Compared to the homeless people you see on the streets, there are countless times more homeless people wandering around in New York's underground world, and their lives are even more difficult. Once you fall into this place, there is no respectable person.

This is an area beyond the control of the police and official forces. There is a secret order in operation, silently resisting the dark side of non-human beings such as vampires and werewolves... or enduring their exploitation.

Kurt, who originally lived with his gypsy adoptive mother in his hometown in Europe, was deceived and brought to Germany, where he was about to end up in a place like this.

However, when he was forced into a life-and-death cage fight among mutants for the first time in Berlin, he was rescued by Mystique, and thus joined Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters and became a member of the X-Men.

So Kurt was lucky and was not familiar with this underground world until he was brought in by Ororo today.

Chapter 155 Bowery King

Kurt certainly didn't believe he'd been framed by Ororo and sold to such a place. But being cautious, or even timid to put it bluntly, he was quite disgusted by this kind of filthy atmosphere.

In contrast, Ororo, who had wandered Egypt since childhood, relying on his thief and pickpocket skills to make a living, was no stranger to this kind of environment. Although he wasn't completely at ease, he knew exactly how to deal with this kind of world.

Walking along the abandoned subway line, following the faint light that was maintained by stealing electricity from somewhere, Ororo soon saw the graffiti he was looking for, and he turned into a newly opened space.

This place looked like it was going to be a subway station, but was abandoned for some reason. Now it looked like a settlement, and in the dark corners where the lights couldn't reach, there were many piercing eyes.

"I'm here to see Bowery King," Ororo said loudly.

A hoarse old man's voice came from the darkness nearby, saying, "There is no one here with that name."

"Then what about the Beggar King of New York? Doesn't that person exist either?" Ororo looked towards the source of the voice and said, "Come on, this isn't the first time I've dealt with him. Why are you being so defensive against me?"

"Storm of the X-Men, you are so dazzling and glittering. You don't look like you need to deal with sewer rats like us."

"There are some things that those big men in suits can't do. If you help me, I will help you. I understand this rule." Ororo said.

A whisper could be heard in the darkness, and soon an old beggar, leaning on an iron cane, emerged from the darkness.

He looked like he had suffered a facial stroke, with half of his face paralyzed. One of his eyes was wide open, while the other was squinting at people, looking very scary.

It’s hard to describe that outfit. It’s dirty, smelly, torn, and heavy, as if he’s wearing his entire fortune.

He came closer and glanced up and down at the two of them with his one working eye. Looking at Kurt, his body went numb and a trembling sensation shot up his head.

Before Kurt could bear it any longer and was about to grab Ororo and teleport away, the old beggar in front of him finally turned around and said, "Come with me."

The two of them slowly followed the old beggar up the stairs of the abandoned subway station, then entered the basement of an apartment building through the smashed wall.

Don't think this apartment building is a decent place. There are still plenty of graffiti on the streets and cardboard houses for homeless people.

Then he walked up the stairs that seemed unguarded. Kurt listened to the sound of the iron crutch hitting the ground. Along with the sound, he couldn't shake the feeling that there was a wild beast beside him, ready to jump out and bite him at any time.

Finally, in such a depressing atmosphere, they reached the top floor. After the old beggar opened the door to the rooftop, he returned along the same route.

Ororo walked through the door first, and Kurt had no choice but to follow her out even though he was extremely reluctant.

They came to the rooftop of a building, where there were pigeon cages everywhere, and pigeons were flying out and flying back at any time.

Ororo turned left and right with familiarity and walked into the center of the pigeon coop formation. It was much more spacious here, like a small park, with a few benches placed at the edge of the open space.

A fat, elderly black man, also dressed as a beggar, immediately raised his hands and shouted happily after seeing Ororo, "Aha, Storm from the X-Men, Ms. Ororo Monroe, I thought you would drop from the sky like an angel as usual."

Ororo walked over and gave Old Black a hug. "If I had come here on my own, I would have flown over," he said. "But I'm bringing a new friend with me to learn the ropes. I don't want to show up with him and be shot to pieces by your men with submachine guns."

"Aha, a blue-skinned mutant." Fat Old Black extended his hand quite gentlemanly and introduced himself: "Bowery King, nice to meet you."

Kurt shook the other man's hand hurriedly and said, "Kurt, Kurt Wagner."

"Ah, Nightcrawler from the X-Men, right."

"Yes, yes, sir."

"Don't be afraid, Kurt. Can I call you Kurt?"

"Yes, sir."

Fat Black grinned and said, "Kurt, as long as you treat us kindly, we will treat you kindly. You have to pay for what you expect. That's fair, right?"

"Yes, quite reasonable, sir."

Fat Black patted the thin mutant's shoulder and said, "Just call me Bowery. Or call me King, which is what most of my friends call me to show their respect."

"Yes, Kim, sir."

"No need sir, just gold." Fat Old Black said with a smile.

Bowery King stopped teasing the young mutant and turned to his old acquaintance and said, "So what's the matter today that has Storm here?"

"Our companion, Jean Grey, has gone missing. I need your help in locating him and informing us. I brought Kurt here to be the one to contact you."

"Oh, another X-Man. What makes you so anxious to find this companion? Did he elope with someone? Or did he steal some valuable secret?" Fat Black asked with an expression that showed he was very interested in gossip.

Ororo spoke frankly, "He's in danger right now. He overturned two police cars when we met. The police might have even issued a warrant for his arrest, but other than sending more people to their deaths, I don't think they'll accomplish anything."

"You don't want a war like the one in Egypt or Cuba to happen in New York. No matter what gets blown up, it's not what anyone wants to see. The best way is to notify the X-Men to deal with it."

"Haha, let's notify the X-Men to take care of it," Fat Black said. "If we can't solve it ourselves, and it's related to mutants, we'll definitely ask the X-Men to solve it. Why would we bother you with this trip? Tell me secretly, do you miss me?"

"I'm more worried that you'll get into trouble before you even think of asking the X-Men. If you don't come to us for an explanation, you won't be able to appease your subordinates. Such a result will only be unpleasant for everyone. Tell me, do I miss you, my King?"

As if tempting, Storm stretched out a finger and tickled Bowery King's chin. His own white hair began to flutter, and his eyes rolled back, as if he would go into a 100,000-volt rage if he disagreed with something.

"Haha, haha." The fat old black man retreated, not wanting to experience the feeling of being electrocuted into charcoal again. His skin color was already dark enough.

He quickly said, "I'll inform my people. The X-Man who's escaped is very dangerous. Just inform them and don't let them have any extra thoughts."

"Yes, that's right. You understand us." Ororo smiled.

Chapter 156 The Dangerous Attitude of Officials

In Professor X's office, Hank McCoy, in his humanoid form, sat at the principal's desk, scattered with the results of his and Reed Richards' research.

Professor X, who had just finished a phone conversation with the White House liaison officer, still looked upset.

Hank asked hurriedly, "What does the White House say? Is the president willing to talk to us?"

Shaking his head, Professor X said, "I'm not optimistic. Their words aren't harsh, but they don't really follow through at all. They're just diplomatic rhetoric."

"But we've presented evidence. Jean's loss of control wasn't his own will, but was influenced by those aliens. The photo clearly shows that alien warship, doesn't it?"

“That’s not enough.”

"Why not? Is it because the photos we faxed over weren't clear enough, so the White House doesn't believe us? In that case, I'll go to Washington and show them the original photos."

Hank took the original photos he and Reed had developed and was about to run out. Professor X stopped him and said, "The White House means that only photos are not enough.

"A judge needs both witnesses and physical evidence to convict someone. How can you convince the White House of our story based on just one photo? Not to mention that our story doesn't even convince us. Everyone knows it's just an excuse."

Hank asked anxiously, "What evidence does the White House need?"

"Alien corpses, living aliens, living aliens who knew their entire plan and were high enough in rank, or even that space battleship. Or maybe..."

"Or what? Jean. Are you going to send him out like a guinea pig?" Hank said angrily.

Professor X said with equal emotion, "I never said that, and I would never do that!"

"Then...should we hand over that Henry Brown? Didn't he say he was an alien?" Hank came up with a bad idea.

No matter how foolish he was, Professor X would never agree to such a foolish idea that was full of loopholes. He asked, "How can you be sure that Henry Brown and those aliens are on the same side?"

"How are you going to hand him over? A bunch of us, scattered here and there, have all been taught a lesson by him. Besides, we're now injured or fleeing, so we're not a complete fighting force at all.

"Should we tell the White House and let them find a way to catch him themselves? Have you ever considered that if he truly has nothing to do with that battleship in outer space, we'd simply have offended a powerful enemy for nothing. He's essentially harmless."

Hank knew his idea was wrong, but he didn't know what to do right now. The official attitude had always been the biggest obstacle to mutant affairs.

As long as the US government shows a friendly attitude towards mutants, even if someone makes small moves in private, at least mutants will generally have a chance to breathe.

The most troublesome thing is to remain neutral without making any statement, because the US government may do anything at this time.

If the U.S. government shows a hostile attitude, not to mention restarting the shut-down Sentinel Project, the overwhelming oppression and targeting from official forces will make it difficult for mutants to even breathe.

Even Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters was targeted and bombed by the military. If several Omega-level mutants and the X-Men's headquarters were treated this way, how would ordinary mutants cope?

It was in this dilemma that Professor X constantly pondered the origin of mutants. The same was true for Magneto, but he chose a different path from Professor X.

This is why these two are called the two spiritual leaders of mutants, and no one else is qualified to use such titles.

Fortunately, Charles Xavier is bald, otherwise he would not be so worried as to pull out all his hair. Professor X slammed the table angrily and said, "This won't work. We must have our own people in the government."

"How to do it? Use mind control to control a congressman or a White House official?" Hank continued to come up with bad ideas.

Professor X immediately objected. "Of course not! We can't use mind control. If it gets exposed, our situation will be even more difficult. We need someone who's truly ours, standing in plain sight in those positions."

Hank said, "How do we do it? Elect congressmen, let the mutants win over the support of ordinary people? Even if you have astronomical amounts of money, it's hard to succeed if you throw it into this bottomless pit.

"The only possibility is to convince the government to set up an agency specifically to deal with mutant affairs, with one of our own people taking on the responsibilities there. But this kind of thing can't be done immediately, and it won't help Jean."

"I know." He pounded the table again and controlled his wheelchair so that he could face the door and not see anyone. He said, "I know. Let me think about it quietly."

Seeing his longtime friend show no intention of continuing the conversation, Hank McCoy had no choice but to leave the office. He needed to inform the other person of the situation. And that person was even more troublesome.

In the infirmary, the older students of the Junior School were temporarily filling in as nurses. Usually, Jean Grey was in charge, but now she was gone.

Next to Quicksilver was a pile of physics books, ranging from simple to complex. He was reading these books with difficulty, using some tools to assist him.

Mystique was resting on the hospital bed in her original form, with blue skin and red hair.

After the ups and downs of the first 24 hours, his vital signs had stabilized. Perhaps he could recover sooner than expected, Hank thought as he checked the instrument data.

In fact, Mystique noticed it as early as when Hank entered the infirmary.

He was just regulating his breathing to soothe the pain in his internal organs, because doing so would help his mutant ability accelerate the transformation of his body and internal organs towards 'normal'.

After a short pause, he opened his eyes and looked at the man beside the bed, who was looking at him lovingly.

"Any good news?" Mystique asked.

"Raven, you shouldn't focus too much on this. You should get more rest," Hank advised.

"When I die, I'll have plenty of time to rest. Now, give me some good news."

Knowing this woman's personality, Hank came to the infirmary, ready to tell her about his latest discovery.

But he couldn't help but try to persuade the other party. As expected, he got a cold shoulder.

Hank had no choice but to tell Mystique what he and Reed Richards had discovered, as well as Charles's handling of the matter and the White House's attitude after notifying Professor X.

Chapter 157 A Woman's Request

After Mystique finished listening to the story, he asked again: "Where's Jean? Have you found his whereabouts?"

"Scott, Ororo, Kurt and the others are out looking, and the older students are out looking for information as well."

"So, no one has found Jean yet. Good."

Mystique twisted her body and tried to sit up. Hank quickly controlled the folding function of the bed so that his upper body could be supported by the rising bed so that they could talk face to face.

"Hank, I need you to find Jean yourself and take him to a safe place," said Mystique.

Hank didn't understand and said, "Isn't everyone trying their best to find Qin?"

"No, that's not safe. I don't trust Charles." Mystique expressed her concerns frankly.

"why?"

"I've had enough of you men's indifferent attitude towards small sacrifices for a greater goal. Who knows what Charles is thinking? Maybe he's willing to sacrifice one person for the sake of the greater good of mutantkind."

"Charles... Charles wouldn't do that... right?" Hank wanted to defend Professor X, who was not present, but he couldn't say those words.

Mystique said angrily, "I just wanted to get rid of Trask, the executor of the Sentinel Project, and stop that ridiculous plan. But you believed the Wolverine who claimed to be from the future and stopped me.

"Eric even said I was a threat to the future and wanted to kill me. He wanted to kill me. He actually wanted to kill me. Before that, would you believe such a thing?"

They say women hold grudges the most. Hank said sheepishly, "That's because Wolverine from the future reminded us that if Trask were to obtain your X-gene, it would greatly enhance the Sentinels' capabilities."

"So, this is why you want to kill me? Even you think it's right!"

Seeing the electrocardiogram and blood pressure values ​​begin to soar, Hank quickly comforted the sick Mystique and said, "Of course this is wrong! So don't be angry. If anyone else comes up with such a bad idea next time, I will definitely spit in their face for you."

Taking deep breaths to calm her emotions, Mystique lowered her voice and said viciously, "So in this situation, how can you ask me to trust Charles? He and Eric are exactly the same type of people. Arrogant and blind.

"Look at what he's been doing lately. Sending the X-Men on missions for the government, good or bad, dangerous or not. More than once we've risked our lives for something that has nothing to do with us.

"Then he took a few medals and sent us packing. I warned you that his actions were dangerous and unfair. But you refused to listen. Instead, you chose to trust him once, twice, and finally, you kept trusting him."

"Okay, okay." Hank tried to appease Mystique, whose monitoring equipment was showing signs of agitation, and asked directly, "Then what do you want me to do?"

Mystique said decisively: "Find Jean first and protect him. Don't hand him over to anyone, whether it's Charles or Eric.

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