Loki did not yet know about Hydra Squad's miserable fate. He looked at Benjamin, the warehouse manager, who had shrunk back before slowly getting to his feet. A wicked smile appeared on his handsome face.
"I need some iridium. Can you hand it over?"
Dr. Selvig needed a great deal of equipment and materials to build the reactor, and iridium was the most crucial of them. To open a portal connecting the stars, he needed a stable energy source capable of sustained output. Only then could he use the Tesseract's immense power to pry open space and expand a quantum passage.
Benjamin nodded tremblingly. Umbrella had indeed purchased a large quantity of iridium recently for Mr. Ivan Vanko's Laboratory Three. One of the rarest elements in Earth's crust, it had an average mass proportion of only 0.001 parts per million. Its high melting point, hardness, and corrosion resistance made it highly suitable as an alloy additive.
In particle physics applications, iridium was also required during antiproton production. High-intensity proton beams were fired at a "conversion target" with extremely high density, allowing it to withstand more steadily the shock waves caused by the rising temperature from the incoming particle beam.
"I like your cooperative attitude." Loki waved his golden scepter and nodded with a smile.
Humanity's obedient attitude pleased him greatly. Once he seized this planet with the Chitauri army, he would become its sole absolute ruler. Then he could take the first step toward conquering the Nine Realms, using abundant resources and advanced technology to create vast, cheap armies of cannon fodder and launch an assault on the Nine Realms.
Loki, who knew Asgard well, had long seen things clearly. Odin was no longer the invincible supreme powerhouse he had been a thousand years ago. Now, he was merely an