Electric Lifeform Leining

"This is truly beautiful... This is what you and Otto made together?" Norman stared unblinkingly at the reactor. Harry suspected that if there were no safety barriers, his father would have lunged at it.

"Yes. You might not believe it, but this thing was based on the Fleischmann-Pons experiment—the one the Department of Energy branded as academic fraud."

"What?" Norman froze for a moment, then laughed teasingly. "Now that is... interesting. What are you planning to do with it? The Military would have a great need for this technology."

Harry shook his head.

"No, at least not yet. I plan to turn it into your political bargaining chip—a bargaining chip for the election."

"As for the Military, they still haven't figured out the batch of Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators delivered alongside the Power Armor. Let's clear out our inventory and production capacity first."

Norman thought Harry's idea was reasonable enough, but there was one problem: they could keep this technology under wraps, but Stark would not. He was an arms dealer, after all!

"You needn't worry about that. Stark won't do it." Harry hesitated, but ultimately decided to tell the truth. "Do you remember his father, Howard Stark? He was anti-war. Stark will be too."

Norman nodded skeptically. Clearly, that reason did not entirely convince him.

"An arms dealer like Stark is anti-war? Then what happens to their company?" Norman naturally raised the question.

"Uh... it'll naturally go through some setbacks."

Hearing that vague answer, Norman was even more confused. It sounded as though his son were a die-hard Stark supporter.

Harry could do nothing about that. Stark would develop plenty of mysterious technologies in the future. Other than using corporate maneuvering to make him work for Harry indirectly, Harry truly had no other way.

After all, building a Cold Fusion reactor by hand in a cave was not something a human should have been able to do.

If only the system would issue a few more missions...

"Anyway, I'll handle all of this. Don't worry."

After dinner, Harry went to his secret laboratory.

It was time to see what this so-called "Electric Lifeform" could do.

Harry looked at the capacitor setup before him and softly called its name.

"Leining."

Lightning surged violently, eventually gathering into a spherical bolt that bounced around inside the capacitor.

This was... ball lightning?

Sensing Harry's gaze, Leining conveyed a confused emotion.

Like a newborn child, Leining was curious about everything.

After examining it carefully, Harry found that the little fellow's abilities exceeded his expectations—it allowed him to sense electromagnetic fluctuations across the entire New York power grid and even gave him the ability to act on any node!

For instance, right now, he detected someone stealing electricity at high intensity from a strange Underground Facility somewhere below ground—

Bang!

Leining vanished from the capacitor in an instant, while a computer far away fell victim to its mischief and burned out on the spot.

Harry smiled mischievously and summoned Leining back. To his surprise, the little fellow sent him a delighted emotion as well.

"You're like my child, like a Pokémon... How wonderful." As he spoke, Harry brought his fingertip close to Leining, and a strand of lightning darted from his fingertip into his body.

As part of Leining connected to his bioelectric currents, Harry instantly gained a complete understanding of his physical condition.

Then Harry walked over to the computer used for testing.

"Can you display an image on it?"

The computer instantly turned into a flickering mess of static, flashing meaningless patterns before burning out moments later.

It seemed... the little fellow only had instincts for now. It still needed training.

Sensing Harry's thoughts, Leining conveyed sadness. Its body within the capacitor withdrew back into the power grid, though Harry could still sense its presence.

"It's time to start learning, Leining." Harry smiled, feeling as though he were teaching a child.

Although Leining could currently do nothing besides manipulate electric currents, Harry knew he had truly found a treasure.

Once he taught Leining how to control circuits and transmit information, electronic warfare would be child's play to him.

Computers processed information in binary; at their core, it was still merely high and low voltage levels. Now electricity itself had come to life and become his Pokémon. Harry had no idea how he could possibly lose.

Especially against certain artificial intelligences—this would be an absolute killing blow.

Looking further ahead, electricity was magnetism, and magnetism was electricity. Controlling electromagnetism meant possessing, to some extent, the means to control electromagnetic force.

There were even more powerful applications...

Watching Leining circle endlessly around his fingertip, Harry smiled.

In a sense, he had now broken through the limits of science.

[Mission: Energy Monopoly]

[Second Stage Mission: Establish a super power grid with coverage exceeding 98% across the United States]

"Heli, we need to expand the New York power grid model to other cities." Harry began work early the next morning.

"Of course, we need to expand it. The question now is which city should be our next target." As he spoke, Heli took out a stack of documents listing the bids from various cities, along with special notes—detailing how constructing power grids in each city would affect his father's political influence.

"I have to remind you, since we only have experience with one construction project, the power grid installation must be overseen by an experienced employee."

"Washington will definitely be the next target. Send the entire construction team over there and have my father and Doctor Otto supervise it directly." Harry offered no explanation; he had already discussed the matter with both men.

"Then the next city will be Washington. Congratulations to that lucky city."

Heli was about to put the documents away when he heard Harry continue.

"Have Max take charge of the Chicago power grid as well."

"Max? He's very capable, but are you sure he can handle this job?" Heli was somewhat surprised. In his eyes, Max was just a dull engineer. "That city seems to have been a little chaotic lately."

"Send him. Ability needs to be cultivated. Besides, don't underestimate engineers."

Wasn't that right? If not for Harry, Max could have blown up the New York power grid. He'd probably be on the road by now.

"All right, then that makes two cities. You're not going to send me to do this, are you?" Heli said as he took notes.

"Of course not. Stay by my side. Stark is returning home tomorrow, so come with me to Stark Industries."

"I was just about to talk to you about that. Looks like you're not completely indifferent to the company after all." Ever since Norman had shifted his focus to politics, Heli had been handling much of the company's affairs. "But you're not going to a ball. You don't need a female companion."

"I care deeply about everything around me." Harry shrugged. "I heard he has a very beautiful female secretary. You can't expect me to go alone, can you?"