It had been a week since the battle with Thanos, and Lucien had not been idle. He had cleared two C-rank dungeons during that time, each one providing him with more experience and new additions to his shadow army. The battles had been quite rewarding.
The total number of shadows under his command had increased to ninety-five, a significant expansion compared to what he started with. But more importantly than the raw numbers, the quality of his forces had improved dramatically.
Sukuna had evolved from Elite Grade to Knight Grade, a transformation that came with a massive jump in power. All of the King of Curses' stats now hovered around 360, making him a truly formidable force on any battlefield. The evolution had been unexpected, as he did not know how the shadows leveling up worked. Still, it seemed that the more they killed, the stronger they became. Sukuna's combat effectiveness had also increased a lot.
To evolve, a shadow needed permission from its Monarch, which Lucien gave happily.
Several of his other knights and mages had also improved from Normal Grade to Elite Grade, with their stats reaching the 180s. The improvement in their capabilities was quite a lot—they moved faster, hit harder, and could sustain more damage than before. It seemed that continuous combat experience was the key to their advancement.
From what Lucien understood after scanning various Avengers the previous day, his current strength placed him among the upper tier of Earth's mightiest heroes. He had managed to observe several of them during their return from the conflict against the Builders.
Though he wasn't particularly proud of this achievement, since the difference between him and the absolute top tier was still substantial. There were levels of power that he hadn't reached yet.
The strongest individuals he had scanned were Hulk and Thor, both possessing a whopping 650-plus points in strength alone. Their power levels were staggering, representing decades of experience and cosmic-level enhancement. But one thing that had become clear through his observations was the large number of inconsistencies in how power manifested.
Some heroes were simply physically strong across all categories, with balanced stats that made them formidable in any situation. Others had mana reserves that suggested they drew from different energy sources entirely—dimensional energies, source energies, etc. Some were just incredibly fast while maintaining average strength levels, relying on speed and technique rather than brute force.
There were individuals whose base stats appeared unremarkable, but who possessed special abilities like telepathy or telekinesis that made them far more dangerous than their numbers suggested.
"Xavier would have been a perfect example of this theory, as from what I have heard, he could control the minds of beings who were far stronger than himself," Lucien muttered.
This had taught Lucien an important lesson—he could not judge a person's true threat level based solely on their statistical readouts. Combat experience, tactical thinking, and unique abilities could all tip the scales in unexpected ways.
One advantage he definitely possessed was protection against mental attacks. His blessing had proven effective when Supergiant tried to invade his consciousness and failed.
The fact that Supergiant had defeated Emma Frost, who had only woken up from her coma three days ago, made this protection even more valuable. Emma was considered one of Earth's most powerful telepaths, and if Supergiant could overcome her defenses, then mental protection was crucial for any serious combatant.
Lucien understood that he was basically becoming a jack of all trades... and even master of all. His growth pattern was different from most heroes who specialized in specific areas.
His speed, strength, durability, and other attributes were all improving evenly, although currently, his strength had higher stat points than the others.
One thing was sure, and that was... he would soon surpass the likes of Thor and Hulk. His rate of improvement was faster than theirs, and he had the advantage of the system guiding his development.
Though there was a hero who intrigued him even more, yet he had not found him among the returning Avengers... and that was the Sentry. The stories about Sentry's power level were legendary, but the man himself remained elusive.
But Lucien did not dwell on it, and right now, he was thinking about moving from their current apartment.
The space wasn't exactly cramped, but he wanted larger rooms for everyone. With Anna, Illyana, Laura, Daniel, and occasionally Galacta all living together, they needed more privacy and space.
And with his recent payment of ten million dollars from SHIELD for his work during the invasion, he could afford something much better. He had been looking at properties throughout the week, focusing on places with enough room for everyone to have their own space.
Laura was currently on a mission with Natasha, learning the ropes of SHIELD operations. She had thrown herself into the work with typical intensity, treating every assignment as a chance to prove herself. Daniel was at the factory, overseeing production of their Baymax bots. The pre-orders had been flooding in since the invasion, with people desperate for personal healthcare assistance.
Anna was sleeping in the bedroom, exhausted from her own training sessions. She had been pushing herself hard to improve her control over her absorption abilities. Illyana was also asleep, though she had been having nightmares again. The red line on her forehead had started to grow.... it seemed that a confrontation with the ruler of Limbo would soon take place.
With the apartment quiet, Lucien made his way to the living room and turned on the television to catch up on current events.
He settled into the couch, as Jeff came out from the bathtub and snuggled his way up into Lucien's lap.
"Who's the good boy~?" Lucien played with Jeff's fin while the television was getting started.
Jeff purred in response as Lucien stroked its skin.
What Lucien saw on the news made his mood darken considerably.
Protests were erupting across the country, with crowds gathering in major cities to demand action against mutants. The demonstrations had started small but were growing larger each day, with more people joining the anti-mutant movement.
The rhetoric being spouted by the demonstrators was ugly and familiar—they were blaming mutants for the alien invasion, claiming it had been an attempt by mutant extremists to wipe out humanity. Signs reading "Mutants Out" and "Human Rights First" filled the streets.
Some of the more vocal protesters were calling for mutant registration laws, internment camps, and other measures that sounded disturbingly similar to historical atrocities. The language was getting more extreme with each passing day, and Lucien could see where this path led.
Lucien understood immediately that this wasn't organic grassroots anger. The timing was too convenient, the messaging too coordinated across different cities.
This was manipulation, almost certainly orchestrated by the same force that had been pulling Sinister's strings. The protests had all the hallmarks of a carefully planned psychological operation.
The previous week, Sinister's shadow had completed the task of documenting everything he knew about his research and his mysterious employer. The shadow had worked through the night, filling page after page with detailed information. The information about the serum was particularly troubling.
It was called MGH—Mutant Growth Hormone.
The name made it sound simple, almost medical in nature, like something that might be prescribed by a doctor. But the effects Sinister had described were anything but benign. This was a weapon disguised as medicine.
MGH was a substance produced naturally in mutants' bodies, part of what allowed their X-genes to function properly and manifest their abilities. With the modifications Sinister had been working on during his research, it could be weaponized in devastating ways. The process involved extracting, concentrating, and chemically altering the hormone.
When administered to normal humans, MGH would grant them powers similar to mutants by causing a temporary genetic shift in their cellular structure. The transformation wasn't permanent, lasting only a few hours, but while active, it could give ordinary people superhuman strength, speed, energy projection, or other abilities similar to mutants.
The implications were staggering. If MGH could be mass-produced and distributed, there would suddenly be thousands of powered individuals roaming the streets with no training and no ethical guidelines. And they would probably be doing the bidding of whoever controlled the supply.
The chaos would be unimaginable. Regular law enforcement would be helpless against crowds of temporarily empowered rioters. Even if the Avengers could maintain social order, they would not be able to respond fast enough to prevent massive casualties and destruction. The fabric of society would tear apart under the strain, and it would also put the mutants in an even worse situation.
According to Sinister's documentation, his research had been nearly complete when Lucien killed him. The formula was perhaps 90% finished, requiring only minor adjustments to achieve full effectiveness. It wouldn't take much additional work for the force behind him to finish the project and begin production.
As for the person who had been giving Sinister his orders, the shadow had been frustratingly vague.
Sinister claimed he had never actually met his employer face-to-face, never even heard his voice directly. All communication had been through intermediaries, encrypted messages, and dead drops. The mysterious figure remained exactly that—a mystery wrapped in layers of secrecy.
Lucien had considered sharing this information with Natasha, but ultimately decided against it. While she might be able to help track down the mastermind behind the MGH project, she was still a SHIELD agent at the end of the day. There was no guarantee that SHIELD wouldn't decide to complete the research themselves and use MGH for their own purposes.
The idea of government agents with temporary superpowers was almost as frightening as the prospect of criminal organizations having access to the same technology. Power corrupted, and temporary power might corrupt even faster.
He could see the shape of the plan now. Create public hysteria about mutants, use that fear to justify increasingly harsh measures, then introduce MGH as either a solution or an escalation, depending on what served the mastermind's goals. If humans could temporarily gain mutant powers, it would either level the playing field or create an arms race.
Either way, the person behind this scheme would benefit from the chaos and confusion that followed. They seemed to thrive on conflict and division.
Lucien turned off the television and left a note saying that he had to go check on something and would be back later.
He made sure to put Jeff into his sacred land... the bathtub, as land shark contentedly soaking in his oversized bathtub. Jeff made happy gurgling sounds with his fins wiggling with excitement, as if saying 'Come back soon, my favorite human~' to him.
The protests on the news had reminded him of the X-Mansion. The place had been nearly destroyed during the invasion, and Scott had lost twenty-seven people defending it. The casualties had hit the mutant community hard, reducing their already small numbers even further.
With all this anti-mutant sentiment building across the country, Lucien wanted to see how the survivors were holding up. Were they safe? Were they being targeted by protesters? How was the rebuilding going?
He genuinely respected the way Scott had handled the leadership during that crisis.
Even while dealing with the evacuation and the loss of so many lives, Scott had kept fighting and even chose to go to Wakanda and help out there as well.
As he prepared to leave for the mansion, Lucien could not help but mutter,
"Let's hope they are alright, they do deserve a moment of peace after all that has been happening to them."
....
A.N.: Hey guys, I reuploaded this chapter cause when I went through it... I felt it was against the character I want Lucien to be.
I am making him a Monarch... a ruler of the Dead, and I will make sure to remember that and write him like that.
Also, about the other characters possessing the Mana stat... It's not that they possess mana, no... it just shows the amount of Energy they have. And, that energy can be anything... for example, in the case of Dr. Strange, it can be the amount of energy he can borrow from the dimension he is connected to.
Or in the case of Odin, it can be the amount of Odin force he has.
....
And lastly... I am extremely grateful to all of you. Writing is something that I have always loved doing, and your support makes it feel even more fulfilling.
Please give me your suggestions and thoughts.
Thank You very much!
.....
The above was a post I made around 10 days ago for Patreon, but yes, the gratefulness extends to you all as well!
.....
Want to read ahead of the public release? Support me on Patreon at "https://www.patreon.com/FreakyHaru" and get access to:
5 and 10 chapters of all my fanfictions.
Ongoing Projects:
Marvel: Shadow Monarch
ATG: Not a Cannon Fodder
Upcoming Projects:
DC/MARVEL: The Kryptonian Emperor(Delayed, Under editing)
Your support helps me keep writing and brings you more content faster!
Thank You