Chapter 144: The Unexpected Absence of Loki

"Him?"

Orion Cross thought of what he had seen in Hank’s laboratory just a few minutes ago and smiled at Raven. "He’s changed a little."

"Oh?"

Raven was somewhat surprised. "What did he do?"

She knew very well that neither Charles nor Erik was the kind of person whose beliefs would easily change simply because of their relationship with each other.

"He and Hank replicated the Sentinel robots that the military once wanted to use against mutants years ago, but they’re using them now for combat training for selected students."

Orion Cross gazed into the distance as he spoke.

The Sentinel robots that had originally been created to deal with mutants were now being used to train mutant abilities.

Whether the final result would be a group of qualified X-Men fighters or their own destruction remained to be seen.

"Sentinels? They’ve got some nerve!"

The moment Raven heard that word, she shuddered.

In the original timeline, the Sentinels had obtained her mutant genes, gradually beginning a process of evolution and upgrading that ultimately led to the extinction of mutants.

And now Hank and Charles had actually restarted the Sentinels themselves?

Weren’t they afraid of playing with fire and getting burned?

"Charles changing his mindset is a good thing, but mutants aren’t mages, nor are they machines. They can only develop the abilities they already possess. They can’t steadily increase their strength. As for the so-called Sentinel training, it’s really just meant to cultivate their combat instincts. Even if you replaced them with ordinary combat robots, there wouldn’t be much difference."

"To put it simply, the people who can beat them will take fewer injuries, while the ones who can’t beat them still won’t be able to."

Orion Cross spread his hands and presented Raven with the cold truth.

"I’m still a little worried."

Raven looked somewhat anxious. She crouched down and seemed to start searching for something.

After looking around for a while, Raven stood up and looked at Orion Cross. "Let’s go back. Right now!"

"That urgent? What were you looking for?"

Orion Cross was somewhat surprised. This was, after all, Mystique’s "hometown," yet she did not seem reluctant to leave in the slightest.

"My hair. I was checking whether I’d left any of my genes behind in this world. I haven’t."

Raven looked at Orion Cross with a serious expression as she explained.

It seemed that after learning during the previous Days of Future Past incident that she had been the cause of mutant extinction, Raven really had developed a bit of PTSD.

"All right. Anyway, Apocalypse is dealt with. What’s left now is just the various conflicts between ordinary humans and mutants."

Petty street fights were not enough to make Orion Cross pay attention to this world again.

As for the Dark Phoenix incident, barring an unexpected development, it probably would not happen.

Magneto’s daughter, Nina, had been brought back to life by Orion Cross and had gained the ability to control the concept of birds.

As long as Charles was not an idiot and spent some time training Nina’s control, he should be able to suppress the Phoenix Force.

Nina’s safety was also not something they needed to worry about too much.

Magneto had always believed that he would inevitably end up alone in the future, so he had directly given the scale in his possession to his daughter. That way, whenever Nina found herself in danger, she could pray to Orion Cross.

But Orion Cross knew that Magneto was practically the mutant world’s equivalent of a man with countless daughters from different women. He estimated that by the time the next major incident occurred, his youngest daughter, Lorna Dane, would probably already have been born.

So Orion Cross simply gave Magneto another scale and told him that if he had another child, he could give that scale to her.

Orion Cross called Diana back from where she was playing with the children and, right in front of everyone, returned to the main world with the three of them.

Thud!

Orion Cross’s previously empty bedroom was suddenly packed with people.

Aside from the few who had returned from the mutant world, Skye was also in the room. She seemed to be helping Orion Cross make the bed.

Previously, because Mystique had transformed into the Human Torch, nearly half the room had been burned down. Now, however, it seemed that the room had been renovated.

"You’re back?"

When Skye saw Orion Cross appear, the delight on her face was impossible to hide.

But when she saw Diana and Psylocke standing behind Mystique, Skye’s smile stiffened.

"Two more? And they’re dressed like that..."

Diana’s Amazonian battle armor and Psylocke’s ninja outfit were both relatively revealing, designed primarily for combat.

Of course, through the eyes of someone wearing tinted glasses, they looked more like provocative outfits.

"You two, come with me next door and change into something else."

Raven looked over Diana and Psylocke and realized that their current outfits really were somewhat out of place here.

Mystique took the two of them next door to change, leaving only Orion Cross and Skye in the bedroom.

"How are things? Has anything happened with S.H.I.E.L.D. lately?"

Orion Cross sat down on the new bed and tested its elasticity and softness before looking at Skye.

"Nothing... Are you sure it’s supposed to happen soon? I haven’t found any signs of it at all."

Skye opened the package containing the new blanket from the floor beside her and tossed it onto the bed next to Orion Cross. Hearing his question, she shook her head.

"That’s strange."

Orion Cross lowered his head and began thinking.

When he had traveled to Diana’s universe, he had been worried that Loki would launch his invasion plan while he was away.

But now, not only had he returned with Diana, he had even stopped by the mutant world along the way and dealt with Apocalypse.

"Could it be because of me?"

Orion Cross suddenly thought of a possibility.

It was not that he was narcissistic. He was simply analyzing the facts objectively.

If Loki had chosen to stay hidden instead of acting as arrogantly as he had originally, there was a high probability that Orion Cross’s previous intimidation and the contingency measures he had left behind had influenced him.

Of course, no matter how much a person’s personality changed, it was impossible for them to completely transform into the opposite kind of person in such a short period.

Therefore, Loki would inevitably appear sooner or later.

But when he did, it would definitely be because he believed Orion Cross was no longer someone he needed to worry about interfering with his plans.

"Skye, you’ve trained well. It’s time."

Orion Cross shifted his gaze toward Skye.

She was wearing athletic clothes, and the tight-fitting outfit revealed the definition of her abdominal muscles.

"You mean..."

Skye had still been harboring a little resentment because of Diana and Psylocke’s appearance, but the moment she heard Orion Cross say this, her expression instantly became animated.

"That’s right."

Orion Cross nodded.

Skye had been waiting to become a superhuman for far too long. She did not want to remain a weak support hacker who could only stay behind and hold everyone back.

And now, Orion Cross was telling her that she had finally met the requirements.

"Then... where are we going? Do I need to do anything?"

Skye looked at Orion Cross somewhat nervously and asked.

"Don’t rush. I’ll ask Tony Stark whether he knows of a private beach."

Orion Cross walked over, picked up the phone he had tossed aside earlier, and turned to Skye.

"You should go back and rest for now. We’ll leave tomorrow."

Skye nodded and prepared to leave. But when she reached the door, she turned around again.

"I don’t need to make any other preparations?"

"You’ve already made all the preparations you need."

Orion Cross answered with a smile.

Only after receiving Orion Cross’s confirmation did Skye finally relax and return to her room.

Meanwhile, Orion Cross leaned against the pillow and began checking the rewards he had received from completing this mission.