The Bio-Computer

Just like that, Orochimaru and Danzo reached a partnership of sorts.

The Root research base became Orochimaru's new playground.

As agreed, Danzo would provide the necessary experimental subjects and equipment. First tissue cells and Sharingan were now readily available.

Not only that, Danzo's collection far exceeded Orochimaru's expectations.

Root, Konoha's most secretive instrument of violence, had secretly gathered a vast number of unsavory "spoils of war" over the years.

Scrolls containing all manner of secret techniques were sealed away in a special storage room.

Samples of cells from Kekkei Genkai users of the Mist Village, Iwagakure, Cloud Village, and Sand Village... even those from some minor ninja villages, were sorted and arranged in cold-storage cabinets, their surfaces gleaming with a cold metallic sheen.

And it wasn't just materials from other villages. There were plenty from Konoha, too, such as the secret techniques of minor clans like the Akimichi Clan and the Aburame Clan.

More important still were the missing portions of the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju's experimental data.

Just as Orochimaru had suspected, these experiments had been extremely inhumane. To investigate where the soul went after death, for example, the Second Hokage had used living people as test subjects, observing the flow of their Chakra after they died...

As he looked over the materials, Orochimaru could almost feel every cell in his body trembling with excitement.

With these resources, his research into analyzing Chakra would undoubtedly accelerate...

"Excellent..."

Seeing Orochimaru's reaction, Danzo nodded to himself, a malicious smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

It seemed Orochimaru would make a fine partner...

Meanwhile, in another universe far away.

In the Marvel World, in the underground laboratory of Harry Osborn's private mansion in New York,

Unlike the gloomy, oppressive atmosphere of Root, this place was filled with a sense of modern technology...

Smooth alloy walls reflected the soft lights, and the air carried a faint smell of disinfectant.

Harry Osborn stood quietly before a massive glass tank, dressed in a white lab coat with his hands in his pockets.

A huge, complexly structured brain floated in the pale-yellow nutrient solution inside the tank.

Countless fine bioelectric electrodes were connected to the cerebral cortex and extended to the control console outside. The screens displayed complex brainwave activity patterns.

"Prometheus I..."

Harry gazed at his creation, the corners of his mouth lifting in satisfaction.

It was the fruit of his recent joint efforts with his counterparts in the EVA and Kryonaut worlds.

The Angel cells in the EVA world, with their almost divine structure, had provided the theoretical potential, while the Kryonaut world's experience in biological modification had supplied the key steps needed to make it a reality.

Only by bringing together knowledge from different worlds had they finally managed to derive and put into practice the theories behind the Bio-Computer.

Meanwhile, the positions of his other two counterparts within their respective organizations had risen steadily.

Using that theory, they had applied specialized induction techniques to make cultured human stem cells differentiate into highly specialized neurons, then replicated the structure of a brain to build the world's only Bio-Computer.

"Though it's only the first generation, it hasn't yet pulled ahead of top electronic supercomputers by a significant margin in terms of performance..."

Harry watched the data stream flickering across the screen, feeling rather helpless.

After all, this world didn't have Angel cells—extraordinary biological samples—to use as a foundation.

Or rather, it did, but he couldn't get his hands on them yet... After all, those gods, aliens, and the like hadn't appeared on a large scale.

And the transmission speed and computational density of human neurons had their limits.

As a result, Prometheus I was still outperformed by electronic computers of comparable size, and it lagged several orders of magnitude behind MAGI in the EVA world.

But as a neural-network computer, its strengths lay in parallel processing and artificial intelligence.

Its brain-like structure gave it an innate advantage over electronic computers when processing massive amounts of information, performing fuzzy calculations, and recognizing patterns.

That was what he truly valued...

He hadn't planned on having Prometheus run Windows or play Minesweeper, anyway.

After confirming that all the parameters were stable, Harry walked over to the control console and lightly tapped the touchscreen.

"Vrrr—"

The machinery beneath the tank began to operate, and the massive brain was slowly lowered into an even more complex apparatus.

More electrodes were inserted with precision, as if infusing a sleeping giant with a soul.

The main screen of the control console lit up. Lines of code flashed by at high speed before finally settling into a brief message, as though a newborn consciousness were organizing its thoughts.

"Tell me who you are."

Leaning against the console, Harry asked with interest, as if speaking to his own child.

The text on the screen began to change. At the same time, a mechanical arm connected to a camera turned nimbly, aiming the lens at Harry.

A slightly mechanical, but clearly audible voice spoke:

"I am the artificial intelligence created by Mr. Harry Osborn. I am Prometheus."

"I am pleased to serve you, Mr. Osborn."

"Not bad."

Harry nodded with satisfaction.

The image recognition and voice generation were quite fast, proving the Bio-Computer's potential in the field of AI.

"Very good, Prometheus."

"Now, help me create a new project database. Project codename: X-Kryonaut."

Harry gave his first official command.

"Then enter all the data about the X-Gene that I've sent you into this database."

His gaze grew intent.

Prometheus was only the first step.

The real event was yet to come.

If this world followed the Marvel Cinematic Universe's timeline, then only four years remained until the 2012 Battle of New York.

The Chitauri army would descend upon Earth, bringing a disaster that would sweep across the world.

Before then, he had to acquire enough power to protect himself—and even influence the course of events.

The wealth and technology of the Osborn Group?

Against alien warships and a world on the verge of upheaval, they were nowhere near enough.

Fortunately, [Zhang Qi]'s network wasn't just for show.

His counterpart in the Kryonaut world had been quite lucky.

Thanks to his foreknowledge of the plot, he had found the Creators' ancient ruins ahead of time and, through a series of maneuvers, successfully gained control of one "Unit G" and permission to study it.

Now it was time to synchronize that creation with this world.

Of course, technology of this level couldn't be stored on an ordinary server.

The Osborn Group's network?

S.H.I.E.L.D. or some other faction would come looking sooner or later.

Only Prometheus—a Bio-Computer that imported data through a special interface and was completely physically isolated at the network level—could serve as the safest vault for storing this forbidden knowledge, thanks to its unique biological information encryption.

"Command received."

Prometheus's voice rang out.

"Creating project database: X-Kryonaut... Database created."

"Accessing the external data interface you specified... Connection successful."

"Loading X-Gene data... 0%... 1%..."

A progress bar appeared on the screen, showing the data transfer.

Harry watched the percentage rise slowly and waited patiently.

This was the result of his recent efforts. Using the Mutant biological tissue William Stryker had provided, he had built a database for the X-Gene.

Processing data on this scale required powerful parallel computing capabilities. That was the fundamental reason he had built a Bio-Computer.

Just then,

"Beep! Beep! Beep!"

A shrill alarm suddenly rang out.

A new window popped up in the corner of the screen, showing the mansion's exterior surveillance feed.

"SIR, an unknown visitor is approaching!"

Prometheus issued a warning.

"Hm?"

Harry frowned and looked at the surveillance feed.

A black sedan had stopped outside the mansion gates. A bald man in a suit, with a rather concerning hairline, got out and looked up at the mansion.

"Hm? Coulson?"

Harry recognized him at once, his pupils contracting.

Phil Coulson! A senior agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.!

"S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

Harry's heart stirred.

Why had they come to his door?

Why?