MTLNOVEL Chapter 138: Alien Base
On Ancient Star, the sky was dim, winds howled, and dust storms swept through desolate plains. George observed the wasteland.
Left untouched, this planet would become a complete desert within a few centuries. Transforming it into a habitable world would demand time, patience, and calculated force.
He had considered reshaping the environment using Ninjutsu, but even for someone of his abilities, planetary-scale modifications were a monumental task to attempt alone.
His Earth-based subordinates had only mastered the basic Three Body Technique and lacked the skill for large-scale Ninjutsu or extended elemental manipulation. Summoning cultivators or shinobi from the Ren Realm came with a price; transportation between planes consumed Chaos Energy.
It wasn't efficient. Every transfer drained energy that George preferred to reserve for expansion or emergencies. This was one reason he hadn't brought Tsunade and Princess Miyu to live permanently in the Marvel Universe.
Monday's surface scans revealed that the planet's circumference exceeded Earth's by 10%, creating slightly higher gravity. Atmospheric pressure was similarly elevated by 6%, though oxygen levels were lower.
The planetary system contained two satellites: one close moon, nearly a third the planet's size, and a second, more distant one, about one-fifth its size. These moons caused extreme tidal behaviour and stronger gravitational drag on surface materials.
Ancient Star orbited farther from its sun than Earth, resulting in lower average temperatures and a chillier, more barren climate.
Using gravity manipulation, George floated upward and followed Monday's directions.
After thirty minutes of controlled flight, he reached one of the nine ancient cities. From above, the city sat in the middle of a dried lakebed.
The lake's outline was jagged and unnatural, 322 kilometres long and between 40 and 177 kilometres wide. The full area covered is close to 31,000 square kilometres. The island in the centre, where the city stood, covered roughly 1,523 square kilometres.
Judging by the ruins, the city had once housed several hundred thousand inhabitants. It stood as a silent testament to an advanced civilisation now buried under dust.
George created 20 multi-shadow clones and dispersed them throughout the ancient ruins.
That number wasn't random; it reflected the optimal balance between spiritual energy consumption and his ability to monitor each clone's findings in real-time. The clones raised their hands, not out of necessity but habit, and began activating a detection skill.
"Universal Pull."
The words were calm, but the effect was thunderous.
Instantly, chunks of shattered buildings, broken infrastructure, and rusted metallic structures were drawn into the air, gravitational force gripping them with precision. In less than a minute, a sphere of debris 100 meters in diameter floated above the ruins.
With a final motion, George sent it flying into the dried lake, where it landed with a deep quake, forming a foundation path that connected the lake island directly to the shore.
What had once been an ancient city was now a blank canvas. George surveyed the cleared ground.
This would be the site of the first city. The name could come later.
The Universal Pull George had just used was Rinnegan Ninjutsu from Naruto. The technique created a powerful gravitational force between the caster and a selected target, pulling them together with irresistible might.
The water issue had been easy to resolve, but a habitable planet without vegetation? That was puzzling.
Still, George already had a solution in mind: there existed a world, ravaged, toxic, and futuristic, that could provide exactly what he needed.
Plane: Warriors of Future
The world was on the brink.
In the near future, Earth had suffered a cascade of environmental disasters brought on by unchecked technological advancement, global wars, and rampant industrialisation. The air was saturated with lethal toxins.
Humanity had been confined to zones protected by Skynet, a massive atmospheric purification barrier created by the militarised Skynet Command. Without it, life was impossible.
But Skynet came with a cost. Newborns were still sick, oxygen levels were low, and resources were scarce. Even the daughter of this world's protagonist had succumbed to the poisoned air.
Skynet had created safety, but also stagnation. Its creators controlled the power structure. Enter a new element: Pandora, a bioluminescent alien plant that crash-landed in District B-16 via a meteor strike.
Though dangerously invasive, Pandora had a unique trait: it consumed carbon dioxide and released pure oxygen. If its aggression could be suppressed, the plant could make the entire planet habitable again.
That was the goal of a rising faction called Coexistence, led by military officer Tam Bing.
With the help of a gene research team, they had developed the P334 Gene Bullet, a viral delivery system capable of pacifying Pandora by putting it into a dormant state. They were close to victory.
But Skynet Command would not relinquish its grip on power so easily. Billions had been invested in Skynet's infrastructure. Too many had grown rich, influential, and complacent. If Pandora succeeded, it would destroy Skynet's relevance, along with its entire elite class.
George appeared on the rooftop of a crumbling factory, concealed by advanced chakra-invisibility. His eyes scanned the artificial sky, the greenish-blue dome of Skynet loomed above, casting its filtered light across the ruined district. Below, people bustled between cracked buildings and makeshift markets. Their ragged clothes and desperate faces betrayed a society barely holding on.
Listening in on conversations, George confirmed his location: District B-16. This was the heart of the story.
He had little interest in the politics of this world. His goals were simple: obtain a sample of the P334 Gene Bullet, acquire a Pandora seed, and possibly inspect the advanced robotics developed under Skynet's command. Yet what fascinated him most was the Pandora plant itself.
As he observed its growing sprawl across the city's outer ruins, a strange sensation pricked at his mind. Pandora wasn't just reactive; it felt aware. Alive in a way most flora weren't.
'If I could link its neural signals to a chakra loop... maybe even the Infinite Tsukuyomi could anchor through its bioluminescence. Worth testing.'
He didn't care much for the Skynet technology; it was primitive compared to the purification systems he'd seen elsewhere. While he could wait for this world's natural arc to conclude and harvest its rewards, George hated wasting time.
If he could accelerate events or tip the scales toward the Coexistence faction, all the better.
Moments later, cloaked in genjutsu-enhanced stealth, George soared toward the military command centre, a converted stadium reinforced with modular plating and energy shields. Two Leviathan-class transports had just landed on the tarmac, their cargo bays hissing with steam as ramps descended.
Emerging from one of the transports was a woman in military uniform, flanked by an HX-21 Tactical Drone and two men, one of whom carried a sleek, white containment unit.
George narrowed his eyes.
'Tam Bing. This is the beginning of the mission. I've arrived just in time.'
After the group entered the stadium, George turned his attention to the Leviathans. In one, he found a cache of high-impact munitions. He quietly extracted a low-yield tactical nuke, storing it inside his personal subspace inventory.
He left the drone untouched. Skynet AI could trace movement patterns, and he didn't want to tip off the system too soon.
Then, guided by chakra senses and sharp memory, George slipped inside the base, bypassing security fields with ease. He appeared in the dimly lit conference chamber, where Dr. Chan Chung-sung, director of the genetic institute, was presenting the P334 Gene Bullet to the assembled officers and commanders.
Rather than wait for debate, George acted.
A pulse of genjutsu swept through the room, subtle but overwhelming.
The humans in the room, hardened soldiers, researchers, and even the Skynet commander, froze, minds bent under his illusion. One officer twitched in resistance; George reinforced the illusion's layers immediately.
"Disable all surveillance systems in the building," George instructed the Skynet commander in a cold whisper.
Once the monitors dimmed and the surveillance drones powered down, George stepped forward into full view. He moved with calm precision to the containment desk, his presence like a ripple through time that had been frozen.
Without hesitation, he retrieved the P334 Gene Bullet from the white containment unit.
Dr. Chan blinked in confusion, still trapped within the illusion. George inspected the device with narrowed eyes.
'A dormant virus carrier, formulated to pacify Pandora's mother's body. Efficient enough. Human science isn't entirely useless.'
He turned it slowly in his hand. No chakra signatures, no seal arrays. Pure bioengineering.
'With this, and just one seed, I can reproduce the effect. Or reshape it into something far more obedient.'
Satisfied, George vanished once more into thin air, his thoughts already racing.
The gene bullet was only the beginning. Now he needed a seed from Pandora's mother's body. Then the real work could begin.
After casting a genjutsu to make everyone believe they would awaken two hours later, George silently exited the temporary command post. He ascended into the sky and arrived directly above Pandora's location, guided by the coordinates obtained earlier in the conference room.
From this height, Pandora was clearly visible, high-rise buildings in the city centre were entangled with dense green vines, some ending in four-lobed serrations that opened and closed rhythmically in the air.
Entering the Mirror Dimension once again, George materialised underground, where the mother's body resided.
The terrain was carpeted with luminous organic growth, their faint glow revealing the structure of some living organism beneath.
As George stepped out of the Mirror Dimension, insect-like monsters skittered out from the dark recesses of the cavern. Although terrifying, their instincts urged caution; they hissed but dared not approach.
Unbothered by the creatures, George manipulated gravity to hover beside Pandora's mother's body, a massive, thick root embedded in the earth.
Upon contact, he sensed a hazy consciousness emanating from within, marked by an insatiable thirst for water.
George activated his Rinnegan, channelling his ocular power into the surrounding bioluminescent pods. Through them, he released a powerful genjutsu: "Infinite Tsukuyomi," embedding a consciousness of absolute submission into the plant entity.
The technique's penetrating nature allowed any sentient being, regardless of its complexity, to fall under its control.
Though Pandora was a plant, it had developed minimal awareness, making it a viable target.
Moreover, George had no intention of extracting energy or DNA from Pandora. He wasn't concerned about it transforming into something akin to White Zetsu.
Once control was secured, George ordered Pandora to repel the nearby insect-like monsters. As expected, the hissing ceased, and the creatures retreated into darkness. Pandora exercised authority over them.
Next came the transplantation. George couldn't afford to remove the entire organism, as the planet still relied on it. Instead, he commanded Pandora to produce a thin root sprout, which he promptly severed.
Using gravity manipulation, he carved a deep pit nearby, planted the severed root, and began hydrating it. He observed with interest as the cut healed swiftly.
The more water he added, the faster Pandora grew. Through spiritual attunement, he sensed that this clone had also begun to develop a new, independent consciousness.
Once again, he cast "Infinite Tsukuyomi," binding the offshoot to his will. Then he extracted the new plant and stored it securely within a separate chamber of the Chaos Space, a sealed dimensional pocket linked to his chakra field.
Before departing, George used the P334 Gene Bullet in his possession to induce dormancy in Pandora, just as the original plan dictated.
The following day, while chaos erupted in Sector B16, George had already shifted his focus to Sector B7, a hub for technological research and development.
This region contained cutting-edge labs focused on artificial intelligence, robotics, aerospace, exoskeleton design, and Sky Screen technologies.
Just as he had done in the DC World, George infiltrated systems and stole an array of scientific data. Among the findings, he uncovered the complete research documentation for the P334 Gene Bullet and secured a small sample.
Even though he could subjugate Pandora via genjutsu, George saw no harm in analysing the biological agent further.
Two days later, he emerged back in the real world, having spent the time gap gathering technological intel from other sectors as well.
Back on Ancient Star
On Ancient Star, where he intended to build a city of steel, George prepared to cultivate the land with Pandora. He teleported to an underground site near a lake.
Once no larger than a room, the space had been vastly expanded by his clones using the Undetectable Extension Charm, now spanning the size of a football field. His sealing techniques eliminated any fear of spatial collapse.
He retrieved the subdued Pandora plant from Chaos Space and planted it in the soil. Then, casting "Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique," he summoned a steady stream of spring water from his hand.
The plant responded swiftly, its form morphing into a massive root that pierced deep into the earth, signifying its acceptance of the habitat.
Once Pandora halted its growth, its roots began to develop glowing sac-like structures. These sacs incubated insect-like creatures that fed on organic matter.
Acting like worker bees, these creatures hunted, gathered resources, and defended the mother plant from harm.
Pandora could intelligently determine how many of these creatures to incubate based on its surroundings. After understanding these aspects, George devised a plan to quickly green Ancient Star using this remarkable plant.
Though George had spent several days in the "Wars of Tomorrow" universe, only a few hours had passed on Earth due to the altered time flow between dimensions. Upon returning to Earth, George began checking the situation in the prisons.
After George developed the ability to lend powers, he had Paul establish more than a dozen prisons across the United States. These facilities primarily housed serious offenders, most of whom were serving life sentences.
Those without families were eventually labelled as "Death" after a certain period and transferred to a special prison.
Believing that even the most condemned could serve a purpose, George initially granted these inmates a portion of the Speed Force. Their daily task was to run constantly and tirelessly.
Equipped with Speed Force-infused suits, they ran on specially designed circuits that converted kinetic activity into raw energy, which George could harvest through resonance.
Although this process required a significant financial investment, George considered money nothing more than numbers, and the energy yield was worth it.
Despite the unwavering loyalty of the prison guards, George cast genjutsu on them to implant false memories. They remembered only that the prisoners had been transferred to other facilities, and all surveillance records were altered accordingly to maintain secrecy.
George cast "Infinite Tsukuyomi" on all the prisoners within Chaos Space and augmented their environment using powerful Ninjutsu.
He employed Wood Release techniques, such as "Deep Forest Emergence," and Water Release techniques, including "Great Waterfall Technique," to transform their surroundings.
Upon returning to Ancient Star, the prisoners began their assigned work. Trapped in a loop of casting Ninjutsu, accumulating energy, and repeating the process daily, with only brief breaks for food and rest, they unknowingly powered George's vision.
George provided them with tents and essential living supplies. With the Ren Realm serving as a logistics base, he could easily bring back materials whenever he visited Tsunade and the others.
Additionally, George utilised the robot technology he had acquired from the "Wars of Tomorrow" universe.
Despite her medical background, Tsunade's understanding of biomechanics made her the ideal candidate to oversee the early stages of robot production.
For components involving advanced technologies, such as microchips, production was temporarily halted until George could secure suitable alternatives. He already had contingency plans in place for those limitations.