Rhodey found himself stuck in indecision.
On one hand, the kind of firepower the Decepticons packed was exactly what he loved. On the other, he loved Tony Stark's armor just as much.
Couldn't he have both?
"Tony, does your suit have micro-space storage?" Rhodey suddenly asked.
He could always modify Tony's suit, but he had no idea whether it had micro-space storage. That was the only way to carry a massive load of ammunition.
"What thing?" Tony asked, his face completely blank.
"Micro-space storage. It's tech that Zod Hess gave every Decepticon. It can hold three hundred kilos of ammo and load directly into your weapon when you need it," Rhodey said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Tony's expression flickered.
An outsider like Rhodey clearly had no idea what this kind of spatial technology really meant.
But Tony understood it perfectly.
Zod Hess had already managed to apply mature spatial tech to weapons?
He couldn't resist—he reached out to Zod Hess right then and there.
"Micro-space storage is indeed mature spatial technology," Zod Hess admitted. To someone like Zod Hess, who could already harness spatial free energy and electromagnetic energy, creating a stable micro-space wasn't particularly difficult. He had even replicated the entire process using technology.
"How'd you do it?" Tony asked. Even though he thought putting such a magnificent invention to something as lowly as carrying ammo was a bit beneath it, as a researcher, he was burning with curiosity.
"Space is born from energy and governed by time. Length, width, and height—those three basic elements make up the world humanity lives in." Zod had no intention of hoarding his knowledge. Tony Stark asked, so he answered.
"Einstein was the greatest scientist in human history. Using relativity, he showed us another world hidden by time. Guided by speed, returning to the past or traveling into the future both become possible." The moment Einstein was mentioned, even Tony Stark couldn't help but turn serious.
"That is also the fourth element that makes up that world."
"Compared to the three-dimensional space we know, four-dimensional space possesses far more variable properties. But time isn't the only element that forms the fourth dimension. Energy can also transcend three dimensions and form its own unique domain."
"Energy-space has many forms. The most common is the expanding domain left behind after an explosion."
"Any form of explosion can create an energy world saturated with death. Conversely, if you can break through the inherent nature of energy in a state of calm, you'll find that what awaits is a world of utter stillness."
Tearing space apart with sheer force—that had been one of Zod's early conjectures about the energy dimension.
Of course, the conjecture hadn't come out of nowhere.
According to the theory Zod later developed, the airflow a human generates while moving is actually the fundamental expression of energy-space conversion.
When the kinetic energy of the human body exceeds that of still air, the gas forced to change state turns into wind.
And the faint energy-space that originally belonged to the gas naturally shifts along with it.
This kind of space is so small that it escapes human notice entirely.
But the significance of energy-space's existence is something else altogether.
"Use energy to tear space? Strike static energy until it forms a depression, and you can obtain your own unique, personal domain."
"The owner can enter and exit freely at any time and from any location. This space overlaps completely with our world. The only difference is that, on top of the three-dimensional elements, energy's existence has been added."
"The universe is the most fundamental energy-space."
"It is born from an explosion, and it is destroyed in an explosion. Without energy, the necessary conditions for an explosion cannot be met. The Earth, too, is a new space condensed into existence through an explosion."
"Pan Gu separating heaven and earth, God creating the world, the birth of Brahma, and the myths and legends widely spread across nation after nation—in nearly every one, you can find examples of space being created."
"Hold on—are you saying those myths are real?" Tony couldn't help interrupting Zod.
"The Thunder God of Asgard actually exists in the flesh. What do you think?" Zod replied, his tone loaded with meaning.
"On the surface, the content of those legends is completely identical."
"The gods who created the world all broke through the dark void, bringing heaven and earth into existence."
"As for humans, we're merely a byproduct within that space. To gods of formidable power, humans like us really are as insignificant as ants."
"A newly created space possesses a kind of source energy that can be freely combined at will."
"It's an extremely subtle substance, a kind of neutral composite that exists somewhere between molecules and atoms."
"This energy's nature is unbearably sensitive. Any faint fluctuation of foreign energy will cause additional changes within it."
"Especially at the instant space is broken through, energy that was originally in a static state materializes in response to the entrant's cerebral electromagnetic fluctuations."
"In other words, no matter which god created a world, the moment they broke open space, the world's entire framework was already fixed. The source energy solidified according to the model in their imagination. Therefore, the world the gods perceived is exactly the world we perceive."
Tony Stark felt his scalp go numb.
"I've held this theory for a long time. Only, without solid evidence to support it, I absolutely refused to let it interfere with the research of later generations. Science can only become truth when it stands before experiments and data," Zod Hess finished.
After Zod Hess had spoken, Tony sank deep into thought.
Powerful energy could tear space apart?
No, what Zod Hess was describing wasn't spatial technology in the conventional sense. It was more like the discovery of a hidden world.
Tony had once conducted systematic research into the concepts of the universe and space.
The universe should be a parallel, relative individual.
The universe that humanity and Earth inhabit could tentatively be called the First Universe.
When speed reaches a relative limit, it might become possible to arrive at the universe's edge and thus enter the domain of the Second Universe.
It was a theory that couldn't be proven. The current reach of human exploration couldn't extend to such a distant frontier.
Results calculated from celestial bodies and matter offered faint support for the theory, but they couldn't prove the concept correct with concrete evidence. The universe might have been born from an explosion. Therefore, the universe is also a form of energy's existence.
And when it came to energy, Tony Stark was hardly lacking. A supersized Arc Reactor could provide more than enough.
He couldn't wait to verify Zod Hess's words.
In truth, theories and experiments like these were probably only possible in the Marvel universe.
Zod had the feeling that in the real world, pulling something like this off would be next to impossible.
/-\
Enjoying the story? Want to read ahead?
Support the novel and unlock early access to unreleased chapters!
~ +20 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon! (+1 Chapter daily)
https://p-atreon.com/Its_Zack
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access Patreon normally)