"What a poor child!"
After hearing **Son Goku**'s answer, **Gabriella**'s eyes reddened.
He'd been abandoned by his parents because of his tail, then found and raised by an old man on a mountain called **Mount Paozu**.
After the old man passed away, the child became an orphan, wandering around—sometimes hungry, sometimes full.
The so-called "training" was probably just a way of saying he was drifting aimlessly.
Looking at his dirty clothes and his wild, spiky, uncut hair, what else could he be but a street urchin?
In that moment, she'd already pieced together **Son Goku**'s tragic backstory in her mind.
"We'll head west of the city soon, and Auntie will treat you to barbecue."
**Gabriella** secretly resolved to adopt this wandering orphan **Son Goku** and take him with her to the mutant gathering place.
**Son Goku** had lost his parents, ended up here, and now offended the Institute because of them.
If he stayed, it would be a dead end.
Only by joining them at the mutant sanctuary could he have a real chance at a good life.
Luckily, all the kids there were mutants around his age—they could play together.
"Mhm, mhm, mhm!"
As soon as he heard "barbecue," **Son Goku** nodded eagerly like a chick pecking rice.
He often grilled tigers, wolves, and dinosaurs in the mountains, but without seasonings, the taste couldn't compare to city food.
He still missed the restaurant meals **Master Roshi** (the **Turtle Hermit**) used to treat them to in town during training.
**Gabriella** tried to avoid heavily monitored roads, taking back routes toward her boyfriend's home in the west of the city.
The forces behind the Institute were powerful—she had to stay cautious.
"So you're a girl."
In the back seat, **Son Goku** studied the quiet little wolf girl beside him. He reached out and patted her lower body a couple of times.
**Laura** tilted her head, confused about why he knew she was a girl after a few pats.
She sensed no malice from him, so she didn't lash out.
**Gabriella**, catching the scene in the rearview mirror, nearly slammed on the brakes.
"**Goku**, you can't check if someone's a girl like that—it's extremely rude!"
"Then how do you tell?
I know girls have butts on their chests, like you, Auntie.
But some girls don't have them there.
So Grandpa told me: if there's no little pee-pee and balls, it's a girl."
**Son Goku** answered with complete seriousness.
He'd always used this method and had never been wrong.
**Bulma** had once told him not to do it anymore, but he never understood why.
It was just a light pat—no force at all. Back then, he used to kick twice to confirm.
**Gabriella**'s mouth twitched hard. She wanted to say you could tell by hair length.
But then she realized that wasn't reliable—plenty of men had long hair, and many women kept theirs short.
She considered facial features next: girls' were softer, boys' more angular.
But that wasn't foolproof either.
Effeminate men, masculine women, cross-dressers—modern society had all kinds.
After thinking it over, **Son Goku**'s method really did seem like the only 100% accurate one.
"Anyway, just don't do it again. You'll understand when you're older."
She realized this tailed mutant boy, **Son Goku**, was incredibly innocent—every bit as innocent as **Laura**.
**Laura**'s innocence came from growing up in the Institute: no real childhood, just endless training to kill.
As for **Son Goku**, she figured his mountain upbringing explained it.
"**Goku**, how old are you?"
"Twelve," **Son Goku** replied after a moment's thought.
He used to think eleven was followed by fourteen, but after learning arithmetic from **Master Roshi**, he understood it was twelve.
So he was twelve this year.
"One year older than **Laura**."
**Gabriella** nodded.
A normal twelve-year-old would know better.
If she hadn't known he came from the mountains and seen how clear and pure his eyes were, she might have suspected he was a little pervert.
Not long after **Gabriella** and the others left the alley, a dozen off-road vehicles screeched to a halt on the street outside.
Nearly a hundred fully armed mercenaries, led by their Commander, stormed the alley with heavy weapons.
"A bunch of useless idiots!"
Seeing the seven or eight burly men lying unconscious on the ground, the Commander cursed loudly.
"You—take a team and check nearby surveillance.
You—take a team to search **Gabriella**'s house.
You—take a small team to the border crossings to block any escape."
Though he'd arrived late, he issued orders methodically.
In his view, with just two people on the run, escaping their blockade would be nearly impossible. It was only a matter of time.
Besides, he'd already threatened **Wolverine**—the one **Gabriella** would turn to for help—and bribed her boyfriend.
"You two eat breakfast here first. I'll go upstairs for a minute and be right back."
Arriving at her boyfriend's building, **Gabriella** left **Son Goku** and **Laura** at the familiar Mexican barbecue restaurant downstairs.
She needed to borrow money from her boyfriend upstairs.
The meeting point she'd arranged with the escaped mutant children was at the northern border—**Eden**, the supposed mutant sanctuary from the old X-Men comics.
Due to mutants vanishing and governments covering it up, most ordinary people now believed mutants were just fictional comic-book creations. They didn't know the **X-Men** had once been real.
The damage caused by mutants and the **X-Men**'s past heroism had been erased from history.
But working at the Institute, **Gabriella** knew much of it was true.
Of course, the comic-book **Eden** wasn't real—mutants had disappeared long ago, so no such place existed.
Her plan was simply to cross into Canada from there.
She'd already coordinated with Canadian contacts: if she could get the children across the border before Friday, the authorities would take them in and let them live normal lives.
"Eat! Eat!"
**Son Goku**, overwhelmed by the barbecue aroma, drooled and nodded enthusiastically.
**Laura** nodded too, sitting obediently and fiddling with her toy ball.
"**Jean**, these are my relatives' kids. Please get them some barbecue rice and drinks—I'll come down to pay later."
**Gabriella** greeted the bearded boss and hurried upstairs.
The boss gave an "okay" gesture, quickly prepared two large plates of barbecue rice and two glasses of milk, and set them in front of **Son Goku** and **Laura**.
He'd just turned away when he heard the boy call out behind him:
"Another plate!"
(End of Chapter 2)