Chapter 349: Can Elephants Also Have Laser Eyes?
Peter froze in terror, but just as he was about to speak, he realized that the man named Adolf was actually talking to Cortez.
"Whew..." Peter let out a sigh of relief. He thought he had been discovered.
"Don't worry too much, Peter," Gaia said. "The stealth mode of the Spider-Suit is not something they can detect."
"I know, I just got a little nervous." Peter quickly inserted the chip. Once the chip was in the computer, Gaia rapidly established a link.
"Parsing the computer... it will take about a minute," Gaia reported.
"One minute? That's plenty of time." Peter hung upside down from the ceiling, quietly waiting for Gaia to finish.
The Shadow Kingdom
"Finally done," Silas said, staring at the bright red potion in front of him.
This was his newly developed Fusion Potion, designed to integrate external powers into his own body to enhance his strength. He looked at the ten rings. He wasn't entirely sure if his fusion magic would succeed, as he hadn't tested it yet.
But how should he test it?
Silas toyed with the rings. If he tested it on himself and it succeeded but had side effects, it would be a hassle to extract the power again.
"I'll use someone else as a test subject first." Silas decided to use another body for the experiment. After all, he didn't have the Horse Talisman yet; what if something went wrong? He wasn't willing to take such an unstable risk.
He picked up the red ring from the Mandarin's left index finger—a ring capable of fire and explosions. Silas didn't necessarily need this ability since he already had the Dragon and Pig Talismans, so he didn't mind if the test "wasted" it.
"Big Black," Silas called.
"Yes, Master." Big Black appeared beside him.
"Find me a test subject," Silas ordered.
"Immediately, Master." Big Black withdrew, returning shortly with a panicked man in his grip.
"Fisk. Killed an innocent family just to steal some cash," Big Black reported, detailing the man's history.
"How do you know that about me?!" the man, Fisk, cried out in horror. He had just returned home with the stolen money when this mysterious man in black appeared in his room. Before he could reach for his gun, he was snatched up and brought here in the blink of an eye.
"Good work," Silas chuckled.
For experiments, Silas wouldn't just grab an innocent person. Picking a piece of human trash allowed him to contribute to society by squeezing out their remaining value.
"You're lucky to have been chosen," Silas said to Fisk, picking up the red ring from the table.
"What are you going to do..." Fisk tried to act calm. He didn't know who this young man or the black-clad figures were. He hadn't offended any powerful organizations. Was this the government? Were they doing human experimentation?!
"Let me go!" Fisk tried to break free from Big Black's grip.
Sensing the resistance, Big Black slammed Fisk against a wall, pinning his neck, and delivered a brutal knee to his abdomen.
"Argh!" Fisk cried out as the pain radiated through his stomach. He almost threw up the snack he had just eaten. Big Black hadn't held back, and the strike nearly caused Fisk to black out.
Silas ignored him and dropped the red ring into the boiling Fusion Potion.
Boom!
Suddenly, the potion reacted violently with the ring. The entire cauldron began to boil over, and a beam of red light erupted from the center.
"Absorb!" Prepared, Silas tossed out a magic scroll, drawing the energy entirely into it. The scroll instantly turned from brown to a deep, glowing crimson, emitting plumes of white steam.
"Done. Now it's your turn." Silas controlled the scroll, aiming it at Fisk.
"No! Help!" Fisk's eyes went wide with terror as he stared at the steaming scroll. He didn't know what it was, but it clearly wasn't good.
"Don't be nervous. If it succeeds, you'll get a 'trial card' for a powerful ability. It's a great deal," Silas said with a flick of his wrist.
Whoosh!
A fierce, high-temperature energy beam shot from the scroll, appearing to split the air in two. It hit Fisk squarely in the chest.
"AAAAAUGH!"
The powerful energy bored into Fisk's chest, causing him to howl like a dying animal.
"Too noisy." Irritated by the sound, Silas used telekinesis to clamp Fisk's mouth shut.
"Mmph! Mmph!" With his mouth sealed, Fisk could only let out desperate, muffled groans.
Silas sat back, watching for the changes. From what he saw, the Fusion Potion worked; it had extracted the energy from the ring. However, it was still unclear if a human body could handle that much power without being consumed by it.
As Silas pondered the potential for failure, Fisk's body began to dissolve like liquid. Soon, he was nothing more than a puddle of black fluid on the floor, his life extinguished. The energy beam that had entered his body swirled in the air, seemingly searching for a new host. It noticed Silas and lunged toward him.
Silas casually opened another scroll and sucked the energy back in.
"Where is the problem?" Silas mused. Was Fisk's physical constitution just too weak?
To test this theory, Silas had Big Black bring in more subjects. Over the next five minutes, ten more criminals were brought in. Each was stronger and more robust than the last, yet not one of them survived the fusion of the ring's power.
"Still nothing..." Silas tapped his foot. Was it really just a matter of physical strength? He didn't believe it. "Big Black, go catch an elephant for me."
"!!!" Big Black looked confused for a moment, but quickly summoned several companions to go hunting for an elephant.
It took a full minute for Big Black to return with an elephant. Fortunately, the laboratory was vast enough to accommodate it. The elephant had been taken down with tranquilizer darts. Silas didn't care about its condition, only that the experiment could proceed.
Boom!
The red beam shot out again, drilling into the elephant's body like a fire snake. Time ticked by. The elephant remained still on the ground, seemingly unchanged, except for its large eyes.
Was it going to fail again? Just as Silas was about to call it a loss, the elephant's eyes suddenly began to glow with a scorching red light.
"Experiment successful." Silas's lips curled into a smirk. It really was a matter of physical constitution.
As for his own body? Please—he had the physical stats of Spider-Man. He was far tougher than an elephant.
Suddenly, a flash of danger went through Silas's mind. He threw himself to the side without a second thought.
ZAP!
A beam of crimson laser light erupted from the elephant's eyes. The heat was compressed to a terrifying 1000°C. The strike blasted a massive hole through the laboratory wall, opening it up to the dark red expanse of the Shadow Kingdom outside.
Roar!
The dragon-shadows outside noticed the elephant and tried to swarm into the lab to devour it. However, Silas's previous orders kept them from crossing the threshold. They could only roar in frustration.
The elephant's tail and limbs began to twitch. The ring's power couldn't instantly negate the tranquilizers, but it was waking up.
"Talk about 'laser eyes'..."
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