Above the Gods

Blueprint of Unknown Element Construction: A design sketch depicting the internal structure of an unknown element. White Item Card.

Kyle lowered his head and stared at the element structure diagram in his hands, heavily rendered in pencil, falling into deep thought for a long while.

Although this was merely a theoretical structure Howard had deduced from the Tesseract, Kyle knew that this element was a truly new source of energy, an isotope with material components similar to the Cosmic Stones.

The primary core energy source of future Iron Man Armor relied on crystals of this artificially synthesized element. A tiny elemental crystal from a reserve core could sustain a high-tech Iron Man Armor’s continuous combat consumption, laser attacks, jet flight, Jarvis Artificial Intelligence System, and more.

"Roughly what level of technology would we need before we could attempt to artificially synthesize this new element? I mean, what are the current technological barriers to synthesizing it?" Kyle put down the blueprint and looked directly at Howard beside him as he asked seriously.

If it could be artificially synthesized and mass-produced, replacing the Gem Energy energy blocks with crystals of this New Element Energy…

There was no doubt that it could serve as supply material for a blue-tier Sacrifice Draw!

"The special materials needed to construct an accelerator tube, as well as the equipment capable of emitting stable high-energy particle beams—those are all cutting-edge scientific problems we still have no way of solving. They aren’t obstacles that can be easily overcome in just a few years." Howard spread his hands helplessly, then joked, "Honestly, I’m considering putting this element blueprint away and letting my descendants slowly finish it in the future."

"You don’t even have kids yet." Kyle teased him.

Howard blew out his mustache and glared at him. "Tonight, I’ll ask out a few young ladies with incredible figures and make some babies."

Poor Tony…

Kyle could not help laughing. The future genius engineer Tony Stark had not even been born yet and would probably take another decade or so. The guy before him, Howard, would not have a son until old age.

But even if Tony had been born early, the limitations of this era’s technology truly made it impossible to artificially synthesize this new element filled with infinite possibilities.

"Do we really have to wait until more than half a century later before trying to create it?" Kyle was somewhat unwilling. The element blueprint before him was clearly a treasure map, yet he had no corresponding key to unlock and excavate it.

Sacrifice Draw was far too random. It could not pull out a specific item he needed.

"Enough, don’t overthink it. We’ll take things one step at a time. Maybe in a few years or a decade, suitable materials and equipment will be invented." Howard patted Kyle’s shoulder in consolation. He had only felt regretful himself, never expecting his partner to care even more about the new element.

"That’s all we can do." Kyle sighed and placed the blueprint back into the concealed safe. But just as his hand released it, a flash of inspiration crossed his mind.

Wait… lacking special materials? Limited by current technology?

Kyle’s eyes lit up slightly. He seemed to have forgotten about one place.

He smiled. "Howard, I suddenly remembered a place. It should have the special materials needed to create this new element, as well as a sufficiently advanced scientific level!"

"Where?" Howard froze at once upon hearing that, then asked hesitantly, "Don’t tell me it’s outer space?"

"It’s somewhere on Earth, except that it’s isolated from the rest of the world. The outside world cannot peer into its internal affairs, and ordinary people cannot easily enter that territory." Kyle shrugged.

That was a place favored by heaven itself. Not only were certain rare metal ores treated as common materials, but its technological level was definitely decades ahead of Earth’s.

Having seen the cross-century scientific products Kyle had provided, Howard naturally believed him. He asked eagerly, "Then how do we get there? If there are materials and sufficiently advanced radiation equipment, I’m confident I can create the new element."

"No rush. Getting in there will take some time for arrangements and preparations." Kyle kept him in suspense.

Advanced as its technology was, its rules and legal system were somewhat primitive and barbaric. Even now, it was deeply hostile toward outsiders.

Kyle could not guarantee that if he and Howard rashly entered that place, they would not be directly surrounded and attacked by the locals.

"Let’s wait until the war is over before discussing any of this. With military duties on hand, I can’t spare much time for private activities." Kyle said. With his current status as a major general, suddenly running off to another country would attract far too much attention.

The matter of synthesizing the new element thus came to a temporary halt.

After Kyle and Howard finished reviewing the research results, they returned to the sofa by the office window and continued drinking the unfinished bottle of red wine.

"Almost forgot, there’s something I need to ask you to handle." Kyle thought of Logan outside the door and requested, "That Logan you met earlier. He was originally Canadian, but now he’s come to America with me. I hope you can arrange an American identity for him."

Howard nodded readily. "That’s easy. Give me his full name and age, and I’ll find someone to handle it tomorrow."

"His name will be Logan Karl." Kyle gave the full name he had long prepared, then hesitated and muttered, "As for his actual age, he’s probably in his sixties…"

Howard had been elegantly taking a sip of red wine, but when he heard Logan’s age, he choked in shock. He hurriedly took a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe his wet trousers and said in astonishment, "Over sixty? That bodyguard of yours just now? He looked barely over thirty, though his facial hair was a little thick."

Kyle smiled. "I told you he wasn’t an ordinary person. But to keep others from reacting like you did, register his identity as thirty-five."

His age and appearance simply could not be judged by ordinary human standards.

The rate at which his Super Soldier physique aged was already four times slower than that of ordinary people. Added to that were the vitality and powerful healing of the Healing Factor, along with several Add Life Cards that increased natural lifespan.

Kyle believed that even another century later, his body would still be at its youthful peak. Neither his physique nor his appearance would show even the slightest trace of aging.

Red Skull had been right before. From the moment they underwent the genetic modification of the Super Soldier ability, they could no longer be called lifeforms of the "human" dimension.

Since he was unwilling to submit to the snap of Thanos’s Infinity Gauntlet in the future, unwilling to let his life be ruled even by higher-dimensional races that were gods, Kyle had chosen the path of becoming stronger through evolution—and he was determined to walk it to the end without looking back!