"X-Gene? I really didn't find anything. It might have been hidden too deeply." Dr. Sterns spread his hands, looking innocent as he denied any involvement.
Then he probed, "Has your X-Gene awakened, Mr. Wenwu? What ability did you awaken, exactly?"
"Just a minor ability."
Wenwu refused to elaborate, his face expressionless. He had no intention of laying his cards on the table for this cunning fellow.
"If you don't want to say, Mr. Wenwu, never mind."
Dr. Sterns put on a show of relief for Wenwu, his tone sincere. "Thank goodness you didn't turn into one of those deformed monsters that have lost their minds."
Seeing his hypocrisy, Wenwu sneered inwardly and changed the subject. "Now that the Spider Serum is done, see if you can improve the Second-Generation Armor for me. I want to be able to put it on and take it off freely. If you can shrink it down to the size of a suitcase, that would be ideal."
Ivan clearly didn't have the brains for it. Getting him to design portable armor like Tony Stark's Mark V would probably take a great deal of time, so Wenwu could only pin his hopes on Dr. Sterns.
"No problem. Leave it to me. I guarantee you'll be satisfied!" Dr. Sterns's eyes lit up, and he immediately thumped his chest as he made the promise.
Seeing him agree so readily, Wenwu gave him a long look before turning and leaving the lab.
After he left, the gentle smile vanished from Dr. Sterns's face, replaced by a cold look of disappointment.
With his abilities, he had naturally detected the X-Gene hidden in Wenwu's body long ago.
But not only had he failed to tell Wenwu, he had even secretly fine-tuned the serum's formula to ensure that it would fully activate his X-Gene.
During their time together, he had found Wenwu too cautious, too calm. He simply couldn't find an opening.
But if Wenwu became a deformed monster after his X-Gene awakened, his chance would come!
If the leader of an organization turned into a monster, his composure would surely crumble, and he would slowly lose his mind. Only then could Dr. Sterns find a weakness and escape, perhaps even turn the tables and take control of his forces.
Unfortunately, things hadn't gone as he wished. Although Wenwu's X-Gene had awakened, he hadn't become a deformed monster. Instead, he had grown even more wary of Dr. Sterns.
Meanwhile, Wenwu returned to the testing area.
With a thought, the steel walls used as targets instantly warped, turning into liquid metal that circled around him.
"With a thought, I can control the metal's form as easily as moving my own arm..."
Wenwu carefully explored the sensation, trying to see whether he could control it on an atomic level.
But after another attempt, he found that he couldn't control microscopic atoms at all. He really could only control its macroscopic form.
Wenwu was a little disappointed, but when he looked at the liquid metal flowing around him, the corners of his mouth curved up again.
Even if he couldn't control atoms, being able to manipulate its shape at will was already extremely powerful.
With a thought, several tons of liquid metal instantly separated, took shape and solidified, becoming a solid broadsword, a giant axe and an enormous steel hammer!
Wenwu had a wonderful time playing with it after that!
Finally, he tested the limit of how much weight he could control.
The final weight settled at two hundred tons!
"I can only control two hundred tons before I reach my limit, and my precision and movement speed drop sharply!
Finally, Wenwu felt that he was consuming too much mental energy. He immediately stopped, turning the metal back into targets and planting them in the ground.
Then Wenwu tried to use his metal manipulation ability to pull the Ten Rings with a thought.
The ten golden rings flew out, radiating golden energy, and shot through the metal targets on the ground one by one.
"It works! I can control the Ten Rings more nimbly now!"
Wenwu was delighted. His metal ability could control the Ten Rings, which meant their material did indeed contain metal.
But he didn't dare try changing their shape. If he damaged them, he would have nowhere to turn.
He also had a vague feeling that, with his current ability, he might not be able to change their shape anyway.
Of course, whether he could or not, he didn't want to try.
"Right, can I control Vibranium?"
Wenwu's eyes suddenly lit up.
He had possessed the Vibranium for so long without using any of it, not even a small piece.
He had always wanted to wait until armor technology reached the level of Tony's Mark V before using the Vibranium to make an armor shell.
Now that he had a metal ability, he didn't need any armor technology at all. He could simply control the metal and make it cling to his body!
He returned to his room and opened a secret chamber where the Vibranium was stored.
Looking at the Vibranium in the alloy case, Wenwu could easily sense its presence.
With a thought, a large quantity of Vibranium burst out of the case and instantly fused into a large mass, soft as mud!
Sweat appeared on Wenwu's forehead, and his face grew slightly pale. Controlling Vibranium clearly took far more out of him than controlling ordinary metal.
With another thought, the large mass of Vibranium began changing shape continuously. Dozens of seconds later, a suit of heavy, imposing armor covered his body.
The suit combined the styles of medieval knights' armor and Chinese armor, blended with futuristic technological construction.
The armor was silver-gray overall. Two horns rose high from the helmet, and the faceplate had two eyeholes.
Broad, layered pauldrons held two pulsing blue energy sources. The scale-like breastplate, segmented arm guards and heavy leg armor complemented one another, and the whole suit radiated a fierce aura of war.
Once the armor was complete, Wenwu slowly let out a breath and wiped the fine sweat from his forehead.
This had taken far too much out of him. If he forced himself to use his metal ability again, he might exhaust his mental energy and pass out.
"This armor isn't bad. I'll keep it in this form from now on. Once I have mature nanotechnology, I'll make a technological version."
"Hmm... I'll call it 'Godslayer.'"
Wenwu smiled faintly, then left the secret chamber. After closing the door, he sat down to cultivate and restore his mental and spiritual strength.
He continued meditating like that until the next day.
"My lord!"
Ching-Lin hurried over to report. "Word came from the base in Amba City. Someone claiming to be from the United States military wants to see you. He's quite capable and can move at high speed. He's probably a Mutant. He easily took down over a hundred of our soldiers!"
Wenwu slowly opened his eyes and narrowed them. "Are the soldiers all right?"
"They're all seriously injured. Without treatment from the origin substance, they'd probably be bedridden for more than half a year!"
As Ching-Lin spoke, killing intent flashed in his eyes. He clearly wanted to kill the suspected Mutant!
"He probably isn't from the military. They wouldn't send a Mutant to see me!"
Wenwu's gaze turned cold. The man had seriously injured over a hundred of his soldiers as soon as he arrived. He was clearly trying to intimidate him!
He knew the Ten Rings had made too many moves recently, and sooner or later they would attract the attention of various factions.
The Iron Legion in particular was bound to make S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra suspect that the Ten Rings had kidnapped Tony to obtain his energy and armor technology.
When Tony Stark announced that he was Iron Man, the impact had been enormous. Factions everywhere coveted his technology.
Once they suspected or discovered that Wenwu possessed Tony's technology, not only would Tony come looking for trouble, but government forces around the world would also do everything they could to suppress his development!
But Wenwu had no reason to fear them now!
He wondered whether the first to come knocking this time was S.H.I.E.L.D., Hydra, or really the United States military.
"All right, I'll go see him and hear what they have to say."
Wenwu sneered.
"My lord, there's no need for you to go in person. In case it's a trap, just let your subordinates deal with him," Ching-Lin hurriedly advised.
"It's fine. I'll go see for myself. If they dare try a decapitation strike, I'll leave their corpses in pieces."
The corners of Wenwu's mouth rose slightly, cold killing intent showing in his eyes.
He was actually looking forward to finding a trap waiting for him, to see who had the nerve to set one on his turf.