Chapter Summaries

Vitas Chen, who had transmigrated into the Marvel Universe and gained a Bronze Age Superman template, attended an outdoor class at Xavier's School while growing stronger by absorbing sunlight. After Storm dismissed the class, he remained focused on his rapid progress and his potential.

• Chen Xiao spoke with Kitty about the safety Xavier's School provided to young mutants.
• Ororo Munroe arrived dramatically and described her mission to capture the invisible mutant Trock in Britain.
• Chen Xiao absorbed sunlight during class, and his system reported increased physical attributes.
• Chen Xiao reviewed his status panel and reflected on his Kryptonian powers, their growth, and their weaknesses.
• Ororo dismissed the class, and the students scattered to play, bake, and socialize.

Chen Xiao gained Ororo’s support for a private room and assessed the danger mutants faced as the Sentinel threat approached. After moving into his new room, he began considering the strength he needed to survive and noticed the isolated student Clarice in the cafeteria.

• Chen Xiao walked with Ororo, reassured her about his rising strength, and asked for a private room so he would not endanger his roommates.
• Ororo agreed to discuss the request with the Professor, and Chen Xiao soon moved into a private dorm room.
• Chen Xiao reviewed the mutant conflict and the coming Sentinel extermination plan, resolving to use the next seven years to grow stronger.
• Chen Xiao went to the cafeteria, where he recognized the shunned Clarice as the future mutant known as Blink.
• Kitty invited Chen Xiao to sit with her and two other girls, but he declined because he had already chosen a seat.

At Xavier’s School, Vitas Chen befriended the shy Clarice Ferguson, then studied mutant genetics and reflected on how his Kryptonian cells differed from the limits of the X-Gene. Clarice told him that attackers had killed her adoptive father, triggering her first teleportation and leading the X-Men to bring her to the school.

• Vitas Chen sat with Clarice Ferguson at lunch, introduced himself, and told her she looked like a fairy-tale princess.
• Vitas went to the library, studied genetics, and concluded that mutant abilities were limited compared with his sunlight-fueled evolution.
• Vitas noticed Clarice sitting across from him and wondered whether the real world had already diverged from the future he knew.
• Vitas asked Clarice how she had come to Xavier’s School, and she said a group had killed her adoptive father half a month earlier.
• Clarice described teleporting away in terror, hiding around the city, and being found by the X-Men after hunger left her faint.

Chen Xiao spent a quiet Sunday with Clarice until Bernard and his clique confronted them over Bernard’s unwanted pursuit of her. Chen Xiao defended Clarice’s right to choose for herself, and Bernard challenged him to fight, leaving Chen Xiao offering to face all four boys at once.

• Chen Xiao noticed his strength, constitution, vision, and mental sharpness continuing to improve while he rested in the sun.
• Clarice joined Chen Xiao on the bench, and Bernard arrived with Johnny and two other boys to confront them.
• Bernard claimed Clarice was his girlfriend and demanded that Chen Xiao give her up, but Clarice said she had never agreed to date him.
• Chen Xiao told Bernard that Clarice was not an object and stood between him and her.
• Bernard challenged Chen Xiao to a fight, and Chen Xiao asked whether the four boys would take turns or face him together.

Chen Xiao befriended Clarice after standing up to Bernard, then studied genetics and discussed mutant psychology with Professor X. Professor X explained that he had let Bernard’s bullying continue to encourage Clarice to resist and become master of her powers.

• Clarice stopped Bernard from fighting Chen Xiao by threatening to report his bullying, and Bernard left with his companions.
• Storm and Scott watched the confrontation, and Scott praised Chen Xiao for standing up for Clarice.
• Clarice shared an earbud and music with Chen Xiao, and the two went to lunch together.
• Chen Xiao studied genetics and biology in the library, where Professor X offered to answer his questions.
• Chen Xiao asked Professor X about Bernard’s bullying of Clarice, and Professor X said he had hoped the situation would help Clarice learn to resist.

Professor X explained his approach to controlling dangerous mutants, and Chen Xiao learned that Bernard’s behavior had been quietly altered through telepathy. At school, Chen Xiao grew closer to Clarice and reassured her when she admitted she was ashamed of her lack of education.

• Professor X told Chen Xiao that he had formed the X-Men to handle mutants who endangered the public and planned to help Bernard rebuild trust with his classmates.
• The next morning, Bernard and his companions greeted Chen Xiao warmly, unaware that Professor X had smoothed away their recent hostility through memory manipulation.
• Chen Xiao worried about Professor X’s secret interventions, and the system assured him that his consciousness could not be invaded.
• Clarice sat in front of Chen Xiao in class, and he invited her to the cafeteria when the noon bell rang.
• Clarice confessed that she had attended school for only two years and pretended to follow lessons because she feared others would think she was stupid.
• Chen Xiao told Clarice that her grades did not affect how he saw her, then teased her by calling his reassurance a bowl of chicken soup.

Chen Xiao joined combat training after Professor X approved his Alpha-level potential, and he watched Iceman Bobby and Colossus fight. As the sparring continued, Chen Xiao assessed their strengths against his own and concluded that his speed was his best advantage, though his strength and durability still lagged behind Colossus.

• Scott told the X-Men that Professor X had approved Chen Xiao for the reserve team assessment and planned to include him in combat training.
• Chen Xiao entered the underground training room, where Scott, Ororo, and Bobby prepared six senior students for sparring.
• Scott called Peter, or Colossus, to the platform to spar with Bobby.
• Bobby used ice barriers and projectiles to control the fight, while Colossus charged through the defenses and endured the attacks.
• Chen Xiao analyzed Colossus's strength and weak mobility, then checked his attribute panel and assessed his own speed as his main advantage.

Vitas sparred with Scott after the other students demonstrated their abilities, revealing astonishing strength and speed that far exceeded his recent assessment. Scott recovered from the blow but questioned how Vitas had reached fifteen tons of punching force.

• Scott paused Peter and Bobby's match, then watched Troy lose to Ororo's wind control and toxin-clearing cyclones.
• The remaining Mutants sparred in turn, and Kitty Pryde failed to tag Bobby despite phasing through his ice and attacks.
• Scott challenged Vitas and urged him to trust the school, while Vitas privately learned that his Kryptonian cells could not be detected or replicated from samples.
• Vitas accepted the challenge, unleashed his Energy Berserk power, and charged Scott at nearly a hundred meters per second.
• Vitas's punch sent Scott crashing through two ice walls, stunning the room.
• Scott said Vitas's strike had carried at least fifteen tons of force, and Shadowcat expressed disbelief at his physical strength.

During combat training, Chen Xiao revealed that his physical strength far exceeded his classmates’ expectations and awakened his Energy Berserk ability, which greatly boosted his power but rapidly drained his stamina. Scott tested him with controlled optic blasts, leaving Chen Xiao dodging and studying the ability’s defensive effects as Scott prepared to reduce the blasts’ output so they could test its limits.

• Chen Xiao explained that his earlier strength test had been a warm-up, and Storm linked his tremendous punching force to his extraordinary speed.
• Scott recalled Chen Xiao’s rapid physical growth, decided to raise the confidentiality level of his file, and shifted the lesson to ability combat.
• Chen Xiao activated Energy Berserk, which surged through his body, increased his strength at least fivefold, and began consuming his stamina.
• Scott attacked Chen Xiao with optic blasts, and Chen Xiao dodged them across the arena while discovering that his energy formed a barrier against heat and shock waves.
• Scott stopped firing and asked Chen Xiao to take reduced-output blasts head-on to test the defensive limit of his ability.

Chen Xiao held out against Scott’s laser beam during training, prompting Professor X to assess him as an alpha-level close-combat mutant with rapidly growing abilities. Exaggerated rumors then spread that Chen Xiao had defeated Scott, and he ended the exhausting day by skipping class to rest in the sun.

• Chen Xiao used an energy shield to withstand Scott’s increasingly powerful laser beam until he reached his limit and asked Scott to stop.
• Storm ended combat class, and the students warmly approached Chen Xiao; Kitty Pryde invited him to get coffee.
• Mr. Jacked repaired the damaged concrete floor, while Scott later reported Chen Xiao’s growing strength and durability to Professor X.
• Professor X judged Chen Xiao’s potential to be alpha-level and told Scott to prioritize observing him.
• Students repeated an exaggerated story that Chen Xiao had defeated Scott, and Chen Xiao tried to correct the rumors at school.
• Chen Xiao told a girl in the cafeteria that he had not beaten Scott, then skipped afternoon class to rest on a secluded lawn.

Chen Xiao awakened crimson Heat Vision, a secondary ability fueled by his strengthening body, and began training with Scott to control it. After only two days, he mastered the beams, which left Scott unaware of how quickly Chen Xiao had learned.

• Chen Xiao wondered about the changes in his cells as sunlight strengthened him and reflected on the power he had shown in battle.
• Chen Xiao's eyes began glowing red during outdoor class, and he accidentally fired beams that scorched the fallen leaves.
• Storm suspected that Chen Xiao was Scott's secret biological son because they shared similar-looking hair and beam abilities, but Scott denied any relation.
• Professor X explained that Chen Xiao's beams were initially weak and asked Scott to train him in controlling them.
• Scott taught Chen Xiao to regulate the energy channels around his eyes, and Chen Xiao mastered Heat Ray after two days of practice.

Chen Xiao mastered control of his Heat Ray and learned Scott’s Energy Body Tempering Method, but found it far less effective than growing stronger in sunlight. He offered to tutor Clarice and discovered that his agility reflected coordination and reactions rather than unrestricted running speed.

• Chen Xiao gained precise control over his Heat Ray, and Scott taught him the Energy Body Tempering Method for channeling mutant energy into muscle and bone.
• Clarice worried that she was stupid and unwanted, so Chen Xiao reassured her and offered to study with her starting the next day.
• Chen Xiao tested the tempering method on the rooftop, but its gains were negligible compared with the strength he gained from sunlight.
• Chen Xiao’s attribute panel showed his strength and constitution had risen sharply, while the system explained that physics limited his running speed despite his exceptional agility.

On a rainy day indoors, Chen Xiao invited Kitty Pryde and Colossus to drink tea with him and Clarice, hoping to help Clarice make friends and observe Colossus. After Colossius drew a portrait of Clarice and Chen Xiao, Chen Xiao tried sketching and drew Son Goku, a character he remembered vividly from Dragon Ball.

• Chen Xiao stayed inside with Clarice, helping her study while using his Heat Ray to boil tea.
• Kitty Pryde and Colossus visited, and Chen Xiao introduced them to Clarice over tea.
• Colossius drew a portrait of Clarice and Chen Xiao, which Clarice happily accepted.
• Kitty explained that Colossius had learned to draw to control his strength after turning to steel.
• Colossius showed Chen Xiao how to begin sketching, and Chen Xiao drew Son Goku from memory.

After Colossus let Chen Xiao experience his metal-transformation ability, Chen Xiao noticed subtle changes in his Kryptonian cells. Two days later, he developed a weak force field that let him hover, then used his strength to launch himself more than four hundred meters into the sky, startling people across campus.

• Colossus transformed Chen Xiao’s body into metal, and Chen Xiao felt his strength increase as his body changed.
• After Colossus and Kitty left, Chen Xiao noticed faint cellular adjustments and wondered whether mutant abilities could stimulate Kryptonian cells.
• Over the next two days, Chen Xiao observed his body until a new force field formed and allowed him to hover about a meter above the ground.
• Chen Xiao tested the force field, concluded it could support only limited flight, and considered whether other mutant abilities might awaken more powers.
• Chen Xiao launched himself from the sports field and soared more than four hundred meters into the sky, drawing the attention of people on campus, including Professor X, Cyclops, and Storm.

Chen Xiao returned to the school with Wolverine, whose arrival signaled an approaching crisis. After Logan reported a mutant laboratory in Mexico, Professor X ordered a rescue operation for that night and assigned Vitas to join the team.

• Chen Xiao glided back to the school, where Ororo welcomed Logan as Cyclops watched with complicated feelings.
• Chen Xiao worried Logan's return meant the X-Men's third battle was near, then promised Clarice he would draw more of Dragon Ball for her.
• Logan told Professor X that dozens of mutant children were imprisoned in a heavily guarded Mexican research facility, and that he had failed to rescue them.
• Professor X planned an operation at eleven that night, assigning Scott, Ororo, Logan, Kitty, and Peter to the mission while Bobby guarded the school.
• Professor X ordered Scott to take Vitas along, arguing that the fifteen-year-old's composure and abilities made him ready for battlefield training.

Chen Xiao initially refused to join the X-Men’s rescue mission because he considered himself unprepared, but accepted after his system offered an Origin point for destroying the Chris Research Institute. The Blackbird carried him and the X-Men toward the institute, where they planned to rescue captive mutant children.

• Professor X told Logan that Chen Xiao’s strength already rivaled most of the people at the school.
• Chen Xiao declined Scott’s invitation to join the mission, saying he was not qualified, until his system issued a quest to destroy the Chris Research Institute for one Origin point.
• Chen Xiao learned that Origin could accelerate his Superman evolution or enhance his X-Gene ability, then agreed to accompany Scott and asked about the institute’s defenses.
• Scott explained the X-Men’s mission privileges and responsibilities, including the agreements they had with friendly countries.
• Storm took the Blackbird toward the institute and assigned Scott, Peter, and herself to attack from above while Logan, Vitas, and Kitty went to rescue the children below.
• Chen Xiao confirmed he had memorized the institute’s layout and asked Ororo whether armed defenders who refused to surrender could be eliminated; she authorized force against those posing a substantive threat.

Storm, Cyclops, Logan, Kitty, and Chen Xiao attacked the Chris Research Institute in Mexico to rescue imprisoned mutant children. Chen Xiao freed several wounded children, but stopped short of the final cell when he sensed an imminent threat.

• Storm summoned fierce winds and lightning to overwhelm the institute’s guards, while Cyclops blasted through the building with his optic beams.
• Kitty phased Chen Xiao and Logan into the facility, where Logan killed a guard and Chen Xiao killed two more with his fists.
• The three descended to the fifth basement level, where Logan explained that the imprisoned mutants were being held in cells along the corridor.
• Chen Xiao tore open cell doors and rescued a teenage boy, a little girl, and a critically ill boy, finding other rooms empty.
• As Chen Xiao approached the final cell, he sensed an icy danger and stopped.

Chen Xiao entered the frozen room where a horned mutant woman was imprisoned and fought her after she attacked him. He subdued her with several blows, but she remained confused and violent as he tried to make her understand that he had come to rescue her.

• Chen Xiao destroyed the laser defenses and forced open the damaged steel door while the children watched from a distance.
• Chen Xiao found a horned woman surrounded by frozen bodies and offered to take her out, but she roared and charged at him on her chain.
• The woman attacked Chen Xiao with a saber, and he dodged her strikes before knocking the weapon away and continuing the fight.
• Chen Xiao caught her wrist, struck her unconscious, and pinned her against the wall.
• When the woman began to recover and struggle, Chen Xiao repeatedly punched the back of her head while asking whether she could understand him.

Chen Xiao subdued the bloodied female Mutant, broke the collar that had shackled her for ten years, and led her and the rescued children toward the surface. The group reached the fourth-floor stairwell, where armed guards opened fire on Chen Xiao as he advanced behind a steel-door shield.

• Chen Xiao stopped the female Mutant's frenzy, reassured her that she was not ugly, and examined the collar and chain around her neck.
• Chen Xiao found a weak weld and used his transformed strength to snap the collar open, freeing her from ten years of shackles.
• Chen Xiao tore the chain's anchor out of the wall and joined Shadowcat, Wolverine, the female Mutant, and the eight rescued children.
• Chen Xiao took point with a steel door as a shield while the group headed for the stairs because the elevator was broken.
• More than ten guards opened fire on Chen Xiao in the fourth-floor corridor, and he blocked the bullets with the steel door.

Chen Xiao and the Mutants fought through the institute, killed its researchers, and recovered the research files before setting the laboratory ablaze. They reached the first basement level, where Scott and Colossus had just defeated a powerful stone-skinned Mutant.

• Chen Xiao stormed through the guards on the upper levels and killed the researchers who had tortured Mutants, then ordered a woman to download the institute's research data before killing her and burning the laboratory.
• Little Wei'er recognized the dead researcher as one of the people who had shocked her, and Chen Xiao comforted her and the other children before they left the third level.
• Chen Xiao kicked a grenade back toward its attackers, killing two men as his group advanced through the basement levels.
• Scott fought alongside Colossus, who broke the stone-skinned Mutant's leg, and Scott killed him with a laser blast.
• Colossus looked toward Chen Xiao and the others as they reached the first basement level.