章 8: The Test Subject Revolts

Even in the face of the terrifying G-3 test subject's revolt, the security personnel did not hesitate to charge forward.

Adam was there, and as his loyal followers, they would never flee from danger.

In the next moment, a series of "bang! bang! bang!" sounds echoed as four security guards were sent flying by the test subject. The special metal daggers they wielded were snapped in half.

However, thanks to the T-virus enhancement, the security personnel, though severely injured, were not dead.

"Roar!"

The test subject let out a victorious roar, then approached Adam, its expression filled with hatred and bloodlust.

Although its brain was almost completely controlled by the parasite, it retained a sliver of its own consciousness and memory, enough to recognize who the mastermind was.

Faced with the monster's roar, Adam showed no fear. Instead, he watched the test subject with great interest.

"It seems you still have some awareness. This experiment isn't a complete failure after all."

The test subject swung its massive right hand at Adam, intending to crush the mastermind in front of it and avenge its suffering.

But in the next second, the massive right hand stopped just ten centimeters away from Adam. No matter how much force the test subject applied, it could not move forward.

"Roar!"

The test subject let out a fearful cry as its entire body began to slowly lift off the ground.

At this moment, Adam's eyes glowed blue, and an incredibly powerful psychic force surged around him.

Moments later, the test subject suddenly felt a sharp pain in its head, then lost all strength in its body.

"POP!!"

As the test subject's head exploded and its lifeless body fell to the ground, Adam retracted all of his psychic energy.

"Red Queen, prepare the next test subject."

......

Time slowly crept into the next morning.

Tony Stark finally returned to his villa, piloting the nearly shattered Mark III armor.

The moment he got back, he collapsed onto the floor, exhausted.

"Huff... so cold..."

Due to the three cracks on the chest of the Mark III, he had felt cold wind seeping into his body the entire way back.

This made his flight slower, and it wasn't until now that he had finally returned home.

Unbeknownst to him, it was precisely because he flew slowly and at a low altitude that he was not detected by U.S. military radar, avoiding a potential misunderstanding.

"Jarvis, turn on the heat..."

After saying that, he shakily grabbed a blanket and covered himself with it.

The long-awaited warmth gradually spread through his body, making the cold and hungry Tony feel a wave of drowsiness.

However, he resisted the urge to sleep and took out a piece of tissue.

"Jarvis, take this for analysis..."

"Yes, Mr. Stark."

As the tissue sample was taken away, Tony immediately closed his eyes and fell asleep.

It was unclear how much time had passed.

Tony felt his body being moved and slowly opened his eyes. Through the helmet of the Mark III, he saw Pepper looking at him anxiously, trying to remove his armor.

But because the Mark III was an intelligent mechanical structure, no one but him could open it.

"Tony, what's wrong? Answer me!"

Seeing the concern in Pepper's eyes and the tears clinging to her lashes, Tony felt a sudden warmth in his heart.

Perhaps, in this world, the person who cared most about him was her.

"I'm fine."

He struggled to get up after speaking.

Fortunately, the Mark III's energy source was entirely powered by the arc reactor in his chest, so he wasn't in any danger of running out of power.

Otherwise, if the armor lost energy, he might not have been able to stand at all.

Hearing Tony's voice, Pepper breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank God, I'm so glad you're okay..."

A while later, Tony reached the robotic arms in the basement and, with their help, removed the armor.

Pepper, seeing Tony emerge, immediately walked over, full of concern, and began checking him over.

"Are you hurt? Do you feel any discomfort?"

Looking at Pepper's worried expression, Tony's earlier tension and anxiety faded significantly.

"I'm really fine. This armor is quite thick... uh, well, sort of."

He originally wanted to offer more reassurance, but seeing the huge crack on the chest of the Mark III, he couldn't bring himself to say more.

Running his hand over the crack, Tony felt extremely fortunate that he had killed the monster in time. Otherwise, if it had struck again, the Mark III might have fallen apart.

What kind of creature had such immense strength and razor-sharp blades?

"Growl..."

At that moment, Tony's stomach growled in protest. Having gone so long without eating, he was now extremely hungry.

"Jarvis, I want a burger."

As a billionaire, Tony had a not-so-great eating habit: he loved high-calorie burgers.

"Certainly, Mr. Stark."

Just as Jarvis was about to place an order for takeout, Pepper shook her head.

"No need, I'll make breakfast for you. You're so hungry, you shouldn't eat a burger."

In addition to being his secretary, she was also Tony's personal assistant, so she had the authority to make decisions about his breakfast.

After speaking, she went upstairs to prepare breakfast.

Once Pepper was out of sight, the smile on Tony's face instantly disappeared, replaced by a serious expression as he headed to another lab.

This lab was filled with microscopes and various instruments. The tissue sample he had brought back was now sliced and placed under a microscope.

"Jarvis, how's the analysis going? Did you find anything?"

"Mr. Stark, I'm sorry. After comparing over three thousand genetic samples, I couldn't find any reference genome."

"You mean this creature isn't from our planet?"

"No, the genes in the tissue share 96% similarity with human DNA, but also 94% similarity with a praying mantis.

Moreover, there's over 80% similarity with other insects, but the strange part is that, among all known genomes, human and insect genes have never had more than 70% similarity."

"You're saying this is a completely new hybrid species of human and insect?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Did you find any X-genes?"

Even though the genes were unusual, this was still the Marvel Universe, where mutants were a semi-public reality.

So, Tony's first thought was of mutants.

"I didn't detect any X-genes."

"Impossible!"

Hearing that there were no X-genes, Tony's brow furrowed deeply. He had strongly suspected the creature was a mutant.

But now, Jarvis was telling him there were no X-genes, meaning the creature wasn't a mutant. So, how did this creature come to be? Could it be from another planet?

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