Web of the Multiverse - 191 (Patreon)

Chapter 191: Two Weeks, On the Eve of War

Poison Red Skull's plan was simple. He had long known that sooner or later, the Poisons and the Mutants would fight a decisive battle.

After all, the only force left on the planet that could still pose a threat to the Poisons was the Mutants on Krakoa.

There was no room for both sides to coexist. Sooner or later, one of them would have to fall.

That was why Poison Red Skull had secretly approached Trask and given him unlimited resources to restart the Sentinel robot project.

And the diminutive man had certainly exceeded Poison Red Skull's expectations.

In a remarkably short time, he had successfully produced a prototype Sentinel robot.

Now that the prototype had been successfully developed, there was only one thing left to do.

They needed to test it in practice and see just how effective the Sentinel robot truly was at countering Mutants.

If the Sentinel robot really was the absolute nemesis of Mutants that Trask claimed it to be, then Poison Red Skull could use it to make a major contribution in the coming war.

And with that, he could finally unseat Poison Nick Fury, who had always overshadowed him.

"Trask, proceed with the live-subject test. I need to see the Sentinel robot's power with my own eyes."

Poison Red Skull gave Trask the order in a forceful tone.

Trask seemed to have expected this.

"Mr. Schmidt, as you wish. The test subject is already prepared. The Sentinel robot will now show you exactly how it counters Mutants."

Trask raised his hands and slowly clapped several times.

The sound echoed through the vast, empty space.

A few seconds later, the doors opened again. A small team of researchers in white lab coats entered, pushing a man restrained upright on a wheeled platform.

The restrained man looked to be around thirty, with a crew cut and a fierce face. One glance was enough to tell that he was not someone to mess with.

He was still conscious when they brought him in.

The instant he saw Trask, rage consumed him, and low growls repeatedly escaped his throat.

If not for the restraint covering his mouth and preventing him from speaking, he would undoubtedly have been cursing Trask out by now.

Poison Red Skull studied the man. At first, he noticed nothing unusual and assumed he was just an ordinary human.

But he soon realized that the man was also a Mutant. His ability was rather ridiculous, however. Numerous bony spikes could extend from his skin, making him look like a human hedgehog.

"Is this guy's power supposed to be a joke? He turns himself into a hedgehog? What kind of ability is that?"

Poison Red Skull immediately dismissed the Hedgehog Man as useless, the kind of trash that was not even qualified to become a Poison Host.

At Poison Red Skull's assessment, Trask could only adjust his glasses with a slightly awkward expression.

"Mr. Schmidt, there's no need to worry about those details. He's only here as a test subject. The strength of his ability doesn't matter. As long as he's a Mutant, that's enough."

"Fine. Get started. I've already wasted enough time here."

At Poison Red Skull's urging, Trask nodded to his researchers.

The researchers pushed the Hedgehog Man, whose skin was still repeatedly sprouting spikes, in front of the Sentinel robot.

Trask then pulled a complicated looking controller from his pocket and pressed a button.

The Sentinel robot, which had been standing perfectly still, suddenly moved.

It slowly raised its right hand and reached toward the Hedgehog Man.

Under everyone's watchful gaze, the Sentinel robot placed its right hand, tipped with long, sharp fingers, on top of the Hedgehog Man's head.

The Hedgehog Man's eyes widened as he stared at the silver gray robot before him and let out a furious roar.

He struggled wildly, causing the metal restraints holding him in place to clang loudly.

At the same time, countless spikes erupted from his face and struck the Sentinel robot's palm. Several sparks flew, but every spike snapped on impact.

The corner of Poison Red Skull's mouth twitched, his expression plainly saying that this was exactly what he had expected.

The Hedgehog Man really was pathetic, yet he insisted on acting as though he were powerful. Poison Red Skull hated people like that most of all.

Even so, nothing the Sentinel robot had done so far seemed particularly remarkable.

But in the very next second, Poison Red Skull's eyes widened.

The transformation had begun.

The scale like structures covering the Sentinel robot's body began rippling like waves.

Starting from its palm, the transformation spread up its arm, across its shoulder and chest, and finally throughout its entire body.

The process looked like a toy made of LEGO bricks being completely reassembled.

Once the transformation was complete, countless tightly packed bumps appeared across the Sentinel robot's surface.

Dark gray metal spikes burst from them, identical to the ones growing from the Hedgehog Man's body.

The Hedgehog Man was still held in the Sentinel robot's grasp. His furious roar instantly turned into a scream.

Countless spikes erupted from the Sentinel robot's palm as well, piercing straight through the Hedgehog Man's head in an instant.

His body convulsed several times before going completely still.

Bright red blood slowly seeped from the Sentinel robot's palm and dripped onto the floor.

"Mr. Schmidt, the experiment was a success. The Sentinel robot's core function performed perfectly."

Trask proudly announced the conclusion of the experiment.

Only then did Poison Red Skull recover from his shock. He turned toward Trask and asked with some uncertainty.

"So the Sentinel robot's core function is to take a Mutant's ability?"

"That's right."

Trask slowly approached the now motionless Sentinel robot and began explaining its capabilities to Poison Red Skull.

The Sentinel robot possessed only one true core ability: perfect dynamic simulation of Mutant genes.

Just moments ago, for example, the Sentinel robot had acquired the Hedgehog Man's Mutant genes through physical contact.

Through dynamic genetic simulation, it could then perfectly replicate those Mutant genes.

That allowed it to instantly produce spikes identical to the Hedgehog Man's.

Moreover, the abilities simulated by the Sentinel robot were often even stronger than those of the original Mutant.

As a result, once a Mutant was targeted by a Sentinel robot, escaping was almost impossible.

Against the Sentinel robots, even Mutants as powerful as Professor X and Magneto would have only one option: run.

And this crucial dynamic genetic simulation function originated from one particularly important Mutant, Raven Darkholme, also known as Mystique.

Mystique's ability allowed her to perfectly imitate another person's appearance by altering her skin and bones.

Trask had taken Mystique's ability a step further, developing it until the imitation reached the genetic level.

In that sense, Mystique's very existence had directly brought about the beginning of the Mutants' end.

By the time Poison Red Skull finished listening, his expression had twisted with excitement.

The more powerful the Sentinel robots were, the more Poison Red Skull would be able to distinguish himself in the coming all out war.

He could already picture himself receiving the leader's commendation.

"Nick Fury, with this trump card in my hands, let's see how you compete with me now!"

Poison Red Skull now looked at Trask with intense interest.

The more he saw of this dwarf of a man, the more potential he seemed to possess.

The Poisons desperately needed exceptionally intelligent geniuses like Trask to support them.

Although the Poison Hosts created by the Poisons could perfectly retain their memories and abilities from before their transformation, intellect was not something that could be acquired simply by copying memories.

Whether it was Iron Man Tony Stark or Mister Fantastic Reed Richards, neither had accomplished anything in scientific research after becoming a Poison Host.

Because they had lost the most important thing a true genius possessed.

Their intellect.

Now, with the help of a genius like Trask, the Poisons could once again attempt breakthroughs in many fields that had previously been beyond their reach.

That was precisely why Poison Red Skull valued Trask so highly.

A few seconds later, another important question occurred to Poison Red Skull.

"Is this dynamic simulation of abilities a one time process?"

"Of course not."

Trask's voice was filled with pride.

"Every Mutant a Sentinel robot comes into contact with has their ability recorded in its core database. The next time that ability is needed, the Sentinel can simply access it directly."

"And I have another new idea. In future updates, we could give the Sentinel robots the ability to combine several powers at once. If we can implement that perfectly, the Sentinel robots could become the most powerful beings in the entire universe."

At those words, Poison Red Skull's pupils contracted slightly.

A different sort of thought began taking root deep within his mind.

Perhaps... he might have a chance to sit on that crystal throne himself.

...

After Poison Doctor Doom issued his command, a massive upheaval began sweeping across North America.

Every Poison Host currently scattered throughout North America was summoned to New York under Poison Doctor Doom's orders.

Among them were many famous Superheroes and Villains.

There were familiar faces from New York City such as Iron Fist, Daredevil, Kingpin, and Mister Negative.

There were also Black Panther, Killmonger, and Princess Shuri from Wakanda.

These powerful Poison Hosts possessed a vast array of strange and varied abilities. Soon, they would board ships belonging to the Pacific Fleet and sail for Krakoa to begin an all out war.

And they would not be fighting alone. Each Poison Host would command their own dedicated combat squad and coordinate with the others in battle.

Some members of these squads were weaker Poison Hosts, while others were humans or aliens who, for various reasons, had chosen to align themselves with the Poisons.

The days before a storm were always calm.

As time passed, unseen clouds of war began spreading from New York City toward the heart of the Pacific.

...

Meanwhile, the Venom Superheroes' training program on Krakoa was also in full swing.

By now, the team of Mutants trained by Peter had fully absorbed the combat experience and tactical insight he had taught them.

From this point on, their progress would depend on their own talent and aptitude.

A teacher could show them the way, but how far they went from there was up to them.

Peter had already done everything he could.

So, after the tenth day of training, Peter began pairing them off for individual combat drills.

After several days of fighting one another, the relative strength of the Mutants on the team had become fairly clear.

Without question, the strongest among them was Magik, who possessed the ability for Teleportation.

With her swordsmanship and the small flying dragon she raised fighting alongside her, Magik was nearly unbeatable in a duel.

Even Sunspot could not last more than three minutes against her attacks.

But on the fourteenth day of training, an old acquaintance returned to the team.

Moonstar.

At Peter's arrangement, Moonstar had barely returned to the team before she was immediately told to train against Magik.

On the open ground in front of the villa, Magik and Moonstar stood facing each other while everyone else gathered around them, watching expectantly as they waited for the fight to begin.

"Moonstar, you'd better give this everything you've got. I'm warning you now, I won't go easy on you."

Magik maintained her usual cold, aloof demeanor. Even when facing a former teammate and friend, she had no intention of holding back.

However, after the White Queen's special training, Moonstar had also made considerable progress. At the very least, the improvement in her willpower and emotional control was obvious.

Even under the immense pressure radiating from Magik, Moonstar did not so much as furrow her brow. Her voice remained relaxed and composed.

"I should be saying that to you. After all, I know exactly what you're afraid of. For example... Mr. Smiling Man?"

The moment Moonstar finished speaking, churning black gray mist suddenly surged around her body.

Within the area engulfed by the mist, tall, thin Smiling Men with distorted proportions began emerging one after another.

It was just like the nightmare that had unfolded at the villa that night.

Countless Smiling Men lunged at Magik.

In the blink of an eye, they completely engulfed her.