Under Peter's intermittent narrative, Tim roughly understood what was going on.
The issue wasn't complex, mainly during the team preparation in Battleworld, Xu Shang-Chi had actually complained to Shiller, expressing his frustrations with his counterparts and fearing that he might lose his patience and dispose of them all soday.
Shiller wanted to transfer him to S.H.I.E.L.D., but it wasn't easy to accomplish, primarily because Xu Shang-Chi had already obtained Arican citizenship, an event that occurred before he crossed over which was now irreversible. Additionally, SWORD isn't as leaky as S.H.I.E.L.D.; they maintain strict control, generally only recruiting nationals.
Even though Xu Shang-Chi was outstanding, he was still an outsider. Proposing to stuff a foreigner into their special agent organization was indeed sowhat inappropriate.
Even considering using a backdoor required so sincerity. Shiller researched and found that there were not many troubles SWORD couldn't handle; The Ten Commandnts were one, but after deepening cooperation with Kamar-Taj, these borderland thieves couldn't jump around much longer.
While investigating The Ten Commandnts, Shiller suddenly rembered a very special existence that had been out of sight, the extraordinary dragon.
This character was actually an embodint of the terrible stereotypes Aricans held against Asians, originally from a comic just as disgusting as "Shang-Chi." This creature was also quite ugly, having almost no relation to Chinese dragons but closer to a Western giant lizard, with long hands, long legs, and a body covered in erald green.
Shiller made so indirect inquiries and discovered that this guy had caused quite a few problems before, which also gave SWORD a headache.
The main headache was, you can't say it's not a dragon because it does look a bit like one. Every ti it appeared, a bunch of fools would think it was the divine dragon descending, making the SWORD agents fighting the extraordinary dragon into villains provoking the divine dragon.
Especially now that the internet was widespread, this damned evil dragon had even learned to manipulate public opinion. It developed sothing called the Divine Dragon Sect in Hong Kong, attracting many believers and creating a large fuss which imnsely frustrated the higher-ups.
However, under the relentless pursuit of the ruthless and tough as a stone SWORD, the extraordinary dragon soon lost its arrogance. But the trouble lay in the fact that this creature could transform, taking on different human forms at any ti, which made it genuinely hard to identify normally.
SWORD conducted a vigorous search for several months, but they could not devote all their energy to this alone. After dealing with the heresy, they didn't continue their pursuit.
Actually, many at SWORD were still worried about it, as it could at any ti deceive a bunch of fools, inadvertently increasing the workload for SWORD substantially.
Having identified this pain point, Shiller volunteered and discussed with the director of SWORD, attempting to devise a plan to lure this creature out.
Xu Shang-Chi was busy in Hong Kong for several months, and with the help of various friends, he finally got a lead; the evil dragon had transford into a chef and was doing quite well in various restaurants.
But since this was essentially its stronghold, and the area was heavily populated, acting here could unwittingly harm the people and economy. At that mont, Shiller thought of devising a series of plans to trick the chef, who was the transford extraordinary dragon, into coming to Arica to be dealt with.
However, unbeknownst to him, Arica already had people who had been unclearly connected with the Divine Dragon Sect, led by the owner of this farm, Deegan.
His primary interest in the Divine Dragon Sect stemd from his enthusiasm for human modification, as the sect's believers had shown great strength in their battles with SWORD agents, despite being ordinary people just months before.
Being able to own a farm on the West Coast, Deegan certainly had a background. His father had made a fortune selling drugs during the war, and Deegan Pharmaceuticals had now grown to be the second-largest pharmaceutical company on the West Coast, monopolizing nearly all of the biological agents industry.
Following this lead, Deegan discovered that the followers of the Divine Dragon Sect had been using sothing called the Dragon Blood Potion, so he suspected that the sect had a real dragon, which allowed them to use its blood to enhance themselves.
Just like how the Hand Union had wanted to find the Dragon bone, Deegan also set his sights on the Dragon Blood. He conducted a series of investigations, even obtaining samples of the Dragon Blood Potion, and found it to be miraculous. To use an Eastern expression, it's highly nourishing, significantly enhancing human physical qualities with virtually no side effects.
Moreover, whether for ordinary people or genetically modified individuals like Captain Arica, this potion had room for improvent in durability, explosive strength, and resistance to physical impacts, and the enhancent was permanent.
The process to create this potion was also not complicated, just heating the Dragon Blood and injecting it into the body. After research by Deegan, it was even found that drinking it directly worked, with the most significant effect of enhancent noticeable in ordinary people—it was simply a magic bullet for manufacturing Super Soldiers on a large scale.
So, Deegan started to make contact with people from the Divine Dragon Sect, and the extraordinary dragon, transford into a chef and still being pursued by SWORD, lacked an opportunity to leave its holand. After eting Deegan, the two struck a deal imdiately and began their sinister collaboration.
It was unsurprising that the information Deegan investigated eventually benefited Shiller. Through the network of Arkham Sanatorium, Shiller quickly found out what was going on.
Ironically, Deegan also knew his way around things; he did not rush into human modification projects like the military might with so obtained potion. He made a bold decision, to turn the Dragon Blood health products into a brand of Eternal Life Factor.
The grandeur of Shiller's previous Eternal Life Factor enterprise hardly needs ntion. Seeing the sa potential in Dragon Blood, Deegan organized this banquet, imitating Shiller's initial setup of Arkham Sanatorium, starting with small-scale promotions in high-end circles to draw investnts, and then expanding the scale.
Nobody could say it was useless, it naturally was useful, especially since Dragon Blood truly was beneficial.
After learning this news, Shiller conducted further investigations since this evil dragon didn't seem too intelligent. Indeed, after several visits to Hong Kong, Shiller obtained organizational samples from the extraordinary dragon.
Following joint analysis by the Shield Bureau Laboratory and Stark Laboratory, they discovered that not only was the Dragon Blood useful, this creature was a treasure all over its body, offering life-extending benefits.
This perfectly t Shiller's needs during this phase. Let's not forget, Shiller, after acquiring his own body, besides the magical personality traits divided into energy, everyone else had to start from scratch to self-sustain.
Greed knew better than anyone that his greatest asset was actually the Gray Mist, the magical symbiont that provided him the boost he needed to perform daring acts whether he was outmatched in a fight or trying to evade capture, never suffering severe injuries or spending most of his ti recuperating.
Thus, the first thing Greed did when he acquired a new body was to contemplate strengthening his physique. He considered the genetically modified potions used by Captain Arica, even those used by Nick, and had even inquired Natasha about her transformation process, but after research, he found them either irreplicable or unreliable.
The extraordinary dragon, unfortunately, found itself in the crosshairs.
Upon learning about the arrival of children from another universe, Shiller decided to make full use of their abilities, grasping the opportunity firmly like squeezing urine from a frog.
Pala played a key role because Shiller needed soone to disrupt the banquet. During his investigation trip to Hong Kong, Shiller found that the extraordinary dragon, though a chef, was quite competent and suffered from common chefs' foibles—unable to tolerate disrespect towards his culinary creations. Using cabbage to create a disruption was sure to infuriate him.
Jason was tasked with keeping Captain Arica busy; the reason he kept Captain Arica in the dark was that the extraordinary dragon was an alien, and Captain Arica was responsible for interstellar diplomacy. Had Captain Arica hesitated for the sake of interstellar diplomacy, the plan to kill the dragon would have been much harder.
Beyond that, most others were used to distract Tim's attention, with no other purpose than to teach him a lesson. Smart as he was, simplicity in strength did not an he was unimpeachable.
Indeed, the lesson was brutally painful for Tim, for when his sight returned, he found the leg of that evil dragon erected in the center of the farm, with Pala scraping at off it. The delicious aroma was emanating from the roasted dragon at.
Once the at was cooked, Harley was the first to eat. She gobbled up a steak in three bites and perford a jaw-dropping feat, retaining trendous strength even after digestion—now, one punch from her could nearly kill ten Tims.
Barry also consud a large piece; his physique remained unchanged, nor did it affect his speed, but his strength soared massively, now fitter, faster, and stronger, almost defying the laws of physics.
Even after Captain Arica ate two steaks, he could throw his shield farther, and Jason's strength grew explosively. If not for Shiller's intervention, he might have lifted the house.
The effects were strongest within the first few minutes of eating the dragon at, retaining about two-thirds of the strength after digestion, which was still remarkable.
But Tim got none.
Mainly because he was immobile now, and while everyone else helped themselves, no one planned to share with him—even Shiller mockingly waved the dish under his nose.
Tim took a deep breath, knowing he was done for.
"Na your price," he said.
Lying down for slaughter made his heart bleed.
"Five million for a piece of at."
"Why don't you just rob ?!"
"I am robbing you. Are you paying or not?"
While Tim bargained with Shiller on this side, Pala was discussing food matters with Harley on the other.
With Shiller's help, Harley perford a mutant power overload in front of a popular lawyer's cara, and Professor X even pretended to be shocked, urging Harley to remain calm in all mutants' minds, thereby confirming her identity as a mutant.
Thanks to New Xanadu Country, the developnt plan of the Androda was more smoothly executed than before, with the help of an unnad Eastern Great Nation allowing them not only to be self-sufficient but also to have a surplus of food.
Pala, rembering what Natasha had once ntioned about exchanging hard assets for money, tead up with Harley to transport the excess food produced in the Androda Galaxy to xico. First, open a teleportation portal in xico, transport the food to Battleworld, then open their universe's xico portal in Battleworld, transport the food to the xico of the DC Universe, and then via a submarine tunnel to tropolis, where the Luther Group would consu as much as it could handle.
Though the transportation process might seem complicated and costly, in reality, if it's just about transporting goods, Magneto can open a wormhole from the Androda Galaxy to xico, and opening a teleportation portal in Battleworld incurs no costs, rely taking so ti. In fact, there's hardly any logistics cost.
Jason and Barry didn't do much and yet gained imnse strength, Dick and Raven had a smooth trip, enjoying themselves thoroughly. With Shiller's help, Harley firmly established her position within the mutant community, becoming a powerful economic brain of this mighty weapon. Pala earned quite a bit of money, at least no longer worried about her mortgage.
The only one was Tim, who was left battered, bloodied, and only learned a painful lesson despite his ticulous planning.
Fortunately, he eventually got to eat the dragon at. As Tim chewed vigorously, he contemplated how carefree his previous life had been. From today onwards, he must concentrate on his training, never again to be a fragile mage.
What he did not realize was that he was starting to follow a path similar to Batman, combining supre intelligence, physical sturdiness, and an unyielding will—pursuing a complete and invincible form.
But perhaps, his stage was grander than Batman's, and he might tread a path even brighter and more glorious than that of Batman.
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