Chapter 323: Hell's Kitchen's Full-Scale Power Surge
The Tablet of Life's effect turned out to be staggering.
Ethan had already read the System's explanation — sure, at first glance a +1% boost to physical stats and brain development didn't sound like much. But the longer the tablet stayed in place, the more each person's individual aptitude would keep compounding those numbers upward.
Physical stats could climb as high as +20%, brain development as high as +10%. Not everyone would hit those ceilings, of course — but even a mere +10% physical boost would be enough to turn every single resident of Hell's Kitchen into an Olympic gold medalist.
And brain development was almost absurd by comparison. Einstein — IQ 200 — only clocked in around 10% brain development. Most ordinary people went their entire lives without ever cracking even 1%.
Which meant: with the Tablet of Life in play, every resident of Hell's Kitchen had the potential to become a genius. The lucky ones might even rival Einstein himself.
The real kicker was that the tablet's effect applied to Ethan's Family too — which meant someone like Uncle Fisk, already sitting at the literal peak of human physical potential, could add another 20% on top of that. It was almost frightening to imagine how strong that made him.
And people like Strange, Dr. Banner, and Tony — already among the sharpest minds in the entire Marvel universe — stacking the Tablet's effect on top of achievements that high?
Ethan honestly didn't dare imagine where their ceiling would end up.
The tablet's downstream effects were good news for the mutants too — it meant Hell's Kitchen's mutant population would keep growing organically, no longer limited to just the group he'd originally brought in.
Xavier and Magneto would probably be thrilled to see that.
As for the last effect — only a 5% chance to enhance a mutant's existing power — that still counted as remarkable. Mutant abilities were normally fixed for life the moment someone was born with them.
People like Wanda, Magneto, and Xavier already had terrifyingly strong powers as it was — what the tablet offered wasn't a boost to their current strength, but a chance to raise their ceiling entirely.
Take Wanda: she'd been born an Omega-level mutant, and Omega-level — multiversal-tier — was supposed to be the absolute cap on her life's potential.
The Tablet of Life carried a 5% chance of pushing someone like her past Omega-level entirely — into territory that could rival things like the Living Tribunal or Death herself.
And Hell's Kitchen already had several Omega-level mutants on the roster. If even one of them broke past their supposed ceiling...
Once they'd had time to grow into that power, Ethan would be able to walk this world without a single rival.
With that thought, Ethan gave the System the command to place the Tablet of Life.
The instant he did, a blinding flash of light split the air — and a weathered, ancient stone tablet materialized right at the entrance of the Lucky Dragon restaurant.
Complex runic script covered its surface, as if it held an endless well of vitality within it.
The tablet's arrival seemed to trigger some deeper, hidden force. A warm current swept through the air across all of Hell's Kitchen, and faint points of light began to bloom on every single person's body.
The lights flickered like fireflies against the night sky, casting a glow of hope over what had always been a dark corner of the city.
Ethan could feel it clearly — the moment those lights appeared, his own body was wrapped in a warm current, and warmth spread through him instantly.
His mind sharpened too, growing crystal clear under the power's influence. Problems that had nagged at him for ages suddenly resolved themselves on the spot.
He closed his eyes and let the power flow through him.
He could feel every single cell in his body come alive, every nerve firing with new clarity.
His thoughts moved with astonishing speed, as if he could see straight through to the truth of everything around him.
At the same moment, every resident and hero across Hell's Kitchen felt the same mysterious surge. Shock and delight spread across their faces, as if each of them had just glimpsed the hope of rebirth.
"My eyes — they're actually fixed?" Daredevil clapped his hands over his own eyes in disbelief, unable to accept what he was feeling.
His eyesight had been his greatest burden for as long as he could remember — and now, suddenly, he could see everything around him with perfect clarity.
"I've got it! This component needs to be reconfigured — right here! I really am a genius! Just you wait, JARVIS, I'm about to give you one hell of an upgrade!" Tony Stark shouted, practically vibrating with excitement.
A problem that had stumped him for ages had just resolved itself in an instant, and his mind was already racing ahead with everything he could build next.
"I can... stand up?" There was a tremor in Professor X's voice. He looked out his window toward Ethan's direction, his eyes full of gratitude and pure joy.
He was more grateful than ever that he'd chosen to stay in Hell's Kitchen.
"I broke through!" Pyro's eyes lit up with wild elation. His power had been capped for ages — no matter how hard he trained, nothing had ever moved the needle.
Watching Iceman, who'd started out at the same level as him, steadily pull ahead had eaten at him for years.
And now, out of nowhere, a problem that had haunted him for years had just resolved itself.
"Just as I thought — following Lord of Hell's Kitchen Ethan really does make you stronger!"
If Ethan had been watching, he'd have called Pyro one lucky son of a gun. Out of everyone, that 5% chance had landed on him — a mutant who'd been stuck at Beta-tier his entire life, suddenly bumped up to Alpha-tier.
Which meant Pyro's future ceiling was now on par with people like Storm and Magneto.
His dream of one day surpassing Iceman, though — that one was still off the table for life.
Even Deadpool's dog, sprawled out somewhere in Hell's Kitchen, wasn't spared the effect. His pockmarked, scarred-up face had smoothed itself out entirely, as if new life had been breathed into him.
The Tablet of Life's power hit heroes and mutants hard, sure — but it did just as much for ordinary people.
Plenty of former gang bosses who'd taken old gunshot wounds, and people who'd lost limbs in past skirmishes, found themselves standing whole again, their old scars slowly healing right before their eyes.
They all understood, without needing to be told, that a miracle like this didn't happen out of nowhere. It had come from Ethan.
Without a word between them, they turned as one toward Ethan's direction and bowed, hearts full of reverence and gratitude.
The people of Hell's Kitchen didn't believe in God. Why would they, when they had their own?
Ethan kept his eyes on the System panel, still tallying up the haul.
Next up: the reward from his senior, Tsukasa Kadoya.
[Dark Decade Driver]
Ethan now had a full three Drivers on hand — and that was after handing off one Killbus Spider Driver to the Spider-Society.
He'd decided to keep the Legend Driver for himself and pass the rest along to others.
Choosing the Legend Driver hadn't been a snap decision either. If it came down to which one looked the coolest, honestly, all three of the ones currently in his possession were solid contenders.
He genuinely loved both the Dark Decade Driver and the Eternal Driver too.
But in terms of raw capability, the Legend Driver was simply the most versatile of the three. As for who'd end up with the other two — Ethan figured he'd wait and see.
Once both Drivers were safely tucked away, Ethan glanced at his Friend Point total on the System interface and decided it was time for a ten-pull.
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