Chapter 119: X Academy

The people who make games have hearts of coal!

After carefully reading through the details, Qiao Mian nearly coughed up blood. The reason the various mutant X-genes were so cheap to purchase was that they were only at Level 1 when bought. In other words, if he spent one million game coins to purchase the Storm X-gene, what he would receive was merely a Level 1 X-gene with the potential to grow to Level 5. It would likely only be useful as a hair dryer, a far cry from the true power of a Level 5 mutant.

A Level 1 mutant ability provides very limited benefits to a person; at most, it allows an ordinary human to take on ten opponents. Aside from cool special effects useful for posturing, it is inferior to a martial arts master with ten years of internal energy. A Level 2 ability allows the user to take on a hundred opponents, but they generally cannot withstand the power of a bullet. A Level 3 ability is worthy of being called an army-breaker, already far exceeding the existence of an ordinary person. Characters like Storm and Wolverine in the movies have developed their abilities to this degree. A Level 4 ability, to some extent, possesses the power to challenge a nation single-handedly, much like Magneto after having his potential unleashed by Apocalypse—able to trigger massive earthquakes and destroy cities at will.

As for a Level 5 ability... it represents the power to overthrow the Earth. The Phoenix Force and Chaos Magic, which are weakened in other planes due to different cosmic rules, are mainly superior to Level 5 mutants in the flexibility and versatility of their power. In terms of sheer destructive force, a Level 5 mutant is not much weaker than either. Of course, given the strange and varied nature of these powers, it cannot always be determined in such a straightforward manner, but it is close enough.

According to the descriptions of those X-genes, after purchase, one only obtains a Level 1 X-gene with the corresponding growth potential. To become stronger, one must undergo constant training. Generally speaking, it takes one year to go from Level 1 to Level 2, and ten years to go from Level 2 to Level 3. By this rule, growing from Level 4 to Level 5 would require a thousand years. A thousand years! That is long enough for a little white snake to have human descendants.

Of course, the mall naturally has some privileges. As Qiao Mian expected, there is a shortcut to accelerate the improvement: pay-to-win! Level 1 to Level 2 costs 20,000 game coins. Level 2 to Level 3 is 200,000 game coins. Level 3 to Level 4 is 2 million game coins. And Level 4 to Level 5 requires a full 20 million game coins.

Qiao Mian calculated silently. To purchase a Level 5 X-gene and upgrade it to its peak, it would cost over 23 million game coins. While that is much less than the Phoenix Force and Chaos Magic, it would still take him over half a month to save up.

These game coins would be enough to connect two new planes. Should he do it? Qiao Mian pondered for a while but could not make a decision. He planned to look around more. Or perhaps he could settle for the next best thing and get his hands on Magneto's mutant ability. For only 2.42 million, he could become Magneto in his prime, capable of manipulating the Earth's magnetic field and flying. That alone would make him invincible on Earth. He had coveted this guy's superpower ever since he watched the movies.

Beyond that, among the hundred or so mutant X-genes, there were several others that interested Qiao Mian. For instance, the Mystique X-gene. Using it would allow him to change his appearance, physique, and even gender at will, just like Mystique. It sounded exciting. However, after a closer look, Qiao Mian was extremely depressed. This mutant gene actually changes one's appearance, giving the user blue, scaled skin. He had no desire to stop being human. Consequently, the teleportation ability of Nightcrawler, which had also caught his eye, was ruled out.

Qiao Mian looked through the mutant X-genes one by one, feeling both envious and helpless. The ones he wanted he couldn't afford, and the ones he could afford either had side effects he couldn't accept or were essentially useless trifles. After struggling for a long time, Qiao Mian decided to play it safe. Should he just save up for the Phoenix Force? He took a sip of water and turned his attention to the X-Mansion.

"If only the X-Mansion could be like the Scripture Repository..." Qiao Mian mused longingly. When he saw the price of the X-Mansion, he couldn't help but be stunned. Five million game coins! Even bundling all the previous modules together wasn't this expensive!

"There must be a reason for it to be so expensive," Qiao Mian secretly cursed the dog of a developer who invented the game, then cheered himself up. He looked at the specific introduction for the X-Mansion.

"A school specifically for mutants, capable of providing free shelter for all mutant students. It is equipped with twenty-four classrooms, a cultural and sports center, a playground, an infirmary, a library and reading room, a laboratory, an auditorium, public restrooms, student dormitories, a combat operations center..."

After quickly reading the beginning, he went straight for the key points. "The school can suppress mutant powers, ensuring the owner has control over the power, and prevents the ability to cause lethal harm to others." "Studying in the classrooms increases the speed of ability improvement tenfold."

"The infirmary can use mutant abilities to repair both internal and external injuries." "The library and reading room contain chronicles of the lives of all mutants in the school; readers have a certain probability of obtaining the qualification to purchase the corresponding mutant X-gene." "The combat operations center has a full set of combat equipment and fighter jets..."

Qiao Mian nodded repeatedly as he read. It was slightly different from what he had guessed; this X-Mansion was even more impressive than he had imagined. The ability to suppress mutant powers and prevent casualties didn't surprise him too much. However, the tenfold increase in ability improvement speed within the classrooms was somewhat unexpected. This was equivalent to needing only a hundred years to gain the magic power that would take a thousand-year-old snake demon a millennium to cultivate. Of course, it didn't mean much to him—why spend time and "spend your life" when you can just pay-to-win?

The infirmary also served the mutants, and as for its specific function... he planned to let Professor X try it out later. If it could heal Professor X's injuries, it could be called one of the school's artifacts. The combat operations center couldn't be used for inter-plane warfare, so it didn't have much practical significance; at most, it provided some convenience for those from the X-Men.

The key was the library and reading room. Its function, simply put, was to give ordinary people the opportunity to purchase mutant X-genes. And whether one could obtain this opportunity depended on... empathy!

Qiao Mian raised an eyebrow, looked closely, and gradually understood the meaning. For example, regarding the chronicles of Wolverine, if an ordinary person could fully immerse themselves after reading, and even identify themselves as Wolverine, it would stimulate their potential and grant them the opportunity to purchase the Wolverine X-gene.

"I don't know how difficult this will be," Qiao Mian thought to himself. He hoped that more people would succeed in "empathy," as that would earn him more game coins. However, he imagined it wouldn't be that easy.

He picked up the iced red tea on the table, took a big gulp, and stood up to stretch. He planned to save money for a few days and get the "X-Mansion" first. Five million game coins. What a bargain!