Hidden Castle

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Ivan walked forward through corridors and arrived at a mysterious room in the depths of the castle. A small figure guarded the door, a house elf.

This particular house elf, smaller than its counterparts, possessed a distinctiveness with a glint of light in its eyes absent in others.

Upon Ivan's return, the house elf appeared joyful and jumped to Ivan's side. "Master, you're finally back. I've diligently cleaned this place as you instructed, not being lazy at all."

Ivan squatted down with a smile, touching the elf's head.

"Winky did a good job. Keep it up in the future."

"I will, Master. Having a kind master like you is the happiest thing for Winky, and it's my greatest honor to serve you," the elf named Winky said with tears.

Despite its size, Winky, a house elf bred by Ivan, possessed remarkable abilities, particularly in displacing phantoms. Although not surpassing the Red Devil in transmission distance, it excelled in flexibility.

During Ivan's absence, Winky had been cleaning the castle, arriving from Skull Island with remarkable speed and efficiency due to its unique lineage and the influence of a potion crafted by Ivan.

While possessing great strength, house elves couldn't attack wizards due to the curse embedded in their beings. Ivan, aware of this tragedy, refrained from lifting the curse, deeming it not worth the cost.

After a casual chat with Winky, Ivan entered the mysterious room and closed the door, leaving Winky and the red-haired ghost waiting outside, maintaining a tacit understanding.

Inside, Ivan addressed the unseen room, "Red Queen, how is Gaea's growth? What unexpected events have occurred recently?"

"The growth rate is excellent. Though the fused mutant genes caused minor damage, Wolverine's recovery ability fixed it. After adjustments, everything is fine."

"Good. I'm going to check and open the passage."

A wall split apart, and Ivan entered. As the wall closed behind him, she spoke to the room, "It's my honor to serve you, Dr. Ivan."

In this slightly narrow space, Ivan descended rapidly in an elevator, utilizing his energy absorption ability to absorb the surrounding heat.

This environment made it unsuitable for Red Devil and the elf to follow. Ivan couldn't endure it for long either, needing to release absorbed heat to prevent an energy explosion.

The elevator took nearly ten minutes to reach the destination, revealing a scene of underground magma. A pipe inserted into the magma led to a circular culture tank with a three or four-year-old girl immersed in it. Shockingly, energy transmission pipes connected to the tank were made of shock gold.

This place was originally an energy node, with mineral veins transmitting boundless energy in a radius of thousands of miles. A pipeline delved into the earth's core magma to absorb energy, and the absorbed energy was seamlessly integrated into the little girl's body without any signs of bursting, It was truly a remarkable feat.

Ivan crafted this girl using the genes of numerous mutants, inspired by Colonel Stryker's experimentation on Deadpool. Unlike Stryker's goal, Ivan aimed to integrate all mutant genes into one being.

Tens of thousands of mutant genes had been collected in Ivan's rebirth cradle. Fusing such a multitude of genes was no simple task. Collaborating with the Red Queen, Ivan devised various schemes. They used Mystique's ever-changing abilities to sequentially fuse genes, adapting them with Darwin's ability, allowing the natural absorption of genes for energy.

The energy demands for the growth of an embryo with countless mutant genes were immense, prompting Ivan to place her in this energy-rich environment. After years of cultivation, the embryo absorbed endless energy, merging over 10,000 mutant human genes and gradually maturing into a baby.

When the baby formed, the earth's magnetic field rioted, concentrating magnetic fluctuations around her for a day. Thankfully, no catastrophe occurred, but Ivan discovered earthquakes in several energy nodes worldwide.

Recognizing her extraordinary nature, Ivan named her Gaea. Gaea seemed connected to the earth, a realization confirmed by the unusual events during her formation.

Contemplating the implications of creating Gaea, Ivan felt a mix of excitement and fear. Gaia exceeded his expectations, becoming a new life form beyond his comprehension.

"Was creating you right or wrong? Will you destroy the world? Maybe I should destroy you now!"

As Ivan muttered these words, Gaia trembled in the tank, emanating fear. Despite his conflicted feelings, Ivan couldn't bring himself to harm the innocent girl.

"Well, it's not the first time I've considered it, and it doesn't matter if I do it again."

Though not the first time he contemplated destroying Gaea, Ivan always abandoned the idea. If she ever posed a threat to the world, Ivan would do everything in his power to stop her.

After ensuring Gaea's well-being and inspecting the equipment, Ivan took the elevator back to the room above. Instead of leaving, he opened a nearby door and entered another room. This spacious room housed two culture tanks suspended from above, each containing a canine and a middle-aged man immersed in tubes. Pipes protruded from the ground, connected to the culture tanks for energy transmission.

The black dog in the culture tank is Ivan's pet, Simba, but it has grown larger than before, standing over one meter three when upright. With a robust body comparable to a calf, it could even serve as a mount.

To delve into how Simba absorbed energy in the culture tank, we must start from the beginning.

As Ivan's pet, Simba received top-notch care in various aspects, including food, shelter, and occasional magical potions to enhance its physique. After residing on Skull Island for an extended period and benefiting from Ivan's occasional culinary efforts, Simba underwent an evolution three years ago.

Initially, Ivan noticed only increased strength, speed, and flexibility, dismissing it as normal without further consideration.

However, everything changed when Ivan, during a visit to Skull Island, witnessed him swallowing an animal larger than himself in one gulp. It became evident that Simba possessed a unique ability.

After conducting research, Ivan discovered that Simba's ability was the power of ingestion. Unlike Ivan, Simba had to consume creatures in its stomach. Simba's stomach formed a dimensional space; when it opened its mouth, the stomach space distorted with gas, creating immense suction. This allowed Simba to engulf its prey, digesting and absorbing it to fuel its growth.

Simba's ability reminded Ivan of a legendary creature from Chinese folklore - the gluttonous being, capable of swallowing the sky and devouring the earth.

Although Simba's ability was currently weak, Ivan believed it was just the beginning. With Simba's ongoing growth, its powers would likely strengthen over time, potentially evolving into a magical super-beast.