Chapter 4762: The X Royal Family: New Life (Twenty-One)

The place they'd dropped into was indeed vast and empty, voices carrying heavy echoes. No plants grew below, only some moss in the wall corners. Even without Stark Shiler pointing it out, one could tell the underground hot springs were nearby — barely a moment after descending, the damp heat was already palpable.

They said there were two openings down below, one with a noticeably higher temperature than the other. The three headed in that direction. This opening was quite spacious inside too, so they walked and chatted as they went.

"Mutants are mostly impatient types," Stark sighed. "Say they want to build a hot spring, they start right away, not willing to wait even a day. Charles doesn't know to rein them in a bit."

"Perhaps Charles is happy to see it happen," Shiler said. "If he hadn't agreed and supported it, the mutants wouldn't be in such a rush to come over."

"I think he wants to develop tourism," Steve offered. "Precisely, develop tourism from the Central Universe to here. This place is practically a heaven-sent nursery — time to bring those little devils over."

True enough, Stark thought the same. But to bring them over, there had to be something attractive. Primeval forest alone wasn't enough, which was why he was in such a hurry to build these things. He just worried the mutants lacked experience in this area, and in their rush to finish, would botch the job.

"You all think so?"

"Isn't it?"

Shiler shook his head. "Central Universe mutants have finally held their heads high — wherever they go in the universe they're top dogs, even on Earth they carry serious weight, everyone greets them with smiles. The new generation of mutants hasn't suffered a shred of grievance. How could Charles bear to let the children face that kind of predicament again?"

"Fair point," Stark nodded. "If it were me, I definitely couldn't bear it. Discrimination isn't a knife — it's a bottle of poison, slowly corroding you, making you feel rejected and isolated by the world. That kind of prolonged harm is sometimes more heartbreaking than violent conflict. I don't want children to suffer that — any child."

"Then what's he rushing for?" Steve looked puzzled. "I thought they couldn't stand bringing up the kids anymore."

"From your perspective it does look that way," Stark said. "After all, non-mutant parents raising mutant kids are often at a loss. Especially since little Thomas is an extremely powerful mutant. But to say the Scarlet Witch can't handle her own kid — that's a stretch. Otherwise why would she choose to have a little girl after giving birth to twin boys?"

"Makes sense too," Steve said. "But little Thomas is actually very sensible — he's never used his mutant abilities in front of me and his mother. That first outburst doesn't count."

They walked and talked, the heat growing thicker, the humidity heavier, until finally it was hard to keep their eyes open. Shiler had no choice but to turn into a mass of mist. Stark looked at Steve and asked, "Can you still hold on?"

"You're underestimating me," Steve said. "You should know, a Navigator guides the ship's course. In other words, if the existing route can't be passed, you have to find a way down to clear it. What kind of harsh cosmic environment haven't I seen? This is nothing."

They walked further ahead, a white mist stretching before them. The underground hot spring's true face finally revealed itself. Rather than a hot spring, it was a mass of extremely high-temperature steam. At least from here only steam was visible — the spring's main body might still be deeper down.

The temperature here was no longer suitable for ordinary people. The entire cavern was like a giant steamer — an unprotected ordinary person staying a while might well be steamed cooked. The water vapor was so heavy it gave a drowning sensation.

Stark peered over for a look. His armor had no trouble working near the sun, so this was child's play. Then he said, "This is a flue — the hot spring goes much deeper than we imagined. Which proves the volcano's scale is larger than we thought too."

"Can tell," Shiler maintained his mist form. "To have such a complex underground cave system, volcanic activity here must be very frequent. Want to go down and look?"

"Came all this way," Shiler said. "Steve, step into my mist, I'll take you down."

Steve stepped over, Shiler wrapping him in gray mist. Stark went down first, and soon his voice came up: "It's deep — at least a hundred meters. No footholds below either. I've set up a platform here, fly toward the red light."

Below was even denser steam. Now they were like diving into a gas giant, surrounded by high-temperature gas — fortunately no deadly storms or crushing pressure. Flying another seventy-odd meters down, they finally saw traces of red light.

Shiler brought Steve to stand on the platform, but the steam was far too thick to see anything. Stark had to project a 3D terrain map, then pointed downward: "Below is the real hot spring, about a hundred fifty meters from the surface, extremely high temperature — definitely can't soak in it directly."

"For mutants, channeling water isn't hard, just needs some design." Shiler thought a moment. "What about the others? Have they come in?"

"I told you, theirs is the long way round — I figure they'll have to circle several more times before arriving." Stark pointed a direction. "There's an opening over there, they might come from that side. You go meet them?"

Shiler looked down. The opening Stark indicated was very close to the hot spring. He shook his head. "Better not — the gray mist doesn't like very hot places."

"Oh, the symbiote's quirk," Stark said. "Then how does he operate near the sun?"

"He avoids the sun as much as possible. How to put it — him approaching the sun is like a human approaching a ghost."

The analogy made the other two laugh. But in the end Stark still flew over to meet them. The others reacted to him like they'd seen a ghost too. In the thick steam, a blue figure suddenly flew toward them — Main Universe Captain America nearly threw his shield.

"It's me, it's me!" Stark shouted.

"Good god," Main Universe Captain America said helplessly. "What are you doing here? Weren't you sick?"

"Steam therapy aids recovery." Stark spouted nonsense without blinking. "You took the long way — actually there's a direct opening just dozens of meters from the surface."

"Really?" Spider-Man asked. "I was thinking this winding route would make channeling water tricky — a direct one would be great."

No sooner had this Spider-Man finished than another Spider-Man arrived: "Right, I was just working on a plan. Coming from this side is indeed difficult — I was wondering if there was another path."

For him to care so much about the mutants' hot spring bathhouse, Stark had his doubts but didn't press. He guessed it might be another local universe scheme, but ultimately not a bad thing, so he didn't ask further.

Next came all sorts of mutants — basically anyone who could withstand high heat showed up, and some who couldn't were brought under Polaris's protection. Everyone marveled at the magnificent scene, then began studying how exactly to build.

Some said just build it right here — bore a direct passage, the heat would dissipate considerably, mix in some water, or have Iceman adjust the temperature, and it'd be passable for soaking.

But most supported channeling water upward. Never mind the environment here — it was simply too far from the surface; even a direct elevator would take ages to run. Many mutants' abilities were still restricted, couldn't come down directly — too much trouble.

But where to channel the water was also a problem. The others had come all this way and seen no suitable spot — mostly just narrow, cramped caves needing massive renovation. But Stark quickly proposed the sinkhole on his route was good.

Don't be fooled by its dozens of meters depth — that's precisely the advantage, because rooms can be carved into the sinkhole walls. Running back to the Royal Court after soaking would be too far — of course lodging is needed. You get hungry soaking, so a restaurant's needed. Feel like a drink after relaxing, need a bar. The closest spot to the hot spring is the sinkhole cliff face.

This proposal won most people's agreement, many already envisioning the beautiful hot spring bathhouse scene. But that's for later — first they had to figure out how to get the water up.

Channeling bit by bit with mutant powers definitely wouldn't work — best to establish a water channeling system ensuring stable operation. Local Universe Spider-Man volunteered, saying he'd go back and have Iron Man design it — absolutely efficient and smooth-running.

The mutants were noncommittal, but had to admit Iron Man's skill was indeed high. If he designed it, nothing better.

They conducted very detailed measurements here, quickly obtaining data. Local Spider-Man rushed back overnight, Local Iron Man drew plans all night — pretty much done in one night.

After all, this wasn't anything extremely complex — for Iron Man it wasn't hard at all. The only tricky part was needing stable operation unaffected by mutant powers. But mutants were already restricted on the island. In the end Iron Man guaranteed his system wouldn't fail even if Magneto got drunk and went on a rampage.

Mutants got the blueprints, one look confirmed they were excellent and economical, so they happily started building. Under Magneto's standardized process, though participant numbers dropped, efficiency didn't. Missing materials could be sourced via small Hellfire Group purchases, or simply send mutants to buy. Local Iron Man thoughtfully accounted for the island's scarce resources — used minimal materials, all standard parts available anywhere. So in just two or three days, the hot spring bathhouse was built.

Though the cliff-wall rooms weren't fully complete, they were livable for now. The sinkhole-bottom baths were built exquisitely, maintaining Krakoa's consistent natural style. More than baths, they resembled a large greenhouse. Besides indoor baths with crystal domes, there were open-air baths.

Completion day, mutants held a small celebration, but immediately began organizing a hot spring banquet. Besides inviting all mutant factions, they invited the Central Universe and Main Universe Avengers. Most importantly, they invited the Local Universe Avengers — a friendly signal.

Beyond that, they invited their friends in human society — Wakanda's Black Panther, SHIELD's Weather Witch, even human scientists unable to leave the island. In short, everyone the mutants knew came — destined to be a grand gathering on Krakoa.