(Bonus Chapter 1)
"Ah~ So this is raw vibranium? After hearing about it for so long, I finally get to see it for myself. Even though it's my first time, I can already feel the immense energy within it. I can't wait to start researching it!"
On the system's communicator screen, Yuri held a piece of glowing blue metal ore, carefully examining it and sensing the energy inside.
Yes, raw vibranium contained incredibly powerful energy.
Previously, Josh had only known vibranium as a tough metal capable of absorbing kinetic energy, so he instinctively assumed it couldn't serve as an energy source.
It wasn't until he attempted to melt the vibranium spear taken from Wakanda that he realized his assumption was wrong.
Vibranium itself was just a metal—it didn't generate energy on its own.
However, its ability to store energy made it function much like a rechargeable battery.
Of course, Josh wasn't the first to come to this conclusion. Even Wakanda, which had been using vibranium for over a thousand years, hadn't figured it out because their technology hadn't reached that level yet.
The one who figured it out was Yuri.
Last time, he successfully melted down the vibranium spear and reforged it into a shield and sword.
He was able to do this because of the massive amount of energy he supplied.
After discovering the energy storing properties of vibranium, he used dozens of large power generators to continuously recharge the spear Josh had sent him.
Once it had absorbed enough energy, the vibranium became brittle and malleable.
This led Yuri to conclude that vibranium could indeed be reshaped—it just required an enormous amount of energy, making the process extremely difficult.
To put it in perspective, the amount of electricity used to charge that single spear was enough to power New York City for several days in Josh's time.
From this, they concluded that raw vibranium was easier to smelt because it was already filled with an enormous amount of energy—its blue glow was a sign of this energy saturation.
However, this energy would dissipate during the refining process, leaving the final product with much less energy, making it incredibly durable.
As for why raw vibranium contained so much energy, the answer was simple—Josh had told Yuri that vibranium wasn't native to Earth. The entire vibranium mine was actually a massive meteorite.
This meant that the reason the vibranium ore contained so much energy was because it had absorbed the force of impact when it hit the Earth.
Otherwise, given the size of the vibranium meteor, which formed an entire mountain range upon impact, the shock wave would have wiped out all life on Earth many times over. The planet would have become barren.
Because it absorbed such an immense impact, raw vibranium became easier to mine and refine.
However, the fact that it contained so much energy also made it somewhat dangerous.
A fist-sized chunk of raw vibranium contained the energy equivalent of several hundred kilograms of TNT.
Of course, that danger was relative.
While the vibranium ore stored a lot of energy, it hadn't reached full saturation, meaning it would take a significant external force to trigger its release.
In the future, as Wakanda advanced its technology after learning from the outside world, it developed supersonic magnetic levitation transport for vibranium ore. That's when it became truly dangerous—at such high speeds, even without its energy storage, vibranium itself could be lethal.
It was then that Black Panther's sister, the genius scientist Shuri, invented the Sonic Stabilizer to keep the vibranium dormant and prevent accidents during transport.
As for this era... well, just the small piece of raw vibranium in Yuri's hand would require at least a few kilograms of explosives to set off an explosion.
If it were the entire vibranium mine, it would be even more impossible—without thousands or even tens of thousands of high-yield nuclear bombs, there would be no way to detonate the energy inside.
After all, when calculating the impact power of asteroids hitting Earth, "Little Boy" was merely a unit of measurement.
For example, the estimated impact force of the 10-kilometer-wide meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs was a staggering 100 trillion tons of TNT—the equivalent of 5 billion Little Boys exploding at once.
And calculations showed that the vibranium meteor wasn't much smaller than that.
Detonating the energy it contained was, of course, an almost impossible task.
If it weren't for that, the Wakandans could have easily destroyed the world by rigging the vibranium mine in case of defeat.
"Of course, do as you wish!" Josh had long expected Yuri's reaction.
After spending enough time with him, he knew that this man was first and foremost a research fanatic. Conquering the world was secondary—scientific discovery was his true passion.
In the world of Red Alert, Yuri's ambition to unite the world by establishing the Yuri Army wasn't just about power—it was mainly because he was fed up with the endless war between the two factions after the death of Hitler and the constant meddling of bureaucrats trying to control him.
Of course, there was another reason now—revenge.
After suffering so much in the Cretaceous era, there was no way he wouldn't settle the score.
The time machine was ready, it was just a matter of gathering enough power.
After sending a batch of vibranium to Yuri, Josh also sent some to Daenerys in the Game of Thrones world, though in much smaller quantities.
It was just enough for a set of armor and a few weapons—about the same amount of Valyrian steel Daenerys had given him earlier. A fair exchange.
With Yuri, however, Josh had no choice. His trade debt with him was massive—in fact, he had run up a huge debt over the past few years. This shipment of vibranium was just a way to balance the books a bit.
Fortunately, the Wakanda war had left Josh with a considerable amount of raw vibranium.
Carter, being too upright, hadn't tried to take any vibranium for herself during the mission. Neither had her brother Michael or the other former Zodiac agents—obviously they hadn't even thought about it.
However, there was another person Carter rescued—Fritz Klaue.
Unlike the others, he was cunning enough to take advantage of the opportunity.
During the retreat, he managed to smuggle out an entire truckload of vibranium ore.
But before he could celebrate, he ran into a CIA extraction team.
That truckload of vibranium immediately became the property of the CIA.
And what belonged to the CIA, of course, belonged to Josh.
Of course, Josh wasn't unfair to Fritz Klaue—he let him keep a tenth of the vibranium and even recruited him into the CIA.
After some investigation, Josh saw potential in him.
And then there was the name—Klaue.
It was hard for Josh not to associate it with Ulysses Klaue, Wakanda's future enemy.
He suspected that Fritz was most likely Ulysses Klaue's father.
Although Fritz wasn't happy about losing 90% of what he had rightfully taken, after understanding the current world situation, he wisely chose to join the CIA.
He never even considered reporting or seeking revenge against Josh.
He was smart—he knew that under Josh's protection, he could still profit from his remaining balance of the vibranium.
Without Josh's protection, if the world found out he had vibranium, it wouldn't be long before he was buried in an unmarked grave.
Such a strategic resource was not something a former Nazi officer could control.
That's right—before being captured by the Wakandans, he had been a low-ranking Nazi officer.
But after spending six years in Wakandan captivity, the world had completely changed by the time he was released.
Join Patreon.com/AHumanMadeMOFO to read till Chapter 261 (65 Chapter Ahead).