"Even with Stark's genius, the technological gap is just too wide to bridge," thought Daniel Davis as he walked through the streets of Hell's Kitchen at night, hooded and head down, pondering Stark's research.
After curing Stark, the latter became fascinated by the powers of the Op-Op Fruit and started experimenting with some animals. Unfortunately, the results were less than satisfactory.
Stark's study of the Destroyer followed a similar path. Despite being one of Asgard's top technologies, it wasn't something easily replicable. This was vastly different from how Howard Stark created the Arc Reactor from the Tesseract or how Dr. Hank Pym developed Pym Particles from it.
Howard and Hank's successes were not just due to their talents but significantly because of the Tesseract, an Infinity Stone. The emergence of various mutants on Earth, like the Hulk, Captain Marvel, and even the Inhumans, along with numerous technological marvels, could be attributed to the presence of Infinity Stones on Earth.
Without the Infinity Stones, such feats would have been impossible. The Kree had experimented with Inhumans on many planets but only succeeded on Earth—not because Earthlings were particularly destined or extraordinary, but because Earth harbored Infinity Stones. Having one would be notable enough, but Earth had two.
Infinity Stones are incredibly powerful but also come with their own set of issues. Otherwise, Odin wouldn't have left the Space Stone on Earth. It would have been safer in Asgard. Moreover, even after Asgard acquired the Reality Stone, Odin chose to leave it with the Collector rather than keeping it in Asgard.
Daniel didn't know Odin's exact reasons, but it was clear Odin was very cautious about the Infinity Stones.
In terms of understanding the Infinity Stones, even the Ancient One couldn't match Odin. Otherwise, the Ancient One wouldn't have allowed two Infinity Stones to remain on Earth.
But it was not entirely the Ancient One's fault. Most of her energy was devoted to defending against dimensional incursions, and she spent her life primarily on Earth or in other dimensional realms, without much exploration of the Marvel universe's broader reality.
"Thinking about it, Thanos destroying the Infinity Stones was actually a blessing for this world," Daniel mused. Though the Infinity Stones can't truly be destroyed and Thanos's "destruction" merely transformed them into an invisible form—such as quantum states—they would eventually be reborn. However, their rebirth would not occur for thousands or even millions of years.
"Free America, shootings every day—indeed, that saying isn't wrong," Daniel thought. As he walked through Hell's Kitchen, he soon heard gunshots nearby, accompanied by screams and curses.
Except for a few affluent areas, the USA is generally unsafe at night, especially in Hell's Kitchen. By day, Hell's Kitchen is relatively normal, but by night, it's like a completely different place.
"Stop right there." Daniel had just started to think this when he encountered four young black men with menacing tattoos, all armed with weapons—two with knives, two with baseball bats.
Upon hearing this, Daniel immediately turned and ran. The four men cursed and chased after him. Fleeing in panic, Daniel ran into a narrow alley, prompting the four men to laugh arrogantly, knowing it was a dead end.
"A yellow-skinned monkey, huh?" They laughed even more when they saw Daniel take off his hood, revealing his Asian features.
Ah.
The next moment, the man who had spoken screamed loudly. His companions, startled, saw him clutching his eyes as blood poured from his eye sockets. His knife had fallen into Daniel's hand.
"Bastard." One of the men, a burly figure, raised his bat and swung it at Daniel's head. In an instant, he too screamed in pain as his bat fell to the ground, along with one of his hands. He clutched his wrist, where his right hand had been, crying out in agony.
The remaining two, terrified by what they saw, dropped their weapons and turned to flee. But a moment later, they were both thrown against the alley wall by an unseen force, knocking them unconscious.
"Four people, that should be enough." Seeing the blinded man still screaming, Daniel quickly knocked him out with a kick. Then he coldly turned his gaze to the man who had lost his hand. Seeing Daniel's chilling expression, the man fell silent, sweating profusely as he tried to suppress the pain.
Daniel then moved swiftly to knock him unconscious as well.
Afterward, Daniel pulled out his wand and used a summoning spell to drag the two unconscious men toward him, piling all four together. "Fiendfyre." He then conjured a small fire and vanished with a flick of his wand.
"Consider yourselves lucky to have met me. Quantum realms and dimensional spaces—experiences even Stark hasn't had," Daniel said to himself in the basement of his villa after tossing the four men aside. He began to work immediately.
First, he stopped the bleeding of the two injured men, then he dressed one of them in the Ant-Man suit. Daniel hadn't gone to Hell's Kitchen to play superhero; he had been searching for test subjects, and these four fit the bill perfectly.
With the satellite he needed already in hand—a mix of three simulation satellites and one digital satellite, though somewhat old—it was sufficient for use in Harry's world.
He had also gathered all the necessary materials beforehand. Considering Stark's suggestions and the potential need to bring others with him in the future, he decided to test for safety. Hence, he ventured into Hell's Kitchen to find subjects.
Now he had four test subjects to experiment on from four different perspectives.
The first was to test if an ordinary person could survive in the quantum realm. He speculated that without Pym Particles, ordinary people likely couldn't survive in the quantum space, but it needed verification. This was a serious matter involving human lives, not something to be taken lightly—though not the lives of these thugs.
Daniel wouldn't experiment on innocent people, but using these criminals was a different matter. He was, in a way, ridding the streets of danger. Had he thought of it sooner, he would have started testing right after returning from Harry's world.
"I also need to test the effects of the Op-Op Fruit's powers in the quantum realm and dimensional spaces," Daniel muttered, using the Op-Op Fruit's abilities to cut one of the men into pieces.
Daniel could have returned to Harry's world long ago. With the portal between the two realms established, traveling back and forth wouldn't waste much time.
But he's not the savior of Harry's world. There's no need to burden himself too much. Traveling between realms consumes Pym Particles, and while he's now wealthy, before his transmigration, earning enough for even a single vial of Pym Particles would have been impossible for him.
He wanted to change Harry's world, but only if it didn't hinder his growth. He also saw Harry's world as a potential logistical base.
After all, gathering materials for the Arc Reactor or manufacturing Pym Particles was easier in Harry's world than in the Marvel universe.
"This timeline is fascinating. How exactly do two different dimensional spaces synchronize time?" Daniel pondered as he saw the time in Harry's world upon his return. To his surprise, the time difference between the two worlds was minimal, despite spending considerable time in the Marvel universe.
"Is it time synchronization or something else?"
"Forget it, I'll go back in a few days and see how those four are doing. It seems like I'll need to keep making money to afford enough Pym Particles for free travel between dimensions."
Traveling this way was far more expensive than Stark's private jet.
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"It turns out you do need the Ant-Man suit and Pym Particles," Daniel Davis thought with a sigh of relief as he observed the last surviving test subject. The initial experiments showed that it was indeed possible to bring people back and forth through the quantum realm. However, to confirm this conclusively, multiple trials were necessary.
Through these experiments, Daniel discovered that the powers of the Op-Op Fruit lost their effect in dimensional spaces. This was true for both living and non-living objects. He wasn't too surprised by this; what he couldn't determine was whether this was due to his insufficient strength or the energy within the quantum realm itself. He would need to test again once he had grown stronger.
Afterward, Daniel disposed of the remaining test subject by using the dimensional space to eliminate any traces of him. He needed to stay in the area for a while and didn't want to bother with managing the captive. As for finding new test subjects, there was never a shortage of deserving candidates in this world.
"Sigh, the magical world's suppression of technology is really severe. It's astonishing that in this day and age, there's no such thing as international telephone service," Daniel lamented. He had initially planned to notify Grindelwald but decided against it upon realizing the absence of such communication methods. Though he could easily use teleportation magic to open a portal to London, it seemed unnecessary.
The times had changed. Even if he couldn't defeat Grindelwald or Dumbledore, he could always escape. He decided to use this time to establish his businesses.
Daniel had plans for two companies. The first was a tech company, which would facilitate the launch of his smartphone and allow for the procurement of resources. The second was a gaming company, driven by his personal interest and a strategic move for future planning.
Introducing a vast array of second-dimensional culture and fostering technological advancements would lessen the disruption caused by the revelation of the magical world. Much like in the Marvel universe, where superheroes, aliens, and gods were casually discussed in passing, people might adapt to the magical world without much upheaval.
Initially, Daniel had considered launching board games. This era was the golden age of board games, with the lack of advanced technology making people less busy than in his original world and eager for entertainment. Board games were a great way to enhance this world's entertainment landscape.
During this period, Daniel had even devised several board games based on the themes of the Three Kingdoms, the Sui and Tang dynasties, Journey to the West, and Dream of the Red Chamber.
Of course, to be precise, these weren't solely Daniel's creations but were largely developed by the Red Queen through computer simulations based on his ideas.
In Harry's world, the magical community in China wasn't as conservative as the Western magical world. Interestingly, in this world's version of the USA, the country was renowned not for its technological prowess but for its magical advancements, striving to surpass the old magical order.
The magical world was theoretically divided by the seven continents, though regions like Africa and Antarctica were just nominally included.
Africa was a magical desert and the largest producer of Obscurials. Fortunately, most Obscurials didn't live past ten years old; otherwise, Africa might have been doomed.
Obscurials were incredibly powerful magical beings, though their attack methods were limited. Their magical power was immense. Grindelwald had gone through great lengths to manipulate Credence, whose Obscurus had survived past ten years, an extraordinary rarity.
The Dumbledore family's bloodline was indeed formidable. While other Obscurials rarely survived beyond ten years, Credence defied this limitation.
"I'll need to find a CEO for this world too," Daniel mused. After successfully registering his companies, he turned to a headhunting firm to find a manager. The term 'CEO' wasn't in use in this world yet.
Daniel's goal in starting these companies was to gather resources, not to spend all his time managing them. He already felt pressed for time to train and study; running a company would be an even greater time drain. Even Tony Stark rarely handled his company's affairs seriously.
Being able to travel to the Marvel universe and gaining the ability to traverse dimensional spaces from the Ancient One was a rare opportunity. Focusing on becoming stronger was his priority. With the infinite possibilities of the universe, he might even have a chance to become a true deity. However, this was a distant goal, and he needed to take things one step at a time.
Daniel spent a substantial amount of money and quickly found a suitable CEO—a woman in her thirties who had previously been a general manager for a unique foreign company. This company had begun scaling down and exiting the Chinese market due to poor performance, leading to her dismissal.
After confirming her as the right candidate, Daniel handed over a lot of tasks to her, including the gaming company and a food and beverage company.
The food business focused on snacks like chips, while the beverage side was simpler. In the Marvel universe, his company's drinks were on the verge of competing with Pepsi and Coke. In this world, neither brand had yet ventured into the domestic market.
As for the tech company, Daniel had to keep a closer eye on it initially. After recruiting some researchers, he started working. For his recent absence, his excuse was straightforward—he had been in seclusion for research. Next came negotiations with the government, as launching satellites wasn't straightforward. Daniel was confident the government wouldn't refuse, especially since even the magical world needed smartphones.
Although Daniel had learned a form of duplicating magic, the "Eikonic Figure," which could create a tangible shadow clone, its duration was still too short, useful only in combat. If he were powerful enough, he might summon a long-lasting shadow clone to handle the front-end responsibilities.
Having mastered a considerable amount of the magic taught by Doctor Strange, Daniel was convinced that lower-level mages resorted to wielding physical weapons. The more he delved into Kamar-Taj's magic, the more he doubted whether the Ancient One was truly dead. If he were in her position, he could easily have passed the title of Sorcerer Supreme to Doctor Strange and then wandered other dimensional spaces.
The Ancient One had never used many powerful spells, like the Whip of Agamotto, the Eikonic Figure, the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak, the Bolts of Balthakk, or the Sword of Vishanti, during her battle with Kaecilius. Opting for close combat over such spells seemed illogical.
"All set," Daniel announced. He arrived at his London residence through a portal after arranging everything. There, he met Grindelwald.
"It's almost ready. In a little while, we'll see the results," Daniel confirmed. He had previously left instructions with Grindelwald, stating that his absence was due to his involvement in tech research. Grindelwald was to use the provided materials to teach the students.
Grindelwald, appearing somewhat excited upon receiving Daniel's confirmation, was aware of the significant changes that the introduction of smartphones would bring to this world—changes that the magical community couldn't prevent unless they wanted to go to war with the Muggle world.
"You've become a Muggle Studies teacher?" Daniel was taken aback after conversing with Grindelwald. He had expected Dumbledore or Grindelwald to pass the teaching materials to a professor instead.
Grindelwald had even lived incognito among Muggles for an extended period to better understand their way of life for teaching purposes.
For the sake of his ideals, Grindelwald's potential seemed limitless.
"That's actually good. By the way, I've brought some nice things this time," Daniel said, producing several board games he had created, along with snacks like chips and chocolate bars.
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PS: Some have compared the performance of the Op-Op Fruit in the One Piece world to the protagonist's use of it. Remember, the One Piece world is heavily centered around physical prowess and high bodily resilience.
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