Marvel: Omnitrix In The Multiverse

Emma, in her Ghostfreak form, used her invisibility to easily bypass all the security and enter Camp Lehigh. She quietly floated through the base, passing rows of barracks, offices, warehouses, and training grounds while keeping an eye out for anyone who looked important.

She searched one building after another, hoping to find Mercer’s office or at least some document or clue that could tell her where he was. Unfortunately, every search ended the same way.

Nothing.

"Who built this place? It looks like a complete maze. How am I supposed to find Mercer in this situation?" Emma muttered to herself.

Since it was her first time inside Camp Lehigh, constantly passing through walls instead of using the hallways soon made her lose her sense of direction. More than once, she unknowingly entered the same office she had already searched.

"Wait... haven’t I been here already?" Emma frowned before quietly slipping back out.

Hoping to get a better idea of the layout, she flew higher into the air and looked down at the entire base. From above, she could finally make out the different sections of the camp, making it a little easier to continue her search.

Even after checking office after office and searching every place that looked important, she still couldn’t find Mercer or anything connected to him. She frowned.

"That’s strange... Mercer is supposed to be Dr. Erskine’s assistant. If he’s here, then Dr. Erskine should be here too."

She searched the nearby buildings once again, hoping to find either of them, but there was still no sign of Mercer or Erskine.

"Did they both leave? Or am I just searching the wrong area?" Emma muttered.

Just as she was about to continue searching, movement on one of the training fields caught her attention.

Below, Steve Rogers was running with the other recruits, struggling to keep up. While the others crossed the finish line one after another, Steve was still pushing himself forward, breathing heavily before finally arriving last once again.

"Come on, Steve. Good luck," Emma said with a small smile. "I still have to find Mercer, so I’ll come check on you later."

She didn’t stay long. Watching a bunch of men train wasn’t exactly exciting to her.

Just as she was about to leave, a familiar black car drove through the camp’s main gate.

Emma’s eyes widened slightly.

"Hm, isn’t that Grandpa Howard?"

Howard Stark stepped out of the car as a few soldiers greeted him before he casually made his way deeper into the camp.

"If Mercer really is helping Dr. Erskine, Grandpa might know where they are." Thinking that, Emma immediately changed direction and quietly followed after him.

"Hey, Stark! Long time no see," a woman in a military uniform greeted with a smile before casually kissing Howard on the cheek as she walked past.

Howard simply grinned and waved back as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

Emma blinked in surprise.

"Seriously...?"

She continued following him, only to watch another woman stop and chat with him for a moment before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek as well.

Then another. And another.

In less than five minutes, Howard had already been kissed by more than three different women.

"...Grandpa is unbelievable," Emma muttered, her face turning slightly red.

At one point, Howard even walked into a nearby room with one of the women. Emma instinctively followed before suddenly stopping at the doorway.

"Nope. I’m not going in there. Shameless old man," she grumbled, quickly looking away and waiting outside instead.

A few minutes later, Howard walked out as if nothing had happened and continued deeper into the camp. Emma quietly resumed following him.

Eventually, Howard entered what looked like nothing more than an ordinary storage room filled with wooden crates and old equipment.

"Huh? Why would he go in there?"

Curious, Emma slipped inside after him, only to watch Howard move one of the shelves aside and reveal a hidden elevator.

Emma’s eyes widened.

"There’s an underground level? I searched this area earlier and thought it was just a storage room."

She quickly floated into the elevator before the doors closed, following Howard down.

When the elevator stopped, an advanced underground laboratory appeared before her, far larger than she had expected.

"Mr. Stark, you’re finally here," Dr. Erskine greeted with a warm smile. "I was beginning to worry. There’s no problem with the Vita-Ray chamber, right? I can only create the serum. Whether the machine performs as intended is entirely in your hands."

Howard walked over to the large circular chamber occupying the center of the laboratory. Scientists were making final adjustments while technicians checked dozens of cables connected to the machine.

"Relax, Doctor," Howard replied confidently after giving the equipment a quick look. "If there’s one thing you can trust, it’s Stark engineering."

Erskine smiled before turning back to his notes.

"Everything will be ready within a week. The date has already been approved," Erskine said. "Once the preparations here are complete, we’ll move everything to the final laboratory."

Howard nodded knowingly.

"Good. Holding the experiment here would be far too risky. The final location is much more secure. Only a handful of people even know where it is."

Emma silently listened from above.

So the serum won’t be administered here... They’re moving everything to another secret facility.

Howard looked around the laboratory.

"Where’s Mercer? I heard he’s become your assistant."

"I haven’t seen him today," Erskine answered. "The last time we spoke was at your expo yesterday evening."

Howard raised an eyebrow.

"Interesting fellow. Always smiling, always polite... but something about him feels off."

Erskine looked up.

"What makes you say that?"

Howard shrugged.

"I’ve spent my life negotiating with businessmen. You learn to recognize real smiles and fake ones. Mercer reminds me of the second type."

Erskine chuckled.

"Perhaps you’re simply overthinking it."

"Maybe." Howard laughed. He picked up a folder resting on the nearby table. "Though I did hear quite an interesting proposal he submitted to the Army."

Erskine nodded.

"Yes. Dr. Mercer believes aging itself can one day be slowed, perhaps even reversed. He also claims his research into combining certain animal traits with human biology may eventually cure diseases modern medicine cannot."

Howard let out an amused laugh.

"Reversing old age? That’s a bold promise."

"Many scientific breakthroughs once sounded impossible," Erskine replied calmly. "We shouldn’t reject an idea simply because it seems impossible today."

Howard shrugged.

"Fair enough. If he succeeds, every rich man in America will be lining up outside his laboratory."

After a brief pause, Howard looked toward the training grounds outside.

"Speaking of impossible... have you decided? Is Rogers really the one?"

"Yes," Erskine said, smiling.

"Even after everything we’ve seen?"

"Strength can be given by a serum," Erskine answered. "Character cannot. That is why I chose Steve Rogers."

Howard smiled and nodded.

"Then that’s good enough for me. I trust your judgment, Doctor."

Just then, one of the female researchers walked over.

"Dr. Mercer is resting at his quarters today. He had a small accident yesterday."

"Really?" Howard frowned. "He looked perfectly fine when I met him at the expo last night."

"That’s what I heard this morning," the researcher replied.

Erskine simply nodded before returning to his work.

Hidden nearby, Emma quietly listened to the entire conversation.

So that’s how Mercer gained the military’s support... Future medical breakthroughs, slowing aging, and human enhancement research. No wonder they backed him.

Emma suddenly frowned.

"Wait... I never actually found Mercer there."

Earlier, she had searched the residential quarters, but every room looked almost identical. None of the doors had names, so she had no idea which one actually belonged to Mercer.

"Either he left after this morning... or his room is hidden somewhere I never found."

Since Howard had just mentioned wanting to speak with Mercer, Emma decided not to waste time searching blindly again.

"I’ll just follow the old man. If Mercer is really resting here, he’ll definitely go visit him."

Unfortunately... Howard never did.

After finishing his conversation with Dr. Erskine, he became completely absorbed in helping the scientists prepare the Vita-Ray chamber. Whenever he finished one task, another engineer or researcher pulled him away.

And somehow, despite being busy, he still managed to flirt with every attractive nurse and female researcher who crossed his path.

Emma floated behind him with her arms crossed, staring at the back of his head.

"Go see Mercer already..."

Howard suddenly sneezed.

"Huh?" He rubbed his nose before scratching his head. "Feels like I’m forgetting something..."

He stood there thinking for a few seconds.

"...Eh, it’ll come back to me later."

Then he happily walked off after another group of researchers.

Emma nearly facepalmed.

"Seriously...? Trusting you was my mistake."

With no other choice, Emma returned to the residential quarters, hoping to find at least one clue that could tell her whether Mercer’s room was really there.

She carefully searched one hallway after another, checking every room she could without being noticed. Everything looked ordinary, and she was about to give up.

Just then, her sensitive Ghostfreak hearing picked up an extremely faint voice. If she had been in her human form, she would’ve never heard it.

"...Hail Hydra."

Emma immediately stopped moving.

The voice hadn’t come from a hidden bunker or a heavily guarded office. It came from an ordinary-looking room, no different from all the others lining the hallway.

Emma narrowed her eyes.

"Hydra... inside Camp Lehigh?"

A/N: The Patreon version is already updated with 20 advanced Chapters. If you’d like to read ahead of the public release schedule, you can join here:

👉 patreon.com/BenBlazecraft