A Less Than Harmonious Relationship

After its initial surge, the waters of Alkali Lake gradually calmed.

It formed a body of water far larger than before.

The whole process had been so brief that the X-Men's jet had not even started its engines yet.

As Sean watched the vortex forming on the lake, the X-Men's black jet came straight down.

No, it came crashing down!

Sean was scared out of his wits. The plane had landed barely ten meters away from him!

Fortunately, it had not fallen from very high up, so it had not shattered into pieces.

Wolverine, Logan, was the first to emerge. Perhaps Uncle Wolf had been rattled a little dizzy; he staggered slightly as he came out.

Sean grinned and chuckled.

Jean Grey followed right behind Logan, though she was not alone. She used telekinesis to carry the Professor and Cyclops.

Several children came out after that, all students William Stryker had previously captured from the Xavier School.

Nightcrawler came out next, alone. The mutant looked very cautious, and somewhat lonely.

Storm then helped Polaris, Lorna, out of the plane.

The girl looked exhausted, her face pale and beaded with sweat.

The first reaction Storm and Polaris had upon seeing Sean was surprisingly identical. They snarled furiously:

"Sean White!"

How unoriginal. Every time, it was Sean White! Sean White! Couldn't they come up with anything new?

"What a coincidence! You escaped too~"

Sean said cheerfully.

Polaris's pale face immediately flushed red, and her gaze turned dangerous.

Storm's eyes were filled with contempt.

Sean did not understand their reactions. Had these two women still not figured out their positions?

Shouldn't debtors lower their heads and do everything they could to appease their creditors?

Yet all they showed was disgust and hatred?

"Dr. White, why are you here too?"

Iceman, Bobby, who came out last, voiced everyone's doubts.

"Yeah, why am I here?"

Sean asked in return.

Iceman blushed faintly. When Stryker had raided the Xavier School, Sean had told him to leave first.

"You were captured too, right?"

Sean looked at the young Iceman. The kid was pretty thin-skinned—quite rare.

"Captured? I think he must have made some filthy deal with Stryker. Otherwise, how could he be completely unharmed?"

Storm said disdainfully.

That was rather unreasonable, clearly just an excuse to look down on Sean.

But she was actually right. Sean had indeed made a filthy agreement with Stryker and thoroughly screwed him over. He had also dragged Magneto into it, causing his entire plan to go down the drain.

But Sean was not about to tell Storm and the others that. A debtor acting so tough toward her creditor?

"Ororo, pay up first."

"Damn it! I'd rather die than repay that damned debt of yours!"

Storm roared angrily.

"Why are you shouting so loudly? Do you think making more noise means you won't have to pay? You should set a good example for young people. You wouldn't want future generations to grow up liking to welch on debts, would you?"

Sean was utterly unfazed by Storm's attitude and mocked her instead.

Storm was furious. "You forced it on me in the first place! Why should I be responsible for this debt?"

There was no point reasoning about something like this, and Sean could not be bothered to argue with her. He simply rolled his eyes, making it clear he did not want to deal with her.

After settling the Professor, Jean Grey spoke up for Storm.

"Dr. White, you were the one who attacked us first. At the very least, you should bear half the responsibility!"

"He wouldn't be wronged even if he bore all of it!"

Storm added.

In Sean's impression, Jean Grey had been a very gentle woman, even somewhat sentimental. But what she said this time displeased him greatly.

"So now it's my fault?"

"You bear some responsibility too."

Jean Grey replied as though it were only natural.

Sean did not argue. Instead, the corners of his mouth lifted into a smile.

From Jean Grey's perspective, she was not wrong.

After all, Sean had been the first to make a move.

But from Sean's perspective, this was the consequence of Storm provoking him and causing him trouble first.

"So, are you going to take on half her debt for her?"

Sean asked Jean Grey with a smile.

Jean Grey was stunned by the question and did not know how to answer for a moment.

"Isn't that it? If not, then what are you even talking about? Does this have anything to do with you?"

Sean's smile turned cold.

He had no intention of indulging the X-Men's nonsense. They wanted to talk responsibility with him?

Sean might be good at keeping a low profile, but he was not a pushover!

He fired right back.

"Sean White! Watch your tone!"

Cyclops, who had remained silent until now, stepped up for his girlfriend. He could not stand by and watch his lover get bullied.

"Sean White! You've gone too far! We haven't even settled the trouble you caused last time! This isn't Manhattan—there are no reporters here."

The threat in his words was unmistakable.

"Yeah, there are no reporters here to sing your praises. What? You want to beat me up?"

Cyclops raised a hand to his glasses, about to give Sean a brutal blast, but Jean Grey grabbed him.

"Scott, don't!"

Cyclops glared at Sean and snorted coldly.

"Watch yourself!"

This guy had quite the temper. Sean realized that the most hotheaded person among the X-Men was not Uncle Wolf, but this man.

With people like him, either ignore them or crush them in one go.

But this was obviously not a good time to crush Cyclops, so Sean decided to ignore him.

Sean curled his lip and stopped paying attention to them.

Wolverine did not join their conversation. Instead, he focused on the surroundings.

His nose kept twitching as he sniffed the scents in the air.

Uncle Wolf truly was sharp. Yuriko had only lingered here for a while, yet he had already sensed a threat.

"Was someone else here just now?"

Wolverine, Logan, suddenly turned and asked Sean.

"My female assistant. She went to find a car."

Sean had a fairly good impression of Uncle Wolf. At least he did not spout nonsense about things he did not understand.

"Assistant? Ava Ellis!"

Storm asked with a frown.

How could Ava Ellis be here? What secret was Sean White hiding?

"You sure know a lot."

Sean said with a curl of his lip.

The sound of an engine rose as a military off-road vehicle drove down the dirt road on the hillside.

The True Person had arrived, so there was no need to explain anything.

Yuriko parked the vehicle nearby.

The moment she got out, Cyclops became agitated.

"It's her! William Stryker's assistant!"

Cyclops could never forget how this woman had knocked him down!

Cyclops: It's time for revenge! She knocked me out! Controlled me! Just watch how I get revenge!

Wolverine: Give it a rest. You can't beat her!

He pulled in a wave of hatred. Why did it feel like the protagonist was getting farther and farther down the road to becoming a villain?

Typed on my phone. I somehow lost nearly three thousand words today. I'm such an idiot~

Please vote~ Please comfort me~