Chapter 197: Ch.196 Torchbearer

Chapter 197: Ch.196 Torchbearer

In addition to the research on the X-gene, the U.S. had been conducting another significant human weapon study over the years.

In the Maya ruins, an American archaeological team discovered a strange artifact—a crystal that seemed to come from outer space. It had the power to turn anyone who touched it into stone.

The crystal was brought back to the U.S., and the government immediately organized a team to study it. After more than a decade, they finally discovered that the stone contained a unique substance capable of reacting with human genes. This led to the development of another secret project that would run parallel to the human weapon program: the Synthetic Human Project.

Using this special crystal, they mixed it with chemical compounds and human tissue samples, and subjected it to massive amounts of radiation.

After countless sacrifices and an enormous expenditure of money, they succeeded.

Professor Phineas Horton and his team, funded in secret by the White House, conducted an experiment in which they created a man.

Yes, created. From glass slides to Petri dishes, from Petri dishes to beakers, and finally to experiment pods, this man grew like a salt crystal, eventually taking on a human form.

He had the intelligence of a normal human, normal biological responses, but he was not human.

He was like a rifle or a grenade, something that could be mass-produced in a factory.

Unfortunately, as with many black technology experiments, something went wrong. Upon contact with air at the moment of completion, the synthetic human turned into a living torch.

This strange flame provided him with energy, allowing him to fly, burn and melt objects, and shoot out red energy beams.

But the flame was uncontrollable. The expensive laboratory was destroyed instantly. The only way to stabilize the synthetic human in human form was to isolate him from the air.

An uncontrollable weapon is not a good weapon. This was a consensus among both the military and the government. The White House, led by President Roosevelt, was particularly unhappy and cut off funding for the laboratory.

Professor Horton was left with no choice but to take his "Human Torch" and rent a warehouse in Brooklyn, showcasing him like a circus act to raise funds.

The professor needed money to perfect his research, to find a way to prevent the synthetic human from igniting upon contact with air. After twenty years of work, this was the progress he had made. He had dedicated his life to science, and the synthetic human was like his child.

Horton hoped the synthetic human could live a normal human life.

The synthetic human himself was simple-minded, clueless about the world. He stood in a glass tank, motionless, like a mannequin.

This year, they even participated in the World's Fair. The professor carefully chose a good location, ensuring that anyone visiting Stark Industries' booth would pass by theirs first.

High-tech, devoid of humanity, massively destructive—it was portrayed as a warning from God, an apocalypse, and a harbinger of the end times. America promised never to allow such dangerous experiments again.

Roosevelt knew that Hitler loved this kind of thing. The more dangerous it sounded, the more intrigued the Germans would be. They would take the bait.

And Hitler reacted as expected—he loved the idea of doomsday weapons.

The Germans quickly accelerated their own research. They turned their attention to a mysterious race beneath the sea: the Atlanteans, whom they considered to be a superior race on par with the Aryans.

After all, compared to the Aryans, the Atlanteans had already demonstrated special abilities like living underwater.

If they could create loyal synthetic soldiers from Atlantean materials, mass-produced in factories like bullets, the future of the Reich would be brighter than ever.

Hitler sent destroyers armed with modified depth charges to bombard several Atlantean cities, then used trawler ships to haul up the dead bodies, bringing them back to Germany for experimentation.

This operation wasn't handled by Hydra but was personally overseen by Hitler's trusted officer, Heinrich Himmler. The future of the Aryan race was at stake, and it had to be kept strictly confidential. Himmler knew how to handle it.

Su Ming knew that the synthetic human, code-named "Torchbearer," or "The Original Human Torch," had likely been hidden by the government somewhere in New York. He was the spark.

But now, with all sorts of chaotic organizations popping up, Su Ming needed to reassess the situation.

The information he had from comics and movies was becoming less reliable, even misleading. He needed to gather intelligence himself and analyze the situation.

Especially with Hand's appearance, led by Naito Soma. Both the comics and films depicted them in a dormant state during this period, so what had drawn them to New York?

This group, obsessed with the "Beast of the Black Sky," shouldn't have any interest in the serum. Could there be dragon bones buried beneath Manhattan, or were they working for someone else?

Hand was similar to the League of Assassins. Now that Su Ming had killed some of their members, they would likely cling to him like leeches in the future.

At the top of Wilson Tower, Su Ming sat silently in a dark room, gazing out at the night. It was a moonless evening.

Manhattan was still brightly lit, but Long Island had already fallen into slumber. Listening to the waves crashing against the shore, he waited for the signal.

Just as he predicted, around midnight, a massive explosion echoed through the New York sky.

And then came the fire and chaos.