MD-Chapter 357 The Sudden Disassemble Prompt!

Convincing Jane wasn't difficult.

As an astrophysicist, nothing excited her more than unraveling the mysteries of the cosmos.

And Arthur had access to information that was simply too tempting for her to ignore.

Of course, if she truly wanted to, she could have sought similar knowledge in Asgard. But whenever she was with Thor, she was usually too busy enjoying her time with the big guy to focus on her research.

Arthur traced a teleportation array on the ground, and as soon as Jane stepped onto it with him, they vanished, reappearing instantly at Camp Lehigh.

Given that Jane was already aware of Asgard and the wider universe, there wasn't much reason to keep things secret from her.

Still, a confidentiality agreement was unavoidable. Every scientist at Camp Lehigh had signed one, and Jane was no exception.

Meanwhile, the Disassembler was still at work. Even for a highly advanced system, breaking down two hundred sniper rifles and thirty rocket launchers wasn't an instant process.

With time to spare, Arthur took Jane to reunite with Dr. Selvig and Darcy Lewis.

Naturally, the two friends were overjoyed to see each other, and Selvig was equally happy to see Jane again. But his excitement quickly shifted to something else, Arthur's data.

"If we'd had access to this information earlier, we could have made leaps in understanding the universe!"

The older scientist spoke animatedly, gesturing toward Arthur. "I know this research is meant to help us prepare for extraterrestrial threats, but I believe it has an even greater purpose. This could revolutionize our understanding of the cosmos and make it easier to identify habitable planets! The implications for humanity are massive!"

Arthur humored the enthusiastic scientist for a few moments. Not that it mattered, Jane was already hooked, completely absorbed in the material, leaving no need for further persuasion.

Darcy, meanwhile, simply shrugged at Arthur. "Workaholics, huh? You wouldn't get it. So… how about a drink? I've got nothing better to do right now."

"…Sorry, I'm busy."

Arthur offered a regretful smile before turning to leave.

, 

Jane's arrival had been a brief detour, but after all the commotion, Arthur no longer felt the need to rush home.

He wasn't sure exactly how long the Disassembler would take to finish processing, but considering he'd already made a round trip to London, it had to be nearing completion.

He figured he might as well wait for it to finish. He wasn't about to show up in front of Lily and make her wonder if he'd suffered a head injury.

Taking the opportunity to stroll through Camp Lehigh, Arthur observed the various research projects in progress. Overall, he was pleased with what he saw.

Currently, the primary focus wasn't on weapons development, it was on combat units.

Tony's proposal for the Šumer project had been nothing short of genius.

By simplifying the design and reducing costs, they could vastly increase the number of deployable units.

At the same time, the R&D department was delving deeper into this concept. Arthur remained wary of artificial intelligence, after all, the Ultron catastrophe had nearly wiped out humanity. He had no intention of repeating that mistake.

Meanwhile, another division was analyzing a compact device that Tony had developed within Camp Lehigh. Nearly all the remaining critical data was stored inside its system, making it a priority research project.

With a dedicated team of researchers working tirelessly, the decryption process was progressing smoothly.

As Arthur walked through the facility, observing each department operating at full efficiency, an odd thought crept into his mind.

"Why does this feel... kind of villainous?"

Surrounded by state-of-the-art research labs filled with scientists pushing the boundaries of technology, he couldn't shake the strange sense of déjà vu, like a classic supervillain orchestrating some grand scheme.

Shaking his head at the ridiculous thought, Arthur made his way toward Tony's lab.

Inside, Tony was engrossed in analyzing metal samples from the alien spacecraft. Without looking up, he casually remarked, "I thought you'd still be locked in your room playing with guns."

"..."

Arthur blinked. That was… an interesting way to phrase it.

"How's the progress?" he asked, choosing to ignore Tony's remark.

"Fascinating material," Tony muttered, running scans while talking. "Ridiculously tough, highly heat-resistant, and a composite alloy. If I can crack its full structure, we might be able to replicate it, which would be a game-changer for us."

Arthur smirked and placed a hand on the spacecraft, about to say something, when suddenly, a system prompt flashed before his eyes.

[Do you want to Disassemble the driving-type item (purple)?]

His expression froze as he glanced up at the towering structure in front of him, easily the size of a ten-story building.

He quickly selected 'Cancel.' If he disassembled this thing right now, Tony would probably chase him down with a repulsor cannon.

"Wait… I can actually Disassemble something this massive?"

So, his recent ability upgrade had been for this. That opened up some interesting possibilities…

"Huh? What's with that look?"

Tony shot him a puzzled glance.

Arthur quickly shook his head. "It's nothing, nothing… Just remembered something I need to handle. Gotta go."

"Yeah, yeah, go do your thing," Tony waved him off. "And unless you're bringing coffee, don't come back to distract me, I've got a breakthrough to, "

Arthur didn't stick around for the rest.

Because at that moment, the Disassembler's notification had popped up again, the two hundred sniper rifles and thirty rocket launchers had been successfully broken down.

Back in his room, he extracted the results.

This time, the disassembly had yielded some particularly intriguing rewards.

200 Intermediate sniper rifle skill books

21 large colorless crystals & 50 small colorless crystals

30 rocket launcher skill books

Arthur was relieved to find that rocket launchers didn't come with melee combat techniques. The mental image of someone using a rocket launcher like a baseball bat was… unsettling.

After absorbing the skill books, his proficiency with sniper rifles had leveled up to Advanced, unlocking energy-based sniping techniques.

For rocket launchers, he gained Intermediate-level usage skills, which, oddly enough, included the ability to make rockets curve mid-flight.

That last one was unexpected. How the hell was he supposed to pull that off? Would he have to twist his entire body just right before launching?

Still, the biggest gain was the collection of large colorless crystals.

Without hesitation, he crushed all 21 large crystals and casually shattered the 50 small ones as well.

But even as his power grew, he wasn't particularly thrilled.

"At the end of the day, it's still just a drop in the bucket."

The energy sniping technique had destructive potential, sure. But against someone like Hela? There would barely be a moment to create distance, let alone line up a perfect shot.

And most importantly, would a single shot even be enough to take her down?

(End of Chapter)

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