After arriving at the entrance of the gravity chamber, the door only opened after passing three layers of verification—fingerprint, iris scan, and voice recognition belonging to Luthor.
Once Lucas's identity data was registered into the access-control system, the two of them walked down a corridor about five meters long.
Both sides of the corridor were lined with massive ring-shaped coils, densely wrapped in cables and covered with various instruments.
The entire place gave Lucas a rough, industrial mechanical aesthetic—reminiscent of the heavy machinery style once favored by the old Soviet bloc.
After taking a look around, Lucas asked curiously,
"Why does this look a bit like a particle collider?"
Luthor nodded.
"From the outside alone, they are indeed quite similar."
As he spoke, they passed through the highly sci-fi corridor and soon arrived before a thick alloy gate.
"All of this metal was made using special alloys developed by LexCorp," Luthor explained.
"Even a small tactical nuclear weapon wouldn't be able to breach these walls or this door."
After another unlock sequence, the heavy alloy doors split open to both sides, revealing what lay beyond.
Luthor led the way, guiding Lucas across the threshold and into a vast hall shaped like a giant doughnut.
"This is the gravity hall—the core area where gravity is generated," Luthor said.
"And the device at the center is the heart of the entire system."
Standing in the middle of the hall, Luthor pointed to a towering transparent glass pillar that connected the floor to the domed ceiling.
"The sphere suspended inside that pillar contains the super-heavy element core."
Lucas raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"I know about super-heavy elements, but they shouldn't be the key to generating gravity, should they?"
Luthor smiled.
"Looks like you're not too familiar with this. I won't get into the complicated theory—let me explain it simply."
"Do you know which common celestial bodies in the universe possess the strongest gravity?"
Lucas replied casually,
"Black holes and quasars aside, generally white dwarfs and neutron stars."
"Bingo!"
Luthor snapped his fingers.
"As for how planetary gravity works, I won't waste time explaining that."
"In simple terms, we first use the outer Garnell device to weaken the outer electron structure of the atomic nuclei inside the super-heavy element core."
"Then, by creating a gravitational singularity, we force the atoms to lose their original structure and continuously collapse toward the core."
"This allows us to obtain ultra-high-density matter, similar to that found in white dwarfs or neutron stars—thus generating extremely powerful gravity."
"Of course, the real challenge is how to apply that gravity to this room."
Luthor tapped the glass pillar, which stood over ten meters tall.
"The key lies right here."
"This device disperses gravity evenly. The technology was derived from the anti-gravity system found on that alien spacecraft."
"It's the same core technology that allowed the ship to ignore Earth's gravity, maneuver freely, and hover in midair."
"It can evenly distribute the immense gravitational force produced by the super-heavy core throughout the entire chamber."
"Or, if needed, it can completely eliminate gravity and put the room into a zero-gravity state."
As he spoke, Luthor walked to the central control console.
"I've already preset all the parameters, since I assumed you might not want to deal with the controls."
"You only need to press the green button to start and the red button to stop."
"As for gravity levels, you can adjust them using either the numeric keypad or the up-and-down controls."
Lucas stepped forward, pressed the green start button, and set the gravity to two times normal.
A faint hum immediately filled the chamber.
The glass pillar at the center began to glow with a dim reddish light, and the pale green sphere suspended inside it slowly took on a red sheen.
Lucas instantly felt the increase in gravity pressing down on his body.
He raised his hand, clenched his fist, and threw a few punches into the air.
Soft sonic booms echoed faintly.
"Mm. It works."
The added load on his muscles pleased him, and he reached out to increase the gravity further.
"Wait!"
Luthor quickly stopped him.
"Don't forget—I'm not you. Don't get me killed!"
"Sorry," Lucas laughed. He had almost forgotten that Luthor was just an ordinary human.
"I've tested it already," Luthor explained.
"I can withstand up to three times gravity. Anything beyond that would start damaging my internal organs."
Luthor shut down the system, then walked toward the edge of the chamber and pointed at the wall.
"This area is the storage room. You can keep supplies here."
He slid his fingers across the wall, and a display screen appeared. After entering a password, part of the wall shifted aside, revealing a storage space.
Lucas looked inside and saw large barrels of fresh water, along with vacuum-sealed, long-lasting food supplies.
"Considering you're the kind of training maniac who probably doesn't like going in and out frequently," Luthor said,
"I also built a bathroom and shower over there."
"Of course, you can enjoy gravity enhancement while using them."
After closing that door, Luthor opened another one.
"I figured you'd complain that the gravity multiplier isn't enough, so I prepared a full set of weighted training gear for you."
"From headgear to clothing to boots—everything's included."
"The weights inside are made from ultra-high-density metals custom-crafted by LexCorp's materials research division."
Lucas stepped forward and picked up a weighted vest.
The moment he lifted it, his eyes narrowed—this thing weighed over a hundred kilograms.
"The lightest set weighs about six hundred kilograms," Luthor said.
"The heaviest one is stored in another room—it weighs one thousand five hundred kilograms, or 1.5 tons."
"Just that 1.5-ton set alone—between the super-tough alloys and the hardest materials currently known to human metallurgy—cost nearly thirty million dollars."
Lucas nodded in satisfaction.
"You've put real thought into this. Thank you."
Luthor nodded back.
"Most of this tech came from the ship. Without your help, none of this would've been possible."
"And since I promised you, I was going to give you the best—nothing less."
Lucas patted Luthor on the shoulder with a sigh.
"I won't say much more. I'll remember this."
Internally, he thought:
'If you ever betray me in the future, I'll just beat you a little lighter to repay these favors.'
"Small matter," Luthor laughed, throwing an arm around Lucas's shoulder.
"There's no need for formalities between us."
As for what Luthor was truly thinking—
Lucas didn't have mind-reading abilities, so he had no way of knowing.
But one thing was certain.
It probably wasn't anything good.
_____
T/N:
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