Ch-21 Cracking the TemPad!

Even though they were both newcomers, the battle that night was intense!

Wolverine Gene vs. Spider Totem + Super Serum + Extremis Virus!

The Wolverine Gene had incredible recovery abilities, but the other combination offered powerful stamina and relentless attack capabilities.

Each attack wore down the other, forcing cries of surrender in a relentless battle.

Though the opponent would recover quickly, this trio of powers ultimately dominated.

In the end, Russell emerged as the undisputed victor.

---

Next Day Early Morning

The loser lay exhausted, still asleep, while Russell was full of energy, already out gathering supplies.

Within three hours, he returned with computers, servers, an arc reactor, mechanical parts, micro-engines, alcohol, medicine, necessities, and more.

The sight stunned laura. Though she'd lived a hard, scavenging life for three years, she'd never seen so many valuable things in one place - especially the arc reactor, a precious source of energy in this wasteland world.

As he reassembled the computer and stabilized the reactor's output with a transformer, Russell replied.

"Captain Hydra tried to deceive me, so I took care of him and his teammates, Spider-Man and Iron Man. Their resources are now mine."

The laura's expression was one of shock and disbelief.

She knew who Russell was referring to those notorious variants known for leaving chaos in their wake.

But now they'd met their end at Russell's hands. The realization brought a surprising sense of satisfaction.

She lay on the table, tilted her head as she watched Russell and said proudly, "Russell, you're amazing.

Russell raised an eyebrow, "Of course. Didn't you notice last night?"

Not to be outdone, Laura replied, "That was just a temporary truce! Tonight I'm going to take you down!"

Russell was not one to turn down a challenge. With a grin, he pulled her in, declaring that one of them would surrender before it was over - no mercy this time!

---

Two Hours Later

Russell stepped out, sweating but triumphant after another intense match.

Laura had grown stronger, possibly from their sparring the night before, but she was still outclassed.

After a quick wash, Russell returned to work.

First, he secured a stable power source, set up the computer and server, then used magic vines, as he'd learned from Baron Mordo, to completely camouflage the house.

Now it appeared to be nothing more than a mass of vines hidden in the mountains.

This safe base would also soon have a meditation room for him to practice magic - he had made considerable progress with his curse of knowledge.

He still had three spells to learn:

Astral Projection: A technique of soul projection. Mordo had originally mastered it, but due to Mephisto's interference, he lost the ability over time.

Icy Tendrils Of Ikthalon: A creation of the great wizard Ikthalon, capable of releasing ice tendrils to bind and attack.

Images Of Ikonn: A high-level spell used by Doctor Strange to create multiple clones for battle. Russell was confident that in time he could master this spell as well.

---

As night fell, Russell didn't wake the sleeping Wolf Girl, but quietly ate some canned food and set to work cracking the TemPad.

Tony Stark's advanced computer, combined with the armor's computing hardware, provided a tremendous amount of power.

After connecting the TemPad, he began searching for the lock program. With enough care, he might be able to break TVA's purely technological barrier. If not, he'd call Stark's technology garbage.

As he continued, a 'ding' sounded, signaling that the lock program had been located - but his computer reported insufficient processing power to crack it.

"Insufficient computing power?" Russell muttered. He rummaged through the armor parts and found a specialized GPU. With his Armor Master skills, he quickly installed it.

The arc reactor's power was increased, the computer rebooted, and the screen appeared:

Cracking progress: 0%. Estimated time: 3 years. Continuous runtime required.

The good news: it could be cracked. The bad news is it would take three years.

At this rate, the computer's durability and environmental factors might not hold up for that long.

"Too slow," Russell mused. If power was the problem, he'd just keep adding more.

Russell decided to turn to the black market for additional computing hardware. With teleportation spells and the Sean's ability to fly, escaping a crisis wouldn't be a problem.

**...**