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Like his father, Norman Osborn, Harry also suffered from a hereditary disease, a family illness that meant most affected members did not live long.
Harry knew he had this family illness, and recently, symptoms had begun to appear. His hands would frequently tremble uncontrollably, and he often experienced tinnitus.
After a detailed examination by his private Doctor, the diagnosis confirmed his fears.
The hand tremors were indeed due to the onset of the family illness, and the Doctor stated that as the condition worsened, more severe symptoms were likely to appear in the future.
A heavy-hearted Harry immediately pressed, "So, is my tinnitus also a sign of the illness worsening?"
The Doctor's face showed a somewhat complex expression. He tactfully indicated that the tinnitus was due to Harry's recent lack of moderation in his nightlife, causing a certain part of his body to be weak, and advised him to rest well for a period to recover.
Harry: "..."
Regardless, this family illness was like a Damocles sword hanging over his head, threatening to fall at any moment.
Precisely because of this, upon hearing that Darian could treat hereditary diseases, Harry immediately saw hope.
"So, do you have a special medicine that can completely cure this hereditary disease?" Harry asked in surprise.
Darian shook his head decisively: "No."
Harry: "..."
Darian added, "However, I have medicine that can suppress hereditary diseases, called Life Potion. You've all played games, right? Hereditary disease is like a permanent damage over time debuff placed on you, and the Life Potion can help you recover the lost HP."
With this explanation, Peter and Harry, these two young men, immediately understood.
Harry mused, "Life Potion, that name sounds familiar. Our Osborn Group seemed to have a Dr. Doom who developed this project before. My father valued it highly at the time, but then Dr. Doom mysteriously disappeared. You couldn't possibly be Doom..."
"That's right!"
Darian nodded, "Dr. Doom is my elder brother. He was captured by Stane's evil spirit back then, and his whereabouts are still unknown."
Harry: "..."
Peter: "..."
With Peter and Harry joining, Darian's daily task automation squad was officially established.
He even named this squad the Daily Task Squad, codenamed X-Squad.
That's right, this name was directly inspired by Charles's X-Men from the neighboring server.
Darian handed the S.H.I.E.L.D. custom communicators to the two, saying, "I will use S.H.I.E.L.D.'s intelligence network to collect emergency incidents across New York and then issue tasks to you in real-time, allowing you to combat crime more efficiently."
"Additionally, this is a Teleportation Orb. As long as you carry this item, I can teleport to your side at any time."
With that, Darian also handed the Teleportation Orb to the two and gave them a quick demonstration.
Before their stunned eyes, Darian leaped from a high-rise dozens of stories up, only to instantly reappear beside them the next moment.
Peter's eyes lit up: "That's so cool! Do you have more of these Teleportation Orbs?"
"Unfortunately, there's only one at the moment."
Darian patted their shoulders: "Work hard. The longer you work, the more things you'll get in the future, including Teleportation Orbs and medicine to treat hereditary diseases."
After his grand promises and encouragement, the two young men were thoroughly swayed.
As the leader of the X-Squad, Darian was also quite generous, giving each of them a bottle of Life Potion as a welcome gift.
Afterward, Darian returned to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, and after delivering the task to Hill, he eagerly accepted a new one.
The new task was about a robbery case, a fairly routine mission.
In New York, robbery cases were indeed as routine as can be; several occurrences a day would even be considered peaceful.
Of course, ordinary robbery cases usually wouldn't fall under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s jurisdiction.
However, the two robbers in this particular case were said to possess a highly powerful high-tech weapon, which was alien technology left behind by the Chitauri soldiers after the Battle of New York a while ago.
After the Battle of New York ended, the entire New York was littered with equipment dropped by Chitauri soldiers, and it was normal for passersby with 'auto-pickup' enabled to pick up one or two.
[Task: Apprehend Robbers]
[Objective: Apprehend two robbers wielding alien weapons and confiscate their weapons, bringing them back to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters]
This task has no reward.
Because this was a task Darian issued to Peter and Harry.
As superheroes driven by justice, combating crime is inherently a moral pursuit. To offer compensation for it would be an insult to their character and noble intentions.
Darian naturally understood this, so he didn't offer Peter and Harry material rewards to humiliate them.
This was entirely out of respect for the two of them!
Respect!
Darian directly copied and pasted the system's task, then attached the target location for the task guidance, and sent it to Peter and Harry.
If Peter and Harry had a game system, they might have heard a system prompt like this:
[Player Darian has issued a new task to you]
A player issuing tasks to NPCs is quite rare in the gaming world.
And Peter and Harry certainly did not disappoint Darian.
The two quickly found the location of the task target and completed the task in no time.
After all, even swarms of Chitauri soldiers couldn't take down Peter, so two mere ordinary robbers were even less likely to be a match for Peter, not to mention Harry, the 'whale' assisting nearby.
When Peter and Harry contacted Darian via communicator, he immediately activated the Teleportation Orb, instantly appearing before the two, and brought the two unconscious robbers and the alien weapon back to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters to report.
[Task 'Apprehend Robbers' settlement complete]
[Reward obtained: 1000 Experience Points, 20 S.H.I.E.L.D. Reputation, Item 'C4 Bomb']
Nice!
Looking at the system prompt, Darian couldn't help but smile.
This task confirmed that his idea was completely feasible: the squad handles the process, he handles the cleanup, and the system still gives the full reward.
Indeed, the true driving force of human progress often comes from how to be more efficiently lazy, finding ways to free oneself from repetitive labor.
In the following days, Darian gradually solidified this model.
He only needed to accept tasks from Deputy Director Hill, then forward them directly to Peter and Harry to handle, while he calmly awaited the completion signal, then teleported over to finish up.
Darian finally experienced what it felt like for Director Fury to be a slave driver.
He just needed to issue tasks to the squad and then enjoy the benefits; it was incredibly satisfying!
Of course, not all tasks were suitable for Peter and Harry to handle.
Peter and Harry both adhered to the principle of not killing, and they were still high school students, so they weren't suitable for tasks involving gray areas or the dark side. Such tasks had to be completed by him personally.
"It seems I need to recruit a member for the squad who can handle these kinds of tasks," Darian mused to himself.
But no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't come up with a good candidate.
Mainly, most of the people he knew were not suitable for these kinds of tasks, and the few who could handle them were very unlikely to join his squad, unlike Peter and Harry, who were so easy to trick.
Darian sighed, "If the Brotherhood were here, it would be great. There would be plenty of members to deploy, and I wouldn't need to bother myself."
Nth day without Emma, missing her!
However, with the X-Squad automating daily tasks, Darian indeed had a lot more free time. He decided to take some time to visit other places to see if he could trigger any hidden easter eggs or side quests.
Darian opened the game map and browsed for a moment, finally choosing to teleport to Asgard.
It had been a while since he last came to Asgard.
As soon as he landed, he saw a large number of Asgardian soldiers urgently assembling and heading towards the plaza.
"What's going on? Did Loki escape again?"
Darian remembered that after the Battle of New York, Thor had taken Loki back to Asgard via the Tesseract, re-imprisoning him in the dungeon.
The current scene made it hard for him not to suspect that Loki might have escaped again.
Darian initially wanted to ask someone about the situation, but seeing everyone busy, he didn't want to disturb them.
So he took out a powerful magnet and silently thought of Mjolnir.
Soon, he saw Mjolnir breaking through the clouds in the distant sky, flying towards him at an astonishing speed.
And firmly attached below Mjolnir was its exclusive humanoid mount.
Thor: "???"
Just moments before, he was in the Golden Palace discussing important matters with his father, Odin.
Unexpectedly, a mysterious force suddenly emanated from Mjolnir in his hand, dragging his entire body off the ground, and in the blink of an eye, he flew out of the Golden Palace, leaving Odin alone on his throne.
Odin: ● 灬
He sensed the situation, then shook his head helplessly, deciding to turn a blind eye to it.
Darian used the powerful magnet to hold Mjolnir and asked a bewildered Thor, "Thor, you've come at just the right time. I was just looking for you."
Thor: "..."
I've come at just the right time? You clearly summoned me!
Thor saw the powerful magnet in Darian's hand and immediately understood that it was the other party's doing. Darian had used this trick before to summon his Mjolnir.
Darian didn't pay attention to Thor's expression and went straight to the point: "What happened in Asgard? I saw the army assembling. Did Loki escape again?"
Thor quickly shook his head: "Of course not. Loki is safely locked in the dungeon now. I patrol there at least three times a day and strictly discipline him using your methods, ensuring Loki has no chance to escape."
At least three times a day, Loki probably wouldn't dare go online for the rest of his life.
Darian silently prayed for Loki for half a second in his heart.
"As for the reason Asgard is assembling its army, it's to march out to the Nine Realms and quell the various conflicts breaking out everywhere."
Thor didn't hide anything and explained, "Maintaining peace in the Nine Realms is Asgard's sacred duty. Since the Bifrost Bridge was destroyed, the Nine Realms have lost our effective jurisdiction and deterrence, leading many kingdoms into turmoil. Some Raiders from outside the Nine Realms have even taken advantage of the chaos to commit evil deeds."
"And now, we have successfully reshaped a new Bifrost Bridge using the Tesseract's energy, and we are preparing to march into the Nine Realms to quell all the unrest and restore the peace of the past."
Darian's heart stirred as he listened to Thor's account.
Expedition to the Nine Realms?
Doesn't that mean he could use this opportunity to expand the game map to the entire Nine Realms?
Thinking of this, Darian immediately put his arm around Thor's shoulder. Uh, this guy was a bit tall, so he changed to patting his shoulder instead.
Darian said enthusiastically, "Thor, my good brother, you must include me in this expedition!"
Thor hesitated, "This is the duty of us Asgardians, my friend. You don't need to risk yourself for this."
"You can't say that! I've long considered you a good brother and Asgard my second home!"
Darian declared righteously, "Your business is my business, my sword is your sword, your money is my... coughcough, in short, if a brother is in trouble, if the homeland is in trouble, I absolutely cannot stand by and do nothing!"
"Good! Since you have made up your mind, I, on behalf of Asgard, welcome such a loyal and righteous warrior!"
Thor was moved by this sincere declaration, his eyes slightly warm, and he firmly clasped Darian's hand.
[NPC Thor Odinson has issued you a new quest]
[Quest: Quelling the Rebellion in the Nine Realms]
[Objective: Assist the Asgardian army in quelling major unrest in at least three primary kingdoms]
[Reward: Will be determined based on the player's actual contribution]
"For Asgard!"
Darian nodded heavily.
He pulled his hand back from Thor's vice-like grip and discreetly swung it behind his back.
This big oaf's strength was truly immense. Even with his nearly hundred points of Strength, his palm was still tingling.
It was a good thing Thor wielded a hammer; if he were a magic user, other magic users probably wouldn't stand a chance.
Thor was completely oblivious to Darian's small movement, fully immersed in the joy of gaining a powerful ally.
He grandly waved his hand, his voice like a booming bell, "My friend, come with me! Let me show you the magnificent lineup of the Asgardian Expeditionary Force!"
Led by Thor, Darian arrived at the grand plaza outside Asgard.
Tens of thousands of Asgardian warriors stood in neat formation, clad in uniform golden armor, holding shields and long spears. From a distance, they looked like they had been copy-pasted, gleaming with golden light and exuding an aura of immense wealth!
The Warriors Three and Sif each commanded an elite unit, standing at the very front of the formation, looking awe-inspiring.
"How is the Asgardian army?"
Thor proudly surveyed the scene, then turned to look at Darian.
"Very good," Darian praised sincerely.
He had spent some time in Asgard and naturally knew that these seemingly retro-looking pieces of equipment were, in fact, advanced gear combining both technology and magic.
Coupled with the Asgardians' innate physical prowess, which was several times that of Earthlings, it could be said that every soldier before him possessed strength no less than Steve's. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them a super-soldier army.
In short, Super Soldiers!
Of course, Steve had the mystical aura of a 50/50 chance; if he were to truly fight this group of Super Soldiers, a human wave tactic might not even defeat Steve.
Upon learning of Darian's joining the expeditionary force, the Warriors Three and Sif initially showed surprise, but then all expressed their welcome.
After a brief inspection, Thor raised Mjolnir, his voice echoing across the entire plaza, "To battle!"
Following his command, the reforged Bifrost Bridge roared to life, and a dazzling torrent of energy pierced the sky.
Thor led the charge, followed closely by the Warriors Three and Sif, as the massive Asgardian army surged into the rainbow light like a golden flood.
Darian naturally followed suit; the quest rewards were based on contribution.
He turned the speaker to max volume and tossed it to Eitri, "Keep the BGM going!"
Eitri was immediately displeased.
I, the King of the Dwarves, the Nine Realms' foremost blacksmith, you want me to carry a speaker?
However, before he could protest, he saw Darian casually summon the massive Titan mech BT, while he himself, holding a Gatling gun, began to furiously spray bullets at the Troll army!
Energy bullets poured out like a storm of metal, and Trolls fell in swathes wherever they passed.
Eitri watched, dumbfounded.
His complaints, which had been on the tip of his tongue, were instantly swallowed back, and he silently became part of the atmosphere crew.