Chapter 71: Anton Vanko (Part 2)

"You know you're trespassing on private property, right? I could call the police." Daniel Davis, having just rushed home from Stark's villa in New York, immediately noticed an uninvited guest in his house: Nick Fury, the one-eyed man himself.

"Not surprising coming from the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., even the Red Queen didn't detect his infiltration." As he invited Fury to sit down, Daniel couldn't help but be astonished.

Artificial intelligence systems are indeed formidable, but ultimately, they are man-made. For the average person, catching up to AI might be a lifelong endeavor. However, for some, AI is not invincible. As the king of spies, Fury's computer skills were undoubtedly top-notch. And let's not forget, S.H.I.E.L.D. has quite a few nifty gadgets hidden away.

"What's your take on Stark's situation?" Fury ignored Daniel's words and got straight to the point.

"We need to replace the palladium in the Arc Reactor with a different element as soon as possible. If this drags on, he'll die of palladium poisoning." Daniel pondered for a moment before responding. When Stark was kidnapped, he built the Arc Reactor in a cave with an energy output of 3 billion joules per second. The reactor he now wears on his chest has an output of around 6 billion joules per second. If replaced with a new element, it could exceed 10 billion joules per second.

At this energy level, an aircraft carrier could be powered by it. In fact, an aircraft with this level of energy could theoretically operate without the need for an aircraft carrier. However, this is purely theoretical, as the presence of an aircraft carrier provides pilots with necessary rest.

Stark has been researching new elements, but progress has been painfully slow. Finding an element that can provide high-efficiency energy stably and be completely harmless to the human body is exceedingly difficult.

Among all the elements, palladium's toxicity is relatively minimal. If Stark didn't have to wear the Arc Reactor on his chest, palladium would be almost harmless.

Technically, the element inside the Arc Reactor could be replaced with something like uranium, but its danger is too great, making it unsuitable as a clean energy source.

The real clean energy source is the new element Howard Stark left behind, based on the Tesseract, the Space Stone. It's not on the periodic table. Just as Hank Pym developed Pym Particles using the Tesseract, Howard Stark also made significant strides. The anti-gravity system, the new element, and even the Arc Reactor were all invented through research on the Tesseract.

"I know that. I'm here to see if magic could temporarily alleviate the poison in his body."

"You don't need to ask. I've already started on that. I gave him a pair of chopsticks made from unicorn horn. Using these can delay the effects of the poison, but it's just a stopgap measure. His real problem lies in the shrapnel in his body."

The Arc Reactor on Stark's chest is primarily to attract the shrapnel lodged in his body. The fragments are too small and have merged with his bloodstream. Current technology simply can't remove them.

The doctor named Yinsen who devised this solution was truly remarkable. Without it, Stark would have died from the shrapnel reaching his heart.

"A unicorn horn? I didn't know such creatures really existed."

"So, you're here just for Stark?"

"Correct." Fury nodded.

"Then you can relax. With the unicorn horn and some other remedies, Stark can hold on until I finish the magic."

For Daniel, it wasn't an option to leave Stark reliant on the Arc Reactor until modern medical science advanced enough to cure him. In the movies, it seemed like Stark's reactor only caused palladium poisoning. However, there were many more issues. For instance, Stark couldn't bathe, as water would seep into his body through the hole in his chest.

Currently, the 6 billion joules per second from the Arc Reactor are more than enough for Daniel. He doesn't need the 10 billion-plus output. If it weren't inconvenient to reveal the abilities of the Ope Ope no Mi, Daniel would have cured Stark long ago.

To keep the abilities of the Ope Ope no Mi under wraps, Daniel decided to classify them as magic. And to let Stark feel personally indebted, he planned to claim he learned this magic specifically for him. He wouldn't bring Stark to the world of Harry Potter, so there was no fear of his deception being uncovered.

"Magic, like the one used to heal Coulson's gunshot wound?"

"Exactly. It's a very challenging magic. Treating a gunshot wound like Coulson's is straightforward, but the shrapnel in Stark's body is too small. Without further advancement, there's no way to treat him."

The Ope Ope no Mi is fundamental to Daniel, and he has been tirelessly honing its powers. In comparison, the magic from Kamar-Taj and the Harry Potter world takes a back seat. This dedication is in the hope of someday achieving the fruit's awakened state.

"Alright, then. I hope you complete it soon," said Fury as he stood up and headed towards the door.

"No need to see you out."

"Spider-Man, truly the friendly neighborhood hero." Looking at the spider web in his hand and the front-page photo of Spider-Man on the Daily Bugle, Daniel couldn't help but smile.

Times have changed. What Daniel once struggled to achieve through countless experiments—the creation of spider silk—was now accomplished quickly after obtaining a sample left behind by Spider-Man in New York. Using the Ope Ope no Mi, he analyzed it swiftly, and the Red Queen continued the analysis non-stop. Now, he finally had the formula for Spider-Man's web fluid.

Peter Parker is truly remarkable, developing such a complex formula at his age. Unfortunately, he seems to have no intention of monetizing it, which is why he's still a poor high school student. Whether this Spider-Man is the chatty one with close ties to Iron Man or not remains unknown to Daniel.

"With abilities like Spider-Man's, S.H.I.E.L.D. hasn't tried to recruit him? Is it because they can't uncover his true identity? Even if S.H.I.E.L.D. hasn't, what about Hydra?"

Although Spider-Man's news was overshadowed by Iron Man's initial appearance, it resurfaced once Stark's news cycle ended. Despite the Daily Bugle's publisher constantly badmouthing Spider-Man, it was clear the publisher secretly idolized him. He even occasionally dressed as Spider-Man himself.

Even though he disparaged Spider-Man, he still brought him into the public eye.

Thanks to Spider-Man, crime in areas like Queens and Brooklyn had significantly decreased. Police work became easier as many dangerous criminals were apprehended by Spider-Man.

As Daniel pressed a few buttons, multiple webs shot from his wrist. Unlike Spider-Man, who could run out of web fluid, Daniel had no such concern. Spider-Man's web shooters are limited by their carrying capacity, but with the Infinite Extension Charm, Daniel didn't have this issue.

In addition to the wrist-mounted web shooters, Daniel had also created other web-based weapons, such as web bombs, similar to his Serpent Bombs.

Daniel had played the Marvel's Spider-Man game, and aside from lacking Spider-Sense, he could become Spider-Man himself with the right suit.

In addition to the mentioned weapons, Daniel had developed various other projectiles—armor-piercing rounds, freezing bullets, incendiary rounds—though he rarely used them. 

It's not that he didn't want to use them; it's just that opportunities to do so were scarce. Even his Ope Ope no Mi abilities, initially used in battle, had limited application now.

"Perhaps selling these web bombs to S.H.I.E.L.D. could be profitable, but I'm not keen on getting into the arms business." Despite rarely using these weapons, Daniel kept plenty in reserve. You never know when you might need them.

In the past, carrying Pym Particles and other such weapons was problematic. However, with the Infinite Extension Charm, there were no such issues now.

"Breaking news: The Empire State Building is under attack by a mysterious individual." Daniel, engrossed in a game, immediately put it down upon seeing the urgent news.

"The Green Goblin, and Spider-Man. How could I forget about Norman Osborn?" Watching the news, Daniel instantly recognized the green-armored figure on the glider and the web-slinging hero rescuing people.

Today was the Osborn Corporation's celebration. Norman was using this event to eliminate all the board members, ensuring he would be the sole director and preventing the company's sale to Horizon Labs.

Although Norman founded Osborn Corporation, several rounds of financing had diluted his ownership.

Unfortunately, Norman didn't realize that even this drastic measure would only provide temporary relief for Osborn Corporation. The side effects of their human enhancement serum were too severe, deterring any potential buyers.

"Let them fight it out." Daniel closed the news broadcast, having no interest in fighting the Green Goblin. The Goblin's technology wasn't impressive enough to capture his attention. With the advent of the Arc Reactor, the power problem for the glider was solved. Daniel could easily replicate it if he wanted to.

In this world, once the energy problem is solved, many issues cease to be issues.

"Wait, this is actually a good opportunity." Just as Daniel decided not to intervene, he realized something and quickly donned his gear. Reopening the news feed, he then Disapparated away.

"This is a chance to obtain Spider-Man's blood." Daniel quietly appeared in the area where Spider-Man was injured and collected a sample of Peter Parker's blood.

He felt it was inappropriate to harm Peter himself for the blood, but this injury wasn't his doing.

"I guess I should help you out." Seeing Spider-Man struggling against the Green Goblin, Daniel sighed

, took out a Barrett sniper rifle, and aimed at the Goblin's left leg.

With a loud bang, the Green Goblin, about to continue his assault on Spider-Man, felt a sharp pain in his left leg. He lost his balance and tumbled from his glider.

"The armor's defense is quite impressive," Daniel noted, surprised that his shot hadn't completely blown off the Goblin's leg. "Hopefully, you won't lose to him now." Although the Goblin's leg wasn't shattered, it was severely injured from the sniper bullet.

For Daniel, using armor-piercing rounds would have obliterated the Goblin's leg, but he had opted for regular bullets.

What happened next was up to Spider-Man, Peter Parker.

For a hero like Peter, who abhors killing, Daniel would have had much more interaction with him if they had met during Peter's school days. But now, that interaction seemed unnecessary.

Norman's issue could be resolved by Daniel, but he wasn't Tony Stark. Daniel wouldn't go out of his way to help.

"You arrived just in time. Give me a hand." Appearing again at Stark's beachfront mansion, Daniel was immediately called upon by Tony in his lab.

"What's all this?" Daniel asked, noticing a pile of historical-looking artifacts, including something very familiar: Captain America's shield.

"These are my father's relics, sent over by S.H.I.E.L.D.," Stark explained while directing Daniel to help lift the lab's floorboards to reveal thick cables.

"Bringing them over at this time, Fury must be in a hurry after hearing my suggestion." Fury's strategy mirrored Daniel's: garnering favor with Stark. Without Daniel's involvement, Fury would likely have waited until Stark was desperate before revealing Howard's relics. Although unaware of their true content, Fury must have known they held something crucial for Stark.

"You're too slow. Let me do it." Watching Stark manually pull cables, Daniel pulled out his wand.

"I almost forgot about that," Stark said, directing Daniel to place the items in their designated spots.

"You're going to create a new element here? What if something goes wrong?"

"Don't worry. This new element is perfectly safe. Nothing will go wrong," Stark said confidently, perhaps assured by Howard's instructions, dismissing any possibility of failure.

"Conducting a nuclear experiment at home, you're really something." Considering the energy level of the new element, it was akin to a nuclear experiment.

While Daniel silently grumbled, he didn't intend to leave. Howard wouldn't harm Tony, and Tony wasn't about to meet his end here. Instead, Daniel saw this as an opportunity to witness the birth of the new element and perhaps learn how to create it himself.

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