Jack woke up to the cold winter morning wind, rubbed his sleepy eyes, and got out of bed, wrapping himself in a coat that was obviously too big for him.
Was last night a dream?
Jack had a dream last night in which he was granted great power by a being who called himself the God of Mutants, and he killed these invaders.
Unfortunately, Jack didn't feel much change in his body after waking up, except for a slightly dizzy head.
It's probably because I didn't sleep well and had too many dreams?
Before Jack could think any further, the Germany foreman's sharp whistle rang out from outside the door.
Jack quickly opened the dilapidated wooden door and went out, running with the crowd to the nearby assembly point, where he quickly lined up and stood in formation.
"Hurry up, you guys! If you don't finish this morning's work, you won't get any food today."
The foreman blew his whistle and brandished his leather whip.
Every now and then, the whip would fall on the children in the line who didn't like it.
These children, aged between 8 and 12, all need to work to earn a day's food.
The older ones worked in military factories doing jobs similar to adults, while the younger ones were involved in animal husbandry, farming, and other related tasks.
At this moment, Jack was in the middle of the line, following the crowd to receive a small bucket and a hoe. They needed to do a deep tilling of the land outside the city this morning to facilitate the sowing of crops next year.
This kind of behavior is very common in every enemy-occupied territory.
The men who had backbone were killed, the rest went to the battlefield or to factories, and the remaining children left school and entered the workforce at a young age.
The blood that isn't shed on the battlefield will eventually be shed elsewhere.
The harm that war inflicts on humanity does not discriminate based on your age or gender.
Little Jack dragged a wooden bucket half his height, walked in a line to the farmland outside the city, and then picked up a hoe and began to dig.
Once, twice, three times.
The hoe, as tall as him, required Jack to exert tremendous force to carve a small hole in the frozen ground with each stroke, and the recoil from it made his hands numb.
After just over half an hour of work, Jack had several blisters on his palms, and the groggy feeling he had when he woke up returned.
Jack pinched his temples hard and found that the pain in his head was becoming more and more intense, almost reaching the limit of his endurance.
The small body swayed precariously in the farmland; if it weren't for the hoe supporting it, it would have almost fainted.
"Smack!"
A loud crack of the whip rang out, and Jack was struck on the back, staggering as he collapsed onto the farmland.
"What are you doing! Why are you slacking off! Why are you standing there instead of working!"
A Germany overseer walked over, raising his whip once more to strike.
Jack, who had fallen, showed no fear of the whip in the overseer's hand. Instead, he stared blankly at the empty space in front of him, as if he were seeing a tall figure in a daze.
"Are you willing to accept my power, become one of my kind, and fight for your new bloodline from now on?"
Jack recognized the tall figure; it was the one who called himself the God of Mutants in his dream.
In the dream, it was he who bestowed upon Jack immense power, enabling him to kill the invaders and avenge his parents.
Upon seeing that familiar figure again, Jack couldn't wait to shout:
"I am willing! I am willing to accept your power, and I am willing to fight for the new bloodline!"
"Very well, then take it!"
'Smack!' 'Smack!'
The foreman's whip whistled as he lashed out five times, but the boy on the ground didn't react; he just stared blankly at an empty space and murmured to himself.
Faced with this man's outburst, the foreman could only helplessly shout a rebuke to the side:
"What are you looking at? Two people, drag him away. This guy's beyond saving."
But no sooner had he finished speaking than another child nearby collapsed to the ground, clutching his head.
Next, like a toppled Domino, almost all the children rolled on the ground, clutching their heads or hearts, as if they had all suffered some kind of ordeal.
"Damn it! Do these Poles have a genetic disease? How could this happen all of a sudden!"
The overseer panicked. If one or two people had problems, he could kill them and throw them in the snow, but if so many people had problems, then even if he were Germany citizen, he would be investigated and punished.
Unfortunately, before he could panic, Jack behind him silently took flight.
The dazed expression on his face was gone, replaced by confidence and cruelty.
"Praise be to you, great God of Mutants!"
The child's slightly immature words were full of piety.
The foreman had barely heard the noise and before he could even turn around to check when a powerful mental force swept over his head.
'Bang!'
It was like a ripe watermelon being crushed, with red and white pieces scattered across the farmland.
Jack flew about two meters off the ground, feeling as if he had gained incredible power.
With just a thought, one can achieve whatever one desires; whether it's flying or killing, it's all incredibly easy.
Many children around him, like himself, were also receiving the gift of power amidst their pain, but they hadn't yet come to their senses.
Seeing this bizarre scene, the soldiers guarding the distance raised their guns to fire, only to be crushed into a pile of mangled flesh by Jack with a flick of his finger.
The X-Gene possesses the power to grant humans evolution, but what abilities they can evolve is entirely a matter of luck.
Most Mutants who have just been born with superpowers are generally around the Delta Level, although a small number have the strength of Gamma or even Beta Level.
As for Mutants like Jack, who not only awakened extremely powerful Reality Interference abilities but also reached the Alpha Level right from the start, they are even rarer than those born as useless Epsilon Level.
( The Mutants hierarchy, from lowest to highest, is: Epsilon, Delta, Gamma, Beta, Alpha, Alpha, and Omega, Zeta defines artificial Mutants, but is not used here.)
Not only in the fields outside the city, but also in the factories, strongholds, and concentration camps inside the city, there were people who had undergone X-Gene evolution and, in their daze, saw the being who called himself the God of Mutants.
These people, already burdened by the pain of war and fueled by hatred, decided to give everything they had to the enemy in exchange for the power to exact revenge.
Unbeknownst to them, Apocalypse silently observed everything, a satisfied smile on his face.
Unlike the previous world where he could freely distribute the power—a method used to mislead investigators—in this world, he must imprint his own image on the hearts of those who receive the power while bestowing it upon them.
Only in this way can the concept of God of Mutants be solidified, and only then will there be an opportunity to gain greater power.