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"So," Banner said, taking out a light blue vial of serum and placing it in front of Kevin, "I used your other gene-activating serum to create this. It can strengthen the genes of Supes, permanently enhancing their original abilities. But be warned, this type of serum can only be used once."
The serum that could make Supes lose their abilities wasn't made, but a serum that could strengthen Supes was.
Kevin took the serum in his hand, examining it repeatedly.
A moment later, he looked up and asked, "How many of these serums did you make?"
"Not many, three. But one finished product was used for my experiment, so now there are only two left."
"Are you sure this won't harm the human body?"
"From the experimental results and theoretically, no. The worst-case scenario is, at most, being unable to use Superpowers for a short period."
Kevin: "?"
Upon hearing this, Kevin's eyes widened instantly: "Wait, lose Superpowers?! Temporarily?!"
"I can only say, theoretically it might. The fundamental principle of Compound V is to introduce a non-human Superpower gene into the human body, and the new enhancement serum targets these Superpower genes for strengthening. So, it's possible for the enhancement to fail, resulting in a temporary inability to use Superpowers."
"Then isn't that very close to our goal!"
Kevin said with considerable excitement.
He knew that entrusting Banner was the correct decision. Anyone else, even if it were Tony, probably wouldn't be able to understand the composition of this serum and derive a new one in such a short time.
After all, Tony isn't a Doctor of Biology.
Only Banner could complete the task Kevin assigned.
Kevin was excited, but Banner was calm. He shook his head and said, "It's not that easy. Sometimes, the closer you get, the more prone to error you become. I can only say that I will try my best to research what you need. During this time… you'd better not disturb me."
Having just returned to Earth and been given this work, Banner hadn't even gone to see Natasha, whom he liked. Now, he just wanted to finish his current work properly and then meet with the Avengers.
Banner chose to seclude himself for Kevin's work, and Kevin, of course, wouldn't be so tactless as to disturb him.
Patiently letting him research the serum, Kevin returned to Kamar Taj with the enhancement serum.
He had originally intended to directly use the enhancement serum on Annie, but after a second thought, Kevin decided to go back and find someone to test it on, just in case.
Anyway, he now had two vials of the serum, and Banner had said that a Supe could only use the enhancement serum once in their lifetime. The remaining one would just sit there, so he might as well let others try it.
The people Kevin could think of were Kimiko and Cate at home, and Hughie, who was now Kevin's undercover agent.
If Cate's abilities could continue to be strengthened, she might reach a level of power similar to Professor X.
If Kimiko's abilities continued to be strengthened, she should be comparable to X23.
If Hughie's abilities continued to be strengthened, he would surely be able to teleport with clothes, or even larger objects.
In short, it might be safer to let them use it first and see the results.
Kevin stated that he absolutely did not mean to use them as guinea pigs.
Absolutely not!
"You're back?"
Kevin returned to his room in Kamar Taj.
Inside the room, Annie, who was reading a magic book, looked up and greeted Kevin upon his return, as if she had been waiting there for a long time.
"Uh…"
Seeing Annie in his room, Kevin looked left and right, asking in surprise, "Didn't Ancient One arrange a room for you?"
It wasn't that Kevin didn't want Annie to stay here; it was just… this room had a single bed. If Annie stayed, one of them would definitely have to sleep on the floor tonight.
Annie closed the magic book in her hand and replied, "She did, but I wanted to talk to you, so I waited for you here."
"Talk?"
For some reason, even though Annie carried no killing intent and her smile was gentle.
Kevin, however, felt a terrifying aura emanating from her.
What was going on?
Kevin subconsciously swallowed, then feigned composure as he pulled up a chair and sat down, asking Annie, "What do you want to talk about? If you're talking about traveling, tomorrow I'll contact my friends in this world's universe and have them take you out to play…"
"No, although I'd love to go to outer space, that's for tomorrow. What I want to talk to you about now are the two children you brought today, specifically the girl, Wanda, right?"
"?"
Hearing Annie mention Wanda, Kevin had even more question marks above his head. He didn't quite understand why Annie brought up Wanda.
Before Kevin could figure it out, Annie's next words almost made him fall off his chair.
"That child likes you."
"???"
Kevin's eyebrows furrowed into a frown, his whole face looking like an 'old man on the subway with a phone' expression. He was incredibly incredulous: "Are you kidding? I've only met her… counting this time, only three times!"
The first meeting was when Kevin first came to this Earth and met the Avengers.
The second meeting was on the battlefield with Ultron, where the two of them, along with Captain Marvel, worked together to block the Avengers whose minds were controlled by the mind stone, while also dealing with Ultron.
The third time was now. Kevin went to the Avengers to find Tony, and then Steve asked him to look after Wanda and Pietro.
Three times, Kevin carefully counted, they had truly only met three times!
So how could Wanda like him!
"Perhaps you haven't met many times, but I can tell, and I've confirmed it. She truly likes you."
"? Confirmed? How did you confirm?"
"I just asked her."
"…"
Annie's matter-of-fact answer instantly silenced Kevin.
If Kevin could have argued just now, saying that Annie must have guessed wrong, but now Annie had asked the person herself and received the person's own answer, then there could be no mistake.
So… Wanda really liked him?
Why?
Kevin didn't understand, but Annie patiently explained, "She said she had a good impression of you because you saved her last time when you were dealing with… Ultron? Is that the name? When you dealt with it, you saved her."
"When did I save… oh, it does seem like I saved her…"
Kevin instinctively wanted to refute, but then he thought about it. Thor was also controlled by the mind stone at that time. When he threw his hammer at Wanda, Wanda truly couldn't free her hands to dodge or counterattack.
It was Kevin who temporarily opened a portal to get rid of the hammer, which saved Wanda from Thor's hammer attack.
If you count it that way, Kevin really did save Wanda's life.
"…That's a bit ridiculous, to be honest."
Having sorted out the relationship, Kevin said to Annie helplessly.
He truly hadn't expected that such a simple act would make Wanda have a good impression of him.
But then again, Wanda and Vision's feelings were a bit inexplicable to begin with. Now that Vision didn't exist in this world, it seemed reasonable for Wanda to fall for Kevin as a substitute.
Seeing that Kevin understood everything, Annie continued, "I won't interfere with Wanda's feelings. Anyway, I know you're not the type to toy with girls. What I want to say is, do you know how excellent you are, Kevin?"
"Ms. Annie, why are you praising me at this moment?"
"Don't interrupt, I'm serious. I don't know what you think of yourself, but in my eyes, you are excellent, more excellent than anyone. And someone like you will definitely be liked by many, many women.
"Not just in our world, but in other worlds too. So…"
Annie met Kevin's gaze, her eyes full of seriousness as she said to Kevin: "…So, no matter what kind of parallel universe you go to save the world in the future, I hope… I hope you don't forget me, okay?"
Annie's voice seemed to carry a hint of pleading.
Kevin looked at her, observing her, and found that her body was trembling slightly.
Annie was scared.
Just like her reason for insisting on following Kevin to another world before, Annie was afraid of losing Kevin.
Annie had never thought about what Kevin had experienced or whom he had met in parallel worlds before.
But this time, coming with Kevin, Annie suddenly realized that compared to her own world, Kevin would see more, larger worlds.
Countless parallel universes, countless planets, and countless other people.
Among these people, Kevin would definitely meet girls who liked him. That was a given.
Those Superhero comic books mentioned that as a Superhero, there would definitely be two or three persistent female heroes or villains.
In the The Boys world, Annie could have all of Kevin, becoming Kevin's designated 'Kevin's Girl,' the official pairing recognized by fans.
But what about in other worlds?
Annie couldn't always travel with Kevin in other worlds; Kevin was also alone.
What if Kevin met someone who made his heart flutter, or someone more proactive than Annie? What would happen then?
Annie knew that Kevin wasn't good at refusing, especially when it came to people he had a good impression of.
If Annie hadn't been proactive back then, they probably wouldn't be a couple even now.
But precisely because of this, if another girl similar to Annie appeared and proactively pursued Kevin, Kevin might very well agree.
What was worse was that even if Kevin chose to agree and had other girlfriends besides Annie, Annie couldn't control it, nor could she intervene.
Even in the The Boys world, Kevin actually had the right and ability to do whatever he wanted. How could Annie have the right to control what Kevin did in other worlds?
So, if that's the case, once Kevin has other girlfriends in the future, wouldn't it be better for Annie to just break up with him?
But Annie just couldn't do that.
She liked Kevin very much, truly very much. She didn't want to break up with Kevin.
Annie's request made Kevin silent for a long time.
He stopped thinking about Wanda liking him and stepped forward to hug Annie, whispering in her ear, "Don't worry, don't overthink it. I won't abandon you. I don't want to be a scumbag."
Annie's fear of Kevin abandoning her proved that she loved Kevin to the extreme.
With such a girlfriend who loved him, if Kevin still abandoned her, he would truly be a major scumbag.
So, to reassure Annie, he thought for a moment and then suddenly said to Annie, "When we go back, let's get engaged."
Kevin made this decision.
Once Banner had results, Kevin would return to the The Boys world with Annie to get engaged, announcing to everyone in the The Boys world that Starlight Annie was his woman.
But then again, doesn't that sound a lot like setting a flag?
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