Marvel Cybernetic Girl

Chapter 92: 92 The Unmovable Hammer

After the meal, Tony Stark and Kagura Hitomi followed Natasha Romanoff westward from Puente Antiguo, heading toward the location where the rumored "falling object" had landed.

Pepper and Happy stayed behind in town to handle hotel arrangements and other matters.

Kagura knew exactly what was coming.

Based on Natasha's description, they were about to see Thor's Mjolnir—the hammer of the Thunder God.

Mjolnir, Thor's enchanted hammer, was supposedly forged by Odin from the core of a dying star, and it's said to hold immense power.

After receiving Odin's blessing, only those deemed worthy can lift it.

Kagura didn't care who could lift Mjolnir—she certainly didn't think she was worthy to wield it.

But then again, if being an automaton disqualified her from Mjolnir's criteria, that might be another story.

However, on second thought, that theory didn't hold.

If that were the case, wouldn't Ultron be able to lift it?

And everyone knew that the reason Vision could lift the hammer was because of his inherent goodness, and the fact that he contained the Mind Stone.

''Sigh. Forget it, forget it!' The girl shook her head and looked out the window at the vast desert landscape.

What really intrigued her was why Mjolnir had such godly power.

The hammer seemed to have its own consciousness, which led Kagura to think that it might be an artificial intelligence—or at least, have one embedded within it.

The Asgardians were technologically advanced far beyond Earth, yet their tech wasn't completely incomprehensible.

When technology becomes so advanced that it's beyond human understanding, people call it magic.

So, could Kagura reverse-engineer some of Asgardian tech to enhance her own Rhodes Island industry?

That would definitely be useful in her mission to defend Earth.

She thought this over, focusing her mind while her holographic UI system continued to run quietly.

No new tasks had popped up yet, nor were there any new items in the store.

It had been a while since she'd last reviewed her skills.

During this time, she'd completed three additional tasks and unlocked two new concept skills—[Full-Spectrum Electromagnetic Invisibility] and [Electromagnetic Control].

The remaining task, "Assist Natasha with investigating Hammer Industries," had disappeared.

It seemed that getting the "all options" choice in branching tasks was harder than she thought.

What surprised Kagura was that no additional task appeared during the battle against Whiplash.

'So... was Ivan Vanko just a cheap guy who isn't even worth a single QP? That was a little sad,' she thought with a laugh.

Currently, Kagura had 20 QP, which was a decent amount, but there were still plenty of things to unlock that would require more than that.

Should she focus on unlocking more concept skills, or buy some mysterious tech from the store?

She looked through the items in the system's store.

Most of them didn't seem all that useful at the moment.

First, the AI upgrade module could be ruled out.

Cortana was functioning perfectly, so no need to upgrade her.

There was also the [Adamantium Alloy Structural Blueprint/10 QP], but she didn't really need it.

Vibranium was more than enough for her purposes, and Adamantium Alloy, while harder than Vibranium, didn't have the energy-absorbing properties that Vibranium did.

So what was she going to do with it?

Maybe get an Adamantium Alloy knife to cut Captain America's shield?

But why would she even want to fight Captain America?@@novelbin@@

'Forget it.'

She moved on to the last two items:

[Negative Space Light Quantum Energy Supply Device Improvement Blueprint/10 QP]

[Negative Space Light Quantum Advanced Energy Core Prototype Blueprint/20 QP]

Since Tony Stark had already upgraded his Arc Reactor, Kagura's Arc Reactor tech was probably due for an update too.

Future equipment would likely require stronger power sources, as her previous use of the electromagnetic cannon showed signs of power shortages.

'Hmm, the new Arc Reactor tech looks like a good option.'

Of course, if she could obtain better Asgardian tech here, then she might put the Arc Reactor upgrade on hold.

"We've arrived," Natasha reminded them.

The car slowly came to a stop, and Kagura looked ahead.

Not far off, a massive circular crater was starting to take shape.

At the center of the pit stood a silvery metal hammer.

There were already a number of people gathered around the crater, apparently drawn by the same rumor, all eager to try and lift the strange hammer.

A burly man flexed his muscles, gathered all his strength, and tried to lift the hammer from the ground, but it wouldn't budge.

An older man, having had a drink for courage, was straining his body and pulling with all his might—still nothing.

A grandfather, not willing to try personally, pulled out a steel chain from his car, wrapped it around the hammer, and then floored the accelerator, revving the engine.

The tires spun, kicking up dust and smoke.

With a loud 'clang', the back end of the car was suddenly lifted off the ground and slammed heavily into the dirt.

"Did It work?" The old man, wearing sunglasses, leaned out of his car with a grin, causing everyone around him to burst into laughter.

"Looks like they're having fun," Tony Stark said, observing the crowd.

"So it's not a meteorite, but a hammer—a real hammer?"

"It does seem like that's the case," Natasha replied.

"Tell me, Natasha, this isn't something you planned, right? This isn't some S.H.I.E.L.D. vacation scheme?" Tony asked suspiciously.

"Of course not," Natasha laughed. "It's just a lucky coincidence."

"Forget it, let's go try it ourselves," Tony said, stepping forward. "I want to see what kind of powers that hammer has."

"Sister…?" Kagura piped up.

"Hm?" Natasha turned to her.

"Well... I want to have some skewers," Kagura said sheepishly.

"Alright, I'll go get them for you, my little food princess," Natasha said with a sigh, gently tapping Kagura's head.

"Hehe, thanks, Sister! You're the best!" Kagura said happily, as Natasha walked off.

After Natasha was distracted, Kagura opened the communicator on her earrings.

"Cortana, deploy Rhodes Island industrial reconnaissance drones to scan that hammer and see if we can get any insight into Asgardian tech."

"Command confirmed, Master," Cortana responded.

After Thor's hammer landed here, the place had essentially turned into a tourist spot.

Anyone who came by couldn't resist the urge to try lifting the mysterious hammer.

Although many had proven that lifting it was virtually impossible, human nature is such that failure doesn't deter people but actually fuels the desire to try even more.

After watching for a while, Tony Stark rolled up his sleeves and stepped into the crowd, ready to give it a shot.

'Ah, looks like Mr. Stark is about to put on a show.'

Standing not far off, Kagura Hitomi held a freshly grilled skewer, eagerly watching Tony's every move.

Rather than obsessing over whether or not the hammer could be lifted, Kagura was more interested in whether this could be an opportunity to acquire some Asgardian tech.

To this end, Rhodes Island's drone was already on its way.

Besides, if Thor's hammer was here, then Thor himself should be on Earth as well.

Meeting the future "Strongest Avengers" and making his acquaintance naturally became part of her recent action plan.

But no matter what, Kagura was still curious to see how Tony Stark would lift Mjolnir.

Of course, given the timeline, Tony Stark probably wouldn't be able to lift it.

'Hmm... I knew it, spoiler alert.'

Kagura muttered to herself internally.

The rules around Mjolnir's "worthiness" weren't exactly clear.

From what Kagura knew, it didn't seem to follow any specific guidelines.

It almost seemed like it was up to the hammer's mood, or maybe Odin's?

Being righteous, kind, having kingly qualities, or even simply having immense strength and the power to rule could all be triggers for lifting the hammer.

After all, Hela, the goddess of death, could lift it, and she was far from kind.

Perhaps it was just a simple matter of "worthiness."

At this point, Tony Stark was already standing beside Mjolnir.

He stretched his muscles and then grabbed the hammer's handle.

"Is this really from outer space? It looks like something from a toy store," he said with a smirk.

He gave it his all, attempting to lift the hammer.

The result, of course, was predictable.

Mjolnir stayed firmly grounded, not budging an inch.

"Interesting, but I trust physics," Tony Stark said, undeterred by the surrounding crowd.

He pulled out his phone.

"Jarvis, locate my coordinates and air-drop my 'luggage.'"

"Your requested package is on the way, Mr. Stark," Jarvis replied.

"What's he up to now?"

"Isn't he Iron Man, Tony Stark?"

"Do you think he could lift it if he wore the suit?"

The crowd started whispering among themselves, growing quieter as they looked up to the sky, waiting for the "luggage" Tony had mentioned.

"What's going on?"

Natasha Romanoff asked Kagura from a distance.

Kagura smiled and replied, "Looks like Mr. Stark is about to get serious."

A few minutes later, the roar of a large plane engine filled the air.

A modified C-17 strategic transport aircraft flew low, releasing a massive metal crate from its cargo hold.

The metal crate didn't deploy any parachutes, instead using jet thrusters to precisely adjust its descent toward Tony Stark.

"Oh… my god! Run!"

People scattered as the crate rapidly approached, but Tony Stark stood still, unperturbed.

"Wow, looks like Stark really brought the whole Iron Man suit maintenance kit with him." Kagura commented.

"As expected from Mr. Stark, always so over-the-top and full of surprises."

"That's right," Natasha nodded in agreement. "He's always so dramatic."

After the failure of Mark 5, Tony Stark had frequently mentioned the shortcomings of portable Iron Man suits.

It seemed he was looking for a better solution than what Mark 5 offered.

Perhaps due to technical limitations or simply because the idea hadn't fully materialized, the "official sequel" to Mark 5, the Mark 42 modular remote-controlled suit, was still a long way off.

But in this world, Tony Stark had come up with a completely different solution.

Rather than making the Iron Man suit itself portable and sacrificing combat effectiveness, why not make the entire suit's maintenance and assembly system portable instead?

'Boom—!'

As Kagura Hitomi mused, the massive metal crate used its thrusters to slow its descent, landing smoothly in front of Tony Stark.

"Long time no see, baby."

Tony Stark smiled and activated the nearby remote control.

The crate opened automatically to reveal the red and gold Mark 6 Iron Man suit.

Tony walked onto the assembly platform formed by the open crate, and with the cheers and gasps from the crowd, he began to suit up, transforming into the iconic Iron Man.

"Alright, time to get to work!"

Fully suited up, Iron Man walked down from the platform and stood next to Mjolnir again.

He gripped the hammer tightly.

"Jarvis, give me some power!"

At his command, the arc reactor in the Iron Man suit powered up to its maximum, and small thrusters on the wrists, elbows, and throughout the suit fired, propelling Iron Man into action.

Plasma gases erupted from the suit, kicking up a storm of dust around him.

"Hm, clearly not scientific," Kagura mused.

"Cortana, are the drones ready? Start the full-spectrum scan."

"Instruction confirmed, drones in position, initiating full-spectrum scan and data collection."

With the power of Mark 6, not to mention whether he could lift the hammer, smashing the rocks beneath it would have been a piece of cake.

But Mjolnir still didn't budge. The rock structure beneath it remained completely intact.

This clearly didn't follow the laws of science.

Something else was at play here.

Up above, at about thirty meters in the air, four Rhodes Island drones hovered, cloaked in optical camouflage, undetectable to those below.

The drones' full-spectrum scanning devices were activated, continuously transmitting data to Cortana's main server in New York.

Kagura firmly believed that no scientific principle is beyond the universe's basic laws, and nothing was completely incomprehensible to human understanding.

She was a staunch advocate of epistemology.

Mjolnir's ability to reject those unworthy of lifting it must be based on some principle.

Whether people call it "magic" or "divine power," Mjolnir's strength was, at its core, likely technology—alien technology from Asgard, far more advanced than Earth's.

And her mission was clear: to decipher that technology.

.............................

[TL Note]

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