The military had placed their first order: 200 vials of Phoenix 2.0.
Each one is priced at $80,000 below their original asking price. In addition, Oscorp was granted the right to process the chemical waste from the base.
But more importantly, Nolan had acquired the classified incident report on Matt Murdock's accident.
General Ross handed over the file without any questions. Maybe he had already tried to replicate the experiment and failed.
In the car on the way back, Nolan reviewed the waste sample's chemical composition.
"This was from the Super Soldier Serum?" he murmured. "Or at least... related to it."
Norman nodded. "Ross once asked me to replicate the original serum. I failed. Our work on human enhancement started from that same blueprint."
Connors, hands on the wheel, glanced back. "Boss, why'd we agree to $80k per vial? With our cost projections, we could've pushed for a $100k minimum. The military's budget is practically endless they spend more on coffee."
"Two reasons," Nolan replied. "Ross... and the chemical waste."
Ross was no fool. Nolan suspected the General already had some intel and maybe even ran a few trials. But clearly, he hadn't cracked it.
As Nolan studied the formula, he realized something fundamental:
The Super Soldier Serum was the root of nearly every major enhancement formula in Marvel's universe.
From Lizard Serum to Goblin Formula to Hulk transformations it all traced back to attempts at recreating the Super Soldier Serum.
And they always produced something... strange.
"We've got 30 days to deliver 200 vials," Connors reminded him. "We need to scale up production."
"Now that we've perfected gene editing," Nolan said, "we can begin cultivating our own enhanced biological stock."
"Logan will be our main host. He's still adapting. We need to keep monitoring the changes in his physiology."
Back at the military base, General Ross left soon after the transaction.
But Lieutenant Spahr, the same officer who had greeted Nolan, slipped into a restroom stall, locked the door, and reached down.
From a concealed pocket, he pulled out a tiny pager wrapped in a plastic bag.
He keyed in a coded message and sent it.
A few moments later, the device buzzed with a reply.
Spahr's eyes narrowed.
'So he really is the one we've been looking for...'
The moment Spahr laid eyes on Nolan, he'd felt it. That flicker of recognition. Years of training kept him calm, but internally, alarms blared.
Once the deal was sealed, he relayed the information.
The man Hydra had been searching for... was now Oscorp's new power player.
'How the hell did he pull that off?'
In the car, Nolan made a call to Klaw.
"Double security at Oscorp. Hydra's probably coming."
Klaw's voice crackled through the line. "You expecting a break-in?"
"No. An infiltration."
"I've already left some tech in the labs get your guys to finish the setup. We're not leaving Oscorp now."
Norman and Connors exchanged confused glances but didn't ask.
"Hydra's been looking for me," Nolan added calmly. "I stole something from them. Something important."
Hydra. To most, they were a ghost an ancient terrorist group long believed defeated.
But after the collapse of Project Insight... and with blame for Ultron's uprising partly pinned on them, Hydra's name had resurfaced.
"A festering cult trying to rule the world," Nolan muttered.
"They won't come openly. They're cockroaches now buried deep. But where Hydra appears... superheroes tend to follow."
He remembered how Spahr's pulse had spiked the second they locked eyes.
A trained soldier wouldn't react like that to a stranger.
Spahr knew who I was.
And Nolan had never dealt with the military before today so the connection could only mean one thing:
They were still out there. Just hiding better than ever.
Back at Oscorp, Nolan didn't head straight to the lab.
First, he reinforced security around his personal workspace. All the traps and automated defenses he'd designed in his spare time now it was time to deploy them.
He wasn't one to start a war unprepared.
Like Batman, his philosophy was simple: If they don't move, neither do I. But if they strike first I crush them instantly.
Once everything was set, he finally returned to the lab.
Matt Murdock was strapped to the table.
"Boss, the compound analysis is complete," Connors reported, rushing in.
Right after returning, he'd run a full scan on the backup chemical waste data recovered from the base.
The kind Ross clearly didn't know what to do with.
"Chemical synthesis is underway. We're mixing the serum in sealed vats as we speak."
"Good," Nolan said. "Start decoding Murdock's genome. Are the volunteers ready?"
"Ten subjects total. All prepped."
"Perfect. The Daredevil Project begins now."
Most people couldn't fathom the power of enhanced senses. But Nolan had already glimpsed it through the audio processor headset he created, based on the unique structure of Matt's inner ear.
With it, he could hear through concrete. Eavesdrop on entire buildings. Reconstruct conversations. Rebuild environments from sound alone.
Now it was time to give himself and others that gift.
Inside the quarantine chamber, ten nude human test subjects lay strapped to surgical tables.
The serum emitted trace radiation, so each subject was isolated to prevent cross-contamination.
Nolan watched from behind a glass wall, flanked by monitors.
He wasn't just running injections—he was matching genomes in real time. Comparing each volunteer's DNA with Matt's. Searching for the closest match.
Ten sequences. Ten chances to replicate the accident.
He stepped up to the console. Two screens flared to life.
On one: Matt Murdock's complete genome sequence.
On the other, ten real-time readouts of the subjects' cellular responses.
"Synchronize DNA profiles," Nolan ordered.
The mechanical arms moved quickly—injecting each subject near the optic nerve, just like the original exposure event.
He wanted the replication to be as accurate as possible.
The Daredevil Serum would be born.
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