American Comics: The Matrix

Chapter 500 Cancerous Universe Arrives
"It's only been a few days, but the number of superpower outbursts worldwide has already approached 100,000."

Inside the Tianhe Workers' mothership, Norman Osborn looked slightly tired.

He has spent all his energy these past few days arresting those mutants.

Their sheer number and diverse abilities made it extremely difficult for ordinary plumbers to capture them.

Moreover, all superpowered individuals are in their adolescence. Many of them, after awakening their powers, suffer from chuunibyou (middle school syndrome), believing themselves to be the chosen ones. Instead of surrendering, they take the initiative to attack.

The result, of course, was that he was arrested on the spot.

To be honest, Norman would prefer all mutants to be like that, at least they'd be easier to find.

But many children are actually kind-hearted and don't want to hurt anyone, but their out-of-control abilities lead to tragedy.

Their minds were not fully developed, and they quickly panicked and began to evade capture, fearing that they would fall into the hands of the plumber.

Except for a few mutants with mimicry abilities who are hard to find, the others can't escape the pursuit. However, there is a severe shortage of manpower, and even the prisons are almost overflowing.

“We can’t just exile them to the edge of nothingness,” Norman sighed.

Even he, who was known for his ruthless methods, felt that these teenagers did not deserve such a crime.

"The key issue is that the public now has an extremely strong aversion to these people, calling them mutants and strongly hoping that we will eliminate all mutants. This is especially true for the victims and their families in the Awakening incident."

"It is impossible to eliminate them."

Bant spoke without even thinking.

"In just a few days, 100,000 people have already awakened their mutant abilities. Although it's estimated that the initial period will be a surge with a larger number, and the numbers should stabilize later, it's still a huge number. We can't possibly execute tens of thousands of people every day."

"I think so too."

Norman said with distress, "And they are completely out of control."

"Even if we use death to deter mutants, they will still awaken if they are meant to, and they will still cause casualties if they are meant to."

This is unlike what criminals do.

The existence of the Heavenly Craftsmen deterred supervillains, preventing them from committing evil deeds.

But no matter what, Norman couldn't intimidate a physiological phenomenon.

Just like he can't threaten all the men in the world not to want Chen Bo when they wake up in the morning.

At this point, Bant offered a suggestion: "Actually, we shouldn't view mutants entirely as a threat, but rather think about what they can do?"

"you mean?"

Bant handed a document to Norman: "I've divided the power levels of awakened mutants into several levels. The weakest is Epsilon (ε), so weak that it can hardly cause any damage; it's more like a physical deformity."

For example, suddenly growing a sixth finger, or a second oregano or something...

While the latter might be somewhat enjoyable, it poses almost no harm to society; even for those with superpowers, it's probably just like lighting a match.

"Secondly, there are Deltas (δ), which have weak abilities and are mostly difficult to cause damage or serve any purpose."

"The former basically requires no intervention, while the latter only requires a simple registration. Although their abilities are weak, and some people may not even realize they have any abilities, they may still use their abilities to do some petty theft."

Norman nodded.

Even at the moment of awakening, these two types of mutants rarely caused any major incidents and did not go to prison.

"The third level is the gamma (γ) level. At this level, not only do their abilities become apparent, but their physical fitness also improves significantly, surpassing that of ordinary Earthlings."

"I suggest establishing a special school for plumbers and electricians, so that while they are serving their sentences, they can receive ideological and skills training. This would be for the sake of stability, and also to provide members for the plumber and electrician workforce."

Professor X originally founded a mutant school, but that one school was too small. Not to mention that even the professors there were mentally unstable and had all sorts of problems, so the students they taught were naturally more extreme.

"Training plumbers and electricians, that's a good idea."

Norman nodded.

This time, he genuinely agreed that criminals also have the right to education.

"Then there are the Beta (β) and Alpha (α) levels. Mutants at these two levels experience significant power enhancements and can freely control and use their abilities. Alpha-level mutants can even demonstrate extremely strong combat capabilities, comparable to your Thunder Force."

"They are the main trainees for new hydropower workers."

"But it should also be noted that their awakening often causes greater destruction. For example, our Miss Jenny Becker."

Bant refers to the fire mutant from a few days ago.

He ultimately categorized the opponent's abilities as Alpha level, which, while having a high ceiling, was difficult to sustain.

"She cannot enjoy any school life like other mutants. Instead, she receives education and training while incarcerated. Even if there are missions that require her to be deployed, she must be detained immediately after the mission ends until her sentence is completed."

"Isn't this a bit too cruel?"

Norman frowned.

Radicals felt that Bant's regulations were too radical.

"At least if she completes the mission, her sentence can be reduced..."

"no!"

Bant refused sternly.

"Unless she can bring the dead back to life, there's no way she can get a reduced sentence. Her merits can be exchanged for other rewards, but they can't offset her crimes."

"Ok."

Norman couldn't persuade Bant, so he had no choice but to give up.

Fortunately, with the support of Pramos Technology's self-healing agents, most incidents are just acts of violence, and the victims are easily healed.

Of course, the above only applies to mutants who do not intend to harm others.

As for those who are inherently malicious, regardless of their strength, they will all be exiled to the Void Boundary.

"Finally, there is the Omega level (Ω). It is difficult to determine the strength of mutants at this level, but most of them are already able to ignore the realities of physics, so we need to deal with them with caution."

Norman nodded; he had his own way of making judgments.

Leaving aside the first two levels, the Gamma level is equivalent to the most basic super soldier level, the Beta level is roughly equivalent to a Captain America with a shield, the Alpha level has the destructive power of Spider-Man or Sandman, and the final Omega level is on par with Hulk and Thor.

It's not entirely accurate, but it still has some reference value.

"Oh, right, there's one more thing."

Norman suddenly remembered.

“Eunice sent me a message from Wakanda. She told me that the next collision crisis is coming soon.”

Bant: ? ? ?
"Isn't it supposed to be a month? Only a week has passed!"

"I don't know why, but the two universes are getting closer together at an accelerated pace," Norman said helplessly.

As for the reason for all this, it's naturally the good deeds done by the crazy class and the bad class.

(End of this chapter)