She is a natural disaster.

Chapter 54 The Root of All Evil

As is well known, mutation is an abnormal disease caused by pollution.

The reason why pollution outbreaks are a near-unsolvable crisis lies in the severe pollution within the outbreak area.

All life within the pollution outbreak area will suffer severe contamination, exhibiting symptoms such as psychological distortion and mental disorder, directly triggering mutations.

However, the vast majority of life forms cannot withstand the abnormal diseases caused by severe pollution. Under the intense impact of pollution, they lose their self-awareness and directly become twisted and broken demons.

Only a very small number of people survive the pollution outbreak. They not only have to maintain their self-awareness under the continuous impact of pollution, but also constantly face attacks from their own kind who have become devils, struggling to survive in despair.

Some people can maintain their self-awareness under the impact of pollution, but die at the hands of the twisted and broken demons; others can not only maintain their self-awareness, but also cope with the continuous attacks of the demons, but cannot face the boundless despair, and eventually twist and break in despair.

Olivia and Iniz were very lucky, extremely lucky, to be survivors of the pollution outbreak.

At the same time, Olivia and Iniz are very unfortunate, extremely unfortunate, because the pollution outbreak will become a lifelong nightmare for them, and the pollution will accompany them for the rest of their lives.

Anastasia slowly swirled her wine glass. She noticed a major oversight in Bill's account: how Olivia survived the pollution outbreak.

Ordinary people could never survive a pollution outbreak. If Olivia were just an ordinary person, her only fate would have been to die in that catastrophe. There would have been absolutely no possibility of her being adopted by Father Lawrence, let alone falling in love with Bill Montague.

Even if Iniz Blatt became a transcendent at the moment the pollution broke out, and possessed extremely powerful mutation power at the beginning of the mutation, he still couldn't protect Olivia, who was just an ordinary person.

Iniz Blatt could stop the twisted and corrupting demons, but he couldn't stop the impact and effects of the severe pollution on Olivia.

In conclusion, as a survivor of the pollution outbreak, Olivia Blatter could not possibly be an ordinary person.

Anastasia was quite certain of this, and she believed that this might be the reason why Father Lawrence opposed Bill and Olivia's marriage.

"Anatasia, I can probably guess what you're thinking, because I've had the same question as you before." Iniz Blatt noticed the change in Anatasia's eyes.

"Wait a minute, what are you two talking about?" Mike asked, glancing between Anastasia and Blatt. "I don't understand what you're saying. What's the same question you're asking?"

At this moment, the young master Montague, a top student from a prestigious university, was like a child who knew nothing.

"Ordinary people could not possibly survive a pollution outbreak," Anastasia said. "Absolutely not."

"In other words, my sister, your mother, Olivia, is no ordinary person," Iniz Blatt said. "She is something beyond."

At this moment, there was no surprise in Mike's eyes, only numbness. Young Master Montagu was already numb.

His bodyguard is a Transcendent, his own hired driver and bodyguard is a Transcendent, his childhood sweetheart is a Transcendent, his only uncle is a Transcendent, and even his long-deceased mother is a Transcendent!

Mike stiffly twisted his neck to look at his father standing in front of the giant portrait. If Bill Montagu was also a transcendent, then Mike was truly numb to the core, numb to the point of being completely numb.

“I’m just a normal person, Mike,” Bill said. “Sometimes I wish I were someone extraordinary, but I’m not.”

Hearing this, Mike felt a little less uneasy.

“I have a question,” Anastasia said. “Even if Madame Montagu is a transcendent being, that shouldn’t be a reason for the priest to oppose your marriage.”

Generally speaking, those who transcend will experience varying degrees of psychological distortion and their mental state is not very stable, making them unsuitable as marriage partners or lifelong companions.

But as Anastasia said, being superior should not be Father Lawrence's reason for opposing the two young people's marriage. He could have stated it directly instead of hiding it and saying nothing.

Therefore, Father Lawrence's firm opposition must have had other reasons.

“Being a Superhuman shouldn’t be a reason for opposition,” Bill said. “But what if Olivia didn’t know she was a Superhuman?”

"This is impossible!" Anastasia's oval face showed a rare look of surprise. "How could a Transcendent not know that they are a Transcendent? This is absolutely impossible!"

Others may not know that Olivia is a transcendent, but how could she not know!

With her increasingly distorted psyche, unstable mental state, and the continuous influence of the mutant power, how could Olivia not know that she was a transcendent being!

“Bill wasn’t lying. My sister Olivia never knew she was a Superhuman, and neither did Bill or I,” Iniz Blatt said. “Only the priest knew the truth about her.”

Anastasia gaped in surprise; this was the first time she had ever been so flustered since setting foot in Gloria.

"After Olivia became pregnant, her health deteriorated, and I thought she was just having a hard time during her pregnancy, so I took her to the hospital for a checkup," Bill said. "The results were all normal; she was just a little weak."

Anastasia manually closed her mouth; she wanted to hear just how special Olivia Blatter really was.

"I thought that if Olivia rested more and worried less, her condition would improve, but instead of improving, it got worse."

Bill sighed and continued, "I had no other choice but to go to the church and ask Father Lawrence for help. The priest said he had long expected this day to come, and he had been praying to God that this day would never come."

The pollution outbreak that killed at least 2374 people was handled personally by Father Lawrence, who was also the first to find the Blatter siblings. The scene before him was one that the experienced priest would never forget.

Olivia, having lost her self-awareness, should have degenerated into a twisted and corrupted demon; this would have been the normal state of affairs, and it would have aligned with the general understanding of the transcendents regarding the outbreak of pollution.

However, instead of becoming twisted and corrupted into a demon, Olivia protects Iniz, who is already mentally unstable.

This protection continues until the pollution outbreak is brought under control and no new threats emerge.

"Afterwards, Olivia miraculously regained consciousness and her self-awareness, but she didn't remember what she had done," Bill said. "She didn't even remember having the mutant power."

“The priest not only adopted us, but he also tampered with the report he submitted to the Bureau of Investigation, concealing my sister’s existence,” Iniz Blatt said. “He didn’t tell anyone, not even my sister and I.”

Father Lawrence made no mention of Olivia Blatter's existence to the Bureau of Anomalies, erasing her name from the tragedy.

In the case of the Blatter siblings, Father Lawrence reversed their roles, with Olivia going from being the sister who protected her brother to being the sister who was protected by her brother Iniz.

"My mutant powers had already manifested by then, and my sister and I had no reason not to believe the priest," Iniz Blatt continued. "Most importantly, Olivia didn't show any abnormalities."

"It wasn't until Olivia became pregnant with Mike that the pollution and mutations that had been hidden for years began to show, and the first thing they took away was Olivia's health," Bill said.

Upon hearing this, Mike, as a son, sadly lowered his head, his shoulders trembling slightly.

Anyone who hears that their mother's health deteriorated rapidly during pregnancy would feel as sad, or even guilty and self-blaming, as Mike would.

“Lift your head up, this isn’t your fault, Mike,” Bill Montagu said. “If you have to pick someone to blame, it’s me.”

Anastasia looked at Bill Montague, who was standing in front of the huge portrait. She thought that this famous tycoon must have been living in pain all these years. If they hadn't loved each other, the ending might have been different.

"Mr. Montagu, have you ever regretted it?" Anastasia asked, "Even just once."

"If I could choose again, I would stand firmly by Olivia's side and do everything I could to change our fate," Bill said.

Anastasia was satisfied with the answer.

After a long while, Bill Montagu suppressed his grief, took a deep breath, and then spoke again.

"Olivia's condition is getting worse and the changes are becoming more and more obvious. In order to prevent others from finding out, I have no choice but to hide her and let someone I trust take care of her."

Bill looked at Mike, whose face was filled with unconcealed grief, and continued, "I even considered having Olivia abort the baby, but Olivia refused. She insisted on giving birth to the child, saying that she couldn't live without her own child."

Since Olivia's contamination and mutations only manifested because of her pregnancy, the only solution Bill Montagu had was to abort the fetus and terminate the pregnancy.

"If it weren't for me, Mom probably wouldn't have left," Mike said, choking back tears. He couldn't imagine how much his mother suffered during her pregnancy, nor could he imagine the courage she had to choose to give birth to him.

"I told you, you're not in the wrong," Bill Montague suddenly shouted. "Lift your head, Mike Montague!"

Amidst his father's furious roar, a heartbroken Mike looked up at his enraged father.

"Look at her, look into her eyes!" Bill pointed to the portrait of Madame Montagu. "She never blamed you, never! She only wanted you to be born healthy and grow up safely!"

Mike looked at the portrait with teary eyes. He had no memory of his mother; all he knew about her came from other people.

Some ill-intentioned people told young Mike that Olivia's misfortunes were all because of his existence.

If she hadn't been pregnant, Olivia wouldn't have lost her husband's love; if she hadn't been pregnant, Olivia wouldn't have been mistreated by her husband; if she hadn't been pregnant, Olivia wouldn't have died after giving birth.

At that time, young Mike was unable to distinguish between lies and believed them. He wanted to question his father, but he heard people arguing loudly in the study and then saw his uncle slam the door and leave.

After that, Iniz Blatt disappeared from the vast manor, which led to Michael's misunderstanding and the conflict between the Montague father and son.

Whether it's the misunderstandings and conflicts between the Montague father and son, or their current predicament, the root of everything points to the early death of Madame Montague, and to the pollution and mutation that led to Olivia's death.

“Mr. Montague, if I may be so bold,” Anastasia said, “the reason I accepted your commission is because the priest told me that you have been secretly researching anomalies.”

Bill Montagu's excitement gradually subsided, and he said, "Yes, I've been studying pollution and mutations."

"Is it because of the early-deceased Lady Montague?" Anastasia asked.

“That’s right.” Bill Montagu nodded.