Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 365 Gene Research (Second Update! Please vote!)

He had already told Bayonetta everything about Hela and Odin's plans. It took a lot of courage to do this, and Salomon was not a man lacking courage.

Although he trembled slightly when he told the witch about it, and even the Cheshire Cat perched on his lap could feel his unease, no one could deny Salomon's courage.

Fortunately, Bayonetta was very understanding, and she was overjoyed to hear that Salomon had refused.

She remarked that if Salomon had said those words even a fraction of a second later, he would have several bullet holes in his body. Only Joan of Arc was still asking Salomon where Hela was—she planned to kill the woman to prevent their family life from being disturbed.

Although Joan of Arc still opposed Bayonette and Salomon sleeping together, it did not mean she was happy to see this family relationship broken.

Faced with Bayonetta's gratitude, she reluctantly accepted it. Of course, she still refused to admit that she did it for the family, and she even shouted standard lines to Salomon such as "This is not for you, it is for Ceresa."

The androids didn't quite understand the point of this family comedy, but Salomon still used it to climb into Bayonetta's bed and perform what the androids considered a "sacred ritual"—she didn't know why her master had to perform the ritual after the witch made a teasing remark, nor did she understand why the soundproofing spells couldn't block out the witch's shouts, but she still wanted to ask her master to have similar functions inspected and maintained.

In fact, Salomon had already secured the alchemical modules that could perform these functions. The alchemical skeleton merely enhanced the android's physical strength; when creating the entire android, Homunculus already possessed all the functions that humans should have (except for giving birth).

Salomon simply hadn't dared tell her before determining the homunculus's personality—he worried that the metal from the abyss would affect the homunculus's intellectual development, causing a chaotic and evil homunculus to cause trouble. After all, creating Homunculus required sacrificing his own life; creating another one that wouldn't cause trouble would be too costly.

But now that he has the Philosopher's Stone, Salomon can mass-produce Homunculus, and the homunculus have stood the test of time and are extremely reliable. He can confidently entrust the homunculus maid army to Dinah's leadership.

Not every android possesses a smelting skeleton, and the stability of the abyssal metal has not yet been fully tested. Dina, as the first android, is an exception.

He decided to use some materials purchased from the city of Sephiros, established by Oshutu, and mix them with a small amount of abyssal metal to strengthen the android army.

Maya Hansen stared in disbelief at the row of enormous glass culture tanks before her, in which forged metal skeletons lay, and the recruited druids were engraving runes on the tanks. Salomon, meanwhile, was busy at a nearby table with a test tube containing a deep red liquid. Maya Hansen had received introductory alchemy training from Salomon, and she could tell that Salomon was creating a liquid culture medium.

Her past education still reminded her that this was magic, not science, which fueled her uncontrollable curiosity.

"Homunculus requires the life of its creator; this is the price of magic, and equivalent exchange is an age-old rule." Salomon shoved the aether particles that were trying to escape the test tube back in. He shook the lighter red liquid in another test tube. "So I used something else to bear the cost—that's how the Philosopher's Stone is used. This is aether, the panacea for transforming everything. I know you want to study this, Miss Hansen, but this is the only thing I can allow you to study. I've mixed the product of the Philosopher's Stone; you drink a cup first. This cup will at least keep you alive to 200 years old. Don't even think about touching this deep red stuff; it will kill you."

"You promised to give me research materials, Salomon," Maya Hansen protested, "but all you brought back were Asgardian blood samples and dark elf corpses!"

"Isn't there also Thor's blood sample?"

"That's not enough at all!" Maya Hansen jumped up in anger. "You promised to give me your blood samples! You said the android legion is your maid, and your combat legion doesn't need the Extremis virus, so I have to start my research from another angle! I need your blood samples, saliva, hair, and genetic material for my research!"

"Don't be too greedy, Miss Hansen." Salomon handed her another test tube, which contained a few gray hairs. After his explanation, Maya Hansen understood what was inside.

These are the hairs of Odin's two giant wolves, creatures with extremely long lifespans. Salomon believed this could satisfy Maya Hansen's research desires.

“That’s not enough, Salomon,” she said. “If you want extremely powerful cyborgs, then you’re the only gene provider besides Thor. I can add certain traits you want during gene modification, but I can’t do that right now, and the staff here doesn’t support me doing so. Don’t look at me like that; I’m a virologist, not a geneticist. I can create cells by embedding certain genes into retroviruses, but inducing functional cells to revert to pluripotent stem cells is not my specialty. A Japanese scientist named Shinya Yamanaka created iPSCs in 2006 and did just that. You can try using that method.”

"You mean I chose the wrong major in college?" The sorcerer frowned, putting down the red potion in her hand. "I believe you can learn this on your own; I trust it won't be difficult for you. Specializing in a different field isn't your fault; you can overcome this obstacle… Alright, alright, don't point a gun at me. I promise I'll study genetics too. But I must remind you, Miss Hansen, our research crosses an ethical line. If we don't cross it, we might end up with nothing, but if we do…"

"I know. If you want to try embryo modification to create your own clone soldiers, I can be the egg donor so you don't have to worry about ethical issues."

"No, what I mean is, I hope you can set aside certain preconceived notions of human society and experiment in a bolder way," Salomon said. "This is a world of magic. If I were to create tools, I would combine magic and science to give them different properties, and then use those properties to build an army. But don't rush me. I'm still confident about the future; humanity hasn't reached its end. Those tools will only be created when humanity is on the verge of collapse. For now, you can focus on the theoretical work."

"Where does your confidence come from?"

"My magic and my sword." Salomon patted the scabbard hanging at his waist. "The Kaba God's Path and the longsword forged by Holy Terra are enough to deal with this terrifying universe. Soon, we will face our first test. Miss Hansen, once those androids mature, I need you to order them computer training materials—we have another major operation, one that will allow us to acquire sufficient resources."

get off work!

(End of this chapter)