Chapter 37: Goodbye, Coulson (Part 1)

"This is another world." Crossing through the anomaly, Ada looked around with a puzzled expression on her face. Even as a top agent, encountering such a situation was bound to raise questions.

"The evidence is right in front of you, isn't it?" Daniel Davis replied, ignoring Ada's confusion as he walked straight ahead. About 500 meters away, there was a tall altar composed of dozens of stone steps. The Sun Staircase should be at the top of that altar. Daniel had seen a similar altar on the other side, depicted in the cave murals.

The altar on the other side was likely modeled after this one, but how this one was constructed remained unknown. Even in primitive tribes, the intelligence required to build such an altar in those times was impressive.

"I want to look around." After observing the surroundings for a moment, Ada spoke up.

"Be careful. This island might not be very safe, and don't waste too much time."

"No problem."

Both sides of the anomaly led to islands, which might be why the secret of the Sun Staircase had been preserved for so long. To protect the secret, Spencer and his associates had massacred the entire primitive tribe. Human bones and ruins of buildings were still visible on the island. To maintain secrecy, the three men agreed never to disclose the island's location and personally fetched the Sun Staircase each time.

As for the guards who had escorted them, they were poisoned and killed after the trio left the island.

On the other side of the anomaly, aside from the tall altar, there were no signs of human habitation, but the skeletons of various animals could be seen, and the animals here were significantly larger than usual.

"No sound of birds or insects. This place seems to be a dead zone." Although Daniel didn't have much wilderness survival experience, he knew some basic knowledge. Besides, Ada was there to help. Over their time together, Daniel had often asked Ada for tips on dealing with agents, not to become one but to defend against them. He learned how to detect bugs and cameras, among other things.

An excellent agent, especially someone like Ada or Black Widow, needed to master numerous skills. They had to be proficient in piloting various vehicles, hacking, weaponry, wilderness survival, combat, and more.

"A lot of people died for this." As Daniel approached the altar, he saw various skeletons on the steps, both human and animal. The higher he went, the more skeletons there were. For ordinary people or animals, eating the Sun Staircase was a gamble with their lives. Success meant becoming the king of the tribe and enjoying what little luxury the tribe had to offer. Failure meant immediate death.

There was also a small chance of turning into a monster, which explained the lack of life on the island.

"The Sun Staircase." The Sun Staircase was a brightly colored flower that only grew on the topmost part of the altar.

"Is the soil special?" Daniel used his Op-Op Fruit ability to analyze the soil beneath the Sun Staircase but found it mostly incomprehensible. "It should be similar to the Heart-Shaped Herb." Spencer and his associates had spent significant resources trying to transplant the Sun Staircase, but once moved, it became an ordinary flower, losing its magical properties even if the soil was transferred with it.

Just like how oranges from the south turn into trifoliate oranges in the north.

"Sorry." After saying this, Daniel swept up all the existing Sun Staircases and buried several powerful bombs around the area, preparing to destroy the place completely.

If any botanist saw Daniel doing this, they would be outraged. This was a unique plant, and his act of extermination would be condemned. But Daniel wasn't a botanist, and even if he were, he wouldn't preserve such a dangerous plant. While his actions might seem paranoid, ensuring safety was necessary.

The Earth already had enough dangerous viruses; there was no need to add another. As the Sun Staircase disappeared, the virus series derived from it would dwindle over time.

The T-virus, extracted from the Progenitor Virus, was the source of all enhanced viruses. It was well-known that viruses couldn't survive independently and relied on the life force of living beings to reproduce. This was the fatal flaw of most viruses.

However, the T-virus had a unique characteristic: it could rewrite the genes of life forms, something most viruses couldn't do. The only other known entity capable of this was the Heart-Shaped Herb.

Human genes are inherently exclusive, which is why cases like Spider-Man's are so rare. Only a radioactive spider could do that, and even then, it didn't happen every time.

Spider-Man's emergence was both a coincidence and an inevitability. If someone else were bitten, they might not gain superpowers but a ticket to the hospital or worse. But if the T-virus were combined with spider genes, creating another Spider-Man wouldn't be difficult. In theory, it could also create Ant-Man, Octopus-Man, or Lizard-Man.

From a traditional Chinese medicine perspective, the T-virus was a gene-modifying catalyst, guiding genetic changes.

The Veronica Virus was created by combining the T-virus with ancient queen ants.

Of course, this was theoretical. Perfect fusion had various issues, unsolvable by most scientists. But for Daniel, it was entirely possible.

"I wonder what this world is like." Ada mused, looking at the endless sea from the island's shore.

"Who knows."

Spencer and his associates had not only focused on the Sun Staircase. They had attempted to explore the rest of the world but found it too challenging. The anomaly was too small to transport modern ships, and making rafts from island materials for sea travel without the main character's luck was suicidal.

Spencer had sent several expeditions to explore, but none returned. With his attention on the Progenitor and T-viruses, he stopped sending people. Whether those sent out died, discovered something, or integrated into this world, no one knew.

"Don't you want to take a look?" Ada smiled at Daniel.

For ordinary people, exploring this world might be difficult, but not for Daniel. His dimensional magic worked here, indicating a hidden connection between this world and Earth. It could be the past or future.

Even if the anomaly closed, Daniel could use magic to open a portal back to Earth. Dimensional magic was that miraculous. He could even leave a magical marker to return anytime.

But Daniel had no intention of returning. Using his current power to open such a portal would exhaust him for a long time. That wasn't a big deal; he could avoid using magic afterward. The key issue was the unknown state of this world. Without a map, his portals could only open to visible locations. Opening random portals was a death wish.

Exploring other worlds was possible once his power grew. There was no need to risk it now.

With so many Sun Staircases, Daniel's magic would become stronger in the future. Just as Kamar-Taj could heal the body through the soul, a stronger body could also strengthen the soul.

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