manynovel Chapter 115 Equipment Overload
Chapter 115 Equipment Overload
The first rays of morning sunlight streamed through the bulletproof glass of Stark Tower's top floor, illuminating the laboratory filled with holographic projections. Chen Haotian rubbed his throbbing temples; the projections in front of him displayed the last data transmitted from the Gotham laboratory the previous night.
"Looks like we've stirred up a hornet's nest." Tony walked over with a cup of coffee, his tone a mix of excitement and worry typical of researchers. "The spacetime residue effect is lasting much longer than expected."
Nick Fury opened his eyes from meditation, a wisp of pale blue magical energy swirling around his fingertips: "I sense that spatial fluctuations over Gotham are forming some kind of... resonance. Like the resonance effect of a tuning fork."
Chen Haotian pulled up the live surveillance footage. Inside the underground laboratory in Gotham's East District, the air was still visibly distorted, and the distortion seemed to be slowly expanding. "We must solve this problem as soon as possible. If this spatial distortion spreads to the streets, it will not only attract Batman's attention but could also cause uncontrollable consequences."
They decided to return to Gotham immediately. This time, they brought several specially shielded devices in an attempt to find a way to suppress the energy leak.
The journey was more bumpy than usual. When the three arrived at the Gotham Laboratory, they immediately sensed something was wrong—static electricity in the air made their hair stand on end, and a continuous low-frequency buzzing sound filled their ears.
"My God, this is much worse than last night." Tony quickly turned on the testing equipment he was carrying, but the instrument emitted a piercing alarm as soon as it was turned on.
On the holographic screen, the energy readings jumped wildly. The cooling system of a quantum computer instantly overloaded, billowing thick smoke. Nick Fury quickly cast a simple freezing spell to cool the device down.
"The energy consumption of all devices has exceeded the safety threshold," Chen Haotian frowned as he looked at the data. "Even the most basic communicator has increased its power consumption by more than three times."
Then something even worse happened. One by one, the surveillance cameras installed throughout the lab started sparking and then completely malfunctioned. The lighting system began to flicker, and the voltage became extremely unstable.
Tony examined the control panel: "It's not just an energy overflow problem. The physical constants of this universe seem to be repelling our equipment. The speed of light, Planck's constant, the fine structure constant... all these fundamental parameters are subtly different from those of our universe."
"It's like trying to run software on the wrong operating system," Chen Haotian summarized. "It's not just a compatibility issue, it's a fundamental incompatibility."
They decided to conduct a riskier test. Tony activated the small prototype of the Arc Reactor that he carried with him. At first, everything was normal, but after a few minutes, the space around the reactor began to distort and emit an eerie blue light.
"Shut it down!" Chen Haotian shouted.
Tony quickly cut off the power, but the reactor continued to operate autonomously. "It won't stop! The energy output is constantly increasing!"
Nick Fury attempted to construct a magical barrier, but the magical energy reacted violently with the energy field generated by the technological equipment. A blinding white light erupted in the laboratory, and everyone was thrown to the ground by the shockwave.
When the light faded, the Arc Reactor had completely melted down, leaving a charred crater in the floor. Even more disturbingly, the spacetime distortion in that area had become more severe, with tiny cracks even appearing in the air.
"We have to get out of here," Chen Haotian decided immediately. "This lab is no longer safe."
They hurriedly packed up important documents and equipment. Just as they were about to leave, the main power system suddenly overloaded, plunging the entire laboratory into darkness, with only the emergency lights emitting a pale red glow.
In the dim light, they saw the spacetime rifts slowly widening, spreading out like lines on broken glass.
"These cracks...they're absorbing light," Nick Fury said warily. "I can sense they're connecting to some...empty space."
Tony quickly calculated the risks: "At this rate of spread, the entire East District will be affected within twelve hours at most."
They eventually escaped the lab safely, but another problem awaited them outside—several of Penguin's henchmen were anxiously waiting there.
"Bosses," the burly leader said nervously, "strange things are happening in several places in the East District. Some people say they've seen ghosts, appliances are malfunctioning inexplicably, and others say they've heard strange noises."
Chen Haotian and Tony exchanged a glance. The effects of the conflicting laws had begun to spread to the surrounding area.
Upon returning to their temporary base, they immediately began analyzing the collected data. The results were disheartening: almost all the high-tech equipment brought from the Marvel Universe experienced overload in the DC Universe, and the more advanced the equipment, the faster it overloaded.
"It's like the immune system's rejection response," Tony explained. "The DC Universe is actively rejecting technology that doesn't belong to this universe."
As night fell, bad news followed one after another. The surveillance equipment they had placed throughout the East District began to malfunction, and even the simplest voice recorders suffered serious damage.
"We must face reality," Chen Haotian concluded, "We cannot use any high-tech equipment from Marvel in the DC Universe until we find a solution."
This conclusion is a heavy blow to their plans. Without a technological advantage, their operations in Gotham will be severely limited.
However, just as everyone fell silent, Nick Fury made an interesting discovery: "But the magical devices don't seem to be affected. Several magical items I brought from Marvel are working perfectly fine in this universe."
Chen Haotian pondered, "In other words, the rules of magic are the same between the two universes, but the rules of technology differ."
This discovery might be key to solving the problem. If this difference between technology and magic does indeed exist, they might be able to develop hybrid technology that utilizes the versatility of magic while retaining the advantages of technology.
But right now, they must deal with the spreading spacetime rifts immediately. Otherwise, they'll cause a disaster themselves before Batman even comes knocking.
"The first thing we need to do tomorrow is try to repair those cracks," Chen Haotian said, looking at the Gotham cityscape at night. "Until then, everyone must use Marvel equipment with extreme caution."
Tony sighed, reluctantly touching his armored briefcase. "Looks like I'll have to say goodbye to my old buddy for now."
Outside the window, searchlights pierced the Gotham night sky—the Bat emblem reappeared in the clouds. It seemed the Dark Knight had noticed the anomaly in the East. Time was running out.