Mr. Blue was curious about everything involving Adam, but this time he was truly baffled.
"Why did the Xenomorphs bring back some random vagrant? They won't even let me get close." Mr. Blue stopped his experiment, his oversized head swaying as he stared intently at Reynolds, who was surrounded by a large group of Xenomorphs.
Seemingly normal was exactly what made it so abnormal.
Yet even with his intellect boosted five hundred times, he couldn't make sense of the logic. Adam's actions repeatedly defied his expectations, causing many of his predictions to fail completely.
"You… you're human? No, your head... " Reynolds's face was deathly pale. Long-term drug addiction had severely damaged his body, leaving him frail and thin. His eyes briefly lit up with hope before dimming again. He shrank helplessly into the corner.
What he didn't know was that the other side of the wall was already packed with even more Xenomorphs. They left no gaps in security.
"Doesn't look particularly intelligent, and no special powers either." Mr. Blue could see Reynolds's physical condition at a glance. A deep look of contempt flashed in his eyes. He found it even harder to understand why Adam would bother with such a worthless specimen.
Since he couldn't figure it out, he stopped trying. Mr. Blue had just provided Adam with another two hundred bio-engineered monsters. Every usable resource he had... including what Adam had left him... had been completely exhausted.
"You'd better think very carefully before you act. Don't think I don't know what you're planning." Erica appeared not far from Mr. Blue, staring coldly at him.
Mr. Blue let out a strange laugh that sounded like an old crow perched on a dead tree. "I'm afraid that among us, only you hold any genuine loyalty toward him. The rest of us... Mystique, myself... have always had our own agendas."
"He never cares about what any of you think. He only cares whether you complete the tasks he assigns. But starting now, I won't be the only one. There will be another." Erica's gaze was icy as she pointed at the nearly broken Reynolds.
Mr. Blue scoffed.
"Him? This pathetic addict, weak and cowardly, so terrified by these beautiful Xenomorphs that he's about to wet himself? He has zero potential. I'd consider it a waste to even use him as a host! The Xenomorph that bursts out of him would probably be just as useless!"
Erica didn't share his view.
She held an inexplicable confidence in Adam. The young one fused with her chest kept the same rhythm as her heartbeat. She believed that since Adam had gone to the trouble of capturing this man, he would definitely implant him. The truth would reveal itself soon enough.
…
Countless eyes were watching Adam.
"So that's the guy…"
"The youngest T0-level threat? The one pulling global mutually assured destruction."
"A warmonger who keeps shipping Xenomorphs to higher-tier battlefields. The constantly active Bifrost is proof enough, and we can't do a damn thing about it."
Many people whispered among themselves, watching Adam with deep wariness.
They had originally been scrutinizing Professor X, as if staring hard enough could determine whether he was reading or controlling their minds. But once Adam appeared, attention quickly shifted.
Professor X had been famous for a long time. Even with his ideological shift and alliance with Magneto, it was still within understandable bounds.
Adam, however, was the first person on Earth to organize an expeditionary force and send it across realms to fight.
Throughout human history, Adam's actions were explosive. And he had the ability to mass-produce powerful armies and deploy them to battlefields.
"My academic lecture is titled 'The World Tree and Midgard.' I believe this is something many of you are interested in. I will tell you about the history of the Aesir, and I will make it clear that this war will not end here. It will continue to expand and advance without end. I urgently need more and more warriors. If anyone wishes to join my forces, you are welcome to visit my home and take a look."
Adam placed Mjolnir on the lectern. The casual gesture served as a blunt reminder, and his words carried an even cruder warning. It made countless eyelids twitch.
Warlike individuals like Magneto actually showed expressions of approval.
But for the vampires, these words turned their vision black.
Adam was sending troops to war using vampire blood and vampire funds!!
"I protest! This is a historic atrocity! This is a crime…!" The vampire representative jumped up. "And it's my turn to speak!"
No one listened to him. It was easy to predict that the moment this guy left the building, he would be snatched by some Xenomorph that "happened" to be passing by, only to reappear on some unknown planet's battlefield in a different form, fighting Frost Giants.
This was the current fate of vampires. Everyone else had quickly adapted to the new rules of society... except the vampires themselves.
"Damn it, not only does he refuse to stop, he's doubling down!! He's not letting the Blood Clan survive at all!"
"There's nothing we can do. We'd hoped Blood Baron would step up, but that coward hides all day, running from Blade with his tail between his legs."
"If Dracula were still around… but we don't know where he's sleeping."
The vampires were falling apart. Life had become unbearable. Everything they had built... wealth, power... suddenly seemed incompatible with survival.
At first only Blade had been obsessed with hunting them. Then Adam joined in. S.H.I.E.L.D. followed shortly after, though they stopped again soon. Still, it was clear: as long as organizations kept targeting Xenomorphs, trying to capture or clone them for control, the vampires would keep suffering.
Adam's voice echoed through the hall. "The World Tree consists of nine realms. Earth is Midgard, one of the three central realms…"
"Evil Frost Giants have launched an invasion. The brave warriors of Asgard have risen to resist, upholding the ideals of courage with their blood…"
Adam's words sounded inspiring, but those who knew the truth found it hard to stomach.
"If I didn't know some history and understand how Asgard spent ages starting wars and stirring up conflict across the realms, I might actually believe the Asgard he's describing is a peace-loving nation that deserves the World Tree Peace Prize."
Nick Fury watched Adam's performance remotely. His usually impassive face twitched from time to time.
The more righteously Adam spoke, the more absurd Fury found it. How could someone this ruthless, this difficult, who had silently completed a global Xenomorph-based deterrence strategy, stand on the stage of a global summit talking about peace and justice?!
Look at him... Fury himself didn't even dare appear at the conference in person. He had done too many shady things and always had to worry about someone using similar tactics against him.
"My people... the Xenomorphs... cannot sit idly by. I am the current God of Thunder, but more importantly, I am a peace-loving citizen of Earth! To protect the peace of the Nine Realms and safeguard Earth's stability, I have taken great risks and made enormous sacrifices, devoting everything to this war."
Adam spoke passionately before countless cameras, gesturing dramatically with his arms.
"…"
"I can't listen to this anymore."
Magneto took a deep breath.
Professor X's expression remained unchanged. "Erik, you should be more patient."
"You know me. I would never... " Magneto struggled to find the right words to describe the man grandstanding on stage.
Professor X said calmly, "Try looking at it from another angle. He's sending troops to Asgard while holding tightly onto Mjolnir. Asgard has made no specific response so far, yet the Bifrost keeps appearing and transporting Xenomorphs from Earth. That already shows their attitude."
Asgard wanted Adam's power. In other words, the Xenomorph Legion... and the even larger numbers that would come in the future... were extremely important to them.
They had even remained silent while an outsider claimed Mjolnir.
"Let's go. There's no point staying here any longer. Asgard is too far away. Solving the problem of mutant survival is what matters most right now." Magneto turned to leave.
Professor X also turned his wheelchair, determination in his eyes. What he was doing now could already be considered radical, but he had no other choice.
"We need to find Destiny first and have her prophesy about our actions. We also need a reliable base and strong allies." Professor X glanced at Magneto. "Perhaps... and I only say perhaps... when the situation becomes difficult, we could join forces with the Deviants."
Magneto's voice was cold. "You're being delusional, Charles. According to the intelligence Adam provided, those Deviants are failed experiments of the Celestials! I listened to your suggestion and didn't kill their leader, but that doesn't mean I'll ever treat those beasts as kin! Even if they carry gene segments similar to the X-gene!"
"Trust me, I feel this more painfully than you do, because the Juggernaut is my brother. But for the future of mutantkind, we must endure. Anyone else can make mistakes. We two cannot."
Professor X closed his eyes in pain.
People around them occasionally cast curious glances, trying to overhear their conversation, but Jean had already created a barrier that blocked all prying eyes and listening devices.
On stage, Adam watched the mutants' retreating backs and shook his head inwardly.
With Destiny's involvement, the two poles were inevitably heading toward alliance and would establish their ideal nation in Krakoa.
But that would only bring temporary peace. The outcome would still be far from ideal. In most universes, the mutant race struggled in pain and met tragic ends.
Adam's presentation ended quickly.
This brought visible relief to the suffering audience below. They pulled out carefully prepared questions, eager to probe Adam for more answers and clues.
A single simple question could contain many traps, allowing them to extract additional information from his replies.
But Adam wasn't playing along.
He pushed through the crowd, made a calming gesture with mock seriousness, spun Mjolnir, and flew away.
The Sentry matter was far more important.
"So rude! Even Magneto would be easier to deal with!"
"Are you even listening to yourself? Are you a mutant too? Neither Adam nor Magneto is easy to get along with. If I had to choose one, I'd pick Adam."
"You could always accept his invitation and go take a look. At least you'd die with some dignity on an alien battlefield, Earth hero."
The hall descended into chaos. Now it was the leaders of various factions' turn to get headaches.
"He has made his position clear. The war will absolutely not stop."
Fury shut off the screen. He had opposed sending Adam to the summit from the beginning, but with Magneto and Professor X pushing hard, the result was that Adam acted like a toxin, and even Professor X had become an unstable element.
"Hill, find out what kind of deal Stryker made with Adam," Fury ordered.
Fury wasn't the only one discussing Adam.
In a certain school in England.
"You've all seen it. That's Adam... the man who killed Makkari and tore apart the Eternals. Even Asgard takes him very seriously now."
Ajak pointed at the television screen.
The Eternals present fell silent, brows furrowed, watching the carefully edited footage of Adam speaking on stage. The public couldn't tell what he was actually talking about.
"Asgard choosing a human like this… it seems Odin really is dead."
"Thor is still just a hot-headed kid. Trading Mjolnir for an endless supply of troops. I can't imagine what Odin's expression would be if he were still alive."
The Eternals' eyes burned with deep hatred as they looked at Adam. In their limited memories, they had lived and fought together for thousands of years, sharing joy and sorrow. Now one of their excellent comrades was dead.
"He will not stop. A dangerous man like this will find every way possible to expand the war. Battlefields are where he continuously obtains high-quality hosts." As the leader of the Eternals, Ajak had already defined Adam.
If Adam were here, he would probably applaud her excellent summary.
The Eternals responded by clenching their fists.
"We can recall Ikaris. He is very powerful."
"Enough! He betrayed us first by hiding the fact that so many Deviants still survived. That seriously violates our... " Gilgamesh hadn't finished.
Sersi, Ikaris's lover and a teacher at the school, interrupted. "But Adam is human. Humans hurt us. Doesn't that count as a betrayal of us?"
Ajak opened her mouth, then fell silent. She didn't know how to tell her people that their mission to protect humanity ultimately existed so humans could die with value... as nourishment for the birth of a new Celestial host.
In a way, Adam's attacks and targeting of them had actually been a savior-like act. It perfectly illustrated how quickly the world had changed... where a murderer and a savior could be the same person.
"We must make a decision. We have to kill Adam. Otherwise what awaits us is hell. The future of humanity will also be bleak. He will drag the entire Earth into the abyss of war, causing countless deaths!" Ajak said gravely.
The more people died, the less conscious energy the Celestial in the Earth's core could absorb, delaying its birth.
Ajak didn't want the Celestial to emerge too early, but that didn't mean she would remain indifferent to Adam killing Makkari.
"Kill Adam... at any cost! This is for ourselves and for all of humanity. If possible, I will report this to Arishem. Arishem will surely support us and deliver the fairest judgment upon Adam and this planet."
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