A month has passed since Flavius started his deep research. A lot of progress had been made, but not practically. Flavius discovered the true problem: the different laws of physics across different realities.
He was located in the Warhammer universe and had access to Corvus Corax's knowledge, which helped immensely in jump-starting the entire project.
He himself worked with Orochimaru's knowledge and experience in genetics, biology and chakra. Then there were T'Challa, Charles Xavier, the Evolutionary and Thanos, who were all from the Marvel Universe.
The distinction between rules and universal laws wasn't a problem when Flavius used the masks and gained their abilities, but it became a problem when he tried to apply their knowledge in Warhammer. That was why it took so long to have a breakthrough finally.
But now that the hurdle had been cleared, the real work could finally begin. The plan had been set out; the Flavius Primarch Body Project had been adapted, changed, and improved, and was now ready to be set into motion.
All that was required was to build the machinery and technology that could 'grow' the body and the advancements Flavius had planned. And there were quite a few, but not even close to the number that Flavius had initially planned. There were just so many things to choose from.
He finally took off the Shinigami Mask. The four Shadow Clones poofed out of existence, and so did their masks. Truthfully, Flavius had thought about which path would be the most optimal.
And he settled on putting in more work to write a precise, perfectly detailed plan and instructions for building the machinery he needs, so he can then build it at enormous speed.
The problem now, though, was materials. The materials he needed or wanted were hard to come by, especially since Flavius had gone for a mix of Warhammer, Marvel, and DC builds.
Ironically, Flavius had a solution for the DC and Marvel materials, but not for those of the Warhammer universe. And as usual, the solution came in the form of two masks.
The DC mask Flavius chose, which he couldn't use a Shadow Clone for, was Monarch.
There have been several incarnations of the Monarch. All of whom have been portrayed as supervillains despite having a history of superheroism. Basically, the Monarch is a distant future tyrant who is actually Hank Hall, also known as Captain Atom.
Captain Atom's metallic skin is connected to the Quantum Field, allowing him to absorb and manipulate infinite amounts of energy. This energy can be utilised for countless purposes, limited only by his willpower and imagination.
He has realised that he has complete and total control over the Quantum Field. For instance, he was once able to create and destroy a replica of Earth, complete with life and its most powerful heroes, including Superman, The Flash, Firestorm, and even his own Spectre. However, he has only performed this feat once, since then subconsciously restraining himself to a more limited amount of power.
Nathaniel's ability to harness energy is unparalleled. He can manipulate it in various ways, such as absorbing, changing, or metabolising energy, as well as shutting down the powers of other energy users. He can also shape the energy into different forms as needed, creating force fields, explosive blasts, or simple energy beams from his hands or eyes. He can fire energy from any part of his body or release it as an area-of-effect wave either through his will or upon detonation.
The Monarch was a significant advancement beyond what had come before. The updated Monarch armour, worn by Captain Atom during Countdown, featured a "nanoweave" designed to contain radiation leaking from a breach in his chest.
Additionally, this armour was equipped with instruments that monitor his vital signs through a direct neural interface.
Monarch was capable of insane feats like slapping Superman away as if it were nothing. Such amounts of power were incredible, but in Warhammer, they would gather the attention of basically everyone and paint a humongous target on Flavius's back.
But inside the Kamui dimension, where he was separated and could use the powers for construction, that was perfect.
So what was Flavius going to do with the Marvel universe?
In Marvel, there was one character called Hyperstorm, who was on the same level of ridiculousness, if not more so, than Monarch. Power levels and feats were hard to compare, and Flavius didn't care, honestly.
In an alternate future where mutant-hunting Sentinels have devastated the world and interned many of the world's mutants and superhumans, Franklin Richards, a powerful mutant and the son of Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman from the superhero team Fantastic Four, marries Rachel Summers. Rachel is also a powerful mutant, being the daughter of Cyclops and Phoenix from the X-Men. Their union produces the phenomenally powerful mutant Jonathan Reed Richards, who ultimately grows up to use his immense power to take control of the post-apocalyptic world, adopting the name Hyperstorm.
Hyperstorm possesses an incredibly vast array of powers and abilities, but in summary, he has virtually infinite psionic power that he can draw from hyperspace. This source supplies the fundamental forces of the universe: the strong nuclear force, electromagnetism, the weak nuclear force, and gravitation, all of which flow into our reality.
By controlling these four fundamental forces, Hyperstorm can theoretically restructure, create, manipulate, or destroy matter at any scale—from the cosmic level down to the subatomic level. He can generate electromagnetic fields and electrical currents, make matter radioactive, manipulate gravity to alter the shape of spacetime, trigger nuclear detonations, emit enormous energy blasts, and use his psionic powers to enhance his physical strength.
Essentially, he can accomplish nearly anything he sets his mind to.
...
That left Warhammer and its resources. Flavius could, of course, go through the galaxy and steal... and he will do that, but there was something else he would do.
Hank Pym, the Ant-Man, possessed technology that was insanely useful for addressing the problem of limited resources.
Pym Particles.
The Ant-Man uses these particles to shrink and then grow back. However, the truth of the matter was far more extreme.
Of all those who had used Pym Particles, Scott Lang was actually the first to discover how they really worked. It bothered Scott that Giant-Man seemed stronger and more durable than mere growth would account for. Likewise, Ant-Man's ability to retain normal-sized strength was peculiar and doesn't really follow the laws of physics as taught in school.
By studying the history of Pym Particles, Scott hit upon the answer: There was not just a size directional axis to Pym Particles, but three axes that govern strength and durability, too: an x-axis, a y-axis, and a z-axis.
One had to look at the following characters: the Vision, Ant-Man, Giant-Man and Wonder Man.
Why didn't Ultron give the Vision Pym Particle power? In truth, he had tried. Instead, Vision gained density powers that augmented his strength and durability.
Wonder Man's brain was keyed to use not the size-changing x-axis of Pym Particles, but the durability and strength y- and z-axes. Power Man later combined the ionic strength used to create Wonder Man with the Pym Particle size to become a super-goliath. This combination meshed seamlessly because it was supposed to.
In short, using Pym Particles was the key to gaining more resources despite not really having 'more' of them. And it was a disgusting cheat, but one that Flavius was going to abuse as much as possible.
However, there was one other character Flavius was now going to use, which would help immensely.
Rimuru Tempest.
The reason for that was the ultimate skill, Raphael. "Lord of Knowledge". Its essence is managing the laws of the world, specialising in supporting and altering Skills. It had sub-skills, which were most impressive, and solved almost all the final problems for Flavius:
Thought Acceleration, Analytical Appraisal, Parallel Calculation, Chant Annulment, All of Creation, and Alteration.
With these skills, assembling and researching the properties of all kinds of resources would be a breeze, elevating the project to a whole new level.
.
A peculiar wave of unease and tension had swept up Medusa's Hive City. No one was truly aware of what it was or why it had happened, only that it had. This was, of course, because no one truly trusted one another.
There were several different 'factions', so to speak, in the Hive City. That was obvious, because it was such a monstrous place.
On one hand, there was the ruling class, spearheaded by the Planetary Governor. Then there were the nobles and rich people like Rogue Traders. In the same category, but slightly apart, were the Navigator Houses located on Medusa. They were insanely rich, at least House Belisarius and House Nomikos were.
Then there was the Adeptus Arbites, the galactic police force of the Imperium of Man, enforcing Imperial Law and maintaining order across Imperial-controlled worlds. They were headquartered in fortified Precinct-Fortresses, also known as Courthouses.
Also important is the Ecclesiarchy, located mainly in the Cathedral of the Emperor, which is responsible for faith in the Emperor and for ensuring that no one 'strays' from the path they have set out for humans.
And then there are endless others who worked, lived and did business in the Hive. A large part was the Factory Hives, dedicated to all types of workers. Most of which were not nice or healthy jobs, but they were jobs that, according to imperial law, were allowed.
One of the most important parts was the Medusa Freeport, the starport terminal of the Hive City. Thousands upon thousands of ships arrived and left each day, transporting goods, items, people, and all the other things one would rather not know about.
Finally, and very naturally, there were the unlawful areas of the Hive City. A big part was the Medusa Warren, also known as the Warrens. These were the slums, where the lowest 'class' of humans lived. Ironically, these accounted for over 95% of the Hive City's inhabitants.
Those who could afford it wouldn't live there. The Effort-Reward Imbalance was astronomical in the Imperium. If you had wealth, you usually had power, and if you didn't, you were most likely the bottom feeders.
A Hive City-wide series of thievery had swept over everyone. Well, not everyone was correct, since it only affected those who already had too much wealth and power. The Planetary Governor was outraged, as were the members of the two most powerful Navigator houses, the Adeptus Ministorum and even the Adeptus Arbites.
Not everyone had been affected by the thievery to the same extent. The Planetary Governor had enormous amounts of his wealth stolen, mostly by his guards, who took expensive resources such as metals, food, weapons, and armour.
"Has anything been found yet?!" the Governor spat at the Arbitrator who stood before him.
The courthouses of the Arbites were equipped to be self-sufficient and to support a complete Arbites army. They consisted of armouries, dungeons, barracks, firing ranges, scriptories, archives, warehouses, kitchens, gymnasia and garages.
While they had also been affected by the thefts, only a select few had been, and not even close to the amount others were affected... like the Governor.
An Arbitrator is the militant arm of the Arbites who performs the work necessary to apprehend and punish those who break the Emperor's laws. Naturally, one of them had been called to give the Governor an update on their findings.
"Nothing yet, Governor. These thefts have affected most of the nobility of the Hive. Understand that the Arbites is doing what it can," the man said coolly.
He was being friendly here in answering the Governor. He didn't have to do that. And his stern expression pulled the fat Planetary Governor back to the ground. His outrage was understandable, but you didn't fuck with the Adeptus Arbites... Never.
"This i-is a matter of... of, great importance. The Emperor himself, co-condems this heretic behaviour! The perpetrators and-and whoever this was, HAS to be found and publicly executed to please Him."
This was the Cardinal Astral, the lowest-ranking Cardinal in the Imperium. He had a diocese consisting of one or more worlds, which Medusa also belonged to. It was weird that he heard about the thefts, and usually someone far lower ranked would bother with this.
However, his private palaces had been robbed. Naturally, he was as outraged as the Planetary Governor, if not more.
The Arbitrator looked at the Cardinal Astral without an expression and nodded his head once.
What the Cardinal Astral wasn't telling anyone was that the Ecclesiarchy had almost mind-boggling amounts of wealth stolen from them. They couldn't say that, though, since most of what they had hoarded wasn't official, and if it were known... well, that would raise a lot of questions.
"We are doing our very best. Should something change, you will be informed. Now I have other things to attend to," the Arbitrator said and walked out without another word.