V5 and the First Stage of Steel Body

Lin Mo's heart sank.

It couldn't be that much of a coincidence, could it?

He had only just arrived in this world, and the first people to find him were from Vought Corporation?

Some place to spawn!

Everyone knew a child raised by ordinary people could become Superman, but a child raised by Vought would only become Homelander.

"An Asian baby boy, too."

The man holding Lin Mo looked around, then glanced down at his face again.

"Poor kid. Let's take him back first."

"Run a full examination."

"He might be useful to Vought."

The man wrapped Lin Mo in a heavy waterproof sheet and carried him into the car.

Before the door closed, Lin Mo took one last look at the sky, barely visible behind the dark clouds.

The sun had just risen.

But the thick clouds blocked its light, leaving precious little to reach him.

The car drove away from the wasteland.

Lin Mo did not struggle. In his current state, even if Vought had not found him, he would have been taken to a hospital, a police station, or an orphanage.

Compared with a completely unknown environment, ending up at Vought had at least one advantage.

He knew what kind of company it was, what it was researching, and what it feared losing most.

As long as Vought considered him valuable, it would not let him die easily.

As for later...

Once he grew up and soaked up enough sunlight, who ended up studying whom remained to be seen.

The car eventually entered a heavily guarded building.

The man carried Lin Mo into an elevator, which descended.

Basement level one.

Basement level three.

Basement level six.

The elevator still did not stop.

Lin Mo immediately realized this was no ordinary hospital. Sure enough, Vought had no intention of letting him go. He had still held on to a sliver of hope, but now... Heh.

This was one of Vought's secret underground research facilities.

White lights swept overhead. Staff in lab coats took him from the man and placed him in a transparent incubator.

Blood samples.

Temperature checks.

Brainwave scans.

One test after another began in rapid succession.

Lin Mo could only pretend to be an ordinary baby, crying a few times whenever someone approached.

Several hours later, a graying researcher stood outside the Observation Window, reading the preliminary report in his hands.

"His cellular structure is strange."

"It resembles a human's, but it isn't quite the same."

"His cells are far more active than a normal infant's, and his gene sequence contains many structures we can't identify."

Another researcher asked:

"Should we report it?"

"No need."

The lead researcher smiled faintly and looked up at Lin Mo in the incubator.

"Run a drug tolerance test first."

"As it happens, V5 needs a new Experimental Sample."

At the mention of "V5," Lin Mo's heart plummeted.

Compound V.

He did not know which generation of experimental formula Vought was developing. If it was the Original Compound V, the mortality rate for ordinary people was terrifyingly high.

The transparent incubator opened, and a syringe filled with blue liquid slowly approached.

Lin Mo watched the needle, feeling a powerful sense of danger for the first time.

He did not have a Steel Body yet.

At least, it had not truly awakened.

He had no idea what would happen if Compound V entered a Kryptonian's body.

Would they fuse?

Would his body reject it?

Would his genes collapse?

Or would he simply die?

The needle pierced his tender arm, and the cold blue liquid flowed into his vein.

Beyond the Observation Window, everyone waited for the result.

Lin Mo stared hard at the pale light overhead. Only one thought remained in his mind.

I've only just arrived in this world. I can't die from the first injection.

For now, he had no choice but to trust his Kryptonian Physiology.

A strange, tingling numbness spread through him. The instant the blue liquid entered his vein, his whole arm felt as though it had been dipped in a hot spring.

Knowing the story, he understood that Compound V was not simply a drug that strengthened muscles.

It was trying to invade his cells, reshape his genes, and forcibly change the course of a living being's evolution.

That was how it gave ordinary people superpowers.

If Lin Mo had possessed the body of an ordinary human infant, what happened next would have been entirely down to luck.

He might awaken a power, suffer a physical mutation, or die outright as his genes collapsed.

But his genes were not merely human.

When V5 tried to make contact with his Kryptonian cells, it forcibly awakened a defense mechanism dormant deep within his genes.

It was like a crew of workers armed with hammers and chisels trying to rebuild a spaceship far beyond their understanding.

The moment the blue drug entered his cells, they identified it as a foreign substance.

His Kryptonian genes neither accepted the alterations nor fused with V5.

They simply broke down the Compound V, consumed it, and converted it into basic energy his body could use.

The strange sensation from the V5 injection quickly faded.

In its place came a warmth spreading from deep within his body.

The stellar energy that had been so faint it was almost nonexistent was briefly activated by the drug.

His bone density began to rise, and subtle changes appeared in his muscle fibers.

His skin cells bound together, forming a biological structure far more stable than human tissue.

Lin Mo could clearly feel himself growing tougher.

It was a change to his very nature, from the inside out. His flesh was still soft, and his skin still felt like a baby's to the touch.

But beneath that skin, every cell seemed locked to the others by an invisible force.

His Steel Body had awakened.

It was only the most basic, incomplete form, but it had truly emerged.

Beyond the Observation Window, the researchers watched their instruments closely.

"Heart rate rising."

"Body temperature up by zero point seven degrees Celsius."

"Increased brainwave activity."

"No tissue necrosis."

"No obvious mutation, either."

Several minutes later, every reading stabilized again.

Lin Mo lay in the incubator. He did not breathe fire, levitate, or show any other change visible to the naked eye.

The researcher keeping the records frowned.

"No powers observed."

"Possibly an ineffective adaptation."

"Continue observation."

"If there's no change within twenty-four hours, move him to the failed-sample procedure."

The failed-sample procedure.

Lin Mo did not need to know the details to guess what that meant.

An ordinary baby who failed an experiment might still be sent to another institution.

But he was not an ordinary baby, and his cellular structure had already caught Vought's attention.

Once the company decided he was not worth raising, it would most likely dissect him for a more thorough study rather than send him to an orphanage.

Vought would never allow a special specimen it could not understand to leave the laboratory.

So he had to show his value, but not too much of it.

For now, he had only just awakened a basic defense. His strength and speed had not improved noticeably.

Even if he displayed everything he could do, he would be little more than a slightly tougher baby.

Besides, the unknown was his greatest protection.

If Vought discovered that sunlight could make him grow without limit, the company would do everything it could to keep him locked underground forever.

He needed to give Vought an answer it could understand.

V5 had to appear successful.

It had given the infant Lin Mo a powerful defensive ability without producing any other effects that were more dangerous or harder to control.

That was the conclusion Vought would be most willing to believe.