Chapter 340: Radiance: Grand Event (Fifteen)

The next day, when Connors arrived at Stark Tower's lab, he saw Banner with dark circles under his eyes and Stark in his armor—a scene so bizarre it made Connors pause.

He set down his folder and brushed dust off his coat. "Sorry I'm late—I just came from the Los Angeles lab. My two new grad students messed up the project completely; I only just fixed the mess."

"Actually, I was going to say you didn't need to come—we've almost finished the work ourselves," Stark said, raising his voice.

"Really? But Nick told me you haven't touched the biotech project at all. Just now, old Osborn called to say you've delayed a blueprint for two days…"

Banner slapped his forehead. "Right—that's my job. I nearly forgot."

Connors walked over and shook his hand. "I've heard of you from colleagues in Los Angeles—they said you were at MIT with them… Oh, by the way, I heard you've made notable advances in cryogenic research. Take a look at this…"

Connors pulled a document from his folder and handed it to Banner. Banner glanced at it, adjusted his glasses, squinted, and asked, "What is this?"

"A new cryogenic technology originally developed for cryogenic weapons. But after discussing it with a few colleagues at the Los Angeles cryo-lab, we think it could also be used on space bases."

"I know it's cryogenic tech—I'm asking when human cryogenics advanced to this level? Dense ice? Isn't that just theoretical?"

"You'll have to ask Shiler. Ask his genius friend how he came up with something this insane."

Connors handed the document to Stark too. "We've made significant progress in dense ice research. This material can serve as a roof for Mercury bases—highly transparent while blocking the sun's intense heat."

Stark glanced at it and said, "This is better suited for alien colonies—not for glass. Fully automated mechanical factories don't need it. There are no living beings there anyway; everything runs on programs. No lights, no natural sunlight needed."

"Don't rush. Aren't you working on the structural supports beneath the lunar craters? This material will satisfy you."

Hearing that, Stark looked again at the document. Connors added, "More importantly, this frees us from dependence on external sources. Didn't you complain on the phone? Wakanda won't supply more vibranium."

"They're not unwilling—they simply don't have that much. Even if they did, it's not infinite. The coming solar system development plan will require massive amounts of metal. I need to save Earth money…"

Stark picked up the document again and studied it carefully. "You're right. This could replace some metal support structures. More importantly, it's easy to shape."

"Exactly. With this, the entire structure might finally be feasible—no more patchwork. Let me see…"

Stark took the documents away to study them. Connors called after him, "I'll upload the files to the central system. Don't forget to check them."

Stark waved without turning. Connors didn't mind—he circled the lab bench and walked to Banner. "I need your help. Osborn's liquid armor tech could likely be applied to the deck insulation of space bases, to handle Mercury's extreme day-night temperature swings."

So far, each of the three had their own projects. Stark primarily handled mechanical engineering: the base's overall structure, production line layout, automated program architecture, and most importantly, energy systems.

Banner managed terrain modification and environmental adaptation. Connors handled biological modification. Of course, Osborn was also involved—but not as lead; he only provided biotech technologies.

More importantly, they had an outside ally: Reed Richards, stationed far away on the space station.

The Coming of Heaven

Reed was hailed as the smartest human on Earth. Theoretically, he possessed the highest intellect of any human, and space bases and cosmology were precisely his specialties. Originally, Nick had wanted to bring him on as the lead.

But his space survey mission had reached its most critical phase. While the solar system transformation plan was important, near-Earth research was too.

The solar system plan had Stark, Banner, Connors, and other capable scholars—but for near-Earth exploration, modification, and research, Reed was essentially a one-man army. Bringing him back would leave his extremely difficult projects without anyone to carry them forward.

Still, Reed on the space station had heard of Stark's plan. These two geniuses almost instantly aligned.

Reed floated in midair on the station, speaking through his communicator to Nick: "I didn't expect him to have this much guts—to propose a plan like this…"

"If my research weren't at its most crucial stage, I'd want to return and join this thrilling project."

"If you could speed up, you might even make it to Mercury with us for the field survey. As I told you before, with magical assistance, everything becomes much simpler."

Reed held the communicator between his head and shoulder while flipping through documents. "But I must warn you: don't rely too heavily on magic. It's not human. We must forge our own path."

"Don't worry. Some people don't just want to rely on magic—they want to claim it for themselves… Never mind that. Do you have any research on stars?"

"I've studied stars extensively, but mostly superficially—because human mining of stars is still far too distant."

"Hmm… true. But… I mean… suppose—suppose humans wanted to destroy a star. How would you do it?"

"Destroy a star? What are you talking about? Why would humans destroy a star? Our solar system—it's called the solar system! You're planning to blow up the sun?!"

"Not the sun—a giant star about 120 times the mass of the sun…"

Before Reed could ask, Nick spoke as if reading from a script: "Here are our current options. We have a device that can absorb solar energy and convert it for our use. Its advantage is complete controllability—but its absorption ceiling is low…"

"That's useless. You said it's a star 120 times the sun's mass. If your device can't absorb all the sun's energy, it won't work on a giant star at all."

"Alright, we have another plan. We have a magnetic device. Don't ask me how it works—I don't understand it. It just controls magnetic fields."

"If you won't tell me the upper limit of this power, how can I judge whether it can trigger a giant star's explosion?"

Nick sighed. Reed heard him say over the line: "You tell him."

"His maximum magnetic control is unknown."

A voice Reed found slightly unfamiliar came through the communicator: Shiler said, "But I estimate it can move large planets, bend and manipulate light, operate at the atomic level in microscopic scales, create wormholes, traverse space, control gravity fields, and unify forces…"

"Stop. That's it." Reed said firmly. "If it truly reaches that level, triggering a star's explosion wouldn't be difficult at all."

"I know his power could likely trigger a star's explosion—but I want to understand the principle."

"If his magnetic control has reached that point, there are many possible methods."

"Let me be clearer—I want the method with maximum destructive potential…"

"Destructive potential?" Reed paused only a moment before understanding. "You're not trying to blow up a star—you want to use a star to blow up something else? What could possibly be worth detonating a giant sun?"

"You don't need to know," Nick's voice cut in. "When we're ready to act, we'll call you to watch the fireworks."

"Alright. For maximum destructive power, it's definitely a supernova—at least within my current knowledge, its killing potential is the greatest."

"Artificially triggering a supernova isn't theoretically difficult. If your device can arrange atoms as you say, it becomes even simpler. I'll send you my research data on supernovae—take a look."

"Alright, I have no more questions. Then we'll talk again…"

"Wait! What exactly are you planning? Why do I feel you're about to make a huge move?" Reed asked.

"…It is indeed a very large plan," Nick said.

Then Reed heard Shiler's voice on the other end—cold, like a faceless undertaker gathering corpses in a winter night.

"Correct. I call it… the Radiance Plan."

————Extra Notes————

Try to guess what "Radiance" represents.

Just like "Batman" in the Batman event, it has multiple meanings.

The author is a master of layers. (Spinning dog. pg)