Fortunately, Eren himself was there to stop his clone in time.
Otherwise, not only would the valuable [Assassin] potion have gone to waste, but they might have also ended up dealing with a monstrous abomination.
[Potions] were not something to be force-fed while unconscious.
If someone in a coma consumed a potion, they might be unable to withstand the information and corruption contained within, mutating into a terrifyingly powerful creature.
"Don't rush. You can't administer a potion while he's unconscious. Wait until he wakes up first."
"Besides, before we give him the potion, we need to make some preparations."
Unlike his clone—who had inherited Eren's darker impulses and was mostly interested in watching the chaos—Eren himself had a deeper purpose for going to such lengths to procure the Witch pathway potions from Sequence 9 to Sequence 7 for the Winter Soldier, Bucky.
Sure, he was curious about how things would play out between Bucky, now a witch, and Steve Rogers.
But more importantly, he saw this as an opportunity to recruit a powerful subordinate.
Bucky Barnes, trained by Hydra, was not only a highly skilled martial artist but also an expert in firearms and tactical operations. With Hydra's modifications and his cybernetic arm, his abilities far exceeded those of ordinary humans.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have remained Hydra's top assassin for decades.
If he consumed a Sequence potion and truly became a transcendent being, his skills and experience would allow for an immediate surge in power.
Given his decades of experience as an assassin, he might even be able to instantly digest the [Assassin] potion at Sequence 9.
After all, he had been living as an assassin for years.
If things played out that way, Eren would gain a formidable subordinate, skilled in assassination and combat.
That was an asset any major power in this world would kill for.
Even though Eren hadn't been in this world for long, he was already starting to feel the constraints of his situation.
If he insisted on operating alone…
Forget everything else—just gathering the ingredients for his daily [Millennium Elixir] was an immense drain on time and resources.
And as his [Cosmic Brain Meditation] technique advanced, the daily nutritional requirements for his mental development would only increase. Procuring the high-grade supplements necessary for his growth would be a monumental task.
Right now, he could still rely on Oscorp Industries, where he held shares, to source some of the materials.
But lately, Eren had begun feeling an inexplicable unease about Oscorp's rapid expansion.
Ever since he had traded a [Panacea] for 5% of Oscorp's shares, he hadn't seen Norman Osborn again.
It was as if Osborn was deliberately avoiding him.
Every time Eren attempted to visit, strange coincidences always prevented them from meeting.
Not only did this completely disrupt his plan to hypnotize Osborn, but it also left him feeling increasingly uneasy.
There were no such things as coincidences in this world.
Osborn's behavior almost certainly meant that he had broken free from Eren's previous mental influence.
The only reason he hadn't acted against Eren yet was likely due to fear or an unknown factor.
Otherwise, there was no reason for him to keep dodging meetings.
Avoidance only made sense if he was afraid that meeting again would result in Eren reapplying his mental influence.
Osborn's actions only made Eren more determined to establish his own faction.
If things took a turn for the worse…
And if Osborn cut off his access to vital nutritional serums, it would take Eren a long time to rebuild a steady supply chain.
And that was a very real possibility.
After all, if Eren were in Osborn's shoes, he certainly wouldn't tolerate someone who had tried to hypnotize him.
Of course, Oscorp Industries wasn't Eren's only asset.
During the extreme fluctuations in Stark Industries' stock, he had quietly swept through the market, becoming the company's third-largest shareholder.
However, Stark Industries was fundamentally a weapons manufacturer.
Even after Tony Stark transitioned it into a clean-energy company, it had no connection to biomedical research.
Getting a weapons firm to source high-quality pharmaceutical ingredients wasn't impossible, but it would be slow, costly, and inefficient.
More importantly, Eren couldn't trust the quality of the materials sourced this way.
Expecting weapons engineers to properly distinguish between pharmaceutical-grade ingredients was a gamble he wasn't willing to take.
For all these reasons…
Eren was now set on forming his own faction.
And right now, the Winter Soldier, Bucky Barnes, seemed like the perfect candidate.
Not only was he exceptionally powerful, but Hydra's years of psychological conditioning had also left his mind fragile and exposed.
To Eren, that meant zero resistance.
With his mastery of mental techniques, he could seamlessly implant a deep-rooted loyalty imprint in Bucky's subconscious.
Compared to Hydra's crude brainwashing methods, Eren's approach was far more refined and irreversible.
Half an hour later…
Bucky Barnes' eyes slowly fluttered open.
The first thing he saw was a pair of dazzling, star-like eyes staring back at him.
In the next instant—
The countless stars within those eyes began to swirl and shift…
And almost immediately, Bucky fell into their depths.
Without even realizing it, a mental imprint of absolute loyalty was etched into his mind.
Only after securing Bucky's submission did Eren finally release him from his mental grasp.
As Bucky's eyes cleared, he looked at the figure before him—the man in the Joker mask.
His throat was dry, and his voice was hoarse as he tried to speak.
"…"
(End of Chapter)
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