Is This Reasonable?

His gaze swept over the information on the panel, then shifted to the metal-cased pistol in his hand, which lacked even a lick of paint.

A strange expression flickered across Luca's face.

He had felt that this experimental pistol, manufactured by his own company, looked somewhat familiar earlier.

However, now that the panel had identified it as the "Dominator," he felt that the pistol's appearance only shared, at best, twenty or thirty percent of a resemblance to the "Dominator" from the anime.

So, the so-called core component isn't judged by visual similarity?

And since the synthesis materials didn't mention an energy source or ammunition, could it be that these accessories are already included within the core component?

Various thoughts flashed through his mind, but in the end, Luca suppressed his urge to explore further for the time being.

After all, even if he wanted to continue experimenting with synthesis, he couldn't gather the necessary materials for the Dominator pistol at home.

It wasn't as if he could replace the "micro-projection device" mentioned by the panel with the brick-sized television projector he had at home, could he?

He glanced at the battery indicator on the handle of the ion beam pistol.

Gina had only fired three shots earlier, yet it was already down to its last bar of power.

This was exactly why, despite the pistol's considerable power, near-zero recoil, and minimal ion beam attenuation at medium range, it could still only be considered an experimental semi-finished product.

Insufficient energy and poor sustained combat capability.

Well, the high production cost is likely another reason.

He tucked the pistol into his jacket. Although the Dominator couldn't be synthesized yet, there seemed to be another item for which he had the materials on hand.

Unslinging the backpack from his back, Luca rummaged through it.

He pulled out a rather oddly shaped monkey toy.

The toy held two comical-looking "cymbals" in its hands, and there was a large wind-up key on its back.

As he held the monkey toy, a translucent blue panel popped up.

[Powder's Monkey Bomb]
[Arcane World 1/5]
[Creator: Powder]
[Core Component: Toy Monkey]
[Synthesis Materials: 3 Unstable Energy Crystals]
[Item Description: A toy bomb with a simple structure but immense power. Its power relies entirely on three Hextech Crystals. Once the key is wound, it begins an unstable countdown. It possesses the ability to move slowly over short distances and triggers an explosion by continuously clashing the cymbals to destabilize the Hextech Crystals. It has no safety features.]
[Friendly Reminder: Dear~ before using the bomb, please ensure that none of your friends or family are within the blast radius~]

That was right; this toy from his original self's childhood was also a "core component" capable of synthesis.

The synthesis materials were even surprisingly "simple," requiring only one type of item.

However, until now, Luca hadn't even known what kind of crystal in the real world could be called an "unstable energy crystal."

With the only required material nowhere to be found, synthesis was naturally out of the question.

Fortunately, this was no ordinary real world.

Looking at the two headless Chitauri corpses in his home, a flicker of heat ignited in Luca's eyes.

If he remembered correctly, in the Marvel Spider-Man movie, the villain Vulture possessed a significant amount of black-tech weaponry precisely because he scavenged and modified items left behind by the Chitauri.

The purple energy crystals most commonly found on the Chitauri were highly unstable, even capable of exploding after passing through an X-ray security scan.

These purple crystals should be able to meet the requirements of the synthesis panel.

He acted as soon as he thought of it.

Taking a few quick steps to the headless corpses, Luca ignored the bloody, mangled scene on the floor and began inspecting the bodies and weapons directly.

The two Chitauri were only equipped with standard folding beam rifles; not only was their power limited, but their internal structures were also quite compact.

Although they emitted a purple glow, he couldn't figure out how to dismantle them in such a short time.

However, compared to the complex weapons and armor, the crystals embedded clearly on the backs of the Chitauri's hands seemed to be telling him that there was no need to go through such trouble.

After failing to pry the purple crystals loose, Luca simply picked up a Chitauri folding beam rifle and used its bladed edge to hack directly at the wrists of the Chitauri corpses.

Two Chitauri corpses, four palms, four purple crystals.

Luca thought for a moment and, instead of continuing to pry the crystals with the blade, began drawing a circular magic circle on the floor.

He placed the monkey toy, the core component, in the center of the circle, and placed the three Chitauri palms embedded with purple crystals at three of the corners.

Sure enough, the three purple crystals began to emit a faint white light one after another.

"It worked!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Luca pressed both hands onto the edge of the circle and silently chanted "Synthesize" in his heart.

Immediately, the light intensified, instantly engulfing the circle before him.

When the light faded.

A strange-looking toy monkey, featuring a spherical blue crystal suspended between two brass cymbals with two identical crystals stuffed inside its body, had already appeared in the center of the magic circle.

The purple crystals that had previously been embedded in the backs of the three aliens were gone, leaving only their neatly severed palms behind.

"Hmm? The purple crystals turned into blue ones?"

Luca had previously assumed that this item, which seemed to be the simplest, would perhaps just involve polishing the crystals and placing them in their designated spots after synthesis.

Now, it seemed that no matter what materials he used, the synthesized items would always revert to their original forms from the source material.

The original Chitauri purple crystals had actually transformed directly into blue Hextech Crystals!

Why was Luca so certain?

Because at this moment, one of the three blue crystals inside the [Monkey Bomb] was once again emitting that unique, pale white shimmer characteristic of a "core component"!

He carefully picked up the [Monkey Bomb], twisted off its detachable head, and removed the glowing Hextech Crystal from within.

A pale blue panel appeared once more.

[Hexcore]

[Arcane World 2/5]

[Creator: Viktor]

[Core Component: Hextech Crystal]

[Synthesis Materials: 1 stable small-scale reactor, 4 different magic runes]

[Item Description: A stable, perpetual energy source possessing magical power, the ultimate aesthetic of Hextech. While providing endless energy, it also possesses the ability to grant living beings glorious evolution, provided that your body and mind both possess the ability to resist the corruption of arcane and runic power.]

[Friendly Reminder: If you don't want to destroy the world... or destroy yourself, it is advised not to let it come into contact with any biological tissue.]

Looking at the panel description that had suddenly popped up, mentioning both "endless energy" and "glorious evolution," Luca only wanted to ask one thing.

"Is this reasonable??"