“Your vehicle is ready, Your Highness.”
“Understood, Revenant.”
A few days ago, Mark Max and his bird-like frame finally arrived at Trimounts. Accompanying him was Tin Man, a senior agent from the Meland Foundation.
This one truly couldn't be kept in the dark.
He had provided considerable assistance during Theresa's previous dealings with Columbia. Coupled with the Revenant's unique physique, Tin Man recognized Theresa's true identity as soon as they met.
However, this Revenant was famously easy to talk to. After devouring four extra-large hotdogs, he immediately agreed to keep the Demon King's secret.
Under the joint efforts of Mark Max and Tin Man, Xing Chen and Theresa obtained the identities of scientific advisors to the Columbia Department of Defense and technical consultants to the Meland Foundation.
At the same time, Ferdinand from Rhine Lab contacted the two, saying that their request to Nastya had made progress.
Now, Xing Chen and Theresa could openly enter Rhine Lab.
“You two hide quite well,” Nastya was already waiting for them at the headquarters entrance when the car stopped steadily.
“Have you found the two elements I mentioned?” Xing Chen asked impatiently. These materials were not something he could easily access.
“We found them, but it's also like we didn't,” Nastya's left and right brain seemed to be in conflict. “You'll understand if you come with me.”
Following Nastya's guidance, Xing Chen and Theresa arrived at the advanced laboratory beneath the headquarters.
From the corridor to the preparation room, the entire area appeared very bright, and many of Columbia's most cutting-edge equipment could be seen here.
“Xing Chen, I feel a very oppressive emotion here...”
“I feel it too, it's like...”
It was as if some kind of decisive weapon had been suddenly activated.
This was usually not a good sign.
“We successfully found this element according to your description,” The corridor was not long, and Saria's name was written on the laboratory doorplate.
Pushing open the door, there weren't many people in the preparation room: the Director, Magellan, Ferdinand, and Muelsyse.
Muelsyse was not in good shape, occasionally making retching motions.
“You said that the radioactivity carried by this element... is very dangerous, so during purification, we took necessary precautions and had Director Muelsyse use Originium Arts...”
“Water clone, I know,” Xing Chen looked at Muelsyse. He remembered that the Elf race was completely incompatible with Originium. “Could it be due to the Originium?”
“If it were Originium, I'd have been gone long ago,” Muelsyse perked up and shook hands with Xing Chen and Theresa.
“In any case, its damage far exceeds your description, even surpassing large-scale natural disasters — at least the latter won't penetrate walls.” Nastya's expression was quite grim as she said this. “I temporarily thickened the isolation layer; that metal ingot is still sitting in there.”
Uranium-235's radioactivity was strong, but not to the extent that high-density metal plates combined with thick concrete walls couldn't block it.
Xing Chen vaguely felt that this uranium element might have a problem, while Theresa pinched Xing Chen's arm, looking at him with resentful eyes, seemingly blaming him for bringing such a deadly weapon to Terra.
“Another matter also doesn't align with the phenomena you described,” After Nastya finished speaking, Ferdinand took her place. “I tested the element you mentioned at low purity, and many of the formulas you summarized do not match the actual phenomena, especially the speed at which the reaction proceeds at high purity, which is even inferior to poor-quality Originium — I seriously doubt if it can be used to manufacture weapons.”
It could actually be used to make dirty bombs, but let's just forget about that kind of weapon; Terra's natural environment is already harsh enough.
Xing Chen recalled how pure iron's properties changed drastically after Originium was added, and perhaps other elements would also undergo changes in physical and chemical properties when combined with Originium.
Rhine Lab, or rather Ferdinand, was quite interested in this substance, but others didn't feel the same way, so they desperately wanted to get rid of this ominous stone.
“How about letting Tin Man try?” Nuclear radiation would damage circuits, so radiation enhanced by Originium might also damage Originium circuits.
“No, let's not.” Theresa glanced at Muelsyse next to her. She operated remotely with a water clone, yet her own body still became this half-dead state.
“Sigh, then there's no other way.” Xing Chen was immune to all direct damage, but he wasn't sure about continuous damage. “I'll do it.”
“Wait a moment, Mr. Xing Chen, are you sure you want to do this?” Muelsyse heard Xing Chen's plan and quickly pulled him back.
“Don't worry... I'll tell you a secret, I'm actually a...”
Before Xing Chen could finish his sentence, Theresa directly interrupted him.
It was precisely this action that made Muelsyse believe that Xing Chen truly possessed some special ability.
As for the remaining people, they didn't care much about the lives of others.
“This should be enough to wear, right?”
Although everyone believed this was a human life being used to handle a nuclear incident, for formality's sake, they still managed to get Xing Chen a set of protective equipment — a prototype of the latest R-series powered armor, fitted with additional armor and a three-defense system.
Xing Chen felt full of power, and his health greatly increased.
Once he was ready, everyone evacuated the laboratory.
Xing Chen pushed open the door; the light circuits in the control room had long been completely destroyed by the intense radiation.
In the darkness, the only light source was that highly pure Terra Uranium-235.
After a few steps, his body became increasingly heavy.
There was no burning sensation or nausea. Xing Chen suspected that the nuclear radiation's damage to him had not yet accumulated to the threshold; it should be that the powered armor's Originium circuit was damaged.
Leaving the powered armor, Xing Chen came to the control panel, looking at the small uranium puck before him.
Perhaps he didn't need a nuclear bomb; this alone could help the Sarkaz deter other nations.
Let's forget about it; it's too uncontrollable. Xing Chen deleted this idea along with dirty bombs from his mind.
Having obtained the uranium puck, Xing Chen prepared to transfer it to a safe location.
Because the destructive power and range of this thing were difficult to control, Rhine Lab specifically arranged a route for him to leave Trimounts through the abandoned section of the support layer.
However, Xing Chen did not intend to transport it to the designated area for disposal.
He planned to find Friston and ask him if he had any ideas for converting Terra's uranium into Earth's uranium.
With the civilization level of the Pre-civilization, manipulating matter should be a relatively basic technology, right?
In Xing Chen's plan, nuclear deterrence was still very important for balancing international relations.
There was no way around it; his understanding was limited, and he couldn't think of any other solutions for now.