Inside Octavius's secret laboratory.
Octavius pointed at the electronic screen overhead and said, "See? If not for the Master taking you away, you would have fallen into the hands of the Justice League by now."
The screen was playing a recording of numerous Justice League members surrounding the ruins of the Cadmus research facility, with Green Lantern using his power ring to encase the unconscious Doomsday monster.
Standing beside Octavius was none other than Desmond, who had been taken from Cadmus by Bai Qi.
As he watched the playback, Desmond swallowed hard. He had to admit that he had underestimated those brats. He hadn't expected them to defeat a simulated version of himself after he had taken the giant-growth serum. He also felt fortunate to have been taken away. Even if he had defeated those four youngsters, he might not have stood a chance against the Justice League that appeared afterward.
Just Superman alone, with a casual punch, could render him incapable of fighting.
"Alright, that's enough for now."
Octavius turned off the screen and looked at Desmond. "Dr. Desmond, since the Master has entrusted you to my care, you will obey my commands in this laboratory. Of course, I will not interfere excessively with your experiments. You only need to report your research progress to me periodically. In all other aspects, you have complete freedom."
"Yes, yes."
Despite Desmond's arrogant demeanor at Cadmus, he possessed basic judgment and understood the principle of bowing to authority when in a vulnerable position.
"May I ask what I am to do here?"
"There's no need to be like that. I don't have a habit of bullying newcomers. You were engaged in research related to muta-organisms and the Giant-Man Project at Cadmus. You can continue your unfinished experiments in Laboratory Seven." Sudi Novel Network
"Okay, no problem."
"Do you have any other questions?"
Seeing that Desmond remained standing still, Octavius asked with a hint of impatience.
"No, I don't."
"Very well, proceed. The guards outside will escort you to Laboratory Seven. You can inform the guards there of any needs. Now go, I have many things to attend to."
After destroying the original deep-sea laboratory, Bai Qi had mobilized his resources to establish a new laboratory for Octavius as quickly as possible. Compared to the previous one, this new laboratory was larger and more secure. Having learned from Warren's escape, Bai Qi had established layers of protection around the facility after its completion, employing scientific, magical, and biological measures to ensure no one could escape from either the outside or the inside.
With the expansion of the laboratory, the number of researchers working there had also increased.
The current laboratory had the addition of more scientists and researchers. Some had been abducted during the previous cloning project, and a significant portion of these researchers, after witnessing technology far beyond the current era, chose to stay, with only a small fraction opting to leave.
Bai Qi was open-minded and did not try to keep those who chose to leave, respecting their decisions. As for what might happen to them after they left, Bai Qi couldn't be bothered.
This was still not enough. In this world, there were always those who would abandon everything to achieve their research goals, perhaps because their pursuits were unethical or too advanced to be accepted by the public. But Bai Qi did not care. As long as they were willing, they could pursue their goals within the laboratory he had built.
Of course, while pursuing their own research projects was one aspect, these individuals also had to adhere to the laboratory's management and complete the tasks assigned to them.
However, this was not the main focus of the laboratory's reconstruction.
The biggest feature of this laboratory was the addition of a Magical Research Department, built upon the existing foundation. The mages chosen were graduates of magic academies, individuals obsessed with magical research. Their task was to explore how to combine technology and magic, to find that delicate balance point.
Combining these two opposing forces was extremely difficult and would not yield tangible results in the short term, but Bai Qi did not mind. After all, he had both time and money in abundance.
If Bai Qi were to handle this himself, the efficiency would undoubtedly increase significantly. However, as the Boss, he had many other things to do and could not personally oversee everything. He had to learn to delegate when necessary and decentralize power.
Just like now, Bai Qi had more important matters to attend to.
With Bai Qi's actions, the power of the Black Qi Mother grew stronger, and consequently, the entire world began to recover.
Perhaps because the Black Qi Mother felt her son, Bai Qi, was acting too slowly, or perhaps her increased strength had led to some arrogance, she took the initiative to retrieve a fragment of a world from the void.
Of course, the Black Qi Mother was cautious. She had rigorously screened and meticulously inspected the world fragment before retrieving it, ensuring there were no issues. Moreover, the world's barrier was still very strong, or rather, it was the strongest and most formidable among the many worlds Bai Qi knew. In the past, many outer gods had attempted to invade this world, only to be stuck to its barrier and become nourishment for it.
If one were to use the DC comic worldview, the world barrier could also be called the Source Wall.
Anyone who attempted to damage or breach the Source Wall to invade this world was invariably stuck to it, becoming its nourishment and making it even stronger.
Although the Source Wall had weakened with the world's decay, its power remained undeniable. It was only through special means that one could bypass the Source Wall to enter this world, and this special method was only effective for parallel worlds connected to this one. Of course, Bai Qi was an exception.
However, precisely because he knew of the Source Wall's existence, Bai Qi felt that his Void Universe Project might need some adjustments.
The Black Qi Mother, when retrieving the world fragment, had no such complicated methods. She simply passed through the Source Wall's detection and brought it in. If there had been any outer gods or similar entities, they would likely have been isolated along with the world fragment by the Source Wall, or directly stuck to it.
Since it was successfully brought into this world, there should be no threat.
Furthermore, this was merely a small attempt after regaining strength. The fragment retrieved was small, even smaller than New York City.
The Orthodox Power would not interfere with this, as even he would gain some benefits from merging world fragments. Such a self-serving act was not something the Orthodox Power would do.