Chapter 280: The Kree Empire
There was clearly more to this than Hank had been told.
Piotr hesitated for a moment, then carefully thought back and realized that Matthew had never ordered him to keep the matter secret.
Since Hank was also one of Terra's senior officials, Piotr explained the reason.
Hank listened with a furrowed brow before letting out a soft sigh.
"Limbo, Belasco, and your sister... I never imagined things were like this.
"In that case, do your best, Piotr."
"If the Emperor is willing to believe in you, then that proves you have potential. The Professor, Jean, and all your other teachers will support you and cheer you on."
Hank made a point to offer his encouragement, deeply moving Piotr, who nodded firmly. "I understand, Professor Hank. I'll do everything I can."
As they spoke, half an hour quickly passed.
During that time, the research team completed the simulated genetic matching process and produced Piotr's serum.
A complete production line had been built specifically for this purpose, so once the calculations and compatibility simulations were finished, manufacturing the serum itself was simple.
The raw materials were kept in storage, but the formula had to be adjusted according to each compatibility result—because of that, mutant serums were usually produced on-site.
Piotr lay down inside the sealed chamber again.
This time, he did not need to remove his clothes.
The special suit he wore had an opening at the shoulder. A separate set of mechanical arms extended from inside the chamber, and needles pierced his skin and entered his blood vessels to begin the injection.
As the serum entered his body, the chamber also delivered an extremely powerful electrical current.
The serum could rewrite his underlying genetic code, but the enhancement process required an enormous amount of energy.
Because of that, every enhancement consumed a great deal of electricity.
Fortunately, Terra now possessed an Arc Reactor energy complex—after its construction, energy shortages were no longer a concern.
The only requirement was to replace the palladium cores inside the large Arc Reactors when necessary.
Inside the chamber, Piotr's body began to change before their eyes. The transformation was not instantaneous—it was more like gradual reshaping.
Piotr already had a large frame, so most of the optimization took place internally, affecting his muscle fibers, bones, neurons, and other structures.
Hank watched the slowly advancing progress bar on the holographic display.
Real-time monitoring from the chamber allowed them to confirm every stage of the process.
Before long, the enhancement was complete.
The procedure had been painful—an unavoidable effect of the combat-grade genetic serum.
During the internal transformation, the serum repeatedly broke down the body's old structure at the genetic level and rapidly rebuilt it into an optimized form.
The enhancement of the brain also brought intense pain.
Even so, the pain remained well within what a person could endure—it was still less painful than childbirth.
Piotr did not let out so much as a single groan.
Hiss—
The specialized glass door opened, releasing a cloud of white vapor. During the procedure, Piotr's body temperature had risen enough to evaporate his sweat.
He stood there in a daze, feeling the immense power coursing through his body.
It was still weaker than when he transformed into his steel form, but his formerly cumbersome body now felt far more agile—and his explosive power had improved as well.
And this was only his normal state.
"Here—drink this. Your body lost a great deal of water during the enhancement process, so you need to replace it."
Hank approached carrying a large container of water.
Piotr accepted it without hesitation, opened the spout, and began drinking in great gulps. Before long, he had emptied the entire container.
The water tasted slightly sweet and salty, and the dryness in his mouth quickly disappeared.
"That wraps things up here, Piotr. Next, we'll test your enhanced body, and then you'll report to the training base. Make good use of the time you have left, grow stronger, and rescue your sister with your own hands—I'll be rooting for you."
...
Setting Piotr's matter aside for the moment, Matthew soon learned that Skye had reunited with her father, Calvin.
He was not particularly surprised. It had only been a matter of time before Skye found him.
The Terra Empire now possessed vast resources and influence that reached across the world, along with a large number of external agents operating undercover in many countries.
The legacies left behind by Dreykov, Pierce, and Baron Strucker had also included extensive intelligence networks.
After Neagley integrated them, the resulting intelligence apparatus was no weaker than S.H.I.E.L.D.
Skye had always been determined to uncover the truth about her origins.
Unfortunately, such truths did not always turn out the way people hoped.
Calvin was not the worst outcome. He had once been an American doctor who traveled to Asia to open a clinic, which showed that kindness had always been part of his nature.
Even after losing his wife and daughter, and later becoming violent and unstable through his experiments with chemical enhancement drugs, he still rarely harmed innocent people.
Skye's biological mother, Jiaying, was different.
She had undoubtedly suffered greatly. Whitehall had completely changed the course of her life—and with it, the way she saw the world.
She became twisted and ruthless.
To achieve her goals, she was willing to harm innocent people and use anyone around her.
Matthew met Skye at his estate in Novi Grad.
As for Calvin, he was still busy torturing Whitehall.
"Emperor..."
"Stand up. I once told you that you would learn the truth about your past. Now you understand most of it, but you still haven't found your mother, Jiaying—correct?"
Matthew and Skye walked through the garden of the estate.
A winding path of smooth stones ran between beds of flowers. Their fragrance filled the air, while bees moved among the blossoms and butterflies drifted above them.
Compared with grand modern cities, Matthew had come to prefer natural, untouched scenery.
Even Novi Grad's future development had been planned around blending advanced technology with nature, partly to indulge the Emperor's personal preference.
"Yes," Skye replied, turning to look at Matthew. Hope flickered in her eyes as they reflected his profile.
"Terra goes to war with Limbo in fifteen days. I will resolve my personal matters before then,"
Skye spoke with determination.
In her mind, nothing—not even her own personal affairs—could be allowed to interfere with the Terra Empire.
"The war won't be decided immediately. There's no need to push yourself so hard—emotions are not so easy to set aside." ," Matthew said, shaking his head.
He had no intention of exploiting those who served him.
Respect worked both ways.
Skye and the others respected and admired him, offering him their loyalty—so Matthew would return that trust with equal respect.
He intended to remain sincere with them to the very end.
"Skye, you and your mother Jiaying are Inhumans, not mutants. Tens of thousands of years ago, the Kree Empire—one of the three great empires of the galaxy—implanted alien genetic modifications into humans, creating the Inhuman race."
...
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