When it comes to making life difficult for their own patron, no one in the multiverse does it better than Kamar-Taj.
Take this time, for example—Solomon outright replaced the Vishanti's herald with the soul of an Imperial Guard, and although Vishanti didn't bother to retaliate, the reason was simple: their goals aligned, both being direct creations of the Earth Mother Gaia. The White Witch of Magic, the Storm Goddess Oshtur, might have considered it reasonable, but this petty goddess tolerated no transgression. It didn't matter how serious the incident was or how much magic had been borrowed—she would always make Solomon pay the bill.
The warning signs had been there: borrowing Oshtur's power always came at the steepest cost. She wouldn't even forgive a simple burn, let alone Solomon blatantly replacing her herald and siphoning power from the Vishanti's divine realm.
Still, the reason Solomon succeeded in casting the spell must be because Agamotto, the first Sorcerer Supreme, stepped in to shield him—preventing Oshtur from taking revenge and derailing the Earth Mother's grand design. The three rings Solomon now wore had been sanctioned by Agamotto himself—without his approval, neither Oshtur nor Hoggoth would have agreed to such loosely defined contracts.
Maya Hansen would soon carry out a comprehensive analysis of the golden-armored Imperial Guard—studying his genome, organs, and tissues. Every strength and weakness in the system would be assessed and compared with the bio-lab's existing technologies and future plans, all in the pursuit of creating a more perfect, more powerful soldier.
The Extremis Virus, as a DNA-methylating gene-editing tool, was widely used in the lab for its incredible capabilities. Maya planned to splice gene fragments from the Imperial Guard into experimental subjects to observe the impact of these specialized genes in both epigenetics and classical genetics.
It was a dull, repetitive process: sequencing the Guard's genes, cutting and splicing thousands of times, then comparing them to Solomon's genetic data and the global human genome database. They'd conduct RNA interference, expression profiling, linkage analysis, and genome-wide association studies—all to determine the function of just a few strands of DNA. The workload was massive.
"This is the Extremis Virus's true power—directly linking conscious brain functions to autonomic biological systems," Maya explained as if giving a lecture. As a top-tier expert in genetics and virology, she was more than qualified to teach Solomon a thing or two. After all, she led all scientific implementations of magical biology within the lab.
And thanks to a little trinket Solomon gave her to boost her intellect, there was barely a scientific challenge that could slow her down.
"This conscious link to bodily instincts is the foundation of the enhanced soldier's power. From our analysis, it's the first step in the augmentation process—always the first step," she said. "But the experimental subjects have far more complex nervous systems. The transplanted meninges and neural nodes completely rewired their body's neural architecture—enhancing and modifying brain function. To mimic your brain's efficiency, we'll have to add a series of specialized neural nodes and glands. And that's the problem—there are no obstacles anymore, just a hellish workload and a decade-long growth cycle. All those organs we discovered? They're essentially native to each subject. To complete the project, we're now looking at a ten-year development cycle."
Thankfully, Wakanda's high-tech lab equipment helped solve some of the issues. Some of the required heavy machinery was still in Wakanda's underground facilities, so she had to reserve lab time there. However, she kept the true nature of her work under wraps. She shared only fragments of alchemical pharmacology and biological chemistry with Wakanda's researchers—nothing about the actual project.
As part of the life-support and enhancement system for power armor, medicinal chemistry was also the lab's domain.
One of their ongoing joint experiments was the synthetic recreation of the Heart-Shaped Herb. Within the Wakandan royal family, this research was conducted in secret. Scientists had isolated various secondary metabolites—flavonoids, terpenes, nitrogen-based alkaloids, sulfur compounds—each playing a role in regulating lung endurance and cognitive alertness. Some metabolites had extremely specific interactions with body receptors, functioning similarly to hormones. They could stimulate the sympathetic nervous system, sustain adrenaline output, or mimic endogenous molecules to modulate pain perception and temporarily raise pain thresholds.
But no matter how brilliant Wakandan science was, no synthesized compound could replicate the true effects of the herb. Without Bast's divine power catalyzing the reactions, all experimental subjects who received injections of the synthetic blend died.
That's why the Eternal City's alchemical potions were the most coveted technology in Wakanda—especially by King T'Chaka.
He no longer wanted the fate of the throne to be tied to some vague divine approval. He wanted stability, a line of succession that would endure. And so, as part of their ongoing exchange of knowledge in alchemical pharmacology and genetic science, Wakanda had to offer something of equal value. Since the kingdom had no spare personnel to volunteer for Mars Forge development, they proposed a different trade: a project led by Shuri to outfit their existing power armor units with complete life-support systems. In return, the Wakandan science division would research improved energy solutions for those systems.
Biology for machinery—that was the deal.
Solomon wasn't worried about Bast taking offense. Alchemy and divine power were fundamentally different. Even if Wakandans somehow succeeded in synthesizing a functional Heart-Shaped Herb, it would never match the original's effects.
"You think I'm not doing enough already, Solomon!?" the bio-lab director snapped, arms akimbo. The dark circles under her eyes said it all—she was drowning in work, and couldn't handle even one more "small request."
"This little thing caused the Puerto Rico earthquake."
"It's just a vial of blood. Unless the person it came from is... Wait, never mind." She didn't even bother frowning. "I don't have the staff to analyze this. Ask that private lab you bought to do it—I've got Wakandan meetings stacked to the ceiling."
"Remember the day I brought the Divine Source back?" Solomon placed the blood vial on her desk. "I also stopped in Puerto Rico. Where do you think Whitehall's head came from? I hope he's enjoying himself in that simulation built by the Samaritans—his brain's more useful than any AI. Anyway, this blood's been altered by Terrigenesis. It's a hybrid of Kree and human DNA. I need you to find something that can suppress the unique compounds in it."
Whitehall's brain was perfectly preserved—still active.
"Who are you after now?"
"Not who—who else." Solomon shook his head. He was part of the lab too, after all. As the boss, he worked hard, without complaint, under Maya Hansen's command. "A bunch of people who don't think they're human."
After a moment, he corrected himself. "No, that's not right. Let's say—some mongrels who think they're better than human."
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Fairy Tail: Igneel's Eldest Son (Chapter 256)
I Am Thalos, Odin's Older Brother (Chapter 336)
Reborn in America's Anti-Terror Unit (Chapter 542)
Solomon in Marvel (Chapter 924)
Becoming the Wealthiest Tycoon on the Planet (Chapter 1284)
Surgical Fruit in the American Comics Universe (Chapter 1289)
American Detective: From TV Rookie to Seasoned Cop (Chapter 1316)
American TV Writer (Chapter 1402)
I Am Hades, The Supreme GOD of the Underworld! (Chapter 570)
Reborn as Humanity's Emperor Across the Multiverse (Chapter 660)
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