While Harry was studying the changes in Luke Cage, Frank had already led a team to Hong Kong, China, ordered to find a young man named "Chen Haoran."
This young man had the ability to release fire; because of this ability, he had long been included on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s index of gifted individuals.
This mutation could help Harry control and stabilize Extremis, so he gave Frank a mission—bring Chen Haoran back.
Finding Chen Haoran took Frank a long time—ctOS couldn't penetrate China's territory, so they could only use satellites and high-tech equipment to search for him.
But now that they found him, the situation on the scene was a bit off: this kid and a Black woman talked about something on the street before the two of them went back into a house together.
Frank reported, "Boss, the kid took a Black woman home, but the way she speaks seems a bit strange."
Hearing this news, Harry stroked his chin and recalled this part of the plot:
[Author's Note: At this point, I hope readers remember our domain name wkan.com, your choice.]
After Killian was arrested, The Clairvoyant within HYDRA used his research to develop a Super Soldier serum: centipede serum.
But like Extremis, the centipede serum also had the problem of causing people to explode, so they set their sights on Chen Haoran—a man who could control fire.
The person in charge of this research was the woman Frank was looking at now—Raina, a researcher obsessed with gifted individuals.
Harry tapped the table and said, "Change of plans, just kidnap both of them—remember to leave those marks at the scene. There should be another group there; if it's convenient, kidnap them too."
Sometimes Harry felt like he sounded like a human trafficker—fortunately, in the end, this blame would be pinned on The Clairvoyant and HYDRA.
While operating the suit controller on his arm, Frank said, "Alright, you all heard that. Switch to combat mode."
After saying that, the appearance of his individual combat armor changed. The armor originally had a white skull and the Hammer logo printed on it, but now everything was gone, with nothing left to prove their identity.
A few minutes later, a group of people wearing white fireproof thermal suits rushed into Chen Haoran's rental house, looking like a group of people catching pigs.
"Target has entered the building, begin the operation." Frank slid along the wall to the side of the house and threw a flashbang inside.
Bang!
A loud noise accompanied by a flash of intense light followed. The fireproof thermal suits clearly didn't protect against flashbangs, and the capture was successfully completed.
Harry had collected a lot of data regarding the Super Soldier serum: he got Dr. Erskine's formula from Black Cat, isolated a replica serum from the Winter Soldier, obtained Captain America's genetic data, and had information about the former government's secret experiments at Sea Gate Prison.
Even the version replicated by Howard Stark, who had the most authoritative first-hand data, was only a flawed semi-finished product; Harry needed more data.
The reverse engineering of this could be put aside for now because the development of Extremis was easier—in the original story, two things played a crucial role in stabilizing the centipede serum: one was a neurotoxin made from cobra venom, and the other was the fireproof platelets extracted from Chen Haoran's blood.
Although Raina was effectively a lead researcher for the centipede serum, she seemed quite bizarre when it came to utilizing those fireproof platelets:
She kept Chen Haonan like livestock, drawing blood from him as if killing a chicken to get the egg to prepare the substance.
Of course, thinking about it carefully, it was understandable; after all, their technical capability was only so much.
Now both of them were tied to the restraint chairs in Harry's lab at the Osborn Stronghold.
As someone who could control fire, Chen Haonan naturally contributed a bit to the system's mission progress, and this Ms. Raina actually contributed a bit too.
This almost confirmed her identity—she was an Inhuman.
The two woke up almost at the same time, and Chen Haonan was clearly very agitated: "Where is this place? Dammit, it's not again..."
"This is the Osborn Stronghold, the largest corporate building in the World," Harry said with his legs crossed.
Chen Haonan was stunned. Obviously, no one in the World didn't know Harry Osborn. He immediately looked at the window to the side—through it, he could see the entirety of the reconstructed New Manhattan.
It was evening, and the view outside the window was beautiful.
Meanwhile, Raina's attention was focused on Harry, sizing him up carefully.
Chen Haonan wanted to be a big shot, so he was curious about the scenery of this place, but Raina was different; she preferred to focus on those with special abilities.
She was curious; Osborn's arrival didn't seem to have been seen by "The Clairvoyant."
Harry said, "It's beautiful here, isn't it? Mr. Chen Haonan, Osborn wants to conduct some research on your body. The compensation is very generous. If you're willing, just sign the agreement next to you."
Chen Haonan originally wanted to say something, but the numbers on the agreement made it impossible for him to look away.
He was currently just a pure street performer, knowing a few magic tricks and working odd jobs. Based on an annual income of $20,000, the reward Harry offered him was enough for him to work for 100 years.
And the content of the agreement only required him to cooperate with the research and undergo experiments for one week.
Money is this easy to earn? Chen Haonan was a bit dazed.
"What if I don't sign?" Chen Haonan asked tentatively.
Facing this question, Harry was a bit helpless: almost everyone he offered terms to had asked him a similar question.
"I've changed my mind. Are you signing or not?" Harry waved his hand, and the amount on the agreement next to Chen Haonan changed to 1 million. Just like that, he lost 50 years' worth of compensation!
"I'll sign!" Chen Haonan hurriedly shouted.
That's more like it. Besides, Harry had already finished extracting the blood, cells, and tissues he needed; signing the agreement was purely because Harry didn't want to cause any legal disputes over such a small matter.
Whether it was 1 million or 2 million, it wasn't a big deal for the current Harry.
"Very good." A bionic robot entered the room. Harry pointed at the robot and said, "It will take you to your room. You can visit the open areas as you please."
The design of this bionic robot had not yet been made public; it was a robot Harry made purely out of interest. Volt and UIS often took turns using this body.
Chen Haonan followed behind the robot and walked out of the room, exclaiming in surprise.
After seeing off Chen Haonan, Harry turned to Raina:
"As for you, Ms. Raina, can you explain why you would target an ordinary person with superpowers and then kidnap him?"
"It's just the curiosity of a civilian scientist," Raina replied indifferently.
Although The Clairvoyant hadn't told Raina that Osborn would kidnap her, she had clearly filled in the blanks herself: The Clairvoyant must have seen all of this.
At this stage, she was obsessed with the "omniscient" persona created by The Clairvoyant, so recruiting her was likely impossible.
But interestingly, while The Clairvoyant was just an image fabricated by HYDRA using S.H.I.E.L.D.'s internal intelligence network, as an Inhuman, Raina really did possess precognitive abilities after awakening.
"It seems you're quite tight-lipped, Madam. Originally, I wanted to invite you to join Osborn, but now it seems that's unlikely."
Harry shrugged and unlocked Raina's restraint chair.
"You can go, Madam, along with your professionals in fireproof suits."
Raina was a bit confused—what exactly was Osborn trying to do?
"That's it?" Raina asked in confusion.
"That's it, Madam. However, if one day humanity completes the next step of evolution, Osborn will surely be the pioneer. So, if you change your mind, you can come find me. Additionally, I hope you'll keep this conversation a bit of a secret from the person behind you—let's see if he really knows everything."
Harry winked and gave Raina an offer she couldn't refuse—
This was also something she wanted to figure out. If The Clairvoyant was truly omniscient, he should know everything. So, did he know about this conversation?
One should know that Raina wasn't interested in HYDRA; she was only interested in that omniscient "The Clairvoyant," the next stage of humanity, and superpowered individuals.
"But how should I reply to them?" Raina accepted the suggestion.
"Just say that an ugly-looking demon interfered with the operation." Harry reached out and took off the holographically projected mask, placing it on his face.
It was a green demon face.
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