Infiltrating Osborn, Stark Heads to Afghanistan

"No problem."

Under Gwen's expectant gaze, Merlin nodded and agreed.

"I knew my best friend would say yes." Gwen excitedly slapped Merlin on the chest.

"Cough... easy, your hand's too strong." The moment her palm hit, Merlin nearly choked on his breath.

Though he'd trained his body and studied combat and firearms for a while, he was only a bit stronger than an ordinary person.

"Sorry, sorry..." Gwen quickly waved her hand apologetically.

Lately, she'd been chasing those two Lizardmen through the sewers, and while her control over her strength had improved, she still unconsciously let some power loose when excited.

"It's fine, it's fine. I haven't eaten yet anyway, so dinner's on you." Merlin rubbed his chest, unconcerned.

"No problem!" Gwen patted her own chest, causing a ripple.

Gwen ordered takeout, and after they finished eating, the time had crept close to evening.

By then, Osborn Industries' employees had all clocked out, so Merlin rode his motorcycle, carrying Gwen away from the apartment toward Times Square in Manhattan.

Both Osborn and Stark Industries were located in downtown Manhattan, one near the Stadium and the other near Times Square.

After passing through Times Square, Merlin parked the bike in the underground lot beside the building.

He was fairly familiar with Osborn Industries; he'd attended Professor Connors' Cross-species Gene Exhibition with Gwen and Peter back then.

That was when Gwen first started showing signs of abnormality.

Looking up, most of the lights inside the Osborn Industrial Building were off, with only scattered areas still lit.

Usually, it was the sales or power maintenance departments working overtime.

"Follow me!" Gwen swaggered through the main entrance, leading Merlin inside.

The lights in the lobby were still on, but it was empty and spacious.

They took the elevator and quickly reached the thirty-sixth floor.

Passing through a quiet corridor, Gwen led Merlin to the employee entrance.

She swiped her employee card, a green light flashed, and the alloy door slowly slid up.

"Click!" The lights flickered on, illuminating the vast laboratory inside.

Gwen and Merlin stood at the doorway, eyes bright, for a moment.

"Let's start!" Gwen casually walked to a cabinet, pulled out two dust-proof white lab coats, and tossed one to Merlin.

After they both changed, the first step was to turn on the computer and tally Connors' experimental progress and data.

"Lizards naturally possess the control genes for a regeneration mechanism, making them the most suitable genes for cross-species fusion."

"But in theory, cross-species fusion is possible, yet difficult, and during gene transfer into the human genome, the vector always has major flaws."

"Professor Connors wanted to use the lizard's regeneration mechanism in stem cell technology to accelerate cell regeneration and repair, achieving limb regeneration."

"The experiment actually succeeded, but the side effect of gene fusion was obvious—humanity."

Stem cells are mother cells with proliferation and differentiation potential, capable of self-renewal and producing other highly differentiated daughter cells.

They have functions like repair, metabolic regulation, and self-renewal.

In biology and medicine, stem cells are the uncrowned king. Many people use stem cell injections to remove facial wrinkles and delay aging.

In Connors' cross-species gene experiment, he fused the lizard's regeneration gene with stem cell growth factors to achieve limb regeneration.

"So, Professor Connors losing his mind is most likely due to brain stem cells affecting his nervous system." Gwen spread her hand to project and enlarge a string of cell data, speculating.

"That's the most likely possibility." Merlin nodded.

"We can leave that for last. For now, the main thing is to figure out how to make an antidote serum." Gwen shook her head; they didn't have much time to perfect the regeneration potion.

"Hmm..." Merlin pondered. "If we want to develop the serum, we just need to destroy the lizard gene's regeneration mechanism."

Gwen's eyes lit up at that. "That's a good direction."

With that, she quickly pulled up the data on the lizard's regeneration mechanism from the experiments.

Merlin grabbed some paper and a pen, starting to draft calculations on the side.

After a whole night, there was still no progress on the serum research. But that's how experiments go—once you break through a point and find a direction, things go smoothly from there.

At dawn, Gwen dragged Merlin out of the building. They were sneaking around, after all, and getting caught would be awkward.

Having slept during the day, Merlin wasn't too tired after the night, while Gwen was just naturally tough and felt fine.

The next morning.

After finishing breakfast with Gwen, Merlin rode his motorcycle to the Brooklyn District.

He had previously asked Stark to keep an eye on the Aerospace Military Factory, and today one had been found, with the address right in the Brooklyn District.

For Stark Industries, which had close ties to the defense sector, finding an aerospace military factory was still quite easy.

The factory was located in a suburban area, surrounded by lush greenery, somewhat secluded.

"Hey! Over here!" The round Happy spotted Merlin riding his conspicuous red motorcycle from a distance.

Merlin parked the motorcycle by the factory grounds and shook hands with Happy.

"Hey! Mr. Stark didn't come?" He looked behind Happy and asked with confusion.

"He had to leave for something urgent. There's an order in Afghanistan. He originally planned to meet you, but his friend was pressing him, so he had to go first."

"He also told me to apologize to you," Happy explained.

"He doesn't seem like the type to say sorry." Merlin shrugged, then walked past Happy into the factory grounds.

Afghanistan... I wonder if it's that one.

"This was originally an aircraft manufacturing plant built in collaboration between Lockheed Corporation and Aston Martin, but the deal fell through for some reason, so it was temporarily shelved here."

"Although it can't produce the most advanced fighter jets, it's still fine for manufacturing civilian helicopters and ordinary aircraft engines." As they entered the factory, the interior was vast and empty, with some decommissioned aircraft displayed in the plaza.

But it didn't look messy; many pieces of equipment were covered with dust cloths.

Happy began explaining alongside him.