The restoration of this furnace took a lot of effort.
According to the list of missing goods provided by the net surveillance, the entire system was sourced from different suppliers, but the core functional components all came as a complete set from a metal smelting equipment company owned by Petrochem.
This kind of equipment isn't heavily regulated, but it's not cheap either. It's large in size, makes a lot of noise when running, and requires a high level of technical expertise to operate.
No outlaw would realistically have the chance to own such a large immovable asset, and mercenaries would have even less reason to.
But Leo was different. In the Marvel world, he had a luxurious team of masters in materials science; what he lacked was a facility like this to put production into practice and bring the advanced materials from that world here.
In front of the control console, a robot turned to face him.
The engineers led by Sherman, along with the Aldecaldo engineers represented by Mitch, stepped aside to make way for it —
These robots in the control room looked like typical bots, but the level of expertise they possessed was beyond the engineers' expectations.
The processors, software, and algorithms they carried were clearly extraordinary —
In any case, they were definitely worth far more than the engineers themselves.
In the other world, at this very same position, Dr. Otto turned around and looked at Leo the same way.
In Leo's eyes, the robot's figure overlapped with that of Dr. Otto.
This was Leo's first time standing in the same place, discussing matters simultaneously with two teams across two worlds. It felt rather surreal.
To those nearby, it was even more magical: this robot was incredible — not only did it know so much, but it operated just like a human being.
If it weren't for the fact that the world in its "head" was totally different from reality, people would really suspect that Leo had brought along a rogue AI.
Dr. Otto spoke:
"This arc furnace performs decently, but why is the diagnostic data reported by the robots always a bit off? It seems like it's using second-hand machinery."
In the Marvel world, the furnace was newly built, but not here — many of the parts here had dents and scratches.
To the people on this side, Otto appeared as a robot, but to Otto, they were the ones who seemed robotic.
Leo didn't answer Otto's question. Instead, he looked over the data. "What about the product specs?"
"Mechanical properties are consistent, defect rate is very low, we're in the 'very lucky' range — overall it's within the minimum I projected."
The entire production process naturally involved lots of unavoidable errors, caused by a complex mix of factors like material inconsistency, limitations in equipment precision, and operational mistakes.
Yet through this cross-dimensional production setup, the produced materials showed virtually no excessive deviation, and the defect rate was pretty much at Otto's projected minimum.
The two sample pieces were astonishingly similar.
One could call it very lucky, but Leo knew there were some 'external cheats' at play here.
"Excellent. We—" Leo cut off the robot's data feed mid-sentence, then turned to the others and continued, "We have an agreement with the Sixth Street Gang to increase output and supply them."
In the other world, however, he was saying something completely different:
[Leo: Arm the drones and deliver them to Atlas Corporation. Are they still en route?]
[Dr. Otto: I heard they hijacked a terrorist's vehicle, so they're about three days out.]
[Dr. Otto: There's still some distance to the Africa branch — and no highways there, as you know.]
[Leo: Good. Keep in touch.]
Then Leo turned to another robot — this one representing Michael.
"I want to upgrade the exoskeleton — and the special weapons adapted for it."
After that, he brought in Chesson and Roshan, two arms dealers, and laid out the guns he'd seized from Phantom and Hardcore Uncle:
[Contact: Chesson, Roshan]
[Leo: Image.JPEG]
[Leo: I found two high-power weapons. Maybe you know them. I want to mount this kind of firepower onto the gear."]
The two arms dealers quickly identified the guns.
One was a tech revolver, the other a heavy submachine gun.
Leo confirmed with Chesson over the net — both were museum-level designs.
The revolver was the RT-46, produced by Techtronika, an arms manufacturer once under the Soviet Federation — a dangerous, powerful revolver, second-generation design, requiring high-grade skeletal-muscle implants to handle the recoil without snapping the user's wrist.
The heavy submachine gun was made by Malorian Arms — a classic design from as early as 2020, the famous 3600 Super SMG, built around 14mm caseless ammunition.
But for an SMG it was oversized; for a rifle, it was too short — and its accuracy was terrible.
Despite all these flaws, its sole advantage covered all its shortcomings:
At close range, its stopping power was phenomenal — every shot could pierce alloy armor.
Both guns were typical cyborg weapons — the user needed implants to handle their violent recoil.
Inside, both weapons showed signs of further modifications, appearing even more formidable than the original designs.
This made them the perfect ranged weapons to mount onto massive exoskeleton gauntlets.
After a few more words with the Aldecaldos and Sherman's team, Leo slipped into the adjacent workshop —
Although the Aldecaldos were operating the place, they had made sure to reserve him a comfortable corner.
It was located in the far side of the underground area, a good distance from the furnace, with one of the few ventilation ducts dedicated to it.
Thanks to the fresh-air system, the room wasn't too stuffy, but the clanging sounds in the underground space were inescapable.
This separate room was divided into two sections: one was the workshop, the other a rest area.
The three of them stepped inside — Leo headed straight for the workbench, while Jackie and V curiously explored the rest area.
Inside were three beds and not much else —
It reminded them of when they'd hidden out in the Badlands to lay low.
V flopped down on a bed and suddenly said, "Reminds me of when we were hiding out in the Badlands."
Jackie walked around, picking up a remote from a small table.
"Yeah... except this is underground, not out in the open."
As he spoke, he pressed the remote. Suddenly, one wall of the rest area turned into an outdoor scene.
It looked like a beach — golden sand under the sun, waves glittering on the sea.
Even the air felt different, giving the illusion of a seaside breeze.
V sat up with a start, amazed at the wall. "Whoa, pretty fancy — they even put in a holo-wall."
Jackie crossed his arms, dragged a bed to face the wall, and lay back down: "Nice beach. I like it."
"Eh, still nothing compared to a real ocean..." V started to say, then remembered the braindance he'd promised to show Jackie, so he called out to Leo: "Hey, got a braindance headband here?"
Without looking up, Leo pointed at a corner cabinet: "Cabinet in the corner."
V fetched a headband from the cabinet, then slyly pulled out a disc from his pocket, whispering to Jackie, "This braindance beats any holo-wall, trust me."
Jackie rubbed his hands together and put it on: "I even asked around on some sites — this kind of braindance costs a fortune but doesn't sell much. Leo really is resourceful."
Once the braindance started, the big guy fell asleep within seconds, completely unresponsive.
V gaped. "He's out cold in seconds. What's he even gonna see?"
Meanwhile, Leo was working at the bench, two mechanical arms whirring as they adjusted settings. V, lying around, grew more bored by the minute:
"Got any more braindances?"
"Nope."
"Can I go out for a walk then?"
"No, too dangerous."
"Then what should I do now?"
"Rest."
V thought for a while, then blurted out: "I've always looked down on gang types, you know."
Leo raised an eyebrow and glanced back at him, amused. "Yeah, I figured. Why say that now?"
"It's just... just..." V struggled for words. "I mean, I never liked working with other people."
"So what? People change. You won't take money?"
Silence. V mulled it over for a long moment, then gave up and rolled over on the bed.
"Sigh... can't believe I let you talk me into this."
Leo glanced at the bored V and suddenly remembered something he could have him do.
"...Leaving isn't entirely off the table. Tonight, Morton's is setting up the event site — the surrounding area needs a sweep.
You can go check it out. If you go, call David and the rest over, too. The more, the better."
V sprang off the bed in a flash: "Now that's more like it! We'll head out once Jackie wakes up."