Inside his mind, the familiar roulette wheel began spinning.
A few seconds later, it slowly stopped.
[Congratulations!]
[You have obtained: Pikachu Template]
"Pikachu, huh?"
The next moment, streams of yellow lightning danced across his fingertips.
Tiny sparks crackled between his hands as he felt electrical energy flowing through his body.
"So I can even get Pokémon templates."
"That's actually pretty cool."
He then looked at the progress bar of his innate ability.
"Hmm?"
His eyes widened slightly.
The progress bar had reached 60%.
Only 40% remained before Random Super Gacha leveled up.
"So much?"
He quickly understood why.
"It was a good idea to steal from Hammer Industries."
Hammer Industries supplied weapons to militaries and criminal organizations around the world.
By taking away their weapons, prototypes, and manufacturing capability, he had prevented countless future deaths.
The karmic judgment of his innate ability had recognized those actions as a major positive contribution.
"As expected..."
"The result was much better than I imagined."
Zayden smiled as yellow lightning continued to flicker around his hands.
"Only forty percent more."
"I wonder what new feature I'll unlock once Random Super Gacha reaches the next level."
Zayden smiled before opening his eyes.
"I'll find out soon enough."
He looked at the yellow sparks dancing across his fingertips.
The Pikachu Template wasn't nearly as destructive as Graviton, but it had its own advantages.
Electricity.
High speed.
Quick reflexes.
And a body naturally resistant to electrical attacks.
"It should be useful."
With a thought, a small bolt of lightning shot from his fingertip and struck a metal toolbox across the room.
Crack!
The toolbox shook slightly as tiny arcs of electricity spread across its surface.
"Not bad."
He increased the output.
A much larger stream of lightning burst from his hand and struck one of the old generators he had brought back from Hammer Industries.
The generator immediately powered on.
Lights throughout the workshop lit up one after another.
"So I can directly supply electricity."
That alone could save him a lot of time while experimenting with new technology.
He walked over to one of Hammer Industries' damaged drones.
His arm transformed into Upgrade.
Instead of using external power, he directly supplied electricity from the Pikachu Template while Upgrade repaired the damaged circuits.
Within a few minutes, the drone slowly lifted off the table.
Its propellers spun quietly as it hovered in front of him.
"It works."
The combination of the two templates was surprisingly useful.
Upgrade handled the repairs.
Pikachu supplied the power.
Neither interfered with the other.
"It looks like different templates can complement each other."
That was another valuable discovery.
After making a mental note of it, Zayden changed into his school uniform.
Before leaving, he glanced at the television in the living room.
Every news channel was covering the same story.
Hammer Industries had suffered the largest unexplained theft in its history.
Government officials had already begun investigating.
The FBI had joined the case.
Several military representatives had also arrived at the facility.
"So it's already become national news."
Zayden smiled faintly.
"Good."
He picked up his car keys.
"Time for school."
A few minutes later, the upgraded Lamborghini rolled out of the mansion and headed toward Midtown High School while the entire country continued wondering how Hammer Industries had lost billions of dollars' worth of equipment in a single night.
The rest of the school day passed without any incidents.
None of the teachers mentioned Hammer Industries.
Most of the students were more interested in weekend plans than national news.
When the final bell rang, Zayden returned to the parking lot and got into his Lamborghini.
Instead of driving straight home, he headed toward the park where he had hidden the magical storage crate.
The lake was quiet.
After making sure nobody was nearby, he took out the Crate.
He placed the crate inside the hidden compartment of the Lamborghini before driving back to his mansion.
About half an hour later, he parked in the underground garage.
He carried the crate into his expanded basement and placed it on the floor.
Taking a deep breath, he unlocked it.
The familiar entrance to the pocket dimension appeared before him.
Zayden stepped inside.
Rows upon rows of weapons, military vehicles, industrial machines, research equipment, and manufacturing tools stretched into the distance.
Everything from Hammer Industries had been perfectly organized.
He slowly walked through the workshop.
"There really is enough equipment here to build almost anything."
His eyes stopped on several robotic assembly machines.
Nearby were advanced CNC machines, industrial-grade 3D printers, robotic arms, missile guidance computers, and countless electronic components.
He nodded in satisfaction.
"I should start building my own powered armor."
With everything he had stolen, he already possessed enough technology to begin the project.
However, after thinking for a few moments, he shook his head.
"The biggest problem is still the power source."
His thoughts immediately turned toward Tony Stark.
"The Arc Reactor."
Even the first miniature Arc Reactor produced an incredible amount of clean energy.
It was far beyond anything Hammer Industries had.
"Should I steal one from Tony?"
He frowned.
"That won't work."
Tony hadn't been kidnapped yet.
The miniature Arc Reactor didn't exist.
Stark Industries certainly possessed advanced energy research, but nothing close to the reactor Tony would invent inside the cave.
"I could steal his research..."
"But I probably wouldn't gain much."
Tony himself was the biggest reason the Arc Reactor existed.
Without the experience of being trapped in Afghanistan, he might never create the miniature version this early.
Zayden folded his arms.
"Instead of rushing after Stark..."
"I should use what I already have."
Hammer Industries still had excellent manufacturing equipment.
Combined with Upgrade and the knowledge stored in his advanced phone, he could build a solid first-generation armor.
It wouldn't be as powerful as Iron Man's future suits, but it would be more than enough for the current stage of the world.
"My goal isn't to surpass Tony immediately."
"It's to build a reliable foundation."
Once Tony eventually created the Arc Reactor, Zayden could always improve his own armor further.
For now, there was no need to force the timeline.
"And now that I have all of this... why not build my own company first?" Zayden muttered.
He looked around at the enormous amount of technology and equipment stored inside the magical space.
"I could even build my own weapons company."