Marvel Universe, New York.
Some things can only be done in a relatively peaceful society, like developing large-scale industries.
Leo had fallen asleep. Perhaps it was because he had finally resolved the long-standing conflicts and crises, and he even had a dream.
In the dream, someone kept knocking on his head, questioning him: "With all the amazing things in the Marvel universe, you went and picked the Lizard formula?"
Then, in a fit of determination, he somehow obtained a bottle of the Sentinel formula, which was said to give him the power of a million stars!
And then... he was poisoned to death on the spot.
Somehow, he came back to life and gave himself a shot of the Extremis virus.
The virus was quite extraordinary, though Leo couldn't comprehend its mechanism. Still, under the mysterious voice in his dream, he injected himself with it.
This time, he became incredibly powerful, wreaking havoc everywhere. Then a red and gold Iron Man showed up, demanding patent fees, threatening to trigger the virus if he didn't pay up.
In the third loop of the dream, he injected himself with a mutated spider's venom and turned into a spider-monster.
In the fourth attempt, he flew into space to absorb cosmic radiation but didn't turn into one of the Fantastic Four. Instead, he died on the spot.
In the fifth, he sought Mr. Negative's help to cure his cancer. The result?
He woke up without knowing how Mr. Negative's energy might have affected him.
Leo opened his eyes, rubbed the corners, and felt the gentle sunlight on his face.
"I'd better focus on research. There are too many variables in this world, and I still don't know what the current state is."
One major lesson Leo had learned from Peter turning into the Lizard was that there were multiple versions of the Marvel universe.
And secondly, comics are comics, and life is life.
If you treat life like reading comics, life becomes unmanageable.
Since the plotlines had changed so drastically, he needed to think in a way that leaned toward normal logic: learning knowledge, making money, expanding industries, gathering intel, confirming intel, and acting only after careful planning.
It wasn't as simple as assuming a guy named Peter Parker was Spider-Man or a guy named Tony Stark was the same playboy who sacrificed himself.
One typical example was that the current Secretary of State, James Buchanan Barnes, was the most dazzling star soldier of World War II, a member of the Howling Commandos.
Beep—
Leo's phone rang. It was a call from Martin, the last guy who appeared in his dream.
"Leo, your research was a success! The blood sample passed all tests! I believe in you now—International Gene Cooperation Company has huge potential!"
"Happy to collaborate—"
"I want to discuss what's next with you in person. Where are you right now?"
Leo checked the time—it was 8 AM.
"Let's meet at the Hammond Lab."
"The plasma components are normal. The clinical trial has been approved, but theoretically, our blood doesn't differ from regular human blood components. So, we won't encounter any hurdles at this stage—I think we can break out the champagne early."
Martin even brought a bottle of champagne, and it looked expensive.
Leo quickly stopped him: "Martin, wait—hold on—"
"What's wrong? You don't like champagne? I brought a low-alcohol one."
"It's not that—it's just a bit inauspicious. Put it down for now. Let's sort out the details. The plasma is fine, but how do we ensure safe production?"
Hearing this, Martin also set the champagne down.
It was indeed an important issue.
Professor Connors looked troubled. "To be honest, as long as we follow strict production procedures, no one will be able to detect any trace of the Lizard formula in the blood samples, so there won't be any reverse-engineering.
But if we expand production, we'll inevitably need workers for supply, transportation, and packaging. It gets tricky, and, well, you know—corporate sabotage."
For example, competitors might bribe workers or hire criminal gangs to cause trouble.
In short, as the industry scales up, the probability of raw material leaks increases significantly.
The Lizard formula, though difficult to reverse-engineer, could still produce dangerous biological materials if refined.
Martin nodded. "I can guarantee my people won't leak anything, but corporate warfare is indeed a complex process."
"How about automated production?" Leo suggested, standing up to flip over the blackboard, explaining the production model to them.
The blood production process could be divided into two main chains: the first is the synthesis and secondary processing of the Lizard formula and the anti-Lizard formula. This chain would operate like a chemical plant for bio-material synthesis, which doesn't need to be too secretive.
The chemical plant's materials could be transported to an automated factory for production, minimizing worker interaction and reducing the likelihood of leaks.
The second chain involves long-term cultivation of bone marrow to periodically produce blood, process it, and supply it to the market.
Leo highlighted the parts of the process that involved the Lizard formula.
These were the sections he needed to automate or obscure.
The idea was to package and secure the critical steps before production, theoretically reducing leak risks.
"But the cost would be really high," Connors remarked, shrugging. "The design and manufacture of automated equipment, the algorithms, and servers needed…"
Martin added, "And if we hire fewer workers, we'll lose some of the policy support we currently enjoy since we're in a phase of boosting the economy."
Leo sighed, feeling the headache set in. "My plan is to use special robots to replace some human labor in the key production stages. Would that help if we balanced it with some manual labor?"
He circled certain processes on the board in red.
This would break up the integrity of the production line, making reverse-engineering or corporate espionage much harder.
Martin examined the revised plan. "That could work."
Connors raised another concern: "But with such a complex system, the reliability drops drastically."
The more complicated the system, the more prone it was to errors, especially with automated equipment.
"I'll figure something out," Leo said.
He had a bold idea to address machine reliability.
The plan was to use cross-dimensional information transmission channels so that workers from the Cyberpunk world could control the robots in the Marvel world, and vice versa.
In this way, while the production process appeared automated, it was actually human-operated.
This would help cut costs, and workers unaware of the whole process would also be under the "supervision" of the "robots."
Moreover, the system would offer replacement functionality for similar substances during mass production.
With all this encryption in place, the security would be nearly airtight, and they could still create job opportunities.
"I'm fine with that," Connors agreed. "However, the next step in the research has some issues. More complex cells, no matter how we control the concentration, tend to cause slight hyperactive symptoms in the organism, as well as some probability of addiction."
"These organs and tissues integrate with the biological system," he continued.
"I might have something for that," Leo said, pulling out a few containers of biological material. "These can selectively filter specific cells and biomolecules. They can also act as immunosuppressants. I happened to create them by chance and thought they might help prevent the genetic modifications from spreading throughout the body. Want to try them?"
Connors stared at Leo, bewildered.
Here he goes again, pulling out another high-tech marvel he couldn't comprehend.
"Well, of course, I want to try them… but—never mind, I'll study it."
There was no point in asking more.
Connors had given up trying to understand Leo's strange progress—in his eyes, Leo's pockets were nearly as dimensionally infinite as a certain robotic cat's.
Martin stroked his chin. "So, we've got a new bio-pharmaceutical project now? In that case, I'd better increase my investment—if you two are okay with that."
Leo and Connors exchanged a glance. "We don't need more investment for now, but thanks for the offer."
"Alright—so can we pop the champagne now?"
Leo sighed.
Who knew the normally serious Martin had a humorous side—obsessing over his champagne like that?
"Fine, fine."
Beep beep beep—
Just as Martin was about to open the champagne, his phone rang. The champagne would have to wait.
"Tch. Looks like we'll have to save it for next time."