In just two short days, his physique had more than doubled, approaching forty times that of an ordinary person; his grip strength had soared to six tons, and even a punch thrown from a standing position could easily deliver an instantaneous burst of over twelve tons. With a forward charge to build speed, the impact would multiply further.
His agility had likewise soared to more than forty times that of an ordinary person.
But he had yet to sprint at full speed, and with nothing nearby to use as a reference, he still could not gauge just how fast he could go.
By comparison, his mental stat had grown much more slowly and was now only twenty-odd times that of an ordinary person.
As for his X-Gene ability, Energy Berserk, he had never truly used it.
His only vague impression came from his predecessor's memories: when he first awakened at school, a wild, rampaging force seemed to explode inside him, and a casual shove sent the high school student bullying him flying.
Just then, Shadowcat lowered her voice beside him. "Peter is really strong. Once his whole body turns to steel, even large-caliber shells can't hurt him."
"Bobby may have him pinned down right now, but that's really because his ability counters Peter's. He hasn't had any chance to use those supporting techniques."
Chen Xiao nodded lightly.
Suddenly, Scott raised a hand beside the ring, signaling a pause. The two onstage immediately stopped their attacks, stepped back, and deactivated their abilities.
Looking at Peter, whose breathing remained steady and expression unchanged after more than ten minutes of fierce fighting, Scott said gravely, "Compared with last month, Peter's steel form is noticeably tougher."
"Next, Troy. Your opponent is Ororo."
The Mutant named Troy was tall and thin, with the ability to turn his limbs into plants and control vegetation.
He leaped into the ring. As soon as his feet touched down, they split apart like roots, and three thick vines rose like giant pythons, shooting toward Storm in the distance.
Unfortunately, these vines, geared more toward control, seemed somewhat flimsy against pure power.
Ororo threw up her arms, and fierce winds sprang up. The air formed a wall, not only lifting her into the air but also sweeping away every vine lunging at her.
Flowers suddenly bloomed on the flung-aside vines, then burst with a pop, releasing a great cloud of pink mist. It was pollen containing a paralytic toxin that caused dizziness and weakness in the limbs when inhaled.
But the moment the mist spread, violent cyclones tore it apart. It could not even touch the hem of Storm's clothes.
A few minutes later, the battle ended.
Drenched in sweat and gasping for breath, Troy staggered off the ring, his stamina almost exhausted.
Over the next few rounds of sparring, the remaining Mutants took the stage in turn to challenge Cyclops and the other two. The dazzling variety of abilities left Chen Xiao overwhelmed:
One could compress air to fire booming blasts with considerable power;
Another could freely stretch and reshape their hands and feet into sharp weapons, changing their length at will and attacking with incredible speed;
Someone else could condense energy into shapes, acting as a ranged archer and firing arrow after arrow of light with decent destructive power.
Shadowcat went last, again facing Iceman Bobby. Her task was simple: touch him once, and she would win.
Facing the layers of ice walls rising from the ground, she shifted and passed straight through them like a phantom, chasing Iceman relentlessly.
She ignored the ice balls hurtling toward her and remained unscathed by the cold washing over her, a stark contrast to Colossus taking and blocking the attacks head-on.
Unfortunately, although she was immune to all physical attacks, she had neither Colossus's explosive power nor Iceman's bursts of skating speed. In the end, she could not catch Bobby as he raced along his ice tracks.
One thing did quietly puzzle Chen Xiao: in that state, she could pass through walls, ice, and attacks in the ring, so why did she stand so firmly on its floor without sinking through at all?
Once Kitty Pryde left the ring, Scott turned his gaze toward Chen Xiao, who had yet to take part, and said in a low voice, "Next is Vitas. I'll spar with you."
After a brief hesitation, Chen Xiao slowly walked into the ring under everyone's eyes.
Scott looked at the boy a short distance away, adjusted his glasses, and began slowly, "Vitas, the professor said you're a rare Mutant genius."
A wave of quiet gasps immediately rose from below the ring. No one had expected Professor X to hold him in such high regard.
Chen Xiao looked slightly awkward. "...Mr. Scott, isn't the professor praising me a little too much?"
He was actually feeling rather uneasy. He had only intended to show a little of his talent, gain some attention, and secure a few conveniences. He had never expected to be pushed straight into the spotlight.
Had he known, he really should have kept more hidden instead of being so quick to reveal his cards.
Unfortunately, there was no turning back.
Scott shook his head lightly. "Vitas, you don't need to be modest here, or hide your talent. For us Mutants, strength is strength. There's no need to dress it up."
"The professor said that although you only awakened half a month ago, your mind is unusually composed. You just seem to remain somewhat guarded toward the people and things around you."
"There's nothing wrong with staying alert, but this is Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, a place established specifically to help young Mutants grow."
"Here, you can trust the headmaster and every teacher without reservation."
"I promise you, no one will ever hurt you. So you really don't need to hold anything back."
If Chen Xiao had truly been a young brat just starting middle school, Scott's words would surely have made his heart race and sent his blood surging to his head.
In reality, however, this fifteen-year-old shell housed a worker who had spent several years struggling through society and long since carved "be firm in what you do, but keep your edge hidden around others" into his bones.
So Scott's words went in one ear and out the other. He neither nodded nor argued.
Trust you? Who didn't know that Mutants' emotions were often led around by their abilities?
Their powers came in all sorts of bizarre forms, yet their wills were especially fragile. A moment's carelessness, and they could be beguiled or controlled.
Lay everything bare today, and tomorrow someone might sell you off as experimental material.
Besides, this world was teeming with technology beyond common understanding, especially in genetic engineering.
They had even created monsters like the Sentinels, half mechanical and half living, capable of copying most Mutants' abilities-walking biological weapons.
Chen Xiao's heart tightened, and he immediately asked in his mind, System, if someone draws my blood or takes a sample, could the power of my Kryptonian cells be reverse-engineered and mass-produced?
This had always been a lingering worry for him.
He did not want to reveal his overwhelming strength and skyrocketing growth one day, only to have someone target his genetic sequence and fill the world with "knockoff Supermen."
The system's voice immediately rang out. "The Kryptonian bloodline inherited by the host originates from the source of the rules. It cannot be replicated or detected."
"Once a tissue sample leaves the host's body, the active Kryptonian components within it will immediately be annihilated by the power of the rules."
Good! Now I can finally rest easy.
Chen Xiao sighed in relief inwardly, but his face showed a trace of embarrassment as he scratched the back of his head. "Mr. Scott, I really wasn't deliberately hiding my strength..."
"I only just enrolled, and I was worried that standing out too much would make the other students avoid me. I wanted to take things slowly at first."
The moment he said this, everyone present felt that the boy before them was exceptionally gifted yet neither arrogant nor impatient, well-mannered, aware of boundaries, and willing to restrain himself.
Scott's eyebrows rose slightly, his smile gentle. "So that's it. But Vitas, you can put those concerns aside. A genius ought to shine."
"Come on. Give it everything you've got, and let everyone see what you can do."
This time, Chen Xiao did not decline. It was exactly what he wanted. He also wanted to gauge just how strong he had become, and Scott was the perfect touchstone.
As the successor Professor X had personally groomed, Scott was often weakened and underestimated in the movies.
But the truth was precisely the opposite: his strength was solid. Otherwise, why would unruly characters like Storm, Wolverine, and Iceman accept him as their leader?
"All right, sir. Here I come!"
Whoosh.
He slowly exhaled, his expression abruptly settling into focus.
Honestly, he had barely been in any fights. Before transmigrating, he had been an office worker, and this body's original owner had only gotten into a few shoving matches in elementary and middle school.
But that was fine. This was only a school sparring match. He could simply cut loose and fight.
His blood surged faster, and a brutal force erupted from deep within his taut muscles. His presence suddenly grew heavier and sharper.
The muscles in his right leg abruptly swelled, and he stamped his foot hard against the ground.
Boom!
The concrete cracked, fine spiderweb fractures spreading rapidly. Chen Xiao had already launched himself into the air with the recoil, trailing several blurred afterimages as he shot toward Scott like an arrow loosed from a bow.
In that instant, his speed approached a hundred meters per second.
He moved so fast it almost seemed like teleportation. In the blink of an eye, he crossed more than ten meters, closed right in on Scott, and drove his right fist forward!
His fist tore through the air, compressing a transparent, curved shock wave visible to the naked eye before it with an ear-piercing shriek.
Even Scott's pupils contracted at such a savage strike, and he instinctively crossed his arms to block.
Bang!!
The dull impact set the training room humming.
Cyclops, who had been standing there in his glasses with such composure just a moment earlier, flew backward through the air as though a heavy truck had struck him head-on.
Crash! Crash! Crash!!
He smashed through two ice walls Iceman had erected beforehand, then slid more than ten meters after landing before finally stopping, his clothes disheveled and his hair in disarray, looking utterly bedraggled.
The entire room fell silent.
Shock covered everyone's faces.
It was not Chen Xiao's strength that shocked them. They were already used to Colossus lifting heavy objects with ease.
What truly left them dumbfounded was that this immense strength was combined with speed so great it nearly exceeded what their eyes could follow!
Chen Xiao froze for a moment too, then hurriedly checked his momentum and let out a long breath. "Mr. Scott, are you all right? I really didn't expect it to be that powerful..."
He really was a little stunned, along with an excitement he could barely contain. So he had already become this strong.
Cough, cough!
In the distance, Scott coughed twice, pushed himself up from the floor, and brushed the ice fragments off his shoulders, his voice still steady. "I'm fine."
Despite saying he was fine, his crossed arms were trembling slightly. No one noticed.
He took a deep breath, his voice dropping a little as he asked probing questions. "Vitas, I remember your physical assessment two days ago recorded your punching force at 1,300 kilograms."
"But that strike just now was at least fifteen thousand kilograms. Fifteen tons."
"Fifteen tons?" Shadowcat blurted out from the side, her face full of disbelief. She remembered clearly that Chen Xiao's Mutant ability was Energy Berserk, so how was his raw physical strength this frightening too?