(Crazy Thursday V, a chapter for all righteous fathers)
Facing Tony Stark's burning gaze, which made him look like a little brat begging an adult for a new toy, Lin Huai didn't even bat an eyelid.
He turned around and retrieved a palm-sized glass bottle from a simple, antique wooden box under the counter. Inside was a pinch of fine, ash-like black powder.
Under the dim light, the substance had no luster whatsoever; it was like a light-devouring black hole.
This was precisely the [whispering leech ash] he had collected after the "Mobile Sun" project.
Lin Huai pushed the bottle towards Tony. The bottom of the bottle made a slight sound as it scraped across the old wooden countertop.
"This is the sample you wanted." He paused, his tone casual. "A friendly reminder, Mr. Stark. This thing is a bit noisy. When you're not feeling your best, it's best not to get too close to it."
"Noisy?" Tony raised one eyebrow, revealing his signature, rakish smile (¯\_(ツ)_/¯). "Oh? Does it sing to me? Rock or opera?"
As he spoke, he picked up the glass bottle. The bottle was cool to the touch, feeling no different from ordinary glass. He held it up to his eye, examining it carefully against the moonlight. The black powder lay quietly at the bottom of the bottle, emitting no energy fluctuations or any abnormalities.
But in Tony Stark's World, the greatest anomaly was the inexplicable.
"Pleasure doing business, consultant." Tony carefully placed the small bottle like a treasure into the inner pocket of his suit, giving it a gentle pat through the layer of expensive fabric. "My payment will be delivered on time. I hope that by our next meeting, I can present you with a complete analysis report telling you exactly what kind of cosmic garbage this pinch of ash is."
Before the words had fully left his mouth, he had already turned and strode away with the confidence of an apex predator.
Watching his retreating back, Lin Huai's lips curled into an almost imperceptible arc.
An analysis report? I'm afraid your worldview will be the one analyzed by that report... For the next thirty-six hours, Tony Stark barely slept a wink.
He locked himself in the Class A biochemical lab on the top floor of Stark Tower.
The lights here illuminated everything as if it were broad daylight. Beyond the panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows, the night view of New York City was as bustling as a river of stars, but Tony couldn't be bothered to look. His entire World had condensed into the small sample dish in front of him.
He didn't immediately resort to those World-destroying devices. For a true scientist, the first step in exploring the unknown is always basic analysis.
"Jarvis, initiate Phase One analysis. High-precision mass spectrometer."
"Yes, sir."
A massive robotic arm precisely picked up a dust-like particle of ash and placed it into the instrument's vacuum chamber. Complex spectral lines began dancing across the screen. Tony confidently picked up a cup of coffee. In his knowledge system, everything was composed of elements. No exceptions.
Ten minutes later.
"Sir, the analysis results... show an anomaly that cannot be parsed." Jarvis's voice carried a hint of confusion for the first time.
Tony's brow furrowed into an 'emmm' shape: "What anomaly? Recalibrate the instrument."
"Instrument self-check is normal, sir. However, the data stream feedback from the sample exhibits a... chaotic state of irregularity. It does not match the atomic mass or spectral characteristics of any known element. In other words, it does not occupy any position on the periodic table."
"Impossible!!!" Tony slammed his coffee cup down with a 'clang' and strode over to the screen.
For hours on end, he personally took over, repeatedly adjusting and calibrating, switching to three different types of mass spectrometers based on different principles. The results were all the same - chaos, unknown, undefinable.
It felt as if he wasn't analyzing a substance, but a mathematical paradox mocking modern chemistry.
"WTF..." Tony muttered to himself. Far from being discouraged, the fire in his eyes burned even brighter.
He shifted from analysis to testing.
He tried to dissolve it, but neither water, strong acids, nor even aqua regia had any effect on it.
He tested its electrical and thermal conductivity. The result was an absolute zero.
It was like a ghost existing independently of all physical laws.
Pepper's concerned phone calls were cut off. Jarvis's health warnings were ignored. The continuous failures and repeated theoretical dead-ends finally wore down Tony's patience.
"Since I can't understand you, then I'll master you!"
The wild instinct of an engineer overwhelmed the scientist's rigor.
"Jarvis! Prepare Robotic Arm #3! Get me the A-7 grade titanium alloy solution for a micro-fusion experiment!!!"
"Sir, risk assessment..."
"Execute!!!"
Under the robotic arm's precise operation, a small pinch of ash was dropped into the titanium alloy solution heated to thousands of degrees. There was no explosion, no smoke. The pinch of ash effortlessly melted into it, as smoothly as if returning home.
Soon, a silver-gray module integrated into an armor gauntlet was 3D printed and cooled into shape.
Tony secured the gauntlet to the testing platform, his eyes filled with obsessive anticipation (✧∀✧).
"Activate automated sentry gun. Fire!"
The sentry gun's muzzle glowed red. The next second, however, its smooth target acquisition movements suddenly became erratic, swaying back and forth like a drunkard, utterly unable to lock on.
"Warning. Target data stream is in disarray." Jarvis's voice took on a grave tone. "I can see it, but I cannot aim at it. Its signature signal is jumping randomly and irregularly."
"Cognitive interference?" Tony was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Ha! Making enemies miss! I like that!!!"
He switched to manual mode, personally aimed at the gauntlet module, and pulled the trigger!!!
"Bang!"
The bullet struck the module, leaving a dent. Physical defensive capability showed no improvement.
Just as Tony was feeling a bit disappointed, he suddenly felt the surroundings had become unnervingly quiet.
"Jarvis, did you turn off the ambient audio?"
"Sir, the laboratory is currently in a state of absolute silence."
Tony was dumbfounded.
Because he clearly heard a sound.
An extremely faint, rustling sound that didn't seem to come through his ears, but resonated directly inside his mind.
Like the static noise from an old radio tuning between stations.
He shook his head, and the sound vanished.
"Hallucination? Too tired..."
But when he focused his gaze once more on that bizarre gauntlet, the damned rustling sound returned, faint and elusive, like a ghostly shadow.
An indescribable irritation welled up from the depths of his heart.
He grabbed the black encrypted phone and dialed Lin Huai's number.
"I've examined your sample." Tony's voice was hoarse, yet carried an unprecedented mix of relaxation and excitement. "I admit, my teacup cannot measure your ocean."
He paused, lowering his voice as if confirming a secret.
"And... it's noisy, right? Like a broken radio that can never be tuned to the right signal."
Without waiting for Lin Huai's reply, he continued on his own, his voice filled with a kind of reckless madness.
"OK, Lin, I'm ready."
"In three days, my research vessel, the [poseidon], sets sail!!! That octopus you mentioned, I'm going to catch a whole ship-load of them and throw them into my lab!"