Zod was in the middle of a new round of research.
Everyone knew that under extreme pressure, the familiar macroscopic laws of physics got warped and mangled.
And Zod, besides being a master of electromagnetism, was also a master of gravity.
Gravity might be the weakest of the four fundamental forces, but once it reached a certain level, it became terrifying.
Right now, Zod was running gravitational force at full output. All matter was being crushed down to atomic scale, and strange changes began to appear.
That overwhelming, monstrous gravity did not just compress matter. It kneaded atoms like flour, flattening and pressing them, then arranging them with exquisite precision, packed so tightly there was no gap at all.
Under such extreme pressure, atoms changed structure, stretching into spaghetti-like strands, then stacking in layer upon layer.
Then Zod increased the gravity again.
Those spaghetti-state atoms instantly transformed, becoming hollow tube-like structures laid out in parallel.
In the universe, there was already a substance formed in this way.
Neutron stars.
And the material Zod produced, this neutron-star-like matter formed from atoms…
Could be said to be the most, most, most, most unbreakable material currently known in this universe.
Zod felt faint. Synthesizing neutron-star matter drained far too much strength.
The pressure limit it could withstand reached one hundred million tons per cubic centimeter. Armor forged from it would be something no one could break.
"But in the short term, even I can't wear it," Zod said.
It was simply too heavy, so for now, this neutron-star matter could only be admired.
As for whether it would cause Earth's gravity field to collapse and blow the planet apart, that would not happen. Zod was stabilizing it.
"Boss, you actually synthesized neutron-star matter. That's unbelievable," Black Queen said, scanning the violently distorted gravitational field around it.
"This is nothing," Zod replied. "Back on Krypton, there were neutron-star matter cannons. One shot could destroy a planet, even a star."
He had only simulated Krypton's ultra-gravity device to make this neutron-star matter.
The efficiency did not even compare.
"Zod."
A voice, unfamiliar yet somehow familiar, sounded. Zod turned around.
"Ancient One, you're going to scare people to death doing that."
Zod made it clear he was extremely dissatisfied with how the Ancient One kept appearing out of nowhere.
"Sorry," the Ancient One said with a smile. "But I don't think you would actually be frightened."
"So you're here because of Morgan?" Zod asked.
He carefully had Black Queen destroy the bad stuff. At the same time, he used psychic power and electromagnetism to build defensive measures, so he would not be invaded without even noticing.
"No, Zod. I need your help with something," the Ancient One said, shaking her head.
After the Darkhold had actively sought Morgan out, the Ancient One no longer dared let her stay alone, in case Chthon descended directly.
For a dimensional demon god at Chthon's level, it would not be affected by the Time Stone. In other words, it was not something the Ancient One could see in the future.
It was an unpredictable, hard-to-guard-against variable.
After all, Earth was no longer like the ancient era when Old Gods ran wild and even the Celestials were driven off. Now Earth had only the Ancient One standing guard, and things were getting harder and harder.
"Can I refuse?" Zod said immediately.
"I can let you enter the library of Kamar-Taj," the Ancient One offered, trying to tempt him.
"That place doesn't interest me," Zod shook his head.
Magic in the Marvel world demanded too high a price. You could even say it was not really magic, because even white magic required payment.
A simple example.
After Doctor Strange, Stephen Strange, became the Sorcerer Supreme, he could only sleep three hours a night. Any longer and he would fall into nightmares he could never escape. In his stomach was an ulcer the size of a sewer rat. At least twice a day he would cough up large fragments of his own soul.
He was used to vomiting no matter what he ate. A double infection of body and spirit brought violent diarrhea so severe his soul felt drained. And any ordinary food without magic, whether eaten or even just touching his lips, would turn to dust. In daily life he would inevitably, unpredictably suffer horrifying hallucinations, mushrooms would grow on his face, and pus would spray out.
Even his kidney stones gained an evil self-awareness and made him piss blood again and again.
And those were only the simplest prices, and only the prices of white magic. White magic came from the gentle power of the Vishanti Trinity, already a heavily reduced cost.
You could imagine how brutal Marvel magic really was. The Ancient One trying to drag him into that pit had to be bad intentions.
"Kamar-Taj's library doesn't only have spellbooks," the Ancient One said evenly. "It also has cultivation methods for chi from K'un-Lun."
"K'un-Lun? Iron Fist's chi cultivation?" Zod froze.
"Maybe," the Ancient One replied, sounding oddly noncommittal.
"That can't be right. I remember K'un-Lun's Iron Fist isn't just strong from chi alone. You also need the power of the dragon Shou-Lao, and this generation's Iron Fist already exists," Zod said, making it clear he would not be fooled.
Of course he coveted the Iron Fist's power.
After all, one generation of Iron Fist, Wu Fengji, had directly beaten down the Phoenix Force at its peak when it came to Earth, then became its host and was now out in the cosmos acting as a hero.
"You know quite a lot. True, every Iron Fist needs the power of an ancient dragon to become a true Iron Fist," the Ancient One said, shaking her head. "But you are different, Zod."
She had also seen this generation's Iron Fist. He had come to America, but he felt weak. Compared to past Iron Fists, the current one felt like a child, not someone she could entrust with heavy responsibility.
That was why she did not want to come to Zod, but had no choice.
Zod was powerful, but he was also someone even the countless timelines revealed by the Eye of Agamotto could not see. The Ancient One had always felt uneasy about him. She wanted to exile him into the universe. If Zod returned to Earth, she assumed she would already be dead.
But she also feared Zod would take it out on Kamar-Taj, so she made no move against him. Fortunately, after she intervened a few times, Zod seemed to have grown wary, and his actions were not as unrestrained as before.
"What's different about me? I've got two eyes and a nose just like Iron Fist. Don't tell me I have three heads and six arms," Zod shot back.
"You are extraordinarily gifted," the Ancient One said seriously.
After all, not everyone could be like Zod, touching the threshold of the Skyfather level so quickly, on top of wielding two fundamental forces…
/-\
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