Chapter 3409: Child of Midnight (XIX)

Stark brought several people to his mech warehouse. This place has the equipment needed for today.

The latest series of mechs is named "Space Explorer (SpaceExplorer)", abbreviated as SE. The mech currently in use is the latest SE-26.

There is also a series corresponding to it, called "Star Guardians (StarGuardians)", abbreviated as SG. Development has reached the eighth generation, with the latest being SG-08.

The mechs of the Space Explorer series belong to engineering mechs, specially made to cope with various complex environments in the universe and to meet the conditions for construction in such environments. They can use ordinary and magical energy, and have functions such as life support, surveying, construction, and mining.

The Star Guardians belong to combat mechs, but are also specially designed for combat in space. They possess humanity's most advanced energy absorption and conversion system. In short, they can obtain energy in various cosmic environments and use it for combat. Their mounted weapons are also diverse. However, this type of mech cannot use magical energy, only ordinary energy.

Stark opened the door of the mech hangar and introduced his new mech to several people. He said: "These two types of mechs are commercially available products that can be deployed on a large scale. Currently, the biggest customer is China. Australia and Europe also have purchases."

Shiler looked at the mech placed in the first mech hangar. As it is a commercial product, Shiler had previously seen advertisements for this mech on short video software. The actual object looks even more magnificent than in the advertisement.

These two machines resemble Gundam more than Iron Man's battle suit. From the outside, they are completely giant steel robots, with little relation to human form.

"Is this an unmanned mech?" Miles asked.

"That's right." Stark nodded and said, "After all, not everyone has the skill to operate battle suits..."

"Thank you for the praise, Mr." Jarvis said.

Stark rolled his eyes without changing his expression, ignored him, and continued: "The environment in space is complex and dangerous. Unmanned mechs would be a better choice. After all, we cannot expect every precious engineering talent to also have a lot of time to do space exercise training. It's better to just let robots do it."

"Of course, the robots use a brain-control system. The pilot only needs to stay in a safe brain-control cabin, and the mech can imitate the pilot's various movements, with precision achieving perfect restoration. Currently, customer feedback is still good."

"Has it already been put into use?" Miles asked again.

"Yes, this is the main force maintaining the Pluto and Neptune Xinggang. The shipment volume is huge, and it is Stark Technology's flagship product of this generation. I myself still have two prototype units here, and today I will take them to Jupiter."

Miles walked up to the mech, looked up at the tall robot, and showed some envy. Stark patted his shoulder and said: "Good job, kid. When this matter is over, I'll give you a big toy, guaranteed to be cooler than this. And you, Peter..."

"I don't want it." Peter said, "My two homes are already filled up by Spider-Man, and I really have no place to put it."

"Isn't that perfect? Let them also see the achievements of this universe's Iron Man." Stark said proudly, "They will definitely think I am the best Iron Man in the entire universe."

Peter shrugged and said: "They will scream for three days, then let all the residents of the whole apartment building come to complain to me. But... well, you are indeed the best Iron Man in the entire universe."

Stark took the mech out of the warehouse. Shiler originally thought they would directly fly to outer space, but in reality, it was not that simple at all.

Shiler has not left Earth without using a teleportation portal for a long time. He still quite wants to try flying once.

But obviously, with the opening of the space exploration era, all procedures have been standardized. Now, all flight units wanting to physically break through the atmosphere and enter space need to submit an application, wait for approval, and then reach near-Earth orbit at the specified speed within the specified time; they cannot just fly randomly.

The scope of flight units includes not only rockets, airplanes, and space shuttles, but also superheroes. Even the returning Captain Marvel had to first fly to near Earth, wait for the space station tower to dispatch, and then land on the ground from the designated position.

Moreover, it is now also very troublesome to enter near-Earth orbit by magical means. One must pass through the ground's teleportation portal to enter the space station, and then leave from the space station; one cannot casually open a teleportation portal within the near-Earth range.

Furthermore, the inspection of people and items entering the space station is very strict, with requirements for size and energy level. Machines that are too large in size or too high in energy level cannot enter. Engineering equipment must also be disassembled and brought in as parts, then reassembled inside.

While letting Jarvis send an application to the space station, Stark said: "Behind every regulation lies a lesson learned in blood. The turmoil of the space station falling must never happen again."

Although he said that, as the person in charge of the solar system development plan, Stark still has some privileges. His launch application was approved quickly, and the assigned location and channel are also the most recent and fastest.

Shiler actually did not want to go through all this trouble. Konsu is the moon god, and he could actually directly teleport to the moon. But he suddenly thought that China seems to have deployed many lunar rovers on the moon, broadcasting live. He does not want to suddenly appear on camera, so he can only go together with Stark.

Their launch site is a military airport near New York. The three people flew there together with the mechs.

Peter's flight is still somewhat unskilled, so Shiler and Stark could only wait for him to fly slowly. After arriving at the location, Shiler landed first, followed closely by Stark.

However, the two waited on the ground for half a day, and Peter still did not come down. Stark raised his head and shouted upward: "Spider-Man! Spider-Man, what's wrong with you? Come down quickly!"

"I don't know how to land!" Peter shouted, "Just withdraw the power and it'll be fine, right?!"

"No!!" Stark shouted urgently, "Don't withdraw the power!"

"But I will keep floating..."

Stark covered his forehead and said: "Do you remember what you told me at the beginning? Magic is mind over matter! Quickly forget the aerodynamics knowledge in your mind!!"

"I can't forget! If I dive downward, I need a buffer force to counteract gravity..."

Shiler couldn't bear to watch anymore. He flew up again, swept his cape, and brought Peter down.

Peter let out a sigh of relief and said: "Thank you."

Stark walked toward the target location while saying: "I just said I am the most professional mage in the team, right?"

The three arrived at the designated location. Stark first arranged several mechs properly, then turned to the two and said: "You follow me in flight. During the flight, turning is strictly prohibited; if you collide with other aircraft, it's all over."

"Also, the flight speed must absolutely not exceed 10 Mach, and maintaining around 8 Mach is best. During flight, do not use teleportation, not even short-distance teleportation. Do not suddenly accelerate or decelerate. The specific principle is much like driving a car."

Peter nodded, but he seemed somewhat nervous. Stark said: "Follow closely behind me; my battle suit controls speed very precisely. As long as you don't exceed me, you won't speed."

The mech and the Iron Man battle suit simultaneously charged up. With a soft "hum", Iron Man rose into the air first. The initial speed was not fast, seemingly to wait for the two to catch up. After Shiler and Peter also took off, he then accelerated at a uniform speed.

Peter seemed to find this rocket-like flight method very novel, constantly looking left and right. Stark had to remind him in the earpiece: "When you drive a car, is your attention also this unfocused?"

"Uh, sorry. It just feels very magical. Although I have built rockets before, being a rocket myself is still the first time."

Stark did not reprimand him, only saying: "In the future, if you fly a few more times yourself, you won't feel anything special. Now, China is strictly checking flight safety; if you deviate, you might get shot down by them."

Peter hurriedly shrank his neck, refocused his attention on flight, and struggled to adjust his body posture to avoid deviating from the planned trajectory.

Gradually accelerating to the limit speed, the magical enhancement made the flyers feel no discomfort. Shiler also felt nothing, only feeling a sudden release of strength throughout his body at the moment of breaking through the atmosphere.

After breaking through the atmosphere, Stark slowed down, and according to Jarvis's positioning, he located the space station.

"Where are we going now?" Peter asked, "Are we flying directly to Jupiter?"

"The distance from Earth to Jupiter is 500 million miles. By the time we get there, Roxxon's conspiracy will have succeeded." Stark said, "We need to first go to the space station to borrow a spaceship. The escort ship we obtained from the Kree people has now become a regular cruiser. You can think of it as a bus within the solar system."

"We need to take the nearest public transport ship to go to Jupiter's moon four, where there are already built temporary outposts and research stations. If we want to get close to Jupiter's main body, we still need to take a special small spaceship."

"However, we are going for a secret investigation, so the final step can be omitted. If possible, we can build a small temporary base on Jupiter's moon three."

"Where is Roxxon's base's mining outpost built?" Peter asked.

"If nothing unexpected happens, it should be on Jupiter's moon one." Stark speculated, "Jupiter's moon one has frequent geological activity, high thermal energy level, and underground heat sources can provide sufficient energy support for various mining equipment. If it were me, I would choose this place."

"But their technology is different from Earth's." Peter reminded, "They might not need the thermal energy of Jupiter's moon one. Perhaps we should also check Jupiter's moon two or Jupiter's moon three."

Stark nodded, then turned to look at Shiler. Shiler said: "You decide."

Shiler actually does not know exactly where Roxxon Company's mining outpost is built. Because the comics only said mining Jupiter, but did not give any specific storyboard, and one cannot see how Jupiter is being mined.

According to the current situation, it should not be destructive mining, and the scale of mining should also not be large. It is impossible to set up large-scale mining equipment on Jupiter's main body, otherwise humans would have observed it long ago.

Therefore, the only possibility is to build a mining outpost on the moon, then send mining ships to mine, and after mining is complete, uniformly transport it to the outpost for storage or transport out.

Mining ships are generally not large, and compared to Jupiter's enormous volume, they can be said to be a grain of sand in the vast sea. Moreover, the mining points and flight orbits are not fixed, so if one were not constantly watching Jupiter, it would be difficult to notice. This behavior is indeed somewhat furtive.

According to Shiler's understanding from Xu Shangqi, China might be planning to build stable, large-scale mining equipment on Jupiter, rather than using mining ships for extraction.

The construction period for large-scale equipment will certainly be long; even with current technological levels, it would take at least 3 to 5 years. During this period, engineering personnel will frequently operate around Jupiter, making it impossible for Roxen Company's covert mining to remain hidden.

Actually, by rights, the planets in the solar system belong to humanity as common property, and no planet is necessarily assigned to anyone—those with the capability may mine. Besides, current technology cannot achieve destructive mining that would affect others. We are all humans, and whoever mines will ultimately end up as rotting meat in the pot.

Therefore, Roxen Company could completely choose: you develop your part in China, I mine mine. You don't need to worry about what technology I use—I have alien technology, which is my capability. According to Shiler's understanding, China is unlikely to investigate thoroughly. Jupiter is so large that even if each side takes one face, there would be no mutual interference.

However, Roxen Company chose to act first, which, no matter how you look at it, seems guilty. Moreover, they adopted such radical measures, directly attacking domestic interests.

Could the head of Roxen Company really be so foolish as to believe he could monopolize Jupiter?

(End of Chapter)