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"Words are not enough. Let's first see the support we can provide you." Harry opened the closed metal laboratory door and walked in first.
Inside the doorway lay an empty, gray space. As soon as Strange stepped inside, he sensed a destructive force in his surroundings. It was as if the surroundings were filled with spatial fissures and instability. One wrong step would lead to a plunge into a dangerous spatial turbulence.
"Don't worry, the power here is not as dangerous as you think. It's just a simulation of the environment. It's similar to humans' greenhouse cultivation in reverse environment. The road we are taking now is safe." Seeing Strange's changing expression, Harry took the initiative to explain.
"Don't tell me you raised some kind of creature in this environment." Strange touched the ring on his finger, felt a little relieved, and said as he followed Harry forward step by step.
Harry simply smiled at Strange's question and, after walking around an area, seemed to be transported to the interior of a dilapidated hall. Black oval cylindrical encapsulated bodies were placed against the walls and on the open ground, stacked up like goods, neatly arranged.
"The Bruder Zerg. Not a subspecies, but the most promising protozoan. When we obtained it, we were amazed that there was such a nearly perfect life in the world! They have almost infinite evolutionary potential. In addition to their own power, they can obtain all the knowledge and power of the host through parasitism. If they also have wisdom, they are better than the so-called Skrulls, and even far surpass them as an intelligent race." As Harry walked, he stretched out his hand and gently stroked these neat oval cylinders. His tone was so gentle, as if he was afraid of awakening the life in the cylinders, and he spoke softly.
"Of course, these are all carefully selected embryos stored here. Since Osborn Industries acquired the Bruder habitat, they have issued a large number of missions through the Space-Time Administration and dispatched a large number of warriors to capture them.
Then, he spent a long time observing and understanding them, finally utilizing Osborn's biotechnology to optimize them time and again. You have to understand, optimizing a creature that's already near-perfect is a difficult challenge in itself. Osborn accomplished it! And what's stored here is the crystallization of his success. They can even parasitize dimensional creatures as powerful as some demon gods.
"Sounds perfect," Strange agreed.
"No, no, no, their aggressive and cruel nature is hard to change. They're intelligent and cunning, but they're a hunting-obsessed people. There's no such thing as a perfect race in this world." Harry shook his finger, denying it repeatedly. "I've learned some intel on the Oblivion Swarm, so you and I both know that unless you're incredibly powerful, it's going to be difficult for you to solve this problem single-handedly. Otherwise, the Sorcerer Supreme wouldn't have asked you to come here, would he?"
"You mean, you want me to take your swarm of insects to fight against the swarm of insects from another universe?" Strange had already guessed Harry's original intention of bringing him here, and now he just asked openly.
"You could say that," Harry nodded. "Although intelligence suggests the Brud Zerg may still lag behind the Oblivion Zerg in strength, this gap is not irreparable. Given the Brud Zerg a chance and time, they will become a super-Zerg that rivals, or even surpasses, the Oblivion Swarm."
"Sounds good. You've obtained specimens and materials of the Annihilation Zerg, and through fighting and evolution, you've created a terrifying super-Zerg. But the question is, if it's truly as powerful as you claim, how will you control it?" Strange understood Harry's plan, but he didn't refuse. Based on his recent lessons and understanding, even without him, this Harry had other ways to achieve his goals. His proactive contact through this universe's Stephen was probably just a courtesy to Stephen.
As a former doctor, he was all too familiar with the lawlessness of these biotech giants. Harry, before him, had a temperament and style that was once very familiar to him.
"The Zerg are a group with a clear division of labor. They have classes of fighters and managers." Harry was not at all surprised by Strange's question, and just gave a calm answer.
"Queen of Worms?" Strange raised his eyebrows.
"The Swarm Queen," Harry repeated Strange's theory, confirming it. "The Swarm Queen has absolute control over the swarms under her command. Controlling a Swarm Queen is equivalent to controlling an entire swarm of Zerg."
"Would you like to meet your future companions right now?" Harry asked softly, looking at Strange, his hands tucked into his coat pockets. Under the influence of Hebron, this monotonous research uniform became the standard internal uniform for all trans-universe enterprises, from top to bottom.
"You said that they are cruel by nature and love hunting. I'd also like to know how you tamed them." Strange took two steps back reluctantly to make room for Harry.
"Yes, they are difficult to tame. But knowledge and technology can always create miracles, can't they?" Harry took his right hand out of his pocket and snapped his fingers lightly in the air.
A hazy light curtain rippled behind Harry, and then a massive insect with multiple eyes and a tail that took up two-thirds of its body appeared behind Harry. Its ferocious mouthparts hovered over Harry's head, and Strange was worried that the insect would lower its head and swallow Harry whole.
However, Harry was obviously unaware of the danger, or he trusted the Queen behind him very much.
"Ophenia, a collaborator of Osborn Industries." Harry turned sideways and pointed at the Zerg Queen behind him, then pointed at Strange across from him: "Stephen Strange from another universe, a new member of Doctor Strange's team."
"The third Strange? I hope he's as interesting as the first two." Ophelia extended a huge forelimb in the direction of Strange.
"Wow, you understand human language and can communicate with people?" Strange reached out and shook the forelimb that was bigger than his body that Ophelia handed over. He admired the gentle female voice that appeared in his mind and gave Harry a puzzled look.
Didn't you say that the Bruder Zerg are cruel and barbaric by nature, and love hunting and killing? Why didn't he sense any murderous intent or threat from Ophenia's voice or body?
"The Brud Zerg do have a certain degree of intelligence, but they are more like beasts than intelligent species. With our help, Ophelia has become wise and calm. She is a queen who is relatively friendly to humans and has a mild temper. Our cooperation has always been pleasant. The embryos here are strictly speaking Ophelia's children, and she naturally has absolute control over them." Harry understood Strange's look and gave the answer.
"Don't worry, I've worked with members of Doctor Strange before, and I understand your rules. I'll cooperate with you on this mission, as long as you don't stop me from consuming the Annihilation Swarm's genes. I won this opportunity after competing against other queens." Ophelia's voice was still gentle, like a kind lady. "They can help me evolve to a new level, widening the gap between me and the other Bruder Queens."
"I thought there was only one Queen?" Strange's gaze turned to Harry Osborn who was standing below Ophelia.
"You know that's impossible." Harry shrugged. "I also wish there was only one noble Queen Bruder in the world, Ophinia, because then, as her sole partner, Osborn would be able to exchange a lot of benefits with the Energy Bank. But things can't always go as planned.
The Bruder Zerg has multiple swarms, and Ophenia represents only one of them. Research on the Bruder Zerg has concluded that the Queen is not the final pinnacle of Bruder Zerg evolution. In other words, above the Queen, there are higher evolutions with even greater control over the Bruder Zerg. To distinguish them, we call these evolutions the Bruder King.
"so..."
"Yes, Osborn and Ophenia are collaborators. She helps us solve some problems and contributes her strength when needed. In return, Osborn must unreservedly utilize the knowledge, technology, and various powers he possesses to help her leap forward.
No Bruder queen wants to be controlled by a king unless that king is themselves. Let me put it more bluntly: this is a winner-takes-all war!
Osborn and Ophenia must defeat all opponents in this war and achieve ultimate victory. Only in this way can we absorb all the research and technology of the other competitors on the Bruder Zerg and rule over the other queens' Zerg colonies.
Osborne could fail in this war, but failure would mean falling behind, losing his advantage! He would gradually be kicked out of the front line. The same would be true for other competitors.
The price is too high for Osborn to bear. But fortunately, Osborn now has a slight advantage." Harry looked at Strange eagerly.
"Me?" Strange pointed at himself in astonishment under Harry's eager gaze.
"Yes, it's you." Harry nodded and explained in a light tone: "Because of you, we discovered the equally powerful new Zerg race, the Annihilation Zerg, and Osborn and Ophenia have collaborated with Doctor Strange twice, and both parties were quite happy with each other.
So, you see, the two previous collaborations have led to this meeting. Although it's only a short-term monopoly, it's already a huge advantage for us. I wouldn't say we'll be ahead of everyone, but I believe the researchers at Osborne can fully consolidate their early advantage."
"That sounds very lucky. But I want to ask, was this competition arranged for you by someone? Or is it some kind of law that caused this competition to happen?" Strange crossed his chest with one hand and stroked his chin with the other hand, a little curious: "Is it the energy bank of this universe? Or..."
"It's Hebron." Harry gave a direct answer in the face of Strange's surprised eyes. Seeing Strange's somewhat surprised look, Harry spread his hands and replied: "For you who have joined the Doctor Strange Group, there is nothing worth hiding. Because as long as you are still in this group, sooner or later you will have to deal with the Energy Bank, the Time Administration, and Hebron. This is unavoidable.
Haibolun licenses its technology and sells its equipment to companies like us, but it also sets the rules. It selects a group of companies and research institutions and licenses the same technology to them. If these companies meet the standards within a specified timeframe, they'll advance to the next stage, receiving more knowledge and access to more technologies from Haibolun. If they excel, they can even make certain requests, which, as long as they're not excessive, will be met.
At every stage, these institutions and enterprises will also receive support and orders from Heybolt's partners, and gradually grow stronger. As long as they can continue to advance and maintain a strong and lasting ability to achieve scientific breakthroughs, there will be no need to worry about anything, whether it's the diffusion and application of technology or product sales.
But this is for successful people!
If you are content with the status quo or your research capabilities lag behind, you may still be able to survive under Haibolun's rules. But if nothing unexpected happens, under the explosive technological updates of Haibolun and its subordinate cooperative institutions and enterprises, you will begin to fall behind quickly, and then continue to sink, and eventually be completely eliminated.
Osborn has been able to reach this point not only because it is one of Heberon's earliest cooperative enterprises, but also because we seized the opportunity and recruited various smart people and talents from the multiverse.
Frankly speaking, Osborne is now a top-tier company on Haibolun's list. The research and technology represented by Ofinia are currently key core projects for Osborne. I firmly believe that with Osborne's resilience, a major failure won't completely devastate us, but significant damage is inevitable. Therefore, please trust our sincerity and willingness to help. We are mutually beneficial, and we can completely avoid unnecessary suspicion."
"That's quite telling." Strange gave a wry smile and gestured towards the surrounding embryo tanks. "I'm a bit suspicious, but I know how to assess the situation. Since the person here asked me to come to you, we can strengthen our trust. Let's talk about the plan. How are we going to use these embryos?"
"That depends on your choice." It was Ophelia who spoke. Her mental power gently touched Strange's mind, and transformed into a gentle female voice: "These are embryos that have been modified and optimized by Osborn. They have multiple forms. If we simply use them all for incubation and then to produce troops, it would be a waste of their potential."
"What do you mean?" Strange was a little confused.
"I can control the form in which they hatch. In your terms, this is called a Zerg unit. I can help you hatch Bruder Zerg for the corresponding purpose according to your needs. I have mastered the genetic maps of various life forms and can combine them.
It can be a simple parasite, the Bruder Zerg, growing by devouring its host's nutrients, or it can become a symbiotic, like a symbiote, a symbiotic, worm-like creature. I can also provide you with a swarm consciousness network, allowing you to communicate with your fellow faction on the battlefield. As for other specialties, including super-powered genes, magical Zerg, assassination, infiltration, self-destruction, and combat, those are all my children's specialties," Ophelia explained to Strange calmly.
"It sounds reliable." Strange's nervous mood eased a little.
"I will accompany you this time. If necessary, I can transform into a bug suit and use my power to amplify you. Theoretically, as long as we don't encounter an omnipotent god, our safety can be guaranteed." Ophenia said.
"Can we defeat an almighty god?" Strange was a little surprised.
"I mean, we can escape." Ophelia's words left Strange speechless.