Ian calmly looked at Loki leaving, lost in thought. As far as he knows, after the second season of <Loki>, Loki transformed from God of Mischief into God of Stories, gaining the ability to twist Infinity Multiverse into a tree similar to World Tree. This feat or power is at least Perfect Tier 11, maybe even Tier 12.
The variant of Loki is still independent, which means that Loki skips over Tier 11, Ian thought to himself. 'At the moment, his strength is not important. I am more concerned about his plan and purpose.' If things had gone smoothly, Loki was supposed to free Multiverse while Time Variance Authority dealt with Kang's variant to prevent another Multiverse war.
But now, things are getting more complicated. All timelines are at Fusion, which means that World Tree of Loki will revert to the state of single [Sacred Timeline], which will then compete with [Sacred Timeline] of Marvel Comics, leaving the only timeline that has gone through the brutal elimination process.
'Looks like this is how Marvel and DC Universe prepare for the coming war,' Ian thought. 'God of Stories Loki should know this, so what is his plan? I never believe he didn't notice my presence, but he did nothing.'
There are many possible answers to this question. God of Stories Loki probably doesn't care because his strength guarantees that he will survive [Fusion].
'Many signs indicate that his new location is a prison, because he cannot leave the core of World Tree, nor can he interfere too much with other timelines. Maybe Fusion is a way for him to escape this time,' Ian analyzed.
'No, things are definitely not that simple. God of Stories Loki jumped from a small role of less than Tier 5 to Tier 12 in one incident. This kind of power cannot be given at no cost, nor can he achieve it on his own. Cosmic Will probably gave him this position to ensure the smooth operation of Multiverse.'
'Then, Fusion happened, making the whole situation complicated.'
Ian groaned, feeling a little irritated for many reasons. He knew that there were many people in this universe who were more powerful than him, but knowing that such a powerful person was so close to him and might be spying on him secretly - this didn't feel good.
Even worse, beings like God of Stories Loki cannot be observed through Time Stone, Time Magic, or Divination.
'Forget it, since there's nothing I can do but prepare for the worst.' He opened a portal outside Wakanda and waited. He didn't wait long, and soon a representative came out to greet him.
"We have been waiting for your arrival," King T'Chaka said.
"From what you say, I guess it's good news?"
"Yes, we agree to exchange Vibranium for your Photon Crystal. This is the agreed upon contract."
Dora Mi Raj (Royal Guard) handed Ian a contract, and he glanced at it immediately. There was nothing wrong with the contract, and it didn't even come with any magic.
The only drawback is that Vibranium's valuation is at least 20% higher than he expected it to be worth. Of course, he hasn't studied Vibranium yet, so his estimate may be biased. In any case, Ian doesn't care about price because his main goal is to make allies, so he's willing to take a small loss on his first transaction.
"I don't see any problem," he said, and then signed. Then, a box of Photon Crystal appeared in front of him. The Wakanda man brought Vibranium, and then both parties left. Although this was their first transaction, the process was relatively peaceful, and there was hope for further cooperation.
Ian went to his Mage Tower to start research. He did not analyze Vibranium immediately, but entered a special room and activated all the enchantments. Time and Soul Stone were suspended in the center, and a few seconds after Time Stone exerted his power, dozens of Soul Stone appeared in the room, releasing strong energy.
Most of the energy went toward Ian's achievements in Soul Divinity, and the rest went into his chest, where he began to build a second heart - Dragon Heart's heart.
This heart is very unique because the number of cells it contains is the number Astronomy. Subsequently, Ian began to store mana in these trillions of cells to increase its power.
"How does the situation look?"
"Everything is normal," Morgana replied after monitoring his vital signs. "We can store mana in other cells in your body, which means both your body and [Battle Aura] will be strengthened, so we don't have to worry about the body not being able to withstand this new heart."
"Excellent. Can we enter [Passive Training Mode]?"
"It takes up some processing power on my part, but it's not a big deal."
"Then let's get started."
Morgana took over the job of gathering mana in the heart, while Ian focused on his to-do list. His first priority was Speed Force. He had already obtained all the data he needed from Barry·Allen, so he threw himself into the project.
Ian began to carve runes and magic circles in mid-air, and did not stop even after carving billions of them. Occasionally, he would add rare ores at specific moments, or inject unique energy into enchantments.
After an unknown amount of time, a red Cosmic Cube body was left in front of Ian, which released red lightning to the entire room. "How is it?"
"Everything is running normally," Morgana said with eyes shining.
"In that case, let's start the final step."
"Okay. Installing new server... Successful... Starting Fusion process... Converting [Speed Characteristics] to [Thinking Speed Characteristics]... Conversion completed."
As soon as she finished speaking, the petite elf body released a golden light. After everything was over, her purple hair was mixed with a hint of red, making her look more vivid than ever.
"Is this necessary?" Ian flipped over to Byakugan. The real transformation would not happen until he left Speed Force with her on the main server Fusion in his hometown.
"Yes."
"Whatever. Let's test what you can do. Analyze the Vibranium we received."
"As you wish." She quickly scanned a sample. "Wow, this thing is amazing."
"Really?"
"Its main properties, such as energy absorption, near-indestructibility and vibration control, are nothing special, but its biggest advantage is its versatility."
A screen appeared in front of Ian, showing all the data she had calculated through such a short scan. 'So much?' he thought.
"Its biggest advantage is versatility and adaptability," Morgana explained. "According to my calculations and simulations, once combined with Vibranium Fusion, it will actively improve the performance of all ores and alloys, including magical and non-magical materials. Additionally, this is effective on 97% of the materials recorded by the Empire."
"Really?"
"Yes, and guess what, it's even more suitable for building Floating City than Magic Metal."
"Are you serious?" Ian created Magic Metal specifically to defend against Void Energy in Void.
"Magic Metal can only resist the corrosion of Void Energy, and even with Void Shield, we still have to spend a lot of money to repair Floating City after each voyage. But if we add Vibranium, Magic Metal will gain the ability to adapt to Void Energy until it is completely immune."
"This is good news," Ian nodded.
"That's not all. Many projects that were considered impossible due to materials engineering can be completed after joining Vibranium, including the creation of the 'Ea Project'."
Ian smiled because this is more good news.
"Can we synthesize it?"
"We have this technology," Morgana said with a frown.
"But?"
"It's a very complex metal, so the production volume won't meet our needs." She can foresee that this metal will largely form the basis for the development of the Empire.
"So, we need more mineral veins?" Ian muttered. "There should be several places in the universe where Vibranium naturally exists. Send Golem to mine; if there is not enough, send them to Multiverse to plunder."
"I have scanned the next 50 galaxies and found several places with large and small reserves," Morgana showed him the map while ordering Golem to go to the destination. "However, I suggest that we be careful when conducting large-scale interference against Multiverse in this place."
"You make sense," Ian nodded. "Now, let's focus on more pressing issues."