"How exactly am I supposed to use this?" Steve Rogers asked, his voice laced with caution. Even though the device looked like it could be plunged directly into his arm, he wasn't about to take chances.
"Point the needle at your body—anywhere will do—and press that red button," Little Herta replied, her expression as blank as a doll's.
Finding it really was that simple, Steve didn't press her for more details. He pressed the device against his skin and triggered the serum.
Deep within him, muscle fibers began to tear and knit back together.
The pain wasn't sharp or agonizing, but the sheer, overwhelming sensation of his body detaching from its old self forced a grunt from his throat as he dropped to his knees.
Fortunately, the feeling vanished as quickly as it had arrived. It felt strangely familiar; he'd experienced something similar back when he was first injected with the Super Soldier Serum.
Except...
He looked down at his body.
Unlike the Super Soldier Serum, this Valkyrie Serum hadn't bulked him up. Was it because it was designed for girls?
Perhaps the developers wanted to avoid turning users into muscle-bound titans that didn't fit the typical feminine aesthetic.
He wasn't entirely sure, but he did know one thing: he was starving. It felt like he hadn't eaten in days.
"Steve?" Natasha looked at him, concern etched on her face.
"I'm fine. I'm just... incredibly hungry," Steve said, shaking his head. He tried to focus on something else to push back the gnawing emptiness in his stomach, but it didn't help much.
"The serum likely burned through a massive amount of his energy and stamina during the integration," Dr. Banner offered reasonably.
"Once you're done shopping, I can take you to the staff canteen," Little Herta said, her voice devoid of emotion.
"Thank you." Steve nodded to her, though a thought occurred to him. "Where is Miss Asta?"
It felt like these sorts of duties usually fell to Asta.
"Asta? She's a busy woman. Don't let her demeanor fool you; she is the Lead Researcher of Herta Space Station. She took some time off for personal reasons, but those few days spent on this planet have nearly exhausted her leave."
At this, Little Herta allowed a small, mischievous smirk to play on her lips. "She's going to have her hands full for a while."
The group exchanged glances, unsure of how to comment on that.
"What? A genius like myself is personally acting as your guide, and you're not grateful?" Little Herta's eyebrows knitted together.
"No, it's not that. We just feel... a bit of pressure," Banner admitted awkwardly.
Even though Little Herta's personality differed slightly from Madam Herta herself—and they knew the Madam Herta they'd met was likely a remote-controlled puppet—standing before this miniature version still felt like facing the real deal.
Having a puppet that possessed Madam Herta's own memories act as their tour guide felt like using a railgun to swat a fly.
However, a few of them sensed something was off.
This Little Herta might have the memories of Madam Herta's childhood, but that didn't necessarily mean she possessed her younger self's temperament or genius.
Personality could be shaped by programming, but raw capability depended entirely on what Madam Herta had bothered to install.
Based on what the puppet said, Madam Herta wanted this AI to grow and learn independently. Yet, instead of being in a lab or a research wing, the AI was stuck playing usher.
Did that mean she wasn't actually that useful?
The thought flickered through their minds and vanished.
Even if she wasn't "useful" by Herta's impossible standards, that didn't mean much to ordinary people. What a genius considers a failure is often a miracle to everyone else.
After that brief mental detour, the group turned their attention back to the shop interface.
The Herta Shop was an eye-opener, to say the least.
Thor had never even heard of something called a "Relic," let alone an item named [Talia: Kingdom of Banditry] that could significantly boost his lightning prowess while adding a bit of kick to his physical strikes.
It was unheard of. What kind of sorcery—or technology—was this?
Beyond the Relics, the shop was stocked with armor and gear that could augment a user's various abilities. Everything looked impressive.
But what truly caught Thor's eye was something with a price tag that bordered on the absurd.
The Core of Thunder.
[Upon synchronizing with the Core, the user gains the powers of the Herrscher of Thunder, granting absolute control over lightning, electromagnetism, and electromagnetic force.]
[This includes a "High-Voltage Field" that insulates the user from physical and energy attacks, as well as "Electromagnetic Pulses" capable of shattering molecular chemical bonds.]
Thor wasn't exactly a physics scholar. At first, he didn't grasp just how ridiculous this description was.
Asgard was a spacefaring civilization, true, but their tech was rooted in magic-science hybrids, not pure physics. Terms like "electromagnetic fields" and "pulses" mostly left him scratching his head.
However, he knew that price tags didn't lie.
In a shop where things cost tens of millions, this single item stood alone at a staggering price point.
Even if he couldn't afford it, Thor was curious. Luckily, he knew exactly who to ask, so he waved Tony over.
"Control over electromagnetism?!"
Tony's face immediately contorted into the human equivalent of a stunned cat meme.
"Is it really that powerful?" Thor asked, leaning in. He wanted the details.
"Powerful doesn't even cover it..."
Tony twitched slightly.
"In Earth's physics, electromagnetism is one of the four fundamental forces of the universe. For the record, those are the Strong Nuclear Force, the Weak Nuclear Force, Electromagnetism, and Gravity."
"Out of those four, electromagnetism and gravity are the macroscopic forces, and the former is vastly stronger than the latter," Banner added, walking over.
Since he planned to save up points, he had been wandering the shop while keeping an eye on the others.
Overhearing their conversation, he couldn't help but weigh in.
"To put it simply, the tension you feel when you touch an object, the friction between moving parts, the force behind a push, a pull, or a collision—all of that is essentially electromagnetism at work."
"Furthermore, biological life signs are maintained by bioelectric fields," Tony added, his expression turning grim. "Not even the Chitauri can escape that. In fact, since they're semi-mechanized, they'd be even more vulnerable. If you can control bioelectricity, you aren't just a warrior—you're the natural predator of almost every living thing."
Hearing this, even Thor felt the weight of that power.
Though he didn't quite follow all the technical jargon Tony and Banner were throwing around, the realization hit him like a lightning bolt.
He looked at the hammer in his hand, then back at the Herrscher Core in the shop.
Wait... who exactly was the God of Thunder here?
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.