Rain hammered a dense drumbeat against the metal roof of the abandoned factory.
Lin Xiu's combat boots splashed through the puddle-filled corridor. The dark silver patterns on his Nano Armor flickered with his heartbeat—the Oracle System's alert continued vibrating in his inner ear like a fine needle pricking his nerves. "Residual fluctuations from the Vibranium Laboratory have increased by 17%. Data synchronization is recommended within three minutes."
He pressed his hand against the biometric panel on the wall. The rusted metal plate suddenly buzzed and revealed a quantum decoder port gleaming with cold light.
Lin Xiu tore off the Nano bracer on his left wrist, exposing the faint blue connector beneath it. It was a bioelectric circuit that had spontaneously formed through quantum entanglement when he fused with the Nanocore. Now, resonating with the rune fragment deep within the laboratory, tiny arcs of electricity crawled beneath his skin.
"Begin import," he ordered quietly. The instant the bracer locked seamlessly into the decoder, every light in the laboratory flared to life.
Green streams of data flickered across the holographic display, all parameters of the lightning energy gathered during last night's battle with Thor: peak voltage, 1.2 billion volts; magnetic storm frequency, 3.8 hertz; energy decay curve... At the center of the 3D model, the chest plate of the Balder Armor flashed with a red warning. It was structural damage caused by energy overload when Mjolnir had struck it last time.
"The kinetic shield's conversion rate needs to increase by at least 40%." Lin Xiu swiped across the holographic screen and pulled up the shield simulation interface. "Use Thor's Power to counter Thor's Power... Oracle, calculate the feasibility."
"Analyzing—" The mechanical voice had barely begun when Lin Xiu suddenly staggered half a step.
The Nanocore trembled violently within his chest like a