Marvel: I can learn anything

After more than a full day, Ian and Elsa finally finished selecting the 3,000 gene samples they needed to bring back, which were packed into three large suitcases.

Fortunately, each sample only required a few milliliters, otherwise, a single large suitcase might not have been able to hold even a thousand samples.

Ian searched through the entire Sentinel X-gene library and found fewer than fifty Level 4 X-gene samples. Among them, only a dozen were naturally awakened, while the rest were artificially stimulated to awaken and identified as Level 4.

The library contained tens of thousands of Level 3 X-gene samples, but Ian couldn't take them all, so he carefully selected nearly 3,000. Among these, 300 were extraordinarily powerful Level 3 abilities, and the rest were beast-type X-gene samples.

After erasing the last traces of the Sentinels on the island, Ian and Elsa flew to the beach.

"What do we do next?" Elsa asked as she carried the large suitcase.

"We wait," Ian replied.

Initially, Ian intended to travel back in time immediately after securing the gene samples. However, when he used his temporal vision to observe this timeline stream, he discovered something unexpected:

He couldn't see the past!

Instead, the future was faintly visible, and it extended quite far.

This left Ian uncertain about which direction he should traverse. Fortunately, he soon realized that this timeline stream was constantly experiencing slight vibrations, indicating that someone was disrupting the timeline.

Recalling the original plot, Ian guessed the reason and decided to wait—for an opportunity to hitch a ride.

As for whether the destruction of the Sentinel headquarters and Apocalypse's "death" would alter the original storyline, considering Apocalypse's peculiar state before "dying," Ian believed the story would still progress as originally intended.

Indeed, after waiting for a day, Ian sensed the timeline stream begin to vibrate violently late the following night.

"Elsa, get ready. We're leaving!" Ian called out loudly to her.

"Right away!" Elsa quickly tossed aside the book she was reading, ran over to grab the remaining suitcase, and held onto Ian's arm.

As the timeline vibrations reached their peak, Ian instantly opened a temporal passage and rushed in with Elsa.

Perhaps because this time they were simply traveling through time, the temporal passage was no longer filled with monotonous rainbow lights.

Through the passage, Ian caught a fleeting glimpse of the timeline stream in its entirety.

Although it was just a brief moment, it was enough for Ian to capture some critical information.

This timeline stream indeed had no past—or rather, its starting point was the full-scale massacre of mutants by the Sentinels.

The point in time they were traveling to was nominally the past but was actually the future!

"So, was that timeline point in the 'past's future'? And Apocalypse didn't exist at that point? Was the one we dealt with just a projection?" A flurry of conjectures filled Ian's mind.

"Never mind," Ian shook his head, dismissing those thoughts.

Yet, his instincts told him these guesses were the truth.

Ian looked around at the surrounding scenery, which was exactly the same as before—a Hawaiian beach.

Unfortunately, it was still nighttime, and still no bikinis in sight.

Ian initially planned to find a place to settle down. Traveling with three large suitcases was inconvenient.

However, as this was the 1970s, there was no such thing as the internet, rendering Ian's hacking skills useless and making it impossible to create authentic identities directly.

So Ian simply manufactured a flying shuttle.

"Let's go," Ian said, pulling Elsa aboard the shuttle.

"Where are we going?" Elsa asked.

"Cairo," Ian replied.

At this point in time, it would still be more than a decade before Apocalypse's emergence. Ian had no patience to wait that long!

Therefore, he never intended to wait for the storyline to unfold gradually. Instead, he planned to deal with Apocalypse preemptively!

Otherwise, would he really wait for Apocalypse to awaken, fully recover, find his Four Horsemen, and then attempt to defeat him in full strength?

Striking while the enemy was vulnerable was the proper strategy!

Apocalypse had been dormant for thousands of years; waking him up a decade earlier wouldn't make much of a difference.

On the way to Cairo, Ian made a detour to the Himalayas.

He wrapped the three suitcases in several layers of alloy casings and hid them within the ice atop Mount Everest.

This was the safest place, free from the impact of the upcoming battles or other potential accidents.

When Ian arrived in Cairo, he suddenly realized he only knew that Apocalypse was buried underground in Cairo but didn't know the exact location.

Cairo was such a large city—searching every inch of it would be impossible.

"Why not take over the city's underground factions and have them search for it?" Elsa suggested.

The idea was good. With enough manpower and some geological survey equipment, the entire city could be combed through in just a few months.

But Ian dismissed the plan. "Too troublesome."

"Is there a simpler way?" Elsa asked, her eyes blinking curiously at Ian.

"Of course, there's a faster method!" Ian said confidently.

"For instance?"

"For instance, flipping the ground over!" Ian mimicked a table-flipping gesture.

"What about the people in Cairo?" Elsa asked again.

"Let them move away," Ian replied casually.

"How do you make them move away?" Elsa pressed further.

"Simple…"

The next day!

Cairo suddenly experienced a massive earthquake. Countless buildings collapsed. Fortunately, the city had few tall structures, so casualties were minimal.

However, the earthquake's effects didn't stop there. The quake caused nearby rivers to change course, and underground water sources began to dry up.

While buildings could be rebuilt, a city without water couldn't sustain its population.

Thus, the Cairo government began organizing a relocation effort, targeting the new river's vicinity.

Soon after, large gold sand deposits were discovered near the new river, accelerating the relocation process.

In less than a month, the once-bustling city of Cairo was reduced to ruins!

Now, no one would interfere with Ian flipping the ground over.

After awakening Apocalypse, Ian wouldn't have to choose a battleground—everything was already prepared!

"How did you pull that off?" Elsa couldn't help but ask.

"What?"

"The earthquake! How did you cause such a massive earthquake?"

"That's simple. All it takes is a nuclear explosion underground," Ian explained.

Redirecting rivers was just as easy. Block the original river and guide the new one—it all fell into place naturally.

Once the river changed course, Cairo lost its primary water source, and underground water levels naturally dropped without any further action from Ian.

And as for the gold deposits?

With Ian's reserves of gold atoms, creating a few hundred tons of gold sand was child's play!

That night, a sandstorm swept through the ruins of Cairo.

The remaining remnants of the city visibly eroded in the storm.

Within a minute, all traces of Cairo's existence had vanished.

The sandstorm continued, stripping away layers of ground, gradually revealing the secrets buried beneath...

There are additional chapters of this novel on Patreon: [patreon.com/Naruto11]. You can also find the link in the novel description if you'd like to copy it.