New York Continental Hotel

Nightcrawler Kurt Richard Wagner walks the streets of New York City, following behind Storm Ororo Monroe.

Aside from his white hair, Ororo didn't actually have many Mutants features. So he simply wore casual clothes and, like an ordinary girl, tied his hair up with a rubber band to keep it from flying around.

However, Kurt's Mutants features were quite obvious. His tail was relatively easy to hide, but his blue skin and blue fur were impossible to conceal.

So Kurt had no choice but to suffer in the sweltering heat, wearing Trench Coat and a wide-brimmed top hat, pulling the brim down as low as possible to cover his face.

The world seems to accept Mutants, but the thoughts of ordinary people, and the subtle, almost imperceptible stares Mutants feel when walking down the street, all suggest that this "acceptance" is merely a temporary attitude.

Rather than a heartfelt thought.

So Kurt still wasn't used to walking down the street and being pointed at by people. It made him feel like a monkey in a zoo.

However, Kurt had never been to the place Ororo was taking him to, and he'd heard that the place wasn't exactly welcoming to Mutants using their abilities to invade. So walking there was the safest option.

The destination is in Lower Manhattan Manhattan, at a Y-shaped intersection. Ororo's destination is a triangular restaurant located at the corner of the two roads.

The page at the door was a Black man, wearing a red uniform with yellow stripes.

But as Ororo walked by and raised his hat in greeting, Kurt noticed shark-like gill slits on the page's head; his eyes also suddenly rolled completely black before immediately returning to normal. He seemed to be a Mutants as well.

Inside the hotel, several people were scattered around the lobby. Some were reading newspapers, some were resting with their eyes closed, and one was disassembling and cleaning his firearms while drinking coffee.

Ororo walked 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, and gave a polite smile, saying, "Miss Monroe, it's been a long time. How can I help you?"

"Notify us of Jean Grey's whereabouts. You should know where to call, right?"

Charon pressed his two fingers together against the Gold Coin, gently moving it towards himself. He said, "It's an honor to serve you. Do you know that Miss Grey appeared on Genosha Island this morning, defeated a U.S. military special task force, and then disappeared?"

Ororo frowned and said, "Information that can't be found doesn't count, you understand?"

"Of course, I understand your request. The message I just received was a bonus," Charon said politely, a smile that didn't reveal his teeth.

Seeing that the commission had been successfully posted, Charon, Storm was about to leave, called out to stop her, saying, "Miss Monroe, we have quite a few jobs here that would suit you. Have you considered earning some extra money?" As she spoke, she took out a stack of papers from under the counter.

Ororo stopped and glanced back, saying, "I have something urgent to attend to. I'll come over after I've dealt with it."

You're not in a hurry, are you?

"Of course not." Charon placed the letter of authorization back under the counter, flashing a bright smile. "Then I'll be waiting for your arrival anytime."

Just as Kurt followed Ororo out the door, Kurt, who had been holding his breath, finally breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Ororo, where is this place? I have a feeling it's very dangerous in there."

"Continental Hotel. Don't cause trouble here; even the professor's influence isn't very effective. I'll handle the contacts here, though. I just happened to be going this way, so I came here first. The place I need your help with is another location."

"Where are we going?" Kurt asked.

Ororo looked around and said, "Let's find a subway entrance first."

Whether it was the boost from his teleportation ability or a natural talent, Nightcrawler Kurt possessed an exceptional awareness of places he had been, and his sense of direction was beyond question. So he immediately pointed out the nearest subway entrance and led Ororo there.

The reason he didn't use teleportation was to avoid startling the ordinary people around him. This was also one of Professor X's requirements for him.

The ability to teleport should only be used when necessary, or when no one is watching.

The New York subway is always quite busy. And thankfully, most people are New York, with their heads down, hurrying along, not paying attention to those around them for even a second.

This is why no one cared when two Mutants walked around them. Perhaps some crazy black guy would come along and yell on the subway, and there would be an alien bug biting the carriage at the back, and everyone would still sit there calmly.

Looking at the gate blocking the way, Ororo had an urge to jump over the gate and skip the fare, just like other young people. But with Kurt by her side, she felt embarrassed to do so.

Furthermore, he couldn't teleport to places he hadn't been to or seen before, so Ororo bought the cheapest tickets for the two of them to enter the station.

Having never ridden such a crowded subway before, Kurt thought he was going to have a bad experience. But just as he was about to board before the doors closed, Ororo grabbed him and they stood on the platform, watching the subway leave.

"Yeah, it's gone. Aren't we getting in?" Kurt asked.

Ororo shook her head and said, "No. Let's go this way."

Because a subway train had just left, there were very few Passenger on the platform. Ororo led Kurt off the platform and walked along the tracks.

After walking a short distance, we turned onto an abandoned subway line.

As one of the world's premier Metropolis, New York's underground development is beyond the imagination of most people. The intricate network extends beyond subway lines to include sewage systems and other wastewater treatment facilities.

Some are in use, some are half-developed, some are abandoned, and some are even being secretly excavated by unknown organizations. It can be said that no one has a complete grasp of the entirety of New York's underworld, which gives some people a certain advantage.

Compared to the homeless people seen on the streets, there are countless more vagrants wandering the New York underworld.

Life is even more difficult. Once you've fallen to this state, there's no one left with any dignity.

This is an area beyond the reach of the police and official forces, where a clandestine order operates, 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 foster mother in his hometown in Europe, was tricked into going to Germany and was on the verge of ending up in a place like this.

He was rescued by Mystique during his first forced Mutants battle in Berlin, which led Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters and become a member of the X- X-Men.

So Kurt was lucky; he hadn't become familiar with this underground world until Ororo brought him in today.