[Mysteries On Marvel] Chapter 102/103 (Patreon)

To Elena, Eren's gentlemanly invitation felt more like a devil's chilling summons to death. The gaping black doorway behind him resembled the maw of a monstrous abyss, ready to devour her whole.

As she stared at the ominous doorway, her body trembled violently. Her voice quivered with fear as she pleaded:
"Please… don't hurt me! I'm begging you."

Eren, casually picking up his backpack and tucking the M500 revolver back inside, tilted his head in confusion.
"Hurt you? Why would I do that? I already paid, didn't I?"

"Alright, there's no time to waste tonight. Let's head inside—there's still a lot waiting for you to do!"

With that, Eren pushed the trembling, almost paralyzed Elena into the house.

As they stepped into the pitch-black building, Eren kicked the slightly warped door shut with a loud "bang."

At that moment, the last sliver of color drained from Elena's once-radiant face as the darkness engulfed her.

...

Meanwhile, in a hidden underground lab beneath Chinatown, Eren worked meticulously. His face was pale as paper, still bearing the strain from the soul-wrenching pain he had endured.

He carefully added a single drop of liquid extracted from the Welwitschia mirabilis, also known as the "thousand-year orchid," into a beaker filled with dark green fluid.

Eren was attempting to concoct a Mid-Level Nutrient Potion, following a recipe from the Nutritional Pharmacist's Handbook.

It wasn't that Eren was being reckless, skipping the basic formula for a lower-level potion. He simply had no choice.

Even with the resources of the Osborne Group—one of the world's leading biotech corporations—it had taken considerable time and effort just to gather the ingredients for the mid-level Chitose Potion.

As for other formulas, they were either missing crucial components that didn't exist in this world, or they required rare and bizarre ingredients that would take significant time and effort to acquire.

For now, the Chitose Potion was the only recipe he had all the materials for, thanks to Osborn Group's efforts.

Despite the lingering pain in his soul, Eren, whose body was in dire need of nutrients, could no longer afford to wait. As soon as the materials arrived, he dove into his underground lab and began his experiments.

A sharp hissing sound echoed as the drop of orchid extract hit the green liquid, causing the mixture to froth violently.

Eren sighed as he watched the concoction bubble over.
"Another failure."

With a wave of his hand, the bubbling beaker was absorbed into the lab table, its contents promptly disposed of.

After a few moments, the same beaker re-emerged, now spotless and ready for reuse.

This was thanks to one of Eren's creations, affectionately called "Little Oddball," which maintained the lab and cleaned up after every failed experiment.

Eren often felt grateful for the decision to "animate" the house and create this helpful entity.

Unbeknownst to him, however, the house was slowly transforming. Deep in the corners, hidden from Eren's view, Little Oddball was digesting a piece of Flesh That Does Not Rot.

Brick by brick, the once ordinary red walls were being replaced with living, flesh-like material, pulsing with vitality and strength. These "flesh bricks," further enhanced by Little Oddball, grew far stronger and more resilient than the original structure, making the house an impenetrable fortress.

It was clear that in the near future, this seemingly decrepit building would evolve into a terrifying stronghold—an unyielding safe haven for Eren.

Eren took a pen and jotted down notes in his journal, recording the data from his latest failed attempt and reflecting on what went wrong. Without wasting time, he began preparing for the next trial.

Failure was the mother of success, after all.

Every failure brought Eren closer to success. Though each experiment consumed a significant amount of resources, he believed the payoff would be worth it once he succeeded.

The Chitose Potion, as described in the handbook, was a powerful nutrient supplement designed for mid-level gene warriors. A single vial of the potion, once diluted, could provide the daily nutritional needs of 50–100 adult men, depending on its quality.

If Eren could perfect the formula, not only would it sustain him during the intense consumption of energy required by the Cosmic Brain Meditation Technique, but it would also nourish his body, subtly enhancing his physical attributes.

This would allow him to greatly accelerate the improvement of both his physical and mental strength.

More importantly, enhanced mental strength would help suppress the growing madness within him. With a strong enough mind, Eren believed he could maintain control over his sanity even as he climbed higher in the sequence system.

And if he managed to reach the unimaginable heights described in the Cosmic Brain Meditation Technique, he might even be able to resist the madness inherent in the potion sequences entirely, maintaining clarity of thought no matter how far he advanced.

Taking a deep breath, Eren adjusted his equipment and prepared for another attempt. He knew the road ahead would be filled with setbacks, but each failure brought him closer to mastery.

Success was only a matter of time.

(End of Chapter)

Day turned to night, and night into day.

Immersed in the meticulous process of crafting the Chitose Potion, Eren was completely unaware of time slipping away.

If not for the alarm he had set earlier, which Little Oddball dutifully brought to him, Eren wouldn't have realized that he had spent the entire night in the lab.

Despite the sleepless night, Eren remained energetic and focused.

Through countless trials, and at the cost of a significant amount of raw materials, Eren had grown adept at the process of crafting the Chitose Potion. He was now familiar with most of the nuances and adjustments needed for the recipe.

All that remained was to refine the precise ratios for each ingredient to account for their varying concentrations. With a bit more effort, Eren was confident he could finally produce a successful potion.

After disposing of yet another failed batch with the help of Little Oddball, Eren let out a deep sigh of relief.

Removing his lab coat, he returned to his room and took a long, refreshing shower.

As was his routine, he went for a jog in the park to invigorate his body, which felt slightly fatigued.

Back home, Eren opened the refrigerator and prepared a nutritious breakfast for himself.

His deepening understanding of the Nutritional Pharmacist's Handbook now allowed him to create balanced, nutrient-rich meals with ease. As long as he had the right ingredients on hand, Eren could quickly whip up a delicious and wholesome dish tailored to his needs.

After breakfast, as Eren walked to school, he glanced at the busy streets filled with cars and thought to himself:

"Maybe it's time I bought a car."

Money was no issue, and he already had a driver's license.

Previously, Eren had chosen to walk as a form of exercise. However, now that his enhanced body no longer benefited much from mundane workouts like running, it seemed practical to invest in a car to save time.

...

Meanwhile, in Hell's Kitchen…

Elena stumbled out of the decrepit house, her legs weak and her entire body drained.

She was parched, exhausted to the core, but overwhelmingly relieved to have survived the night.

When she had resigned herself to her fate, believing her life was over, the madman had handed her a mop and some rags he had bought from the convenience store. He then ordered her to clean one of the least damaged rooms in the house.

She ended up scrubbing and clearing the space all night, disposing of scorched, dilapidated furniture until the mop finally broke from overuse. By dawn, she had managed to clean out a small, empty room.

Throughout the night, Eren lounged on a chair he had brought in from somewhere, watching her work with an unsettling calmness.

As he put it, "I paid for the full night."

Not wanting to waste even a cent of the $100 he had spent, Eren kept Elena working non-stop. He even made her return to the store with him to buy more supplies, carrying everything back to the house by herself.

The workload was so intense that even the most exploitative of capitalists would have been impressed by Eren's ruthlessness.

Still, despite her aching body, Elena was grateful. She had survived.

Inside the room she had cleaned, Eren had strung up a large hammock, suspended from the four corners of the room with fixtures. He now lay back in it, processing the information he had gleaned.

While Elena cleaned, she had shared plenty of details about Hell's Kitchen.

It turned out that the entire area was under the iron grip of Wilson Fisk, known as the Kingpin. Even the streetwalkers like Elena operated under his empire's permission.

Hell's Kitchen's outward chaos masked an intricate web of control woven by Fisk, extending his influence not just throughout the neighborhood but also across New York.

For Eren to establish his own foothold here, his first step would be to tear apart the oppressive net of "order" that Fisk had created.

Thinking of this, Eren's grin widened with excitement.
"Destroying order? That's my specialty!"

Under the dim light filtering through the room, Eren's shadow on the floor twisted faintly, taking the form of a grinning clown.

When Eren arrived at Midtown High, he noticed a large crowd of students gathered, buzzing with excitement.

Curious, he was about to approach the group when a familiar figure squeezed through the throng.

Doug, his round-faced friend, maneuvered through the crowd with surprising agility, dodging obstacles before reaching Eren's side.

"Hey, Eren! Did you catch the news last night?" Doug asked, practically bouncing with excitement.

"Yesterday, in the Gulmira region, this armored guy dropped out of the sky and single-handedly took out a bunch of terrorists! It was insane!"

Doug glanced around conspiratorially before lowering his voice. "Listen, man, I got a video from a hacker friend of mine. I'll show it to you later—it's unreal! My friend thinks that armored guy is some kind of top-secret weapon from one of the big nations."

Doug's enthusiasm only grew as he continued. "Oh, and get this—my hacker buddy says the military tried to cover it up, claiming an F-22 Raptor crashed during training. But we both know that's BS. I mean, a $350 million fighter jet crashing during practice? Give me a break!"

Grinning, Doug tugged Eren toward the classroom, eager to share the video.

Eren's mind, however, was racing.

Gulmira? Armored guy?

Wasn't this the plotline where Tony Stark, after building the Mark II suit, had a falling out with Obadiah and went to Gulmira to destroy Stark Industries' weapons?

If the Mark II was already operational, that meant the showdown between Tony and Obadiah's Iron Monger suit was just around the corner.

(End of Chapter)

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