At the tritium element reactor site, Zod Heath appeared as an investor. Because he knew an accident would happen, he didn't invite anyone else to watch. Not even reporters or fellow researchers, even though he had inspected the equipment and felt there were no issues.
But this was the Marvel universe, after all. Zod Heath had already witnessed plenty of unreasonable things.
Dr. Otto, on the other hand, looked full of confidence. He interpreted Zod Heath not inviting journalists or peers as caution, and he approved of it. For researchers, caution was the most important thing.
So he didn't mind installing the mechanical arms in advance to give his big boss a demonstration, and his lover watched him expectantly.
"Boss, even with the palladium reactor and the Zod-element reactor already existing, I still want to say this. A new chapter for humanity begins today!"
Otto was a little excited. He was about to show a century-defying genius the culmination of his life's work. Maybe in the future, he would become a great scientist whose name would remain in human history, like Planck.
Then Otto began the experiment, using the equipment to heat tritium until it reached a thermonuclear reaction.
Zod couldn't believe tritium actually reached a nuclear fusion reaction, although he was already somewhat used to this kind of thing.
According to the physical chemistry he had learned, controlled fusion should use helium-3. He had always suspected the writers mixed up protons and neutrons. Two protons and one neutron was helium-3. Two neutrons and one proton was tritium.
In theory, the best raw material for controlled fusion was helium-3. At least that had papers to back it up.
Using tritium was something that only made sense after coming to the Marvel universe. It really broadened Zod's horizons.
He forced himself to suppress the urge to complain internally about what he was seeing.
This was basically forcing a smaller "sun model" into existence. Where was the control in that? A mass of tritium reacting like that should blow the lab away. And the radiation released, every visitor would die.
And what the hell was with something like a solar prominence? Something that small could have prominences? The Sun looked like that mainly because of a balance between gravity and radiation pressure, right? And the color too. That only works at a distance. That tiny lump, at hundreds of millions of degrees, and you're that close. The thermal radiation alone would roast your head.
The fusion reaction equation for tritium should be d+t→he+n+17.6 MeVd+t→he+n+17.6MeV, and when Zod read Otto's paper earlier, he had already wanted to complain that Otto's equation was wrong.
Yet Otto and the others stared at it excitedly.
"Mr. Heath, the experiment was a perfect success," Otto said, turning to Zod Heath.
"Yes. It succeeded," Zod Heath replied.
Zod's mood was complicated. He felt like reality had just slapped him in the face.
But at that moment, his senses caught something. The intersection of gravity and magnetism around that "sun model" shifted. Nearby objects began to tremble under an invisible force.
"Dr. Otto, you should leave this place first."
Otto was moved that Zod valued him so highly and wanted to keep investing, but he also didn't want Zod to take risks.
"Doctor, money is just a number to me now, so I'll contribute it to the advancement of human science. And I trust your ability. Or is it that you have no confidence in yourself?" Zod said smoothly.
Otto's pride was stirred.
"In nuclear physics, I'm confident I'm not inferior to anyone!" Otto said firmly.
It was also a guarantee for Zod.
"I look forward to Dr. Otto's surprises," Zod nodded.
…
The world was quietly changing because of Zod's appearance, especially the Rabbit Nation.
Other than the Rabbits, nobody would guess that countless high-end precision parts that machines either couldn't process, or could only process at a cost that wasn't worth it, could actually be made by hand.
Those master craftsmen from a great power, including a veteran nicknamed Master Two-Threads, had broken through their limits with new tools and were marching toward the path of zero tolerance.
Others, after swapping in secondary kryptonite alloy blades for certain components, reduced precision errors by several units.
Each unit of error represented a deviation of several kilometers once it was launched!
Reducing error could undoubtedly save massive fault-tolerance time for that project.
It was a huge benefit to the nation.
As research and application of secondary kryptonite deepened, more and more cutting-edge industries adopted the alloy and achieved brilliant breakthroughs.
Over a dozen major space projects accelerated their timelines because of it, saving at least half a year.
Many experiments that had stalled in various institutes due to material limitations were restarted.
In addition, inside a certain top-secret research facility, they luxuriously used secondary kryptonite parts to finally produce an experimental unit of an engine model that had been locked in storage for years, dismissed as useless only because its design had been too far ahead of its time.
Zod Heath said, and before Otto could even react, two War Machines carried him away. His mechanical arms were about to resist, but Zod Heath invisibly influenced them with magnetism.
"What happened?" Otto's lover asked urgently.
"There was an accident in the experiment," Zod said, staring at the miniature sun.
At this moment, lighter objects like paper inside the lab were already flying toward the miniature sun, followed by heavier items.
Everyone realized something was wrong.
"It can still be saved!" Otto struggled, wanting to salvage it.
"No. This is the wrong direction. It's already confirmed," Zod shook his head.
After Otto and his lover were taken away, Zod strode forward and approached the mass of tritium reaction matter.
"The Sun's energy?"
Zod extended his hand and plunged it into that extremely dangerous energy mass. A biofield plus a magnetic field plus a gravitational field made Zod Heath's defense practically unbreakable. In the comics, Magneto's magnetic field alone could withstand the absolute annihilation zone at the core of a nuclear blast, let alone Zod.
What disappointed Zod was that this reaction mass did not contain what a Kryptonian needed. The composition was close, but… the key missing element made it completely worthless.
Otto couldn't accept his failure. He looked like he was falling apart.
"Pull yourself together, Doctor. At the very least, you've identified a wrong path for humanity. That's how science advances, accumulating step by step. Blade Technology Industries' funding won't be cut. I hope you can find another direction," Zod Heath said to Otto, who was lying on the hospital bed.
Otto's eyes were dim, but when he heard the funding wouldn't stop, a bit of light returned.
"I've already wasted so much of my youth and time. If I try to find a new direction now, I'll probably be powerless. Your investment might end up being for nothing."
/-\
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