Chapter 22: World Feedback

Less than thirty seconds after Ian's return, a portal opened, and Elsa and the others stepped through.

"Ian, you're finally back! ... Are you alright?" Elsa and the others rushed to check Ian's physical condition.

Seeing their reactions, Ian immediately knew he had been away from the main world for a considerable amount of time, so he asked, "How long have we been gone?"

"Half a year! You've been gone for a whole six months!" Elsa answered.

The past six months had been agonizing for them. After Ian left for just a month, they regretted allowing him to undertake the space-time travel. If Ian had been in the main world, even if he had been missing for a year or more, Elsa and the others wouldn't have worried this much because they would have felt reassured, knowing Ian was safe. But this time, Ian was in an unknown space-time, and they had no idea of the dangers involved, so they were anxious.

"Six months?!" The time was indeed a bit longer than Ian expected, but still within the theoretical range.

Without an accurate space-time beacon to guide him, Ian couldn't pinpoint the exact return space-time node. Using his own information for location, he could only identify space nodes, while the time node could only be approximated within a rough range.

Based on Ian's prior simulations, the time range would be within a year, so six months was still not the worst-case scenario.

The space-time node upon returning was the same as the one he left, which was next door to Peter Parker's house.

This place was unsuitable for staying long, so Ian called out, "Let's go! We'll head back and discuss it there!"

Upon returning to Cumberland Island, Ian and Raven were immediately sent to the lab for the most detailed physical checkups.

As for the things Ian brought back, experiments were immediately arranged as well!

The first results came from the body tests: Ian's strength had increased tenfold, his reaction speed twelvefold, and his recovery speed fifteenfold.

The most significant enhancement was in his physical strength, including skin toughness, muscle strength, bone hardness, and internal organ resilience, all of which had improved by at least twenty times.

To put it more simply: small-caliber firearms could no longer injure Ian in the slightest.

Moreover, this increase in Ian's physical qualities was an overall enhancement from the inside out, without any weaknesses.

Raven's enhancement was not as dramatic. Without using her X abilities, her physical strength increased by about one time. Her main enhancement was to her X abilities!

Seeing the test results, Ian instructed, "This is an enhancement of the essence of life. Compare the changes in our genes before and after!"

In the lab, the instruments related to genetics were state-of-the-art, and in less than half an hour, the results were available.

"Ian, every gene of yours, except for the X gene, has undergone subtle adjustments, or rather, optimization. It's a comprehensive gene optimization!" John marveled.

"My God! Your genes are evolving toward the perfect human gene!"

"Perfect human gene?"

"Only preliminary optimization! There's still a long way to go to perfection!" Ian smiled.

This result seemed not to surprise him?

In fact, Ian had known for a long time that the fifth-level law runes could slowly influence human genes, fundamentally enhancing a person's physical condition.

But the process was very slow, almost undetectable.

Most likely, the world's feedback had greatly accelerated this process, completing in just a few seconds what would normally take decades.

Ian no longer focused on his own changes but instead turned his attention to Raven's situation. "What about Raven? Have her genes changed?"

"Raven's genes haven't changed at all. It's just that a small portion of her X gene has been activated!" John replied.

This result was quite similar to what Ian had guessed. "Just as I thought!"

Raven's X gene potential was very high. The sentinel robots based on her genes were the best evidence of that.

However, Raven had only activated a portion of her X genes before, which was why her X ability was only at level 3.

At Raven's age, it would have been almost impossible for the remaining X genes to be activated.

But now, world feedback had changed Raven's destiny!

Though only a few gene segments were activated directly by world feedback, it had opened a path for Raven to continue activating the remaining parts of her X genes.

Once fully activated, Raven's strength would at least reach level 4. Her combat power would not be inferior to Magneto's, and her methods would be far more diverse.

This result was a huge opportunity for Raven.

But it greatly disappointed John.

Because this result proved that world feedback couldn't help the children at the academy enhance their X abilities.

After condensing law runes, their X abilities had already been fully developed.

At their age, even if there were any unactivated X genes, they would surely activate them when the law runes condensed.

Therefore, John shifted his attention to the gene samples Ian had brought back.

Ian still had knowledge of gene implantation in his mind, so he was also brought into the lab.

After receiving the gene test reports, John was very surprised. "Spider-Man, Doctor Connors, Sandman, Electro... they're all mutants!"

"What? Really?" Ian was even more shocked than John.

Ian had checked Spider-Man and the others' genes in their world, and there was no X gene present.

"Of course it's true. The instruments wouldn't make mistakes across the board!" John handed the report to Ian.

Ian flipped open the report and examined it carefully. Indeed, X genes were clearly detected in the genes of these individuals.

"My memory can't be wrong, so the only explanation is that the genes in these blood samples have changed!" Ian speculated.

Under normal circumstances, Ian would never have made such an absurd guess.

But considering the impact of the space-time fusion, it wasn't impossible for the genes in these samples to have been altered.

"However, these X genes show very obvious signs of splicing!" John continued his analysis.

"Doctor Connors' X gene splicing is the roughest, with severe gene erosion and the worst side effects!"

"Spider-Man's X gene splicing is full of randomness, a perfect work of craftsmanship!"

"Sandman and Electro's X gene splicing feels more natural, almost identical to normal X genes!"

"So...?"

"So Spider-Man's X gene has the greatest research value. It's the perfect case for gene implantation!" John concluded.

From Spider-Man's X gene, John saw hope for gene implantation technology, so he decided to start the research from Spider-Man's gene.

"Alright..." Ian agreed with John's plan and began teaching him the relevant technology from his memory.

While explaining, Ian noticed that some of the knowledge had changed, with previously contradictory parts now logically consistent!

It was clear that this was another effect of the space-time fusion.

Gene implantation technology was now on the brink of maturity!

Ian's risky space-time journey had finally achieved its purpose!

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(End of this Chapter)