Daniel's words left Tony in deep silence. The death of Howard and Maria Stark, especially at the hands of the Winter Soldier, had always haunted him. Although Peggy Carter's intervention had prevented Tony from completely severing ties with Captain America, their relationship remained strained. The only way to truly bridge the gap between them would be the resurrection of Howard and Maria.
However, Daniel's offer to resurrect Tony's parents wasn't solely to mend their relationship. He had two goals in mind. The first was to alleviate Tony's lifelong regret, as Tony had been a significant help to him. The second was to test the resurrection capabilities of the Book of the Dead and the Book of the Living, two ancient artifacts Daniel had acquired. While he had experimented with their powers before, he had never attempted resurrection. It wasn't until Tony mentioned his engagement to Pepper that Daniel thought of using this as a gift.
After all, what gift could possibly surpass the resurrection of one's parents?
"What's the cost?" Tony asked after a long silence, his expression serious. Tony was a brilliant man, and even though he belonged to the scientific community and had little knowledge of the mystical world, he understood that something as monumental as resurrection couldn't come without a price.
"A life for a life, a soul for a soul."
The resurrection using the Book of the Dead was similar to the Edo Tensei technique from the Naruto world, requiring a soul as a sacrifice. In the eyes of beings like Mephisto or Death, Howard and Maria Stark were no different from ordinary humans. Even in the Naruto world, powerful figures like Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju could be resurrected using ordinary souls.
In fact, with the right methods, resurrection in the Naruto world was relatively simple for someone like Daniel.
"I... need to think about it."
As a superhero, Tony was torn. While he desperately wanted to bring his parents back, the idea of trading lives and souls felt like making a deal with the devil. If it weren't for the fact that this involved his parents, Tony would have refused outright.
"Of course. In fact, any soul will do. There are no special requirements, like purity or anything like that," Daniel added.
"I understand. I'll let you know once I've made a decision," Tony said before quickly leaving the lab.
Daniel didn't need to remind Tony to keep this a secret. Tony was smart enough to know the chaos that would ensue if word got out. Even if Howard and Maria were resurrected, they couldn't simply return to their old lives.
"Speaking of which, how did the Kree blood bring Coulson back to life? Is there some hidden secret in the Kree's genes?"
After Tony left to ponder his decision, Daniel returned to his villa. In a world where entities like Mephisto and Death existed, resurrection wasn't as simple as it seemed. If the person had only recently died, it might be possible, but Coulson had been dead for a considerable amount of time before being revived. Later, others were also resurrected using Kree blood, which made Daniel think about the Kree Empire's expertise in genetic engineering.
The Kree Empire was known for its advanced bioengineering technology. Most of its high-ranking officials were genetically enhanced, granting them immense power and extended lifespans.
For humanity to enter the interstellar era, technology wasn't the only limiting factor—lifespan was also a significant issue. Across the galaxy, races that had ventured beyond their home planets and into space generally had longer lifespans than humans. After all, interstellar travel was incredibly time-consuming, even with the use of wormholes for faster-than-light travel.
"The Power Stone hasn't appeared yet. That fool Star-Lord needs to hurry up."
After spending some time at his villa, Daniel opened a portal to Xandar. There, he exchanged information with his shadow clone and learned that Star-Lord was still wandering aimlessly in space. Star-Lord's reputation among the Ravagers was mixed. Many looked down on him due to his high failure rate on missions. However, he always managed to escape unscathed, a feat that would have been impossible for most others.
On Xandar, Daniel also gathered some information about Thanos. However, the reports were nothing new—Thanos's armies had recently wiped out half the population of another planet. Many in the interstellar community were furious, calling Thanos a madman. If it were anyone else, they would have been crushed by the major interstellar powers. But Thanos's strength kept even the Kree and Xandarian empires from seeking revenge.
In contrast to Thanos, Captain Marvel was widely celebrated for her efforts to save lives across the galaxy. However, Daniel believed her actions were merely treating the symptoms, not the root cause. She supported the Kree resistance but never targeted the Kree Empire's leadership. Despite her planet-destroying power, she seemed hesitant to take decisive action against the Kree.
If Daniel had Captain Marvel's power, he would have already overthrown the Kree Empire. With her ability to travel faster than light in space, a decapitation strike would have been enough to dismantle the empire. Instead, Captain Marvel often defeated Kree leaders only to let them go.
"It looks like I'll have to keep waiting."
With no progress from Star-Lord, Daniel returned to Earth to focus on his research and training. He also began working on creating artificial Devil Fruits using the dinosaur DNA he had collected.
"It seems Tony won't be making a decision anytime soon."
After waiting three days without a response from Tony, Daniel understood his dilemma. While Daniel himself would have agreed without hesitation, he wasn't Tony. In any case, Daniel wasn't in a hurry.
"Journalists are faster than the military. I don't even know what to say."
Watching the live news coverage, Daniel was both amused and exasperated. The footage showed a T-Rex and several other dinosaurs, including Velociraptors, breaking out of a port in New York City and rampaging through the streets. The reporters were filming from helicopters, while police on the ground fired at the T-Rex. Unfortunately, their weapons were too weak to take down the massive dinosaur, only enraging it further.
The police in New York City had it rough. In a world filled with super villains and criminals, their primary role seemed to be buying time for the heroes to arrive. And when things went wrong, they were often the ones to take the blame.
"Has the military arrived?"
After the T-Rex and other dinosaurs wreaked havoc across two streets, the military finally showed up. While the T-Rex might have been the king of the dinosaurs in prehistoric times, it was no match for modern weaponry. The dinosaur was quickly taken down.
Once the T-Rex was dealt with, Daniel lost interest in the aftermath. With the military armed to the teeth, including portable missile launchers, the dinosaurs stood no chance. The only question was how much damage and how many casualties would result.
However, this was none of Daniel's concern, nor was it the Avengers' responsibility. The Avengers were few in number, and with government restrictions, they couldn't intervene in every situation. If the Avengers handled everything, what would be the point of having police and military?
"People really do risk their lives for wealth, and birds for food."
The next day, Daniel looked into the cause of the dinosaur attack on New York City. The culprits were the mercenaries he had seen on the Jurassic Park island. They had captured dinosaurs and transported them to New York, hoping to make a fortune by selling them. However, things went horribly wrong, leading to the dinosaur rampage.
According to the FBI's investigation, the mercenaries initially targeted smaller dinosaurs like Compsognathus, which were about the size of chickens. While these dinosaurs might have seemed like ideal pets, their aggressive nature made them dangerous. Using net guns, the mercenaries easily captured the Compsognathus. Emboldened by their success, they set their sights on larger dinosaurs like Velociraptors and eventually a T-Rex.
After suffering some casualties, they managed to tranquilize the T-Rex. However, overconfident in the tranquilizer's effectiveness, they approached the dinosaur without proper precautions, even taking selfies with it. Their overconfidence cost them their lives when the T-Rex woke up and devoured them.
In the chaos that followed, the dinosaurs escaped, causing widespread destruction. While the larger dinosaurs were eventually killed, some smaller ones, like the Compsognathus, remained at large due to their size. It wasn't until the surviving mercenaries were captured and interrogated that the full extent of their dinosaur smuggling operation was revealed.
"Ross just never learns, does he?"
Despite being demoted, General Ross remained relentless in his pursuits. This time, his target was the dinosaurs.
"You're saying there's an issue with the OASIS game data?"
Just as Daniel was about to follow up on the dinosaur situation, Red Queen contacted him with urgent news, shifting his focus entirely.
"Yes, there's been significant data fluctuations in one particular region multiple times," Red Queen explained, displaying a data map of the affected area in the OASIS virtual game.
"Is this a hacker attack? Has someone's skills reached this level?"
While there were many skilled hackers in the Marvel universe, even Skye wasn't the best. However, OASIS was no ordinary system. Combining technology from Sword Art Online's Kayaba Akihiko, it was a cutting-edge virtual reality game. Aside from Tony Stark, Daniel couldn't think of anyone capable of hacking into OASIS.
"Trace where the signal is coming from."
"Understood." After some time, Red Queen displayed a map on the virtual screen.
"I wonder who's behind this?" With that question in mind, Daniel headed to the location indicated on the map—a small, remote town in the mountains called Elk Grove.
"Welcome to Mobius." Seeing the large sign at the town's entrance, Daniel paused. The name Mobius felt familiar.
"Wait, isn't this that company?" After a quick search, Daniel realized why the name was familiar. Mobius was a company he had investigated before—a chain of psychiatric hospitals.
"This feels eerily familiar. It's like Raccoon City."
Entering Elk Grove, Daniel was struck by the similarities to the infamous Raccoon City from the Resident Evil series. The only difference was that Elk Grove was much smaller.
The entire town was plastered with Mobius slogans, promoting harmony and prosperity.
"The people here seem... off."
The townsfolk eyed Daniel with suspicion, which was unusual for a small town. It wasn't like they were in a hidden ninja village.
"This is interesting." Using the town map, Daniel noticed armed personnel observing him from a distance with binoculars. He couldn't help but smile.
"A psychiatric hospital?" Seeing the hospital on the outskirts of town, along with a nearby church, Daniel headed straight for it.
Buzz.
As Daniel approached the hospital, a strange buzzing sound echoed in his mind. For an ordinary person, this would have been enough to knock them unconscious. But for Daniel, it was merely an annoyance.
(End of Chapter)
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