Stirred up a hornet's nest

Chapter 12 Stirred up a hornet's nest

Underground, a private laboratory.

Thanks to his years of study in the Land of Light, Shen You used the limited resources his assistant could buy to build a makeshift laboratory in the basement. This became his main research site.

At this moment, he was revising and editing a newly completed design drawing displayed on the projection screen, preparing to conduct final tests before running the simulation on the computer.

This is a project he started working on a month ago. He named it "Ultraman".

That's right, it shares the same name as the famous Ultraman spin-off anime series, and it's something similar.

Simply put, it's about creating an exoskeleton similar to Iron Man's. A life-size suit of armor shaped like Ultraman, powered by light technology, possessing strength and performance far exceeding conventional Earth technology, and even capable of carrying Specium weapons.

The design of the blueprints and the programming of the built-in program were basically completed. Shen You ran the simulation twice, but then hesitated again on the issue of weapon materials.

DC Earth certainly has a lot of advanced technology, such as the materials Batman and Lex Luthor use to build their armor, which must be incredibly strong. However, it's unknown whether those technologies have even been developed in the current DC universe, and Shen You currently has no way to access them.

However, a thought quickly came to him, and he soon came up with a way that might allow him to access top-tier materials.

It's right in the kitchen of my own coffee shop.

Right now, the great wizard Shazam is having a blast with a newly bought electric oven in the kitchen.

Whether he found the thing too slow or the heat too difficult to control, the old wizard glanced around furtively, and seeing that no one was paying attention, he silently chanted a spell and secretly cast a speed-up spell on the oven.

The roasted chicken was immediately accelerated under the influence of the spell, turning into a dark brown, charred chicken with cracked skin.

Realizing he had over-accelerated, the wizard's pupils contracted, and he quickly flipped his hand, casting a rewind spell. The charred chicken seemed to rewind time, rapidly reverting to its state before it was charred.

A round, white-shelled egg?

Damn, it's retreated too much.

Just then, footsteps were heard outside the kitchen door, followed by the young owner's voice: "Senior Wizard?"

The old wizard's heart skipped a beat. In a moment of inspiration, he silently chanted a levitation spell, and with a flick of his finger, the poor egg was launched out of the open window.

So when Shen You entered the room, he saw the old wizard standing in the middle of the kitchen, lost in thought.

"Uh, what are you doing?"

The old wizard coughed and calmly stroked his long beard: "A wise wizard needs to set aside some time each day to contemplate life."

"Uh, okay. I hope I haven't disturbed your thoughts. I have a question."

"Hmm, go ahead and speak." The wizard stroked his long beard, maintaining his air of superiority.

Shen You then briefly explained his purpose and thoughts.

The old wizard pondered for a moment, stroking his large beard, and said, "In that case, the temple might still have a small amount of the Ninth Metal left."

Shen You's spirits lifted upon hearing this.

Is the ninth metal the legendary N metal?

That's the highest-grade material you can get in DC. It's described as a metal with the potential to "overturn all the rules of physics and magic," possessing various extraordinary properties even without any processing.

For example, it has anti-gravity properties, allowing those who wear N metal to fly freely. It also enhances the user's strength, grants super self-healing abilities, and provides top-tier magic resistance. The higher the purity, the greater the power; although very rare, the purest N metal can grant immortality and even resurrection.

Then, while this thing is rare, it's not that rare. It's basically everywhere in the Sennagan Empire, the homeland of DC superhero Hawkman, similar to vibranium in Wakanda in the Marvel universe.

"There's not much left, just a little," the old wizard shook his head. "I obtained it by chance many years ago. I've used most of it, and the remaining small amount has been sitting idle for thousands of years, of no use to me. If you want it, you can take it."

Shen You thanked him. Even a small amount of N metal, a god-level material, would have extraordinary effects, and very few people are wealthy enough to use pure N metal to make weapons; most of them are mixed with other materials.

Just then, a commotion broke out in the coffee shop outside.

"Don't be so cold."

A group of teenagers, looking like thugs, were huddled around a table in a coffee shop, winking and making faces at a pretty girl.

Three companions surrounded him, each wearing a sinister grin. They were dressed casually, mostly in ripped jeans with Hideyoshi's jeans hanging on them, and short-sleeved T-shirts with patterns or letters printed on them, exuding a decadent and wild vibe.

The girl clearly didn't want to cause trouble, so she simply moved away from him.

"Don't be so cold, I just want to make a friend."

"Yeah, we're just chatting and talking together," his companion chimed in from the side.

"It's pointless to be ungrateful."

The boy slammed his hand on the table, making the silver skull hanging around his neck rattle loudly.

The girl turned pale with fright and shrank back slightly, saying, "I'm sorry, but I'm really busy."

"Really? Then let me make some time for you."

The boy grunted and actually raised his fist as if to hit her, which frightened the girl so much that she covered her head.

But when he swung with all his might, he couldn't actually swing it down.

The boy turned his head in surprise and immediately saw Shen You, who had appeared beside him at some point. With a kind smile, Shen You reached out and grabbed the boy's wrist.

"I'm sorry, sir, but violence is prohibited in our store."

The young man narrowed his eyes: "You're the shop owner? This is none of your business. We're from the Cross Gang, so if you know what's good for you, get out of the way and don't get in my way."

"The Cross Gang?" Shen You thought hard for a moment.

I don't remember.

The main problem is that there are just too many gangs, big and small, in Gotham. He can't even remember all the big gangs, let alone the little ones that are nobody.

"We operate around 19th Street, and today we're here on behalf of our boss, Elliott. Yes, the Elliott known as 'Mad Elliott'!"

"Oh, I see." Shen You said in realization.

I knew it. No wonder there were still some clueless idiots causing trouble in my shop even now; they must be from someone else's neighborhood.

It's normal for outsiders to be confused about the situation.

His sudden realization seemed to be interpreted by the young man as him having heard of his boss's reputation, which made him even more arrogant.

"So now let go of my hand, apologize, and you can still run your shop here peacefully. I can pretend nothing happened."

Bang bang bang.

Four muffled thuds followed.

The four thugs lay on their backs, blood streaming from their noses, and the pain of being beaten didn't even begin until they fell to the ground.

too fast.

One second he was still arrogant, and the boy was still lying on the cold floor, completely unaware of the situation.

Did I just... flop?

How?

Confused, he lay down on the ground and saw the young boss casually drag over a chair and sit down next to him.

"Now, about that... 'Mad Elliott'?" Shen You smiled, "Let's elaborate."

The group of rascals trembled.

I'm starting to vaguely realize that I might have stirred up a hornet's nest this time.

(End of this chapter)