The plasma furnace was vast—like the gaping mouth of a volcano—radiating a scorching heat that seemed to melt the very air. The entire perimeter of the furnace glowed brilliantly, as if it were a portal opening into some unknown world.
A few workers, clad in heavy protective suits, operated forklifts in an orderly fashion, precisely placing massive metal doors in the designated area.
Ethan stood silently in his Hulkbuster armor, watching them work.
The vibranium doors he had retrieved from the Baxter Building were double-layered; a single panel fit perfectly into the furnace's opening.
The workers moved with practiced precision. Though their faces were hidden behind visored helmets, their deft motions betrayed long familiarity with such operations.
The adamantium that made up Logan's skeleton had once been smelted in this very Weapon X facility. He was the most iconic masterpiece of the Weapon X Program.
Adamantium was an extremely hard, synthetic steel-based alloy with a secret formula. Its density made it nearly indestructible—it could withstand multiple nuclear detonations or even the mightiest blows from superhumans without a scratch.
Of course, not every universe's adamantium was so tough. The 1610 Ultimate Universe version was far more brittle—the Wolverine of that world was literally torn in half by the Hulk even after having adamantium bonded to his skeleton.
That scene was almost identical to Deadpool being torn apart by Juggernaut in Deadpool 2. The difference, of course, was that Wolverine didn't regrow his lower body; instead, he crawled several kilometers to find his butt hanging on a tree and stitched himself back together.
"Let me handle it."
Watching the temperature reading climb higher and higher on the holographic display inside his helmet, Ethan waved for the workers to stop.
There was nothing more they could do now—and lingering any longer risked heatstroke.
Once the workers left, Ethan moved the Hulkbuster forward, lifted one of the doors, and placed it into the plasma furnace.
The temperature required to melt raw adamantium wasn't especially high—just several thousand degrees Celsius—but vibranium required far more, well above ten thousand degrees.
Fortunately, this plasma furnace wasn't the same one used in Logan's world. The Red Skull had spared no expense in building it for his super-soldier program.
With a heavy clang, Ethan shut the lid, then turned and called out, "Begin!"
At his command, Herbie immediately went to work at the control console, swiftly activating the preset program.
Indicator lights flickered to life, and within the furnace, the energy began to converge, forming a blazing plasma core.
The temperature soared. The vibranium door began to change—vibrating and softening as special resonance instruments sent waves through it, making the metal ripple as if dancing in the heat.
Droplets of molten metal appeared on its surface, spreading rapidly as the heat intensified, until the entire door melted away.
Under Ethan's calm gaze, the vibranium became a silvery ocean, flowing in the plasma currents.
Its surface shimmered with ripples, faintly glowing—like countless stars flickering in liquid starlight.
Herbie carefully fine-tuned the parameters, maintaining an exact energy balance. The liquefied vibranium flowed steadily, its temperature and pressure perfectly controlled, held in the optimal molten state.
The entire process looked less like metallurgy and more like a ritual of modern alchemy.
"Why is it so hot in here?"
Wanda walked in from outside, fanning herself with one hand. A faint red aura shimmered around her—an energy field for cooling—but even so, tiny beads of sweat glistened on her forehead.
She glanced at the molten metal, one brow rising, before turning to Ethan in his Hulkbuster armor. "I heard you had the White Queen brainwash those prisoners?" Her tone was laced with suspicion.
Ethan stood motionless, the armor's polished plates gleaming under the lights. He turned slightly toward her.
"Not exactly, Wanda. We're just trying to help them change—to give them a chance to start over."
Wanda narrowed her eyes, clearly unconvinced. Her crimson coat fluttered in the furnace's hot wind.
"Change for the better? From a moral standpoint, that's a little—"
She stopped herself mid-sentence. From the day she awakened her powers, people had called her a witch—but, truth be told, Miss Maximoff's moral compass was far sharper than most of her critics'.
Well… except for those times when she lost control and went insane.
"Forget it. Just don't drag me into it when you and Emma start pulling stunts like that." The Scarlet Witch sighed, spreading her hands helplessly.
Ever since escaping the zombie universe, she'd noticed her tolerance for crazy situations had gone up dramatically. Was this what people meant by the "broken window effect"?
"Anyway, why did you call me here?" she asked curiously, scanning the chamber.
"I need your help with something."
Ethan gestured to Herbie, and the little round robot immediately spun up. Inside the plasma furnace, part of the molten metal was drawn out by an invisible force and slowly guided into a specially crafted channel.
The channel's inner walls glowed red-hot, preventing the liquid metal from solidifying. The molten vibranium shimmered with a deep silvery sheen, faintly luminous.
Pointing toward the trough, Ethan explained, "This is vibranium I recovered from the Wasteland. I need you to coat the Hulkbuster's armor with it."
Without the right equipment, only someone like Wanda—with her precise telekinetic control—could perform such a delicate task.
"No problem."
Wanda licked her lips, raising one graceful hand. Her fingers trembled lightly, as though communicating with unseen forces.
The molten metal lifted into the air, drawn upward by invisible telekinesis, defying gravity as it floated.
Her energy guided it with flawless precision. The liquid vibranium spread out like flowing mercury, coating the armor layer by layer—carefully avoiding every jet port and joint connection.
As time passed, the molten metal cooled, and the armor's entire appearance transformed—it was no longer the flashy red-and-gold of Stark's signature style.
"Perfect," Ethan murmured, admiring the silvery sheen on his forearms. He lifted each leg in turn, having Wanda finish the coating.
He had no intention of becoming another Achilles—
that unfortunate hero of Greek myth, whose mother dipped him into the River Styx to make him invulnerable, holding him by the heel… leaving that one spot mortal.
He died later on the battlefield, felled by an arrow to that very heel.
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