Chapter 143: Painting a Bright Future for Psylocke

In the end, after seeing the pyramid collapse through their satellites, the various countries began sending troops to the ruins of Cairo.

Whether they were there for rescue operations or some other purpose was no longer important.

Orion Cross and the others had already returned to the mutant academy.

Storm, who had fled from the beginning, had returned with them, as had Psylocke.

"Maybe becoming a teacher here wouldn’t be so bad. It’s definitely better than being a thief."

Storm gazed at the beautiful paradise before her and sighed with emotion.

Not far away, Orion Cross waved his hand and dispelled the solar disk standing at the entrance.

"I don’t want to be any kind of teacher."

Psylocke gave the laughing students a cold glance. She felt completely incapable of fitting in with them.

"If you’re a ninja, then what you need is a master to serve."

Raven walked over to Psylocke’s side and spoke with a faint smile.

"You mean him? What am I supposed to do?"

Psylocke glanced at Orion Cross and asked.

"To be honest, your ability won’t help him much."

Raven rubbed her chin thoughtfully, then turned toward Psylocke. "Our company happens to be missing a head of security. Want the position?"

Psylocke’s mutant ability was fairly ordinary. Aside from looking flashy, eighty percent of her strength came from her ninja skills.

Without extensive close-combat techniques, even if you gave her abilities to an ordinary person, they would still be someone who could create weapons with telekinesis only to be shot down by a gun.

"I accept."

Psylocke reached toward her waist, instinctively intending to draw her blade as a gesture of allegiance. But the moment her hand touched the empty space, she remembered that Orion Cross had casually crushed her blade.

"What are you two talking about?"

Orion Cross walked over and looked at their strange behavior.

"She has decided to swear loyalty to you. Congratulations. You have another female ninja under you."

Raven winked at Orion Cross.

"Another?"

Psylocke caught the meaning behind Raven’s word and looked at her in confusion. "Does he have another ninja working for him?"

"Exactly. That female ninja is currently running a convenience store. She’s buried under a mountain of mortgage and loan debt, so you can look forward to ending up like her."

Raven nodded and patted Psylocke on the shoulder.

Naturally, she was referring to Akali, whom Orion Cross had brought back from Runeterra.

Because of the Spirit Blossom Festival, Akali had chosen to serve Orion Cross in exchange for a Spirit Blossom, allowing her to speak with her deceased relatives.

"A female ninja running a convenience store?"

Psylocke’s expression became somewhat strange. She genuinely could not imagine how someone whose profession revolved around killing could have the patience to run a convenience store.

"Perform well. Perhaps one day, you’ll be lucky enough to receive a promotion like I did."

"Otherwise, you’ll remain nothing more than a head of security forever."

"And if you betray him, you might not even keep your life."

Raven looked directly at Psylocke and spoke seriously.

"Promotion? Like what happened to Apocalypse?"

Psylocke glanced at Orion Cross and asked.

Apocalypse had enhanced her abilities, making her telekinetic blades even sharper, almost reaching the level of quantum cutting.

However, after Apocalypse died, the enhancement disappeared as well.

But honestly, Psylocke did not think that enhancement had increased her overall strength by much.

Just as Orion Cross had said before the battle, Apocalypse was terrible at judging people. He merely used his abilities to see the essential manifestations of each mutant’s power, which made it seem as though he was extraordinarily good at recognizing talent and putting people to use.

Psylocke’s true strength lay in combining telekinesis with swordsmanship, not simply increasing the raw strength of her telekinesis.

"It’s different. What he gave me was a permanent enhancement, and it was a qualitative leap."

Raven gently shook her head.

Apocalypse’s enhancement was merely the development of a talent that already existed within a mutant.

He could not raise a Beta-level mutant to Omega level.

To represent it with simple numbers, imagine two mutants who were both Level 1, but one had a maximum level of 10 while the other had a maximum level of 50. Apocalypse could raise the first one to Level 10 and the second one to Level 50.

The Ascension Ceremony, however, could raise both of their maximum levels to 100 or even higher.

"Of course, it consumes quite a lot of energy. So until I’m certain of your loyalty, don’t even think about it."

Raven noticed Psylocke looking toward Orion Cross with a hint of anticipation and immediately spoke up.

"If I receive your enhancement, how would it be different from Apocalypse’s?"

Psylocke looked at Orion Cross and asked.

"The Ascension Ceremony enhances your strengths and specialties."

Orion Cross paused for a moment before speaking. "Your strength comes from combining swordsmanship and telekinesis. In a way, that’s somewhat compatible with a wandering swordsman... Though nobody knows what the final result would be."

"A wandering swordsman? I’m a ninja."

Psylocke frowned slightly at the word "swordsman." "And what is that? A title? A person? Or an ability?"

"Want me to simulate it using your telekinesis?"

Orion Cross extended a hand toward Psylocke and asked.

"Fine."

After hesitating for a moment, Psylocke took Orion Cross’s hand.

Buzz!

Orion Cross’s consciousness entered Psylocke’s body.

"I remember you like holding a metal sword in one hand and forming a light blade in the other, right?"

Whoosh!

Two completely different blades of light condensed in "Psylocke’s" hands.

One was a textured lightsaber, while the other was a pure blade of light that even appeared somewhat flexible.

"This is only a simulation. It doesn’t have any actual power."

After giving her the warning, Orion Cross controlled Psylocke’s body and turned toward the lake, then began swinging the blades.

"Threefold Slash."

"Reincarnation Sword."

"Burial of Chaotic Blossoms..."

He casually used telekinesis to simulate several techniques, painting an enormous picture of what Psylocke’s future could look like before finally releasing control.

"Actually, the most important thing is that after your Ascension, your body won’t be this fragile anymore."

Raven spoke to the now-conscious Psylocke.

As a close-combat ninja, Psylocke’s physical abilities were only slightly above those of an ordinary person.

Even someone like Magneto, who fought from a distance, could be injured or killed if he made one wrong move, so a close-combat fighter would be in an even worse position.

Aside from regeneration-type mutants like Wolverine, ninety percent of close-combat fighters were essentially cannon fodder.

"You’ve given me something to look forward to, but I want to know when I’ll be considered qualified."

Psylocke took a deep breath and asked.

"There’s no need to rush. Only time can prove everything."

Raven patted Psylocke on the shoulder, then turned toward Orion Cross. "What did you say to Erik just now? Why did he leave?"

"He came here in the first place just to bring Nina to the school. Naturally, he’s leaving now."

Orion Cross looked toward Magneto, who had already reached the school entrance in the distance.

"Charles didn’t try to persuade him to stay?"

"Do you think a verbal plea would have any use on him?"

Orion Cross asked in return.

Raven shook her head. She had been away for too long and had nearly forgotten the personalities of those two men.

"What about Charles? After the military invaded the school this time, did he learn his lesson?"