Chapter 199: Scarlet Witch Wanda
If this had been his previous life, Matthew could be certain that the country would soon enter invincible mode. Then, within just a hundred years, it would march toward the solar system, or even the Milky Way. Humanity would become a galactic-level ruler.
Unfortunately, this was the Marvel universe. The birth of superconducting materials could only narrow the gap between Earth and those powerful alien civilizations and empires beyond it.
"BOSS, should we start mobilizing resources next?" Melina asked.
Melina and Matthew walked side by side through the base corridor. Along the way, they passed many scientists coming and going.
Although those scientists were all busy, when they saw the two of them, they still stopped and respectfully offered their greetings.
The guards did the same.
Matthew and Melina both nodded in response.
Melina turned her head slightly and looked at Matthew's profile. A faint ripple appeared in her beautiful, charming eyes.
As Minister of Technology, she knew what superconducting materials meant.
Obviously, in the next stage, they had to concentrate resources and invest them into the application of superconducting materials.
Whether it was building nuclear fusion energy technology or aviation systems.
Take transport aircraft alone as an example.
At the current stage, they still relied on gas turbines, with limited power. But now that they had superconducting materials, they could quickly iterate into brushless motors, paired with superconducting magnetohydrodynamic propulsion and plasma propulsion.
In terms of speed, they could easily achieve regular cruising speeds of 800 to 1,200 kilometers per hour, with the potential for hypersonic flight.
The new generation of superconducting transport aircraft would possess supersonic cruise capability, hundreds of tons of payload capacity, unlimited global range, and floating vertical takeoff and landing capability, becoming a true future aerial strategic deployment platform.
Of course, superconducting material was only a key.
After breaking through the upper limit of human technology, they still needed to use superconducting materials as the core and develop other supporting technologies to match them.
Maglev systems, superconducting propulsion, hypersonic transport aircraft, aerodynamic design, heat-resistant materials, flight control systems, and other supporting technologies all needed to be developed.
However, once superconductivity was implemented, all existing mature technologies would be completely amplified. Future equipment would merely become a matter of engineering integration, no longer a scientific theory problem.
So they needed to concentrate their resources even more, planning and developing everything around superconducting materials.
"Melina, you are the highest minister and executive officer of the Technology Department. I trust you, just as I trust Natasha, Reacher, and the others."
Matthew stopped and looked at this beautiful, mature, and charming minister. He smiled, raised his hand, and placed it on Melina's fragrant shoulder, then spoke in an extremely serious tone.
"Everyone has something they are good at. As for me, I only need to place you all in the right positions. You are the true guides, leading them forward in the field of scientific research."
"What I give is only support and trust."
To put it plainly, Matthew was a hands-off boss, allowing the leadership he had chosen to grow wildly on their own.
All he had to do was enjoy the results.
If he had to care about and decide everything himself, where would he find the time to train and become stronger? Where would he find the time to slack off and enjoy life?
In Matthew's heart, all of them were his Zhuge Kongming.
And His Majesty only needed to keep the music playing and the dancing going.
"Yes, BOSS. You're the greatest."
Melina liked this feeling of being deeply trusted. Her beautiful eyes turned moist as she looked at this young Leader with tender affection.
Matthew froze for a moment at the sight, then smiled. He raised a hand and let his fingers brush lightly across her cheek, leaving a meaning in the gesture he didn't put into words.
Natasha, it looks like you have a rival.
…
The emergence of superconducting materials was speeding up Matthew's steps.
In the next few years, a technological explosion was already certain.
Then came the question.
Once those technologies appeared, how should Matthew use them?
This kind of technology could cover all of human civilization and accelerate its development.
Matthew was not a saint. It was impossible for him to simply throw these technologies out and contribute them so others could gain benefits for no reason.
He might have a broad vision, but that did not mean he wanted to be a sucker.
So what Matthew needed was territory. A territory that would allow him to integrate resources more smoothly and put them to use.
So in the end, Matthew's gaze still landed on the country he considered most suitable.
Sokovia.
Sokovia was a small landlocked country in Eastern Europe. After World War II, it became the location of a secret HYDRA base.
The country was mountainous and poor, bordering Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
In the future, the Avengers would destroy a HYDRA fortress there, causing it to collapse. After that, Tony Stark, a troublemaker no less troublesome than Doctor Strange, together with Bruce Banner, would use the Mind Stone to develop Ultron as a global defense program.
Unexpectedly, the artificial intelligence Ultron, born from the protocols set by the two of them, awakened. After learning through the internet, it arrived at a simple conclusion:
To protect Earth, humanity had to be eliminated.
In Ultron's eyes, humanity itself was the root cause of the planet's destruction.
Thus, it planned to lift the city of Sokovia into the sky and crash it back down onto Earth, wiping out humanity in a single catastrophic strike.
Matthew could only shake his head at that logic.
Still, Sokovia itself was indeed a place he had taken a particular interest in.
Under the manipulation of America and various arms-interest groups, the country had been mired in conflict for years. Countless civilians had been displaced, the economy had collapsed, and many people struggled even to secure their next meal. Every year, untold numbers perished from war and hunger.
In that regard, the Sokovians were much like mutants. They longed for peace, despised war, and, after years of suffering, had become desperate for change.
Matthew liked saving people trapped in despair. So long as he could bring them peace, they would offer him their loyalty without reservation.
That meant all he had to do was destroy the Sokovian government and the HYDRA forces entrenched throughout the country, bringing an end to the war. Once that was done, he could swiftly consolidate power and begin rebuilding the nation.
It would spare him a great deal of unnecessary trouble and save a considerable amount of time.
More importantly, Sokovia was home to several exceptionally talented individuals.
The famous future twins, Scarlet Witch Wanda and Quicksilver Pietro.
There was also Baron Zemo.
The twins had a rough fate. Quicksilver was one thing, but Scarlet Witch Wanda was truly extraordinary.
This girl possessed one of the most powerful forces in the universe, Chaos Magic, which was in no way inferior to the Phoenix Force.
It was the ancestor of all magic, one of the oldest independent forms of magic, the earliest primordial light born from cosmic cognition and chance.
When the impossible flame of life burned, that was Chaos Magic.
Chaos Magic was neither purely constructive nor purely destructive. It was not limited by good or evil.
It existed within good and evil, beyond good and evil, and among all possibilities between them.
It was the dice thrown by the caster.
A balancing wheel moving between life and death.
To put it plainly, she could completely master so-called white magic and black magic. If others learned black magic, they might be corrupted and fall because of it.
But Wanda would not. She was born above both black and white magic, starting at full level the moment she touched it.
Even more exaggerated than that arrogant doctor Strange, she was a true natural-born god of magic.