"Jean, the Professor is still waiting for us."
His words were directed at Jean, but his scrutinizing gaze was entirely fixed on Lynnte.
The air in the club seemed to thicken slightly due to the standoff.
Lynnte felt like a cookie caught between two prehistoric beasts.
Just as the tension was at its peak, a fragrant figure elegantly inserted herself from the side.
Raven was back.
She was still the fiery blonde beauty with blue eyes, a perfect business smile on her face. She naturally extended her arm, intimately linked it with Lynnte's, and pressed her body close to his.
This gesture of claiming ownership was executed with practiced ease.
"Darling, I'm back."
She spoke softly to Lynnte, then turned her head to Jean, her azure eyes full of smiles, yet with a needle-sharp edge.
"Is there something you need, miss?"
She paused, and without waiting for Jean to reply, she added lightly,
"Stay away from my man."
Jean's brows furrowed.
Scott's body tensed even further, one hand already resting on the frame of his glasses.
The atmosphere instantly dropped to freezing point.
Some curious guests around them instinctively backed away a few steps, afraid of being caught in the crossfire.
Lynnte felt his scalp tingle.
Big sister, you're provoking the Phoenix!
Do you know who she is! Yes, you should know.
But didn't you say you wanted to keep a low profile??
He just wanted to grab Raven and run, as far away from these X-Men as possible.
"Heh heh, your taste is still so… unique."
A lazy yet melodious female voice broke the deadlock.
A platinum-blonde woman, wearing a pure white diamond gown and with an equally sizzling figure, walked over gracefully, holding a glass of champagne.
The White Queen of the Hellfire Club, Emma Frost.
She was also a powerful telepath.
Emma walked to the center of the group, her gaze sweeping over Raven and Jean's faces, finally resting on Scott's hand on his glasses.
"Scott, this isn't Xavier's training ground. If you break anything, Charles's reputation won't be enough to cover it."
Her tone was light and understated, yet carried an undeniable authority.
Scott snorted coldly and lowered his hand.
Emma then turned to Raven, her smile playful.
"Take your new toy and go play somewhere else. Don't scare our esteemed guests here."
Raven gave Emma a cold look, but said nothing.
She linked her arm with Lynnte's and turned to leave, without any hesitation.
Lynnte was pulled along by her, almost stumbling behind her.
As they passed Jean, he didn't even dare to look at her again.
It wasn't until they had left the Hellfire Club and gotten into a black car parked by the roadside that Lynnte finally caught his breath.
The atmosphere inside the car was terrifyingly oppressive.
Raven had already reverted to her original blue form, sitting in the driver's seat, silent.
She started the car, and it smoothly merged into the night traffic.
After a long while, she spoke, her voice as cold as ice.
"That red-haired woman is one of Charles's people, a top-tier telepath."
"From now on, you are not allowed to have any contact with her."
Raven suddenly turned her head, her amber beast-like eyes locking onto Lynnte in the dim car interior.
"Do you understand?"
"She's an enemy, very dangerous."
"I don't care what secrets you have, but as long as your abilities are useful to me, you'd better be obedient."
"Otherwise, I wouldn't mind crippling you first, then hiding you away."
The killing intent in that last sentence was almost palpable.
Lynnte shivered, but after the fear, a sense of absurdity washed over him.
He spread his hands, a helpless expression on his face.
"Crippling me? Oh no, big sister. This model of mine is a limited edition, one of a kind in the world. If it's crippled, it's truly gone."
He pointed at himself, then at Raven.
"Besides, if the power bank is broken, where will you find such a perfectly matched charging head? It won't be compatible."
"And if you're left with only one out of five limbs, you'll quickly get bored. It's better if we help each other."
Lynnte talked, but his hands were not idle, beginning to touch Mystique's skin.
Raven's amber pupils contracted slightly.
She hadn't expected this man to say such things under threat.
The killing intent in the car inexplicably dissipated somewhat.
"Stop with the smooth talk."
She snorted coldly, restarted the car, and tacitly allowed certain behaviors.
"Charles's hypocritical theory of peaceful coexistence will only turn mutants into human pets and experimental subjects. Stay away from his people; they're all complete lunatics, just like Erik, only their madness manifests differently."
Her tone carried a deep-seated disgust.
The car twisted and turned, finally stopping below an ordinary apartment building in Brooklyn.
This was their new safe house.
The room wasn't large, but it was clean and fully stocked with daily necessities, clearly a place Raven had prepared beforehand.
As soon as they entered, Raven went into the bathroom to wash off the decadent aura of the Hellfire Club.
Lynnte, meanwhile, sank into the sofa, took out his new phone, and opened a financial app.
On the screen, the colorful K-line charts and constantly flickering numbers gave him a sense of familiarity, as if he had returned to a past life.
Stark Industries, Hammer Industries, Oscorp Group… these names, which had been household names in movies, now became symbols that could be leveraged by capital.
When Raven emerged from the bathroom, completely unencumbered, this was the sight that greeted her.
Lynnte was fully engrossed in his phone screen, his fingers sliding rapidly, muttering to himself.
"What are you up to now?"
Raven asked warily, wiping her wet hair.
"I'm thinking, we can't keep hiding like this."
Lynnte didn't even look up.
"This isn't living, this is imprisonment. Every day we're on edge, not knowing when Magneto will tear down this building, or when Professor X will send someone to give you psychological counseling."
Raven's movements stopped. She walked in front of Lynnte and looked down at him.
"Oh? So, according to you, what should we do? Go to Charles and be locked up in his academy as a mascot? Or kneel before Erik and beg him for another chance to serve him?"
"Neither."
Lynnte finally looked up and turned off his phone screen.
He leaned back on the sofa, looking up at his blue hostess.
"We'll take a third path. A path neither of them would think of, or would look down upon."
"What path?"
"The path of capital."
Lynnte's voice was soft, but every word was crystal clear.
Raven froze, then let out a scoff, as if she had heard the funniest joke of the century.
"Capital? Money? Lynnte, have I slept you into a stupor?"
She extended her finger, her nail glinting coldly in the light.
"Can money stop the storm of steel that Erik unleashes? Can money block Charles's pervasive psychic invasions? In this world, only power is fundamental! Your kind of thing is just waste paper!"
"No, you're wrong."
Lynnte shook his head, his expression more serious than ever.
"You're thinking too simply. Money itself certainly can't stop superpowers, but money can do much more than that."
He stood up, facing Raven's scrutiny directly.
"I ask you, can a specially made bullet, one that can penetrate your scales, kill you?"