[Super Regeneration (Gecko): you gain powerful repair capability. Even severed limbs can regrow quickly. Regrowth speed depends on available energy, from hours to days.]
[Super Speed (Green Tiger Beetle): you gain super speed, up to three hundred fifty meters per second.]
[Super Vision (Crested Chameleon): your eyes can focus independently and track multiple moving targets at once. Similar ability detected - merged.]
[Whiplash Tongue: your tongue gains extreme flexibility and extension, up to four times original length, with free directional control in all axes.]
[Mimetic Camouflage (Chameleon): similar ability detected - merged. By sensing your surroundings, you can shift skin coloration and blend seamlessly with the environment.]
[Ultrasound (Bat): you can emit ultrasonic pulses for echolocation, up to 300 kHz depending on your physical state.]
[Super Hearing (Bat): similar ability detected - merged. You can distinguish frequencies and map objects and terrain through ultrasound, and infer information embedded in differing frequency bands.]
[Super Immunity (Bat): your immune system tolerates, resists, and eliminates many lethal pathogens. Ordinary foreign agents cannot invade you. Congratulations, permanent farewell to HIV, syphilis, HPV, and gonorrhea.]
[Muscle Mastery (Bat): you can precisely control every muscle group and modulate their shapes for enhanced function, including ears and mouth. You can also generate acoustic waves via high frequency movements of hands and feet.]
[Super Regeneration (Axolotl): similar ability detected - merged. You now heal at the cellular level, from skin abrasions to heart or brain damage. With sufficient energy, all return to baseline without aberrant extra limb growth.]
[Infrared Thermography: you can clearly detect thermal radiation from nearby objects and convert it into a spatial image.]
[Vibration Sense: similar ability detected - merged. You can parse environmental vibrations with higher precision, extracting direction, count, and range.]
[...]
"So good."
After clearing the table, Amano Ren exhaled from the heart.
He eased into the swarm of new powers. Even for him, perfect control would take real work.
He had not finished testing older abilities either.
Super Vision alone had merged several times now.
Longer range, superior dynamic acuity, multispectral color and light, the new independent focus, and a workable thermal image.
If he opened them all at once, his view transformed.
Abstract on abstract, a living canvas.
At least Mom would never worry about him getting lost at night.
In darkness he could ride faint light like day and pick out colors hundreds of meters away.
Thermal vision and ultrasound together made hunting in shadows trivial.
Layered, he was a midnight predator. No one could slip his net. Even vampires would bow after dusk.
Best of all was the obscene regeneration.
Even heart and brain trauma could revert fast.
Super Defense plus Super Regeneration made him scarier than any cockroach.
Add Muscle Mastery, Mimetic Camouflage, and Super Speed at supersonic edge.
"Huh. What is this weirdo in the mix? Whiplash Tongue? How is that a positive buff? Do I look like I need that kind of ability?"
"Do not let any streamer hear about it, or..."
And then there was Vibration, Whiplash Tongue, Muscle Mastery...
Yikes. That road leads to chaos.
He shook it off.
With Super Physique, Strength, and Speed, why lean on sideshow tricks? Do not underestimate Amano Ren.
He glanced at his fingers. When was the Kato Eagle Hand arriving? Perfect synergy.
Damn it, what am I thinking.
SLAP!
His palm shattered the desk. Outside, Norman knocked at once.
"Boss?"
"I am fine."
Ren scanned the room, then left without a backward look.
Through the door crack, Norman and Felicia saw the emptiness, hesitated, and asked nothing.
Norman studied him. For some reason the boss felt stronger again.
Those eyes were sharper, almost seeing through people.
Norman was innocent of schemes, yet still looked down reflexively.
"Boss, based on your list, we can gather at least half within a month."
"For a few items we have zero intel. It may take time."
"That is fine. You have done well," Ren said.
Norman brightened, then caught himself. From boss to lieutenant, the role shift was fast.
He tested the waters. "We also have several gene-modified organisms in the pipeline. Would you like to inspect them?"
"For example, our latest result: a brand new genome built with synthetic RNA, combined with genes from three spider species to produce thirteen super spiders..."
Ren stopped. "You have that?"
He query-swept his mental archive and matched the keywords one by one.
An odd look touched his face. "Are you sure it is not fifteen?"
Norman blinked and glanced at Felicia. "You know our next phase targets fifteen? The current thirteen each have defects and fall short of spec. The team plans to alter sequences and push for fifteen super spiders."
Ren lifted a hand. "Take me."
So Spider-Man was about to be born.
A thought struck. "Do you know Professor Connors and Doctor Otto?"
Norman nodded. "Professor Connors is a renowned biologist. We had a pleasant collaboration, though the experiment failed."
"Doctor Otto is a leading nuclear physicist. He is pitching a Little Sun Project. It sounds insane, but if it works, he will stand shoulder to shoulder with Stark."
Ren noticed the shift. Awkward at Connors, dismissive at Otto, a pinch of helplessness at Tony Stark.
Oscorp and Stark had once been twin jewels of America.
Now Stark led by miles.
Oscorp had slid under Norman's hand.
Ren did not care about the past.
Under him, Oscorp would be a super group.
Stark Industries? So what.
For now, his focus narrowed to Connors and Otto.
Lizard serum on one side, a Little Sun on the other.
If the Primordial Forge smelted a miniature sun or an arc reactor, what would it return?
He drew a breath.
There was promise here.