Time was the cheapest thing of all, always slipping quietly away when no one was looking.
Li Ge slowly strengthened his foundations at Kamar-Taj, trying to use what belonged to others to bolster his own system.
But unlike the calm and peaceful situation on his end, things elsewhere were different.
Among the mutants, everyone connected to the X-Men or entangled with the Brotherhood of Mutants received some inexplicable commissions.
They were asked either to travel around the world collecting unusual plant seeds or entire plants.
Or to buy all sorts of animals that could be purchased, and personally capture those that could not.
Of course, they were not asked to collect every animal and plant, only as many different species as possible.
This immediately sent the mutant community into an uproar.
Every faction or individual who could get the news wondered whether the X-Men had reached some secret agreement with the Brotherhood of Mutants.
Whether they wanted to accomplish something major on a global scale.
And thereby raise the status of mutants and change their current circumstances.
Everyone felt that their purpose was buried deep within this seemingly childish process of collecting animals and plants.
Amid all the turmoil outside, there were also many differing voices within the mutant community.
Many mutants of considerable intelligence felt that the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants must have found some way to change the mutants' current circumstances.
And that these collected animals and plants were the basic materials needed to put that method into practice.
So, although they knew none of the specifics, they did their best to help the X-Men collect these things.
Then they contacted the X-Men through various means and asked them to come collect them.
As for why they contacted the X-Men rather than the Brotherhood of Mutants?
Anyone with half a brain would not take the initiative to contact the Brotherhood of Mutants at a time like this.
After all, as a terrorist organization among mutants, the Brotherhood of Mutants had always been guarded against by humanity's upper echelons.
The X-Men were different. Though those people were equally wary of them, they wore a guise of peace and justice and had always represented the doves among mutants.
Compared with the Brotherhood of Mutants, having the X-Men collect these things would allow those people to lower their guard the most.
It would also keep their good intentions from backfiring and making humanity's upper echelons think they wanted to join the Brotherhood of Mutants.
And thereby deepen their hostility toward the mutant community.
Some hotheaded mutants, however, felt that the X-Men were merely putting on an act with the Brotherhood of Mutants, and that there was no plan at all to change the mutant community's current circumstances.
So they paid no attention whatsoever to the news coming from the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants, and continued hiding in human society.
Magneto, however, was clearly not someone with the patience to collect things slowly.
He did not have the members of the Brotherhood of Mutants run around collecting animals and plants the way the X-Men did.
Instead, he gathered all the members of the Brotherhood of Mutants together.
For a time, Magneto made no moves at all, seemingly having given up on collecting animals and plants.
Even the X-Men wondered whether Magneto simply did not want to put in any effort and was waiting to enjoy the fruits of their collection work without lifting a finger.
But now, the X-Men did not want to know what Magneto was thinking. Even if he wanted to reap the benefits without doing any work, they no longer cared.
After all, they were collecting these animals and plants for all mutants, themselves included.
The Krakoa that Li Ge had created had been expanding along the spatial barrier for some time, and was already large enough for development and construction to begin.
Relative to its coordinates in the real world, Krakoa now covered an area several kilometers across, and it was still expanding.
Ever since Li Ge left the academy, the X-Men had entered Krakoa through their marks every few days to take a look.
Fortunately, when Li Ge first created it, he had designed oxygen as a substance Krakoa would generate on its own.
Otherwise, they might have needed to bring oxygen tanks to enter.
The environment inside was utterly desolate, without the slightest trace of life-a true wilderness.
But they also saw the various geographical environments Li Ge had designed.
While the space inside was still very small, it took only a short time to tour every part of it.
These clearly completely different environments existed within this tiny world without affecting one another.
It was as though an invisible barrier had completely separated them, leaving the neighboring environments entirely unaffected.
They all marveled inwardly that Li Ge had taken even these things into account when designing Krakoa.
Krakoa's continued expansion delighted the X-Men. After all, this would be a sacred land for their mutant kind.
Naturally, they hoped it would grow as large as possible.
But for now, the interior was still desolate and not at all suitable for living.
They also brought in some of the animals and plants they could collect near the academy, settling them in suitable environments.
The rule Li Ge had designed to strengthen the living things inside took effect, and practically every organism survived.
But the species around the academy were only a drop in the bucket for a world that was constantly expanding.
To form a rich and varied biosphere within Krakoa, they needed more species.
So afterward, the X-Men began constantly collecting organisms they did not yet have wherever they could reach, then settling them in suitable environments within Krakoa.
This dumbfounded the factions that had been monitoring their movements all along. They had not expected them to actually be collecting living things.
But it also led them to notice something strange: the X-Men had collected no small number of organisms.
Why had they never seen where the X-Men transported them?
All they saw was the X-Men constantly collecting organisms, moving to another location, and then continuing to collect organisms.
Those collected organisms seemed to vanish into thin air.
There was S.H.I.E.L.D., an intelligence organization committed to protecting the world, capable of openly monitoring and controlling anything they considered a threat.
Naturally, the X-Men's movements could not escape their notice.
The organisms that vanished without a trace, along with the X-Men's enthusiasm for collecting them, drew their attention intensely.
As an organization dedicated to handling such matters, they naturally had to investigate every irregularity thoroughly.
Of course, as a lawful organization, they would not simply arrest the X-Men and interrogate them.
In truth, it was because they were wary of Professor X.
The X-Men had always represented the doves among mutants, so they could go directly to the X-Men and have a talk.