The Extremis Virus was much like the Centipede Serum—ultimately a bit of a disappointment.
Aside from generating extreme heat and granting regenerative abilities, it offered little else.
More importantly, that regeneration vanished the moment its core was destroyed. As for the high-temperature output, it could only be used at very short range, including flame projection.
Because of that, Extremis soldiers didn't have much practical value. Still, if it were applied to Beast-Enhanced soldiers, it wouldn't be bad—at the very least, it would give them an additional high-energy thermal release ability.
He could even try creating a Wolverine. After all, the regenerative ability of Extremis soldiers wasn't much different from Wolverine's; it was only missing a layer of metal bones.
"Reject the offer. And while you're at it, find Aldrich Killian's base."
Zod said this to the Black Queen. He planned to take a few batches of the Extremis Virus back for his own research. Cooperation was unnecessary. Zod wasn't in the habit of working too closely with villains, and since both Vanko father and son were already under his control, if he dealt with Aldrich Killian as well… who would Tony fight in the future?
With the Black Queen's assistance, Aldrich Killian's location was quickly identified—an abandoned building in the suburbs. A.I.M. specialized in acquiring structures like this for experiments. If something exploded, it could be covered up easily without attracting attention. More importantly, it was cheap.
Just like this time.
Zod hovered above the building below. His X-ray vision effortlessly pierced the lead-free structure, revealing the underground base. Aldrich Killian was overseeing an experiment. On the operating table lay a soldier missing all four limbs. After a researcher injected him with the Extremis Virus, his arms and legs lit up with dazzling light and miraculously regrew.
As the soldier began thanking God, Killian and the others turned pale. Red warning lights flared on the monitors—once again, an excessive dosage had caused the Extremis Virus to lose control.
The soldier sensed something was wrong. A red glow spread beneath his skin. Killian and the others didn't even bother unstrapping him; they immediately began packing up to leave. As the soldier roared in desperation, beams of light shot from his mouth.
Boom!
The self-detonation of an Extremis soldier was terrifying. The entire building was reduced to rubble.
Zod slowly descended to the ground. Aldrich Killian and his subordinates stood frozen in an open area, their eyes vacant.
A powerful psychic force seized control of their minds. Zod casually took a briefcase from one of the subordinates—it contained the Extremis Virus.
After that, he extracted all data and research materials related to the Extremis Virus from Aldrich Killian. His superbrain recorded everything flawlessly, never forgetting a single detail.
"Remember this, Aldrich Killian," Zod said calmly. "You deeply hate Tony Stark. Not only for the humiliation he inflicted on you physically, but also the humiliation of the mind and spirit."
After setting up a signature archenemy for Tony Stark, Zod vanished back to his base without leaving a name. Only then did he release Killian and the others from mental control.
"Boss, we left too hastily… the Extremis Virus was destroyed in the explosion."
The subordinate who had been carrying the virus said this guiltily.
"It doesn't matter," Aldrich Killian replied coldly. "There's as much Extremis Virus as we want. Next time, we'll just run multiple experiments at once."
Killian stared painfully at the ruined site. A massive explosion had occurred here—it was unusable now. He'd have to spend money on a new location, and funding was already tight.
Damn Tony Stark!
Back at his base, Zod began studying the Extremis Virus. During this period, he had learned a great deal and was no longer as constrained as before.
The biggest problem with Extremis was its stability. Killian and his team had always believed the issue lay with excessive dosage. They searched endlessly for a "standard line" before finally realizing something was off—just how foolish they were.
In Zod's hands, the problem was solved with ease. He barely felt any difficulty at all.
"So that's the mechanism," Zod murmured. "This is actually the perfect counter to the vampire virus."
To his surprise, Zod discovered a cure for vampirism. Although Extremis looked terrifying—capable of burning vampires to ashes—its underlying mechanism wasn't nearly as crude or violent as it appeared. As long as the subject wasn't a pureblood vampire, injecting Extremis could revert them back into a human.
That made Zod think of the universal antidote serum he was still developing for the improved Blade serum. He had been worried about long-term side effects or delayed complications. But if he used Extremis—inject the universal antidote serum first to cleanse the modified virus, then inject Extremis to eliminate the vampire virus—wouldn't that solve the problem entirely?
All that was required was precise control of the Extremis Virus, allowing it to complete its effect before being cleared by the body's immune system. That way, there was no risk of turning someone into an Extremis soldier.
At the same time, Extremis was also a natural vampire killer. It could even be provided to Blade as a weapon.
Of course, that would be a wasteful approach. It would be far better to just give Blade ultraviolet weapons instead.
After a series of experiments, Zod successfully made the Extremis Virus his own personal tool—completely obedient, doing whatever he wanted.
The newly improved Beast-Enhancement serum was no longer suitable for ordinary Beast soldiers. As such, Zod named it the Second-Generation Mass-Produced Super Beast Enhancement Serum.
With the added high-energy thermal release ability and Zod's organ adjustments, the resulting Super Beast soldiers gained the ability to fire concentrated thermal energy beams. In close combat, only someone wearing vibranium or adamantium—or a monster like the Hulk—could withstand that level of thermal output and fight them head-on.
It was heat capable of melting steel instantly.
Zod felt that the movies had never really accounted for heat transfer rates, but Marvel had never been known for respecting physics anyway, so he didn't dwell on it.
After Zod resolved the potential issues with the universal antidote serum, Blade Technology Industries approached Blade himself and reached a cooperation agreement.
All Blade had to do was provide 1,000 milliliters of blood at regular intervals. In return, Blade Technology Industries would supply him with high-tech weaponry to hunt vampires.
For example—ultraviolet bullets.
After all, Zod remembered that the plot of Blade II was approaching. Even though it was still years away, what if it happened early?
Once Blade started using Blade Technology Industries' weapons, he fell in love with them instantly. Donating blood once a month?
No problem at all, as far as Blade was concerned.
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