Aside from research on the X Gene, the United States has also been conducting another important humanoid weapon research in these years.
In the Mayan Ruins, an American expedition team discovered a peculiar object, a crystal that seemed alien, capable of turning whoever touched it into stone.
The crystal was sent back to the country, and the government immediately organized personnel to conduct research. More than a decade passed, and they finally discovered a special matter within the stone that could react with human genes, sparking another secret project parallel to the human weapon plan.
The Synthetic Human Creation Plan.
They used this special crystal to blend with chemical products and human tissue samples, along with a massive amount of radiation.
After countless sacrifices and spending an immense amount of money, they succeeded.
Professor Phineas Horton and his team, under secret funding directly from the White House, conducted this experiment and created a man.
Yes, created, from the slide to the petri dish, from the petri dish to the beaker and the experimental chamber, this person grew like a salt crystal, finally taking the form of a human.
He possessed normal human intelligence, normal physiological reactions, but he was not human.
Like rifles and grenades, he could be mass-produced in a factory.
Unfortunately, such black tech experiments often have issues. This creation, at the moment of formation, came into contact with air and then turned into a humanoid torch.
This bizarre flame provided him with energy, enabling him to fly, to burn and melt objects, allowing him to emit red energy pillars.
But the flame was uncontrollable, and the current lab, which cost an immense amount of money, was destroyed. The experimenters could only find a way to isolate the artificial human from contact with air to keep him in human form.
An uncontrolled weapon is not a good weapon; this is a consensus among the military and political sectors, especially Old Luo in the White House who was very dissatisfied and terminated the funding support for the lab.
Thus, the Professor could only take the "Human Torch" and rent a warehouse in Brooklyn, exhibiting him like a circus to earn some funds.
The Professor needed funds to perfect his research, at least to find a way to improve the issue of artificial humans igniting upon contact with oxygen; it took him over twenty years to achieve the progress he has today; he dedicated everything to scientific research; the artificial human is like his child.
The Professor hoped the artificial human could live like a normal human.
The artificial human had a very simple mind; he was ignorant and innocent, only standing in the glass tank, motionless like a mannequin.
In fact, they also participated in the World Expo this year; the Professor even picked a good spot; anyone visiting Stark Industries' showcase would first pass theirs.
However, their lab didn't even have an official name, the exhibit was just a "dummy" in a glass tank, nowhere near as impressive as the leg dances and hovering cars over there.
Not to mention there were free tastings of instant noodles and stew.
Su Ming didn't pay attention to a "dummy" back then; such things were too common at the expo.
Stark's theme at that time was the future of "travel", Wilson Enterprises' theme was the future of "food", naturally other enterprises used the future of "clothing" as a theme, and that day, there were plenty of clothing exhibits in the hall.
It was like a circus there, filled with chaos everywhere.
Afterward, the Professor conducted a demonstration too; he injected air into the glass tank, and then the synthetic human ignited, but unlike what he imagined, this caused panic among the people.
People didn't marvel at the wonders of science but prayed to God.
By then, Stark and Su Ming had already left, so they naturally wouldn't know that after they left, demonstrations erupted around the exhibition.
Late at night, the crowd raised signs saying God created humanity and torches, clashing with the military and police barricade, protesting the act of creating monsters on an assembly line, saying it was unclean and evil, that God wouldn't allow it.
To quell the situation, Old Luo directly issued a secret presidential decree, ordering the Professor to bury the synthetic human and make him disappear from the world.
The Professor was very saddened, but the President and special agents didn't care about his feelings.
They stored the synthetic human in a sealed metal container, buried it in a piece of government land in Brooklyn, and poured 200 tons of cement over it overnight.
Now it was safe, no longer exposed to air or German spies.
However, not just Hydra, even various newspaper agencies got wind of it, and a few days later, Xiaohuzi in Berlin saw it in the papers.
A secret was no longer a secret, and after Old Luo drank three large glasses of whiskey, he came up with a good idea.
And that was to use this failure as a smoke bomb, misleading the Germans' research direction, diverting their attention from the X Gene to the Alien Synthetic Human.
As for what the situation really was with the synthetic human, the President of the United States knew best—the experiment was a failure.
But during propaganda, they couldn't say that; instead, the national machinery went into full gear, promoting the mystery of the synthetic human.
High-tech, inhumane, destructive power—that was a warning from God to humanity, apocalypse and doomsday, and moving forward, the United States wouldn't allow such dangerous experiments again.
Old Luo knew in his heart that Xiaohuzi liked such things, the more dangerous it sounded, the more tempted the other party would be, the Germans would take the bait.
And Xiaohuzi's reaction wasn't much different from expected; he loved notions of doomsday weapons and such.
So the Germans immediately accelerated their other research, turning their attention to the mysterious undersea race, the Atlanteans, who could be considered equivalent to the Aryan People in terms of a higher race.
After all, compared to the Aryan People, they had already demonstrated the special ability to live underwater, hadn't they?
If they could synthesize loyal synthetic humans for the Third Empire from undersea people materials, like producing bullets, with factories making people, Germany's future would be brighter.
He dispatched destroyers, using modified deep-sea bombs to bombard some cities of Atlantis, then used trawlers to scoop up the dead Atlanteans and send them back to Germany for experimentation.
This work wasn't handled by Hydra, but directly supervised by Xiaohuzi's confidant, Little Glasses, in person. This matter related to the future of the Aryan People, and it had to be kept strictly confidential, and the chicken farm owner knew how to proceed.
.............
Su Ming knew that the synthetic human codenamed "Torchbearer" or "First Generation Thunderbolt" should be hidden by the government somewhere in New York; he was the fuse.
But now various miscellaneous organizations have emerged, and he needed to take a closer look at the situation.
The intelligence obtained from comics and movies was becoming less useful and might even mislead his judgment; he needed to gather intelligence himself for analysis.
Especially the Hand Union led by Naito Asama—no matter what in comics and movies should be in a dormant state at this time, so what caused them to appear in New York?
This group of fanatics who worshiped the "Black Void" should have no interest in serums, could it be that there is Keel buried under Manhattan? Or were they commissioned by someone?
Yet, the Hand Union and the Assassin Alliance were alike; after Deathstroke killed their people, these nagging ones should stick to Deathstroke like glue from now on.
At the top of the Wilson Mansion, Su Ming sat quietly in a pitch-black room, looking out at the night. It was a moonless night.
The lights in Manhattan were still bright, but Long Island had already fallen into slumber; listening to the sound of ocean waves hitting the shore outside the window, he waited for that flash of fire.
And indeed, almost as he anticipated, in the middle of the night, a massive explosion echoed across New York's sky.
Immediately followed by, was the fire and chaos.