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The Beast's panic came too soon.
Nolan calmly moved his equipment into place as the demonic energy, still confined by the magnetic field, began circulating inside Black Sky's body under his direction.
"What are you doing?! How are you severing my control over the demonic energy?" the Beast howled, panic lacing its voice.
Because of the mages in Kamar-Taj, the Beast couldn't descend to Earth directly. Its only option was a projection—possessing hosts via rituals, channeling its power into carefully prepared vessels like Black Sky through the Hand's worship and blood sacrifices.
And that possession came from one thing: demonic energy.
"You're a monster…" the Beast growled. "If you had simply let me in, we could've ruled this planet together."
His voice dripped with venom and regret. From the moment the Beast laid eyes on Nolan, it had sensed overwhelming potential. His body, terrifyingly, had perfect compatibility with demonic energy.
But instead of becoming a host, Nolan had caged it—and worse, dissected it.
The Beast couldn't understand it. How could such a frail human harness such control? Even the Sacred Path, its long-time thorn, was only made up of exceptionally skilled fighters.
Now, here it was—reduced to a lab rat in someone else's experiment.
On the screen, Nolan watched as the previously chaotic demonic energy condensed into a tight black sphere under magnetic compression. It was forcibly ejected from Black Sky's body, caught neatly by a waiting containment chamber.
The orb hovered inside a reinforced glass box as automated arms encased it in a specially-designed magnetic shell. With a flick of a switch, the internal magnetic field surged.
The swirling mass of darkness began to ripple and pulse like ink in water.
Even the surrounding air chilled.
Nolan's Spider-Sense twitched—a rare thing. That black sphere could pose a real danger if mishandled.
"Next… let's talk about Shou-Lao's Chi," he murmured. "Giving this power to Danny Rand? A complete waste."
He turned to the restrained form of the Iron Fist.
"Bring him in," Nolan said.
Danny was rolled into the room, already furious. The moment he laid eyes on Nolan, he shouted, "You've made an enemy of K'un-Lun!"
"Nice!, I'll be paying K'un-Lun a visit soon," Nolan replied coolly.
"What do you want now?" Danny sneered. "Trying to steal the Iron Fist? Countless people have tried. But without Shou-Lao's blessing, that power will never be yours!"
"Iron Fist," Nolan sighed. "Always with the prophecy talk."
Even after years of spiritual training, Danny was still burdened by the white savior complex convinced he was destined. It wasn't erased by wisdom. Just masked by it.
That same belief had made him powerful… but also laughable.
If Nolan succeeded, Danny would be obsolete. A broken relic.
And K'un-Lun? Once Nolan held the power, no one could take it from him.
Let him be the 67th Iron Fist, then.
Who said K'un-Lun got to decide?
Anyone who holds Shou-Lao's Chi is the Iron Fist.
Nolan got to work, ignoring Danny's screams. He began feeding magnetic fields through layers of bioconductive gel, watching how Chi reacted under different levels of interference.
Compared to demonic energy, Shou-Lao's Chi was in a league of its own.
It wasn't just body enhancement—it was a toolset. It could heal, protect, amplify, and synchronize the body and mind.
Much more sophisticated than the Beast's crude power.
Nolan's fingers blurred over the keys, screens awash in pulsing green code. Thousands of readings flooded in.
And then—he found it.
A magnetic field is 15 times stronger than the one used to contain demonic energy.
"Fifteen times... This could affect human tissue," Nolan muttered. "Shou-Lao really was on another level."
He looked over at Danny, bound and glaring.
This dragon's gift wasn't just mystical—it bordered on divine.
And yet Danny had squandered it—relying on instinct, improvisation, and brute force. His version of Chi's mastery was barely refined. Just a street-level brawler with divine tools.
If Nolan had access to this power?
He'd reach Danny's level of control in three days.
"Let's begin. What a waste of potential…"
He turned the dial.
The electromagnetic field surged to the maximum. Equipment began to tremble. The lab's foundation buzzed with unseen power.
Danny's body tensed violently. The sheer pressure of the magnetic field affected his brain—his thoughts fractured, his vision pulsed with static.
Then, something shocking happened.
His Chi surged on its own.
It flowed beyond his conscious will—spilling across his body, drifting from its natural path.
The dragon mark on his chest ignited in a blinding glow.
Nolan's eyes narrowed. Instantly, he engaged the siphon systems.
Streams of brilliant white energy—pure Chi—burst from Danny's core, flowing like rivers through the air and into reinforced containers.
Danny screamed.
The pain wasn't external—it was internal. The Chi was being torn from the marrow of his bones, stripped from the deepest wells of his soul.
Nolan moved quickly, activating additional collection units.
The Chi was flowing faster than expected. And the volume?
"Remarkable…"
He watched the tank fill with swirling white light. The potential locked inside Danny was staggering.
All that power… wasted.
Danny Rand, the so-called Immortal Weapon, couldn't even tap into a fraction of it.
In raw potency, he dwarfed Black Sky. And yet in the original timeline… he was trading punches with street thugs.
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