Chapter 423: Hogwarts Under Construction, and the Titled Celestials
"The Celestials. Just a bunch of washed-up old-timers." Ethan didn't know all that much about the Celestials.
If they weren't hunting him, he wouldn't have bothered looking into them.
They were so overwhelmingly powerful that every appearance was a world-ending catastrophe. In his previous life, they'd never been especially popular.
People preferred heroes like Captain America, who started as an ordinary man and worked their way up step by step, over beings born half-divine and invincible.
For a single Celestial to be born, it had to be fed the souls, flesh and blood of billions upon billions of living beings, then evolve over tens of thousands of years.
Ethan remembered seeing online comments arguing that Thanos had wiped out half of all life precisely to prevent Celestials from being born.
In other words, Thanos had been saving the entire universe.
Every Celestial awakening meant a planet's destruction. And Celestials were finite in number. Each one had its own mission.
Each commanded its own Authority, its own concept.
As far as Ethan knew, there were over a thousand cosmic Celestials in all, every one of them under the command of Arishem the Judge, the Celestials' number two.
That same Judge commanded an army of beings at demigod level or above. Some of the Celestials were even True Gods.
As for number one, that was naturally the God of All Things, the One Above All. The One Above All's power equaled the combined strength of all thousand-plus cosmic Celestials.
You can imagine how strong that made the One Above All.
But even within the Celestials, there were clear ranks and gaps in power.
The titled Celestials were a special class. Their great power and unique missions gave them an exalted place among their kind.
They didn't just hold their own Authorities and concepts. They also bore awe-inspiring titles and ranks.
Arishem the Judge, Eson the Searcher, Ziran the Tester, Gammenon the Gatherer... Behind each of these names lay a mountain of legends and stories. They were symbols of power and glory within the Celestials.
Not every Celestial got a title!
And every one of the titled Celestials was a True God. Remember, Loki, God of Stories, was only True God level himself.
Of course, these titled Celestials were definitely weaker than Loki. Celestials had their own weaknesses. Each was responsible for a different domain, and none was all-powerful.
And because they were born commanding their Authorities, they weren't as strong as someone like Loki, who had become a god through his own path.
Ethan had also known all along that there was a Celestial inside the Earth.
He'd originally meant to go back and deal with it, but the Celestials kept dragging him down, and there was nothing he could do.
Then Kingpin told him someone named Kang had something to discuss with him.
Kang didn't just lay out his whole plan for Ethan, including his bold idea of going undercover in the Dynasty of Kangs. He also showed an indescribable sincerity and trust.
This sudden openness made Ethan suspicious. He found it hard to believe anyone would help so unconditionally.
But as Kang slowly revealed the truth, and the System showed that their Friendship Level had already reached five stars, Ethan's doubts gradually faded.
Since they were friends, Ethan was against it at first, of course.
He didn't want his friend walking into a trap. But Kang insisted.
So Ethan gave Kang Kyōka Suigetsu. And when he learned that Kang and Kingpin had actually been developing the Golden Serum, he gave Kang one vial to take, and used the Horse Talisman to help him complete the transformation.
After helping Kang absorb the Golden Serum, Ethan hadn't checked in on him since.
With the Golden Serum and Kyōka Suigetsu, few could stand against Kang. Of course, Ethan had told him to come find him if he ran into trouble.
As for how Kang would go about it, Ethan never asked. It was all about trust. Ethan hadn't expected all that much.
He never imagined Kang would give him such a huge surprise. Or rather, he never imagined Kang's appetite would be so big.
He wanted everything. He meant to weaken the Dynasty of Kangs and the Council of Reeds, and he'd even found Ethan a lead on the last Infinity Stone.
Ethan had assumed that once he got the Soul Stone last time, the System was complete. After all, the Reality Stone's power had been put into it from the start.
But according to the System, to unlock the final secret he needed to collect all six Infinity Stones in hand.
Now that he had a lead on the last Stone, it was about time for Ethan to head back to Hell's Kitchen.
He was very curious how Kang meant to carry out his plan.
Come to think of it, he'd been wandering around out here for about half a year. He'd heard that Hogwarts might be finished by now, and he wanted to go back and see.
Still, he had to hide his trail. He couldn't let the Celestials find him.
...
"Hurry up! Faster, all of you! Six whole months and this place still isn't finished. It's far too slow!" Magneto swept his hands lightly. Scattered nails and steel plates flew as if pulled by invisible hands and slotted precisely into place.
An Omega-level mutant was personally working on the school's construction. That showed just how impatient he was.
The grand castle's outline was finished, though. All that remained was installing some of the "software."
The construction workers were extraordinary craftsmen, nothing like ordinary people. Each rode a flying broomstick. With a light wave of the wands in their hands, they summoned dazzling magical light that sent red bricks and stone dancing through the air, like weavers of dreams fitting each piece precisely into place.
The air was full of a wondrous blend of magic and technology.
The mutants each contributed their own powers to building the castle.
Cyclops's eyes blazed like a precision laser cutter. Whether welding metal or cutting stone, he handled it with ease, and every flash of his beams pushed the work forward.
The sorcerers of Kamar-Taj, in their robes, formed mudras with their hands and chanted ancient spells under their breath, casting protective shields over the castle to guard it from outside interference.
Faced with Magneto's prodding, Professor X kept his usual gentleness and reason. He stepped up and patted Magneto's shoulder, saying earnestly, "Erik, I understand your urgency. But great undertakings often need time. Look, our workers have been toiling day and night. Their effort is plain to see."
Professor X had a point. They weren't building just Hogwarts. There was Diagon Alley too, an entire wizarding world to construct. And ordinary people weren't allowed into this wizarding world, so they were short-handed. Getting this much built in half a year was already fast.
"Your sister has already founded the mutant kingdom, and we still haven't finished! Mutants are all going to the mutant kingdom now! If we keep dragging this out, how many mutants will still want to come once Hogwarts is finally done?!"
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