Leech Factor

In the blink of an eye, another three days passed. At noon that day, Trask gave Andrew some tremendous news—the Leech Factor had been successfully replicated!

The Leech Factor was a substance that could nullify Mutants' abilities. Andrew needed it as a spellcasting medium.

Andrew was very satisfied. "We can begin harvesting Mutants' souls."

In a dark alley in Hell's Kitchen, the failed Mutant John stared up at the sky, his young face filled with numbness and despair.

John had awakened as a Mutant at eighteen, but it had brought him no benefits, because he was the lowest rank of Epsilon-class Mutant—his head was enormous, yet he possessed no superpowers. Worse still, he suffered frequent headaches.

John had gone to ask Professor X, the Mutant Savior. Professor X told him that this was because his mental power was too strong and was compressing his brain.

Unfortunately, even Professor X had no way to resolve John's suffering. John lived in Hell every day, yet he was unwilling to die. He was only twenty years old. He wanted to go home, back to the home that considered him a monster and had driven him out.

"Perhaps death would be a better choice for me."

John sighed inwardly. Just then, his vision blurred, and he suddenly appeared in a simple, spotless office. An exceptionally beautiful blonde woman sat across from him.

"Hello, I am an envoy of the Demon King of Hell."

Yelena smiled warmly. "As long as you are willing to sign your soul after death over to our Hell, we will help you return to normal and become an ordinary person again."

John froze for a moment, then asked in overwhelming excitement, "You can turn me back into an ordinary person?"

"Not me. Our Demon King."

Yelena said, "As long as you sign the contract..."

"I'll sign. I'll sign right now," John immediately said.

Yelena said, "I haven't finished..."

John shouted almost hysterically, "No need. Sign it now. Where's the contract? I'll sign it immediately. I want to become an ordinary person again. I want to become an ordinary person again!"

The smile on Yelena's face stiffened slightly. If Boss hadn't said she couldn't hit customers, did he think she wouldn't beat him until his mother couldn't recognize him?

"Sign it."

Yelena listlessly handed over the contract. She had succeeded, so why did she feel no sense of accomplishment at all? And all the knowledge she had painstakingly studied these past few days had gone completely unused.

Yelena sighed inwardly. No wonder Boss sought out Mutants. They were just like us before, full of despair.

Without any hesitation, John immediately signed the contract. Then, he impatiently asked, "When can I become an ordinary person again?"

"Immediately. One final reminder: you will lose all memories of this place, but you will remember one sentence."

Yelena said, "Mutants who want to become ordinary people can go to Times Square."

After saying that, Yelena sent John away and began receiving the next guest. At the same time, the other Black Widows, like Yelena, continuously received Mutants.

In the alley, John's consciousness returned to normal. Thinking of something, he hurriedly reached up to touch his head. The next moment, he felt a normal head—a normal head that had not grown larger.

More importantly, John's head no longer hurt. In other words, he had truly become an ordinary person again.

John wept with joy. Though he did not know why he had recovered, the important thing was that he had recovered.

"I want to go home. I want to go home."

John stood up and shouted excitedly, "Right, I need to call Richie and the others, tell them that if they want to become ordinary people again, they can go to Times Square."

"My dream was to count money until my hands cramped, but now I've ended up casting Curses until my hands cramp."

In the chairman's office, Andrew rotated his wrist and complained unhappily. In New York alone, there were tens of thousands of Epsilon-class Mutants, and most of them were willing to sell their souls to Rebirth Hell.

In just one day, Andrew obtained over ten thousand Soul Pacts, more than in the previous two disasters combined.

"Black Widows, Mutants—what a world full of despair."

Andrew shook his head. Having harvested a massive number of souls during this time, his strength rapidly increased. He vaguely sensed a threshold. Once he crossed it, both he and Rebirth Hell would undergo a fundamental transformation.

Of course, Andrew could only see that threshold now. He was still some distance away from truly reaching that level.

More than ten thousand ordinary Mutants had become ordinary people again. Naturally, this matter alerted every force related to Mutants, and they immediately began investigating.

"I never expected someone could turn Mutants back into ordinary people."

The kindly bald Professor X sighed. Storm, with her silver hair, said in dissatisfaction, "I simply don't understand why anyone would be willing to give up being a Mutant."

Jean Grey, the red-haired and gentle Phoenix, glanced at Storm speechlessly. Her colleague was a little too naive.

"That is their choice, and we should respect it."

Professor Charles said mildly, "What worries me is whether someone is experimenting on us Mutants. Also, if this method falls into the hands of our enemies, the consequences would be unimaginable."

"It probably isn't an experiment. I examined several Mutants, and there were no traces of experimentation on their bodies whatsoever."

Jean Grey said, "But all their X-Genes have returned to an unawakened state. I can't determine the cause."

After a pause, Jean Grey continued, "Also, I asked them, and they don't know why they became ordinary people again. I don't think they were lying."

"They truly weren't lying. That portion of their memories was erased."

Professor Charles said, "They only remember one sentence: Mutants who want to become ordinary people can go to Times Square!"

"Times Square?"

Everyone was stunned. Why Times Square? It was a New York landmark, far too conspicuous.

Other factions had the same question. They did not know that Andrew had chosen that place because it was close to Doom Group, allowing him to recruit people into the Illusion Realm while working.

"Looks like I'll have to stay at Times Square for a few days."

Professor Charles said. This matter was far too significant, so he planned to investigate personally.

"This must be a human conspiracy. They are experimenting on Mutants, preparing to exterminate us Mutants."

Another Mutant, Polaris—the still vigorous Magneto—shouted, "And those Mutants are Traitors who willingly degraded themselves. They gave up their status as gods to become mortals."

Toad, Sabretooth, Mystique, and the other Mutants beside him all nodded. In the eyes of radical Mutants, Mutants were the gods of the new era.

"Raven, go keep watch at Times Square. You must find the Mastermind."

Magneto paced back and forth twice before ordering, "Toad, take Sabretooth to the Canadian border and capture a Mutant for me. According to the intelligence I've received, she can absorb the powers of other Mutants."