Chapter 1999

After the Guardians of the Galaxy left, Steve withdrew his gaze from their backs and turned to look at Shiler, saying, "What exactly is going on with my shield? Is it really not made of Vibranium?"

Stark sneered and was about to say something when T'Challa walked in with Ororo. He smiled at the group and said, "What are you talking about? I heard you talking from far away."

"We were talking about some illiterate person who thought his shield was just ordinary Vibranium," Stark said sarcastically. "And thought it was the genius structure designed by Howard that made his shield so sturdy."

T'Challa revealed a slightly embarrassed expression and asked, "Uh, isn't it?"

Previously, in order to promote Vibranium, T'Challa read many related historical documents and materials. He found that many people had no concept of this special metal, and it was even the first time they had heard the name Vibranium, just because they knew that Captain America's star-spangled shield was made of Vibranium.

The Wakandan publicity department even specifically allocated a large budget to let Captain America add the sentence "This is made of Vibranium, the hardest metal in the world" when introducing his shield.

"Of course not." Stark sighed, not in the mood to mock his good friend anymore. He recalled for a moment and said, "Howard is indeed a pretty good scientist, and so are the Starks, but he himself admitted that he couldn't be considered a pure scientist. He was more like a businessman who understood technology."

"Back then, the technology of the Stark Automotive Technology Group wasn't all created by Howard. He bought out quite a few technologies from scientists who were frustrated or lost sponsorship. Although they didn't play any role later, this could be considered the secret of the Stark Group's rise."

None of the group showed any surprised expressions. In fact, it was extremely rare for someone like Stark to demand that all the technology of an entire group be invented by him and maintained and updated by him. Most technology groups, even if they have one or two backbone scientists to develop most of the technology, most of the other technology is acquired.

"And it's not just technology." Stark shook his head lightly, "For a period of time, Howard was obsessed with new materials because he felt that the reason his hovercars couldn't fly was because of the material."

"At this time, a down-and-out experimenter named MacLain found him and said that he had also come up with a very magical metal, possessing properties stronger than Vibranium, a perfect alloy."

"Howard went to his laboratory and found that this scientist named MacLain hadn't lied to him. The alloy MacLain showed him had an extraordinarily powerful defensive ability, which could be called perfect."

"Howard believed that this alloy could well solve the safety problems of hovercars, so he spent a lot of money to buy it. He thought he could analyze the components and successfully replicate it, but he didn't do it."

"He went back to find that researcher, only to find that this wasn't MacLain's research result at all, just a result he happened to get in an accident. He couldn't replicate it himself either."

"So this piece of metal became a unique Vibranium alloy. To this day, only Captain America's shield uses this alloy. Haven't you noticed? The defensive ability of this shield can already be called magical."

T'Challa became more and more interested as he listened, so he followed this topic and asked, "The defensive ability is very strong? How strong is it?"

Steve thought for a while and replied, "Anyway, I jumped down from more than twenty floors, and as long as the shield hits the ground, it's completely fine. So far, I haven't encountered anything that my shield can't defend against. As long as I can block it, I can definitely block it."

T'Challa opened his eyes slightly and looked at Stark and Shiler again. Both of them nodded in unison. They really hadn't seen anything that Captain America reached out to block but couldn't block.

Whether it was a physical attack or a magical attack, no matter how fast the attack was or how strong it was, Captain America would lift his hand, and the attack would disappear like a clay ox entering the sea, leaving nothing behind.

T'Challa frowned deeply. Obviously, he realized that this couldn't be achieved by a simple Vibranium shield. Otherwise, if Wakandan warriors each had a piece, wouldn't they be invincible?

Subsequently, his heart became hot, and Vibranium alloy was also fine. It always had to use Vibranium. Or rather, if all countries and major technology companies really knew there was such a perfect alloy, wouldn't the value of Vibranium rise with the tide?

So he looked at Stark full of expectation. Stark hesitated for a while before shaking his head and saying, "Don't look at me like that. I couldn't possibly ask Howard, 'Hey, were you really cheated by a down-and-out researcher, bought back a unique item, and still couldn't study its formula after scratching your head?'"

"I know Howard." Steve looked at T'Challa and said, "If he really had a way to replicate it, then it would be impossible for there to be only this one shield in the world."

The light in T'Challa's eyes gradually went out, but he still kept a glimmer of thought, preparing to go and ask Howard in person.

Shiler sighed and said, "Did you all forget something? It's the 21st century now. Can't you just make a phone call? In case you can really ask for some clues?"

Only then did T'Challa seem to realize it suddenly. He patted his head and hurriedly took his phone from Ororo's hand.

Unfortunately, the fact was just as Stark had speculated. Howard really hadn't studied the formula of this alloy. He apologized to T'Challa on the phone, and T'Challa could only hold back his disappointment and comfort him by saying it was fine.

After the phone hung up, this always gentle king was also a bit absent-minded. But at this time, Shiler said.

"If scientific means are useless, then perhaps criminal investigation will play some role."

"Since it was an accident, it must be investigatable. What caused the accident, what was in the laboratory when the accident happened, these might all be inferable through human deduction. And the things around when the accident happened must have the mysterious raw materials of the Vibranium alloy, which can greatly narrow the scope of the investigation."

At this time, Shiler also took out his phone. The group didn't know who he was going to call. Shiler dialed the phone, said a few words, and hung up. Not long after, Bruce and the other two appeared in the restaurant.

Shiler briefly explained the situation to Bruce. Bruce stood in place and thought for a few minutes before saying, "Perhaps I know what the key raw material is."

The other few were dumbfounded.

And Bruce began to reason from the beginning.

"First of all, we have to analyze that down-and-out researcher MacLain. From his behavior, we can know that he once had a certain reputation in the academic world, and his professional level was relatively solid, but he might have fallen into some trouble, leading to his reputation falling to the bottom, which is why he was down-and-out."

"Wait, why is this?" Steve interrupted him and asked, "You are from another universe. It's impossible for you to have heard of this person named MacLain. How do you know the process of his downfall?"

Bruce shook his head and said, "Of course it's impossible for me to have heard of the scientists in your universe, but this is obvious."

"Stark Group, oh, what was that called, Stark Automotive Technology Company, shouldn't it be a small company either?"

The others looked at Stark. Stark frowned slightly, but still said, "The Stark Group back then wasn't as powerful as it is now, but it was considered a leading enterprise in New Jersey."

"That's right, I guess your father was also a scientist with a little fame."

"His fame in 'Playboy' magazine was much greater than his fame in the scientific world." Stark curled his lips and said, "But back then he was still young and was considered a rising star in the scientific research world, so he had a bit of fame."

"Then, how could a scientist who holds a large company and masters advanced technology himself see a researcher with no name? What did MacLain rely on to move Howard and walk into the interior of the Stark Group?"

The group revealed thoughtful expressions. Stark nodded and said, "So that's how you deduced it. Indeed, I heard Uncle Obadiah say that Howard had a bad temper when he was young and was most impatient to deal with beggars. MacLain being able to step into his office must have had two brushes."

"A good scientist's laboratory, especially his workbench, definitely wouldn't buy many things, even on the road to developing new materials."

Bruce snapped his fingers and said, "Everyone knows that materials science is about luck, and it takes hundreds of millions of combinations to have some new discoveries."

"But geniuses always feel that they are exceptionally favored by God. They will firmly believe in the combinations they speculate in their hearts, and thus try their own orderly combinations in the early research."

"Then what is MacLain's orderly combination?" T'Challa leaned his body forward and asked.

"This is not important. What's important is that even with only a few raw materials, MacLain, this researcher who already had no sponsors, had no conditions to reproduce them one by one. And Howard felt that he was cheated by a small researcher, couldn't get off the stage, and definitely wouldn't lower his face to ask MacLain what was on his table at the time. Thus, this became an eternal secret."

"We can't guess all the things on the table by guessing, but we can infer the things most likely to appear on the table according to the possibility."

The group was a bit dizzy by him, and only people like Stark and T'Challa, who were also scientists, could listen.

"Things that must appear on the table..." Stark touched his chin and said, "Vibranium must count as one. I guess there should be some basic metals, such as iron and copper. These are the materials we use most commonly for alloys."

T'Challa silently recorded these inferences and then said, "Perhaps there are some chemical reagents used to test the properties of metals."

"These indeed all have possibilities." Bruce nodded, but then he said, "But their possibilities are equal. If you say so, the fibers of paper, rubber and glass, and the material of the laboratory workbench panel have a higher priority than them."

The others were a bit speechless by him, but they had to admit that what he said made sense. Since it was an accident, then everything around could be raw materials, including the workbench panel, gloves, glass test tubes, and even the paper used for recording. If you keep guessing like this, it will never end.

"There is one thing that has a higher priority than them." Bruce suddenly said, "That is Vibranium ore, it's raw ore, right?"

T'Challa nodded and said, "The only thing he could get was raw ore, because the smelter wouldn't have problems under the strict management of the royal family. The only thing that could have problems is the mine and during transportation, so the only thing Vibranium dealers could get was raw ore."

At this time, Stark suddenly followed Bruce's train of thought. His eyes opened slightly, he looked at T'Challa, and said, "Does Vibranium raw ore have associated minerals?"

T'Challa stood up with a 'whoosh', stood in place, and muttered to himself, "Meteorite... that meteorite that brought Vibranium!"