Deep within the HYDRA research Base, an experiment on the biological effects of Loki's Scepter was underway.
The experiment sounded very professional, but in practice, it was simpler than a middle school science experiment: volunteers touched the Mind Stone at the tip of Loki's Scepter.
If they died, the next one came; if they didn't die, they stayed for further observation.
Simple and brutal!
An ordinary person's body could not directly touch an Infinity Stone; once they did, they would likely be destroyed by the Infinity Stone's immense power.
Thus, after a round of experiments, not a single volunteer had managed to survive.
Finally, it was the turn of Wanda and Pietro, the twin siblings Darian was most interested in.
Since each volunteer underwent the experiment individually, Wanda and Pietro were unaware of the terrifying death rate of this experiment. They were both afraid and a little expectant about the upcoming test.
"Pietro, we'll be alright, won't we?"
Wanda, being the younger sister, was more timid and looked at Pietro with concern.
Pietro feigned composure and comforted her, "Don't be afraid, we'll definitely be fine. That man named Strucker said that as long as we pass this experiment, we'll gain the power we need for revenge."
They were once a happy family of four. When the U.S. Army attacked Sokovia and took their parents, they harbored resentment towards America and Stark Industries, which supplied its weapons.
There was no other way; the missile that landed in their home clearly bore the Stark Industries logo, as if fearing others wouldn't know the culprit. They naturally extended their hatred to Stark Industries.
Because of this, Wanda and Pietro both yearned for great power to seek revenge against America and Stark Industries.
As the siblings waited nervously, a researcher in a White coat appeared before them.
"Wanda Maximoff, it's your turn. Follow me."
Hearing her name, Wanda's body trembled slightly.
She took a deep breath, gave a forced smile to the worried Pietro beside her, then nodded and followed the researcher.
Soon, they arrived at the entrance of a specialized laboratory.
At the researcher's signal, Wanda walked alone through several heavy metal doors into the completely sealed room. The metal doors behind her automatically closed, completely isolating her from the outside world.
In the very center of the room, Loki's Scepter was fixed in the air by an instrument, its Mind Stone at the tip emitting a faint blue light.
Just as Wanda was at a loss, Darian's voice came through the lab's communication device.
"Don't be nervous. You just need to walk up and touch the Stone on the Scepter."
Darian, having learned that Wanda was about to participate in the experiment, had specifically come to observe.
Given Darian's performance, Strucker had granted him authority second only to his own; even the lab director here had to listen to him.
Wanda looked at the eerie Loki's Scepter, her voice clearly trembling, "What will happen if I touch it?"
Darian said in a deep voice, "Have you heard of Schrödinger's cat?"
That was too famous; Wanda nodded repeatedly: "I've heard of it. Could it be…"
"Yes, that's right, it has nothing to do with that."
"…"
Wanda was no longer so nervous, even a little speechless.
Darian chuckled, "You seemed too nervous, so I made a joke. Don't worry, we don't know what will happen either. Once you touch it, we'll know."
Saying it like that only makes me more worried!
Wanda felt that the other party seemed very unreliable, but the arrow was on the string, and it had to be fired.
She could only brace herself and walk step by step towards Loki's Scepter in the center of the room.
However, the moment Wanda approached the Scepter, a sudden change occurred.
As if sensing Wanda's presence, the Mind Stone at the tip of the Scepter suddenly burst forth with dazzling light.
Even more astonishingly, it seemed to have gained a will of its own, detaching itself from the Scepter's setting, floating in mid-air, and slowly drifting towards Wanda.
The researchers in the lab were stunned.
This had never happened with any other volunteer.
When facing other test subjects, the Mind Stone on Loki's Scepter showed no reaction at all, ignoring everyone, as if it was too high and mighty.
However, now in front of Wanda, this Mind Stone completely changed its attitude, eagerly approaching her even before Wanda had walked over.
It was practically like a goddess's simp.
A researcher's thoughts couldn't help but wander, and he muttered to himself, "Could it be that the Scepter's Stone mainly judges by appearance and doesn't react to ugly people?"
Darian's ears were extremely sharp. He turned his head at the remark, a benevolent smile on his face.
"Your guess is very bold. I see you're a talented individual; it would be a shame not to use you as experimental material. Later, you can fill out a registration form, and I will personally arrange a biological effect development experiment for you."
Researcher: ∑(っ°Д°;)っ
It should be known that Darian had held Loki's Scepter for some time, and the Mind Stone had shown no reaction from beginning to end. The researcher's words were undoubtedly an insult to him.
Ignoring the pale-faced researcher, Darian turned his gaze back to Wanda in the laboratory.
Wanda looked at the Mind Stone floating before her, her face unable to hide her shock, but after a brief hesitation, she still followed Darian's prior instructions, slowly raising her hand to touch the Mind Stone.
Crack!
The moment her fingertip touched the Mind Stone, a crisp cracking sound rang out!
The Mind Stone's outer shell shattered in response, revealing its purest yellow body, erupting in a dazzling yellow light that instantly illuminated the entire laboratory!
The intense light made everyone unable to open their eyes; only Darian remained unaffected, watching Wanda enveloped in the yellow light.
[NPC: Wanda Maximoff]
[Status: Ability awakening in progress]
As expected of one of the strongest combatants in the Marvel Universe, even her ability awakening is so grand.
This yellow light came fiercely and receded quickly.
A few seconds later, the strong light receded like a tide, and the laboratory returned to calm.
Wanda had lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground.
And the Mind Stone, which had just revealed its true form, now had all its light contained within, flying back to the tip of Loki's Scepter on its own, once again enveloped by the faint blue energy shell, as if nothing had happened.
"Prepare a medical bed, conduct full vital sign monitoring, and ensure her physical and mental state are completely stable."
Darian was the first to react, immediately opening the observation room door, striding into the laboratory, picking up the unconscious Wanda, and personally taking her to the medical department.
Wanda might be one of his assets for running rampant on this server in the future, so he naturally couldn't let anything happen to her.
Under Darian's command, the medical department quickly completed preparations and immediately conducted a comprehensive examination of Wanda. The results showed that her physical condition was exceptionally good, with all indicators even superior to normal people. She only needed to wait for her to wake up naturally.
Darian felt relieved upon hearing this and immediately began the experiment for Wanda's older brother, Pietro.
Compared to Wanda, Pietro seemed to have less luck; he walked in front of Loki's Scepter, but the Mind Stone remained completely unresponsive.
Then he reached out and touched the Mind Stone, and with a cry, he fell to the ground, unconscious.
Darian glanced casually, waving his hand: "Looks like he's still alive. Take him to the isolation chamber for observation."
The researchers: "…"
Your differential treatment is too obvious!
When Wanda awoke from her coma, the first thing she saw was Darian sitting beside her.
"You're awake. The experiment was very successful. You are now a powerful girl."
"You are… that voice from before?"
Wanda recognized Darian as the voice from the laboratory.
Darian nodded: "It's me. How do you feel now?"
Wanda propped herself up and slowly sat, carefully sensing the changes within her, her tone filled with surprise: "I feel a peculiar energy inside me, and I seem to be able to control it."
"This is the ability you've awakened, chaos… ah, no, Chaos magic."
"Chaos magic?"
"That's right, this is a very powerful ability. As for how powerful it specifically is, you'll have to explore and discover that for yourself."
Wanda: "…"
What's the difference between this explanation and no explanation at all?
Suddenly remembering Pietro, she asked worriedly, "By the way, how is my brother?"
"Don't worry, he's fine, he just became a speedster."
"?"
"You'll understand when you see him later. Before that, I'd like to see your awakened abilities."
Darian looked at Wanda expectantly. He was very curious about how powerful Wanda, known as one of the strongest combatants in the Marvel Universe, and her reality-altering Chaos magic truly were.
Wanda looked a bit troubled: "But, I don't know how to use this ability."
"It's okay, take your time. Follow your heart."
Darian used the life coach's universal formula: Follow your heart.
Whenever a protagonist doesn't know how to use their abilities or wants to become stronger, their life coach will always say something like this.
Then the protagonist suddenly gains insight, their strength skyrockets, and they achieve decades of cultivation in a single day, effortlessly crushing villains they couldn't defeat before.
It's hard to say whether the life coach is amazing or the protagonist is amazing.
In any case, the villains are the most miserable.
Villain: WTF, they're clearly cheating, not even bothering to hide it!
"But it won't work without a target. How about this, you use your ability on him."
Darian pointed to a researcher behind him, the very talented individual from the observation room.
Wanda asked in surprise, "Ah, isn't he one of your researchers?"
"Yes, it's just that the research project he's responsible for is a bit special."
"What research is he responsible for?"
"Being researched."
"…"
And so, the poor talented individual was used by Wanda as a test subject, constantly trying out her newly awakened Chaos magic.
It should have been the researchers experimenting on Wanda, but now Wanda was experimenting on the researcher instead, which was truly a reversal of roles.
But who asked him to offend Darian?
Moreover, being Wanda's test subject was much better than being Loki's Scepter's test subject, at least the 99% death rate became 50%.
After a series of experiments, Wanda demonstrated a variety of astonishing abilities.
For example, a telepathic ability similar to the Mind Stone, allowing her to control others' minds and read memories, as well as telekinesis to manipulate all things, and the ability to release a crimson energy for offense and defense.
Although Wanda's current power level is not high, and these abilities are still in their nascent stage, not yet stable, it's important to remember that she only awakened her abilities a few minutes ago and is still a pure novice who hasn't completed the tutorial.
Even so, the abilities she displayed were already astonishing, surpassing most mages in Kamar-Taj.
To say nothing else, Wanda's casual and unrestrained use of Chaos magic alone was enough to put them to shame.
No wonder she is one of the strongest combatants in the Marvel Universe.
If Wanda were to fully master the power of Chaos magic, her strength would reach an unimaginable realm!
"Her future is promising!"
The more Darian looked, the more satisfied he became, and he directly said to Wanda, "Wanda, join my organization."
Wanda looked a little confused: "Join S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
To this day, all volunteers were still unaware of the true background of this research Base, always believing it belonged to S.H.I.E.L.D., even though they didn't even know what kind of organization S.H.I.E.L.D. was.
"I'm not talking about that, but the Liberators Organization."
Darian shook his head gently: "You might not know yet, but the Monthly Liberator Resistance Organization has long been renamed the Liberators Organization and is currently stirring up a revolutionary wave in Sokovia."
"Now the Liberators Organization has expanded to thousands of members, and we have gradually taken control of the cities around the capital, and are about to launch a general assault on the royal palace."
Wanda: (Д)!
How many years have I been asleep?
How did my organization become a revolutionary army that's almost storming the palace after I woke up?
Darian didn't explain much, handing her a virtual screen.
As Wanda browsed through the various recent events recorded in Sokovia, her face became increasingly shocked, even somewhat disbelieving.
"Is, is all this real?"
"Absolutely true. If you don't believe me, I can take you out to see."
Darian was a man of action; he immediately took Wanda out of the research Base.
Logically speaking, Wanda was an important test subject of the HYDRA research Base and should not leave freely.
But Darian promised Strucker that he had a way to make Wanda loyal to HYDRA, and coupled with Darian's growing influence in Sokovia, Strucker thought about it and agreed.
Besides, there was still Wanda's brother, Pietro.
Since they were twins, their abilities should be similar, so he could just use him for research.
Pietro: %@￥#@
Darian changed into his God Doom suit and took Wanda all the way to the Liberators Organization's headquarters.
"God Doom!"
"God Doom!"
"God Doom!"
Every Liberator member who saw Darian along the way immediately stopped, bowed reverently, their eyes shining with almost fanatical respect.
To Wanda's surprise, she recognized many familiar faces in the crowd. These people, like her, were once members of the Monthly Liberator Resistance Organization.
But at this moment, the numbness and despair of the past were gone from these faces that had once suffered so much.
Instead, there was a bright spirit she had never seen before, and everyone's eyes sparkled with hope, as if full of infinite yearning for the future.
Wanda looked at God Doom in shock: "What exactly did you do to them?"
"Nothing much, just helped them stand up again."