Assassin Alliance Headquarters.
Smith returned straight to his base and walked into the laboratory that had been set up for Bulma. He saw her busily assembling and calibrating machines, and called out:"Bulma."
Hearing her name, Bulma stopped what she was doing, turned around, and smiled brightly at the sight of him."Smith-oniisan!"
"Oh right — here's the Dragon Radar you asked for. I already finished it."
"I replicated it one-to-one based on my previous design. But… since there are no Dragon Balls here yet, I can't really test if it works properly."
Smith was impressed by Bulma's speed. Of course, the Dragon Balls had turned to stone after his last negai (wish), so there was no way to test it anyway.
He took the radar from her hands and said:"The Dragon Balls have a one-year cooldown. I just used them recently, so they've turned to stone for now."
Bulma nodded in understanding."Then the radar itself should be fine. Once they recover, it'll work."
Smith put the radar away and asked:"Bulma, have you researched the chiryo kan (healing chamber) yet?"
Bulma thought for a moment and replied:"The chiryo kan is incredibly advanced. Some of its components simply don't exist here. I don't even know if I can find substitutes on this Earth."
"For now, I can't recreate another chamber. A lot of the technology and materials here are far behind what I'm used to — many devices aren't even on the market."
"But, I did let John try the existing chamber. It worked really well — all his lingering injuries were healed and his body was restored to its peak condition."
Smith agreed with her assessment. As the daughter of the Capsule Corporation's founder and Earth's wealthiest man, she'd grown up with far more advanced tech than even Marvel's Earth could casually offer. Sure, there was kuro gijutsu (black technology) scattered around here — Wakanda's vibranium-based tech in particular — but for now, his organization didn't have access.
He made a mental note: he'd need to secure some vibranium from Wakanda when the chance came. Who knew what Bulma could create with it?
As for John's recovery, he wasn't surprised — though he did wonder how much stronger John could still get, and whether he could one day feel ki (energy).
Smith continued:"Since recreating the chamber is impossible for now, don't focus on it. Instead, keep studying the differences between the two Earths' technology and materials. That'll help with your experiments."
Bulma nodded. She'd already been doing just that these past few days.
"Smith-oniisan," she added excitedly, "about the jūryoku shitsu (gravity room) you mentioned — I checked into this world's research. Turns out, they started studying it back in the last century."
"There are even functioning supergravity labs already — though they use centrifugal force. With the technology and materials available here, building a gravity lab is definitely possible. But… it'll take a lot of space."
"This base is too small to fit a proper one."
Smith was a little surprised. He hadn't realized that even back in the 20th century they'd experimented with things like antigravity and supergravity — though remembering Howard Stark's work, it made sense.
Her words reminded him: he needed a larger base. That would cost more money — but it was worth it.
"You're right," Smith said. "I'll have Fox purchase land and build a larger base."
Bulma beamed and nodded. Then she hesitated, before her eyes sparkled."Smith-oniisan… I'd also like to see this world for myself. See how it's different from ours."
She was clearly curious about this unfamiliar world — though she hadn't had the chance to leave the Assassin Alliance yet.
Smith thought for a moment."If I have time, I'll go with you. Or I can have Pur, Fox, or John take you around nearby. But you'll still have responsibilities here for now, so it can't be too far."
Bulma grabbed his arm and gave it a little shake in delight."Yay! Even just exploring nearby is fine."
Her curiosity was natural. After all, to her it was unbelievable that a single planet could split into 193 countries — on her Earth, there was one global government dividing the world into 43 regions.
…
Meanwhile.
Tony sat in his Rolls Royce, headed for the press conference. In the car, he glanced curiously at Pepper."Pepper, what exactly did you promise Smith when you hired him?"
Pepper looked back at him."I promised to purchase $100 million worth of scientific equipment and materials for them. Here's their list."
She handed him a tablet with Fox's forwarded list.
Tony skimmed through it. Nothing stood out as unusual to him."These are simple enough. Buy them as soon as possible and deliver them."
Pepper nodded and added:"I also promised them a shipment of weapons and access to our weapons sales channel."
That made Tony pause. Giving away a batch of weapons was nothing — but granting them access to Stark Industries' weapons channel was not trivial, especially with some of the more "fun" toys the military wouldn't allow for private buyers.
"Just who is this Smith?" Tony asked.
Pepper was silent for two seconds, then explained everything she knew — including how she'd used JARVIS to pull up a dossier on Smith from Tony's home computer.
Tony was visibly shocked. It wasn't at all what he'd assumed.
But now he understood why Pepper had promised weapons and sales access — someone of Smith's standing really would need them. Still… Tony thought about his own plans. He'd have to apologize to Smith — because once he made his announcement, Pepper's promise would have to be broken.
But remembering their agreement, Tony decided to offer Smith an alternative. Perhaps replacing the weapons channel with an exclusive Stark Industries scientific procurement channel would interest him even more.
…
(End of Chapter)
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