Chapter 54 54: Building His Own Marine
"Did he believe it?"
Sitting in the passenger seat outside the house, Bucky looked at Neagley.
"That information was real. I didn't lie to him. And besides, I brought you along precisely so he would believe it," Neagley said with a faint smile as she started the car.
Isaiah was a war hero.
Neagley had once been a soldier herself—she could empathize with him. As long as she could obtain the blood sample, she preferred to complete the deal peacefully.
Bringing Bucky along and revealing Hydra's existence was a deliberate move.
Even someone like the Winter Soldier—who had once belonged to Hydra—had been dealt with. That alone spoke volumes about the power behind Neagley.
The fact that she had found Isaiah also meant she could have achieved her goal through force.
But she didn't.
That, in turn, made Isaiah more willing to believe the authenticity of the information.
"Alright." After thinking it over, Bucky didn't dwell on it any further.
He was, after all, a kind person. This outcome was a good one.
As she drove off, Neagley glanced at Bucky out of the corner of her eye, a subtle smile tugging at her lips.
What she didn't tell him was that she had another objective as well.
Judging from his expression, she had won again.
Two wins in one trip.
I really am a genius.
Tonight, I deserve to enjoy myself.
Vroom—
Neagley's car vanished into the distance at the end of the street.
…
At eighteen, Matthew already possessed assets worth tens of billions.
Compared to other so-called chosen ones, everything he had was built through his own "effort."
Though, once money reached a certain level, it was just numbers.
The assets Dreykov left behind were extremely solid—he had invested in the most valuable industries in the world.
As time went on, these industries not only retained their value but appreciated significantly.
For example: oil, weapons, and food.
In times of peace, they were already profitable, but once war broke out, their value would skyrocket.
Naturally, Matthew didn't have the time to personally manage these industries.
So he generously delegated authority, happily promoting his secretary, Karla, and putting her in full charge of his assets and logistics.
As a result, Karla became incredibly busy.
Fortunately, during recruitment, she had poached talent and assembled an executive management team.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to handle everything alone.
Dreykov also had a management team, but Karla quietly replaced them all with her own people—without causing even the slightest disturbance.
Karla was exceptionally talented in this regard.
Everything was beginning to fall into place.
Even better news came: Neagley had brought back Isaiah's blood sample, and the laboratory in Saint Petersburg had already begun developing and optimizing a brand-new serum.
With Isaiah's stable blood sample, five frozen original super soldiers, and the complete formula—
Everything was coming together.
If they still couldn't complete a side-effect-free optimization of the serum under these conditions, then that research team might as well start over from scratch.
The chief research director, Milson, patted his chest confidently, claiming it could be done within a month.
However, they would need several test subjects to inject with the serum and observe over a period of time afterward.
Of course, test subjects were easy to come by. In Saint Petersburg alone, finding a few death row inmates wasn't particularly difficult.
...
Meanwhile, Matthew was organizing and refining the Six Powers (Rokushiki).
The Six Powers are a form of physical combat techniques that surpass human limits—a complete training system that culminates in mastery.
They are the standard foundational physical training system for elite Marines directly under the World Government.
They are not just a collection of scattered techniques, but a fully integrated system that trains the entire body—from muscles and bones to breathing, strength, speed, defense, and agility.
It is a comprehensive method of physical conditioning.
No one starts out with exceptional physique and talent and then suddenly comprehends the Six Powers in a short time.
The system was developed specifically to cultivate elite Marines and agents of the World Government.
It begins with basic training, progresses to advanced training, and ultimately leads to mastery of the Six Powers.
Matthew's understanding of the Six Powers came from the system's sign-in rewards—it was essentially force-fed to him, skipping all the early-stage training and allowing him to directly grasp the end result.
He hadn't paid much attention to this issue before.
But now, as he planned to build an unconventional army of warriors, the Six Powers were the most suitable training method for such a force.
After all, he had already mastered all aspects of the Six Powers and even comprehended their advanced secret technique—Life Return (Seimei Kikan).
Tracing back and reconstructing the training methods that precede the Six Powers wasn't difficult.
After spending some time organizing everything, he essentially turned it into a complete training manual.
The Six Powers are not something just anyone can learn.
Leaving aside the fact that they are highly classified techniques, the biggest limitation is the physical talent required.
The prerequisite training alone is extremely demanding—an ordinary person trying to follow it would likely cripple themselves, or worse, die.
Even someone like Reacher, who had excellent natural talent—his size, innate strength, and physical condition all surpassed ordinary people—still couldn't meet the training standards.
Why had Matthew gone to such lengths to develop a side-effect-free version of the super soldier genetic serum?
It wasn't just to create a super soldier army.
Such an army might be terrifying to ordinary humans or nations, but compared to forces like Hell, Asgard, or extraterrestrial civilizations with billions of years of heritage, it would be nothing.
What he wanted to build was a force capable of directly confronting those civilizations.
A group of super soldiers thrown onto such a battlefield would amount to nothing more than cannon fodder.
The reason Steve Rogers would shine so brilliantly in the future was due to his leadership, decision-making on the battlefield, commanding presence, and ability to stabilize morale.
In terms of raw combat power, before he picked up Mjolnir and became a "Captain Thor," he was hardly impressive—more for show than anything else.
From beginning to end, Matthew's most basic requirement for his soldiers was physical strength.
The super soldier serum was merely the prerequisite to achieving that baseline.
Steve Rogers went from a frail, skinny body to a muscular powerhouse. What changed wasn't just his strength, but also his innate talent, healing ability, adaptability, and the durability of his bones and organs.
It even enhanced his mind.
When rescuing his best friend Bucky Barnes from Hydra captivity, Steve only glanced at a Hydra strategic map through an iron door—and memorized it completely.
He gained photographic memory, as well as extraordinary learning and comprehension abilities.
In simple terms, even his aptitude was elevated.
With that foundation, learning the Six Powers would no longer pose any obstacles.
At that point, their physical strength wouldn't be limited to the usual ten or twenty tons—it could increase dramatically, growing further through training and combat, eventually reaching the level of powerful Marine Admiral.
And once they obtained Devil Fruits, their enhanced physiques would allow them to fully utilize those abilities.
It seemed… he could replicate and build a Marine of his own.
The only question was whether Haki could be taught to them.
Conqueror's Haki was unlikely—it required innate qualities, even lineage.
But Armament Haki and Observation Haki… those didn't seem to have such strict requirements.