So, where does the creation of the Intellect Potion actually begin, if you exclude the preparatory stage I successfully overcame? Naturally, with another preparatory stage in the form of curtaining the room and turning on the red light. A thick, anxious twilight flooded my apartment, turning it into something like an alchemical laboratory or a maniac's darkroom. Fortunately, my apartment pseudo-laboratory was already assembled on the table, and the instructions clearly engraved in memory, so we begin with the extraction of Phantasmine.
Ghost Orchid pollen is not a powder, as an inexperienced observer might think, but a pollinium. A single waxy mass, in the case of the Ghost Orchid, of a dazzling white color with a light pearly sheen, which I carefully removed from the center of the flower materialized from the inventory with tweezers. Naturally, except for the crimson glow of the lamp, there were no other light sources in the apartment.
The waxy piece of pollinium I placed on small laboratory scales. The numbers on the display froze: 57 milligrams. It falls within the 50-70 milligram range necessary for creating one portion of the Potion, so we continue. With this intent, I placed the weighed pollinium in an absolutely dry and clean 50 ml flask, then used a graduated cylinder to measure exactly 20 milliliters of isopropyl alcohol, whose sharp, sterile smell hit my nose for a moment, and added it to the flask with the pollinium.
Turning on the dry heating block, I quickly set it to gradually heat up over 5 minutes from 30 to 40 degrees, and the next 10 minutes—maintaining exactly 40 degrees. Placing the flask in the block, I set about waiting, periodically looking to see if the pollinium breakdown process had started. Ideally, it should begin to dissolve, coloring the alcohol in a barely noticeable opalescent shade. My nerves were taut like strings. Fortunately, at the tenth minute, the process started, and after another 5 minutes, when the heating block, quietly clicking, stopped working, I poured the resulting solution into a centrifuge tube and started the device. A mounting, monotonic hum filled the room.
Five minutes later, all insoluble particles like wax, flower parts, dust, and other stuff had settled to the bottom as a thick whitish sediment. I, however, only needed the clean liquid on top—the supernatant, which I carefully drained using a syringe into a new sterile flask. This is the purified Phantasmine extract, to which I immediately added exactly 5 ml of colloidal silver. The solution reacted immediately, becoming slightly cloudy, which spoke of the correctness of my steps. Before the almost last, most important stage, I, placing the flask into the inventory, filled a deep plate with cold water and, adding salt and ice to it, returned the flask with the extract to reality.
The box with one of the charged quartz crystals appeared silently on the table. Taking the ceramic pliers, I gripped the crystal, from which a barely perceptible tingling seemed to emanate, and applied it to the outer wall of the flask standing on the table. I didn't risk performing this operation in my hands, fearing destabilization of the quartz charge. Now everything should go successfully. I hope...
The vibration field of the crystal penetrated the glass and triggered the chain reaction I'd expected. First, the liquid became very cloudy, turning milky-white. I patiently continued to wait, holding the crystal against the flask and feeling the air around somehow thicken. After about 3 minutes, the liquid began to clear sharply; it was like the scattering of fog in fast-forward, and after another minute, the liquid became absolutely transparent and clear as water. In addition, a light, fresh smell of ozone spread through the apartment, another sign of successful activation.
Not removing the crystal from the glass, I carefully picked up the flask with other pliers and placed it in the prepared ice salt water. A quiet hiss was heard. The sharp drop in temperature fixed the unstable molecular structure of the Potion, making it suitable for consumption and storage. A minute later, I pulled the flask from the ice bath, and the now discharged crystal, having become an ordinary stone, I returned to the box. The next thing I did was take a small lightproof glass vial and use a syringe to pour about 25 ml of the potion there. That's it; the Intellect Potion is officially ready, and the system, fortunately, is of the same opinion!
[Ordinary complexity potion "Intellect Potion" created. Difficulty: Normal. Received +200 OP!]
Phew, finally! I did it! So much effort, so many expenses, so many plans and ambitions for this Potion, which the system aptly dubbed a brew, and here it is in my hand. I wanted to drink it right then and there, but I restrained my impulse. Not time... Especially since I still have the process of creating 4 more Potions ahead, so, putting the vial into the inventory, I set about the "Potion-making" process, hah.
[Ordinary complexity potion "Intellect Potion" created. Difficulty: Normal. Received +150 OP!]
[Ordinary complexity potion "Intellect Potion" created. Difficulty: Normal. Received +100 OP!]
[Ordinary complexity potion "Intellect Potion" created. Difficulty: Normal. Received +50 OP!]
[Ordinary complexity potion "Intellect Potion" created. Difficulty: Normal. Received +40 OP!]
The system cuts the reward for successful but repetitive actions very heavily. It's unpleasant, but I've sort of gotten used to it, because even considering the cutting of rewards, I got a net +540 OP from the 5 Intellect Potions, and the total balance reached an staggering 685 OP. An amount I couldn't have dreamed of a couple of days ago, but reality quickly sobered my excited mind. This won't be enough for 3 system rolls, only for 2: one for 200 and one for 250. I can't afford the third one, for 300, as 235 OP will remain, a hundred of which will likely go to unlocking the Muscle Stimulant (unless something more interesting drops from the system).
Thinking it over once more, I finally decided that this is indeed the best option. Но tomorrow. Before the rolls and further planning of steps, I will definitely take the Intellect Potion. Why tomorrow? Well, it's night, after productive and successful work I'm very sleepy, so I can sleep and act with a sober, well-rested head. Agreeing with this ironclad logic, I finally turned on the normal light and, removing all traces of my improvised chem-lab, collapsed into sleep.
Sunday morning met me, as in the previous day, with an incredible charge of vigor and motivation. After a quick shower and breakfast, I took the Intellect Potion from the inventory and, draining it in one gulp, set about waiting. The effect came quite quickly. It was as if a veil fell from the eyes and cotton was removed from the ears—the world became sharper, clearer, and thoughts that were previously just fast were now racing at the speed of light, arranging themselves into ideal logical constructions. Feeling an unprecedented lightness of consciousness and a sense that I am capable of achieving anything, I didn't waste precious time and opened the system, activating the first "roll" for 200 OP!
[Blueprint (Common) received – Refined Extremis Formula (Marvel). (Unlocking the blueprint costs 500 OP)]
The Extremis Virus is the latest development in the quest to create a super soldier. It endows a person with superhuman strength, lightning-fast reflexes, and unsurpassed endurance. Extremis users gain the unique ability to generate extreme heat through a metabolic process, allowing them to heat any part of the body to thousands of degrees Celsius at will. Regeneration with Extremis looks impressive: wounds turn into smoldering ash from which lost tissues are restored in minutes, returning to normal skin, flesh, and bone. However, this power has a price: the body glows on thermal sensors, and excessive overheating can lead to a catastrophic explosion. Use with caution!
This... turns all my plans upside down, making them sharply irrelevant and unserious. Goddamn Extremis from this very Universe! Well, not necessarily specifically this one, but... Whoa, even under a strong neuro-stimulant I can't restrain the excitement. Want, want, want! It was an almost physical desire, a hunger for power that this blueprint promised. Especially considering that it's a refined version, which means the risk of explosion upon injection of the virus is absent; however, overheating, alas, remains a problem. Но damn it, how appetizing it looks, especially considering that I have 485 OP left and I'll finish the 15 OP in literally half an hour. That is, I can get the knowledge of how to make a goddamn super soldier serum practically without moving and in the very near future.
Forcing myself to calm down, I started to think. Emotions—aside; only cold calculation. Extremis here and now, or rather the recipe. Unlike the simple (by system standards) Intellect Potion, here I'm unlikely to get away with what I have on hand. If my memory doesn't fail me, and with the neuro-stimulant the chance of that is low, nanotechnology is directly involved in the creation of Extremis, and that's already almost the big leagues. A more advanced laboratory is needed, resources are needed, money and more knowledge are needed! The latter being the most important. Unlocking the recipe now would be like buying a starship blueprint when you only have a heap of scrap metal and a wrench in your backyard. Tempting, but absolutely useless at this stage.
As tempting as unlocking the recipe was, I restrained the impulse and, again clearing my thoughts, spun the gacha a second time, now for 250 OP, hoping that something no worse, or even better than the cheaty super soldier serum recipe would drop. Damn, and that recipe has Common rarity, and nothing above it has dropped for me yet; maybe this time?
[Item (Common) received – Magical Ore Crate (Every One Returns Home). (Unlocking the item costs 400 OP, ensure that there is 1 free cell in the inventory!)]
What blacksmith can do without metal? In this world, equipment decides a lot, and without high-quality materials, a craftsman cannot realize his potential.
Fortunately, you have a capacious storage box (2x2x1 m) filled to the brim with pieces of unrefined ore—from ordinary iron to the rarest celestial metals. The more valuable the ore, the less of it in stock. Hopefully you have tools for refining and forging them! Every month the box's supplies will be replenished.
An item! Yes, finally! And in that moment my brain, working at the limit, instantly built a chain. Extremis is the goal. The ore crate is the means to achieve that goal. It's not just money. It's the foundation. It's an infinite source of resources for building the laboratory, for creating equipment, for financial independence. Why the hell is this "Common" Ore Crate so cheaty? Yes, the unlock is expensive, but the monthly replenishment of a wide variety of ores, from simple to conditional Adamantium or Uru... No, it's too good to be true. And there might very well be gold and platinum there, which will allow me to solve the financial problem. Obviously, the priority of unlocking technologies has changed. First of all—this crate. Second—something from the Arcanum, like the Muscle Stimulant, for survivability. And third, having settled more firmly in this world, having acquired a full-fledged workshop and money—the Extremis blueprint.
So, right now I have about an hour and a half to two hours of time while the Intellect Potion is in effect; I need to try to determine the next points:
- Where have I left traces, and have I left them at all, attracting unnecessary attention?
- How to most effectively earn more OP to reach the 400 balance, ideally within this same day?
- Calculate the budget I need to move from this hole and how I will convert valuable ores from the crate into money without attracting excessive attention.
- Other questions, if time remains, and generally understand if they exist, though at least remembering the key points of the development of key characters in this universe and comparing them with this world won't be redundant; after all, having an idea where the point of reference is located is necessary.
Alright, let's go in order. My brain, like a powerful processor, allocated maximum resources for the first task. I didn't point out possible traces as the first item for nothing, because there is one, and it's not possible, but more than real! The Ghost Orchid. Growing at night in a park in one of the central districts of New York, it simply couldn't go unnoticed. Но in open access you won't find mentions of this flower, which is logical actually, because you won't find anything about vibranium in open access either. That is, the existence of the Ghost Orchid is hidden knowledge, only for the initiated, and I have encroached upon it.
It doesn't matter who exactly is engaged in harvesting this mystical flower from the territory of the park at Bowling Green—S.H.I.E.L.D., some order of mages, or an Oscorp-style corporation. It matters that on the night I took it, or the next night, that someone won't find the flower. And my main mistake, dictated by impulsive greed—I took the whole inflorescence with several dozen flowers! One missing flower could be attributed to an animal or a vandal. The disappearance of the whole plant is a direct statement of theft. So, can they find me? And how?
Threat analysis: standard methods. Tracking via cameras, of which there are an incredible number in the city. Professionals will be able to build a heat map of my movements, track a "digital ghost"—Мой phone, even if it was turned off, and it was NOT turned off, left traces by connecting to towers. They will form a route, narrow the circle of search to the Hell's Kitchen district, where there are difficulties with cameras, but they still exist. Perhaps even to my street, which is considered more or less respectable by the district's standards. Но then what? Only by process of elimination, door-to-door survey, search for anomalies—for example, a sharp increase in electricity consumption in my apartment. Or I've made a very big mark somewhere and now, even under brain doping, can't realize it. In any case, special services like S.H.I.E.L.D., if they want to find me, they will. It's only a question of time and the priority of my threat. For now, I am for them—an unknown thief of a rare but still relatively common plant in the world, and that's provided I've even come to their attention. Но if they find out what I made from it...
Threat analysis: non-standard methods. A conditional shaman of the Lenape tribe, engaged in picking flowers to create particularly potent magical tobacco? If he is really a mage, then... I don't recall anything like foresight or access to the information field among local mages, well except perhaps by using Great Artifacts like the Eye of Agamotto, which is in fact the Time Stone. I doubt they'll throw an artifact of universal scale into the search for a flower. In addition, I sincerely want to believe that I am a "blind spot" for this world. My nature as a transmigrator, the presence of the System—this might make me invisible to magical sensors. And the fact that almost two days have passed and no one has come for me—is the best confirmation of that. If I am sought, it will be by standard means. And that means there is something to worry about, of course, but it's too early to panic. However, this sets a hard condition for me: I must force the move. True, with the remaining 200 dollars in the credit account...
Alright, have I left traces anywhere else? Purchase of materials: tried to use different hardware stores or buy used stuff from private individuals, paid in cash. Let's assume everything's clear here. And in general, my materials don't add up to anything like methamphetamine at first glance—just ordinary laboratory supplies. Interaction with Mary Jane and Harry Osborn? I think they've already forgotten my existence. Good, recording for the future: don't make gross errors in interacting with resources closed to the public. This might attract unwanted attention.
Everything is clear with the first item. The threat is real but delayed in time. I have a window of opportunity and I must use it. And that leads me to the next step.
The next question on the agenda: How can I most effectively finish the 400 OP today?