"This Santa Claus has the abilities of longevity, safe passage through any chimney, worldwide teleportation, conjuring various items, creating snow, and discerning whether children are naughty or nice!"
Mr. M chuckled as he explained, "It's precisely because of these abilities that people mistake this Santa Claus for a god. In reality, he's just a senile mutant."
Do you think I'd believe such a thing? Shin rolled his eyes. Many of these abilities sounded ridiculous, but upon reflection, they were terrifying.
In Shin's view, this seemingly comical Santa Claus possessed at least several abilities: worldwide teleportation, creation ex nihilo, telepathy, immortality, and weather manipulation. He was undoubtedly an Omega-level mutant.
Sure enough, the Marvel world I saw before was just the tip of the iceberg. These monsters must be the pinnacle of mutants today, right?
Perhaps many figures in mythology weren't just the so-called alien gods; quite a few should have been mutants?
Thinking of this, Shin couldn't help but sigh. When Galactus came, if these monsters on Earth had all intervened, they probably could have sent him packing!
Unfortunately, these guys didn't seem to have much desire to act. Shin brought it up a few more times, but Mr. M always smiled and changed the subject.
This gentleman lived in an ordinary small house in a town, appearing very much like a reclusive master. He made a living repairing electrical appliances.
With his ability to directly control matter at a subatomic level, repairing electrical appliances was naturally a trivial matter for him.
His reputation in the town also seemed quite high; at least, many mutants greeted him along the way.
Shin didn't know that besides repairing home appliances, Mr. M also possessed the ability to enhance or remove mutant X-genes, and had healing capabilities so powerful they were almost akin to resurrection.
Such a person, in this mutant town, naturally commanded a level of worship. In fact, Shin noticed that most of the mutants in this small town didn't have any significant defects, which was actually thanks to Mr. M.
If it weren't for Leech's own ability being truly insurmountable, Mr. M could actually suppress his ability, at least so that little Jimmy wouldn't have to look like a frog.
It's just that Jimmy's ability itself is to counteract other mutant abilities. Even if Mr. M approaches Jimmy, he can still use his abilities, but that doesn't mean he won't be suppressed. Moreover, if there's direct contact, this suppression would be even stronger.
When Mr. M enhances or removes a mutant X-gene, he needs to at least touch the other person with his hand. But once he touches them, Leech's ability will cause Mr. M's power to diminish by more than half—it's a good thing Mr. M is freakishly strong, otherwise, a normal mutant wouldn't be able to use any abilities within ten meters of Leech, let alone touch him. This is an unsolvable loop.
Shin tried to persuade him a few times, but seeing that Mr. M was unwilling to act, he gave up. After all, in his opinion, these reclusive individuals might very well survive even if the Earth exploded! Naturally, they wouldn't be too concerned.
Perhaps some people possess abilities like pocket universes or interdimensional spaces. Otherwise, with so many crises the Earth has faced in the past, these people never showed up.
"Sir, what kind of mutant ability are you referring to that can enhance my own?" In the end, Shin no longer expected these people to help and directly asked.
Mr. M smiled, "There are many kinds of mutant abilities. But the most promising ones are those that allow one's own abilities to potentially improve."
Shin nodded slightly. Indeed, ordinary single-ability users, even at their peak, are only so strong. Even becoming a so-called Omega-level mutant wouldn't make them much stronger.
The reason why Phoenix and Scarlet Witch became the ceiling of mutants wasn't just because of their mutant abilities, but more because of their identities as hosts of the Phoenix Force and Chaos Magic.
So, how strong are normal single-ability mutants? Professor X, Magneto, Iceman, and Kitty Pryde are the ceiling.
As for those with the potential for improvement? Mystique, Rogue, and Apocalypse are clear examples.
Mystique's ability can theoretically mimic any gene, but the ones who truly brought her ability to its peak should be the Sentinels of the future.
In her prime, Rogue once gathered the powers of all the superheroes on Earth and beat down the Exterminator, a powerful member of the Celestials.
Apocalypse, through continuous reincarnation, absorbed increasingly powerful superpowers. Theoretically, if he reincarnated enough times, he could also become incredibly strong.
These are the so-called superpowers with potential for improvement. Theoretically, this old gentleman's ability to control energy and matter at a subatomic level also falls into this category.
After all, manipulating energy and matter at the subatomic level can even directly transform one's own genes. As long as one has enough knowledge, it's not a problem to say they are as powerful as a god.
However, compared to other mutants, my X-gene is merely an attachment. Ordinary abilities are fine, but I can't mimic abilities that are powerfully heaven-defying.
For example, my matter manipulation can at most approach the molecular level. Even if I can observe atoms and even subatomic levels with my super vision, if my manipulation power doesn't increase, I absolutely cannot achieve Mr. M's level of ability.
"Sir, you should know that while my abilities are strong, they don't have the potential for deeper development. This is, after all, a transplanted X-gene, not me directly becoming a mutant."
Mr. M nodded slightly. "Indeed, but here in our small town, there was once someone who had a mutant ability that didn't require precise manipulation but could still improve."
"You can look for him. He left this town about several decades ago, which would have been right after World War I. Because of certain things… actually, it was his human experimentation, which is an ironclad rule we don't allow here, so we eventually expelled him…"
"His name is James Nicola Bradley, and he seems to have an alias outside now, Dr. Nemesis."
"If we're just talking about mutant abilities, he might be the mutant with the greatest potential… he just needs time."
Shin blinked, another name he had never heard before. He asked, "What kind of abilities does this guy have?"
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Now available - Chapter 654: Sweep