Chapter 1478: “Handicapped” Version = Super Disguise
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
After determining the transfer plan, Alfred began to transfer the data, and Luke went to the bas.e.m.e.nt to start a new test.
The system determined that Stacy’s Elementary Replication ability could be partially learned.
Based on his previous experience, the effect after he learned it would definitely be different from the original ability.
For example, Kilgrave, the original owner of the Elementary Pheromone Control ability, could use it to control anyone, regardless of gender.
After Luke learned it, it was only effective on women.
A genetic test on Kilgrave showed an unknown mutation in his genes.
Of course, Luke didn’t have this mutation, so the ability could only boost his pheromone effect after he learned it.
Pheromones was a thing to attract the opposite s.e.x.
Thus, Luke’s pheromones were only effective on women, and he couldn’t use it on both men and women like that monster Kilgrave.
Stacy’s original Elementary Replication copied everything about the target at a genetic level through direct contact with the target’s body. The longer the contact, the more abundant the memories and abilities acquired from the target.
Looking at the effect, it was one of the most terrifying abilities that Luke had ever seen.
This meant that as long as she had a suitable target and had enough contact with them, Stacy could become an extremely powerful “kaleidoscope” superhuman.
It was both unfortunate and fortunate that Stacy had run into Luke when she was still a teenager.
Unfortunately, she would no longer turn into a demon-level superhuman.
Fortunately, she didn’t have to bear more side effects of the ability. She could stay normal and live happily.
If Luke hadn’t caught her, she would’ve quickly fallen into the abyss of schizophrenia from using Elementary Replication.
The rate at which her mind deteriorated would be exponentially higher.
If she obtained a useful ability with Elementary Replication, she would use the original owner’s form more often, and the “personality” of the original owner would quickly take shape; it wouldn’t disappear, nor would it be suppressed.
After tasting such sweetness, she might proactively collect even more superpowers, and her split personalities would also increase.
The more split personalities she had, the more unhinged she would become.
By then, she would either be quickly caught and used as a test subject for the rest of her life, or she would get stronger and stronger until she was unstoppable or was killed.
Luke was interested in Elementary Replication because it could transform him into another person at the genetic level.
But he wasn’t interested in obtaining other people’s memories and abilities at the cost of becoming deranged.
To avoid trouble, after learning Elementary Replication, he chose to let his clone carry out the experiment.
If there really were abnormalities, he could recall the clone and then summon it again.
Looking at the feedback from his clone, his Elementary Replication was indeed a “handicapped” version.
But he was very satisfied with this version.
He could transform one “part” of himself at the genetic level, but he wouldn’t be able to acquire any of the other person’s memories or abilities.
He had to first come into direct contact with his target, or could touch bodily matter which contained the target’s DNA — like blood.
The “part” that could transform basically referred to his appearance.
There were limits to the transformations he could perform — he couldn’t turn into a child dozens of centimeters tall, nor could he turn into a hulking fiend like the Hulk.
But the value of the ability was this incomplete trait.
The original version that was Stacy’s ability was similar to a camera’s beauty filter: She could only choose a fixed template and press the switch.
Luke’s handicapped version, on the other hand, was a PS program. Not only could he press the switch whenever he wanted, he could also adjust it himself and choose the desired effect.
For example, when he used Bale’s face to meet with Tony, the target he had replicated was a young white man of a similar build.
During the replication, however, he modified the structure of the bones and muscles in the target’s face a little so that it turned into Christian Bale’s face from his previous life.
There was no doubt that Luke preferred the incomplete version of this ability.
A powerful ability which couldn’t be controlled could lead to disaster and misfortune.
Only when you were in complete control of your powers could you help yourself and others.
Luke had mainly wanted to determine if his handicapped version contained any hidden problems to do with schizophrenia.
Since his clone didn’t receive any memories or emotions from the target, this was no longer an issue.
However, there was something else he now had to test — genes.
The results of the first transformation test showed that his genes had indeed become the same as his target.
Luke canceled Elementary Replication and pondered for a long time before he turned back into Bale.
The medical program, Osiris, immediately sent a notification: “Appearance: 99.7% similarity detected.”
Then, it operated the robotic arms to collect Luke’s saliva, blood, hair, and so on.
After a long while, it gave the results. “Appearance, hair, and saliva are a match to the target. Blood and body tissue are a match to you.”
Luke smiled and said softly, “Very good. Let’s do it again.”
He canceled the ability, activated it, and was examined by Osiris.
Osiris gave the results once more. “Appearance, hair, saliva, blood and skin tissue are a match to the target. Muscles and internal organs are a match to you.”
Luke smiled. “Perfect.”
He now looked like a different person at the genetic level, but the core was still him.
This was what he had always wanted — a super disguise.
Fake things could never be trusted, just like how Tony had always been suspicious of Batman because the latter never revealed his face.
But Luke didn’t want to reveal his real ident.i.ty.
It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Tony or anyone else in the Avengers; he just didn’t want his family to always be in trouble because of him.
At that moment, he had finally solved the problem of his “real ident.i.ty,” and it wasn’t just a matter of his appearance.
He really needed this more right now than just increasing his combat ability.
Excited, Luke didn’t stop. He continued testing his new ability.
It wasn’t until late at night that he stopped working and sighed regretfully. “Fine, it seems things can never be that perfect.”
After testing and turning Elementary Replication into a super disguise ability, everything was fine.
The only problem was that he couldn’t use this ability for long; it could only last for about 130 minutes at most.
Intense activity would also reduce this duration, though he had yet to properly test this.
By a conservative estimate, in a situation like the Battle of New York, the super disguise would only last for an hour.
He would then need to rest for thirty minutes before he could use it again.
As for Stacy’s original ability, there was no such thing as a time duration.
However, this was just a small regret.
As long as the transformation wasn’t that meticulous, and he just changed one or two things, it wouldn’t be hard for him to extend the time of the super disguise to four to eight hours.
Overall, this was enough.