This vampire's raw form quickly began to transform. The muscle tissue on his body started to break down, giving off a series of unnatural twitches. His entire body was scattered and reshaped like clay.
Although the surface didn't appear to undergo any terrifying changes, the internal structure was becoming completely different.
Lynn wasn't idle either. Faint purple energy began radiating from his head. This was another special ability he possessed besides the unknown knowledge that had appeared in his mind.
That's right, Lynn was also a mutant, though this power had clearly only manifested after he crossed over to this world.
After all, he had no memory of having any superpowers in his previous life.
The purple light entered various pieces of equipment around him. Soon, these machines began operating rapidly, with keyboards being pressed one by one without anyone touching them.
At the same time, the tiny artificial cilia in the cultivation tank began to move, constantly wandering over the vampire's body.
In truth, this crude laboratory could function largely because of Lynn's own superpowers—about 60% of its operation depended on them. After all, Lynn couldn't purchase the precise equipment needed for biochemical modifications.
But his superpower could compensate for the crude equipment to some extent. His ability allowed him to do the work of three or even four mature researchers by himself.
Lynn pressed two fingers against his temple as he sat in his chair, staring at the vampire who had begun to transform.
Using chemical and physical methods, with his superpower as assistance, Lynn was creating the bioengineered organism from his memories.
Soon, the vampire's body completed its transformation. The body, already modified by black magic, seemed to have finally withstood this almost magical mutation.
Lynn had previously purchased several vampires from Blade, which had been reduced to the simplest biomass and stored in Lynn's freezer.
Lynn didn't care about those vampires' lives. After all, they had more human blood on their hands than could be counted. Most vampires were just like that, especially these guys that Blade had found from local gangs.
Fortunately, this attempt was successful. Lynn nodded with satisfaction at the storage tank before him.
"The accumulated technology can be utilized elsewhere... perhaps it's time for a career change."
Selling fried chicken was clearly not Lynn's ultimate goal, although he enjoyed it as a daily diversion.
"The basement of this fried chicken shop isn't convenient. I need a more secure location. But for now, I need to complete some other tasks first."
The liquid in the cultivation tank began to recede, and the cilia and injection tubes connected to the vampire were removed.
After the liquid had fully drained, the vampire seemed to regain consciousness. He stood motionless before Lynn, completely naked.
Lynn waved his finger, and soon the vampire's eyelids flickered slightly, as if he were about to wake up. His muscles trembled, and his entire body appeared more robust with muscle tissue compared to his previous sickly, gaunt state.
The next second, he opened his eyes.
However, his gaze showed only confusion and stupidity, clearly not an expression a normal person would display.
"Hmm... the memory adjustment was successful too."
Lynn pinched his chin, evaluating his own abilities, knowledge, and power. In this city, all three would be essential for survival.
Lynn's superpower had many functions, not just telekinesis.
Mind control was also one of them, though the process was quite complex and had significant limitations in practice.
Lynn wasn't sure how strong his power was, but from what he could see, controlling this vampire he had engineered didn't pose a problem.
With a thought, psionic tentacles slowly materialized and pierced the vampire's head. Lynn quickly completed the brainwashing of the vampire, then released his consciousness.
The vampire began to struggle painfully, as if something was bursting out from within him. Finally, within seconds, the vampire completed his transformation.
A massive beast stood before Lynn.
He was covered in thick fur and possessed huge, robust muscles. His entire face had been transformed into a fierce beast, and the ears on both sides of his head had extended enormously.
"Like a giant, hairy vampire. The Hunger-type modification is perfect—indeed the one with the highest success rate."
Although Lynn had completed his experiment, he wasn't particularly excited. After all, in this bizarre world, ordinary beast soldiers weren't considered particularly powerful combatants.
What he really wanted to complete was something else, but the additional creations in his mind required more funding and rarer resources, as well as a sufficiently large energy supply.
It definitely wasn't something he could accomplish right now.
"Still, being able to complete this is enough for now."
Lynn casually picked up a steel pipe and tossed it to the Hunger. The beast soldier caught it and, at Lynn's signal, effortlessly bent the steel pipe in half.
As easily as breaking an ice pop stick.
"I wonder what his actual combat ability is like..."
Lynn looked at the Hunger. With his first beast soldier, he could now try some things he hadn't dared to attempt before.
He didn't want to casually expose his superpower to others, and he definitely didn't want to put himself in the spotlight, even though he estimated his superpower might be stronger than most mutants'.
Whenever possible, avoid putting yourself in danger. If you have subordinates, let them do the work.
Lynn slightly relaxed his mental grip on the Hunger. The psionic tentacles dissipated into the void, and the vampire who had been modified into a beast soldier quickly regained consciousness.
He submissively crouched on the ground and said, "Boss Sidis."
The mind control was almost perfect. This vampire retained his original memories and personality, though he seemed somewhat dim-witted. Nevertheless, the vampire had become Lynn's exclusive puppet.
Unless he encountered someone equally proficient in mind control and mental manipulation, Hunger, whose consciousness had been completely reshaped by Lynn's power, couldn't possibly escape his control.
Lynn tossed him some clothes from a nearby cabinet. These items had been left behind by the unfortunate individuals Blade had brought.
"Put these on, then come upstairs. We're going out. And from today on, your name is Tom."
After giving Tom his orders, Lynn left.
Lynn had no intention of being cooped up in this fried chicken shop. New York was more complex than he'd imagined, with various forces deeply intertwined. Actively seeking out specific people would be extremely difficult.
But now that he had a small chip to play with...
"Taking the initiative is clearly the better option."
Having just met Peter Parker and Blade, Lynn wasn't sure how the relevant storylines would develop in this world.
"Little Spider's style is familiar to me. He seems approachable, but I can't tell how old he is from his height and voice."
"Maybe this is the Ultimate Universe, though I haven't seen the F4 or any building explosions, but who knows? Damn, if only I'd read the comics. I've only seen the movies, and I only know bits and pieces of the comic storylines."
Lynn commented as he raised the rolling shutter of his fried chicken shop.
As for the fastest way to make money?
It definitely wasn't honest work. Lynn didn't have much money now. The small amount he'd gotten from Blade was almost gone after repaying the loans he'd taken to build his equipment.
The New York streets at night were surprisingly empty of pedestrians, as Lynn's neighborhood was in Brooklyn, where the security situation was quite terrible.
"Go earn some quick cash. Find a few gang members. You know what I mean?" Lynn told Tom as he stood at the door of his fried chicken shop.
"I understand, boss."
"Good. Here's some startup funds. Go find a convenience store and buy a pair of stockings to put over your head."
With that, Lynn let Tom handle the task on his own. Bad security had its advantages.
Though not highly efficient, it was at least a relatively quick way to get some startup funds. After all, Lynn planned to change his work situation. He didn't want to continue selling fried chicken like this.
A one-man workshop had its limitations.
"Maybe becoming a high school teacher would be a good cover for now? Plus, Peter Parker might still be in high school. He seems like he's just starting out."
Lynn quickly came up with an idea. He took out his phone, opened the navigation app, confirmed the location, and then put it away. Afterward, he turned back to his fried chicken shop, planning to get a good night's sleep.
Early the next morning, Lynn took the small amount of money Tom had gathered overnight and made his way to Hell's Kitchen with him.
After turning several corners and checking out several dubious-looking companies, Lynn finally obtained some fake credentials from a shifty-looking old man.
A degree certificate, a graduation certificate, and a complete set of various certificates.
"Listen, buddy, you're not getting these to pick up girls, are you?" the old man asked.
"Hmm?" Lynn looked at the old man selling him these fake credentials.
"Something like that. But are these reliable? I've never even heard of these universities."
"Guaranteed reliable, don't worry. They're all legitimate universities."
Lynn put away the documents, nodded to the old man who sold him the fake credentials, and left the inconspicuous boutique.
However, as soon as he took a step, he accidentally bumped into someone. The other person seemed surprised that he had collided with anyone and quickly apologized:
"Sorry, I didn't notice you."
"It's nothing, it was my fault."
The person was very polite, but Lynn noticed he was blind.
"Matt, you're late," the old man called out.
Lynn glanced over and saw several metal mops in the corner, which looked unwieldy.
He looked at the blind man again, but Lynn didn't intend to do anything more. He stepped away and left.
Slowly leaving Hell's Kitchen, Lynn breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't want to encounter any trouble in that place—who knew how many eyes were watching there.
"Boss, where are we going next?" Tom asked.
"To apply for a job."
"Huh? Aren't we keeping the fried chicken shop?"
Lynn turned back to look at Tom. This guy talked too much. Feeling the pressure, Tom obediently shut his mouth and didn't say anything more.
Arriving at the school, it was the start of the high school semester. Many high school students were entering the school with their backpacks. This youthful and vibrant atmosphere naturally put people at ease.
Lynn quickly crossed the playground and came to the teaching building. Many students cast curious glances at him.
Interestingly, after Lynn's modifications, Tom could now walk in daylight, as if the influence of the Dark Book had been temporarily counteracted.
Tom seemed to miss the daytime scenery, but Lynn didn't care about his feelings. He had more important things to do.
"Go look around on your own. Don't cause me any trouble."
After giving Tom a mental command, he went to the school's administrative office.
About an hour later, Lynn sat smiling in front of the HR representative, who had a troubled expression.
"So, with your..."
The interviewer looked at Lynn's resume and the fake credentials he had provided, about to say something when a trace of purple psionic energy entered his ear canal. Psionic tendrils gently brushed against the interviewer's brain.
Then, while the interviewer was still in an unconscious state, a small tendril emerged from his eyeball and nostrils, then quickly disappeared.
After a moment of confusion, the interviewer said, "Welcome to Midtown High, sir. When would you like to officially start work?"
"How about next Monday? I'd like to look around first."
"Of course, next Monday is an excellent choice. Do you need a guide?"
"No, I prefer to explore on my own."
There was nothing particularly special about Midtown High now. It had some renovated school buildings, separate science classrooms, and a gymnasium.
People were playing football on the sports field. Everything was peaceful, though Lynn didn't think it would stay that way.
"I'm afraid it won't be so quiet for long."
"Hey, hello. Are you a new teacher? I don't think I've seen you before."
Lynn turned his head slightly. The first thing that caught his eye was a flash of red hair. The shoulder-length hair made the young woman look quite mature.
A pair of jade-green eyes conveyed a soft yet somewhat intimidating allure, giving her more of a mature presence that didn't belong to a high school student.
"Not a teacher yet, Miss Watson."
Mary Jane seemed surprised that Lynn knew her name, showing some astonishment, as she wasn't particularly famous at school.
"Um, thank you, but I don't know your name yet."
"Call me Sidis, Miss Watson."
Lynn extended his hand to shake Mary Jane's, and at the same time, he noticed two handsome guys walking up behind her.
Lynn could also guess who those two might be—Peter and Harry. They clearly still appeared to be good buddies. However, Lynn stroked his chin when he saw the little spider.
"This is a Garfield-type handsome Spider, though compared to that overly suave and melancholy face, he looks more approachable."
Peter, as Spider-Man, had naturally seen Lynn before, but he couldn't show it now. Lynn noticed Peter's eyebrows twitching.
He seemed afraid that Mary Jane would continue talking to Lynn, as this fried chicken shop owner was actually quite handsome without that greasy apron.
Very crisis-aware, making it hard to imagine he'd become such a womanizer in the future.
Lynn himself didn't plan to say much to Peter Parker at the moment. He waved to Peter and Harry, then stood up, preparing to leave.
"I hope you become a great reporter in the future, Miss Watson."
Using telepathy to notify Tom to leave, Lynn knew there would be plenty of unfortunate events happening at this school in the future.
"MJ, who was that?" Harry asked first.
"Hmm? The new teacher? I guess so?"
"That's rare. Midtown High getting a new teacher."
"Yeah, the youngest teacher, Mr. Mark, is already fifty. Sometimes I worry his pinky will hit the podium."
Peter continued the conversation.
"By the way, how's Uncle Ben doing? I know you two have had some unpleasantness lately, but if you talk it out, you can definitely resolve the issue. Peter, keeping things bottled up is never the solution."
"Hey, MJ, we're fine. Don't overthink it."
"If you don't mind, I think we should head to the classroom now. Class is about to start."
Harry reminded the two who were about to continue the conversation, and afterward, the three hurried to the classroom.
Lynn had long since left. He needed to gather some small pieces of intelligence. He wasn't at the center of the vortex, so he needed to approach the center of the vortex, or let those vortexes appear around him. This Midtown High was clearly a good choice.
Lynn soon arrived at the school's archive room. After putting the archive manager to sleep, he slowly walked into the archive room. Fortunately, Midtown High didn't have a single security camera, so Lynn could act without much concern.
"Not a single computer..." He rubbed his temples in frustration. "Need to change the approach."
Lynn didn't want to waste time going through this pile of paper records. Instead, he went to the infirmary, and sure enough, the infirmary had a computer.
The light from the computer screen reflected on Lynn's face as he suddenly saw a familiar name.
Jessica Jones.
Looking through the school doctor's records, he found that this young girl hadn't been to school for almost three weeks.
"Wasn't she the one who got superpowers after her family's car accident?"
Continuing to look at the school doctor's records, Lynn frowned.
"What do they mean, 'the girl seems to have some mental issues'? She says someone is following her and recommends seeing a proper psychologist. She's only in high school now..."
Recalling the story in his mind, Jessica Jones wouldn't encounter the misfortune that would change her life forever until after she became famous, which wouldn't happen until much later.
"I'll go check it out. Where does she live? Queens, Maple Avenue, Birchwood Street, No. 31..."
After collecting the necessary information, Lynn left the infirmary.
The New York sky was still blue. Lynn returned to his fried chicken shop. The story needed to develop, but the fried chicken business had to continue. However, today Lynn wasn't frying the chicken—he was just collecting money.
Tom was frantically busy making fried chicken, while Lynn sat to the side looking at the news on his smartphone. There wasn't any special news.
Perhaps the most noteworthy news was that Tony Stark had dated a few more female celebrities. Tony Stark didn't seem to have any intention of going to the Middle East for a press conference.
"He seems to have a pretty good relationship with Obadiah."