Luke Cage's ability came from a chemical liquid, a project contracted to a private entity by the government, with the entire experiment conducted in secret at Seagate Prison.
The scene of Luke's transformation was chaotic; he was placed in a large vat filled with chemicals, but the experiment was interrupted by a man, causing the liquid to undergo some kind of change, which led to the birth of Power Man.
Harry had studied the archived files; while these liquids did have some effects on human cells, it was absolutely impossible for them to create a stable Super Soldier like Luke Cage—in other words, it was metaphysical.
The scanner passed over Luke's body repeatedly; his skin could no longer be considered human skin. If Harry could clone and mass-produce his skin tissue, it would make for an excellent bulletproof material.
It's a bit disgusting, though, so he would just claim it was a product of genetic engineering to the public.
Harry archived all of Luke's data under "Super Soldier Serum" and ended the scan.
"Is it over?" Although Luke was confident in his body, the lasers and mechanical arms surrounding him were quite intimidating—in reality, those things truly could easily slice through his body.
"That's enough." Harry had gathered enough samples, both for system missions and for his own scientific research.
Luke stepped down from the scanning table; everything here still felt far too sci-fi for him.
Watching the large bald man look around, Harry said, "My offer still stands. All I need is for you to be a positive, legal symbol of a superhero.
A Black symbol would help these people integrate into the new rules and abandon that confrontational culture."
"An official symbol like Captain America?" Luke smiled.
Harry said dismissively, "If you want, of course—an official symbol, a private company, or a gang leader, anything works. I just hope you can get your fellow countrymen to go to work honestly."
He had heard that some foreigners trained monkeys to help them pick fruit, but exploiting monkeys was just too stupid.
However, these words didn't sound very pleasant to Luke's ears. He said with some annoyance, "You make it sound like we lack intelligence, that we're all just a bunch of thieves and Bandits."
Luke smiled, intending to silently mock Harry—how could a Black man ever become Captain America?
Harry's attitude, however, was one of complete indifference, speaking in a tone one would use for a child, which made Luke feel a bit uncomfortable.
Operating the holographic equipment, Harry said, "I apologize if I caused a misunderstanding, but the channels have been opened for you. Someone has to take the lead in making a change, right?
Do you know how to operate this equipment? Do you know that the basics of holographic engineering are available for free at the Osborn Online Academy?
No, you don't. You just want to hunker down in a barbershop cutting hair. Your people don't know either, and even if they did, they wouldn't want to learn."
Luke retorted, "If you guys gave us a chance—"
"The President has already given it—do you know how much pressure he's under?" Harry interrupted Luke.
Norman's pressure was indeed not small—he had to arrest a large number of KKK members every day, his hands going numb from all the arrests.
To be honest, Harry didn't like the Black gangs that caused trouble all day or the Black congressmen with poor intellectual development, but he also truly couldn't like organizations that fought each other under the guise of some creed or another. The lower-level people in such organizations were uneducated, while the high-level people relied on these fictional creeds to make money.
Perhaps because they had been fighting for so long, both sides were quite similar; neither was helpful for development, and both paid very little in taxes.
Harry turned off the instruments in the laboratory; it was time to see his guest out.
The Bulwark Center was a beautiful garden with various animals and natural landscapes, planted with vegetation that Harry had personally genetically modified. Researchers in white coats walked around freely, making it look like some alien Planet.
The two of them talked as they walked to a corner.
"Listen, Mr. Cage, I sincerely hope your community can escape its current situation and all become highly educated individuals, or whatever else with a decent job—whatever job you like."
As Harry spoke, a cute little black-footed cat crouched low and slowly approached from behind him, its thick brown fur with black stripes shimmering in the sunlight.
The little cat gave a low hiss and pounced toward Harry, only to be caught by the scruff of its neck by him.
Luke watched the scene with interest.
Harry pointed at the black-footed cat and said, "Carlo, caught you again. Where's your partner-in-crime?"
Just as he finished speaking, a huge chimpanzee lunged out from around the corner!
"Stop!"
To Luke's surprised gaze, the chimpanzee actually stopped at Harry's command, then scratched its head sheepishly.
"Your company keeps these things free-roaming in public areas?" Luke couldn't even bother discussing the survival of Black people anymore—how could these things be kept free-roaming?!
"His name is Caesar, a cloned creature—so is Carlo. I implanted a Neural Implant in their brains—it's like installing a Google Translate for its brain. Now he can understand some simple expressions."
Caesar reached out his hand toward Luke, his eyes holding a hint of defiance.
Harry introduced, "Through long-term teaching and education, he has now learned to bathe regularly, use the toilet in designated spots, and use some simple tools. Aside from being unable to speak, you can communicate with him normally."
Luke reached out his hand skeptically, and Caesar immediately revealed a smile as if a scheme had succeeded, applying some force with his hand.
Luke realized what the chimpanzee was trying to do and smiled as well—
Soon, Caesar let out a tragic ape-like scream and ran back into the mountains, shrinking behind a rock and giving Luke the middle finger.
"You really are a stupid ass." Luke also gave the middle finger to the chimpanzee, then said to Harry, "How did you guys do it? This is simply—"
"Technology. This is the work of an Osborn employee. It started as just a concept, but I helped him refine the implant design, and now he's in charge of this project." Harry placed Carlo on his shoulder.
Who doesn't like a cute little cat? It would be even better if it could understand human speech.
"Soon, we'll be able to develop devices that can translate animal languages. That's the charm of technology, and it's why I'm willing to give everyone an equal chance—if one in every ten thousand people can make a contribution, I might not be able to control that probability, but I can increase the base number."
After all, the person who came up with this animal translator wasn't Harry. He could do many things, but that didn't mean he had the time and energy to do them; a person has limits.
"Well, that's all for today, Mr. Cage. Thank you for your cooperation." Harry politely extended his hand.
While shaking hands, Luke said, "Actually, I should be the one thanking you. Although I don't like you powerful people, you seem to be a bit different."
After sending Luke off, Harry's phone rang. It seemed Frank had some results.
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