Chapter 261
Facing Lu Chen's sudden proposal, Ancient One did not reply immediately.
She held her teacup, her gaze passing through the portal crackling with golden sparks, and fell upon Wanda on the opposite side.
Those calm eyes were like a deep pool, looking over Wanda from head to toe.
On the other side of the portal, Wanda felt thoroughly uncomfortable under that gaze.
She had just put away the crimson light in her hands, her two hands subconsciously gripping the hem of her hoodie tightly.
Facing the scrutinizing gaze of this bald woman, Wanda instinctively felt a hint of oppression, but because Lu Chen was standing right beside her, she forcefully suppressed the urge to retreat and straightened her back.
A few seconds later, Ancient One withdrew her gaze and calmly shook her head.
"No."
Ancient One's tone was calm, without the slightest room for negotiation: "Her future does not belong to the mystic arts."
Hearing this, Wanda's expression on the opposite side of the portal instantly collapsed.
Her previously brightened eyes dimmed instantly, and the corners of her mouth were pursed tightly.
Wanda lowered her head in disappointment, her fingers twisting the corner of her clothes hard.
She wasn't all that interested in so-called magic; she just heard earlier that Lu Chen wanted to stay in this snow mountain to study, and thought that if she could stay too, she could at least stay in the same place as the boss.
Now that she was rejected to her face, that sense of loss of being excluded suddenly surged up.
Lu Chen stood nearby, his mind as clear as a mirror.
Ancient One was not wrong in saying this.
The power within Wanda's body is Chaos Magic, which essentially modifies the probabilities of reality.
And Kamar-Taj's mystic arts follow a less rigorous borrowing principle, relying on mental power to communicate with orderly dimensions like Vishanti to weave spells.
Having someone naturally gifted with chaotic modification abilities learn Kamar-Taj's geometric circle-drawing is indeed somewhat far-fetched.
However, Lu Chen didn't plan to just let it go like that.
He was pondering what excuse to use to push it further when Ancient One opposite suddenly put down her teacup and changed the subject.
"However."
A faint, elusive smile appeared at the corner of Ancient One's mouth, and she said slowly: "After all, this is a request from the next Sorcerer Supreme. As a predecessor who is about to step down, naturally I will help wherever I can."
Wanda suddenly raised her head, her eyes full of surprise.
Ancient One beckoned to the girl on the opposite side of the portal: "Come over, little girl. Kamar-Taj's spells might not suit you, but I can try to help you learn how to control and guide that power within you."
"Really?"
Wanda could hardly believe it, turning her head to look at Lu Chen with an inquiring gaze.
Lu Chen nodded at her: "Since the Master has spoken, then come over. To be personally instructed by her, there are very few people in the entire World with such treatment."
Wanda finally breathed a sigh of relief, her previously drooping face hanging a smile once again.
She quickly stepped across the portal, stepping onto the bluestone bricks of Kamar-Taj with a gust of wind.
The cold wind of the high-altitude snow mountain made her shrink her neck slightly, but her eyes were filled with irrepressible excitement.
Ancient One looked at the happy Wanda, then turned her head to look at the calm Lu Chen beside her, her gaze somewhat distant.
One carried unawakened chaotic greatness, while the other was an unknown anomaly that jumped out of the timeline.
With these two people together, where on Earth will the future lead this World?
It seems Earth will be a bit more peaceful in the future.
Ancient One chuckled self-deprecatingly in her heart, hoping that the future situation could truly be as peaceful as she imagined.
"Alright."
Ancient One turned her head to look at Lu Chen: "Leave her to me, go practice by yourself. When opening the portal just now, the spiritual perception inside you has already been activated."
The so-called spiritual perception is the mental tentacles that perceive dimensions and laws, and can also be said to be the power of belief. To reach this step, one must first forget the science and truth learned and understood in previous life, and Lu Chen already believed. With just that hand-raising circle-drawing earlier, his mental power had already savagely smashed open that door.
Lu Chen understood Ancient One's subtext.
Since spiritual perception was open, it meant that he was now qualified to touch all the knowledge of Kamar-Taj.
Lu Chen glanced at Ancient One and asked pointedly: "Can I look at anything?"
The weight of this sentence was very heavy.
Kamar-Taj not only has ordinary spells, but also the restricted section deep in the library, and even taboo classics sealing the power of the Dark Dimension.
What Lu Chen wanted was the method to break through the barrier of Celestial Energy; ordinary tricks could not satisfy his appetite.
Ancient One's expression remained unchanged, and she also replied pointedly: "The road must be walked step by step, you'd better lay a good foundation first."
Lu Chen knew what was up in his heart.
Ancient One didn't directly refuse, which meant that as long as he thoroughly understood the basics step by step, the subsequent things would sooner or later be in his grasp.
Anyway, there was plenty of time, and he didn't mind these few days.
Ancient One didn't say much more, raising her hand to casually slash in the void.
Golden sparks leaped again, and another portal opened at the edge of the courtyard.
Behind the door was the corridor of Kamar-Taj's front hall.
As footsteps approached, two figures in mage robes hurriedly crossed the portal and came into the courtyard.
Walking in the front was a tall, serious-looking black mage with a sling ring hanging at his waist, his eyes as sharp as an eagle—precisely Mordo.
Lagging half a step behind was a slightly plump, steady-looking middle-aged Asian man with a stern expression, impressively Wong, the librarian.
The two quickly came before Ancient One, placed their hands on their chests and saluted: "Sorcerer Supreme."
Ancient One nodded slightly, turned sideways to lead Lu Chen, and introduced him to the two: "This is Lu Chen. These two are mages with high magic attainments in Kamar-Taj, Mordo, and Wong. Some basic problems you encounter in the early stage, asking them can basically get answers."
Mordo and Wong turned their heads at the same time to look at Lu Chen.
They had just received a message in the hall, hearing that the Sorcerer Supreme brought back a highly talented newcomer.
But when they saw the modern-cut black coat on Lu Chen and his overly young face, a trace of surprise inevitably flashed in both of their eyes.
Especially Mordo, whose eyebrows wrinkled slightly.
He could feel the extremely terrifying life oppression on Lu Chen, a feeling not at all like a mage, but rather like an ancient fierce beast draped in human skin.
"Hello, Mr. Lu." Wong spoke first to break the silence, his tone polite.
"Hello." Mordo also greeted stiffly.
Lu Chen nodded to indicate to the two: "Trouble the two of you next."
After greeting Wong and Mordo, Lu Chen turned his head to look at the somewhat nervous Wanda beside him.
The little girl was standing behind Ancient One, but her eyes occasionally glanced toward his side.
Lu Chen temporarily bid farewell to Wanda, the corner of his mouth lifting as he joked: "Study well with the Master, practice your skills solidly, maybe in the future I'll have to rely on you to protect me."
It was originally just a casual tease to ease the atmosphere.
But Wanda was stunned for a moment.
She looked into Lu Chen's eyes, her expression suddenly becoming incomparably serious.
She puffed out her chest hard, nodded heavily, and promised: "I will work hard, Boss! I will definitely protect you!"
That solemn and earnest look actually made Lu Chen feel a bit between laughter and tears.
This girl's stubbornness in certain matters really left people with no temper at all.
Lu Chen smiled, didn't tease her anymore, and looked at Ancient One: "Master, teach her well."
Ancient One nodded, a smile hanging at the corners of her mouth.
Just as Lu Chen was about to turn around, this Sorcerer Supreme who had lived for hundreds of years suddenly gave Lu Chen a meaningful look.
Lu Chen raised his eyebrows slightly, somewhat failing to understand what riddles this bald old lady was playing.
How could someone who became the Sorcerer Supreme still have such a heavy gossip heart?
Lu Chen couldn't be bothered to delve deep, withdrew his gaze, and said to Mordo and Wong: "Two mages, lead the way."
"Please follow us."
Mordo gave Lu Chen a deep look, turned around and walked toward the front corridor, with Wong following closely behind.
Lu Chen put his hands in the pockets of his black coat and strode to follow.
The courtyard quickly quieted down, leaving only the howling cold wind of the snow mountain.
Ancient One withdrew her gaze, turned her head, and found that the little girl standing beside her was still on tiptoe, blankly looking at the corner where Lu Chen left, reluctant to even blink her eyes.
Ancient One picked up the cold tea on the table and took a sip, slowly joking: "Rest assured, he is right in the front hall, you can meet often in the future."
Having her thoughts pierced on the spot, Wanda's face blushed bright red all of a sudden.
The heat burned all the way from her neck to the roots of her ears, she flusteredly withdrew her gaze, lowered her head to stare at the tips of her shoes, her two hands twisting the hem of her hoodie into a twist.
"Ma... Master, let's go, I will work hard." Wanda muttered softly, her voice as thin as a mosquito's hum.
Ancient One smiled, brushed her wide yellow robe sleeves, and turned to walk towards the side hall: "Then follow me."
Wanda took a deep breath and quickly stepped to follow.
Chapter 262: Lu Chen's Wild Move
Halfway down the corridor, Mordo stopped in his tracks.
The gloomy-looking black sorcerer turned around and stiffly nodded at Lu Chen: "The matters entrusted by the Sorcerer Supreme will be arranged for you by Wong. There are still patrol defenses at the Sanctum, so I will take my leave first."
With that, Mordo turned around and strode into another stone path.
Lu Chen looked at his back. This guy's face was filled with wariness the moment he saw him, and his whole body was tense—clearly full of suspicion towards a sudden outsider succeeding the Sorcerer Supreme.
Let him leave; staying in front of him would just be a nuisance.
Lu Chen had his hands tucked in his coat pockets without a ripple on his face, turning his head to tilt his chin at Wong beside him: "Shall we continue?"
"This way, please."
Wong didn't have as many thoughts as Mordo.
He led Lu Chen through a thick archway and straight into an extremely spacious library.
The tall mahogany bookshelves reached all the way up to the stone dome, and the air carried a mixed scent of aged parchment and hay.
Wong walked over to a few wooden shelves against the wall, rummaged through them for a moment, picked out three yellowed parchment scrolls, held them in his arms, and walked back in front of Lu Chen.
"You should already know how to open portals, right?" Wong handed the scrolls over with a rather gentle attitude, "These few scrolls are equivalent to advanced textbooks. General magic must be assisted with hand gestures. You can try following the scrolls. If there's anything you don't know, I'll teach you."
"Thanks."
Lu Chen steadily took the scrolls with his left hand, naturally extended his right hand, and said in an easygoing tone: "Although it's the order of the Sorcerer Supreme, I have to say, Wong, you've done a very thorough job."
Hearing the praise, Wong smiled somewhat bashfully.
He raised his other hand to touch the back of his head, honestly extended his palm, and shook hands with Lu Chen: "It's only right, it's only right. We're all fellow disciples from now on."
At the exact moment their two hands shook, Lu Chen's system panel rapidly popped up in the bottom right corner of his vision.
The ability list was pitifully clean, with only a lonely line of small text:
[ Mystic Arts magic LV5 ].
Lu Chen inwardly praised to himself.
Sent to Kamar-Taj at the age of four for ascetic cultivation, day after day for decades, he had stubbornly polished his foundation to the height of level 5. This fat sorcerer was indeed very hardworking.
"Copy [ Mystic Arts magic LV5 ]." Lu Chen's thought stirred.
His highest ability level had already reached LV9. Facing abilities two levels lower than the highest level, contact allowed direct solidification.
The panel flashed with a faint light, and a prompt directly popped out:
[ Mystic Arts magic LV5 has been solidified. ]
The moment he let go of his hand, Lu Chen carefully experienced his body's reaction.
There was no surge of boundless energy inside his body like before.
However, within half a second, his mind was filled with countless experiences and techniques regarding Mystic Arts magic.
How those spells were woven, how the lines were symmetrical, how dimensional energy was borrowed from Vishanti, how mental power was guided...
All the spellcasting experience Wong accumulated through decades of hard cultivation was now branded deep into Lu Chen's nerves like an instinct.
This feeling was great, saving him the effort of sitting dryly and chanting.
"Sorcerer Wong, then I'll try this first." Lu Chen used his left hand to shake open the topmost scroll.
Drawn on the scroll was a set of complex hand-seal geometric diagrams, with the name of the mystic art marked right above: Sword of Vishanti.
Wong kindly reminded him from the side: "Don't rush. The Sword of Vishanti has very high requirements for mental concentration. Even if you've learned the hand seals, using it for the first time is very difficult. Try a few more times..."
Before he finished speaking, Lu Chen had already tucked the scroll under his arm.
He brought his hands together in front of his chest, then pulled them apart outward!
The mental power inside his body surged crazily following the newly acquired experience, directly connecting to the ethereal Order Dimension.
A string of brilliant and dazzling golden sparks burst out in the air, and a two-handed longsword cast from golden light steadily appeared in Lu Chen's right hand!
Runes flowed across the blade, exuding a pure and warm magical aura.
Wong, standing aside, almost dropped his chin onto his instep.
His two eyes stared like copper bells, blankly watching the radiant energy longsword. The whole person seemed to have been cast with a body-binding spell, his mouth wide open for a long time without being able to close.
"S-So fast?" Wong stammered in a mutter.
Lu Chen looked at the sword in his hand, his thoughts stirred slightly, and he took the initiative to cut off the mental loan from the Vishanti dimension.
With a swish, the golden energy longsword turned into dots of sparks in the air and dissipated without a trace.
Seeing the longsword scatter, Wong heavily patted his own chest and let out a long sigh of relief.
"You scared me to death..." Wong wiped the sweat from his forehead, let out a dry laugh to save face, "I thought you could maintain it perfectly right away. However, being able to condense an unstable Sword of Vishanti on your first time looking at the scroll is already considered an incredible genius. Back then, it took me a whole three months of practice to barely form its shape."
Lu Chen smiled and didn't take up the topic.
Wong thought that it was a novice's first time casting a spell causing the energy to be unstable and thus collapse, but in reality, Lu Chen had actively dissipated it himself just now.
Because he wanted to verify a second matter.
Kamar-Taj sorcerers relied entirely on taking high-interest loans to cast spells. But Lu Chen already stored a huge amount of fused energy and Cosmic Energy within his body; why did he have to borrow from outsiders?
Lu Chen raised his hands again.
This time, he completely severed the mental connection with the external dimensions, and instead forcibly mobilized his own energy, vast as an ocean, from deep within his body!
The energy inside his body followed the mystic arts circuit just solidified in his mind, forcibly rushing up along the meridians.
Without the borrowed energy of the Vishanti dimension, between Lu Chen's hands, a strong white-and-blue light began to gather violently. The massive energy was forcibly jammed into the model framework of the Sword of Vishanti, and before long, a slightly crude energy sword with slightly swaying edges formed in his right hand once again!
The sword body exuded pure and overbearing destructive power. Although it wasn't as regular and stable as orthodox mystic arts, in terms of power, it was definitely only higher, not lower.
Wong beside him carefully looked at the swaying sword and nodded solemnly: "Mhm, look, I told you so. That time just now was indeed luck; this time the exertion of force is much less practiced, and the light is not very pure either. Don't be discouraged, just practice the hand gestures more."
Lu Chen dissipated the energy sword in his hand, a meaningful smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.
He completely understood in his heart.
Dimensional energy was indeed advanced and of an extremely high tier, but the amount borrowed by ordinary Kamar-Taj sorcerers was too little, just like using a drop of high-purity fuel to start a fire. Although Lu Chen's own energy inside his body was inferior in tier, his advantage lay in his massive reserves, vast like rivers and seas!
Using energy as vast as the sea to forcibly fill the spell framework could still prop up the moves!
But this wasn't Lu Chen's true purpose for agreeing to be the Ancient One's successor.
Even one could say this was just a perk obtained along the way.
Lu Chen lowered his head, looking at his palms, the thoughts in his head spinning rapidly.
What on earth was the underlying logic of Kamar-Taj magic?
Sorcerers acted as intermediaries, borrowing high-level power from high-dimensional demon gods. That massive dimensional energy passed through the sorcerer's physical body, following the hand seals and spell framework to blast towards the enemy. During this process, the energy merely passed through briefly. After the spellcasting was completed, the remaining portion returned the same way, and what the sorcerer themselves paid was merely mental concentration.
Then the question arose.
What if at the very moment he borrowed high-level energy from the dimension, the spell to be released was already filled and formed using the energy inside his own body?
The energy of the high-dimensional demon god surged violently into the body along the loan contract, only to find that the spell exits ahead were all blocked off by Lu Chen's own energy!
This borrowed energy, having no outlet for release, would stay briefly within the sorcerer's meridians and physical body, before returning along the same path according to the rules.
These brief few seconds might be fatal energy backlash to others, but to Lu Chen, who possessed an LV8 Super Physique, it might be bearable.
More importantly—could he seize this brief gap, taking advantage of the moment when this high-level dimensional energy lingered in his body, to use it to drive his other abilities?
For example, [ Matter Transmutation LV9 ], which was limited by his own energy level and unable to unleash its full power!
If he could borrow the power of high-dimensional demon gods to serve as fuel for his Superpower...
Wouldn't this be equivalent to freeloading off the top demon gods of the entire multiverse?
The more Lu Chen pondered, the more he felt this path was viable. Blocking the door with his own energy, intercepting the deity's energy to hatch an egg in a borrowed shell!
Thinking of this, Lu Chen felt a surge of heat in his heart, abruptly pulling his hands in front of his chest, ready to test this brand new wild move on the spot.
Meanwhile, in the courtyard of the distant side hall.
The Ancient One was holding a teacup, guiding Wanda on how to restrain the crimson energy in her eyes.
Suddenly, the Ancient One's hand holding the teacup stopped in mid-air, turning her head to look in the direction of the library.
In those eyes that had seen through hundreds of years, a rare trace of astonishment and helplessness emerged.
"This guy..." The Ancient One smiled bitterly, shook her head, and muttered softly, "Why are the successors I fancy all troublemakers who can't sit idle for even a single moment."
Wanda beside her blinked her eyes, somewhat curious: "Master, what's wrong?"
Inside the library, the two forces inside Lu Chen's body collided fiercely, and golden sparks crackled and exploded in mid-air.
Chapter 263: Why Should You Return What You Borrowed on Your Own Ability?
Inside the library, golden sparks crackled and danced.
Lu Chen once again assumed the starting stance for the Sword of Vishanti with both hands.
However, this time, half a second before the loan contract in his mind was triggered and the power of the Vishanti dimension poured in, his own vast and boundless energy roared out a step ahead!
With a hum, the long sword of energy steadily formed in his hand.
Almost at the same time, the borrowed dimensional energy roared into his meridians along the contract channel.
That force carried a sense of orderly and sacred heaviness. But when it followed its momentum, preparing to rush towards his hands and transform into a spell to vent outward, the path ahead was already firmly blocked.
The Sword of Vishanti had already fully formed, neat and tidy, leaving not even a single gap for it.
This dimensional energy circulated within his body and completely failed to find an outlet for release, instantly becoming somewhat dazed. According to the laws of lending, it should have returned along the same path after a brief stay.
"Want to leave? How can there be such a cheap deal."
Lu Chen forcibly suppressed the turbulent blood in his chest. The resilient meridians of his Super Physique LV8 withstood the rampage of the foreign energy. His thoughts raced as he raised his left hand, aiming directly at the open space ahead.
He was preparing to release the Fire power!
But he did not mobilize a single shred of his own energy inside his body, deliberately leaving the channel of his left hand completely wide open.
The dimensional energy wandering everywhere inside his body, fretting over having nowhere to vent, seemed to have finally found an outlet and surged toward his left hand with a roar!
Whoosh!
A ball of extremely pure and bright Fire burst directly from his hand.
It was no longer like the ordinary crimson flames he had released before; it was actually Fire tinged with pale gold. The surrounding air was burned until it twisted and deformed, and a terrifying high temperature directly forced out the defensive magic array on the nearby bookshelf.
Wang, who was still puzzled nearby, was so frightened that his entire body jumped straight up.
"Holy shit!"
Wang could no longer care about maintaining his usual mages' demeanor. Both hands quickly drew a semicircle in front of him, and a mystic shield solidly blocked his front, fearing that Lu Chen would burn all the priceless ancient books collected over countless years to ashes with a single fire.
Lu Chen closed his five fingers, cutting off the energy supply.
The flames dissipated, leaving only a scorching smell in the air.
Lu Chen looked at his own hand, the corners of his mouth uncontrollably curling upward.
The conjecture was completely confirmed.
It was also releasing the Fire power, but when replaced with the high-purity energy of the Vishanti dimension as fuel, the power directly multiplied several times over!
This feeling was like using the original engine to burn high-purity aviation kerosene; as long as the machine could withstand it, the kinetic energy erupted was simply terrifying.
What was even better was that this fuel did not require him to pay out of his own pocket at all.
It relied entirely on borrowing!
"Usurer Demon Gods, I am sorry." Lu Chen laughed heartily in his heart, "It is easy for you to hand out these usurious loans, but wanting to take them back will no longer be up to you."
He must take out loans heavily!
He had to let those demon gods of the Universe know that some usurious loans were really not that easy to lend out.
The current bottleneck was very clear. His mystic magic level was too low, only LV5, and the scale of the borrowed energy was not yet large enough, nor was the technique of blocking and intercepting smooth enough.
If he could grind his mystic magic to a higher level, achieving the ability to borrow a vast, ocean-like dimensional power with a mere wave of his hand, then no matter what Superpower was stimulated, the destructive power would explode exponentially.
If he wanted to upgrade his abilities, he had to find people to Copy.
Kamar-Taj lacked everything here, except for veteran mages who had practiced for decades.
Having made up his mind, Lu Chen turned his head and looked at the fat mage shrinking behind the shield with a blank expression.
"Old Wang." Lu Chen shoved both hands into his coat pockets, his tone exceptionally amiable.
Wang tremblingly dispersed the mystic shield in his hand, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and asked in a low voice, "Mr. Lu... exactly what kind of spell was that just now?"
"Just a little self-created trick, not worth mentioning." Lu Chen waved his hand, stepped forward, and patted Wang on the shoulder, "Just looking at scrolls is still too boring. Take me to see the daily practice of the Kamar-Taj mages. I am new here, so it is better to communicate more with everyone."
Wang's shoulders sank from Lu Chen's pat, and his heart pounded nervously, but thinking of the Sorcerer Supreme's instructions, he still nodded repeatedly, "Oh, okay, okay, communication is indeed necessary. The martial arts training ground in the front hall happens to have apprentices practicing together right now, I will take you over right away."
The martial arts training ground was located in the central open-air courtyard of Kamar-Taj. On the open space paved with bluestone slabs, dozens of men and women wearing grey-brown mage robes were practicing spell seals.
Lu Chen followed Wang over, his gaze sweeping across the crowd.
He behaved extremely enthusiastically. Whenever a mage stopped to salute, he would take the initiative to step forward and shake hands.
"Thank you for your hard work, this mage has quite a strong grip."
"The seals are tied well, the lines are very steady."
"Practice well, the future belongs to you."
The mages were somewhat dazed by the praise of this extraordinary newcomer, feeling that although the distinguished guest brought back by the Sorcerer Supreme was powerful, his attitude was extremely approachable.
After making the rounds, Lu Chen could not help but sigh inwardly.
The ability level of most ordinary mages was only LV2 or LV3, and Wang, at LV5, could actually be considered a core elite in Kamar-Taj.
However, Lu Chen was not in a rush either. He grabbed several older veteran mages and shook hands with them one by one, rapidly accumulating casting experience in his mind as his proficiency soared upwards.
Meanwhile, there was also movement over at the side hall courtyard.
Under the personal guidance of Ancient One, Wanda began to step-by-step enhance and stabilize her own power.
Ancient One did not teach her complex geometric hand seals, but instead guided her on how to calm her emotions, compressing and organizing the violently churning crimson power within her body into a docile form.
Over the past few days, the sense of danger on Wanda had noticeably faded a lot. The red energy that used to overflow out of control at the slightest move could now be freely pulled back into her body by her, and even her mental abilities, which she had hardly practiced using, had become much more proficient.
In this unfamiliar snow-capped mountain filled entirely with ascetic monks, Wanda's initial tension gradually dissipated.
Once a person relaxed, habits began to pop up.
Wanda loved running over to where Lu Chen stayed all day long.
At first, she would stand at the door, carefully twisting her fingers and asking, "Boss, if I always come to find you, will it disturb your cultivation?"
Lu Chen was toying with a frost spell seal just condensed using dimensional energy, and upon hearing this, he just waved his hand casually, "No worries, there is nothing here that can be disturbed."
After obtaining permission, the little girl completely lost any scruples.
Every day as long as her lessons with Ancient One were over, Wanda would immediately trot all the way to the library.
Sometimes she brought steaming yak butter tea, and sometimes she dragged Lu Chen along to excitedly report how she had learned to use mental power to counter an enemy's mental attack today, her eyes sparkling, full of a flattering expression seeking praise.
"Boss, Master praised my power control for being very steady today!"
"Mm, well done, keep it up."
Lu Chen casually praised her with a couple of sentences, and the corners of Wanda's mouth could curl up for the whole day.
However, these past few days had been miserable for Wang, who was sitting at the door on guard duty.
Wang sat behind the old long wooden table, holding yellowed classics in his hands, his face as dark as the bottom of a pot.
This was the sacred and solemn restricted book area of Kamar-Taj!
Usually, even turning the pages a little too loudly would get one scolded. Now look at them: one became a hands-off boss wandering around everywhere, and the other came every day to show warmth and concern, forcibly turning the entire library into a place full of worldly hustle and bustle by these two.
Wang wanted to speak up to stop them several times, but looking at Lu Chen's unfathomable methods and thinking of Ancient One in the side hall turning a blind eye to this, in the end he could only swallow his grievances back into his stomach, annoyingly grabbing a quill and poking heavily at the parchment a few times.
Lu Chen didn't care about Wang's depression at all.
His current cultivation method was extremely simple and crude: on one hand, he farmed experience by casually interacting with mages changing guard, and on the other hand, he flipped through high-tier magic scrolls on the large bookshelves of the library.
His goal was very clear. He didn't even look at those single-target assassination tricks, specifically picking large-scale group destruction spells. After all, those borrowed more energy.
Cyttorak's Crimson Bands array, the Bolts of Balthakk, the Winds of Watoomb...
These forbidden spell scrolls that required borrowing extremely strong power from the Universe demon gods were all crammed into his brain in one go, and then repeatedly disassembled and practiced in his sea of consciousness.
Wang really couldn't help it midway, and cautiously came over to remind him, "Mr. Lu, the dimensional energy involved in these high-tier spells is too violent. And... borrowing the power of those demon gods comes with a price. There is no free lunch in this world; the more you borrow, the more terrifying the backlash will be. They are not as easy to talk to as Vishanti."
Lu Chen just closed the scroll absentmindedly, smiled, and said nothing.
Repaying debts?
Whoever wants to repay can go repay; anyway, he had no intention of returning them.
No matter how fierce these high-dimensional demon gods were, could they directly break through space and crawl over to bite him?
Not to mention that Ancient One, the bald old lady who had lived for hundreds of years, was still holding the front line ahead, any slight disturbance in any dimensional rift would result in the Sorcerer Supreme slapping them right back with a single palm.
More importantly, the outside of Earth was also covered with a peerlessly thick tortoise shell.
The three Sanctum Sanctorums personally established by the first Sorcerer Supreme, Agamotto, and maintained for generations by Kamar-Taj, were respectively located in New York, London, and Hong Kong. The global magical defense network they jointly formed was still operating well to this day, as solid as a fortress.
As long as the Sanctum Sanctorums did not collapse, the true bodies of the dimensional demon gods could not even enter Earth's atmosphere at all.
As for demanding a price along the contract?
Why should he return the usurious loans he borrowed by his own ability?
Not only did Lu Chen not have the slightest burden in his heart, but he even felt that the loan limit was not large enough.
To owe, one had to owe a huge sum that hollowed out the demon gods' family fortune, owing to the point where even if the creditors were driven mad with anger, they could only stare helplessly across the barrier. If you really came in, then he could only trust the wisdom of future generations.
Putting the scroll in his hand back to its original place, Lu Chen stretched lazily, preparing to go see how Wanda was practicing.
Yuheng's voice sounded: "Sir, a call from Simone."
Chapter 264: Extremis
"Put the call through."
Lu Chen leaned against the thick mahogany bookshelf of the library and casually gave an order to the empty air.
A light blue halo popped up on the portable terminal on his wrist, and Simone's clear, steady voice soon came through the earpiece.
"Boss, sorry to disturb you."
Simone's tone was as capable as ever, with the background noise mixed with the sound of turning pages and high heels clicking on the tiles, clearly showing she was busy at work in the top-floor office of Vought Tower.
"Go ahead, what is it?" Lu Chen changed into a more comfortable standing posture.
"It's about the enhancement serum you instructed me on earlier."
Simone gathered her thoughts and reported at an extremely fast pace: "We have followed your instructions and leaked the news to the outside World in advance to build momentum. We publicly declared that this is a human function-enhancing potion without any genetic defects and completely without side effects. However, the external response is heavily polarized; whether it is the Military, politicians, or several conglomerates, they are all secretly probing into the truth."
She paused and continued: "For this kind of thing relying solely on verbal propaganda, most outsiders will take it as us bragging. If we want to completely heat up the market, shouldn't we find a few successful public cases to advertise? For example, select a few socially influential volunteers and make the injection process and physical tests after awakening public?"
Advertise?
Find external volunteers? There was completely no need for that.
This ordinary version of Compound V improved by the Wise One had its medicinal efficacy upper limit basically locked at the LV4 Super Physique. Even if one's luck exploded and they awakened an ability, at most it would just be a third or fourth-tier scrap ability.
For Lu Chen, he already looked down on this level of power, unless it was a Superpower with miraculous effects similar to Black Widow or Captain America.
Even if the injector harbored hidden motives and wanted to rebel or cause destruction after acquiring power, they couldn't stir up the slightest wave.
Lu Chen didn't even need to do it himself. Letting Pietro out, relying on the speedster's speed and the LV6 physique, was purely a max-level account roaming around the beginner village.
But controllable or uncontrollable trouble should be saved wherever possible; there was no need to needlessly hand a knife to the outside World.
"There's no need to look for outsiders."
Lu Chen's tone was bland, directly vetoing Simone's proposal: "Such good things should first be implemented inside Vought Company."
Simone on the other end of the phone was clearly stunned for a moment, but didn't dare to interrupt, just listening quietly.
"First select a batch of qualified backbone staff and security personnel from within for internal injections."
Lu Chen issued instructions methodically: "I only have one hard requirement. Everyone's injection records, physical data, and specific abilities awakened must be fully registered and cataloged one by one, and entered into Yuheng's database. Regular checks will be made in the future. If it is later found that anyone's awakened ability does not match their file, or if they conceal it privately..."
Lu Chen paused, his voice turning a bit colder: "After figuring out what their ability is, dispose of the weak ones directly."
"Understood."
Simone replied crisply and neatly. Having been by Lu Chen's side for so long, she had long figured out this young boss's temper. On principles and control, Lu Chen never showed any mercy, and any guy who dared to play smart would only meet one end.
"In addition," Lu Chen changed the subject, "go ask Helen Cho how her Regeneration Cradle is coming along. If the first-stage experiment is already completed, send a sample of Compound V over to her and let her try to take over the subsequent iterative research and development."
The Regeneration Cradle combined nano-cell repair technology, which essentially reconstructed human tissue at the microscopic level. If Helen Cho could combine this tissue regeneration with the gene activation of Compound V, it might really raise the stability and strength of the potion up another notch.
"Okay Boss, I will go to the laboratory personally in a while."
Simone quickly jotted it down in her memo, and then her tone became serious: "Right Boss, there is one more thing. Recently, many vicious explosion incidents have occurred all over the World, from Los Angeles to the Middle East, and the number of casualties has been rising. Strangely, bomb disposal experts from various countries entered the scene to investigate, yet they couldn't find any residual traces of gunpowder, C4, or conventional bombs at the explosion sites."
No explosive residue?
Lu Chen withdrew his originally lazy expression a bit, and his eyes narrowed slightly.
The Mandarin?
However, that bearded, flag-waving so-called Mandarin in front of the television was nothing more than a third-rate actor pushed to the forefront.
The one truly hiding behind the scenes was Aldrich Killian of AIM, and that gang of red-bodied human bombs whose temperature was high enough to melt steel.
Extremis.
Lu Chen had no interest in Killian, that arrogant cripple, but he indeed had some thoughts about Extremis itself.
That technology, which could make the human body produce extremely high temperatures or even regenerate severed limbs by rewriting gene chains, although having fatal flaws and constantly turning into a living mega-bomb due to internal energy out of control, had a very interesting underlying concept.
If the limb recombination and high-temperature characteristics of Extremis were fused together with the domineering physical enhancement of Compound V, and then harmonized through Helen Cho's nano-regeneration technology...
If these three things were brought together, they might just create a brand-new enhanced product with extremely high stability, balancing destructive power and terrifying self-healing ability.
A name flashed quickly through Lu Chen's mind.
That female botanist who single-handedly developed the prototype of Extremis.
It seemed her name was Maya Hansen.
This woman was the core brain of Extremis, and Killian at best was just a sponsor providing funds and organizing tests.
"Simone."
"Present, Boss."
"Pass a word to Pierce."
Lu Chen's voice was unhurried: "Have him dig out a woman named Maya Hansen for me. Once found, send her to work at Vought Company's biological laboratory."
Simone quickly wrote down the name and repeated it: "Maya Hansen... Okay, I will immediately convey this to Mr. Pierce."
"By the way, also help me bring another message."
"Tell him not to have a hot head all day doing some Insight Project, and especially not to dump all resources into those few broken Helicarriers."
Lu Chen let out a cold snort, with undisguised disgust in his eyes: "Taking so many materials and energy to build those big coffins floating in the sky has zero use other than being live targets shot down by people to make a sound, it's purely wasting my manpower and material resources."
"Tell Pierce, if the person cannot be found, or if he is reluctant to stop work on those broken ships in his hands, then when I return to New York, I will go find him in person to chat face-to-face."
On the other end of the receiver, Simone took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the churning waves in her heart.
Although she learned very quickly in business negotiations and personnel maneuvering, upon hearing her own boss casually refer to HYDRA as his own financial and material resources, she still couldn't help secretly sighing in her heart that there was simply too much for her to learn.
"Okay Boss, I will definitely bring the original words word for word."
Simone adjusted her breathing, accepted it, hesitated for a moment, and still carefully asked a question: "Boss, regarding that enhancement serum... I still have a concern in my heart."
"Speak."
"If this serum is really pushed to the market in the future, will it be replicated by others?"
The moment Simone threw out the question, a tingle exploded across her forehead, afraid that Lu Chen would misunderstand, she hurriedly added extremely quickly in the latter half-second: "Boss, I definitely don't mean anything else! I'm just worried that the Military, Stark Industries, or those top scientists from S.H.I.E.L.D. will crack our formula through reverse engineering after getting the finished product, and seize our market by then..."
Listening to Simone's flustered tone of patching things up, Lu Chen couldn't help laughing.
"It doesn't matter. If they really have the ability to do reverse R&D, then let them go ahead and study it to their heart's content."
Simone was stunned: "Ah?"
The more they replicated, the more Superpower users they would produce.
And in this World, all Superpower users in Lu Chen's eyes were nothing more than walking skill libraries.
Spending billions of their own scientific research funds, even helping himself iterate, and finally bearing the risk of genetic collapse, painstakingly screening out abilities, and in the end, it all benefits Lu Chen.
"They are willing to go through all kinds of trouble to replicate it, which essentially amounts to working for me for free," Lu Chen spat out a sentence.
Working for him?
Holding the phone, Simone was completely in the fog, utterly unable to understand the logic behind Lu Chen's words. Letting top-secret technical trump cards out for people to study—how did it turn into others working for them instead?
However, she was a smart person, knowing deeply what should be asked and what should not be probed.
Since the Boss dared to say this, it showed that he held a trump card in his hands that could absolutely never be subverted.
"Okay Boss, I understand, I'll go handle it right away," Simone replied respectfully.
"Hang up."
As the communication was cut off, the air quieted down again.
Lu Chen put his hands back into the pockets of his black coat. As soon as he turned around, he saw from the direction of the side hall corridor, a figure wearing a loose sweatshirt holding a white porcelain tray, carefully stepping and walking toward this side.
Wanda looked up and saw Lu Chen. Her originally tense little face instantly bloomed with a smile, and she quickened her pace: "Boss! Master let me rest for half an hour, I brought you freshly brewed milk tea!"
Looking at the steaming coarse pottery cup in the young girl's hand, Lu Chen raised an eyebrow.
These days of ascetic practice in Kamar-Taj didn't seem as boring as imagined.
Chapter 265: Simone's Little Revenge
With a soft beep, the communication was completely cut off.
Simone put down her headset and rubbed her slightly throbbing temples.
The task assigned by the boss sounded simple, but doing it was entirely delicate work.
She reached out and pulled the holographic light screen on her desk, bringing up the current master list of security and logistics personnel for Vought Company.
The cursor slid rapidly across the screen, and detailed files popped up one by one.
This earliest batch of personnel stationed in the company was all sent over by Pierce back then.
Nominally, they were on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s dispatched payroll, but Simone knew crystal clear in her heart that there were all sorts of twists and turns hidden among these people.
The fanatics who knew they were truly loyal to HYDRA only added up to a few dozen people in total.
The rest of them were all S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents kept in the dark, who thought it was just a routine dispatched security mission when they received the transfer order back then.
Simone's fingertips tapped lightly on the desktop, and she began to calculate in her mind.
Those poor fellows from S.H.I.E.L.D., after coming to Vought Tower, had long become restless in their minds.
Who wouldn't be confused if it were anyone else?
Over at S.H.I.E.L.D., they went on field missions every day risking bullets and gunfire, earning a fixed salary, and might collect a boxed lunch in some unknown ditch any day.
But what about when they arrived at Vought?
They hardly had to fight or kill, coming and going from a five-star standard office building, their salary and benefits directly tripled, and their bonuses were so soft to hold.
Not to mention that recent rumors spread that the company was about to popularize a medical machine that could instantly regrow missing arms and legs.
With their lives having supreme guarantee, who would still be willing to go back and risk their lives for Nick Fury?
Human hearts were made of flesh, and the hearts of this group of ordinary Agents had long leaned toward Lu Chen's side.
As for that group of HYDRA diehards...
Simone stared at the few red-marked lists on the screen, her brows slightly furrowed, and a faint sense of nausea welled up in her chest.
She herself had originally been an outsider deceived by HYDRA, hanging out as a pawn in a consulting company controlled by HYDRA, and even on the day Lu Chen pierced the truth, on her first mission she was almost directly silenced as a valueless consumable.
If she hadn't decisively hugged the boss's thighs tightly after being released, her ashes would probably have long been poured into the Atlantic Ocean to feed fish.
Towards HYDRA, Simone carried hatred in her bones.
Usually when deploying duties inside Vought, whenever she encountered hard chores, dirty work, or patrol tasks with certain risks, Simone never held back, pinning them all on the heads of these HYDRA diehards.
Love to contribute, right?
Then do a bit more.
But in this major matter of selecting candidates for Compound V, Simone didn't act willfully.
What the boss Lu Chen wanted was stable data collection and absolute transparently controllable enhancement trials.
If the list was entirely picked from S.H.I.E.L.D. people, that old fox Pierce would definitely grow suspicious, and might even trip them up behind the scenes.
"Forget it, I'll let you off easy this time," Simone muttered to herself.
She picked up the warm water beside her and took a sip, her fingers clicking rapidly on the virtual keyboard, precisely carving out fifty quotas.
The ratio distribution was very particular: thirty-eight former S.H.I.E.L.D. elites who usually performed extremely well, had a clean background, and obviously turned their hearts, plus twelve HYDRA backbone members.
Putting this group of HYDRA members under her nose for injection could both give Pierce an explanation, and allow Yuheng to nail their ability profiles into the database at the very first moment.
As long as the injection was finished, whatever abilities this group of people awakened and what weaknesses their bodies had were no different from being stripped naked in the eyes of the boss, and they couldn't stir up any waves at all.
Simone pressed the internal telephone, connecting to the line of the security department supervisor.
"I am Simone," she resumed her usual capable and calm tone. "The list has been sent down, fifty people in total. Have them gather at the B4 isolation medical capsule."
"Understood, are there any special requirements?"
"Prepare all-around physical fitness testing instruments, as well as high-definition camera equipment. Every injector's facial expression, heart rate fluctuation, and changes in every inch of muscle must be recorded throughout and made into a documentary."
Simone's fingers tapped rhythmically on the desk, adding coldly: "Tell them, this is the absolute secret of Vought's upper management. Whoever dares to block the lens or conceal their body reactions will be disqualified on the spot and directly handed over for handling under commercial espionage charges."
"Yes!"
Hanging up the internal line, Simone leaned back against the spacious chair back and let out a long breath.
The most troublesome internal affairs at hand were straightened out, and what remained was to reply to that lofty former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D..
The moment she thought of what kind of shape Pierce's old face might twist into later, Simone's mouth corners couldn't help but curve upwards.
Being able to openly convey such a nearly humiliating order to the highest leader of HYDRA on behalf of the boss, and venting some bad air along the way, this kind of happiness couldn't be bought with money.
She swiped open the dedicated encrypted frequency band and entered the long number representing the World Security Council Secretary-General's office.
Beep... beep...
"Ms. Simone."
The low and gentle voice of Alexander Pierce came from the earpiece.
This over-seventy political giant crocodile, even in private communication, still maintained an extremely affinity-filled elegant tone, as if a respected elder was greeting a junior: "On Mr. Lu Chen's side, are you quite satisfied with our previous cooperation?"
Alexander Pierce
Pretend, keep pretending.
Simone sneered inwardly, but her tone was exceptionally polite: "Mr. Pierce, greetings to you. The boss is very concerned about the recent operations, and just now specially spoke with me. There are some latest decisions that I need to convey to you in person."
"Oh?"
"It seems Mr. Lu Chen is finally ready to push for the next step of cooperation. Regarding the external public opinion fermentation, I have taken care of both the Council and the interior of S.H.I.E.L.D.. As long as the enhancement serum enters the mass production stage, the channel is clear at any time."
The old thing was indeed full of thoughts on how to share the fruits of Compound V.
Simone deliberately paused for two seconds before speaking in a business-like tone: "The boss has his own arrangements for the serum. Today, there are mainly two urgent matters to convey. First, the boss wants you to immediately dig out a botanist woman named Maya Hansen."
"Maya Hansen?"
Maya Hansen
Pierce on the other end was obviously a bit surprised, pausing for a moment, as if searching for this name in his brain or the database around him: "A botanist? What is Mr. Lu Chen looking for her for? The current top priority..."
"The boss does not need to explain the reason to you, Mr. Pierce," Simone directly interrupted his words, her tone soft. "The boss's original words are: After finding her, send her to Vought Company's biological laboratory safe and sound to go to work."
As a Level 10 Agent and Council Chairman who was used to giving orders, he hadn't been interrupted so bluntly when speaking for decades, let alone that the other party was once just an ant under HYDRA that could be discarded at any time.
But Pierce was an old politician after all, with extremely deep self-cultivation, and only replied indifferently: "Good, since it is Mr. Lu Chen's order, I will let the intelligence department handle it. What about the second matter?"
"The second matter..."
Simone changed hands holding the phone, intentionally raising her voice a little bit so that every word hammered into the other person's ears: "The boss said, stop letting your brain heat up all day playing with the Insight Project, and especially don't smash all your resources on those broken Helicarriers."
The other end of the phone completely lost sound.
Chapter 266: Powerless Pierce
The originally steady and faint background noise was snuffed out instantly, and even Pierce's breathing could no longer be heard.
Simone felt immensely gratified inside, yet on the surface, she pretended to be completely oblivious, continuing to chatter with a smile: "The boss's original words are a bit rough, but I must convey them truthfully. The boss's exact words are: Taking so many precious materials and so much energy to build those big coffins floating in the sky is of no use at all other than serving as living targets for people to shoot down just to hear a bang. It's simply a waste of his manpower and resources."
"Big coffins... living targets?"
Pierce's voice finally changed pitch.
No matter how much he endured, the anger of having his painstaking efforts trampled wantonly under Lu Chen's feet still seeped through the radio waves: "Simone, do you know what you are saying? The Insight Project is the embryonic form of absolute order established by HYDRA over decades of painstaking effort and with hundreds of billions in funds! This is to eliminate all chaos in the World! How can Mr. Lu... how can he use such words to evaluate it?"
He was flustered; this old fellow was finally flustered.
Simone wore a glaring smile on her face, but her voice became increasingly aggrieved and sincere: "Mr. Pierce, it's useless for you to get angry at me. I'm just a little secretary passing along a message. However, the boss left one last sentence, and I don't know if I should say it..."
"Speak!"
Simone cleared her throat: "The boss said: Tell Pierce that if the person cannot be found, or if he can't bear to stop work on those few pieces of junk ships in his hands, then when he returns to New York, he will personally go find Mr. Pierce to chat face-to-face."
As soon as the four words "chat face-to-face" came out, the air grew eerie in its silence.
Simone could even mentally picture how, at this very moment in that grandiose office, Pierce's originally refined and dignified face was repeatedly twisting and shifting between panic and grievance.
Chat personally?
Who would dare let Lu Chen come to chat personally?
They had also monitored part of the battle between Lu Chen and Ikaris earlier. A figure like that was dragged back by Lu Chen like a dead dog; even if he, Pierce, truly had nine heads, it wouldn't be enough for Lu Chen to slap down with a single palm.
"...I know."
After a full half-minute, Pierce squeezed out a sentence. His originally confident posture had vanished, leaving only a hoarse and powerless voice after forcibly suppressing his anger: "Help me relay to Mr. Lu that the order has been received."
"Alright then, I won't disturb the Director in handling official business. Wish you a pleasant mood today."
Simone said goodbye briskly and unceremoniously pressed the hang-up button herself.
Leaning back in the swivel chair, Simone felt every pore in her body radiating comfort, and she couldn't help but shake her fist. In the past, HYDRA treated her as an abandoned piece; today, relying on her boss's prestige, she had forcefully forced the biggest leader of HYDRA to swallow his teeth broken from biting down so hard.
Fantastic!
Simone straightened the work badge on her chest, stood up, and walked toward the elevator in a click-clack of high heels. Next, she still had to personally supervise the potion injections of those fifty lucky ones.
Washington D.C., the upper floors of the Triskelion building.
In front of the thick bulletproof floor-to-ceiling windows, Alexander Pierce slowly put down the confidential telephone in his hand.
"Big coffins... living targets..."
A suppressed, extremely low roar came from Pierce's throat: "He doesn't understand anything at all! Does he understand what order is? Does he understand what true rule is?!"
Behind him, a secret compartment in the desk slowly slid open, revealing a glowing standalone tactical light screen.
On the screen, a three-dimensional blueprint of an aerospace mothership resembling a mobile fortress was slowly rotating. Below the hull, various data for heavy long-range precision-guided gunboats and anti-gravity engines had been marked green, with progress showing eighty-seven percent.
Beside the blueprint was an extremely massive algorithm framework, densely packed like a neuronal network.
The Zola algorithm.
As long as the three carriers were sent into low-Earth orbit, combined with this super algorithm, it could scan the bank records, medical records, psychological evaluations, and even ordinary phone calls of everyone in the World.
The algorithm would deduce everyone's past, present, and future, accurately predicting who might become a potential threat hindering HYDRA's rule in the future.
Whether it was a radical protesting student at some university, a backbone general in the Military, or a super vigilante hidden among the populace.
As long as a threat was determined, satellite lock-on, high-altitude sniper annihilation by the mothership's main cannons.
Wipe out millions of unstable free wills in one go, completely putting the destiny of the entire World under HYDRA's reins!
What a great, what a perfect ruling blueprint this was!
Seeing that great success was about to be achieved, the World was about to usher in the era of HYDRA.
Yet a single, breezy sentence from Lu Chen completely beat all of this down into "junk that wastes manpower and resources."
And even demanded that he completely seal and shut down work!
Pierce stared fixedly at the mothership blueprint on the screen, the pent-up blood qi in his chest almost breaking through his throat. Humiliation, unwillingness, and wild fury gnawed at his heart like venomous snakes.
But images of the powerhouses torn apart casually by Lu Chen flashed fiercely in his mind again.
Lu Chen was not that easily fooled guy Nick Fury; Lu Chen did not care about evidence, let alone the law.
If he dared to say one thing and do another today and secretly push these ships into the sky, that monster really would descend from the sky and grind him, Pierce, into minced meat inch by inch in front of the entire World.
That phrase "chat face-to-face" was the Sword of Damocles hanging over his neck.
Pierce closed his eyes, raised his head, and let out a long breath.
After a long while, he reopened his eyes, the wild fury in his gaze completely covered by a layer of icy despair.
He trembling extended his fingers and pressed several commands on the console. The construction progress bar of the mothership locked down entirely in an instant, turning into a dazzling grayish color.
"Stop work..."
Pierce muttered to himself, his entire person seeming to age by ten years all at once, his once straight spine bending slightly.
He pressed the red paging button on the other side of the desk.
"Officer." The voice of the secret line communicator rang out immediately.
Pierce adjusted his tie, striving to restore his voice to its usual dignified and decent tone: "Notify the Strike Team, suspend all subsequent software and hardware debugging of the Insight Project, and have all technical personnel go underground on-site to stand by."
"...Officer? All work stopped?" The Agent on the other side was clearly shocked by this decision.
"Execute the order!"
Pierce suddenly raised his volume, but quickly forced it back down: "In addition, pull out all intelligence networks and search across the World for a woman named Maya Hansen. No matter which research institute she is in, bring her back to me within twenty-four hours."
"Yes, Officer!"
The red communication indicator light went out.
Pierce sat dejectedly in the leather swivel chair, gazing blankly at the empty office ceiling with hollow eyes.
Chapter 267: Turbulent Times
Vought Tower, Basement Level 4 isolation medical pod.
Outside the specially thickened one-way bulletproof glass, Simone held a cup of warm black coffee, her gaze calmly looking at the fifty fixed metal chairs neatly arranged inside.
The moment Compound V was pushed into their bodies, the Agents sitting in the chairs abruptly tensed up, and blue-black blood vessels bulged on their necks and foreheads. Their muscles twitched uncontrollably beneath their clothes.
A few people even clenched their teeth so hard they made a creaking sound, a trace of blood seeping from the corners of their mouths, yet they stubbornly didn't let out a single scream.
They were either HYDRA death squads who had crawled out of piles of corpses year-round, or field Agents meticulously selected by S.H.I.E.L.D., long accustomed to risking their heads. Breaking two ribs or taking a bullet was nothing more than everyday routine to them. Compared to that bit of physical pain, the supernatural power solidly grasped in their hands was the chip they were willing to trade their lives for.
Simone lowered her head and took a sip of coffee. Working her life away for HYDRA or Fury would end up yielding nothing more than a pension at best, but in the hands of boss Lu Chen, as long as they endured these few minutes, they could cross over the threshold of ordinary humans. If it were her, even if it hurt ten times more, she would definitely not relent.
A few minutes later, the twitching movements of everyone inside the pod gradually stopped. Heavy panting spread through the intercom, and the Agents, who had previously looked slightly fatigued, slowly raised their heads, their eyes flashing with unprecedented brilliance. Someone tried to pinch their fingers, and deep fingerprint impressions were immediately pinched into the armrest.
"Yuheng, has the physical data scanning been completed?" Simone put down her coffee cup and asked calmly.
"All data has been collected, Ms. Simone."
Yuheng's voice sounded in her ear, and a densely packed evaluation report popped up in mid-air at the same time: "Classified according to the energy standards left behind by Sir, among the fifty injectors in this batch, forty-eight successfully activated Super Physique LV3. Their bone density has increased eightfold, and their physical strength has reached a barely bulletproof level."
Simone swiped quickly across the light screen.
Super Physique LV3, this was the universal baseline of the ordinary version of Compound V. Against ordinary gunfire and hand-to-hand combat, it could almost form a dimensional reduction suppression, but in front of high-powered heavy weapons, there was still the risk of being torn apart.
However, when her gaze swept over the last two specially marked files, her gaze paused.
"What about the other two people?"
"There are a very small number of benign mutation cases." Yuheng projected two full-body 3D projections, "Number 017 belongs to a former S.H.I.E.L.D. special operations personnel; his physical enhancement far exceeds the standard line. Through the extreme estimation of the data model, his physical strength has reached the peak of LV4, and conventional machine-gun strafing can hardly cause substantial damage to him, and he can even withstand the frontal impact of armor-piercing shells for a short time."
Simone raised an eyebrow: "A humanoid armored vehicle?"
"You can understand it that way." Yuheng then switched to another screen, pointing at a HYDRA backbone codenamed 042, "While acquiring Super Physique LV3, this one's brain nervous system resonated with the gravity magnetic field, additionally awakening a Superpower: Autonomous Flight. Under unladen conditions, his maximum speed can reach two hundred kilometers per hour."
A meat shield who could withstand heavy machine guns head-on, plus a scout who could fly in the sky.
Out of fifty people, two high-end goods came out, and the remaining forty-eight also reached non-human standards as a whole. Looking at this gorgeous report card, the satisfaction on Simone's face was almost impossible to conceal.
"Very good."
She turned around and issued instructions to the publicity director next to her: "Edit all the injection processes from just now, the footage of the Agents' muscles hardening to block sharp blades in subsequent tests, as well as the segments of Number 017 testing bulletproof capabilities and Number 042 hovering and flying, all together."
The publicity director was stunned for a moment: "Release all of them? Including those two people who awakened special abilities?"
"Don't cut a single second; let the outside World clearly see the most authentic reaction." Simone's tone was decisive, "Name it Awakening. Directly push it through Vought Company's global official channel. I want the whole World to be able to see this thing within half an hour, whether they open the TV, mobile phone, or street big screen."
The director gave a start and immediately nodded: "Understood, I'll go do it right away!"
That afternoon, the documentary Awakening exploded on the global network without any warning.
Originally, because of the alien invasion and the unusual movements of Vought Tower, the eyes of the entire New York and even the World were all nailed on Lu Chen and Vought Company. When this documentary, without any special effects and recorded purely by high-precision Military testing equipment, was broadcast, global public opinion directly exploded.
In the footage, ordinary Agents could snap steel bars with their bare hands after injection, their skin resisting the full-force stabbing of a dagger leaving only a white trace, and even more, advancing unharmed against rifle potshots in the shooting range, and finally, that figure levitating and flying flatly on the ground in the indoor training ground completely shattered the worldview of countless people.
No risk of disability, no genetic mutation, one hundred percent success rate!
What was even more maddening was the statement posted by Vought Company on its official website afterward:
"This potion does not set any purchase threshold, regardless of identity, nationality, and social class. The only hard requirement is that you must go to the Vought Tower injection hall in person and complete the physical data entry under full surveillance."
As soon as this announcement came out, the breathing of countless ordinary people and wealthy people became heavy.
Who the hell doesn't want to be a Superman?
During World War II, Captain America relied on a tube of serum to become a legendary hero passed down to this day, but the technology of that era was too distant and too impossible to Copy. Now, a ticket to being powerful and disease-free was blatantly placed right in front of them; as long as they spent money and took a trip to New York, they could grasp extraordinary power in their hands!
For a time, air tickets to New York were completely snapped up by major airlines within half an hour, and even first-class tickets on the black market were speculated to hundreds of thousands of dollars each.
But not everyone felt excited.
In Washington, DC, several elderly men wearing Military uniforms and bearing general stars on their shoulders had gloomy expressions.
"Crazy, Vought Company is completely crazy!" An army lieutenant general slammed the tablet onto the table, "No threshold? Let civilians inject casually? Do they know what they are doing? If the punks and protesters on the street all possess a physique that can withstand pistols head-on, what are the laws and Military of this country? A joke!"
"Has the newly established Department of Damage Control contacted our people?" another Military high-level official asked in a deep voice.
"They went, but didn't even get through the front door; they were directly blasted out by Vought's people."
"This kind of thing must never be made public; it must be controlled in the hands of the federal Military! Notify the World Security Council and make them put pressure on Vought Company. Even if we have to use antitrust laws, we must detain the formula!"
At the same time, the shadows underground were also surging wildly.
Inside a luxurious and secretive penthouse mansion in Manhattan.
Wilson Fisk, as huge as a meat mountain and with a shining bald head, was leisurely cutting the steak in his plate with neatly trimmed fingers. The holographic screen was playing the slow-motion footage of Agents resisting bullets on a loop.
Kingpin
"Sir." The trusted assistant stood aside and spoke cautiously, "Many people within the underworld are inquiring about the queuing channels for this batch of potions. If this kind of potion flows into Hells Kitchen, the scale of gang firefights on the street will completely spiral out of control, and pistols and micro-submachine guns will quickly become scrap iron."
Kingpin put a piece of bloody beef into his mouth and chewed very slowly.
"Out of control?"
Kingpin snorted coldly: "The ones out of control are that bunch of useless politicians. For me, this is the best opportunity to reshuffle the underground order of New York. Contact our informants inside Vought Tower, no matter how much money it costs, figure out the specific release time of the first batch of civilian quotas."
"As long as the people in my hands are injected before everyone else, the underground of New York will always bear the surname Fisk."
Almost at the same time, inside the Rand Corporation building secretly controlled by the Hand, several Asian high-level executives in dark suits were also sitting around a dim long table. There was no awe of technology in their eyes, only greed. That kind of potion capable of strengthening the physique, if combined with ancient secret arts, would be enough to cultivate a batch of tireless, invulnerable assassination puppets.
In Hells Kitchen, a somewhat cramped and dilapidated law firm.
Matt Murdock pushed open the creaking wooden door and leaned his white cane against the door frame. He had just changed out of that blood-stained uniform, and his ribs were still faintly aching. Tonight, in order to save a mother and son from several drug dealers, he took two heavy blows and almost couldn't get back up.
Daredevil
He habitually fumbled to turn on the radio, wanting to listen to tonight's weather forecast.
However, what came out of the speakers was the news anchor's near-out-of-control scream:
"... Ladies and gentlemen, according to the latest documentary released by Vought Company, human history has been completely rewritten! The Super Physique potion has officially entered the civilian promotion stage! Whether you are a tycoon or an ordinary citizen, as long as you pass the physical examination and enter your data, everyone can become a Superman! Currently, more than 50,000 people have gathered outside Vought Tower..."
Matt Murdock's hand, which was preparing to pour water, froze in mid-air.
Relying on his far-beyond-ordinary super hearing, Matt could even penetrate several blocks and hear the fanatical commotion generated by the entire city because of this news. The rapid heartbeats of countless people, the crazy roaring at the other end of the phone, and the sound of engines roaring on the streets speeding toward Midtown poured into his brain like a tide.
Matt turned his head, his blind eyes facing the direction of the radio, the corners of his mouth twitching twice involuntarily.
Everyone is a Superman?
Then what on earth were the combat skills he risked his life to practice and the street justice he risked his life to uphold every night supposed to be?
In his mind, an absurd thought couldn't help but emerge: If he went to catch robbers in the alley in the future and punched them, not only would the opponent not fall down, but instead they would grin at him and say, "Bro, I just took the drug yesterday," then should he, this vigilante, continue doing this or not?
"What kind of international joke is this..."
Chapter 268
Lu Chen casually dispersed the golden sparks circling his fingertips, ending today's loan-based cultivation.
Borrowing power from those multi-dimensional demon gods felt like swiping an infinite black card that never required repayment.
Lu Chen let out a breath and nonchalantly fished his phone out from the inside of his coat.
Although this place was Kamar-Taj, a secluded retreat for cultivation, it had long since been connected to modern civilization.
Lu Chen skillfully found the wireless signal named "shamballa", connected to the WiFi, and prepared to check out the commotion over in Manhattan.
As soon as the phone connected to the internet, hundreds of unread notifications popped up at the top of the screen.
The popularity of Compound V and the documentary *Awakening* was even more exaggerated than he had expected.
The front-page headlines of major global social media were almost completely monopolized by the long queues outside Vought Tower and various purchase requests.
The black market even offered an astronomical price of tens of millions of dollars just for a priority number tag at the Vought Medical Examination Center.
These people's desire for extraordinary power was truly terrifying; it seemed they still had seen too few heroes.
Most heroes were either vigilantes or kept a low profile, unlike the World where people were practically sick of seeing them.
However, amidst the frenzied purchasing trend, a breaking hot search with a blood-red exclamation mark forcefully carved a bloody path through countless tweets.
Lu Chen casually clicked on it.
A live broadcast clip of the scene in Los Angeles popped up immediately on the screen.
The weather in the footage looked rather poor, with a large crowd of media reporters carrying long lenses and short cannons, like sharks smelling blood, tightly blocking the entrance of the inpatient department of a luxury private hospital.
The flashes illuminated the entire street with a ghastly white light.
Right in the center of the crowd, Tony Stark was wearing a pair of tinted sunglasses, his suit wrinkled, and even his collar crooked.
The usual cynical frivolity was gone from his face, leaving only an extreme suppression of ferocity and anxiety.
"Mr. Stark! May I ask if the recent bombing was really done by The Mandarin?"
"How is your head of security, Mr. Happy Hogan, currently doing? We heard he has already been sent to the intensive care unit..."
The reporters' microphones were practically thrusting into Tony's nose.
Tony suddenly stopped in his tracks and pushed away a microphone thrust in front of him.
He raised his hand to take off his sunglasses, his bloodshot eyes staring fixedly at the camera lens directly ahead.
The clamor of the scene was suppressed at that moment by the ferocity emanating from him.
"There is a greeting I've long wanted to send to The Mandarin, but I just hadn't thought of the phrasing."
All the reporters held their breath, and the noise of the entire city seemed to recede into the deep background.
"My name is Tony Stark, and I'm not afraid of you. I know you're just a coward, so I've decided... you're dead, buddy. I'll come collect your corpse myself."
Speaking up to this point, Tony leaned forward a step, pointing at the lens with an icy tone:
"There is no politics here, just pure revenge. No The Pentagon, just you and me."
"If you're still a man, here is my home address: 10880 Malibu Point, ZIP code 90265. I won't lock the door."
Tony sneered, a hint of near-self-destructive arrogance on the corner of his mouth: "Isn't this what you wanted?"
Finished speaking, he grabbed a reporter's phone, smashed it hard on the ground, trampled it to pieces, and turned to get into the sports car by the roadside, leaving behind a group of frantic reporters and flashing lights.
Looking at the speeding sports car on the screen, Lu Chen leaned back against the chair, knowing everything very well in his heart.
Well, the plot of Iron Man 3 had ultimately stepped on the accelerator step by step.
Judging by Tony's cannibalistic posture, Happy must have been caught in the crossfire of the Extremis bomb under Killian's command in front of the Chinese Theatre, and right now he was most likely lying in the ICU with a respirator plugged in.
Lu Chen shook his head, having no intention of intervening.
"Try this."
A sweet fragrance drifted over.
Wanda walked out of the small kitchen of the side hall carrying a celadon-colored small tray.
She had changed into a loose and comfortable off-white knitted sweater, her long hair tied loosely behind her head, making her look exceptionally gentle and docile.
"Sorcerer Ancient One taught me a mental pacification meditation method today, and I tried making some small pastries. I feel it went smoother than before."
Wanda placed the plate on the wooden table beside Lu Chen, saying softly with a bit of embarrassment.
Lu Chen reached out, picked up a golden and slightly crispy pastry, tossed it into his mouth, and chewed.
The sweetness was just right, carrying a hint of charred nutty fragrance.
"Your culinary skills have improved. If you keep practicing like this, the chefs on the top floor of Vought Tower will soon be out of a job."
Lu Chen casually praised.
Wanda's face flushed slightly, joy flashing in her eyes, and she sat up straight beside Lu Chen.
She didn't pay attention to the glowing phone, just quietly watched Lu Chen eat, as if as long as she stayed by Lu Chen's side, the fatigue brought by cultivating secret arts over the past few days could be swept away.
On the other side, Wong, who was passing by carrying a thick stack of classics, stopped abruptly in his tracks.
Wong looked down at the nearly half-meter-high ancient fragmentary volumes in his hand, and then looked at the opposite wooden table set with hot tea, pastries, and connected to WiFi browsing short videos, the flesh on his fat face twitching uncontrollably.
This was Kamar-Taj!
The magical sanctuary that had guarded Earth for thousands of years!
How come as soon as these two arrived, the solemn and respectful scripture repository in the front hall turned into an afternoon tea campsite?
And yet Ancient One didn't care, letting him do whatever he wanted in Kamar-Taj.
Wong took a deep breath, and in the end could only forcefully turn his head to the other side, pretending not to see anything, muttering under his breath as he walked away quickly.
Lu Chen completely ignored Wong's resentful expression.
He swallowed the pastry, his fingers swiped across the phone screen, exiting Stark's hot search.
However, Stark's scene of openly challenging The Mandarin reminded him of another matter.
Extremis.
The core figure behind Killian who truly created plant repair and gene recombination was Maya Hansen.
Previously, he had specifically instructed Simone to have the HYDRA gang of intelligence peddlers use resources to dig that woman out from AIM.
He wondered how efficient that old fellow Pierce's handling of affairs was.
Lu Chen simply flipped through his contacts to find Simone's number and dialed it directly.
After a few blind tones, the phone connected almost instantly.
Before Lu Chen could speak, Simone's slightly anxious voice came from the other end of the receiver: "Boss, did you find out so quickly?"
Lu Chen raised an eyebrow, feeling somewhat puzzled: "Know what? Tony Stark making harsh remarks in Los Angeles? I definitely know about that stuff; Kamar-Taj isn't without internet, I just finished browsing the video."
"Uh..."
Simone on the other end of the phone obviously stuttered for a moment.
Across the receiver, Lu Chen could even hear the rustling sound of her typing on a keyboard and turning paper documents over there.
"It seems you don't know yet... I was just preparing to organize the data and report to you."
Simone's voice deepened with seriousness: "It's not about Mr. Stark, something has gone wrong inside Vought."
"What kind of situation?" Lu Chen asked.
"A genetic biologist that our company heavily poached a while ago has been out of contact for several days."
Rubbing her brow, Simone's tone revealed a bit of self-blame: "After the documentary was released a few days ago, too many people outside were eyeing us. The field Agents responsible for surveillance found that this scientist didn't punch in at the laboratory on time, so I immediately sent my subordinates to her home to look for her."
"And the result?"
"It seems she was kidnapped. When our people tracked down a safehouse where they stayed based on clues, there was only the kidnapper's body in the room."
Simone reported the details at a fast pace, "A third person should have appeared, with extremely professional methods, shooting right between the eyebrows with one shot. All the experimental equipment and personal electronic devices in the room were physically destroyed or taken away. That biologist also completely disappeared, and all current clues are broken."