"Master Ancient One, it's Junior Brother Marcus! He's going to die!"
"Master Ancient One, hurry and save Junior Brother Marcus!"
"He was shot!"
"..."
While everyone was shouting explanations, the Ancient One moved to Marcus's side.
She saw Marcus covered in blood. He was roaring constantly, the sound of pain reaching everyone.
They even wondered if it wouldn't be better for Marcus to die instantly than endure this torture.
The Ancient One looked at her disciple, her heart deeply troubled.
For a long time, she couldn't see the young man's past or his future. Everything about Marcus was shrouded in a mist in her eyes. Only occasionally could she glimpse brief clips of him.
Crucially, in those clips, Marcus's behavior always seemed abnormal. When he was with other people, he always liked to touch them, regardless of gender!
This habit, even for her—the Sorcerer Supreme who had lived for several centuries—was unnerving.
A good child, yet he has such a strange hobby?
Because of this, she had been reluctant to let him leave the mountain. In her plan, he needed to be capable of avoiding and dealing with most dangers before descending. He also needed to stop these strange practices.
She hadn't perceived any crisis today, so when Mordo suggested taking Marcus out, she had agreed.
But why had Marcus returned with a large group of young Mutants not long after leaving, and nearly killed himself in the process?
With a wave of the Ancient One's hand, Marcus's blood-soaked clothes were instantly incinerated, revealing his body.
"Hiss~~~"
"This is too horrific!"
"The fact that he didn't die immediately—is that luck or misfortune?"
"Given this pain, maybe hitting him with another anesthetic dart would be an act of mercy."
"..."
Everyone was shocked when they saw Marcus's back. It was densely packed with bullet holes, which were constantly weeping blood.
Even the Ancient One couldn't easily mend this horrifying injury.
But then, she noticed something different.
Marcus's muscles seemed to be constantly writhing.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, a bullet was slowly pushed out of Marcus's body.
"Ding!"
The sound of the bullet falling to the stone ground echoed in the quiet hall.
Colossus's tall figure pushed through the crowd and witnessed the amazing scene.
"This... This is comparable to Logan's Self-healing Ability!"
This healing factor was definitely the same as Wolverine's!
"Logan!"
"Wolverine!"
"His Self-healing Ability is as powerful as Logan's, so he can't die!"
"Look! He's ejecting the bullets!"
"He... so he is also a Mutant!"
"Great! Now I finally know why he wanted to save us!"
"He can't die! That's wonderful!"
The hearts of the young Mutants finally felt a wave of relief as they watched Marcus's body continuously expel the bullets, one after another. They believed they had found the reason Marcus saved them: because he was also a "Mutant."
After a short growl, Marcus finally discharged all the bullets from his body. His wounds closed and his skin returned to normal.
He was still pale, however. Perhaps the lost blood hadn't had time to fully regenerate.
"Ha... ha... Logan, how do you endure that inhuman pain?" Marcus slowly sat up straight, still muttering to himself. "No wonder Logan growls every time he gets hurt—it truly hurts."
"You're alive! That's great!" Colossus looked at the recovered Marcus, completely excited.
Not only him, but all the young Mutants were equally thrilled.
In contrast to the Mutants' excitement, the Ancient One wore a look of utter disbelief.
Though Marcus's past and future were veiled, it definitely did not include him having such a powerful Self-healing Ability.
She made almost everyone who came to Kamar-Taj experience "soul astral" separation. This often caused people to fall and suffer minor injuries. Marcus was no exception! At that time, she hadn't found anything strange about him.
Yet today, Marcus suddenly displayed such a powerful healing factor. It truly seemed like he had a mutated X-gene.
Has Marcus become a Mutant?
Thinking of this, she frowned. Matters of the material world were for others to handle. Her job, as the Supreme Sorcerer, was to protect the magic dimension and prevent dark dimension lords like Dormammu from invading.
If Marcus was now a Mutant, the situation would be complicated. Mutants already faced suppression from the human world. If Marcus got involved, the consequences could be quite troublesome.
"Marcus, go and wash up. Then, we need to talk," the Ancient One said, looking at the completely naked Marcus. In her haste, she had stripped him using magic, and being surrounded by people now seemed quite indecent.
"Uh... make way!" Marcus grabbed his Sling Ring, waved his hand, and a portal suddenly appeared directly in front of him. On the other side was his room.
"Well, Colossus, let me touch you later!" Marcus called out to Colossus, just before stepping into his room. He remembered how painful the self-healing process was and wanted to see if he could touch Colossus's cool, handsome metal skin.
Colossus: "???"
Ancient One: "!!!"
This... his weird habit has started again?