Su Ming picked up Wade, carrying him over his shoulder like a python, and circled around the quadrilateral pyramid twice. The entire pyramid was buried underground, with only the tip exposed above the surface. It seemed like they needed to blast a hole next to it to get in.
"This kind of heavy labor should really be done by Gang Lishi or Hulk... Forget it, everyone take out the explosives you brought and let's see how much we have."
Su Ming dug a little into the ground. Naturally, the pyramid got larger the deeper you went. The plan was to avoid the metal parts and blast through the stone sections to get in and find a way to awaken Apocalypse.
"I, I, I... I have two grenades here," Deadpool wriggled on his shoulder, trying to get Su Ming to dig into his pocket.
"Why are you so unprofessional? As a mercenary, don't you know to carry C4 with you?"
Su Ming wasn't about to reach inside his pants...
Besides, what could two grenades do? Buried in sand, they'd just make a noise.
"What? I've been a mercenary for over ten years, and I didn't know there was such an unwritten rule? How terrifying!"
Deadpool turned to look at Cable and the others. Cable shrugged and pulled out a large block of explosives from his backpack. While it wasn't C4, the 39th-century explosives he made himself were actually more powerful.
Blast, Journey, Broken Star, and even Domino all pulled out C4 from their gear.
Wade slid limply off Su Ming's shoulder, landing on the yellow sand, staring blankly at the sky. The dawn had appeared on the horizon, but Deadpool's heart was filled with darkness.
"Lost... lost..."
As if a sad piano tune played, he remembered running in the sunset that day, that was his...
"Turn off your MP3..."
Su Ming closed his eyes and gave him a kick.
Ignoring Wade rolling and complaining on the ground, Su Ming gathered all the explosives and handed them over to Cable.
"Dig a little down, then blast in from the side."
...............
Inside the pyramid, ruins and broken walls were everywhere, indicating that the Phoenix's methods weren't gentle at all.
Due to the sealed environment, the murals and reliefs on the walls were well-preserved, showcasing the might of Egypt at the time.
This should be the pyramid where Apocalypse fell asleep, and Phoenix locked him back in here.
Everywhere on the murals, Egyptians danced their strange joint-bending dances, wore peculiar headpieces, or bowed to flying discs.
There were no extra idols, and many of the figures that appeared to be aliens on the walls were actually mutants.
"So weird, building a tomb for oneself while still alive." Wade was back on Su Ming's shoulder, looking around: "But over there, there's a pile of treasures, see that? There's a golden cat."
Su Ming glanced over and continued advancing: "That's a gilded coffin meant for cats. The ancient Egyptians believed cats were messengers of the Nether God, so they mummified them and placed them in these coffins to accompany the Pharaohs."
"But Apocalypse wasn't truly dead at the time. What did he want a pyramid for?" Wade asked, feeling a bit deflated.
"Conqueror Kang is from the future, so with his personality, wouldn't he have built the biggest and most luxurious pyramid for himself after traveling to Ancient Egypt? He even built a cosmic battleship in the shape of the Sphinx, and as for Apocalypse, he was just competing with him."
Kang didn't even need this sort of thing, but his vanity desired a pyramid. Sticking only to technology got boring; he needed to create a world marvel!
Except that after traveling through time, he altered history and became the pioneer who built the first pyramid.
After driving Kang away, Apocalypse saw this marvel and considering himself more powerful than the Conqueror, he naturally had to create wonders too. Thus, he gathered people and built an even larger second pyramid.
Since then, every Pharaoh had to build a pyramid.
As for why tombs were shaped like quadrilateral pyramids and carved with flying discs and strange figures, no one knows.
Anyway, since the ancestors did it this way, everyone just kept the tradition going until the Egyptian Empire fell, tomb raiders ran wild, and Pharaohs ceased building pyramids, choosing instead the more concealed Valley of the Kings for burial.
"I feel like Apocalypse might not be in a good mood. Anyone trapped in such a dark place can't be happy," Wade whispered.
"That's where you come in. Once I awaken Apocalypse, jump in and start talking to him. Just make sure he can't think straight," Su Ming and his group continued walking down the tomb path, heading deeper into the underground palace.
"Uh, talk about what?" Wade usually talks endlessly, but when it comes to deliberately influencing others with words, he's at a loss.
"Whatever you like, just say Rama-Tut bullied mutants; make it sound as tragic as possible," Su Ming thought about it and decided to let Wade improvise: "If you really have nothing, just talk about food nowadays or sing him a little song."
"Ah, I'm good at this. Anyway, just blame all the crap Striker and those bastards did on the Conqueror, right?" Wade understood.
"Hmm... Make it a bit more bloody, a bit darker. Think of that feeling in the sewer," Su Ming clicked his tongue, making a small gap with his fingers.
"Walk slower, let me get into the mood... Like framing Conqueror Kang by saying Apocalypse is a gray-skinned freak with maggots growing out of his flowerbed? That he wants to 'beep' all the mutants' flowerbeds in the world? And 'beep beep beep' his adoptive parents' mummies?"
Wade asked tentatively, thinking that level should be deep enough.
"I wanted the topic to be deeply cruel, not for you to make it 'deep', but... as long as you're happy."
Su Ming figured it was doable; even if Apocalypse did suddenly get furious, he couldn't kill Wade. This endeavor carried no risk.
Probably...
But no plan is 100% foolproof; everything has its risks, doesn't it?
As the group moved forward, the walls around them became increasingly incomplete, with even the edges of the massive rocks resembling dried biscuits, turning to ash at the slightest touch.
This was the result of the Phoenix Power. The flame that could consume all turned everything to ash; when Phoenix merely passed through here, these massive stones almost vanished entirely.
In the chamber ahead, a bright red light emanated, and they all seemed to feel the temperature rise.
"This feels like we're in an oven, and it's been running for nearly a hundred years. Now, we're going to taste what a century-roasted goose is like."
Wade couldn't stay serious, turning his head to the side, speaking nonsense to the unseen 'audience'.
Su Ming enlarged the Magic Floating Cloak, raising the collar; this exaggerated cloak added to the mutant vibe. If Apocalypse asked, he'd just say he's a mutant of the Mind and Healing Systems.
Apocalypse also has psychic abilities, though not as strong as Professor X, but enough to read thoughts and memories.
Yet, Professor X refrains from reading minds out of discipline, while Apocalypse is too arrogant to bother reading others' minds.
In his view, he possesses invincible power; others are merely little worms. What trouble could a little worm cause him? At most, just provide some entertainment.
He enjoys unexpected surprises.