Ivan Vanko stood in his crude, memory-filled laboratory, his gaze fixed tightly on the Dragon Ball glowing faintly before him.
His father, Anton Vanko, a genius who had once come infinitely close to the pinnacle of science, had fallen because of a political storm and eventually vanished into Siberia's freezing winds.
Ivan Vanko firmly believed that if he could use the Seven Dragon Balls to revive his father, every sacrifice would be worth it.
But first, he needed a deep, bone-deep understanding of these Dragon Balls.
Countless thoughts flashed through Ivan Vanko's mind. He realized that relying solely on visual observation and intuitive guesses was far from enough.
What he needed was high-end technological equipment—the kind of cutting-edge technology that could see through the structure of matter and analyze the flow of energy.
Such equipment was almost impossible to find in his country—that vast, ponderous Bear Empire.
His gaze passed beyond the laboratory window toward the distant West. There lay America, a land where Technology and Natural Laws went hand in hand, perhaps hiding the key to unlocking the Dragon Balls' secrets.
Ivan Vanko knew the road to America would not be smooth.
As the son of a marginalized scientist, he had no legal passport and not enough money to buy a plane ticket.
But he had an indomitable heart and a deep love for his father.
He began making plans for how to cross the border in the most concealed and safest way possible, heading for that land filled with the unknown.
During his preparations, Ivan Vanko used the limited resources available to him in Siberia to gather as much information as possible about America's technology companies.
He learned that large multinational corporations such as Stark Industries not only possessed the world's most advanced laboratories, but also conducted research