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After reviewing E.L.L.'s simulation of the evolution sequence, Nolan gave a slight nod. He had already double-checked the logic himself.
"Begin the upgrade sequence. This one's going to burn a lot of energy. Have Conners manage the external feed."
The AI immediately sent the alert, and Dr. Curtis Conners, the lab director at Oscorp, rushed into the room.
"Boss?"
"It's a controlled evolution sequence, but the energy expenditure will spike unpredictably. Prioritize power routing to my chamber."
"Understood."
The moment Conners heard Nolan's unusually serious tone, he knew this wasn't a routine experiment. It had to be massive.
Nolan stepped into the bio-pod. The nutrient gel inside was as thick as wet concrete, quickly engulfing his body. The chamber sealed with a hiss.
Following protocol, Conners manually calibrated the reactor interface. Normally, E.L.L. would control the energy systems, but due to the unknown variables, Nolan had locked out the AI from making autonomous power reroutes.
---
The Hive-modified genome was carefully applied to Nolan's skin.
Instantly, a torrent of heat surged through his body.
The nutrient gel vaporized at the molecular level, feeding the process. His cells screamed as they began mutating at an unnatural rate, each one forced to express new traits from the rewritten genome.
Organelles rapidly formed inside each cell complex, purpose-built microstructures.
The pain was unreal.
This wasn't the agony of injury it was evolution. His body was trying to rip itself apart and remake itself simultaneously.
His muscles stretched, bones groaned, skin swelled. His entire body inflated like it would burst at any moment.
Cells swelled with new internal machinery, then collapsed under pressure, broke apart, and reassembled again and again.
Years of organic transformation condensed into seconds.
The cost? Nearly bottomless energy and constant physical destruction.
"Warning nutrient reserves at critical levels," E.L.L. alerted.
The nutrient tank meant to sustain an entire city block for a month was nearly dry.
Conners frantically rerouted more power from Oscorp's backup reactors.
At this point, each of Nolan's cells was functioning like a living organism, hungry for energy, constantly dying and resurrecting.
Without Nolan's [Absorption Module], his cells would've cannibalized each other long ago.
Eventually, the painful expansion stopped. Nolan's form stabilized, shrinking down from the bloated inhuman mass to his original physique.
He opened his eyes, gasping and for the first time in a long time, smiling.
He had done it.
He felt split into billions of selves and yet still whole. His consciousness had been layered across his cells, each one capable of housing fragments of his soul.
It wasn't immortality.
Not yet.
But it was the foundation.
The moment the chamber opened, Nolan stepped out, dripping in metallic sheen. He touched a titanium alloy console nearby and instantly, his skin shifted, mimicking the alloy.
Wave-like pulses ran through his skin as the color faded.
The transformation process that once took minutes is now completed in seconds.
Previously, the [Absorption Module] had to decode each material cell by cell before adapting.
Now? His entire body transformed simultaneously.
This new power?
[Bloodborne Resurrection].
---
Kamar-Taj.
Nolan reappeared in the training courtyard, arms crossed as he stared at Stephen Strange, who had once again failed to conjure a portal.
"It's been how long, and you still haven't learned?"
Nolan had returned to seek the Ancient One's aid in temporal traversal something he had technically mastered but never attempted.
But she had conditions: help Strange reach his first milestone summoning a basic sling ring portal.
Nolan hadn't expected it to take this long.
"Master Mordo said I shouldn't rush—"
"You're not Mordo," Nolan snapped. "You think he mastered Mirror Dimension in three days? I did."
Mordo, standing nearby, closed his mouth mid-rebuke. He couldn't argue Nolan had mastered it in three days.
Strange raised his hands defensively. "Maybe we don't need to push this so hard. I mean, look my hands are healing slowly already—"
Without a word, Nolan waved a finger.
A portal bloomed beneath Strange's feet.
"Wait—!"
Fwoop!
He dropped like a stone straight into a snowbank on a frigid Himalayan slope.
Shivering in his gray robes, Strange clutched his arms as the portal hovered just out of reach above him.
"Nolan—! Master—please—!"
From the other side of the portal, Nolan stared coldly down.
"You have two options: learn the spell and come back on your own… or freeze to death."
And with that, the portal snapped shut.
Mordo stepped forward, outraged. "You're seriously going to let him die?"
"He won't die," Nolan said coolly. "That would be a waste of potential."
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