Tony had gained a formidable new family member, one who, besides Tony himself, possessed the most strength and potential.
After an eventful night, Tony called Max out first thing the next morning, and the two walked into another basement.
Tony had invested heavily to acquire this entire plot of land. Only a small portion was used for building, with the rest being expansive grasslands, beneath which several basements had been dug out, perfectly suited for training.
Tony needed to train Max first, at least to enable Max to skillfully control his abilities.
"Max, you've seen your situation. Last night, even having a drink caused a fire — although you don't need food, only needing to regularly draw electricity from wires, you wouldn't want our family members to get hurt because of you, would you?" Tony said.
When Max's emotions flared, it would often cause a chaotic surge of electricity within him, leading to some currents escaping and causing a series of problems. This uncontrolled situation occurred several times last night. Tony and Amanda naturally didn't mind, but Crane and the Old Bartender were still ordinary humans.
"Family…" Max mumbled, his entire attention drawn to those two words. "Am I a part of the family too? Really, sir?"
"You know my situation; my family was destroyed that night," Tony said in a deep voice. "But I'm still here, and I will build a new family. You are all my family. Now, to better protect our family, Max, you need to undergo the strictest training. You have great potential, and when necessary, you must step forward to protect us."
"I understand, sir, thank you. I will protect my family with my life, thank you…" Max had recently become very sentimental; he possessed everything he had never dared to imagine before.
"First, you need to control your own electric field; this is the most fundamental. Second, you must find a way to generate your own electricity, even if it's through absorbing free electrons from the air, rather than passively drawing current from cables," Tony said. This was the development plan he had prepared for Max.
He was very optimistic about Max's potential. As long as the drawback of needing to draw electricity from cables and wires was resolved, everything else would be manageable. At the very least, his teleportation would no longer be restricted by the environment; he could move freely even in a vacuum.
"Finally, I want you to learn how to artificially control and generate magnetic fields. Have you heard of Magneto? He's a natural master of magnetokinesis. I hope one day you can become like Magneto, or even stronger than him. You should know better than me that electricity is an inherent property of matter in the universe. Matter is divided into two types, positive and negative, which combine through powerful attraction to form atoms, molecules, and so on. The smallest charged particle is the electron…" Tony said.
"Magnetic fields are generated by the spin of electrons, and changing electric fields produce magnetic fields. I know what to do, sir." Max was originally an excellent power grid designer for Oscorp, so he understood electricity and magnetism better than anyone.
"Very good, Max. You're most suited for working with electricity. I have high hopes for you…"
…
Leaving aside Tony's training with Max for now, in the outside world, a growing storm was gathering momentum. What Tony and Max had done in Times Square had fully escalated.
Ordinary humans would only pay a little attention, at most protesting. But some government organizations began to exert pressure. They could not tolerate superhumans escaping their control, causing immense negative impacts on stability.
What Tony had done in Times Square made many uneasy. This was no longer just Tony's personal affair; it signified something much deeper. Now Tony was acting freely, committing illegal acts, but what about the future? Would powerful entities, even more extreme in their ideology than Tony, directly declare war on the world?
A single Magneto was enough to leave them at their wits' end; if not for Professor X holding them back, they would have collapsed long ago.
Yet The Authorities possessed no supernatural power of their own. The Super-Soldier Program had failed repeatedly; even if they managed to create one, it would be easily defeated before a level four entity, a being beyond mortals. Only the Hulk, whose power was theoretically limitless, could be considered their greatest masterpiece, yet he was a rampaging beast; it would be a blessing if he didn't turn around and tear them apart…
What they possessed could at most suppress or even kill level three enemies, but against level four, they were helpless. Even facing level three, they had to pay a certain price, such as the deaths of many elite soldiers.
For a level three like Wolverine, it was questionable whether detonating a nuclear bomb directly over his head would kill him, and at a slightly greater distance, it would be completely ineffective. Wolverine had directly endured the aftermath of a nuclear bomb during World War II and emerged unscathed.
Regarding Stryker, many high-ranking officials specifically sought him out, laid out their cards, and conveyed the relevant information.
"…We need super-powered warriors who are completely loyal to us, at least capable of posing a threat to those damned superhumans, rather than letting them arrogantly do as they please!"
On the screen, the face of a high-ranking official, one who frequently made public appearances in the media, was displayed.
"I've always been working hard in this area! What do you think my 'Weapon X' proposals, submitted countless times, were? Yet you only provide me with meager funding each year and strictly restrict my actions in acquiring experimental material. You are committing slow suicide!"
Stryker, a slightly overweight middle-aged man whose research career had led him to neglect physical exercise, confronted the official without ceremony, directly presenting his statistical report.
"The speed of mutant awakening is accelerating rapidly now, and the number of new Mutants each year is showing an upward trend. Although I still haven't determined the cause, if we don't take drastic measures soon, we will all be committing slow suicide! Things are fine now, but what about ten years from now? Twenty years from now? Will there still be a place for ordinary humans?"
Stryker's words grew faster and faster. He intended to seize this opportunity to thoroughly convince the foolish high-ranking officials to authorize him to capture more Mutants for human experimentation. He was gradually uncovering the secrets of the X-Gene, and he needed more test subjects and funding.
"Mr. Stryker, I hope you will terminate your unproductive 'Project X'." After a moment of silence, the official said.
What?! Terminate it?
Stryker's face darkened. He had dedicated most of his life to the "Weapon X" project; why should it be terminated?
The official snorted coldly. "Colonel Stryker, your project has been running for many years, but what has it brought The Government? Wolverine, who can't be killed even by a nuclear bomb? Deadpool, who spouts nonsense but is equally unkillable? With all due respect, you've created batch after batch of dangerous individuals; you're transforming harmless people into terrifying enemies. Therefore, your project is fundamentally a failure. We need a new plan."
"Super Soldier? That's a complete waste of time; it doesn't even compare to the X-Gene I'm researching." Stryker scoffed.
"No, it's another project," the official said. "We've decided to restart the Sentinel Project, which began in the 1970s. You will be the head of the New Sentinel Project."
(end of chapter)