The $3,000 Hole

Everything happened too fast—so fast that it was over before anyone could react.

Cyclops, the X-Men's field leader, had his throat gripped and could only crane his head back to stare at the sky. The immensely powerful Storm had turned into a round, two-hundred-kilogram fat ball, unable even to stand.

Colossus had not intended to make a move at all.

Commissioner George Stacy was stunned.

From their earlier conversation, he could tell that Storm of the X-Men had some friction with Doctor White. Her resentful words made that clear, but it was also obvious that it was not some deep-seated grudge—just dislike.

Yet he had never expected things to suddenly turn out like this.

Doctor White was no ordinary man. Stacy had only seen him sway slightly, and Cyclops had already been subdued. As for Storm's current state, he honestly could not comprehend it.

"Sean White! Just you wait!" Storm's voice was filled not only with fury, but also fear. There was even a faint hint of a sob in it.

The reporters who had rushed over captured the scene perfectly.

Sean instinctively covered his face. He always kept a mask in his pocket. He was a doctor, after all—how could he look like one without a mask?

"Doctor White~"

Cyclops, Scott, suddenly spoke. But his voice... was unusually calm.

Sean shuddered. Professor X's psychic power had possessed Cyclops? The big boss had appeared!

"Professor?"

"It is me, Doctor White. Release Scott. This is merely a misunderstanding."

"It may be a misunderstanding on my end, but I have no misunderstanding about them."

Sean might have been somewhat wary of Professor X, but he had his limits.

Besides, he was in the right this time.

Storm also fell silent. The Professor had probably said something to her. Colossus tried his best to help Storm into a proper position, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not manage it. Storm had no control over her body at all. She could only lie there... sprawled into a heap.

Miraculously, her X-Men uniform had stretched that much without tearing. Its elasticity far exceeded Sean's expectations.

"But in the end, it all stemmed from a misunderstanding," Scott said in a tone that did not belong to him. "You and Ororo should seek a better way to get along rather than oppose each other."

(°°)

What did the Professor mean by that?

Sean pondered the Professor's words, and the more he thought about them, the more his mind went in the wrong direction!

He glanced at the 208-kilogram Storm and decided he had definitely misunderstood the Professor. He had to have...

"You need to guarantee that they won't cause trouble for me. My little family business can't withstand retaliation from the X-Men."

"They will not. They are all good children."

Children? Fine, you were the big shot. If you said they were children, then they were children.

The voice faded away, and Cyclops's body visibly stiffened.

Sean muttered a few complaints to himself before releasing Cyclops, Scott. He even put his glasses back on for him.

The service was exceptionally thorough.

"Misunderstanding, misunderstanding!"

Sean took two steps back and said to Cyclops with an ingratiating grin.

"It was a misunderstanding~"

"Bzzt~"

Cyclops adjusted his glasses, and a red beam sent Sean flying straight back into the lingerie store.

The marble-clad checkout counter instantly shattered apart, and Python Queen, who had still been hiding behind it, was smashed flat on her back.

"I knew the Professor couldn't be trusted~"

Sean lay there without wanting to move. His chest hurt.

But while he did not want to move, Python Princess did. She forcefully shoved his head.

"Get up!"

"Don't want to." As he spoke, he turned his head, finding a more comfortable position.

Zelda DuBois was immediately enraged. Was he taking advantage of her?

She pushed Sean's head with both hands, trying to wriggle herself out from beneath him. But when she saw several police officers rushing in, she simply closed her eyes and pretended to faint.

Cyclops, Scott, also walked in with a frown. Seeing Sean unwilling to move and the woman pinned beneath half of Sean's body, he felt a little flustered.

He had gone against the Professor's wishes and attacked Sean White on his own, intending to punish him a little. He had not expected to injure civilians by mistake.

That blast had indeed been a little too strong. If Sean had not been so sturdy, he would have broken at least two ribs.

Two ambulance doctors rushed in. After a brief examination, they said:

"The female victim's vital signs are stable. Suspected unconsciousness."

"The male victim... hmm, he isn't injured." The female doctor pinched Sean all over and indicated that he was fine.

"How could I not be injured? I have internal injuries. If you don't believe me, I can cough up some blood for you!"

Sean was still in the mood to flirt with the female doctor, so he was clearly fine.

The female doctor rolled her eyes at him and gave his chest a hard pat. It hurt Sean badly. That spot was definitely going to bruise.

"Take him in for an examination."

Sean secretly rejoiced. What a kindhearted female doctor.

Cyclops's brow was practically twisted into a mountain peak, but what could he do?

The reporters photographed Sean and Python Princess like mad, along with the shattered checkout counter. All of it was evidence of mutants attacking ordinary people.

Only now did Cyclops realize he had done something foolish.

Tomorrow's newspapers...

He did not even dare to think further.

The ambulance took Sean and Python Queen, Zelda DuBois, directly to Sinai Hospital. It was very close, only a few hundred meters away.

Sean actually regretted it the moment he got into the ambulance.

Ambulances in America were truly expensive, and this female doctor looked like the highly skilled kind. Sean figured he would not get away with paying less than two thousand dollars this time.

Tsk~

He had really gone all out just to make Cyclops suffer.

"Still pretending?"

The female doctor asked him with a smile.

Sean immediately sat up beside her, a pained look on his face.

"I thought you were an angel, but now I've discovered you're practically a devil. How much do I have to pay for this trip?"

The female doctor did not care. Smiling, she said two words: "Three thousand!"

Sean's face darkened.

Three thousand! One and a half kilos!

What a huge loss!

Sean grabbed the female doctor's hand and said affectionately, "My name is Sean White. Look, I'm fine. I just caught a ride. Could you help waive some of the ambulance fee?"

The female doctor did not pull her hand back, allowing Sean to hold it.

"That won't do. This trip can't be for nothing. My name is Lisa Lyle."

"..."

Sean immediately let go and lay back down. Who cared what her name was? If she would not waive the fee, he had no interest in knowing her.

Asking Cyclops to cover the expense was not something Sean dared do either. He did not want to go to Xavier. The Professor's existence had always been a ticking bomb in Sean's heart.

His identity as a transmigrator absolutely could not be exposed. And he did not have health insurance.

This money... would ultimately have to come out of his own pocket.

Heart aching over the three thousand dollars, he arrived at Sinai Hospital.

Two orderlies wanted to carry Sean on a stretcher.

He decisively refused.

He could walk himself. Why would he need a stretcher? He was not even planning to enter the hospital.

The female doctor felt a little regretful. His muscles were so firm, and he was interesting too... Why was he leaving?

This incident had created a major problem for the X-Men. Who knew what tomorrow's newspapers would say?

But Doctor White did not care about that. He did not even care much whether mutants had hard lives.

Taking good care of the black ledger was more important than anything. People who worried about major issues usually died young.

As for Python Queen, who had arrived at Sinai Hospital around the same time as him, Sean paid her no attention. That woman was hiding from the police, so she certainly would not complete any admission procedures.

He would check later whether she had managed to steal any gold. If she had, he would deduct it directly. The ledger considered robbery proceeds to be work income too, so there was no problem with normal deductions.

The question now was that Sinai Hospital was closer to West 42nd Street. Should he go have some fun?

The X-Men left Lincoln Center.

Before long, the NYPD finished handling the situation and withdrew as well, leaving behind a complete mess for the city authorities and insurance companies.

When Cyclops and the others returned to Xavier, they all felt troubled by Storm's current size. In the end, the matter still had to be resolved through Sean White. At that size, Storm could not even move on her own.

"Th-this... what happened to Ororo?" Jean Grey had been about to greet everyone when she was startled by Storm's appearance.

"Sean White!" Cyclops said angrily.

"Doctor White?" Jean Grey could not imagine how that black doctor had turned an X-Men team into this state. "What exactly is wrong with Ororo?"

When Storm heard Jean Grey's voice, her eyes reddened, and tears nearly spilled out.

A sexy beauty who was rather narcissistic had suddenly turned into such a ghastly state. Anyone would have a hard time accepting it!

Polaris also rushed over after receiving the news. The moment she saw Ororo, tears flowed down her face. At Xavier, Ororo had taken the best care of her, and the two had an especially close relationship.

She truly could not bear seeing Ororo like this.

"How did this happen?" Lorna asked in disbelief.

Colossus, who had remained silent until then, said, "Sean White. He said... he was giving Ororo a grand gift."

Polaris: This is a "gift"?

Sean: A heavy "gift" worth $300,000!

A quick note: the X-Men setting follows the movie version, so they are somewhat weakened overall.

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Next chapter preview: The bad things Vanessa and Elektra went to do.