Shadow King

Chapter 208: Shadow King

Zhang Ye absolutely did not believe that Red Skull had nothing to do with how these two groups had fallen to their current state.

Although Magneto, as a mutant back then, had also been a member of the Villain Alliance, his dream had been to create a powerful territory exclusively for mutants, where they could live ordinary, happy lives.

But ideas were ultimately just ideas. Whether mutants or Inhumans, the very existence of these superhumans was a threat to the other villains. Besides, every member of these groups possessed powerful superpowers. If a few world-destroying beings emerged among them, Red Skull would probably have nightmares every night.

How could one allow others to sleep soundly beside one’s bed? Especially when Red Skull himself was an extremely controlling person. He would never have allowed mutant society to grow and prosper.

Perhaps the younger generation of mutants was not particularly powerful, and perhaps they might have joined Hydra. But Red Skull had been unwilling to gamble on those odds. Even a one-in-ten-thousand chance of a superhero appearing among them would have posed no small challenge to his rule.

That was why Zhang Ye suspected that Red Skull had secretly conducted experiments to eliminate or suppress the mutant gene.

In the era when Hydra controlled the world, genetically modifying crops through radiation had been ridiculously easy. With people consuming those foods over long periods, the decline of mutant society had been inevitable.

As for Magneto, did his ideals still matter after things had reached this point?

Magneto was already old. Even if he possessed power enough to shatter heaven and earth, how much of it could an aged man truly wield?

Perhaps, if Magneto saw what had become of mutants in the afterlife, he might regret cooperating with Red Skull and personally killing his own daughter.

But there was no point thinking about any of that now. The facts had become settled, and nothing could change them. All Zhang Ye could do was mourn the dead here and then seek the objective of his visit.

By the time he reached the basement, all the X-Men’s high-tech equipment had been cleared out. Not only that, even their alloy doors had been dismantled and carried away. Zhang Ye had no idea who had been in charge of this place back then, but they had left absolutely nothing behind.

Still, that made it much easier for Zhang Ye to enter. Nothing stood in his way.

As he slowly walked through the passageway, Zhang Ye could clearly sense complex soul energy hidden within. Besides that, quite a few mental forces lurked around him, seemingly watching his movements and ready to force their way into his mind at any moment.

In response, Zhang Ye lowered the brim of his hat and continually swept his gaze through the darkness.

"There haven’t been any outsiders here for a long time."

Suddenly, a voice rang out behind Zhang Ye. It belonged to a young girl.

Upon hearing it, Zhang Ye’s expression froze. His face darkened slightly as he paused and turned toward the source of the voice.

A beautiful young girl stood gracefully in his field of vision, wearing a warm smile.

But what was horrifying was the enormous wound in her abdomen. Blood-red matter dripped continuously down her pants onto the floor, and a section of metal could vaguely be seen among her intestines.

Zhang Ye knew her. Or rather, this person had left a deep impression on him.

Outwardly, however, Zhang Ye maintained his usual calm expression.

"I was wondering when you planned to come out and see me."

Yes, this was the target of Zhang Ye’s trip.

Baron Mordo’s enslavement of the spiritual magic master Agatha had sounded an alarm for Zhang Ye. With the Darkhold in his possession, Baron Mordo was probably far more formidable than Zhang Ye had anticipated.

So, before dealing with Baron Mordo and taking the Darkhold, Zhang Ye had decided to give himself another buff.

Thus, he had decided to stop by the X-Men base and make the Shadow King hidden here his primary hunting target.

The Shadow King, or simply the Shadow King, had been Professor X’s first enemy. Like Professor X, he was a powerful being with immense telepathic power.

Although the Shadow King spent most of his time possessing a mutant named Amahl Farouk, he was actually a powerful entity of energy.

The Shadow King had been born in the abstract realm of the astral plane, a dark product of sentient consciousness. He had emerged from the first nightmare, fed on the shadows within the souls of all kinds of sentient beings, and continuously used Body Possession to switch hosts and bodies.

Overall, he was an abstract entity with slightly weaker psychic energy than Professor X, but capable of using soul energy and necromancy.

And at this moment, he was sealed within the Cerebro at the X-Men base.

"You don’t seem surprised by my appearance?" the woman asked with a soft laugh.

"I came here for you, so of course I’m not surprised."

Looking at Shadowcat Kitty, who was nearly identical to the one in his memories, Zhang Ye silently clenched his back teeth. What he could not understand was why she could still read his mind when he had clearly made every possible preparation.

Zhang Ye had not thrown away the helmet he had brought from the Ruined Universe. That metal helmet, capable of blocking psychic power, was an exceptionally rare treasure.

To make it less conspicuous, Zhang Ye had long ago turned it into a black Helmet of Black King and kept it on his head. This prevented anyone from secretly invading his mind while also matching his trench coat.

But Zhang Ye was curious. He had been wearing the hat all along, so why could the Shadow King still manifest the Shadowcat Kitty from his memories? Could the Shadow King truly be powerful enough to ignore this metal?

"It seems you know a great deal about me. Then why don’t you remove your disguise and speak with me face-to-face, wizard?" Kitty blinked and stepped forward twice.

Remove his disguise?

Zhang Ye’s eyes flickered.

Now he understood. The hat had worked, and the Shadow King clearly did not know that it could block his psychic power. At the moment, the Shadow King probably regarded Zhang Ye as a Black Wizard with equally powerful mental abilities.

That could perhaps explain the scene before him as well. Whether Zhang Ye or the Shadow King, they might appear to be communicating face-to-face right now, but in truth, a veil of the psychic dimension separated them.

In other words, each had become the other’s "mirror." From Zhang Ye’s perspective, the Shadow King had not deliberately taken Kitty’s form. Zhang Ye saw Kitty, so that was what it looked like.

Likewise, with his psychic energy blocked by magical power and the hat, Zhang Ye had likely taken on someone else’s appearance—some other form of existence—from the Shadow King’s "perspective."