The snowstorm over the Antarctic grew heavier. Liu A'dou was hard at work in the base, building a substitute for himself. His wife had originally been set to act as the Kaitou's assistant, but she clearly preferred the scent of gunpowder and bullets to sleight of hand and thievery.
So he had no choice but to make a mechanical Kaitou assistant. Poor Liu A'dou. But with an Arc Reactor and Ivan's remote operation system, creating a robot that could run and jump wasn't impossible.
After cleaning up inside and out, Liu A'dou realized the Pharaoh had left behind a lot of useful stuff. He even discovered a full set of genetic grafting equipment. That cool-looking lynx from before had been created here. Liu A'dou didn't yet know how to use those tools, but he could make synthetic skin in petri dishes, which would help make the mechanical Kaitou look more realistic. In the future, he could even manufacture his own mask materials.
With the blueprints fully completed, he entered the hands-on phase. This wasn't just another Iron Man suit—it was an entirely new design that prioritized realism. Everything from the skeleton and joints to the eyes was made to imitate the human body as closely as possible.
He even added a voice-command system, allowing him to control the mechanical Kaitou through vocal cues. This marked a major improvement over Ivan's earlier system. Liu A'dou also downloaded some of the knowledge stored in his brain, hoping to create a robot so lifelike it could pass as human.
Working day and night under bright lights, Liu A'dou used the most basic machining tools to manually process each part. From smelting to assembly, he poured his heart and soul into every step.
Piece by piece, the robot took shape. The base's main hall had turned into a chaotic workshop. Countless cables hung from the ceiling—some feeding power, others linking to processing equipment or computers.
Today was the day of the first launch. Liu A'dou inserted the internal system into the bare metal skull. Then he slotted the Arc Reactor into the chest cavity—unlike Iron Man's, which was centered in the chest, this one sat in the heart position.
Then came the activation.
Wuuuuu—
The robot's iron eyelids opened, revealing camera lenses disguised as eyeballs. They shifted left and right. The feed appeared on the computer monitor. First step, complete.
Liu A'dou put on a Bluetooth earpiece and gave the first command: "Stand up."
Clank—clatter—wuuu—
The robot's metal body shook slightly. Slowly, it rose to its feet. At this stage, it wasn't yet armored or covered in synthetic skin—just a crude skeleton. It sat up and tested its joints, which creaked audibly.
The noise was too loud. If this couldn't be fixed, it would definitely give the whole thing away. And this wasn't something that could be solved with a little grease. The problem lay in the hydraulics.
For robots, hydraulics were like human muscles—essential, but annoyingly loud.
He noted it down as something to fix later. When the robot's metal feet hit the ground, they landed with a heavy thud. There was no cushioning. All the weight slammed directly into the floor. Thankfully, the Pharaoh hadn't cut corners—the flooring was top-grade stone slabs, extremely sturdy.
"Take a few steps."
The skeletal frame stiffly walked forward. Since the system wasn't yet fully synced with the body's sensors, the movements were still crude. It walked exactly as commanded—just two steps—then stopped.
Liu A'dou then had it jump and run. Several issues cropped up. One was the weight—the skeleton alone was heavier than he was. Once armor was added, the whole thing would weigh at least two to three hundred kilograms. Another issue was the delay in receiving voice commands. There was about a two-second lag. He hadn't pinpointed the cause yet—it might be unoptimized software or an underpowered CPU.
The main problems came down to three. In the end, it was just a robot—no one expected it to match the real Kaitou's flexibility and agility.
The weight issue could only be addressed by changing materials, but that wasn't feasible at the moment. The hydraulic noise wasn't easy to eliminate either. The only thing he could realistically tackle for now was the command delay.
Damn it, he had wanted to make a mechanical Kaitou, but it was going so poorly. "Might as well build a Transformer," Liu A'dou muttered with a sigh. There were just too many flaws—no way this version could fool anyone.
So how was he going to fix it? Liu A'dou closed his eyes and started reviewing all the data he had taken from the Magic Box from the beginning. The information was vast and fragmented. It ranged from microscopic atomic restructuring to large-scale cosmic development, from disease prevention to bio-engines. A total mess, and not even close to complete. Most of it was beyond Liu A'dou's understanding. He could only pick out the bits he could grasp, then slowly digest and accumulate that knowledge.
Suddenly, he stumbled on a material labeled "bionic muscle." Despite the name, it wasn't actual muscle. It was a material that could contract and expand based on different electrical signals. Because it functioned similarly to muscle, it was named bionic muscle.
This was gold. If he could manufacture it, the hydraulic issue would be resolved. Not only that, but the material's density was lower than metal, which would also take care of the weight problem. But creating an entirely new material wasn't going to be easy. Still, Liu A'dou had confidence in his hands-on abilities.
Using the equipment in the base, he immediately began his research.
Down in the Antarctic base, time became meaningless. Outside, the Daily Planet's article had finally been published.
Piranha Bob reported the interview with utmost professionalism. Overall, the tone was still positive and carried meaningful support for mutants.
In the piece, the reporter admitted that at first, he didn't want to cover mutants. Everyone knew his style—he never stopped until he provoked his subjects. He thought the higher-ups were trying to set him up by assigning him the task. He faithfully recorded the entire interview process, commented on the trio's responses, and shared parts of the mutants' hopes and determination. He made it clear that mutants weren't demons or monsters, and that making a movie was just one way to change public perception.
He also described Jean's view on superpowers, saying her explanation was entirely reasonable—superpowers were tools. Only human prejudice turned them into weapons.
He wrapped up with this: Since the Civil War, and since Martin Luther King Jr., America is about to witness one of its greatest turning points. The future will be a time when mutants become part of our everyday lives. Stop fixating on mutant criminals. Abandon your prejudice. Get to know real mutants. Discover what makes them special. Go watch Elsa's "Frozen."
The article caused a major stir. This was the Daily Planet, after all—a media outlet with global influence. An article that openly spoke in favor of mutants made it seem like a new era really was on the horizon. Of course, Liu A'dou's "absurd" speculation about the coming cosmic age was completely ignored. Humanity hadn't even conquered the Moon, let alone left the solar system. What nonsense about meeting interstellar civilizations? No one even knew how they'd die once they were out there.
But the ignorant would soon realize just how foresighted Liu A'dou really was. Did people honestly think that if they didn't seek out aliens, aliens wouldn't come to Earth?
Too naive. Thinking they could sit safely in a remote corner of the universe and fight among themselves in peace. Naive. Young.