Ch. 81Revive, Blue-Skinned Cutie—You're Really Worth a Fortune
Chapter Summary: "Revive, Blue-Skinned Cutie—You're Really Worth a Fortune"
1. Key Plot Points
- Setting: 3,600 years before the park (ancient Egypt), during Apocalypse's reign as a god-king.
- The Ritual: Apocalypse, seeking immortality, plans to transfer his soul into a Mutant with super-regenerative abilities, found by his Four Horsemen.
- The Betrayal: His enslaved subjects, having secretly united, collapse the pyramid during the transfer ritual to kill him. The Horsemen sacrifice themselves to protect Apocalypse but die in the rubble; Apocalypse is buried alive.
- Time Skip: Thousands of years later, a man named Chen Xi arrives at the sunken pyramid and reactivates the ancient golden runes using sunlight, restarting the body-switching ritual to resurrect Apocalypse.
- System Mission: Chen Xi receives a system notification: "Kill the supervillain Apocalypse. Reward: 2 million Justice Points!" — revealing his grim purpose.
2. Character Developments
- Apocalypse (En Sabah Nur): Shown as a powerful but dissatisfied ruler who despises his body-swapping existence. He desires true eternal dominion. His arrogance makes him blind to the rebellion brewing among his subjects.
- First Four Horsemen (Death, War, Pestilence, Famine): Depicted as utterly loyal, self-sacrificing "children" to Apocalypse. They die protecting him, contrasting sharply with his future Horsemen.
- Chen Xi: A mysterious figure with access to a "system." He revives Apocalypse not as an ally, but as a target to kill for system rewards — suggesting a cold, mission-driven nature.
3. Significant Themes
- Talent as a Curse: The opening reflects on how gifts (flight, foresight, genius) often bring ruin — foreshadowing Apocalypse's rise and fall.
- Betrayal and Revolution: The oppressed overthrow their tyrant, but at great cost — the rebels die willingly knowing their plan succeeded.
- Loyalty vs. Opportunism: The original Horsemen embody true devotion; later ones (Storm, Psylocke, Angel, Magneto) are dismissed as traitors, weaklings, and schemers.
- Death and Resurrection: The pyramid collapse ends one era; Chen Xi's ritual revives the old god for a new, darker purpose.
4. Character Interactions
- Apocalypse & Four Horsemen: The Horsemen obey and worship him; Death personally ensures the ritual proceeds and shields him to her last breath.
- Horsemen & Rebels: The Horsemen slaughter ordinary soldiers effortlessly, but the rebels accept death willingly — their suicide mission succeeds.
- Chen Xi & System: Direct interaction is via system notification; Chen Xi's humanity is questioned (calling Apocalypse a "blue-skinned cutie" while plotting his death).
- Narration shift: The narrator critiques Apocalypse's later Horsemen from the original plot, reinforcing how far he fell after his resurrection.
Note: The chapter sets up a typical Chinese web novel "system" trope — the protagonist must kill a major villain for points, using a clever revival scheme. Apocalypse's resurrection likely leads to an eventual confrontation with Chen Xi (and possibly the X-Men timeline).