Become a Homelander and a Marvel superstar

Upon hearing the sound, Tony and Stephen turned their heads simultaneously.

"Look who's here! The god of the human world has come to inspect the mortal realm," Tony joked. "What would you like to drink? Whiskey?"

"If you have fresh milk, I'd like a glass," Azu replied.

Tony casually grabbed a bottle of milk from the refrigerator and tossed it over.

Ah Zu caught it steadily, unscrewed the cap, and took a sip.

He then turned to Stephen and extended his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Dr. Strange. I've heard so much about you."

"Mr. Homelander." Stephen reached out and shook hands.

"Just call me Anthony, there are no outsiders here." Azu withdrew his hand, his tone casual. "I heard from Tony that you're a genius."

"He doesn't usually praise me like this," Stephen said, glancing at Tony.

"I'm always honest in private," Tony shrugged.

This was also the first time Strange had met this boss, whom he revered like a god, in private.

He carefully examined Azu.

There was no condescending arrogance, nor the overbearing attitude typical of those in power.

The approachable demeanor that Homelander displays in front of the camera is exactly the same in private.

This consistent demeanor won Strange's favor.

The three of them chatted briefly about the progress of the experiment.

When he heard that Mewtwo's technology had made a substantial breakthrough, Azu nodded in satisfaction.

But he didn't dwell on that too much; instead, he raised a core question.

"I've reviewed your clinical reports. The progress is rapid, but I have a crucial question."

Ah Zu's gaze swept between the two, his tone somewhat serious.

"How do you plan to solve the problem of cyberpsychosis?"

Upon hearing this question...

Tony and Stephen exchanged a glance, their expressions turning serious.

This was the first time they had heard this proper noun.

But just from the literal meaning, the two brilliant minds immediately understood its significance, and this was also the biggest challenge they had encountered in their recent clinical trials.

Previously, when using the Tony-style external version, although the functionality was limited, the volunteers did not experience any abnormalities.

But problems arose after Stephen spearheaded the deep human modification project.

A small number of volunteers who participated in the transformation began to exhibit a series of strange behaviors a week after their surgery.

Intermittent irritability, auditory hallucinations, destructive urges, and even occasional cognitive dissociation.

Although the initial symptoms may not be obvious, they will only get worse over time.

Stephen and Tony call it "neurodissociative syndrome," but the term "cyberpsychosis" used by people in their home country is clearly more accurate.

"Cyberpsychosis..." Tony repeated the term under his breath. "A very apt name."

"We are currently helpless against this symptom," Stephen frankly admitted the predicament.

"We brought in the best team of psychology experts in the federal government," Tony added. "Those guys who make $10,000 an hour talked to them for hours."

"In the end, they couldn't even classify the symptoms."

"I plan to recruit another hundred neuroscientists to tackle this problem."

After hearing this, Azu slowly shook his head.

"Finding two hundred more wouldn't make a difference. Cyberpsychosis is beyond the scope of what psychiatrists can handle, and it certainly can't be suppressed with a few Prozac pills."

Tony and Stephen frowned.

"Why?" Stephen asked.

"Cyberpsychiatry is essentially a chronic incurable disease caused by a combination of physical overload and psychological trauma," Azu explained.

"In fact, every implant is frantically plundering the bandwidth that originally belonged to the human nervous system."

"The brain needs to be forced to adapt to electrical signals that do not belong to carbon-based life forms."

"This can lead to chronic pain and hormonal imbalances in the long run, as he looks at himself in the mirror."

"They'll start to wonder, am I even human? What's the difference between me and a vending machine on the street?"

"A vicious cycle characterized by distorted self-perception coupled with a persistent overload of the nervous system."

"Ultimately, they will become what I call cyberpsychosis."

After hearing this, both Stephen and Tony fell into deep thought.

"It sounds like this path is blocked, Anthony," Tony frowned. "If you're right, perhaps we have no choice but to halt the advancement of human augmentation technology and revert to external implants?"

"Don't give up so quickly..." Azu encouraged.

"Don't always try to solve problems from a scientific perspective," Azu suggested. "Try a different approach. For example, the end of science... the mysticism?"

There was a two-second silence in the lab.

Then, Tony let out a sneer.

"Mysticism? You mean Thor, the kind of god who flies around swinging a hammer?"

"I feel that they are just aliens who have mastered advanced technology, but in essence, it is still science."

"Your feeling isn't entirely right, but it's not wrong either." Azu didn't completely deny Tony's judgment.

"But the mysticism I'm talking about is something from another dimension."

"For example...the soul."

"Soul?" Stephen raised an eyebrow and curled his lip.

"Mr. Homelander, I've seen countless dissected brains."

"Brain matter, nerves, blood vessels... but I have never found a single gram of the substance called the soul in any of those crevices."

"The soul is nothing more than a placebo created by carbon-based life forms to mask their fear of death."

Stephen said with certainty.

Tony chimed in, "Did you hear that, Anthony? The top neurosurgeon has spoken: if you want to discuss God or the soul with us, turn left outside, there's a church two blocks away."

"Oh, really?"

Looking at these two stubborn geniuses, Azu knew that talking to them wouldn't wake them up.

He took a step forward without warning, so fast that neither of them could react.

He reached out with both palms and placed them on Tony's and Strange's chests respectively.

"Buzz—"

Tony and Strange felt a sudden darkness engulf them as a strong sense of weightlessness swept over them.

next second.

Their gazes returned to each other.

But the sight before them stunned these two well-traveled geniuses.

"What the fk! What the hell! What happened?!"

Tony screamed in terror as he found himself suspended in mid-air, his feet unable to touch the ground.

What shocked him even more was that he saw something a meter ahead.

Another Tony Stark is standing motionless with his eyes closed, still in the position where he was pushed by Azu.

He looked down at his hands, which appeared as semi-transparent, illusory images.

"Is this a holographic projection? Or a super dreamlike illusion?!" Tony waved his arms and tried to grab the experimental table next to him, but his hand passed right through the table.

"Unbelievable... Am I dead?"

Compared to Tony's panic, Stephen Strange's reaction was much better.

Although he was equally shocked by this scene that defied all reason, he did not scream like Tony did.

He looked down at his hands.

There are no scars, and no signal transmission lines.

This is his steady "hand of God" before the car accident.