Chapter 14: Improvement, Sun Project...

[Super Regeneration (Gecko)]: You've gained powerful self-healing abilities; even severed limbs can regrow quickly (specific regeneration rate depends on available energy, from a few hours to a few days).

[Super Speed (Green Tiger Beetle)]: You can move at super speed, covering up to 350 meters per second.

[Super Vision (High-Crested Chameleon)]: Your eyes can focus independently, allowing you to track multiple moving targets. Similar abilities detected—abilities merged…

[Whip-Tongue]: Your tongue is highly flexible and extendable, able to stretch to four times its original length and move in any direction (up, down, left, right, forward, backward)…

[Mimetic Camouflage (Chameleon)]: Similar abilities detected—merged. You can sense your environment and alter your skin color to blend seamlessly with it.

[Ultrasound (Bat)]: You can emit ultrasonic waves to locate targets, up to 300 kHz (exact maximum depends on your physical condition).

[Super Hearing (Bat)]: Similar abilities detected—merged. You can discern sounds of different frequencies and precisely map out your surroundings via ultrasonic echo. You can also glean informational nuances hidden in different frequencies.

[Super Immunity (Bat)]: You possess a powerful immune system capable of tolerating, resisting, and destroying various lethal viruses. Ordinary pathogens can no longer invade your body (congratulations—you're now completely immune to HIV, syphilis, HPV, and gonorrhea).

[Muscle Control (Bat)]: You can perfectly control every muscle in your body and even alter them to unleash stronger functions (for example, in your ears or mouth). You can also produce sonic waves by rapidly vibrating your hands or feet.

[Super Regeneration (Axolotl)]: Similar abilities detected—merged… You now have cellular-level healing. Whether it's minor skin damage or major injuries to your heart or brain, as long as you have sufficient energy, you can rapidly repair yourself to your original state—without aberrations like "extra limbs."

[Infrared Thermography]: You can clearly detect the thermal radiation of surrounding objects and convert that data into a kind of environmental heat-map image.

[Vibration Sense]: Similar abilities detected—merged. You can now sense even more precisely the vibrations in your environment, analyzing additional details such as direction, number, distance, etc.

[…]

"This is incredible!!"

After devouring the items laid out before him, Aaron let out a sincere exclamation. He began adjusting to his myriad new powers; even with his formidable adaptability, it wasn't easy to master such a large number of abilities. And that didn't include the older abilities he hadn't yet fully tested or perfected.

Keep in mind that his Super Vision alone had gone through multiple enhancements, giving him greater range, improved dynamic vision, expanded color and spectrum perception, plus separate focusing, additional sensory modes, and infrared thermal imaging. If he activated them all at once, his view of the world would become wildly distorted, like an abstract painting—only more and more abstract.

But at least he'd never have to worry about losing his way in the dark again. Even in pitch-black conditions, the faintest light source would allow him to see clearly for hundreds of meters, and his infrared imaging and ultrasonic detection would let him pinpoint hidden enemies with ease. Taken together, these abilities turned him into an unstoppable midnight hunter, letting him track down vampires or anyone else lurking in the shadows.

Of particular interest was his newly upgraded Super Regeneration, strong enough to restore vital organs and even brain damage—provided he had the necessary energy. Combined with his Super Defense, that made him near-indestructible, scarier than any cockroach that refuses to die.

Then there was perfect muscle control, chameleon-like camouflage, and super speed at supersonic levels…

"Huh. So a weird ability snuck in—'Whip-Tongue'? What kind of 'positive buff' is that? Do I really need that sort of talent?" Aaron muttered.

"I definitely don't want any female streamers finding out about this one…"

And there were also those earlier abilities like Vibration or this new Whip-Tongue and Muscle Control… Yikes, it was getting out of hand. He had to stop thinking about it.

With his super physique, strength, and speed, did he really need something so…bizarre? It felt slightly insulting. He glanced at his fingers—were they going to turn into some Golden Finger next? This line of thought was too disturbing!

Smack!

He accidentally shattered the table with a single slap, startling Norman, who was waiting outside, into knocking on the door.

"Boss?"

"It's fine!" Aaron called back.

Taking a look around, he left without another word. Through the doorway, Norman and Felicia could see the now-empty storeroom and broken table. They looked like they wanted to ask something, but ultimately held their tongues. Norman glanced at Aaron, having a distinct feeling the boss had grown even stronger—the intensity in Aaron's gaze was sharper, as if he could see right through you. Even though Norman had nothing to hide, he reflexively lowered his head in submission.

"Boss, regarding your request, in the coming month we should be able to gather at least half of the items you wanted. Some objects are still unaccounted for, and might take extra time."

Aaron nodded. "No worries. You're doing well."

Norman was pleased to receive such praise. Still, he was a bit conflicted—it took no time at all for me to go from 'boss' to his 'lackey.' After a moment, he ventured tentatively:

"In that case, Boss, our company has a few more gene-modified organisms you might want to see. For example, we recently synthesized some brand-new genetic material using engineered RNA, combining it with three different spider genomes to produce thirteen 'super spiders'…"

Aaron paused mid-step. "There's that, too?"

Suddenly, he recalled some keywords from the "archived files" in his mind and matched them up. His expression went a bit strange.

"…You're sure it's thirteen?"

Norman blinked. "Yes, Boss—our plan is actually for fifteen. But the thirteen we've created so far all have minor flaws and don't match our initial specs. The team intends to modify their genes further and produce fifteen finalized 'super spiders'…"

Aaron raised a hand to stop him. "Take me there!"

So Spider-Man's about to be born? Aaron mused. He then asked, "What about Dr. Curt Connors and Dr. Otto Octavius? Are you familiar with them?"

Norman nodded. "Dr. Connors is a renowned biologist. We collaborated with him once, though the project failed… As for Dr. Octavius, he's a famous nuclear physicist. Recently he's been researching a 'miniature sun' concept, which sounds crazy. But if it works, he'll be on par with Stark."

Aaron noticed that Norman's face showed embarrassment when mentioning Connors, and he seemed dismissive about Otto. But when talking about Tony Stark, he couldn't hide his frustration. Stark's success clearly rattled him—originally, Oscorp had been neck and neck with Stark Industries, both shining gems of America, but now Stark was far ahead, leaving Oscorp behind in decline.

Aaron didn't care about Norman's feelings. Whatever happened to Oscorp in the past was no concern of his. Now that he was in charge, Oscorp would become a super-corporation—Stark Industries be damned.

Aaron's attention settled on Dr. Connors and Dr. Octavius. One had the Lizard serum; the other had the "mini sun" project. If Aaron's Primordial Furnace could smelt a miniature sun or an Arc Reactor, what sort of abilities would that grant him?

He inhaled sharply in excitement. That would be worth exploring.