A salty, briny sea wind howled into the central hall of the Egghead Island Laboratory.
Tony raised his armor's right arm and lightly tapped his metal fingers against his watch casing, producing a crisp click.
"Old man, what are you spacing out for?"
"I charge by the second."
"Keep staring at that crater, and Stark Industries will add another seven figures in lost-time fees to your bill."
Vegapunk finally snapped out of his daze.
He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his heart still pounding.
"Right, right, move everything!"
"Hurry and get all the research out!"
Vegapunk turned around and shouted at the top of his lungs.
Several surviving mechanical satellites and transport robots hurried out from behind the ruined laboratory.
They carried heavy alloy crates containing thirty years' worth of top-secret blueprints and original research notes.
"Shaka, forget those broken tables and chairs!"
"Grab the manuscripts on lineage factor from cabinet three!"
"Lilith, be careful with that frozen embryo incubation tank! Don't drop it!"
Vegapunk scrambled to direct them.
Carrying sealed crates, the satellites formed an orderly line and hurried into the spinning golden portal ahead.
Orange-red sparks flickered around the portal's rim, while the spatial turbulence within remained securely contained on either side.
Tony curled his lip at the metal crates of every size.
"What century is this? You're still using paper blueprints and physical hard drives?"
"Once we get to Wano Country, I'll have JARVIS move all your data to the cloud."
"Then you won't have to run around clutching these heavy metal boxes all day."
Vegapunk's eyes widened, and he shot back indignantly.
"What do you know?"
"This is the most reliable form of physical isolation!"
"Networks can be tapped, electromagnetic pulses can fry chips. Only physical records can be trusted!"
Tony shrugged.
"Fine, fine.