"Richard Parker, a biologist employed by Osborn Group," Wei Xiuming said very seriously. "His research focused on reptiles, using their biological traits to integrate them into the human body and cure human diseases. I obtained some of his experimental data. The bodily fluids of specially bred organisms could turn humans into superhumans, but later, their genes would conflict, and the user would mutate into a monster fused with traits of that organism... Doesn't that sound very familiar?"
"I know this technology because scientists in my time had already cracked it. It was no longer a patent belonging solely to Shocker. To solve the Insectron problem, I reproduced the technology using the science of this era, even using the technology that created me."
"But Richard Parker completed this epoch-spanning technology with his own team. According to his data, it was already nearing maturity, yet for some reason he kept claiming he was still researching it. It's like the mass–energy equation, E=mc², which even modern grade-school students can write down. In Einstein's time, however, deriving it required unconventional thinking and a great deal of complex, rigorous calculation."
After the Cold War ended, a new era began, and the nature of warfare changed. Information became the most important factor in military operations. With control of the information, even a small country could sink a superpower's fleet in some harbor.
Even the G.I. Joe team, portrayed in American movies as capable of anything—they could go to the ends of the earth, dive underwater and take to the skies, fight mutated creatures and beat up extraterrestrial visitors—in reality, without satellite intelligence and ridiculously lavish fire support, they might not even be able to beat a small country's border troops.
Wei Xiuming had information that no one could distinguish from the truth, and in certain areas, he controlled how that information was interpreted. All he had to do was speak, and others had to listen.
Nick Fury thought it over, then finally said, "I'll handle this."
Richard Parker was not only a biologist, but also a part-time S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Nick Fury himself had recruited him. Richard's wife, Mary Parker, was also a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, and the two had met during a S.H.I.E.L.D. mission.
Some time ago, after they had a child and Richard had long since stopped working as an agent, he contacted Nick Fury of his own accord. He did it because of Wei Xiuming.
After placing people inside S.H.I.E.L.D., Osborn's security had been tight. Apart from the researchers directly involved and the test subjects, no one outside knew about the human experiments Wei Xiuming was conducting. But Richard's experience as an agent had helped him notice the clues, especially after Wei Xiuming took his experimental data.
Richard knew exactly how powerful his research project could be. If someone misused it, he would be a sinner. To prevent that from happening, he was willing to destroy his life's work if necessary.
In theory, Nick Fury should have served as the go-between, introducing the two and verifying their identities to dispel their mutual suspicions. But the King of Agents believed in doubting everything, so he hadn't done that.
The Parker couple would leave Osborn Industries with their research materials, then start a new life under different identities. Under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s protective surveillance, they could continue their research or start a new project.
Wei Xiuming looked at the one-eyed man, thought for a moment, then kept spinning his tale. "If you really take any action against them, make sure you don't use lethal force. Doctor Death, the person in charge of Shocker's human modification project, wasn't originally one of them. He was a biologist who turned from human modification to the urgent study of bringing back the dead after a loved one died unexpectedly. Shocker's leader provided him with ample funding and test subjects, and that was what persuaded him to stay."
"Do you remember what I told you before? Like the Terminator film series, which was ruined by feminism and political correctness, maybe it was because I came from my time to save humanity that I distorted the timeline and led humanity to its extinction."
Nick Fury fell silent. When it came to time travel, no one but Wei Xiuming had any authority to speak. Besides, Wei Xiuming sometimes let things slip without meaning to.
It was like how Chinese people used idioms in their everyday speech to express themselves. Certain words might seem unremarkable, but they came from classics passed down for thousands of years. They were concise, and they reflected the cultural depth of an ancient civilization.
In Nick Fury's understanding, the things Wei Xiuming took for granted as "from the future" held great significance in this era. Even his seemingly casual remarks often contained a lot of information.
For example, he had already confirmed that Coulson would be the next director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and that he wouldn't die in office but would live until retirement.
The Avengers Initiative, which he had devised more than a decade ago after being inspired by Captain Marvel Carol Danvers, would be carried out in the future and prove successful. The Avengers would be active in the service of humanity's future.
"Apart from Shocker, how much have you learned about the other threats I told you about? Vampires, Mages, highly advanced artificial intelligence... Notify me as soon as you find any trace of them. The corresponding Knight System needs to be developed in advance if it's going to be perfected," Wei Xiuming continued. "The Knight System technology from my time is already nearing maturity, but recreating it in this era would be like starting the project all over again."
"Developing corresponding Knight Systems?" Nick Fury asked, puzzled. "Are there different versions of the Knight System?"
Nick Fury had already learned about the Knight System experiments. They were one of the reasons he had come to meet Wei Xiuming. Honestly, the Knight System's capabilities had far exceeded his expectations. People in the Steam Age couldn't have imagined how they would one day reach the moon, but the miraculous feat had become reality.
If he hadn't seen aliens and spaceships more than a decade ago, as well as a man who could drive off an entire fleet single-handedly, the emotions hidden beneath Nick Fury's impassive face would have been much more turbulent.
But Sonon, the military pilot who wore the Knight System, was just an ordinary person. He hadn't been injected with serum or gained superpowers from an exploding high-energy engine. He had simply put on a suit of armor and gained miraculous power. A power that appeared by chance and couldn't be replicated could be called a miracle, but a power that could be mass-produced and deployed on a large scale—that was what Nick Fury valued.
Even though Sonon had been rushed to the hospital afterward because his body had been pushed beyond its limits, it was a small price to pay for what he had accomplished.
Wei Xiuming nodded. "Yes. The Knight System will appear in this era in the near future, but I hid its real name and designation to avoid causing unnecessary trouble."
"Its developer is a highly gifted person with extensive resources. The first Knight System was a purely mechanical product, designed to cover many areas. It had no weaknesses, but no particular strengths either. Later, when faced with all kinds of different enemies, it was often deliberately targeted. So he started collecting information on various enemies and upgrading or redesigning Knight Systems to counter specific individuals or species. But because the information was outdated and incomplete, the Knight Systems he developed were usually destroyed by the very enemies they were designed to counter. By the time he truly perfected the Knight System, the disasters caused by those enemies had usually already been resolved, and the finished product could only be kept in a basement as a collector's item."
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