Tony and Connors

One meal.

Vanax and her four companions had snapped twenty-four table knives, punctured thirteen lunch boxes, and bent nineteen forks out of shape.

Yinsen stared at the clear fingerprints pressed into the ruined steel utensils in the trash bag and swallowed hard. Sure enough, every single one of these "new hires" was a ruthless character.

After the meal, Yuri personally taught them how to wash the dishes. This process went much more smoothly. Having learned from the earlier lesson, Vanax and the others had figured out how to control their strength within an appropriate range. Aside from using a bit too much dish soap, no more utensils met an untimely end.

Once they had packed the remaining utensils back into the foam box, Yuri clapped his hands to gather the five of them. "Alright, your task this afternoon is to learn and master the Inuit language. This is very important—it relates to the search for our people in the Arctic Circle in the future."

"Yes!"

Yinsen blinked. "Our people"? Did that mean there were more of these terrifying individuals who could "accidentally" snap steel spoons beyond just the six in front of him?

"Yinsen."

"Here!"

Yuri paused for a moment, then smiled and patted the shoulder of the only pure human in the workshop. Gently, he said, "You're not a soldier, and I'm not your commanding officer, so there's no need to address me like that. What I wanted to say is, please help out with the language learning. As far as I know, you've already mastered several foreign languages, including English, haven't you?"

Yinsen rubbed his smooth, broad forehead and said with some hesitation, "But Inuit isn't among the languages I know."

"That's fine." Yuri pointed at the five people who had already started huddling over portable computers. "Their learning ability is very strong. I just need your experience in language learning and your gentlemanly demeanor."

Yinsen raised an eyebrow in confusion. Language learning experience was one thing, but gentlemanly demeanor? Was that something that could be learned in a short time?

"Go on, take them upstairs to the second floor. I'll mind the shop."

"Alright..." Yinsen cast a reluctant glance at his favorite slacking spot—the workshop front desk. He had a vague premonition that these carefree days might not last much longer.

Bay Villa.

Stark's private luxury mansion.

Underground parking garage.

With the help of the robotic arm Dum-E, Tony had set up a new experimental bench among the many luxury cars. Surprisingly, he was also being assisted by a one-armed man in a white lab coat—none other than Dr. Lizard, the very man Tony had said he'd "hand over to Yuri once he was done."

Dr. Lizard Connors arranged a box of white mice and bowed sincerely to Tony. "Mr. Stark, thank you once again for giving me the chance to continue this research."

"You're welcome." Tony held an ultra-fine needle, carefully extracting about one milliliter from the Lizard Potion that was originally meant to be loaded into the Canary Device. "We won't have much time together, so let's get to it. I hope we can produce some controllable results."

Connors helped secure a white mouse and, while Tony injected the serum, cautiously asked, "Mr. Stark, are you really sure you don't need systematic study in biochemistry?"

"No." Tony pulled out the needle and aimed a highly complex-looking camera at the cage. After doing this, he quickly walked over to an analysis computer, sat down, and diligently recorded the constantly refreshing data. "If you could reach my level in any one field of science, you'd be amazed to find that whether it's biology, chemistry, physics, engineering, or informatics... the end of science is all connected!"

Connors was stunned. He knew there was a significant gap in knowledge and intellect between himself and Tony, but from what Tony was saying... did he believe he had already reached the end of science!?

Impossible!

Absolutely impossible!

Connors leaned in to see what Tony was recording.

"Abnormal limb activity count," "Body temperature by region," "Abnormal behavior analysis," along with a mess of formulas and symbols scribbled on paper...

The mouse in the cage had already begun to shed its fur and swell. Dark green scales emerged across its body, and several gleaming, razor-sharp claws burst from its once soft, pink little paws.

"Squeak! Squeak! Squeak-hiss! Hiss..."

The mouse's sounds gradually shifted toward those of a lizard. Hearing this, Connors immediately urged, "Now! Mr. Stark, the mouse is lizardizing!"

Stark glanced at the data on the computer, his powerful mind instantly memorizing every single piece of information. He jogged over to the fully lizardized white mouse, pulled out tools, and began testing its abilities in detail.

"Super Strength, Super Defense, Super Recovery..."

On the tray Tony held were twelve severed lizard-mouse front and hind legs, still twitching, and three lizard-mouse tails wriggling like loaches. That meant he had already severed the lizard-mouse's limbs and tail three times.

Yet the lizard-mouse in the cage still appeared fully limbed and unharmed. If not for the green blood splattered on the cage walls, no one would believe this somewhat aggressive little creature had ever suffered such injuries.

"That's about enough..." Connors reminded Tony after he cruelly struck for the fourth time. "The effect of the potion diminishes with each regeneration. Based on my previous experiments, it's usually four to five times."

Sure enough, the dark green scales on the mouse began to recede one by one, and white fur once again pushed through its skin. The values on the computer plummeted like a waterfall. A skin-and-bones white mouse reappeared in the cage.

"The lizard state only improves energy efficiency, but the energy needed for limb regeneration still comes from the body's stored reserves. I inject a large amount of glucose before each transformation to avoid ending up like this." Connors used himself as an example, explaining in detail why the mouse had undergone these changes. He added regretfully, "And the regeneration only applies to organs that existed before the transformation. No matter how I improve it, it can't restore my lost arm."

Tony opened the cage, grabbed the dying mouse by the tail, and lifted it up.

"Squeak... squeak..."

The white mouse's feeble pleas for mercy went ignored. Tony tossed it casually to the waiting mechanical arm Dum-E, then tugged at his beard as he racked his brain.

He had zero interest in Super Strength or Super Endurance—these abilities were undoubtedly products of genetic modification, and he had no desire to have lizard or spider genes spliced into him.

The only thing that intrigued Tony was the super regeneration in the lizard state. Setting aside its commercial potential, the healing power alone was enough to tempt anyone.

The end of science is interconnected.

That statement was spot on.

But there was another saying—the end of science is theology.

A pair of brilliant, golden pupils flashed through Tony's mind. Remembering his miraculously healed chest, he rubbed his nose with a hint of guilt. "If he finds out I sold him out..."