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Inside the lab, Klaue had just arrived, summoned by Nolan's message. He stared in astonishment at the subject's wounds healing before his very eyes.
"Good Lord, Nolan! How the hell did you pull this off? Inject me now! If I had this, I'd be immortal!"
The look Klaue gave Nolan was nearly reverent, like he was staring at a god.
A single vial, capable of granting someone such an incredible power.
Sure, the mechanical arm Nolan had designed for him was a marvel in itself. It gave him superhuman strength and a new lease on life.
But this this was something else entirely.
Biological enhancement is directly embedded in the body. It shook him to his core.
"Watch a little longer," Nolan said calmly.
Klaue paused, confused. 'Watch what?'
Then, right before his eyes, the two "immortal" test subjects began to convulse, their bodies warping as if thrown into a furnace. In mere seconds, their flesh liquefied reduced to grotesque sludge.
Klaue stumbled back two steps, barely avoiding the splatter. Lab assistants rushed to contain the mess.
"What… the hell was that?"
"That's the flaw in Phoenix Serum v1," Nolan replied coolly, handing the purple-glowing vial to Klaue. "If the subject regenerates too many times, the cells begin to break down. The foreign gene destabilizes, and the body essentially melts from within."
He explained further: the serum temporarily implanted X-gene fragments into the subject's DNA, granting rapid regeneration.
But these fragments were highly unstable. Without natural compatibility or the proper evolutionary background they were a ticking time bomb.
After enough stress, the body simply collapses under its mutation.
"Still…" Nolan's eyes gleamed, "flawed or not, it's marketable. And more importantly, it's step one."
That was part of why he wanted Logan so badly.
He needed capital a lot of capital. This serum, dangerous as it was, could open those doors.
Klaue studied the vial with narrowed eyes.
"Still… with that kind of instability, its value takes a massive hit. I thought I could become a real superhuman with this."
He looked genuinely disappointed.
Nolan chuckled. "We're partners, remember? Do you think I'm stopping here? This is just the prototype. What I need are more advanced instruments genetic sequencers, bioreactors, even nano-constructors. Right now, our tech's stuck in the Stone Age."
"What do you need me to do?"
"The raw material comes from Logan, which is dangerous but viable. You have the contacts. Sell just enough to stir interest. Start buying up shares in biotech firms especially ones with proprietary gene-editing labs."
He paused, eyes narrowing.
"And pay attention to Oscorp. Their bio-research division is elite."
Klaue nodded. "Got it. How much of this stuff can you make?"
"As long as Logan's alive? As much as we need. But the more we circulate, the faster we'll attract attention."
Klaue grinned. "Relax, pal. I've been smuggling vibranium for years and I'm still kicking. I've got my ways. What about her, though?"
Nolan frowned. Klaue meant Black Widow.
"What's the deal with the Wakandan?" he asked instead.
"I told him to keep his distance. You're in the middle of high-level experiments, and if he shows up, it'll attract way too much heat."
"What's Widow been up to?"
"She poked around my quarters. Luckily, I moved everything sensitive left out the bait file on the Wakandan prince, as you said."
Klaue had completely soured on that alliance. Compared to what Nolan could offer, Wakanda was a poor investment. He was a businessman. He followed the money.
So when Nolan proposed using the Wakandan as bait to divert attention, Klaue had agreed without much hesitation.
"Also," Nolan added, "start watching Oscorp's shares. If I'm right, they'll want in soon."
"Noted."
"What about Hydra?"
"They're still looking for you," Klaue muttered, rubbing his temples. He now knew the full story how Nolan had escaped one of Hydra's secret research facilities with highly sensitive data.
That kind of theft didn't just get you blacklisted.
It made you their number-one target.
"Let them look," Nolan said calmly. "For now, I need you to double security. No one touches the asset. Everyone else clear out. I have more work to do."
"Got it. Don't burn yourself out." Klaue left without prying. He had his secrets, Nolan had his. That was the foundation of their alliance mutual benefit, not trust.
Once the lab cleared out, the heavy doors were sealed shut.
"You can open your eyes now," Nolan said, turning toward Logan.
The mutant lay strapped to the table, eyes flickering open.
"That guy will betray you," Logan rasped. "Mark my words. He ditched the Wakandan. He'll ditch you, too. And when S.H.I.E.L.D. comes sniffing around trust me, they will they'll stop at nothing."
Nolan just smiled. "That's none of your concern. Now… I've got something to test. Sleep tight."
He dialed up a cocktail of high-grade ether and neurotoxin, plunging the mixture into Logan's bloodstream.
"You're going to inject yourself?" Logan's voice trembled with both pain and disbelief. "Are you insane? You'll die."
He'd finally figured it out Nolan wanted to assimilate the regenerative ability himself.
But that was impossible. Ordinary humans couldn't handle X-genes. Their cells broke down from the inside out.
Unless…
"Wait… you're a mutant?"
Logan's voice faded as the drugs overtook him, eyes rolling back into darkness.
Nolan blinked.
"A mutant? Please," he scoffed. "I'm just built differently."
He picked up the modified Phoenix Serum and jabbed it into his vein.
A wave of heat coursed through his body.
No hesitation.
He picked up a scalpel and sliced his wrist.
Blood poured.
And then, right before his eyes, the flesh began to knit itself back together sealing up entirely, leaving behind only a faint white scar.
Nolan exhaled slowly, then smiled.
"That's enough… for now."
He reviewed the footage.
The faint green glow in the healing wound confirmed it: the self-healing factor was active.
As for cell rejection?
For genetic collapse?
For instability?
Didn't matter.
He was playing with cheats.
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