Marvel-616, 1 Year Later
The tribe of No Fear, which once existed as a small settlement, had now grown into the thriving city of Atheron, with a population of one hundred thousand.
A carriage moved steadily through the cobbled streets toward the center of the walled city. The denizens came in all forms and shapes—primarily Neanderthals and their highly evolved counterparts, humans. Among them, one could occasionally spot mutants—each with unique, often bizarre physiologies and appearances.
The carriage reached its destination: the central fortress belonging to the city's ruler, Adam.
Neanderthals and humans disembarked from the carriage, gathering at the fort's entrance. A few men and women passed through the guards and into the fortress. One of the women was swaddling an infant against her chest. As she moved forward through the stone corridors, the natural light dwindled and was replaced by flickering torchlight burning animal fat.
Behind her, the others followed—each woman holding a baby in her arms. They walked through several winding passages before arriving at the main hall, a vast chamber with a high ceiling. At the center stood a throne made of metal, currently empty.
Elsewhere, deep beneath the fortress, a figure moved through pitch-black tunnels—torch in one hand, cane in the other. At the end of the passage was a stone door several feet thick, sealing the path to a hidden underground chamber. The figure stopped before the door and sent a telepathic message.
"Adam, the time has come for the naming ceremony. The newborns await your blessings," conveyed Highwalker.
The psychic transmission passed seamlessly through the stone and into the chamber beyond, where torches mounted on the walls flickered with orange firelight. At the center of the illuminated space was a shifting mass of flesh, squirming and contorting. Upon receiving the message, the blob began to grow, sprouting appendages—arms, legs, and a head. Within seconds, the amorphous mass formed into a humanoid figure—red-haired, standing nearly seven feet tall.
"It seems that even after one year, I still can't contain more than one X-Gene in a single body. I'll have to make do with the arsenal of genetic templates in my mind," Adam thought.
Adam, a hybrid of mummudrai and human soul—strengthened by a mysterious artifact—possessed top-tier biological manipulation abilities. He had attempted to combine multiple X-Genes within one host. Although he succeeded a few times, the full latent potential of each gene was diminished in the resulting hybrids.
"It's like I'm missing a catalyst that would let me integrate multiple X-Genes seamlessly," he mused.
With a simple gesture, Adam pushed open the multi-ton stone door using his telekinetic might. He found Highwalker standing outside.
"Highwalker, the city must have entered a new stage of growth. We're seeing newborns every week," Adam remarked.
"Yes, King Adam. There are more than ten newborns this time," Highwalker responded.
As they walked together toward the hall, Adam's thoughts drifted to the events of the past year.
One Year Ago
Adam had repelled an assault by a group of Serpent-Men led by a shaman. Using his psychic abilities, he scrambled their brains in seconds. Before killing the shaman, Adam scanned his memories and discovered traces of shamanic magic. At first, he had been thrilled to find authentic magical techniques—but his excitement turned to disappointment when he learned the cost.
The Serpent-Men's magic could only be used by invoking their creator, Set a demonic entity who once ruled over the prehistoric beasts of Earth.
Afterward, Adam had braced for more attacks from Set or his servants. Surprisingly, no retaliation came. No further waves of Serpent-Men or demonic interventions followed. The threat simply vanished.
The settlement, initially composed of a few hundred individuals, exploded in size. But this wasn't solely due to natural reproduction. Most of the population boom came from assimilating dozens of surrounding tribes within a few hundred miles of Atheron.
By uniting advanced proto-humans and primitive men alike, Atheron entered a new era of peace and order. With no imminent external threats, Adam could now focus on long-term growth.
He revolutionized agriculture, industry, and military structure with the help of Ahn Woo— who remained in the modern world and supplied Adam with crucial knowledge. With his Omega-level psychic powers, Adam implanted this expertise into the minds of the city's most capable citizens.
Adam's mental recollection ended as they reached the throne room. He spotted the newborns in their mothers' arms.
He sat down on the throne and gave a subtle gesture—the ceremony was to begin. One of the infants floated gently from his mother's arms, causing the woman to panic. She nearly screamed in fear, but the man beside her calmed her down.
Adam reached out and placed his hand on the baby's head, his touch calming the infant's nascent consciousness. He peered into the child's genetic structure with microscopic clarity. Once done, he softly whispered the baby's name: "Adolf."
The parents immediately dropped to their knees in tears, overwhelmed by emotion. Adam handed their child back to them.
"Raise him well," he said.
This continued for several more newborns. Adam wasn't performing these rituals out of sentiment or charity. After the settlement's population grew rapidly, and his experiments with hybrid X-Genes began in earnest, he encountered a new bottleneck—access to fresh genetic templates.
He had already recorded the genomes of every adult in the city. So he crafted this "naming ceremony" to discreetly scan the next generation without raising suspicion or resistance.
Everything went smoothly—until the last baby.
As before, the infant floated gently from its mother and into Adam's arms. He extended his psychic perception to probe the infant's biology.
Suddenly, in his mind's eye, something glowed.
A crystalline shimmer.
A radiant strand of X-Gene—clear, activated, and unique. While Adam observed the X-Gene he had suspicion that this X-Gene was different from many he has seen before. To find its specialty there is only way to find out. He quickly named the baby returning it to their parents and returned to the underground chamber to unearth the secrets of the newly found X-Gene
Thank you for everyone supporting the story even after a long hiatus, i will try update consistently but i cant promise any please comment as that would be encouraging, guess what the x-gene is it quite obscure.
If you like my work you can support me at my patr***on.com/emperor69fury