Wait, something's not right. I forgot to ask Tony why he suddenly started researching magic. What is he planning?
Luca, who had been happily flying home, suddenly paused. But then, he dismissed the thought.
Anyway, he had already coordinated with Tony to avoid provoking the demons of the Hell Dimension for now. As long as Tony didn't try to pry open a channel to Hell, he probably wouldn't cause any major trouble.
Come to think of it, the Maximoff twins have already been recruited over in Sokovia. I should find time to go see what's going on in their heads.
Thinking about these random things, Luca soon arrived back at his company.
However, upon returning, he didn't immediately dive into his workshop to continue upgrading his "Boxer Gundam."
Instead, he trotted all the way to the bio-lab where Sherry worked. After greeting the busy Baymax, he walked right in without a care in the world.
But Sherry herself wasn't physically in this lab.
Or rather, her main body wasn't here.
Inside the lab, aside from Baymax, the busy workers were all small engineering mechas controlled by Haros.
In fact, for safety reasons...
The two real researchers, Sherry and Maya Hansen, spent most of their time in another lab next door, remotely directing these Haro robots to conduct the experiments.
That's right.
The brand-new project about to launch in this lab was the research on the [Blacklight Virus] Luca had obtained earlier.
Although Luca had various worries and hesitations before making the decision, once he decided, he usually acted with lightning speed.
But previously, Luca had been terrified of the virus spreading, even requiring Sherry and the others to work remotely in isolation.
So why did he dare to walk into the lab so carelessly now, without even wearing protective gear?
Naturally, it was because after the [Blacklight Virus] was synthesized, Luca had made a brand-new discovery.
Standing before a large culture tank filled with black-and-red liquid...
Luca stepped close and gently hooked his finger at it.
The black-and-red liquid immediately surged toward Luca like ferrofluid responding to a magnet.
In an instant, all the "Blacklight Virus" cells rapidly condensed into a thicker, gelatinous substance, revealing the original pale green nutrient solution in the tank that had been obscured by the red and black mass.
Yes, these red substances were all "Blacklight Virus" cells.
The reason they gathered in unison at Luca's gesture was a surprise discovery he made only after synthesizing the virus.
This terrifying "virus," which even he had feared, was apparently endowed with an "Absolute Obedience" command by his powerful System, likely due to its semi-biological nature.
Actually, according to Sherry's observations...
Although the [Blacklight Virus] was named a "virus," it possessed cellular characteristics fundamentally. The existence of a single Blacklight unit was closer to an intermediate form between "virus" and "bacteria."
It was only called a "virus" for convenience.
More importantly, these "Blacklight Virus" cells didn't need to consume or fuse with other organisms. Just gathering the existing "virus" together was enough for it to exhibit primitive characteristics of an intelligent organism.
However, due to insufficient numbers and the lack of consumption of true intelligent life, this "intelligence" was incredibly weak, closer to mere "instinct."
Yet even so, this "Blacklight Virus" with only "instincts" could simply understand and obey Luca's various commands.
On top of this, the Blacklight Virus itself possessed a very strict hive-mind consciousness, with a rigid hierarchy.
Luca's existence seemed to replace the "Hive Mother Will" as a higher-level entity.
So even if new viruses were born later, or "infected individuals" were created by fusing with advanced biological genes, as long as they were in front of Luca, they would still be under his control.
Uh, yes, "in front"...
Although Luca possessed the highest authority over the Blacklight Virus, unlike the "Mother" itself, Luca's consciousness didn't exist within the hive network.
So Luca could only use this control when he was physically "present."
This was why, despite having supreme authority, Luca still insisted Sherry be extremely careful during research.
After all, he couldn't watch these viruses 24/7, nor could he run around collecting every leaked virus individually.
But even so, the risk of the Blacklight Virus he initially worried about had been greatly reduced.
In fact, when he first discovered his absolute control over the Blacklight Virus, a truly evil thought had crossed Luca's mind.
Release the virus and let it spread across the world. That way, everyone will be under my control!
Fortunately, Luca's reason prevailed in the end, and he didn't forcefully claim the title of "Ruler of the Zombie Universe."
This was also why Luca had rushed to show off to Tony even before the antidote for APTX4869 was ready.
He really needed interactions with friends and family to keep himself from becoming too radical.
Of course, even without releasing the virus, having supreme control brought Luca many benefits.
At the very least, the risk of fusing with the Blacklight Virus himself was now significantly lower.
Sherry's current main research direction was to cultivate a stable version of the Blacklight enhancement serum and familiarize herself with the virus's characteristics. This would allow her to enhance subordinates while ensuring that if Luca ever chose to fuse with it, he would retain his human identity.
Replacing my body to become a viral polymer is a pass. Ideally, I'd modify the Blacklight Virus Mother into a symbiote like Venom.
Speaking of which, should I go get some Venom spawn from Little Harry to feed the Blacklight Virus for enhancement? Maybe something novel will come out of it~
Or perhaps I can have Sherry test if this thing can infect demons?
In short, following the [Dehydration Gun], Luca now possessed another bug-level ability capable of dragging the entire Earth into the grave with him.
After observing the newborn [Blacklight Virus] for a while and giving Sherry some follow-up instructions, Luca left the bio-lab.
Meanwhile.
The Shield Squad, having received Luca's new orders earlier, had already begun their operation.
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