After expending immense effort to pacify his furious mother, Zhou Yi used travel fatigue as an excuse and quickly led Ororo and the others into the reserved suite.
Charisse, meanwhile, was left behind to face her mother's discipline alone.
One must taste the bitter fruit they have brewed themselves, and this applied even to his younger sister. Especially this time, Zhou Yi had absolutely no intention of sharing even the slightest burden for Charisse's recklessness.
After putting down their luggage, the exhausted young women had already gone to rest. Ororo and Jean Grey also went into their room together.
Although Zhou Yi desperately wanted to follow them in, Ororo and the others would likely have disagreed. Furthermore, the close proximity of Zhou Lan and Charisse made such an attempt unfeasible. Therefore, under these circumstances, he could only choose to rest alone.
As for Logan, that fellow was completely outside of his consideration. He was an adult with his own sense of self-reliance, and whatever he chose to do was none of Zhou Yi's concern.
Having enjoyed a rare opportunity to sleep in, Zhou Yi was woken up by a sudden knock at the door.
After tidying his appearance slightly, he opened the door to the hotel suite. Unexpectedly, the person at the door was not Charisse or Ororo, as he had thought, but someone he was not very familiar with.
Rogue Mary stood there and asked, looking somewhat unnatural:
"Good morning, sir. I apologize for bothering you with something. Do you have a moment to spare?"
"Of course, please come in, Young Miss Mary."
Stepping aside to let the heavily bundled up young woman enter his room, Zhou Yi scratched his head and said, "I apologize, I haven't been this relaxed in a long time, and I ended up oversleeping. Is there something you needed to see me about, Young Miss Mary?"
"It's about this, sir."
Sitting on the sofa, Rogue Mary asked, feeling a mixture of fear and anticipation: "Last time you said you could solve the problem I have; I wanted to know if that was true?"
"From a certain perspective, yes, that is correct."
Zhou Yi took a bottle of milk from the refrigerator in the room and handed it to Rogue, explaining, "However, it might differ slightly from what you imagine. The method I mentioned is not to eliminate your ability, but to create a layer of insurance on your body!"
"Insurance?"
Rogue looked slightly disappointed, but she remained expectant. She hoped that Zhou Yi's explanation would allow her to genuinely return to her original state, even if only superficially, which would be completely acceptable.
"Yes. I don't suppose you've heard of nanometal?" Zhou Yi countered with a question.
This question made Rogue ponder for a moment, but she had some general knowledge, and after a slight hesitation, she replied: "Are you referring to those very tiny, microscopic Materials?"
"Yes, that's exactly what I mean."
Thinking that Mary's family background might make her unfamiliar with this relatively obscure high-tech Materials, Zhou Yi felt he needed to explain as clearly as possible.
"Nanometal Materials is one of the mainstream directions for future high-tech Materials, in my opinion. Its microscopic structure can solve many problems, including your physical contact problem."
"Sir, I don't quite understand?" Mary said softly, holding the milk. Although she didn't want to appear so ignorant, since it concerned her future, she had to ask aloud. This was too important to her.
"A nanometer, also called a millimicron, is a unit of length measurement. To give you an example, suppose a human hair has a diameter of 0.05 millimeters. If you split it radially into 50,000 equal strands, the thickness of each strand would be about one nanometer. That is to say, one nanometer is 0.000001 millimeters. For humans, this is a thickness that is practically imperceptible. And technological Materials using the nanometer as a unit is the method to solve the problem on your body."
"Sir, do you mean that you want to wrap me up in a layer of something as thick as a nanometer?" Rogue listened to Zhou Yi's explanation, a look of slight horror appearing on her face.
"Will that really work? Or rather, sir, will this be dangerous? I'm sorry, I don't mean to imply anything, but I'm still a little scared. Won't that stuff suffocate me?"
"You are overthinking it, Child!" Zhou Yi laughed heartily, comforting her. "What you are imagining is quite ridiculous to a professional. Nanometal Materials is not plastic wrap, and the way it protects your body is not what you think. Consider the air you breathe; the microorganisms and bacteria present in it are larger than that size. But do they affect you?"
"Furthermore, even when applied to the body, it doesn't stick to you as you imagine. Instead, it forms a nanocoat on the surface of your skin. The nanometal, which is smaller than your pores, will not cause you any sensation whatsoever."
"Sir, I think I understand what you mean. May I know where I can get this thing you are talking about?" Rogue understood Zhou Yi's technical explanation, but she understood one principle even better: there is no such thing as a free lunch in this World. To gain something, one must pay an equivalent price.
"You are very lucky, Child. If anyone in the World is most proficient in this area, it would certainly be the few cutting-edge research institutions under my name. Moreover, not long ago, these institutions under my command already launched a sufficiently mature product. Although we do not plan to sell it on the market yet, producing a small sample is not a problem."
Zhou Yi looked at Rogue as he said this, wanting to gauge her reaction. Although such a technological product was insignificant to him, it wasn't something he would just give away casually. Especially when the recipient doesn't show even a bit of gratitude, all your investment can be considered throwing money into the Water. If that were the case, Zhou Yi would rather not be the sucker.
Therefore, he needed to observe whether Rogue's performance was worth his investment.
"Sir, may I ask the price of this product?" Rogue acted very cautiously. She needed something to measure how much she should pay, and currency is always the most universal unit of measurement in the World.
"15,680 U.S. dollars per ounce. This is only the price of the raw Materials. If we were to manufacture the finished product suitable for you, the production cost would be at least ten times the cost of the Materials. One hundred thousand U.S. dollars—that is my lowest quote!"
Hearing Zhou Yi's words, Rogue's face instantly turned pale. One hundred thousand U.S. dollars might be just a meal or even a single outing for some people. But for Rogue, who needed support from Charles's Academy just to live, it was an impossible sum.
She struggled to steady her trembling body, trying to look a little stronger. "I'm sorry, sir. I cannot afford such a thing. I apologize for bothering you!"
Saying this, Rogue already intended to leave.
Reaching out to stop Rogue from leaving, Zhou Yi said with a smile, "Little Girl, you must understand that not everything in the World can be measured by money. To me, money is not important. What I need, and what you are able to give, is not that kind of thing."
Rogue's eyes immediately widened, making her look extremely shocked. It seemed that in this moment, Zhou Yi had transformed into a different person before her, adopting the appearance of a hypocritical monster who seemed upright but was actually lecherous and immoral.
"What do you want? I'm telling you, I won't agree to that kind of request!" Her words were full of disgust, completely lacking the initial respect she had shown for a teacher. Instead, they were filled with revulsion toward a brute in fine clothes.
Hearing the girl's impoliteness and realizing that she had completely misunderstood his meaning, Zhou Yi wore a wry expression.
"You are overthinking it, Child. To me, you are still a Little Girl who hasn't matured, and you hold no attraction whatsoever. Furthermore, my relationship with Ororo and the others means I wouldn't target you Children. I meant something else."
Unwilling to be misunderstood again, Zhou Yi did not want to continue this guessing game. Playing the crafty games of adults with a completely naive young woman was simply asking for trouble. He simply clarified his intentions.
"I can give this product directly to you, and you won't need to pay me money. You only need to provide assistance in some of my plans. That's not too much to ask, is it?"
"I'm sorry, sir. I misunderstood you!" Rogue first apologized for her behavior, then asked, still maintaining her vigilance: "May I know what kind of plan it is? If I don't understand the specifics, I'm afraid I cannot agree to do this."
"You are a smart Child!" Looking deeply at her, Zhou Yi felt it necessary to be completely frank with the young woman. Perhaps she really could provide some assistance to his plan.
"A long time ago, I started planning something: addressing the reputation issue of Mutants. Charisse is my younger sister, but as my sister, she cannot even appear in the public eye. This has always made me feel guilty. I always wanted to compensate her for something, but no matter what material things I gave her, they could not make up for the freedom she had lost. Therefore, I began planning this matter."
"This matter requires effort from all Mutants. It was only recently that I presented this agenda to Professor Charles and the teachers at the Academy. For me, the plan is now mature enough to be implemented. However, Ororo and the others still have too many reservations; they have been indecisive regarding my plan. This is wasting time, or even watching opportunities slip away right before our eyes. Therefore, I need someone to do something to push this plan forward."
"Do you think I can help?" Rogue, who had attended his lectures, already had some understanding of Zhou Yi's plan. She, along with many others, felt that this was a brilliant plan. And being able to contribute to this plan was something a Mutant should embrace.
"Of course you can, because you are a Mutant." Zhou Yi nodded. "My identity restricts my right to advise. And although Charisse is also a Mutant, the mark of my influence on her is too obvious. The Academy won't listen to her voice. But you are different; you are a completely unrelated person. Your status as a student can even allow you to stir up more voices within the Academy."
"As long as Charles and the others hear your voices and your wishes, this plan is very likely to be approved by them."
"There won't be any danger, right?" Rogue made a final confirmation.
"Yes, I will not allow Charisse to be in danger. So you can rest assured; my influence and identity are sufficient to protect you."
"In that case, I agree, sir!"
In Zhou Yi's eyes, Rogue had made the most correct choice. And for Zhou Yi, he had also obtained what he wanted at a minimal cost.
"It's a pleasure working with you!"
A grown man and a young woman shook hands. From this moment on, the plan that had been brewing for many years began to be launched from within the Mutant community.
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Hope u can atleast check my p@treon account, I will be grateful. It needs much more time and resources to upload these chapters. I wish u can understand and support me there to maintain this motivation.
I also updated a separated Marvel fanfics tier there.