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"A genius concept… An unbelievable creation… A perfect work of art…"
In that moment, staring at the reactor in Peter's hand, glowing like a miniature sun, everyone ran out of words. No praise could do it justice.
"…But in the end, it's still not a real sun."
Even as Peter felt the massive, endless energy pulsing from the arc reactor, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
"Mr. Stark… have you tested its performance yet?"
After a long silence, someone finally spoke, eyes filled with awe as they turned to Tony.
"If I'm not mistaken—and I rarely am—it should output around five billion joules per second."
"…Five billion joules per second?! That's more than enough to power the nano battle suit!"
At that point, everyone looked at Tony with pure reverence.
"Ahem, Mr. Superman," Tony grinned. "Since I solved your little energy crisis, how about you bring me a few bottles of vintage wine next time?"
"I'll think about it…"
"Now that the energy issue's handled," Reed chimed in, "I estimate we can finish building your nano suit within a month."
They faced a ton of problems while trying to build the nano-suit—like how to control the nanoparticles, how to get them to form a stable molecular structure, and how to program a fixed molecular structure algorithm into the particles themselves.
Also, how to control the nanoparticles with your mind so they shape into whatever structure you imagine...
But compared to the energy issue, none of that was really a big deal.
Especially since, right now, they had some of the smartest geniuses on Earth working together.
Their team basically outclassed every other research team on the planet.
One month to build a nano-suit? That was Reed being conservative.
"Alright then, one month. If you manage to make the nano-suit, I'll stick to our deal and send you back safe and sound."
Peter made the same promise to them.
"But... when the time comes, maybe not everyone will want to go back..."
Even though Superman had already taken care of the monster that attacked New York, the city still took a pretty bad hit, and cleanup efforts were just getting started.
Right now, the Oscorp building was sealed off by New York police and intelligence agents.
Not because they were shutting Oscorp down or anything—this was more about what some people believed had caused yesterday's events: some kind of experimental genetic drug the company was working on.
The agents were just here to take away whatever was left of the regeneration serum and all related research data.
Inside Professor Connors' lab, dozens of agents were packing up every last piece of experimental data.
As for Connors himself—the man behind it all—he could only watch helplessly, face full of regret and resignation.
"Sorry, Professor Connors. Orders from the top," said Captain George Stacy as he walked into the lab, his voice full of sympathy.
"It's alright, Captain. If I hadn't been so greedy for that man's perfect genes—if I hadn't wanted to perfect the serum—none of this would've happened."
"All the serums I developed are in here." Connors handed over a plain messenger bag, then paused for a moment before continuing.
"If I could give you one piece of advice... I hope you'll destroy everything—serums, data, all of it. Immortality is a tempting thing. Too tempting. Someone might fall into the same trap I did…"
There was clear regret in Connors' eyes. He'd been blinded by the promise of huge rewards, and completely failed to notice what Banner's real motive was when he approached him.
"Looks like... this hand of mine will never grow back."
He glanced at the empty sleeve where his right hand used to be, but strangely, there was a sense of relief on his face.
"Sorry, Professor," George said. "You'll have to be detained for a while. It's just a precaution—we hope you understand."
There were also strict restrictions being placed on Connors himself.
"I get it. I don't really have anything left to lose anyway…"
Connors had dedicated nearly his whole life to the regeneration serum. Now, there was nothing else that really mattered to him.
Soon, two officers came over to escort him out.
"Oh, by the way, Captain Stacy—please apologize to your daughter for me. Gwen was the most outstanding student I ever had. It's a shame I won't be her mentor anymore."
Just as he was about to leave, Connors turned around and spoke again.
"But... I know a professor named Otto Octavius. If Gwen's still interested in interning, she should go see him. Tell him I sent her."
With that, Professor Connors stopped hesitating and walked out of the lab with the officers—leaving behind the place he had devoted his life to.
"Professor Otto?" George repeated the unfamiliar name under his breath. Then, he reached into the bag and pulled out a vial of regeneration serum, glowing with an intense green light, and stared at it in silence.
Meanwhile, on the African continent—in Wakanda.
The Dora Milaje, Wakanda's all-female royal guard, had a figure surrounded. The person was wearing a black combat suit and a panther-like helmet.
With vibranium spears in hand, the Dora Milaje gave off a ferocity that could rival any man.
"Attack!" shouted Okoye, the captain.
At her command, the rest of the team charged forward without hesitation, spears at the ready, going straight for the black panther-like figure in the middle.
But in the next moment, the figure moved with lightning speed, just like a real panther. Dodging between the guards' attacks with incredible agility, the figure struck back when there was an opening—taking out several of them with razor-sharp claws.
Still, the Dora Milaje weren't pushovers. After "sacrificing" a few of their own, they finally managed to lock the target into a tight formation, creating a nearly inescapable trap.
Their spears crossed and interlocked, weaving an unbreakable web around the figure.
"Hyah!"
But just then, the figure in the black panther suit let out a powerful shout, and the suit lit up with a glowing wave of energy.
In the blink of an eye, a massive energy shockwave burst out from the suit, blowing apart the formation and sending the vibranium spears flying.
In that instant, the panther caught a falling spear mid-air and, in what seemed like a flash, landed right in front of Okoye, who was lying on the ground. The tip of the spear hovered inches from her throat.
But the next second, the panther slowly lowered the weapon—and extended a hand toward Okoye.
"Sorry about that, Captain Okoye…"
"Prince T'Challa, your strength has improved again."
Okoye stood up with T'Challa's help and sincerely smiled at him, clearly proud.
Clap clap clap...
"Very good, my son. You make me incredibly proud!"
Suddenly, with a burst of applause, the old king T'Chaka appeared beside them without anyone noticing and praised T'Challa warmly.
"Now that you've fully mastered the power of the Black Panther, I think it's time I gave you that mission."
The old king looked deeply into his son's eyes before slowly raising his hand and activating a projection device on his wrist, showing an image.
"This is… the moon that was attacked by that Superman? Are you asking me to gather intel on him?"
"No. Your destination… is the far side of the moon—where no human has ever set foot."
King T'Chaka rotated the projection of the moon to reveal a hidden side—a part that had never been shown to anyone before.
"....."