Chapter 85: Chapter 85 - Planning The Assault
Leaving the underground base, Lily quickly and quietly vanished into the darkness of the night with the flames of the building burning behind her.
Slipping away was very easy— even without the distraction caused by the burning building, she would have been able to get away unbothered. The fire was mainly meant to cover her tracks.
As she moved through the city streets, taking empty alleyways and paths unused in the night, her mind was focused on something more important than the empty streets around her.
She had gained much from her latest stop— a total of eight new abilities, not even including the fact that some of her existing abilities were further enhanced by combining similar ones she had gained.
This was probably one of the bigger gains of mutant abilities she had— her body and mind were coursing with the changes that had been brought to it.
It was slight, but she could also feel her very being seemingly changing— her racial limits were beginning to awaken, and she could feel the powers of her race taking a new shape.
Evolving.
But it wasn't there yet— she needed more; something was still missing.
Despite her impressive haul of new abilities, rather than feeling satisfied, she only felt more hungry. She desired more in order to grow even further— her very being was urging her to grow at a quicker pace.
She couldn't shake the gnawing feeling at the edge of her consciousness that there was something incomplete with her— she wasn't whole, and she wouldn't be whole until she found the missing piece of the puzzle that eluded her grasp.
But she didn't know what it was— she didn't know if these feelings she felt were her own but if they came from the blood that flowed within her.
'Is this what my ancestors felt? This unyielding hunger and craved more and more.'
As she navigated the darkness of the city at night— making her way to her next stop— she couldn't help but think back to the memories she had gained when she awakened her racial capabilities.
The downfall of her species was brought about by their own greed— their unyielding hunger that led them to devour everything until they even devoured themselves.
Would she go down that same path if she couldn't control herself?
'No— I can't let myself be overtaken by this feeling. Power is good and necessary, but I can't allow myself to be devoured by the craving for power.'
Lily shook her head and reinforced the idea in her mind— she wanted power, but she didn't want power to the point that she would destroy everything and everyone to gain it.
What was the point of power if there was nothing?
She wanted power in order to be safe— to be happy— that's all.
She wouldn't allow these feelings— instincts— to control her will.
A sigh escaped her lips as she came to a stop and stared out before her. A large outstretch of land that was covered in stone and sand— a few buildings littered the area, but they were all abandoned and left to ruin.
Using her Scout Hive Units, she found the location of the largest mutant base in Bahrain— the fortress, as she called it— and scouted the area around it.
Even though she couldn't scout the inside of the building without her hive units suddenly being killed, it didn't stop her from searching around the building.
Thanks to this, she learned a few key information.
Firstly, the area around the fortress was empty of civilian life— no one lived here, and it had been left empty for miles in all directions. This made it perfect for her to operate without being spotted by normal people.
Secondly, the area had very little cover. Meaning if she tried to approach the fortress, she would instantly be spotted, and they would be alerted— putting her at a disadvantage.
To make up for this, she decided to use one of the nearby abandoned buildings as her temporary base of operation and proceed with her plan.
Her plan was simple— swarm them.
Lily never really used her swarm units for combat aside from minor assistance for a variety of reasons, but it couldn't be overlooked that Lily was a hivemind.
Her entire species was born and thrived in fighting as a hive— swarming enemies was how her species primarily fought.
Up until now, she had been fighting alone, but now, with the lack of information and the danger that this fortress might pose to her, it would be foolish to not use her capabilities fully.
The abandoned building she stayed in would serve as her staging ground— a place to prepare for the assault and control the hivemind from a safe distance.
Once she had deemed that the situation wasn't dangerous to her, she could move to the scene and take it into her own hands from there.
She quickly surveyed the interior of the building, noting any potential entry points, hiding spots, or defensive positions. It was in a decrepit state, but it would have to do for now.
She didn't plan to allow them to get this close to begin with.
Once she had secured the area and made a makeshift barricade using whatever debris she could find, fortifying the position while still maintaining a look of abandoned ruin, she decided to first look over the abilities she had gained.
She had yet to do so primarily because she was lost in thought and was on the move— she also wanted to get into a safe location before she explored the new abilities in case any of them proved to be unstable.
Now that she had secured a place— and she wasn't in a rush to begin the assault just yet— she would overlook them.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
ZeroX0666
ZeroX0666 Sorry for the delay; I know this took a while to get out. I've been sick lately, and because of that, I haven't had the chance to get on my device to write.
I hope you enjoy and share some ideas for weak mutant abilities she could gain!
Chapter 86: Chapter 86 - Ability Gains
Lily settled into the abandoned building and took a moment to focus on the information panel before her— allowing her to get a visual representation of the newly acquired abilities she had gained.
A total of eight new abilities were added to her already expansive list of capabilities, and 4 of her existing capabilities were either enhanced or gained additional resources.
Firstly, she checked the abilities that had been enhanced.
Lesser Pyromancy had gained a small boost in its flexibility as it seemed one of the mutants among the ones she had eaten had an ability that allowed them to create minor flames.
It wasn't much, but it was getting better.
The second ability that was improved was her Superior Body. Physical enhancement type mutant abilities were very common, perhaps one of the most common types to exist; this ability was the easiest to gain more resources for.
Unfortunately, it was already very strong to begin with, and the boost she gained was ignorable at best.
The next ability to improve was her Mental Mastery. It was the ability she had the deepest understanding and mastery over; it was her key focus for the most part, and it took an important role in her strength.
This improvement was minor, but it allowed her to better read the thoughts of those around her, which was always useful.
Lastly, and perhaps the ability she was the most unsure about, was her Lesser Demon Physiology.
It had improved slightly, and it seemed the horned mutant had demon blood within his body— at least a very little bit of it. It wasn't enough to improve the ability outright, but she could feel the clear changes— she could feel the demonic blood flowing within her.
'It seems I will need to hunt down some more beings with Demon Blood in them.'
Lesser Demon Physiology was rather useful as she had used it previously to end a fight completely with little effort. If she was able to further improve it, then it would be another key ability she had in her arsenal.
Nodding her head in satisfaction, she moved on from the list of abilities that had been improved and instead focused on the abilities she had gained.
Glass Skin XGene - The user is able to cover their skin in a layer of a thin glass-like substance that is fragile but sharp. If shattered, the substance will burst out in all directions and slowly reform.
This ability obviously came from the mutant she had fought in the base that had a body covered in glass. Thankfully, her body adapted the ability to be more useful than the mutant version, allowing her to choose to cover her skin willingly or not— unlike the mutant.
It wasn't very strong, but she could use it as a means to cover certain Hive Units and essentially make them into shrapnel grenades of the sorts.
Elastic Body XGene - The user's body is naturally more elastic than average; they are able to temporarily stretch and contort their body in ways that aren't commonly possible.
While not a very strong ability, and she couldn't use it to the extent of someone like Reed Richards, it would allow her to be more creative with her Hive Units and a great utility in the future.
Lesser Sound Alteration XGene - The user is able to alter the soundwave that is created when they speak, allowing them to mimic sounds of things that they have heard or even mix certain sounds to make new ones.
Once more, it was another utility ability, but she couldn't complain. The more abilities she had, the better; even utility abilities had their uses, and this one could definitely be useful in hunting, blending in, or even further improved in the future to be Sound Manipulation as a whole.
Plant Empathy XGene - The user is able to feel a deepened connection to plant life around them, allowing them to feel the emotions that a plant is feeling to a certain extent.
This one was rather useless as is, but in the future, it could further improve, so she didn't think too much about it for now.
Lesser Chrono-Sense XGene - The user has a heightened awareness of the passage of time around them, allowing them to tell exactly how much time has passed or how time flows around them.
'Interesting?'
Lily was unsure about this one; on the one hand, it sounded rather plain, it was essentially an ability that made her a walking clock, but on the other hand, it could be much more if she experimented with it.
She was no fool of the possibilities of the Marvel Universe— many beings controlled the ability to mess with time to some extent. One such being she could name off the top of her head lived on earth.
And while he technically hadn't grown into his power yet, his predecessor and the Time Stone were here.
She didn't know or understand why the Sorcerer Supreme hadn't tried to interfere or contact her yet, but she wasn't delusional to think that she had the ability to win against them.
This ability, however, would allow her to sense if the time around her was being messed with— in essence, she could tell if she was trapped in a time loop; time was flowing slow, fast, or wrong.
And in the future, who knows what boundaries it would have if she could further improve it?
Saying she was pleased with this ability would be an understatement.
It was an unexpected— but welcomed— gain.
Moving on, she looked at the remaining abilities.
Electrostatic Discharge XGene - The user is able to generate and discharge small bursts of static electricity from their body in a targeted direction around them.
This was the ability that the leader of the group was using, and it was probably the most outright offensive ability she had gained from her hunt so far.
Using this, she would be able to add another means of attack— or even defense— to her list of methods.
Adhesive Touch XGene - The user's skin can secrete a mild adhesive substance that makes the skin naturally sticky and cling to surfaces with much ease.
Hardened Hair XGene - The user is able to harden their hair, making it darker in color, but able to gain properties similar to metallic in nature while retaining its flexibility.
The last two abilities weren't anything outstanding, but they were useful nonetheless. Now, she could be Spidergirl if she really wanted to— that's not to say she wanted to.
Regardless, she was pleased with her gains for now and was about to gain a lot more.
Now that she was finished reviewing her gains, it was onto preparing for the attack.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
ZeroX0666
ZeroX0666
Next up, we swarm.
Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
12 Power
stone 
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