Newly Awakened Mutant

Raven left with her mission, silently and without a trace. No one knew she had ever been there—not even Storm, Ororo, who was constantly trying to find her, knew that Raven had already left.

Zhan Liu did not care whether she could convince Magneto, nor did he care whether she would truly leave the Brotherhood of Mutants and establish a new organization of her own.

She was merely a chess piece he had placed on the board. The result did not matter.

The Marvel universe was far too vast, with far too many protagonists and supporting characters. He could not be bothered to seek them out deliberately. If he encountered someone, he would try to teach them; if not, so be it.

Magnetic Field Rotation was a kind of cancer. It was contagious—not only to people, but to planets as well. By then, even without his prompting, more and more Magnetic Lunatics would appear.

How many explosions could this disaster-ridden Earth endure?

"Control your breathing… Keep your attention focused… Start by rubbing the abdominal cells closest to your dantian…"

Tony paced back and forth inside the Martial Arts School, watching everyone’s breathing rate and offering guidance and adjustments whenever necessary. Zhan Liu sat inside the main hall, smiling as he watched Tony teach.

Tony’s progress had been a quantum leap, achieved mainly through high-tech cheating. When it came to understanding the finer points of the technique, he was definitely inferior to Peter.

Zhan Liu had Tony teach classes partly so that he could use the opportunity to organize and strengthen his own Martial Dao foundation, lest a shaky foundation hinder his later development.

Although Tony was quite unwilling to waste time, practicing alongside Pepper had its own pleasures, so he stuck with it.

Suddenly, one of the students began breathing rapidly. His entire body trembled, flickering between light and darkness.

Tony had no experience with this and thought the student was about to break through. But Zhan Liu, sitting in the hall, darkened at once. He knew exactly what was happening.

This scene was fucking familiar!

Sure enough, a moment later, the student’s body suddenly became enormous. He stood two and a half meters tall, with bulging muscles all over, but a rhinoceros horn had grown from his face.

It had been only a little over three months since Jimmy Yang became a Mutant, and now another student had activated his X-Gene under the watchful eyes of everyone in the Martial Arts School, becoming a Mutant.

The entire hall erupted in commotion.

The others were still relatively composed, but the Mutants present became excited.

This was the first time they had seen one of their kind appear at such close range.

Ororo, meanwhile, held her breath nervously, ready to suppress their new Mutant companion if he lost control. To her delight, however, after several deep breaths, the Mutant’s eyes regained their clarity, and he showed no sign of losing control.

Professor X’s guess had been correct. Ultimate Limit Qigong could indeed activate the X-Gene within ordinary humans. Not only that, it also allowed awakened Mutants to quickly control their powers without losing control.

She could hardly wait to share this wonderful news with her fellow X-Men.

What saddened her immediately afterward, however, was that the newly awakened Mutant looked down at his hands and feet in astonishment, then took out his phone. The moment he saw his reflection, he began wailing uncontrollably.

"No… How could this happen?"

Clearly, becoming a Mutant had not made him happy. Instead, he was heartbroken and devastated, crying bitterly.

Ororo hurried over to comfort him.

"Adams, the Mutant gene inside you has been activated. I’m Storm of the X-Men. Everyone on our side is a Mutant. Once your evaluation period is over, you’re welcome to join the X-Men."

With tears in his eyes, Adams looked up at Ororo and asked hopefully, "Can I still be cured?"

Ororo paused, then helplessly explained, "Everyone has a Mutant gene inside them. This isn’t a disease, so there’s no question of curing it or not curing it."

"So that means I’ll have to live like this for the rest of my life, right?" Adams said despairingly.

"It’s not as bad as you think. You’ve probably noticed that your physical abilities are now far beyond those of an ordinary person. You’ll become a powerful warrior in the future…"

"But I’ll have to live in this form forever, won’t I?" Adams interrupted Ororo. "My lover will leave me, and I’ll be alone for the rest of my life."

"No, it isn’t like that. Many Mutants have married and had children, and they’re living happy, fulfilling lives."

"That’s even worse. My child will have a rhinoceros horn on their face too, won’t they?"

"Uh… Well… I can’t rule out that possibility. But there’s also a very high chance that your child’s Mutant gene will manifest as a different ability. That’s actually more likely."

"Really, you should be grateful that you’re a rhinoceros man instead of an elephant man," Tony said, trying to lighten the heavy atmosphere.

"What’s the difference?" Adams asked, turning his head.

"An elephant man’s dick is on his face. A rhinoceros man’s isn’t." The moment Tony finished speaking, Pepper viciously stomped on his foot. Fortunately, she had been wearing flat shoes while practicing Martial Dao; otherwise, she might have twisted her ankle.

"Sorry, Adams. Tony’s just foul-mouthed. He didn’t mean any harm." Pepper once again cleaned up after her unreliable boss, sincerely apologizing to Adams.

"I was just trying to lighten the mood… All right, I’ll shut up."

Faced with the furious looks from Pepper and Ororo, Tony shrugged and obediently closed his mouth.

"Forget it. I know how people feel about Mutants. I used to be one of them too." Adams was utterly despondent now and did not care about Tony’s minor offense.

Ironically, Adams was also an elite soldier sent by the military.

Then, somehow, the military coordinated things internally. In the end, this elite soldier voluntarily withdrew from the Martial Arts School and never came back. It was unknown whether he had been shelved or had "voluntarily" cooperated with them in undergoing experiments.

From beginning to end, the student never asked Zhan Liu for help, nor did he accept the olive branch extended by Professor X. He continued to place deep trust in the government and military behind him.

Since that was the case, Zhan Liu did not interfere with his affairs in any way, and neither did Professor X.

They were all adults. Once you chose your own path, you had to walk it to the end, even on your knees.

Even so, the fact that Ultimate Limit Qigong could activate the X-Gene within the human body still shocked many forces operating behind the scenes.

Zhan Liu himself did not take this minor episode seriously. After all, they were merely nominal students raised by other parents, and they were not worth making a major fuss over.

But there were always people who thought they knew better and did foolish things.