Chapter Thirty-Two: The First Experiment

Keisha said, “Perhaps you’re confusing two different concepts.”

“?”

“What you need is energy, not just electricity.”

Energy, not simply electricity.

So that’s how it is. How foolish of me.

What Michael required was the immense force necessary to alter his genes—this energy could take the form of electricity, food, or even something else.

For instance, dark energy.

“Thank you, Keisha. I nearly backed myself into a corner.”

If not for Keisha, he might have gone back to Tony to ask for help building a reactor.

After that, things became much simpler. Michael continued to study the arcane arts.

He prepared to craft a grand array capable of drawing in magical energy.

After carefully reviewing the experimental procedure, Michael concluded that directly providing dark energy was the safest course—using electricity could still stimulate the cells and lead to unwanted mutations.

This realization bolstered his confidence.

Had the Ancient One not intervened, perhaps Michael’s experiment would truly have gone awry.

Soon, Michael found himself before the final few bookshelves.

He glanced at the raised dais in the center, upon which lay a metal pendant—the Eye of Agamotto.

Why had the Ancient One placed this here?

Michael remembered clearly: it had always rested upon the Ancient One’s chest, from their very first meeting.

And this library was a public space. Besides the librarian Wong, others would sometimes come and go—there was no reason to leave the Eye of Agamotto here.

He was no reckless fool, not the sort to gawk at the Eye and immediately start experimenting.

He perused the books on time magic.

Logically, such forbidden tomes should have been locked away, yet he opened them without effort.

What was the Ancient One’s intent?

Could it be that, recognizing his extraordinary talent, she sought to make him the next Sorcerer Supreme?

Still, the Eye of Agamotto—a Time Stone, no less.

Had his experiment actually succeeded?

He could take it, open a portal...

A host of thoughts swirled through Michael’s mind. In the end, he reluctantly set the book aside and turned to something else.

After all, the idea was reckless—the Ancient One was no easy adversary.

Watching from afar, the Ancient One sighed.

Having waited this long, she supposed she could wait another five years.

Michael was certainly a suitable candidate, but it was clear he had no desire to become the Sorcerer Supreme.

Raising her hand, she drew a circle in the air and instantly appeared in the library.

“Michael.”

“Master Ancient One, is something the matter?” Michael glanced at her, then returned to his book.

I knew you were watching me, you sly old fox.

“Aren’t you curious about the future? Whether you’ll succeed or fail?”

Michael smiled and replied, “Of course I’m curious. But the moment I see the future, it will already have changed.”

The future isn’t a fixed script; it changes constantly.

The Ancient One smiled back. “Even so, seeing a grim future would make you more cautious; seeing a bright one, more joyful.”

“That’s all the more reason not to look.” Michael raised his head and said, “What if, because I glimpsed a successful future, I become careless and my experiment fails? Wouldn’t that be my own fault, Master Ancient One?”

“Indeed.” The Ancient One picked up the Eye of Agamotto. “It seems you truly have no need of this.”

Michael thought: On the contrary, I need it very much.

“By the way, Master Ancient One, what if people learn you used dark magic to prolong your life, and their faith is shattered?”

She glanced at Michael and replied, “I will die before that news spreads.”

A sound solution—after all, the living tend to romanticize the dead, even covering up their flaws to preserve a heroic image in the minds of others.

At every funeral, you hear nothing but praise for the departed; after all, the dead are always honored.

“What if your little admirer loses faith and turns to darkness?”

The Ancient One cast him another sidelong glance, then walked to the window to watch Mordo instructing the apprentices outside.

“That will be the concern of the next Sorcerer Supreme.”

“Even if I foresaw his betrayal of the Sanctum, I have no grounds to act—he has not yet betrayed us. We cannot judge or punish someone based solely on possibility.”

She looked back at Michael and continued, “Just as with you—even if I saw a future where you brought unspeakable calamity to the world, all I could do would be to guide you, hoping you won’t stray down the darkest path.”

“So long as there remains even the faintest hope, I will not deny you. Even at the very last moment before you turn villainous, you are still good.”

“Michael, I hope all will go well for you.”

Michael gripped the magic tome in silence for a long time. At last, he simply said,

“Thank you, Master Ancient One.”

Now he understood why she had sought him out.

Having learned her intentions, Michael could now begin his experiment in earnest.

Before starting, he made the final modifications to his laboratory.

The first phase involved constructing an array to absorb dark energy from multidimensional space, providing sufficient power for the test subjects after serum injection.

The second phase was a binding array, designed to block any teleportation abilities that might result from mutation.

Watching his growing subjects, Michael prepared various serums for experimentation.

At this stage, morality be damned—there is no success without sacrifice.

Besides, these were merely his own cultured cells; in theory, they were nothing but flesh.

He placed Subject One on the platform.

It had never learned to speak or walk; Michael could only use his newly mastered telekinesis to lift it onto the chair, then inject all the serums.

For this initial trial, the serum of choice was the vampire bat serum.

According to his projections, the genes most compatible with Michael were those of the vampire bat.

Other genes, even if successfully integrated, would have to build upon the foundation of the vampire bat’s genes.

As the serum entered Subject One’s body, the array beneath activated, channeling dark energy into him. The subject began to convulse uncontrollably.

It was as if countless worms crawled beneath his skin, as if his bones and muscles were shattered, ground to pulp, then reassembled.

Soon, the subject gave a cry of agony and finally fainted.

As time passed, Subject One’s chest swelled, his once emaciated frame growing robust.

Yet side effects followed. His skin turned ghostly pale, as though sunlight had never touched it; beneath it, veins were clearly visible.

His ears grew pointed, his eyes reddened, his nose flattened, and his nails extended rapidly—his fingers becoming slender and powerful.

It was a terrifying transformation; whether success or failure, it was hard to say.

This must have been the expected result of blindly fusing vampire bat serum—but as the clones possessed neither intelligence nor reason, he could not yet judge the serum’s effect on rationality.