"No problem."
Under Gwen's expectant gaze, Merlin nodded and agreed.
"You really are my best friend. I knew you'd say yes." Gwen excitedly slapped Merlin on the chest.
"Cough, cough... A little gentler. You hit way too hard." The instant her palm landed, Merlin nearly lost his breath.
Although he had trained his body and spent some time learning combat and firearms, he was only a little stronger than an ordinary person.
"Sorry, sorry..." Seeing this, Gwen hurriedly waved her hands apologetically.
She had often been chasing those two Lizardmen through the sewers lately. While her control over her strength had improved considerably, whenever she got excited, she still instinctively let some of it loose.
"It's fine, it's fine. I haven't eaten yet anyway, so I'll leave dinner to you." Merlin rubbed his chest and said indifferently.
"No problem!" Gwen patted her own chest, setting off a ripple.
Gwen treated him to takeout, and by the time they finished eating, night had nearly fallen.
By then, the employees of Osborn Industries had all gotten off work. Merlin rode Gwen out of the apartment on his motorcycle, heading toward Times Square in Manhattan.
Both Osborn Industries and Stark Industries were located in downtown Manhattan, though one was near the Stadium, while the other was near Times Square.
After passing through Times Square, Merlin parked his motorcycle in the underground parking lot beside the company.
He was fairly familiar with Osborn Industries. Back then, he had attended Professor Connors's Cross-species Gene Exhibition with Gwen and Peter.
That was when Gwen had first started showing abnormalities.
Looking up, most of the lights inside the Osborn Industrial Building had already gone out, with only scattered areas still illuminated.
They were usually departments such as sales or electrical maintenance working overtime.
"Follow me!" Gwen swaggered through the front entrance and led Merlin into the company.
The lights in the lobby were still on, but there was no one around. The place was completely empty.
They took the elevator and quickly arrived on the thirty-sixth floor.
After walking through the quiet corridor, Gwen soon led Merlin to the employee entrance.
She took out her employee card and swiped it. A green light came on, and the Alloy Door slowly rose.
Click! The lights flickered, swiftly illuminating the vast laboratory within.
Gwen and Merlin stood at the entrance for a moment, their eyes shining.
"Let's begin!" Gwen expertly took two dustproof white lab coats from a nearby cabinet and casually tossed one to Merlin.
After they had both changed, their first step was to turn on the computer and review Connors's experimental progress and records.
"Lizards possess control genes for their own Regeneration Mechanism, making them the most suitable genes for cross-species gene fusion."
"However, while it is theoretically possible across species, the difficulty is immense. Moreover, the vectors all have major flaws during the process of transferring the genes into the human genome."
"What Professor Connors wanted was to use the Regeneration Mechanism within lizards in Stem Cell Technology, accelerating cellular regeneration and repair to achieve Limb Regeneration."
"The experiment had actually succeeded, but the side effect of gene fusion was equally obvious—humanity."
Stem cells were progenitor cells with proliferative and differentiation potential. They could self-renew and produce highly differentiated daughter cells of other types.
They possessed the functions of repair, metabolic regulation, and self-renewal.
In biology and medicine, stem cells were uncrowned kings. Many people regularly received stem cell injections to remove facial wrinkles and delay aging.
In Connors's cross-species gene experiment, the Regeneration Gene of a lizard was fused with stem cell growth factors to achieve Limb Regeneration.
"In other words, Professor Connors losing his mind was most likely because brain stem cells affected his nervous system." Gwen spread her hands and enlarged a projected string of cellular data as she guessed.
"That's the most likely possibility." Merlin nodded.
"We can leave that until later. Right now, the priority is finding a way to develop an Antidote Serum." Gwen shook her head. They did not have much time to perfect the Regeneration Potion.
"Mm..." Merlin pondered for a moment. "If we want to develop a Serum, we just need to destroy the Lizard Gene's Regeneration Mechanism."
Gwen's eyes lit up. "That's a good direction."
As she spoke, she quickly pulled up the experimental data related to the Lizard's Regeneration Mechanism.
Merlin also fetched paper and a pen, beginning to draft calculations beside her.
After an entire night, their Serum research still had not made any progress. But experiments were like that. As long as they made even a small breakthrough and found a direction, things would go smoothly afterward.
Before dawn, Gwen dragged Merlin out of the company. After all, they had sneaked in. It would be awkward if they were discovered.
After staying up all night, Merlin was not particularly tired since he had slept during the day. Gwen simply had an excellent constitution and felt nothing at all.
The next morning.
After having breakfast with Gwen, Merlin rode his motorcycle to Brooklyn District.
He had previously asked Stark to keep an eye out for an Aerospace Military Factory. Today, he had found one, and its address was in Brooklyn District.
For Stark Industries, which had close ties to the Department of Defense, finding an Aerospace Military Factory was easy.
The factory was located in a suburban area, surrounded by lush greenery and somewhat hidden away.
"Hey! Over here!" The round Happy spotted Merlin riding his conspicuous red motorcycle from far away.
Merlin parked the motorcycle beside the factory grounds and shook Happy's hand.
"Hey! Mr. Stark didn't come?" He looked behind Happy and asked in confusion.
"He had something come up and left. There's an order in Afghanistan. He had originally planned to come meet you, but his friend was urging him, so he could only leave first."
"He also asked me to apologize to you." Happy explained.
"He doesn't seem like the kind of person who apologizes." Merlin shrugged, then walked past Happy into the factory grounds.
Afghanistan... Could that be it?
"This was originally an aircraft manufacturing plant jointly built by Lockheed Corporation and Aston Martin. But negotiations fell apart for some reason, so it was temporarily abandoned here."
"While it can't build the most advanced fighter jets, producing civilian helicopters and standard fighter jet engines isn't a problem." As they entered the factory grounds, the interior was wide and empty. Several retired fighter jets were displayed in the plaza.
It did not look messy, however. Many pieces of equipment were covered with dustproof cloths.
Happy introduced the place from beside him.
Before you continue