"I ate so many crabs that I turned into a Crab Man!"
Appearing before Tifa was a massive half-man, half-crab monstrosity. Well, the upper half was a crab, and the lower half was a man.
"A weirdo who turned into a monster from eating too many crabs?"
This was Tifa's first time encountering such an absurd backstory, and she was a little at a loss. Should she follow the rules of monster hunting and beat it to death, or follow human laws and arrest it?
However, the Crab Man charged right at her, sparing Tifa from having to think about the matter any further.
If she were the old Tifa with the standard Final Fantasy template, she might not have dispatched this Crab Man so easily. But now, carrying Kryptonian soldier genes within her body, Tifa simply closed the distance in a flash. With a quick, short punch, the Crab Man's abdomen was blasted completely apart.
One-Punch Tifa, achieved!
Zod watched Tifa knock out the Crab Man with a single strike and nodded in satisfaction.
The Kryptonian soldier genes were indeed perfectly suited for combat. Tifa had only been absorbing sunlight for a few days, yet she could already throw punches with five hundred tons of force. Compared to his own beginnings with the scientist genes, her growth rate was vastly superior.
She could easily pin down a standard Hulk in a fight now.
This meant he no longer had to worry about his woman's safety.
...
If you were to ask researchers where the most advanced technology in the world could be found, they would not say America, nor would they say Blade Tech Industries. Instead, the vast majority shared a common consensus.
The most advanced technology in this world, the theoretically best creations, all existed solely on blueprints!
This was especially true in the top-secret research facilities of the major global powers, where extensive studies in this area were undoubtedly taking place.
Aside from the blueprints left behind by that group of inhumanly brilliant scientists who reached godlike status during World War II, there were various modern and contemporary hypothetical designs. The physical prototypes found in modern national-level laboratories were undoubtedly the closest things to those theoretical blueprints.
It was just that laboratory prototypes often suffered from various issues. The two critical problems of materials and manufacturing processes had always been the roadblocks preventing experimental items from reaching practical use.
On the path to mass production, current technological capabilities inevitably caused actual performance to stray further and further away from theoretical data.
Ultimately, all difficult problems in physics and chemistry could be boiled down to a materials problem.
As long as the materials issue was resolved, everything else became easy!
This was exactly why Zod Heath was hailed as the genius of the century. His Sub-Kryptonium nearly sparked the fourth industrial revolution for the entire world.
High temperatures, extreme pressure, vacuums, cryogenic freezing, all sorts of incredibly harsh environments, and the materials needed to maintain performance under these conditions.
Why hadn't technology progressed much over the past seventy years of modern history?
It was because of material limitations. Every imaginable alloy had been tested to no avail until Zod Heath emerged out of nowhere.
The recent breakthroughs in dozens of major technological projects worldwide served as clear proof!
Although completely detailed intelligence was not yet available, most researchers and industry insiders already knew the truth. Sub-Kryptonium had acted as a massive catalyst!
This was especially true for the aerospace rockets in Chongguo, where production efficiency had suddenly doubled.
They learned that the reason behind this came from a batch of special tools forged from Sub-Kryptonium!
It was precisely by relying on those tools that the nation was able to suddenly accelerate its pace and boost production efficiency!
Those miraculous tools drastically improved the workflow of top-tier technicians. Other countries could only express their deep envy and jealousy because they all knew just how incredible Chongguo's mechanics and technicians were, creating miracles and magic with their bare hands.
They were the pillars of the nation!
Yet, under the deliberate concealment of those in power, only a very small number of VIPs and top experts in relevant fields knew the truth.
The effects of Sub-Kryptonium did not stop there!
As a new type of alloy and material, its performance far exceeded the upper limits of existing material science.
Its existence allowed humanity to manufacture truly epoch-making technological artifacts. They were no longer just illusions like the moon's reflection in the water; for the first time, there was a concrete possibility of realization!
This alone was enough to make major nations resort to any means necessary to obtain it.
Unfortunately, the only known source of this metal alloy was Zod Heath's Blade Tech Industries, leaving them feeling completely helpless.
After all, Zod Heath was no longer just a capitalist. He was now the Director of S.W.O.R.D., commanding hundreds of superheroes. The incredible abilities and raw power these superheroes displayed when dealing with monsters had also made humanity realize just how terrifying this group truly was.
Inside a laboratory building at the Chongguo Academy of Sciences.
A wave of cheering erupted from the bottom floor.
Soon after, this laboratory building attracted the attention of countless people, to the point that within moments, hundreds of security personnel arrived on the scene to carry out protection duties.
"What happened? What kind of breakthrough was achieved to make those people so excited?"
An academician asked the person in charge as he walked over.
The person in charge spoke with evident joy.
"Academician Li's project has achieved a breakthrough."
"Academician Li?"
The academician paused his steps. After a moment of recollection, the sixty-year-old man with a traditional face and greying hair was suddenly overjoyed.
"Does this mean Academician Li has developed the new synthetic material for electromagnetism?"
"Yes, it has been developed. It is said that all indicators have met the requirements and even exceeded the standards by a wide margin. This will greatly strengthen the railgun systems currently under vigorous development!"
"Excellent, this is truly a fantastic event!"
The academician beamed with delight, smiling like a child celebrating a birthday.
He spoke with immense joy.
"This is a world-class, high-priority research project. It is a massive step forward for basic scientific research, which had been completely stagnant!"
"With this huge step forward, our country will have more bargaining chips when negotiating with foreign powers."
"Indeed. With this, we can also mass-produce many large mechanical components."
"We won't be so passive anymore. Academician Li should be able to win the top-tier science and technology award now, right?"
"Absolutely. A scientific achievement of this caliber is not easy to come by. This year's award definitely belongs to him!"
"This is Academician Li's glory!"
At this point, the academician could not wait to meet with Academician Li, only to be informed by security personnel that the entire team had already been relocated.
This was understandable. After all, a scientific achievement of this magnitude absolutely required protection against sabotage by hostile forces or the covetous eyes of foreign powers.
What they did not know, however, was that S.P.E.A.R. had done an excellent job in this regard. Most of the spies had already been eliminated or captured by the organization.
/-\
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