Trifles

After the laughter died down, everyone finally turned their attention to the ice crystal Alex had set aside.

Raven had appeared at the Floating Temple quite often over the years. Relying on her ever-changing shapeshifting ability, she frequently sneaked in to launch attacks and cause destruction. Howard had stayed at the Floating Temple year-round and had even been attacked by her once, so he was fairly familiar with Raven. His gaze swept over Erik and Raven inside the ice crystal before shifting to Alex. He asked in confusion, "Alex, why did you capture them and bring them back?"

Hearing this, everyone else also looked toward Alex. They all knew about the relationship between Erik and Alex, so they could understand bringing Erik back. But why was Raven here as well?

Alex chuckled and gave a brief explanation, then turned to Emma. "Emma, have there been any promising talents over the past ten years?" Seeing Magneto and Mystique standing together, Alex could not help thinking of bald Professor X. The love-hate entanglement between those three had been one of the biggest highlights of the movie "X-Men"!

Emma glanced at Alex in surprise, then nodded. "There have indeed been quite a few promising ones. What are you planning this time?" Alex rarely cared about such things, so it was no wonder Emma found his sudden question strange.

"Any with particularly powerful telepathy?" Alex truly wanted to find Professor X. On one hand, it was because of the movies; on the other, he wanted to find Emma a helper. In the films, Professor X had been a steadfast pacifist.

Emma’s gaze toward Alex grew even stranger. After pondering for a moment, she still shook her head. "No!" She sighed again and said helplessly, "Telepathy is extremely rare. Not many have appeared in the past ten years."

Telepathy might be weaker than some physical abilities in battle, but in terms of support, no other power could compare to it. Perhaps for that very reason, mutants with telepathic abilities were exceedingly rare. Even among the occasional few who possessed such powers, their telepathy was not particularly strong.

"I see." Alex frowned slightly and sighed inwardly, planning to find an opportunity to search New York himself. He remembered that Professor X had lived in New York in the movies.

As he thought, Alex turned to Nick Fury again, his expression slightly tense as he asked quietly, "Any… any news about them?" Over ten years, Alex believed the world must have changed, for better and for worse. But what he cared about most were his brothers.

At his words, several wrinkles creased Nick Fury’s dark face, and faint bitterness flickered in his single eye. His large head shook slightly. "There’s still been no news of Steve. Bucky has shown up a few times, but he disappeared again soon afterward." Nick Fury forced a smile and slowly added, "Logan is still the same, running all over the world."

"Logan has come by a few times and has met Little Logan too," Emma added from the side. Seeming to recall something, she hurriedly continued, "Oh, right. Logan wants you to help name Little Logan."

Alex stared at Emma in stunned disbelief, then turned to Little Logan. He found him looking away, a trace of embarrassment on his youthful face. The slight pout at the corner of his mouth revealed exactly how he felt.

"Forget it. I think Little Logan is fine!" After a long, awkward silence, Alex ultimately did not give Little Logan a new name. "He’s been called Little Logan for more than ten years. We’re all used to it!"

Although Little Logan was somewhat dissatisfied, when he thought about Alex’s reasoning, he knew he would not be used to someone calling him an unfamiliar name either. After considering it, he could only nod in agreement.

As they chatted and laughed, night fell before they knew it. Alex naturally kept Nick Fury and the others there, intending to have a proper drink.

But just then, Crystal could not hold herself back and ran out.

In an unfamiliar place, Crystal had basically stayed in her room all day, though she had kept an eye on what was happening outside. When she heard that Alex was going to drink with others, she could no longer restrain herself.

"Alex, when exactly are you going to look for my sister?" Crystal was furious. Her beautiful eyes glared fiercely at the frozen Alex, while she thought, I never should have agreed to follow him just because Uncle told me to. It would have been so much easier on my own!

Alex had indeed been startled by Crystal’s sudden appearance. Hearing her words, he did not know whether to laugh or cry. He pressed both hands on Crystal’s shoulders while soothing her, "Crystal, didn’t I tell you? We need other people’s help to find someone." Alex pointed at Nick Fury and began spouting nonsense. "Nick is the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., the largest intelligence organization in the world. With his help, we’ll definitely find your sister soon."

Crystal looked at Alex suspiciously, then turned to Nick Fury and examined him from head to toe. "Is everything he said true?"

Nick Fury and Alex had been brothers for many years. Even though they had not seen each other in ten years, their understanding remained strong. Nick Fury immediately caught on after Alex’s few words and nodded at once. "Mm, everything Alex said is true. In fact, we’ve already started looking." Compared with Alex, Nick Fury could talk an airplane into flying. "I’m sure we’ll have news before long, so you don’t need to worry."

Under Alex and Nick Fury’s joint "deception," Crystal believed them. A blush rose to her face as she awkwardly apologized to the two of them, then turned and ran back to her room, never coming out again.

Alex did not try to stop her. He turned to Nick Fury, gave him a thumbs-up, and looked thoroughly impressed.

"Alex, who is she?" Nick Fury rolled his eye at him, then got down to business. Since he had made a promise, he had to fulfill it. "Tell me exactly what happened."

Alex had nothing to hide. He roughly explained that Crystal’s sister Medusa had gone missing, and that Crystal’s uncle had asked him to come out and search for her. Then he focused on describing Medusa. "Her sister has long red hair that she can supposedly control however she wants, making it longer or shorter, softer or harder. She’s quite strong."

As he spoke, Alex casually condensed Medusa’s likeness in midair with energy. It looked lifelike and was extremely remarkable.

"Leave me a picture later. I’ll arrange for people to look for her." Nick Fury studied it carefully for a few moments before answering casually, brimming with confidence.

Nick Fury had every reason to be confident. After ten years of development, S.H.I.E.L.D. had become the strongest intelligence organization in the world. Its influence covered the globe, with agents everywhere from government halls to ordinary society.

Alex did not stand on ceremony and nodded his thanks.

Setting aside the trivial matters, the group soon resumed drinking. By the end of the night, everyone was drunk.