Marvel: Umbrella Corporation

New York City, top floor of the Umbrella Tower~

Adam gazed at the terrifyingly fast-spreading rift zombies through the satellite feed provided by the Sky Eye System.

"Maybe I should drop a Blacklight Virus sample in there," he mused.

The Blacklight Virus was terrifying. If introduced to the rift zombie horde, it would undoubtedly consume them and evolve into something monstrous.

But Adam quickly dismissed the idea. He wasn't after an overwhelmingly powerful individual entity. His aim was to create a biological army capable of mass-producing superhuman soldiers.

How strong?

Strong enough that each could casually destroy a planet.

Only with such power could he have cannon fodder qualified to face invaders from other dimensions. Anything less wouldn't even count as cannon fodder.

"Still, the Marvel universe has some brilliant minds," Adam remarked, watching the chaos on the screen. "To create zombies of this caliber from a mere T-virus... impressive."

He entertained the thought of scattering more viral strains to encourage further creativity but rejected it immediately.

He wasn't an outright villain. Adam had his limits.

And besides, the bald woman—Ancient One—would never allow him to act recklessly.

In the ten years he had spent in this Marvel universe, building himself up from nothing, Adam had often considered accelerating his plans.

He could infect the entire world with the T-virus, leading an army of seventy billion zombies to conquer Asgard, Olympus, Hell, and even distant galaxies using the Space Stone.

It was an efficient, straightforward plan for rapid growth.

But as a human, Adam had his principles and conscience.

Killing enemies and removing obstacles for the sake of saving the world? That was justifiable.

However, destroying humanity for personal gain would make him no different from the eldritch horrors threatening the multiverse. It would be a betrayal of his original intent.

Adam's thoughts were interrupted when Red Queen's hologram appeared.

"Master, the server at the Khabarovsk Base in Russia has been successfully set up."

"Impressive. Seems like Arzak is efficient," Adam remarked with a smile. "Red Queen, copy White Queen's data over to that server."

"Understood, Master."

Turning back to the battlefield on his screen, Adam smiled faintly.

"Keep fighting, Avengers... Let's see if Lorna behaves herself this time."

.......

In a temporary camp in Route B, Erik and Lorna slipped away to a secluded spot.

"Father, I think this might be an opportunity for us."

"What opportunity?" Erik asked.

"An opportunity for mutants to rise," Lorna said confidently.

"Oh? Let's hear it."

"That mutated zombie was originally a mutant turned undead. If we…"

"Stop right there," Erik interrupted sternly.

"We cannot sacrifice our own," he declared, his expression darkening.

Lorna frowned. "Why not? By sacrificing a few, we could create more mutated zombies. Then, with Uncle Charles' help controlling them, we could rule the world!"

Erik narrowed his eyes. "How do you know Charles is alive?"

"Last month, I overheard you talking on the phone," Lorna replied calmly. "The person on the other end joked about 'both being in wheelchairs.' Only Uncle Charles could say something like that."

Erik's face twisted momentarily. He hadn't realized he had let slip such critical information.

But since it was Lorna who figured it out, he wasn't too concerned.

"This stays between us. Understand?"

Lorna nodded. "Of course. You're worried about S.H.I.E.L.D., right?"

Erik shook his head. "Not just them…"

He was more wary of Umbrella, though he couldn't openly admit it. For now, Umbrella appeared benign, even supportive of mutants.

Their recent establishment of a mutant welfare foundation had boosted their reputation significantly.

"Father, why are you rejecting my plan? Sacrificing a few to create an army of mutated zombies would give us the power to dominate the world. And if Uncle Charles doesn't cooperate, I can find someone to control him."

Erik stared at her, stunned. The daughter he thought he knew was a stranger now.

"Control Charles? Do you even understand what you're saying? He's a master telepath. Controlling others is his specialty."

"Relax, Father," Lorna said, her green eyes glowing faintly. "Umbrella approached me recently."

"Umbrella?"

"Yes. They showed me a device capable of controlling living beings."

"This was their idea?"

"Not exactly," Lorna clarified. "They don't know Uncle Charles is alive. Their plan was to use the device on the mutated zombies. But with your cooperation, we could control Uncle Charles, and through him, command the entire zombie horde. The world would be ours."

Erik felt a pang of dread as he listened to her.

He had always considered himself an extremist, but even he had never thought of turning all humans into zombies or working with Umbrella to achieve such ends.

And yet, the gears in his mind began to turn, "They used this device on Raven, didn't they?"

"I think so," Lorna admitted.

"And you still want to work with them after what they did to your Aunt Raven?"

"Raven's just a low-level mutant. Why should I care?" Lorna replied dismissively.

Erik's heart sank. The daughter he once knew was gone.

"What's happened to you? That's your Aunt Raven!"

"Father, I think the better question is—what's happened to you? Since when did you become so indecisive?"

Green light flickered in Lorna's eyes, and a cruel smile played on her lips.

____________________

Upto 20 chapters ahead on patreon :-

patreon.com/ShadySmuggler