Because it was an energy weapon, both its power and speed were astonishing. With a single blast, the test dummy was sent flying once again, crashing through a nearby table and startling the surrounding researchers.
Tony hurried over and lifted the dummy back up. The nanotech armor was surprisingly light—there was some weight to it, but it felt no heavier than an average adult, certainly under two hundred pounds.
After setting it back in place, Tony carefully examined the armor. It was completely intact. The energy blast had struck the chest directly, yet there wasn't even a scratch. At the same time, Shuri noticed that the armor's energy reserve had increased slightly—only about one percent, but it had risen nonetheless.
"Only one percent? How is that possible?"
Shuri frowned in confusion.
The technology was the same, the nanotech vibranium was the same, and the energy absorption principle was the same—but the effect was clearly different from that of the Black Panther suit.
"It's because the power supply is different,"
Tony explained casually.
"The Arc Reactor already provides an enormous amount of energy, so the absorbed energy just seems insignificant. Don't worry about it."
Tony didn't mind at all. In fact, he hadn't been counting on the energy absorption feature to do much in the first place. The Arc Reactor's output far exceeded Wakanda's current power systems.
"Alright then,"
Shuri said.
"Since the armor is finished, it's time to deal with your injury."
She tapped her own chest, the meaning obvious—using Wakandan medical technology to remove the shrapnel lodged in Tony's body.
Aside from its unmatched technology, Wakanda's greatest strength lay in its medical science. It could completely cure cancer; performing surgery to remove shrapnel was trivial by comparison.
Tony looked excitedly toward the medical pod nearby.
Doctors around the world had been helpless against the shrapnel in his chest. With current global medical technology, it was impossible to remove all of it—leave even a single fragment behind, and death would be inevitable.
But Wakandan medicine was different.
Even microscopic fragments could be safely extracted, and even the hole in his chest could be fully repaired.
---
Lying inside the treatment pod, Tony curiously examined his surroundings. The pod was spacious, almost like a small room. In the center was a bare metal bed. Sensors near his head monitored various parameters, while outside, Shuri was already viewing a full-body scan of Tony, with the chest wound highlighted in particular detail.
She tapped on the injured area, isolating it. Every tiny fragment of shrapnel inside his body was clearly visible.
"So when do we sta—"
Before Tony could finish his sentence, his head slumped against the bed and he lost consciousness.
"How long will it take?"
Lucas asked as he stepped up beside Shuri.
"About half a day,"
Shuri replied.
"The injury itself isn't that serious. He's been using the Arc Reactor to attract the fragments this whole time, preventing them from spreading deeper through his bloodstream. That makes the process much easier. Repairing the muscle tissue will take the most effort."
She tapped the screen a few more times. From both sides of the metal bed, vast quantities of nanotech vibranium emerged, surging toward Tony's chest.
Lucas watched as the nanotech vibranium dismantled the Arc Reactor and its mounting frame from Tony's chest. Not a single drop of blood appeared—the wound was completely sealed by nanites during the process.
On the glass wall of the treatment pod, Tony's internal condition was displayed in real time. The nanotech vibranium began searching through his chest, locating fragments one by one. As each tiny piece of shrapnel was expelled from his body, Tony's overall condition steadily improved.
Although the new element had already stabilized the fragments and eliminated palladium poisoning, the chest injury still prevented Tony from having the physical condition of a normal person. As he aged, his body had gradually weakened. This was precisely why he had devoted so much effort to artificial intelligence and autonomous combat systems.
If one day his injury prevented him from wearing the armor personally, he could still fight by remote control—or let an AI take over entirely.
---
As time passed, the larger fragments were fully removed. The remaining pieces were extremely small and harder to locate.
Even so, the nanotech vibranium did not slow down.
It automatically distinguished foreign objects from human tissue, rapidly approaching each anomaly, analyzing it, and—once confirmed as shrapnel—immediately separating it from the surrounding tissue.
The process went smoothly. Soon, every last fragment had been removed.
Next came muscle repair.
At this stage, nanotech vibranium alone was no longer sufficient. As it withdrew from Tony's body, a new wave of nanites flowed in—medical nanobots designed to enhance cellular activity, accelerate cell division, and promote regeneration.
"That's it,"
Shuri said.
"In about two hours, he'll be completely fine."
She then ignored Tony entirely and returned to the workbench, once again focusing intently on the uru metal data from earlier.
"Oh, right,"
she said suddenly, glancing at Lucas.
"Tony said you were the one who gave him that metal. Where did you get it?"
"Do you know Odin?"
Lucas replied calmly.
"That metal used to be part of his armor."
He didn't bother hiding it. There was only one such material in existence, and even if he told her, Shuri had no way of finding more—unless she somehow learned the location of Asgard. And in the entire Marvel universe, no human truly knew where Asgard was.
Besides, Wakanda worshipped the Panther God and believed in divine beings, so Odin's existence wasn't difficult for them to accept.
"So Norse mythology is actually real…"
Shuri muttered, smacking her lips.
"No wonder this stuff won't bend or deform—it belonged to Odin."
She looked up again.
"I heard Thor showed up during the Battle of New York. Are you close with him? Could you ask him to get me some more of this metal?"
She had become completely obsessed with uru metal. If she didn't figure it out, she doubted she'd be able to eat or sleep properly.
"Probably not,"
Lucas said with a shrug.
"Even in Asgard, this metal is extremely rare. Once it's used, it's gone. It's nothing like Wakanda, which is practically built on a vibranium mine."
He knew just how precious uru metal was—so rare that even stealing it would be nearly impossible.
"Alright then,"
Shuri sighed, giving up. She understood its value. To Asgard, uru metal was what vibranium was to Wakanda—something that could never be allowed to circulate freely.
---
As time went on, Tony's chest muscles fully regenerated. The gaping wound vanished entirely, leaving only a faint circular mark where new skin had formed. After some time, even that would disappear completely.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For 20 advanced chapters, visit my Patreon:
Patreon - Twilight_scribe1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you enjoyed Marvel Manifestor, please give it a Power Stone and leave a review! Your support means everything.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~