them. Many started asking Rachel what was going on, while others looked at him with caution.

Clapping his hands to quiet the room, Zhou Yi continued,

"You might be curious why I'm substituting for your teacher, especially since I'm not one of you. Before we get to that, let me finish my introduction."

Zhou Yi's calm and gentle demeanor quickly calmed the young people. As mutants uncertain about their future, they felt they needed to hear a human perspective.

"The identity I mentioned earlier was just to bridge the gap between us. See, I have a close family member among you, so you don't need to look at me like a deer in the headlights. I'm harmless!"

Raising his hands in a safe gesture, Zhou Yi's performance made some of the younger students laugh, and others relaxed their guard. After all, as Zhou Yi said, they didn't need to be wary of Rachel's family. Zhou Yi was benefiting from his sister's reputation.

"Let's continue." He clapped to quiet the room again. "As I said, I need to finish my introduction. What I mentioned earlier was just part of it. The other part is that I have another identity, a prominent one in human society."

"I'm the third-largest shareholder in Stark Enterprises and a decision-making shareholder in Osborn Corporation. I own about twenty large research institutions and several well-performing public companies. If any of you are baseball fans, I'm also the owner of the Colorado Rockies. I bought the team to see if this young team could surprise me with a major league championship, but so far, I haven't received any good news from the team."

By this point, the young people were listening intently. This proved that whether mutants or humans, they all react similarly to successful people. No matter how indifferent they might act, they would sit quietly and listen to the advice of successful people.

Not for any other reason, but because such advice is backed by impressive credentials and background.

"I'm not telling you this to boast. In fact, I'm past the age of boasting. Compared to you, I might seem a bit old." Zhou Yi made a harmless joke and continued his lesson.

"The reason I'm telling you this is to use my identity to explain how humans view mutants and what they expect from them."

"You might not think I have the right to represent humans, but I want to tell you that the direction of human society is largely in the hands of people like me. I don't need to detail my schedule, as I'm somewhat of an anomaly. But I can tell you that if I wanted, I could sit down with the leaders of this country and discuss current affairs calmly."

"Our opinions largely represent the views of society because the power to speak is in our hands. Don't forget the essence of democracy: the people have the right to speak, but not to decide. So, do you want to know what mutants are like in our eyes?"

Seeing the students, even Rachel, listening intently, Zhou Yi felt a sense of satisfaction. He seemed to have found a teacher's pleasure.

"To put it simply, to us, mutants are no different from others. If you need money to support your life, if you eat, drink, play, and enjoy, and if you can contribute to society, then you are no different from ordinary people."

At this, a buzz of voices rose from the students, chaotic and noisy. Zhou Yi even heard someone accusing him of lying.

Lowering his hand to calm the room, he waited for the young people to settle down before continuing.

"Do you think I'm lying? No, I can assure you I'm not. Do you want to know why your lives are like this? I can tell you where the problem lies."

"The real problem is actually two-fold. Look at yourselves and think about how you differ from normal people. This is the first problem: difference. The second problem is also on you, and it's called reputation!"