Evening, on the winding mountain roads of Adirondack Park in New York State.
A dilapidated, khaki-colored RV roared through the twilight like an out-of-control iron beast, tearing through the silence.
"Are you crazy? What's a piece of junk like that acting so tough for?" The bald driver of a Jeep reached his hand out the window and fired several shots into the air.
Bang! Bang!
Wade jerked the steering wheel, ruthlessly crushing the curves of the road.
"My God, that scared me to death... I'm calling the police!" Several vehicles driving normally along the way were forced to dodge repeatedly; the piercing honks and the drivers' angry curses were quickly left far behind.
In the driver's cab, Wade, dressed in denim, gripped the wheel and laughed heartily: "Haha... driving like it's a video game, how exhilarating!"
He had snatched this RV from a gang-run scrapyard. Inside the cabin, it was loaded with two generators he'd bought, three barrels of diesel, and five or six crates of experimental equipment.
He wasn't just here for a joyride; this near-maniacal driving was simply to ensure he hadn't been followed.
"If I weren't afraid of drawing too much attention, I would have just lifted the RV and flown here."
The Force Transmission ability Wade had fused could indeed achieve such an effect; as long as he could carry it, the entire weight of the object would be transmitted onto him alone.
Half an hour later, the RV stopped at the foot of a dirt slope by a cliff where the road ended.
"This is the place!"
Wade flew into the air, using his Blood Sense to scan the surrounding wilderness. Aside from mountain beasts, there wasn't a soul in sight.
Only then did he manipulate the airflow to lift the RV. Standing beneath the vehicle, he carried it as he flew toward the mountainside.
"In New York, every inch of land is worth its weight in gold. It's hard to find a hidden place to set up a lab even with three hundred thousand dollars."
It wasn't that he hadn't thought about renting a factory or a warehouse, but the thought of leaving a rental record, the fixed location, and the risk of being noticed by neighbors over long-term use made him abandon that plan.
Wade flew slowly around the cliff and arrived at a small platform covered in marks of artificial polishing, right next to a dark cave.
"For the experiments to follow, concealment is the top priority." Wade controlled the airflow to set the RV down steadily on the platform.
Thud—
He turned and floated into the cave, which was about the size of three people, muttering softly, "Doing everything alone is really exhausting... I really want a Butler-man."
Wade blinked, a golden light flashing briefly in his pupils as he activated Night Vision. The pitch-black cave became as bright as day. "Hmm? How did these living things come back again?"
He hooked his finger, and surging currents of air rushed into the cave from behind him, flushing out the stale air.
Ten minutes later, inside the fifty-square-meter cave, a generator hummed, yet no lighting fixtures were lit.
Wade stood in the center of the cave, arms slightly spread. The airflow around him surged out like a physical force, whipping up a storm.
Dust, dry branches, and bat guano were swept up all at once, forming a gray dragon that was violently expelled from the cave.
Immediately after, he clenched his fists. The remaining air in the cave was instantly sucked out, forming a brief vacuum. Insect eggs and microorganisms clinging to the rock walls fell off one after another as they suffocated.
"Now it's clean," he whispered to himself. A cold glint flashed in his eyes as two freezing rays accurately hit the area above the cave entrance. Hard ice spread rapidly, completely sealing the entrance and isolating the interior from the outside world.
Only after completing all this did he turn around and begin arranging the equipment needed for his experiments... five second-hand genetic testing instruments, plus various miscellaneous auxiliary devices, had cost him a full hundred thousand in cash.
The conditions were poor, time was tight, and the task was heavy, but it was enough just to verify the idea in his mind.
Wade stripped off his clothes and sank his consciousness into his body.
The power of Blood Manipulation was pushed to its limit. Under his will, the muscle fibers beside his spine separated like precision instruments, revealing the pale vertebrae beneath.
He had to exert all his effort to suppress the instinctive defense of Invulnerability and the passive repair of High-Speed Healing. This was an extremely difficult struggle against himself.
To obtain the large amount of genetic molecules and the complete genome carried within his body, he had to multitask and strike a ruthless blow against himself.
"Let's begin," Wade said to himself.
A tiny blade of air, formed by highly compressed air, was guided by his precise control. Like the sharpest scalpel, it stabbed into the third lumbar intervertebral space.
"Ugh—!" A sharp sensation of soreness and numbness spread, rushing along his nerves straight to his brain, making his vision go dark.
Wade gritted his teeth, relying on his powerful willpower to suppress the cry of pain back into his throat, the veins on his forehead bulging.
The air blade hovered in mid-air and was slowly withdrawn.
At the same time, a sterile needle held by another current of air followed the tiny channel opened by the air blade, accurately probing inside... Golden spinal fluid was sucked into the syringe bit by bit under the effect of negative pressure.
"Shit, no anesthesia... it hurts like hell!"
Wade had never felt every second last as long as a century, forcing himself to concentrate.
"It's a pity sperm are germ cells; I'm not sure if they contain the fused superpower genes... otherwise, this would be much simpler."
A minute later, Wade held the syringe floating in the air and relaxed his mind. The wound on his back healed immediately.
"Phew... first, I'll dismantle those useless expressed genes—'Flame Sneeze', 'Frost Crotch'... keeping them in the genetic map is a waste. Might as well use them for an experiment first."
On the lab bench were a centrifuge, a UV spectrophotometer, electrophoresis equipment, and a PCR machine, all plugged in. Wade already knew the process for extracting a genome by heart.
It was nothing more than lysing cells to release DNA → removing impurities → purifying DNA → verifying quality. It was just his old profession from his previous life.
In the time that followed, Wade was completely immersed in the extraction, splitting, and reconstruction of his own superpower genome.
Although the setup was crude and only capable of rough extraction, by using Blood Manipulation to guide and combine the natural affinity of life factors, the progress was several times faster.
Three hours later, three reagents shimmering with crystalline colors stood quietly on the test tube rack.
Success!
First, a white auxiliary-type potion: Shadow Bug.
Core superpower gene combination: Phantom Generation + Insect Control + Levitation + Frost Crotch.
Second, a blue defensive-type potion: Guard Bear.
Core superpower gene combination: Bear Transformation + Hardened Epidermis + High-Speed Healing + Glowing Thumb.
Third, a red offensive-type potion: Wolf Strike.
Core superpower gene combination: Werewolf Transformation + Super Strength/Agility + Flame Sneeze.
Looking at these three "miracles" born in a crude cave, Wade stretched his limbs and exhaled a long breath of turbid air, venting all his fatigue.
This "3+1" genetic module combination method was the only feasible way he had discovered after dozens of failures.
The mixing process was far more complex than imagined. When he tried to mix multiple superpower genes, the solution would become extremely murky.
He had to use a relatively mild "useless" ability as a base carrier, then, like building with blocks, introduce up to three gene fragments with similar attributes or those that could resonate.
Only in this way could a fragile balance be achieved, resulting in the crystal-clear pure colors seen now.
"A murky solution means instability; pure color is the most stable... So, is it a problem with the equipment conditions, or is my mixing logic wrong?" Wade used a dropper to take a small drop of the white solution and let it fall onto his palm.
[Analyzing... 'Shadow Bug' Short-term Superpower Genetic Potion (Basic Grade)
Estimated duration per 50ml: 1 hour]
"Why is the duration so short? Could it be because my physical fitness is too strong?"
Wade felt bursts of chill coming from his crotch and couldn't help but shake his body twice.
"Whew... if a normal person used it, it should probably last longer, right? I wonder if there are any side effects?"
He had originally wanted to formulate the all-around potion he'd envisioned—a type with high mobility, high attack, and high defense like Homelander.
But when overly powerful types like Super Strength/Agility + Invulnerability were mixed, the color turned a murky yellow. Since he couldn't formulate a stable, crystal-clear pure solution no matter what, he temporarily shelved his plans for further development.
On the table, Wade looked at the remaining third of golden spinal fluid in the syringe and thought for a moment.
"If I leave this here, it might be found by rock climbers or explorers. I might as well just finish mixing everything."
With fast, practiced hands, he formulated two more tubes of each of the three types of superpower potions, making nine tubes in total, each 60ml. He packed them all into small plastic bottles and used a small manual heat-sealing machine to seal them with film for storage.
"Since I don't plan on following Vought's path of being an idol star, I need to find a way to make money while standing tall as soon as possible. College is only four years, and I'm just a helpless orphan."
Wade had seen plenty of people on the internet who suddenly awakened superpowers, each acting like they were the king of the world and committing crimes everywhere... only to end up dying miserably in the streets or being imprisoned by Vought. He wouldn't do something like that even if he lost his mind.
Weakness is the original sin. Before his superpowers were fully developed, he could only live long by following the rules.
"What's the fastest way to make money? Stealing, robbing, or breaking the law... they're all too much trouble. It's still better to start a business."
Wade put all the potions into a sealed metal box and stuffed it into a specially made waist bag, his eyes flashing with excitement.
"Who should I find for human experimentation first?"
An ordinary person crushed by fate, full of hatred for superhumans yet craving power, would be the perfect candidate to test these potions.
The night was deep. Wade walked out of the cave, lifted the RV, and returned to the wilderness to handle the cleanup work.
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