"Fenris, are these the robots you ran into in the Arctic?"
After giving Magneto a long look, Tony Stark quickly fixed his gaze on the massive Sentinel standing in the middle of the lab.
"Yes, but not exactly."
Fenris walked over. This was his first time seeing a Sentinel after it had been taken apart. "This should be the most advanced version so far."
"Tony Stark?"
Hank rose to his feet at the sound, a trace of confusion in his eyes as he looked at Fenris. "Why did you bring him here?"
"I'm Fenris's friend. Why shouldn't I be here? Unless you're worried I'm going to hurt you?"
Tony immediately picked up on the faint exclusion in Hank's tone toward him as a human.
He pointed at the Sentinel. "I don't even need to ask. This thing was built specifically to deal with mutants, wasn't it?"
"How do you know that?"
Hank whipped his head toward Fenris. The implication was obvious.
"Fenris didn't tell me. I figured it out myself."
Tony stared at the Sentinel's internal structure and rapped his knuckles against its shell, utterly certain of himself.
"This material was obviously chosen to counter Magneto. Combined with the battle footage I saw earlier from satellite surveillance, it can even mimic different mutant abilities for targeted combat. Am I right?"
"I haven't seen the core code, but I can still guess most of its underlying logic."
As he spoke, Tony simply stuck his head into the Sentinel's chest cavity, as if he meant to see straight through it.
"You could tell all that just from this?"
The look in Hank's eyes changed at once.
He had not expected this notorious playboy, whose reputation in the outside world was hardly flattering, to have such solid technical skill.
"That's it?"
"The person who designed this really is a genius. But compared to me, he's still nowhere close."
A moment later, Tony pulled back with a look of disdain. "If I were designing it, I could get this machine to the level they'd reach after at least five more iterations."
In only a few moments, Tony had already seen through the Sentinel inside and out. Even Hank, who had been studying the Sentinels for quite some time, could not help feeling impressed by Tony's sharp eye and vast reservoir of knowledge.
"You're absolutely right."
Hank nodded, sincerely impressed. "But identifying materials usually requires specialized testing. How did you determine that so quickly?"
Tony's gaze flicked discreetly toward Magneto nearby. "Because once you remove magnetic interference from the equation, this is the strongest and most versatile material that can currently be manufactured."
If he were treating Magneto as a hypothetical enemy, it would have been his first choice too.
"Then do you have any ideas for dealing with this material?"
Now that Tony had proven he really did know what he was talking about, Hank hurriedly pressed the question.
What made the Sentinels so hard to deal with, aside from their unpredictable mimicry when operating in swarms, was the sheer defensive power granted by their tough outer shell. Most mutant abilities had a hard time inflicting any real damage on them.
"Well..."
Understanding the principle was one thing. Coming up with a practical combat counter was something else entirely.
Tony frowned and thought for a moment, then suddenly his eyes lit up. "I do."
"You do?"
The moment Tony said that, even Magneto paused what he was doing.
"I don't know whether you've heard of a miraculous metal called vibranium."
Tony gave a brief explanation. "Vibranium is an extraordinary metal. It can absorb all kinds of outside energy."
"When I was younger, curiosity got the better of me, so I hacked into a top-secret U.S. database and learned about the existence of adamantium. One of its primary raw materials is vibranium."
"Adamantium is unbelievably hard, and once it sets, it's almost impossible to damage. Based on my analysis of its chemical structure, weapons made from adamantium become exceptionally sharp when heated to high temperatures. They could absolutely cut through this kind of shell."
At that, Tony instinctively shook his head. "The only problem is that vibranium is just too expensive and too rare. Using it on a large scale..."
"Vibranium?"
The moment he heard the name, Hank's expression turned strange.
He was hardly unfamiliar with adamantium either. Logan's entire skeleton was made of the stuff.
But after being fused with Logan's healing factor, that adamantium seemed to have undergone some kind of unusual change. Hank had never studied that aspect in detail.
After searching so long and so hard for an answer, had it really been right beside him all along?
Tony knew that condition was indeed difficult to meet, so he could only offer some consolation. "It's fine. They're just machines. If we keep thinking, we'll find a way to deal with them."
"No."
There was no disappointment in Hank's face, nothing like Tony had expected. Instead, his eyes held a strange gleam. "What I mean is, vibranium might be the one thing we currently have the least shortage of."
...
While Hank and Tony were enthusiastically discussing how to equip the X-Men with a set of adamantium weapons that could be put into actual combat as soon as possible, the rest of the X-Men had already begun arriving at the lab one after another not long after receiving Jean's message.
"Fenris?"
Ororo smiled warmly and nodded to him.
"What happened? Why'd we all get called here at once?"
Logan moved to Fenris's side with practiced ease and asked curiously.
"Relax, Logan. This is definitely a good thing."
The moment he arrived, Scott spotted the familiar heart-shaped herbs in the distance and immediately started rubbing his hands together in anticipation.
"Everyone, the reason we called you here is because Fenris brought back a miraculous plant for us."
After confirming that everyone except Professor X had arrived, Jean lifted a hand, and dozens of glowing, mysterious plants floated lightly in front of the group.
"This is the Heart-Shaped Herb. It can give the person who takes it the physical condition of a peak human."
The instant those words fell, silence swept through the room.
"Peak human condition?"
At those words, even Tony lost interest in continuing his discussion with Hank.
His ears practically twitched as he hurried over to Fenris's side. "Is this the surprise you said you were giving me?"
"Mhm."
Fenris nodded. "So? Happy with it?"
"Happy? I'm beyond happy!"
Tony let out a hushed exclamation, his eyes blazing with delight.
The last person to possess peak human physical abilities had appeared decades ago, and that man had gone on to become one of the most beloved superheroes of all time.
Captain America.
"Fenris, thank you."
Tony stared at the Heart-Shaped Herb floating in front of Jean without blinking, his breathing quickening.
The value of this thing was impossible to measure. With it, he would be able to design suits freely in the future, without constantly being held back by his frail body.
"According to Wakandan legend, the power of the Heart-Shaped Herb comes from a deity called the Panther God. We don't know whether that legend is true, but when we take this, we should still treat that power with proper respect."
Jean repeated the warning several times. "Don't let your mind wander. Understood?"
"Understood!"
Everyone nodded in unison, staring eagerly at the beautiful plants without the slightest attempt to hide their desire.
"Nothing will probably go wrong, but this is still the first recorded time anyone outside Wakanda has ever taken it, so..."
Jean's eyes swept across the group. After hesitating for a moment, she finally settled on Logan. "Logan, why don't you try first?"
"Fine. I'll do it."
With Jean leading the way, Logan entered one of the side labs.
"In a little while, you'll most likely see some people, or maybe something else."
After securing Logan's limbs to the operating table, Jean gently placed the Heart-Shaped Herb into his mouth. "Don't be afraid. Face it calmly."
"Mm."
After giving a slight nod, Logan closed his eyes, and his breathing soon became slow and even.
(End of Chapter)
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