Nanotech Dawn, Wakanda's Pursuit

Inside the Thunder Temple laboratory, Dr. Banner had thrown nearly all his heart and soul into developing a new type of biological nanobot. In his eyes, those pieces of Vibranium alloy gleaming with a silver-purple sheen and that packet of fine nanopowder were more alluring than any treasure in the world.

With the Replica Core blueprint Lin Ye had provided—a design combining Chitauri energy stabilization technology with the properties of his own lightning energy—and Vibranium, an almost perfect conductive material, the research progressed by leaps and bounds.

Several days later, a small transparent syringe rested on the precision fabrication platform at the center of the laboratory. Inside floated a few incredibly tiny nanoparticles, glimmering with a faint blue-silver light. They drifted quietly, as if alive.

"It worked... It worked, at least for now!" Banner's eye sockets were sunken, yet he could barely contain his excitement. He carefully picked up the syringe and handed it to Lin Ye. "Mr. Lin! This is the first-generation Gamma Buffer Nanobots! Built on a Vibranium core substrate, fused with energy-stabilizing runes and trace amounts of Replica Thunder energy properties that have been extremely diluted and tamed... In theory, they can rapidly absorb and convert part of the violent gamma radiation the instant Hulk's energy erupts, buying me at least five to ten extra seconds of lucidity. They may even provide slight guidance during the early stages of transformation and prevent a complete loss of control!"

Lin Ye took the syringe and could sense the immensely stable yet internally active energy contained within the nanoparticles. Even he had to admire Banner's genius. Perfectly integrating the properties of Vibranium, alien technology, his lightning energy, and biotechnology was no simple feat.

"The results will need to be tested in practice." Lin Ye handed the syringe back. "Are you ready to face it again?"

Banner's excitement faded slightly, replaced by a trace of nervousness and fear, but even more by an unprecedented resolve. He clenched the syringe tightly. "I have to try. This is the closest I've ever come to controlling it. And here, even if I fail, with you here, at least I won't cause too much damage." His trust in Lin Ye was almost blind.

"Good." Lin Ye nodded. "Go to the training ground. I'll monitor the entire process."

The training ground was switched to maximum security mode, with layers of energy barriers activating one after another.

Banner drew a deep breath, pressed the syringe against his neck, and forcefully depressed it!

The cool nanobot fluid entered his body. At first, he felt nothing unusual. But soon, he sensed countless tiny particles traveling through his bloodstream, eventually lying in wait beside every cell like loyal guards and forming faint connections with his nervous system.

"Begin," Lin Ye ordered from the monitoring area.

Banner closed his eyes and began deliberately recalling the scenes that had made him angry and afraid—General Ross's pursuit, the look in Betty's eyes when she was hurt, the hardships of life on the run... This was something he had never dared to do before, because it would directly trigger Hulk.

Boom!

The familiar rage and tearing sensation arrived as expected! Green veins began spreading beneath his skin, and his body swelled uncontrollably!

But at the very instant Hulk's consciousness was about to take complete control.

Buzz!

The countless Vibranium nanobots lurking inside him activated instantly! Like efficient microscopic energy sponges, they frantically absorbed the erupting gamma energy while releasing an extremely faint imitation Thunder ripple with a calming effect, like a basin of ice water poured over his boiling mind!

Banner's agonized roar caught halfway in his throat! His eyes, which should have been rapidly swallowed by green, instead flickered violently between green and brown as they struggled!

His body stopped expanding at around two meters. His skin took on an unstable green-and-brown coloration, his muscles bulged yet trembled faintly, as if two consciousnesses were fiercely battling within him!

"Roar... no... control..." he growled in broken fragments, his own voice mixed with Hulk's roar.

A full eight seconds!

After eight seconds, the nanobots' energy absorption reached saturation, and their effect faded.

Boom! The complete Hulk still burst forth, letting out a savage roar!

But this time, after he emerged, there seemed to be a faint trace of confusion in his eyes amid the anger, and his urge to destroy did not immediately reach its peak.

Lin Ye acted instantly, binding him with a precise Lightning Cage. The powerful electrical stimulation quickly exhausted him and forced him to retreat.

Several minutes later, Banner weakly returned to human form and collapsed to the ground, drenched in sweat. Yet his face was filled with unprecedented ecstasy!

"It worked! Eight seconds! I bought myself eight seconds! And... and I felt it! At that moment, it seemed like I could... could influence it!" he blurted out excitedly.

Lin Ye smiled as well. Though it was only an initial success and complete control remained far away, this was undoubtedly a milestone breakthrough! It proved that this path was viable!

"Keep optimizing it, Doctor. The next step is increasing the nanobots' capacity and duration, as well as finding a stronger energy source to charge them," Lin Ye encouraged.

While a breakthrough was being made within the temple, the turmoil outside had not subsided.

Wakanda, Shuri's laboratory.

The genius princess worked without sleep, mobilizing nearly all of the nation's computing resources to analyze every clue left behind by the intrusion.

"The energy signature is too bizarre. It erupted instantly, then vanished instantly. The remaining readings resemble highly condensed lightning, but not the kind found in nature..." Shuri bit her fingernail as she stared at the complicated energy model on the screen. "And the way he penetrated the barrier when he left was more like some kind of short-range spatial jump? But there are no traces of a spatial engine..."

She tried countless models for comparison, and all of them failed. Until she accidentally cross-referenced the energy signature against the global database of recent anomalous incidents, a distant signal marked "extremely dangerous" caught her attention—the mysterious Thunder energy entity that had charged into the space portal alone and destroyed the Chitauri mothership during the Battle of New York!

Though the two energy spectrums differed vastly in intensity, their core frequencies and fluctuation patterns were highly similar!

"Could it be him?!" Shuri shot to her feet, her eyes full of shock and a hint of excitement. "That mysterious man called Thunder? He can not only fight aliens, but also infiltrate Wakanda without making a sound?"

She immediately submitted the analysis report to her father, King T'Chaka.

The atmosphere in the royal council chamber grew even heavier.

"If it really is him... then this becomes complicated," King T'Chaka said solemnly. "According to intelligence from the outside world, this man possesses the power to destroy an entire fleet alone, has ties to S.H.I.E.L.D., and his intentions are unclear. Did he infiltrate Wakanda merely to steal some scraps from an experiment?"

"Whatever his purpose, he violated Wakanda's sovereignty!" Prince Zuri said firmly. "We must respond! At the very least, we need to know what he wants!"

Okoye dropped to one knee as well. "Your Majesty, give the order! The royal guard stands ready at any time!"

T'Chaka pondered for a long while before slowly saying, "Shuri, can you attempt... to trace his energy signature in reverse? Determine where he went after leaving Wakanda?"

"I can try!" Challenge gleamed in Shuri's eyes. "His energy concealment is powerful, but as long as he uses similar abilities on a large scale again, our specially designed Vibranium energy-detection satellites may be able to capture a faint trace of him!"

"Do it. But keep it absolutely confidential," T'Chaka ordered. "Okoye, strengthen border patrols, but without my command, you are never to cross the barrier and provoke anyone. Zuri, use secret channels to release some 'purchase requests' for Vibranium artifacts and test the response."

Wakanda's gaze became even more focused on the mysterious Thunder.

Lin Ye remained unaware of all this for the time being. He watched Banner eagerly throw himself into a new round of research and considered his next target—perhaps it was time to visit that little Spider-Man swinging around Queens?

He did not know that an invisible net, woven from Vibranium and genius, was quietly being cast toward him.

(End of Chapter 20)