Chapter 1042

As soon as she entered, Ororo Munroe froze.

Inside the restaurant, several young, beautiful women with outstanding temperaments were looking at her with all sorts of strange expressions.

It made her skin crawl, and she became even more reserved.

Su Quan was the only male in the restaurant, and Ororo Munroe, relying on the keen eye she had developed from years of thievery, guessed at first glance that this man was the "Master" they spoke of, and the person who wanted to see her.

Ororo Munroe walked up to the table where Su Quan was sitting, feeling somewhat inferior, lacking confidence, and also somewhat puzzled as she said, "Th-thank you for having them save me, but I don't understand, wh... why?"

Su Quan tilted his head to look at her and asked with a smile, "Why do you think?"

Ororo Munroe shook her head and said, "I don't know, I... I'm just a thief."

Jean Grey smiled sweetly: "You're more than just a thief; you're also a mutant!"

"We—are all mutants!"

Ororo Munroe asked tentatively: "So you want me to join you?"

Su Quan asked with a smile: "Are you interested?"

Ororo Munroe had never even imagined meeting her own kind, let alone being with them; the sudden invitation left her unable to decide for a moment.

Agree?

Who knew who they were or what they would make her do?

And if she left, what would happen to those children who had no one to look after them?

A large part of the reason she became a thief was for those homeless children who had no one to care for them and no ability to survive on their own.

Disagree?

Since they had sought her out and even saved her, they were clearly prepared and determined; would they allow her to refuse?

Having grown up on the streets and living by theft, she knew very well that people with money and power could not be offended; it was as easy for them to crush her as it was to crush an ant!

Ororo Munroe was caught in a dilemma, but Su Quan didn't disturb her thinking, instead drinking his wine and eating unknown snacks in a leisurely, relaxed manner.

Su Quan wasn't in a hurry, and the others were even less so; after all, they were all very familiar with "Ororo Munroe," even if it was another version.

But precisely because of that, they were even more eager to watch the show!

Especially Jean Grey, who came from the same world as Storm, had spent the longest time with her, and was the closest to her, so she wanted to watch the show of this other version of her best friend even more!

"The others are one thing, but have you forgotten that we'll be going to the Professor's place later?" Seeing Jean Grey's enthusiastic expression, Su Quan teased her with a slight smile.

The others don't have "doubles" in this world, but you do!

Now you're watching someone else's show, but in a moment, others will be watching yours!

Jean Grey's expression froze instantly; she was the one being watched now.

The Professor in this world wasn't much different from the Professor in other worlds; he was also crippled and had also founded the Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.

And also...

He also took her in as a student.

The only difference was that the Professor in this world wasn't bald yet!

Jean Grey blinked at Su Quan: "You aren't going to call Ororo to go with us, are you?"

Ororo Munroe, who was caught in a dilemma, heard her own name and asked instinctively: "Go where?"

"I'm not talking about you!" Jean Grey shook her head.

Not talking about me?

You clearly said Ororo, didn't you? Did I hear wrong?

Ororo Munroe looked confused, so Jean Grey explained: "I really wasn't talking about you; I was talking about another Ororo Munroe."

Another Ororo Munroe?

Fine, now Ororo Munroe was even more confused.

Su Quan shrugged at Jean Grey, saying as if he didn't mind the chaos: "You and she are both my people, and I'm closer to her, so... you know!"

Jean Grey rolled her eyes at him, speechless: "Are you serious? I've never refused you; it's you who aren't proactive, and now you're actually using this as a condition?"

Su Quan smiled noncommittally and explained: "It's just that there wasn't a proper, natural opportunity before; I couldn't just suddenly find you and make that kind of request directly, could I?"

"That would be so disrespectful to you."

Jean Grey twitched her mouth: "You might as well have been direct; setting conditions like this now... I don't feel like there's much respect in it either."

"That's not important."

"What's important is that it's much more natural this way, isn't it?"

Su Quan teased playfully, not worried that Jean Grey would be angry; after all, they had spent twenty years together on Void Island, and although they hadn't done anything, the emotional foundation was very deep, and they had long since become as close as family.

Not just Jean Grey, the others were the same.

Having spent a full twenty years together, whether they did that kind of thing or not wouldn't affect their relationship and feelings with Su Quan.

Twenty years—even the most indifferent people could develop feelings.

Of course, the feelings were deep, but some things were hard to just jump into directly.

Isn't there a saying: it's hard to make a move on someone you know well!

The more familiar you are, the harder it is to just charge in directly.

"Say whatever you want, but you can't call her over until I've seen her," Jean Grey said.

The two "her"s left Ororo Munroe very confused, but Su Quan and the others all understood who the two "her"s referred to.

The first "her" referred to Jean Grey's double, the younger version of Jean Grey; the second "her" referred to the older version of Ororo Munroe.

Of course, this "older version" didn't just refer to age—uh, although Ororo Munroe was indeed older than the one in front of them, it mainly referred to the older timeline.

Or, one could also use size to distinguish them.

Big Storm and Little Storm.

Big Phoenix and Little Phoenix.

This could be considered the pain and joy of the multiverse; if you want multiple times the joy, you have to be prepared to distinguish between them.

For now, two by two is fine, but if there were three, four, or even more, just the names used to distinguish them would take quite a bit of effort.