Chapter 154: New York Continent Hotel

Nightcrawler Kurt Wagner followed Storm, Ororo Munroe, down the streets of New York City.

Aside from her white hair, Ororo had few obvious mutant traits, so she simply wore casual clothes, tied her hair back with a rubber band to keep it from flying loose.

But Kurt's mutant features were unmistakable. His tail was easy enough to hide, but his blue skin and blue fur could not be concealed under any circumstances.

So Kurt had to suffer through the sweltering heat, wearing a long coat and a wide-brimmed gentleman's hat, pulling the brim low to cover as much of his face as possible.

This world seemed to accept mutants. But the heart's thoughts of ordinary people, and the faint, lingering glances mutants felt walking down the street, revealed that this "acceptance" was merely a passing attitude, not a genuine one.

So Kurt still wasn't used to walking down the street as an object of pointed fingers. It made him feel like a monkey in a zoo.

But the place Ororo was taking him to, Kurt had never been to, and he'd heard that place didn't welcome mutants using their powers to intrude. So walking there on foot was the safest option.

Their destination was in Lower Manhattan, at a Y-shaped intersection. The place Ororo wanted was a triangular hotel nestled in the angle between the two roads.

The doorman at the entrance wore a red uniform with yellow stitching—he was Black.

But as Ororo passed by and he tipped his hat in greeting, Kurt noticed gill-like slits on the doorman's scalp; his eyes suddenly flipped entirely black, then returned to normal instantly. He was clearly a mutant too.

Inside the hotel lobby, several people sat scattered about: one reading a newspaper, one resting with closed eyes, another sipping coffee while disassembling and cleaning his firearm.

Ororo walked up to the counter and placed a special gold coin directly on the table.

The Black concierge, who was also the lobby manager, Charon, looked up, recognized her, then offered a polite smile. "Miss Munroe, it's been a long time. How may I assist you?"

"Notify us the moment you locate Jean Grey. You know where to call, right?"

Ororo pressed two fingers against the coin and gently slid it toward herself. Charon said, "It's an honor to serve you. Perhaps you're unaware—this morning, Miss Grey appeared on Genosha, defeated a U. S. special operations team, then vanished."

Ororo frowned. "A lead with no confirmed location doesn't count. You understand."

"Of course. I fully comprehend your request. That information was merely a complimentary gift." Charon smiled without showing his teeth, exceedingly polite.

As Storm turned to leave after successfully posting the commission, Charon called out to stop her. "Miss Munroe. We have several assignments suited to you—have you considered earning some extra income?" He pulled a stack of papers from beneath the counter.

Ororo paused and glanced back. "My current task is urgent. I'll come back once it's resolved. You're not in a hurry, are you?"

"Not at all." Charon returned the commission papers to beneath the counter and this time grinned widely, revealing his white teeth. "We'll be waiting for you anytime."

As Kurt followed Ororo out the front door, the breath he'd been holding finally escaped in a long sigh. "Ororo, what is this place? I felt like it was extremely dangerous inside."

"The Continent Hotel. Don't cause trouble here—even Professor Xavier's influence won't help much. But I handle all our contacts here. We just happened to be passing by, so we stopped in. The place you're helping me with is somewhere else."

"Where are we going?" Kurt asked.

Ororo looked left and right. "First, let's find a subway entrance."

Whether due to the enhancement from his teleportation ability or innate talent, Nightcrawler Kurt had an exceptional sense of direction—he instantly pointed toward the nearest subway entrance and led Ororo there.

They didn't teleport to avoid frightening ordinary people nearby. That was Professor Xavier's rule: teleportation should only be used when necessary or when no one was watching.

New York's subway was always crowded, no matter the time. Fortunately, New Yorkers mostly kept their heads down, hurried along, and didn't spare a single second for anyone beside them.

That's why two mutants walking among them drew no attention. Perhaps if a crazy man screamed on the train, or if an alien bug gnawed at the rear car, everyone would still sit calmly.

Looking at the turnstile, Ororo felt a sudden urge to jump it like other kids to avoid paying. But with Kurt beside him, he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Besides, he couldn't teleport to a place he'd never seen or couldn't see, so Ororo bought the cheapest tickets for both of them to enter.

Having never ridden such a packed subway, Kurt expected to finally experience it. But just as he moved to board before the doors closed, Ororo grabbed his arm, pulling him back onto the platform to watch the train depart.

"Huh? It left. Aren't we getting on?" Kurt asked.

Ororo shook his head. "No. We're going this way."

Since a train had just departed, the platform was nearly empty. Ororo led Kurt down onto the tracks and began walking along them.

After a short distance, they turned into an abandoned subway line.

As the world's premier metropolis, New York's underground development was beyond ordinary imagination. The complexity extended far beyond subway lines—it included sewer systems and other drainage networks.

Some sections were active, some half-built, some abandoned, and others secretly dug by unknown organizations. No one could fully map the entire underground world of New York—and that gave certain people an advantage.

Compared to the street homeless visible aboveground, the number of wanderers in New York's underground world was many times greater, and their lives were far harder. Once you fell into this place, no one remained respectable.

It was beyond the reach of police and official forces, governed by its own hidden order—quietly resisting the dark forces of vampires, werewolves, and other non-humans… or enduring their exploitation.

Back in his homeland in Europe, where Kurt had lived with his Romani adoptive mother, he was tricked into Germany and nearly ended up in a place like this.

But during his first forced mutant deathmatch in Berlin, he was rescued by Mystique. That's how he joined Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters and became a member of the X-Men.

So Kurt was lucky—he'd never become familiar with this underground world, until today, when Ororo brought him here again.

(End of Chapter)