Nick Fury didn't waste time on pleasantries.
The moment he stepped into the room, he placed the box in his hand directly in front of Ethan Blake and spoke in his usual blunt tone.
"This is what I promised you."
Originally, these materials should have been delivered two days earlier. However, at the time Ethan had been relaxing in Hawaii while the aftermath of the Battle of New York was still being handled. Fury obviously couldn't leave everything behind just to make a special trip there.
Sending someone else to deliver the box was also out of the question.
The Super Soldier Serum information leaking would already be a headache. But if the contents related to the Infinite Formula were exposed, the consequences would be catastrophic.
Ethan opened the box calmly.
Inside were several data storage drives, stacks of printed documents, and two tubes of reagents containing liquids of different colors. Fury had even included finished samples along with the research data.
Ethan raised an eyebrow slightly.
Nick Fury had clearly prepared thoroughly.
What Ethan didn't realize was that Fury's generosity was largely due to Ethan's performance during the Battle of New York. Without that contribution, Fury would never have handed over finished samples so easily.
Even sharing the research materials would have required intense negotiation.
Ethan casually stored the entire box inside his golden storage space. Once everything disappeared from sight, he looked up at Fury and smiled.
"I'm very satisfied with this cooperation," he said. "Let's work together again next time."
Nick Fury's eyelid twitched slightly.
Next time?
He had absolutely no interest in repeating this kind of deal again. More importantly, he didn't have many bargaining chips left that someone like Ethan would actually want.
After taking a slow breath, Fury asked seriously.
"Did you see something again?"
"I didn't. Don't make things up. I know nothing," Ethan replied immediately.
He denied it three times in a row.
Fury fell silent.
The more decisively Ethan denied it, the more convinced Fury became that something major would happen in the future.
Still, after witnessing Ethan's actions during the New York battle, Fury believed that when the time came, Ethan wouldn't simply stand by and watch the world burn.
Seeing that pressing the topic further would yield nothing useful, Fury changed the subject.
"You should understand how important the information I just gave you is," he said firmly. "I hope you also understand the responsibility that comes with it."
He paused for a moment before continuing.
"The Super Soldier Serum research is one thing. But the Infinite Formula… I'm the only person on Earth who knows the complete formula. Even the people who prepared the reagents for me didn't know what they were working on."
"The process was divided into three different teams. None of them had access to the full formula."
Ethan nodded slightly.
"Don't worry," he said. "The Infinite Formula will stay secret."
Fury's eye narrowed.
Interesting.
Ethan specifically promised to keep the Infinite Formula secret, but said nothing about the Super Soldier Serum.
The implication was obvious.
But Fury didn't press the matter.
The Super Soldier Serum research wasn't exclusive to S.H.I.E.L.D. anyway. Even if Ethan spread it everywhere, Fury could easily distance himself from it.
With nothing more to say, Fury turned and left.
Unlike Ethan, he didn't have the luxury of a relaxed schedule.
Once Fury was gone, Ethan leaned back and began thinking about the materials he had just received.
The Infinite Formula contained the secret of longevity.
The Super Soldier Serum could dramatically enhance physical ability.
Both were extremely valuable resources.
Unfortunately, Ethan quickly ran into a problem.
Even with the research data in hand, he had absolutely no ability to manufacture the reagents himself.
When he was in school, chemistry had been his worst subject. He couldn't even balance the simplest chemical equations, let alone synthesize advanced biological compounds.
That meant one thing.
He needed a reliable research team.
After thinking for a while, Ethan already had several potential candidates in mind.
But before assembling a team, there were still a few valuable resources he needed to collect.
One of them was located beneath New York itself.
The Roosevelt Secret Platform.
Hidden beneath Pershing Square, the Roosevelt Secret Platform was constructed during the 1930s. Originally it had been built for the exclusive use of President Franklin Roosevelt so the public wouldn't see the physical symptoms of his illness.
However, after the 1940s the platform had been abandoned.
When Ethan arrived at the location, he first expanded his Observation Haki to scan the surrounding area. Within a radius of one kilometer, there were no people nearby.
Satisfied, he used telekinesis.
The railway tracks tore apart with a metallic screech. Beneath the debris, an old train carriage was revealed.
More specifically, the contents inside that carriage were Ethan's real objective.
Although the Roosevelt Secret Platform had been abandoned decades ago, it had later been secretly converted into a laboratory by Richard Parker and his wife.
Before their deaths, they had stored all of their Spider Serum research materials here.
Spider Serum was an incredible enhancement.
It dramatically improved eyesight, hearing, smell, and reflexes while granting over twenty-five tons of strength. Most importantly, it granted the extremely rare ability known as Spider Sense.
That instinctive warning system could predict danger before it occurred.
Even though Observation Haki provided a similar effect, Ethan had to admit that Spider Sense possessed its own unique advantages.
Walking into the old carriage, Ethan looked around.
The equipment inside was extremely outdated. The computers were ancient machines that required wired headphones and clunky keyboards.
Developing a groundbreaking serum in such an environment was honestly impressive.
Richard Parker had clearly been a genius.
But Ethan still felt no admiration for the man.
In his opinion, Richard Parker was the perfect example of an ungrateful hypocrite.
Norman Osborn had been Parker's classmate and friend. Parker had originally been employed by Oscorp and funded by the company to conduct his research.
Osborn provided money, manpower, and resources without hesitation.
Billions of dollars had been invested.
And in return?
Richard Parker destroyed the research data.
All of it.
The justification had been that he didn't want the serum used for military purposes.
If that was truly his belief, then why had he joined the project in the first place?
Even worse, during the research process he had secretly used his own DNA as the genetic framework for the serum.
And after destroying the official Oscorp data, he had quietly hidden a copy here.
From Ethan's perspective, Richard Parker had never been trustworthy from the start.
If Ethan had been Norman Osborn, he wouldn't have stopped at eliminating Richard Parker and his wife.
Even their son, Peter Parker, would have been on that doomed airplane.
Ethan shrugged.
Moral debates weren't his concern.
He walked through the carriage and collected everything he could find. Since he couldn't immediately distinguish which materials were important, he simply stored the entire laboratory inside his golden storage space.
Once the Spider Serum research was secured, Ethan didn't waste another moment.
He immediately headed for his next target.
....
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