Obadiah Stane wasted no time showing his sincerity. Luo Xia had barely returned to his apartment when someone was already waiting at the door with two briefcases.
Luo Xia didn't need to open them to know what was inside.
Both cases looked just like the one Tony had given him. They contained fuel for the Arc Reactor—Palladium.
There was twice as much in the two cases as Tony had given Luo Xia.
The meaning was obvious: Obadiah Stane could give him twice as much as Tony could. That was how Obadiah Stane showed his sincerity.
Palladium was the key material Luo Xia needed to make Energy Activation Devices. The Palladium in these two cases was enough for him to make two more.
With a broad smile, Luo Xia accepted the cases, then asked the delivery person to take a message back to Obadiah Stane: "I appreciate the sincerity, but I need more Palladium. Those of us in research and development go through a lot of materials."
Luo Xia planned to squeeze every last bit of value out of Obadiah Stane. After all, once Stane was arrested and sent to prison, these things would just go to waste.
When Luo Xia returned to his basement, he discovered a serious problem before he could turn the Palladium in the two cases into Energy Activation Devices.
"Damn it! Was I robbed?!" Luo Xia cursed at the window someone had pried open.
The basement wasn't entirely underground; half of one wall rose above the ground. There was a sealed glass window there to let in some light.
But now the window had been smashed, and even its frame was bent out of shape, leaving an opening just big enough for an adult to squeeze through.
There wasn't anything valuable in Luo Xia's run-down basement, except for...the Energy Activation Device he had made earlier.
Perhaps it was the AllSpark technology's fault, but the Energy Activation Device made from ten units of Palladium looked like an immaculate blue gemstone, with no other metal parts visible at all.
A fist-sized blue gemstone— even if a thief thought it was fake, they might still take it and try their luck. After all, "never leave empty-handed" wasn't just a rule among thieves in the past.
Luo Xia tossed his watch into the air and ordered, "Violet, find the audacious thief for me!"
Violet transformed in midair into a palm-sized robot, then landed in a perfect backflip. Even as an intelligence analyst, Violet had pretty impressive moves.
Her landing had been flawless, but after standing up, Violet said to Luo Xia, "I'm sorry, Commander, but there are no cameras installed here. I don't know what happened."
Luo Xia: "..."
This was awkward. Only then did Luo Xia remember that Violet specialized in hacking, not criminal investigations.
"Fine, I'll handle this myself." Luo Xia didn't dwell on it. He first spent all the AllSpark energy to turn the Palladium into two Energy Activation Devices.
[Energy Activation Devices owned: AllSpark energy capacity increased by 000, energy recovery speed increased by 4 points/second.] [AllSpark energy (Stage One): 14/4000, energy recovery speed 4/second.]
It seemed the stolen Energy Activation Device was still working normally. Luo Xia wasn't sure whether it had any range limitations, but he still had to get this important device back.
And once his AllSpark energy capacity exceeded 4000, a new equipment technology unlocked.
[Tactical Goggles: Cost 800 AllSpark energy. Modified from military binoculars. Provides Data Vision. When used with Sensor Gloves, enables automatic aiming through Target Lock. Target Lock consumes 1 point of AllSpark energy per second.]
"They're compatible equipment, too!" Luo Xia was a little surprised that the Tactical Goggles could be used together with the Sensor Gloves.
He took another look at the Sensor Gloves' details, and sure enough, a new line had appeared.
[Sensor Gloves: Cost 00 AllSpark energy. Modified from magnetic metal. Provides heat resistance and bulletproofing. Equipped with a retractable dagger and increases arm strength to a certain extent. When used with Tactical Goggles, enables automatic aiming through Target Lock.]
That last sentence had just been added. It seemed that information about related equipment only appeared after Luo Xia unlocked the corresponding technologies.
If that was the case, the Pulse Pistol might have compatible equipment too. He just hadn't unlocked it yet.
But there was a problem: Luo Xia didn't have any military binoculars on hand.
"Violet, does the AllSpark's Minor Remodeling Technique have to be activated on the specified object? Could I just use any pair of glasses?" Luo Xia asked Violet.
"Commander, the AllSpark is the source of our life, but it isn't omnipotent. According to the data in my database, its energy seems more like an enhancement effect, strengthening the functions of existing machinery. That's also why I specialize in information infiltration and intelligence analysis," Violet explained.
"Then if I activate a wrench, will I get someone who specializes in repairs?" Luo Xia asked, full of wild ideas.
"Commander, please don't do anything reckless. That's impossible. To be activated into a robot or AllSpark-powered equipment, an object must have an energy circuit structure," Violet continued.
"Energy circuit? What's that?" The term was new to him.
"I'm truly sorry, Commander. That's one of the AllSpark's secrets, and I don't currently have the clearance to access that information. But I still recommend that you activate one of our kind who specializes in technological research as soon as possible. He'll help you make better use of the AllSpark's energy," Violet advised.
"Someone who specializes in technological research? From what you just said, I should find a supercomputer like the ones used in laboratories and activate that, right?"
Luo Xia thought it over. That didn't seem easy. Supercomputers designed for simulations or research and development weren't as compact as home computers. The computing components alone took up several warehouses. Considering that activating Violet had taken almost a thousand points of AllSpark energy, Luo Xia guessed he didn't have enough energy to activate a supercomputer that huge.
Besides, these computers cost hundreds of millions and were kept under tight security. Finding one wouldn't be easy, either. Luo Xia searched through the information on the AllSpark for a while, but couldn't find anything else useful.
It seemed the being who had granted Luo Xia the AllSpark's energy didn't want him to have things too easy.
Brrr! Brrr! Brrr!
A car horn blared urgently. It was loud enough to make it seem like the driver had money to burn and wanted to give some old person a heart attack. An old lady lived in Luo Xia's apartment building, and Mrs. Cardenas could be heard opening her upstairs window and unleashing a stream of profanities in her heavily accented English.
The old lady was in good shape; she cursed with such vigor that she nearly drowned out the horn.
Violet curiously tried to lean out the window to see what was going on, but Luo Xia told her, "There's no need to look. I just asked Luo Fei to bring me some military binoculars. Damn, that guy's such a pain."
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