God's Legacy

"Thud, thud, thud..."

In the maze-like underground complex, the boys' ragged breathing mingled with their chaotic footsteps. Behind them, heavy, densely packed footfalls pounded like war drums, accompanied by inhuman howls that clung relentlessly to their trail.

It was an army of more than thirty Chimeras and cloned mutant soldiers, far beyond the limit of what Miles could control in the current environment!

"Miles, can you make them fall back?!" Rebecca shouted as she ran.

"No!" Miles fought back the growing dizziness. Madeleine's temperature on his back was frighteningly high. "The suppression of psychic abilities here is too strong. I can't control this many!"

"Dani, what about you?"

"I... I'm still not very proficient with my ability..."

"Current enemy count: 136..." Aurora's duplicate spoke again. Clearly, the number of enemies was still increasing!

"Up ahead!"

Gideon cried out. At the end of the corridor before them, more than twenty hideous Chimeras appeared, completely blocking their path!

They were trapped between enemies, with no way out!

"This way!"

Miles's eyes flashed. A tightly shut alloy door beside them beeped and slowly began to rise.

The others ducked beneath it one after another. Once Miles, carrying Madeleine, passed through last, he turned to look at the Chimera mutants about to rush in. His psychic power moved again, and before the alloy door could fully rise, it began descending, sealing off the passage completely!

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

A Chimera mutant covered head to toe in spikes raised a hand and fired several long spines. Miles narrowly dodged them.

The long spines embedded themselves in the nearby walls and pipes, giving off an eerie violet glow before exploding violently!

"Boom! Boom! Boom..."

The fierce explosions kicked up thick smoke, and the blast waves sent them sprawling.

"What was that exploding thing just now?" Charlotte asked, still shaken.

"That Chimera was called 'Barrage.' It combined Hedgehog's ability to grow and fire Spike needles with Gambit's ability to charge objects with energy and make them explode. Every Spike he fires is an energy bomb!" As Miles spoke, his eyes flickered again!

The next instant, the Barrage Chimera outside the door suddenly stiffened. It let out a low roar, and dense violet bone spikes burst from all over its body, shooting indiscriminately in every direction!

"Clang!"

The metal door finally shut completely.

Immediately afterward, a series of dull, dense explosions sounded from behind it. The entire floor shook violently, as though a small earthquake had struck.

The corridor fell temporarily silent, leaving only the youths' heavy breathing.

"Works pretty well as a claymore mine..." Miles muttered under his breath.

"Whew..."

With the brief lull, the exhausted group finally relaxed a little.

Rebecca then stepped forward and asked, "Miles, where do we go next?"

"And what did you mean by that 'better plan' you mentioned?"

"We'll talk as we move." Carrying Madeleine, Miles endured the growing, scorching heat against his back. He took a deep breath and spoke slowly. "You all saw what happened just now. We have no idea how many Chimera mutants this underground base has cultivated, and we're still far from the exit... And don't forget, this is Obadiah's territory. He's definitely already sent people to block every exit. With just the few of us, forcing our way out clearly isn't realistic!"

"So what do we do?" Sam asked.

"So I'm planning to find someone in the base's containment sector." Miles explained, "The data mainframe records showed that before us, Obadiah had secretly captured quite a few other mutants with unusual abilities. After collecting their genes, he held them in several containment sectors. We need to find one of them!"

"Who are we looking for?" Rebecca pressed.

"A mutant girl," Miles answered. "Obadiah's 'spatial teleportation' ability came from her!"

"Wait, you mean Obadiah's 'spatial teleportation' ability came from someone else?" Rebecca asked in shock. "Wasn't that originally Apocalypse's ability?"

"Because Obadiah and the original Apocalypse aren't exactly the same." Miles explained. "I don't know whether Charles told you this, but the original Apocalypse only had one true core ability: 'consciousness transmigration'! By transferring his consciousness into other mutants, he could acquire their abilities and stack them on top of his original powers. That was how he obtained so many powerful abilities over the long years!"

"Wait, Miles, are you saying..." Charlotte realized something and abruptly asked, "Obadiah Apocalypse only inherited the ability of 'consciousness transmigration'?"

"...That wouldn't be entirely accurate."

As Miles led the group onward, he organized his thoughts and continued, "This has to start with the battle between the X-Men and Apocalypse..."

"During that battle in Cairo, Egypt, Apocalypse's body was completely annihilated by the Phoenix Force. Nothing remained. Afterward, Dr. Nathaniel searched the site for half a year and found nothing, so he had no choice but to give up."

"However, what no one knew was that Dr. Nathaniel was a true genius! By investigating Egyptian history, he discovered that Apocalypse had ruled ancient Egypt for a long time, which gave him another idea—he set his sights on the Sacred Remains Apocalypse had left behind."

"Sacred Remains?" Gideon asked in confusion.

"Remember what I said earlier? Apocalypse's core ability was 'consciousness transmigration.' He transferred his consciousness from his original body into a new one, gaining new abilities and becoming even stronger." Miles spoke as he carried Madeleine onward. "According to the records Dr. Nathaniel acquired, after every transmigration, Apocalypse's old body would be made into a mummy and preserved by the ancient Egyptians. Those were his 'Sacred Remains,' or rather, his Shed Husks."

"Every time Apocalypse acquired a new ability, it meant another Sacred Remains would be created. Judging by the range of abilities he displayed, there shouldn't have been only a few. Even after so many years, one or two should always have survived."

"Based on that theory, Dr. Nathaniel spent more than a decade successfully excavating several Apocalypse Sacred Remains from pyramid ruins in Egypt. Through studying them, he initially unraveled the secret of Apocalypse's consciousness transmigration!"

"And then... he became the second Apocalypse?" Charlotte asked instinctively.

"It wasn't that easy." Miles shook his head. "Apocalypse's genes were highly unusual, nearly impossible to replicate or fuse through conventional means. Dr. Nathaniel spent a long time trying, but he never succeeded..."

Before Miles could finish, the thick metal wall around the corridor's corner suddenly caved inward. Amid the shriek of twisting metal, several even more grotesque Chimera mutants tore through the wall and charged at them!

Metal and flesh had fused across their bodies, and their claws scraped against the walls in showers of blinding sparks.

Everyone's hearts tightened, and they instinctively took fighting stances.

But Miles merely narrowed his eyes. The Chimeras seemed to have their throats gripped by invisible hands, freezing in place mid-charge, unable to move.

"Get out of the way!"

Sam roared and transformed into an energy shell again, slamming straight into them!

"Boom—!"

A dull blast echoed through the narrow passage, stirring up a violent gust. The foremost Chimera mutant split apart from the impact and staggered backward, sending several behind it flying from the immense force.

"Whew..." After landing again, Sam took a hard breath. After battle after battle, his legs had begun trembling uncontrollably.

"No time, move!" Miles urged them. His face did not look much better either. Clearly, repeatedly using his power to suppress the enemy was draining him heavily.

While the young people fled through the base, in another underground laboratory...

Violet light flashed, tearing open a doorway in space. Obadiah Apocalypse emerged slowly, covered in horrific injuries, with Reyes in his hand.

The researchers who had remained there were horrified by the sight.

"Lord Obadiah... how did you..."

"Activate the gene transfer apparatus. Now."

At Obadiah's command, the entire laboratory sprang rapidly into action! Machines began operating at full capacity. Indicator lights flashed continuously as they ran self-checks, then entered optimal operating condition.

"Stabilization chamber ready!"

"Genetic restraints ready!"

"Activation device ready!"

Obadiah casually threw Reyes onto the floor, then stepped forward and lay down in the cold chair at the center of the apparatus. One by one, rubber tubes floated through the air and connected themselves to his body.

Several Adamantium needles fitted with tubes slowly pierced his chest, arms, and neck.

On the sample rack, several vials filled with blood floated up one by one and slowly slid into the sample slots behind the machine.

Each vial bore a mutant's name, including "James Howlett" (Wolverine), "Clarice Fong" (Blink), "James Proudstar" (Warpath), "Betsy Braddock" (Psylocke), and many others.

Then Obadiah stared at a vial labeled "Madeleine Pryor." He hesitated slightly before controlling that vial as well and inserting it into a slot!

"Mr. Obadiah!" one researcher could not help reminding him. "In your current condition... can you really bear so many different genes at once?"

But Obadiah himself paid it no mind.

"Like this. Begin."

After shaking off the enemy again, Charlotte hurriedly asked, "And then? Did that doctor successfully replicate Apocalypse's genes?"

"He didn't, but... what came next was even more terrifying." Miles caught his breath and continued, "After his research hit a wall, Dr. Nathaniel settled for the next best thing and began studying 'consciousness transmigration' itself. Then... he succeeded!"

"He ultimately invented a Metempsychosis technology that could be used on all humans. It could allow a person's consciousness and memories to be completely 'reborn' into a new body!"

"Compared to true consciousness transmigration, Metempsychosis couldn't preserve the original abilities of the primary consciousness, so it couldn't make someone continuously stronger. But the most terrifying thing was that Metempsychosis wasn't a mutant ability. It was a genetic technology that could be used on everyone!"

At that, Charlotte, Rebecca, and the others finally changed expressions.

"Switching to a new body..." Sam murmured. "Wouldn't that be the same as immortality?"

"Then..." Charlotte said instinctively, "Dr. Nathaniel is still alive?"

"He must still be alive!" Miles said with certainty. "His flesh may die, but his spirit and consciousness have become nearly immortal! As long as he keeps changing bodies, he'll never die!"

"Actually, besides Apocalypse, Charles should be capable of something similar. But what made Dr. Nathaniel most terrifying was that he remained an ordinary man until the moment his physical body died! With a mortal body, he achieved something comparable to a god!"

"As for Obadiah Apocalypse... that was another matter." Miles continued. "As Nathaniel's heir, he was never taught the Metempsychosis technology. After developing the complete theory of Metempsychosis, Dr. Nathaniel never revealed it to anyone else."

"Even so, Mr. Obadiah possessed intelligence no less than his father's. From the partial materials Dr. Nathaniel left behind, he reverse-engineered some of the principles behind Metempsychosis. Then he inherited the research into the Apocalypse Sacred Remains, and eventually... he successfully implanted the residual genes of an Apocalypse Shed Husk into himself, gaining some of Apocalypse's abilities. That was how Obadiah Apocalypse came to be!"

"Perhaps because the genes from the Apocalypse Sacred Remains were incomplete, Obadiah did not gain Apocalypse's true consciousness transmigration ability. But he did obtain Apocalypse's body, capable of carrying numerous mutant abilities and bringing them to their fullest potential. That was why his body became so similar to Apocalypse's."

"If Dr. Nathaniel obtained the 'soul of a god,' then Mr. Obadiah obtained the 'body of a god'! If either one of them could combine the two, he would become the true 'perfect Apocalypse'—an undying consciousness and an eternal body!"

"And now, even with only the Apocalypse Body and incomplete abilities, it was already enough for Obadiah. As a top geneticist, he had no need to seize other mutants' bodies through an inefficient method like consciousness transmigration. He could directly expand his arsenal by studying and fusing other mutants' genes, becoming a true second-generation Apocalypse! The genetic collapse caused when Chimera mutants fused different genes simply did not exist for someone with an Apocalypse Body!"

"Of course, because his abilities were incomplete, the mutant powers he acquired through genetic technology weren't permanent. Every so often, he had to inject mutant genes again to maintain his strength..."

"That's why he needed to constantly collect other mutants' genes—because he needed this method to become stronger!"

"That's why he never displayed Molecular Manipulation. Mutants with that ability were too rare, and he still hadn't found a suitable target!"

"But he had already collected many other abilities: super strength, superhuman constitution, regeneration, spatial teleportation, Telepathy, telekinesis... Every single ability came from a new mutant!"

"And because he needed to continuously inject mutant genes over long periods, he often had to collect enough genetic samples at once to build up reserves. That was why those mutants at the medical center had to have their blood drawn continuously for three months... For certain mutants with especially unusual abilities, Obadiah even imprisoned them directly in the containment sectors, keeping them secret as 'consumables' for his power!"

Carrying Madeleine, Miles's eyes faintly glimmered. "So, taking that into account, I searched the core data records for the source of Obadiah's spatial teleportation ability... The files showed that it came from a mutant named Clarice Fong, and she is currently being held in the containment sector around eight hundred meters directly below us!

"If we can get her help and use her spatial teleportation ability, we can escape easily!"