Site Base, inside the elevator leading underground.
The elevator descended rapidly, the feeling of weightlessness forcing Happy to grip the handrail tightly.
Though Tony Stark appeared calm on the surface, his eyes remained fixed on the floor display on the elevator wall.
B1…
B2…
B3.
They had dug this deep beneath a broken-down apartment building?
“Tony, before you see what’s next, I suggest you prepare yourself mentally.” Levi stood before the elevator doors, his tone flat.
“This might be a bit different from your understanding of clean energy.” “What haven’t I seen?” Tony straightened his tie dismissively.
“Even if you told me you were keeping a fire-breathing dragon in the basement to power a boiler, I wouldn’t be surprised.” “We do have a fire-breathing dragon, actually, but using it to boil water would be a waste.” Levi smiled.
*Ding.* The elevator doors opened.
What met their eyes was a circular corridor constructed entirely of silver-white alloy.
Through the massive blast-proof glass on one side of the corridor, they could look down upon the core area of the third underground level.
“This is…” Tony walked to the glass, his pupils shrinking.
Even a layman like Happy stood with his mouth agape, stunned by the sight.
In the center of the massive space below, a giant vat of acid was suspended.
Countless complex pipes and cables were connected to the walls of the vat like veins.
Inside the churning green acid, a hideous monster with only half a body was roaring in a frenzy.
*Sizzle—!* Several high-frequency laser cutters were operating at a cruel frequency, constantly slicing away the flesh that the monster had just regenerated.
Blood sprayed and chunks of meat flew.
Before those pieces could even hit the ground, they were sucked into a combustion furnace by powerful vents below.
*Boom!!* With every combustion, the massive turbine generator nearby erupted with a burst of brilliant blue light, the numbers on the dashboard jumping wildly.
“Roar—!!!
I curse you…
all of humanity…” The monster’s roar was bone-chilling, even through several layers of soundproof glass.
“What the hell is that?!” Tony felt his stomach churn.
As a weapons manufacturer, he had seen many bloody scenes, but this…
mining a living being like ore was not just cruel, it bordered on a form of rational madness.
“The Hard-to-Destroy Reptile.” Levi walked to Tony’s side as if introducing a piece of art.
“A creature that hates all life, possessing absolute immortality and infinite regenerative capabilities.
The perfect perpetual motion machine.” “As long as it lives, as long as it feels pain and rage, it will continuously produce biomass.” “This is our generator.” Tony turned to stare at Levi, his eyes filled with shock and a hint of anger.
“You’re torturing it?
Just for electricity?” “This is barbaric!
It’s completely inhumane!” Tony’s values were under assault.
He built weapons, yes, but he had always branded himself as a man working for peace.
The scene before him was nothing but pure slaughter and exploitation.
“Inhumane?” Levi let out a cold laugh and turned to look Tony in the eye.
“Tony, do you know what would happen if we let it out?” Levi pointed at the monster below.
“It finds joy in slaughter.
It wants to eat every single person on Earth, including you, including Pepper, including the guy selling burgers on the street corner.” “It can’t be killed, it can’t be destroyed.
Not even a nuclear bomb could kill it.” “Against a demon like this, our job isn’t to talk about human rights.
It’s to lock it in a cage and squeeze every drop of value out of it to protect the fragile humans outside.” “That is humanity.” Tony fell silent.
He looked at the monster struggling in the acid, its eyes filled with nothing but endless malice.
Jarvis’s analysis told him that the creature’s biological structure completely violated the laws of evolution.
It was a literal incarnation of destruction.
“Hey!
Boss!
Look at the current output power!” Just as the atmosphere turned heavy, Dr.
Bright ran over excitedly, holding a blood-stained data pad.
“That last stimulus from the Hulk Serum was fantastic!
The regeneration speed increased by 300%!
Our power reserves are now enough to light up all of Brooklyn!” Dr.
Bright completely ignored Tony and Happy, speaking to Levi with a face full of zeal.
“Should we try increasing the laser power?
I think we can squeeze a bit more out of it!” Looking at this scientist who seemed even more like a monster than the creature itself, Tony instinctively took a step back.
“And this is?” “Dr.
Jack Bright, our chief scientist,” Levi introduced.
“He might seem a bit off, but he’s a genius.
He designed this entire power generation system.” “Genius…” Tony looked at the precision mechanical arms and the energy conversion circuits.
Even from a professional engineering perspective, the design of this system was exquisitely sophisticated.
Converting disordered biological energy into ordered electrical energy with such a low loss rate was staggering.
“Alright, I take back what I said.” Tony took a deep breath and put his sunglasses back on, hiding the complex emotions in his eyes.
“Though the methods are disgusting…
it is undeniably efficient.” “Moreover, that cage…” Tony stepped closer to the glass, carefully observing the inner wall of the acid vat.
“The interior material is already being corroded.
At this rate, it’ll dig through the vat in a week at most.” “That’s why I came to you.” Levi spread his hands.
“We need a new alloy.
It must be resistant to strong acid, able to withstand the physical impact of that monster, and capable of insulating against its mental pollution.” “That’s quite the challenge.” Tony’s engineer soul was ignited.
Compared to making missiles that killed people, building a cage to hold an immortal monster seemed to have more technical merit—and it was certainly more exciting.
“Three days.” Tony held up three fingers.
“Give me three days, and I’ll have a new formula for you.” “But I have one condition.” Tony pointed at the Infinite Pizza Box.
“Lend me that box for three days of research.
I’m very interested in technology that creates something out of nothing.” “Deal.” Levi tossed the pizza box to Happy without hesitation.
“Don’t break it.
That’s our staff canteen.” “Happy, take it.
Let’s go.” Tony took one last deep look at the beast roaring in the acid before turning toward the elevator.
This trip to Hell’s Kitchen had completely overturned his understanding of the world.
In the shadows of this world…
Someone was using the flesh and blood of a devil to light the lamps of civilization.
And Tony Stark would never be content to simply be a bystander.
“Jarvis, create a new project: Titan Prison Alloy.” “Also, book me an appointment with the best psychiatrist…
I think I’m going to have nightmares tonight.”