Chapter 152: Skye’s Ascension Ceremony

"It officially begins!"

Orion Cross waved his right hand, and all the sand along the beach gathered over the sea behind Skye, forming a dazzling golden solar disk.

Combined with the radiance of the Star of Apocalypse, the sky now seemed to hold three shining suns.

Zhao Hailun stood quietly to the side, watching the scene unfold as her worldview was thoroughly shaken.

Fortunately, she was not a devout follower of modern science, and she had a relatively high tolerance for magic and mythology. She quickly began speculating about the principles behind Orion Cross’s abilities.

"Skye, pay attention. Your situation is different from theirs. You’ve had more time to prepare. I’m going to pour energy into you with everything I have until you can’t endure any more!"

Orion Cross clenched his right hand in the air and twisted the direction of the solar disk. Once it aligned with the Star of Apocalypse and the sun, the power of Ascension erupted.

A tremendous amount of energy surged forth instantly, producing fluctuations even more violent than those of the Bifrost.

Zhao Hailun cautiously took out a miniature energy detection device and pushed it to its maximum setting.

If she had not been told beforehand that Orion Cross was performing a life-ascension ritual on Skye, she would have thought he was murdering her and destroying the evidence.

Could an ordinary human really survive under this kind of energy?

Zhao Hailun did not know that in Ascension mode, the solar disk’s energy beam was strongest at the outer layer and weakest at the center.

The center contained more pure energy without any offensive properties.

Even though its power had dropped drastically compared to the destructive beam at the outer layer, Skye, standing in the center, still felt as though the skin across her entire body was being torn apart.

Yet she continued to endure.

Orion Cross had told her about everyone who had undergone the Ascension Ceremony so far.

One was Mystique, Raven, and the other was a little girl named Nina.

Both were mutants.

In other words, they already possessed their own extraordinary abilities.

Skye, on the other hand, was an Inhuman. Orion Cross had told her that she possessed a dormant superhuman gene within her body.

But Orion Cross had also told her that if this dormant gene was never activated, she would never awaken her abilities in her lifetime.

The Ascension Ceremony was a method of elevating an ordinary human’s life.

One of its most important characteristics was that it amplified a person’s strengths and advantages.

Right now, Skye was merely an ordinary person.

Her only major strength was her hacking ability, but she no longer wanted to remain a support technician working behind the scenes.

Skye exerted all her strength and rejected the Ascension Ceremony enhancing her hacking abilities.

Aside from hacking, the only advantage she had left was the ability hidden within her dormant genes.

Bang!

Zhao Hailun, who had been carefully observing the solar disk’s energy beam, suddenly froze.

"Did the ground just move?"

The tremor had been so fast and sudden that Zhao Hailun initially thought she had imagined it. She could only turn toward Orion Cross with a questioning look.

Orion Cross had also felt the sudden tremor, but unlike Zhao Hailun, he did not dismiss it.

He knew very well what it meant.

Skye’s ability had begun to awaken.

"Come here and hold onto me."

After glancing at the figure within the energy beam, Orion Cross turned toward Zhao Hailun.

"Huh? Oh!"

Zhao Hailun froze for a moment before immediately understanding.

That tremor might not have been an illusion. Something was about to happen.

She hurried toward Orion Cross.

However, she had forgotten that even though most of the Star of Apocalypse’s energy was now concentrated on Skye because of the solar disk, the surrounding radiation had not disappeared.

Bang!

Zhao Hailun lost her footing and went tumbling directly into Orion Cross’s arms.

Fortunately, Orion Cross’s physique was strong enough to absorb most of the impact and catch her in time. Otherwise, an ordinary person would have been sent flying.

"Sorry, I forgot."

Zhao Hailun supported herself against Orion Cross’s chest and awkwardly straightened up.

"It’s fine, but could you stop touching me?"

Orion Cross looked down at the hand that was still resting against his chest. He could not help wondering whether their roles had somehow been reversed.

"Ah! Sorry!"

After Orion Cross reminded her, Zhao Hailun hurriedly withdrew her hand and placed it behind her back, her eyes flickering awkwardly.

Boom!

The ground trembled again.

The remaining sand across the beach rippled like a stone had fallen into water.

Not far away, the seawater also began gradually churning.

"Hold on tight. I don’t want Stark showing up with a bill and demanding compensation afterward."

Feeling the tremors beneath his feet becoming increasingly frequent and violent, Orion Cross immediately extended his left hand toward the shoreline.

All the seismic waves generated in Skye’s direction were intercepted and blocked by Orion Cross. Not a single ripple reached the center of the island.

Because the energy was blocked in one direction, the seismic force could only discharge in the opposite direction.

As the shaking intensified, enormous waves began surging across the sea.

If this continued, it would only be a matter of time before a massive tsunami formed.

However, when Orion Cross extended his right hand toward the sea, the entire ocean became calm within seconds.

This was precisely why Orion Cross had deliberately chosen a private beach as the location for the Ascension Ceremony.

On one side was the beach, and on the other was the ocean.

Orion Cross could use the Ascendant power of the Sand Emperor to control one side, while using Poseidon’s power to control the other.

Moreover, compared to pure desert terrain, the ocean was much better at dispersing force, allowing most of the seismic energy to be dumped into the deep sea.

Five minutes passed.

Orion Cross remained in the same position, while Skye showed no sign of knowing how much longer she could endure.

Zhao Hailun tightly wrapped her arms around Orion Cross’s waist and poked her head out from behind him. A trace of tears appeared at the corners of her eyes.

"How much longer? I feel like I’m about to develop osteoporosis from all this shaking!"

Orion Cross had controlled the range of the vibrations, preventing the outside world from being affected.

But the ground beneath them was suffering.

The entire beach trembled violently like a phone stuck on vibration mode.

And this was already the result of Orion Cross suppressing it.

Without his suppression, the entire beach would probably have collapsed by now.

However, something strange began to happen.

As time passed, Orion Cross gradually felt that he was losing control over some of the sand beneath his feet.

If Skye had merely awakened her seismic wave ability, this absolutely should not have happened.

At this point, Orion Cross could only speculate that, like Mystique and Nina, Skye’s ability had undergone some kind of elevation during the Ascension Ceremony.

As for exactly how far that elevation had gone, they would only know once she stopped.

"She’s endured this long. Looks like she trained more than just her physical strength. She trained her willpower too."

Orion Cross looked at Skye, who was still bathing in the energy of Ascension, and could not help sighing in admiration.

So much time had passed, yet Skye was still enduring.

"Am I going to accidentally create another Captain Marvel?"