บท 94: Chapter 92
It had been about a month, and Damian woke up early to head to the laboratory. That day, the soldiers would undergo genetic enhancement, so he was quite curious.
Natasha wasn't in bed, so he assumed she was going to work that day.
After checking on his daughters, he went downstairs. Natasha was finishing her breakfast and gave him a slight smile upon seeing him.
"What do you have to do today?" Damian asked, sitting beside her.
"I'm not sure, maybe I won't have anything to do," Natasha replied, laughing. Her missions with Clint were usually focused on assault, and those kinds of situations didn't occur every day in her area.
"What an exhausting job," Damian joked.
"It's a job with its risks, although, with the necklace you gave me, it's highly unlikely that anything will happen to me," Natasha said, smiling faintly.
Damian smiled and ran his fingers through Natasha's hair as he watched her finish eating.
"See you later," Natasha said, kissing Damian before leaving.
Damian smiled as he watched her go before teleporting to Madripoor.
Damian arrived with the scientist, who was a bit surprised by his sudden arrival.
"My lord," the scientist said, smiling.
"The soldiers are ready, we've been waiting for you," the scientist said.
"Follow me to the control room," the scientist said before leading him to a room with windows where all the soldiers were wearing uniforms with numbers.
"I will start the process," the scientist said before pressing a button and speaking into the microphone.
"Everyone, please go to the capsule with your number," the scientist instructed the soldiers who were chatting while waiting.
As everyone walked toward their respective capsules, the scientist's voice explaining the process could be heard.
"The capsules are personalized, that's why they have numbers."
"Inside the capsules, they will be injected with a large amount of somatotropin along with muscle electrostimulation. This will make them grow and increase their muscle mass and bone density while also inducing the body to primarily use fat as an energy source."
"The process will be unimaginably painful; it's best to endure the pain. The longer you can withstand it, the greater the benefits will be, although there is a limit to this as well."
"This will push you to the maximum limit as ordinary humans. Then we will inject a chemical compound to break those limits, making you several times stronger while neutralizing the consequences of the previous treatment."
"The capsules also provide the necessary nutrients to facilitate the transformation."
"That sounds good," Damian said, nodding as he watched the soldiers enter the capsules in an orderly manner.
"What is the distribution between men and women?" Damian asked.
"There are 60 men and 40 women," the scientist replied, reviewing the data.
"I see," Damian said, remaining silent as he watched everyone enter their respective capsules.
Once each one was inside their capsule, they began to rotate and position themselves horizontally.
The scientist ensured that everything was in order before pressing a button to initiate the procedure.
The capsules started to emit a faint glow before the sound of agonizing screams could be heard from within.
"Just remember that the more pain you endure, the stronger you will become. Think about how the greater your strength, the better you can protect your families," the scientist said, trying to encourage the soldiers.
"What happens if they can't bear it?" Damian asked.
"The capsule will detect their brain waves and halt the process before injecting them with the Kree chemical compound that enhances and heals them to eliminate any adverse effects. But it's like forging; once the iron is cold, you can no longer shape it," the scientist said, shaking his head slightly.
Damian nodded before looking at the capsules and creating an illusion in everyone's minds where they would lose what mattered most to them.
"With that, they should be able to endure quite a lot," Damian murmured as he listened to the screams emanating from the capsules.
If they weren't several meters underground, the people in the city would surely hear the horrifying screams.
"Hm, I expected several to have already emerged," the scientist said, looking at the clock. It had been about 30 seconds, and he had expected them to last between 20 seconds and 2 minutes in the most extreme cases.
Damian said nothing and remained silent, watching as the seconds continued to pass.
After one minute, around 30 capsules started to glow before the screams inside them ceased. Another 30 seconds passed, and 80 capsules had come to a stop.
"This first batch is quite impressive; they have a lot of willpower," the scientist murmured, looking at the time.
At one minute and 45 seconds, 99 capsules had glowed and silenced the screams. Only one capsule remained, and both of their attention was focused on it.
The scientist checked the tablet and saw that the soldier's name was Frank Castle. He couldn't help but glance at Damian, wondering if his king had a good eye for people.
It took two and a half minutes until the screams from the last capsule ceased.
"How long do they have to stay in the capsules?" Damian asked, looking at the scientist.
"It depends on each individual. The capsules will release them as soon as they wake up. If they don't wake up within a day, we will remove them to see what's going on," the scientist replied, checking the data for each soldier.
"Hm, then we shall wait," Damian said. The least he could do for his soldiers was to wait by their side as they recovered from the torture they had endured.
"Are the weapons ready?" Damian casually asked as they waited.
"Yes, they fire energy beams. The energy comes from the armor, so they shouldn't run out of ammunition until the suit's energy is depleted," the scientist said, displaying a projection of the weapons.
"Hm, let's prepare for an expedition. Look for places where we can obtain materials to create more armor, even if it means going to other planets," Damian said, nodding.
Damian and the scientist waited for five hours until the first capsules started to glow and tilt.
The soldiers moved somewhat dazed by the new sensations, looking at their hands and bodies in awe.
They quickly tried to stand up as several assistants approached to make sure everything was alright.
"They grew quite a bit," Damian said, somewhat speechless.
"Yes," the scientist replied with a slight laugh.
The soldiers had grown significantly, with the men measuring around 2 meters and the women measuring around 1.90 meters.
People quickly took their measurements after emerging from the capsules and their data was recorded.
As individuals continuously came out of the capsules, those who had already been checked were guided to a room for further examinations.
Damian also noticed Frank emerging, wearing his usual grumpy expression as he examined his hands and surroundings with a sense of amazement.
Frank stared in awe at his hands before looking around. It was evident that he had grown in size, and not only that, all his senses had significantly heightened.
Looking down, he could see his impressively toned body. A faint smile appeared on his face as he thought about his former superiors, to the point that he completely disregarded the people taking measurements of his body.
Once all the soldiers had exited the capsules, they were taken to another room where they underwent various examinations to ensure that everything had gone well.
"Let them return to the city for a few days and relax before resuming training," Damian said.
"Very well," the scientist nodded, though with some hesitation. He wanted to keep them under observation for a few more days since it is common for individuals to feel invincible after gaining such power, and they might attempt to escape.
"Just keep an eye on them and inform me of any changes," Damian said, nodding at the scientist before disappearing.
Damian reappeared at his home.
His arrival caught Ophelia's attention, and she approached him.
"You've been quite busy lately," Ophelia teased.
"And you've been quite free," Damian retorted, teasingly smiling. Ever since she temporarily put Olivia in charge, she hardly did anything.
"What are you working on?" Ophelia asked.
"The Spartan armors," Damian replied.
"Hm, have they started assembling them already?" Ophelia inquired curiously.
"Not yet. In a few days, the soldiers will begin adapting to their new physical abilities before we decide on the first 10 individuals to wear the armor," Damian explained.
"I want one," Ophelia said, looking at Damian flirtatiously.
"At your level, the armor won't be of much use to you," Damian declined.
"But it looks cool," Ophelia persisted, moving closer to Damian flirtatiously, wrapping her arms around his waist and looking up at him.
"What are you doing?" Damian raised an eyebrow. Although they were very close, they didn't typically show affection in that way.
"Can't I hug the father of my daughter?" Ophelia asked, smiling at him.
Damian fell silent for a moment before responding.
"I suppose you can," Damian said, running his fingers through Ophelia's hair with a slight smile.
"How are the girls?" Damian asked, his smile turning gentle.
"You know, restless, running around and playing all over the place," Ophelia laughed.
"Let's go inside," Damian said, still standing at the entrance.
Damian and Ophelia walked into the living room where Sophia was chatting on the phone.
Damian and Ophelia didn't pay much attention and sat on the sofa.
As they talked about various things, three pairs of footsteps came running.
"See? I told you, Daddy's here," Emma said, looking at Alice and Ivy.
"What happened?" Damian smiled at his daughters.
"I told Alice and Ivy that you were here, but they didn't believe me," Emma pouted.
Damian gestured for them to come closer, so he lifted Emma and Alice onto his lap while Ophelia held Ivy.
"And how did you know I was here?" Damian asked, slightly curious.
"I don't know, I just saw you here for a moment," Emma said, looking at Damian innocently.
"Hm, I see," Damian nodded, suspecting something, but Emma is too young to fully comprehend it. He'll observe how things unfold as she grows older.
"And what did you do today?" Damian asked, kissing Emma on the head.
"We played catch, we also played with Sassy, and now we were going to play hide-and-seek," Alice said, counting on her tiny fingers.
"What productive girls," Damian chuckled.
"Well, should we all play hide-and-seek together then?" Damian suggested with a smile.
"Yes! Let's invite Mommy too," Alice said, grinning.
"Alright, go find your mothers, and we'll start playing," Damian said, smiling.
The three girls ran off to find Carol and Ana.
"Technically, my daughter had already found me," Ophelia laughed, seeing Ivy also running out.
"Carol and Ana are their mothers too, maybe as they grow older, they'll start to differentiate, especially when they see the difference in hair color," Damian laughed.
"I like how it is now, so it's fine," Ophelia said, smiling softly.
In a few minutes, the three girls returned, pulling Carol and Ana by their hands. The two had been taking a nap when the girls came to wake them up.
"Let's play," Damian said, smiling, and the whole family began to play.
...
Frank looked at himself in the mirror with the new clothes he had been given since the previous ones were too small. Adjusting his outfit, he stepped out to meet other soldiers he had come to know when he joined the Madripoor army.
"Going back home?" John, a black man who was Frank's comrade, asked.
"Yes, my wife and kids will surely be surprised to see my new appearance," Frank said, shaking his head slightly.
"My mother will also have a good shock when she sees me," John laughed. He stood at 2.1 meters and could probably dunk a basketball without jumping.
"It'll be tough to find a husband with this height," Laura said, smiling ironically. She was a Latina who had arrived in Madripoor as a child and had grown to be 1.96 meters tall, the tallest among the women in the group.
"Death by Snu-Snu?" John joked, laughing, only to receive a punch on the shoulder from Laura.
Frank smiled faintly at their banter. It felt like being back in the army in America.
"See you in three days, guys," Frank bid farewell to John and Laura before casually nodding to the few others in the locker room.
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