I Think That's Pretty Scientific

Chapter 40: 039: Kraft’s Secret Base

This man-made disaster ultimately ended with the Hulk’s victory. After defeating the monster named “Hate”—which was the transformed form of Bronsky—he once again broke through the military’s encirclement and made a clean getaway. General Ross, who had been in charge of the operation, not only failed to capture the Hulk but also saw his daughter run away. On top of that, he faced a mountain of charges and compensation claims. The fact that Bronsky’s fate—whether dead or alive—remained unknown might have been some consolation, but compared to the barrage of criticism he was about to face, it was merely a drop in the bucket. However, the subsequent developments left Kraft somewhat astonished: General Ross was merely ordered to halt all activities related to the Hulk and relinquish some of his authority—and that was the end of it. He faced no dismissal or demotion, no court-martial, and didn’t even have to make a public apology. You have to admit, that’s the United States for you. But none of this had anything to do with Kraft; he was currently wrestling with what direction to take next. When the Hulk first appeared, he’d felt only a slight sense of urgency. Although the power the Hulk had displayed at the time was terrifying, the U. S. military was by no means incapable of handling it. Kraft had assumed they were trying to capture the Hulk alive, which was why he’d been able to keep running. But with the appearance of Abomination—and the Hulk demonstrating even greater power—Kraft finally began to worry. In reality, no matter how strong the Hulk was, it wasn’t a major problem, because Dr. Banner’s will kept him from wreaking widespread destruction. Although dangerous, it wasn’t an issue that absolutely had to be addressed. But aside from the Hulk, there was a whole group of madmen conducting similar human experiments—who knows when a monster might emerge that’s even more destructive than the Hulk and even more uncontrollable? Kraft was genuinely worried that one day, this world would be ruined by that bunch of reckless fools. His original plan was to gradually develop Dream Toys, spend a few years establishing himself as a genius on par with Tony Stark, and steadily expand the company’s business scope. After quietly setting up his own armory, he would then begin manufacturing the incredibly powerful weapons of war he’d envisioned in his dreams. After all, he was still young, so there was no need to rush. But now it seemed Earth might not be able to withstand the chaos caused by that bunch of madmen; chances were, Earth would be ruined long before Kraft had a chance to build his empire. Having witnessed a zombie siege in his dreams, Kraft truly didn’t think he was worrying needlessly. So he felt he should speed up his research, but doing so would likely expose his unique abilities. As a person of color, he didn’t think he’d receive any special treatment in the United States, and given the current influence of Dream Toys and Martin Lee, they probably wouldn’t be able to withstand pressure from the government. And right now, the few solutions Kraft could think of all seemed to have their own flaws. One option was to shift the focus of Dream Toys and most of Martin’s businesses toward aviation, then set up branch bases off-world. But doing so would also attract official attention, and such a sudden move would easily arouse suspicion. Building bases underwater or underground was an idea Kraft had considered during his slow-growth plan; if he wanted to accelerate construction, such a large-scale operation would inevitably attract attention. Or, as he had often considered in the past, he could return to his home country and seek cooperation with the authorities. However, Martin seemed very resistant to this idea, and from the information Kraft had uncovered, similar experiments were already underway domestically. Furthermore, partnering with the authorities would inevitably limit his freedom, so unless he had absolutely no other options, Kraft did not want to choose this path. After agonizing over it for a long time, Kraft returned home with a worried look on his face and shared his thoughts with his adoptive father, hoping he could offer a solution. After hearing Kraft’s thoughts, Martin Lee began staring at him with an eerie gaze. Uncomfortable under his gaze, Kraft shifted uneasily and asked, “Why are you looking at me like that?” “Although I’m not sure where this inexplicable sense of crisis is coming from…” Martin Lee’s tone was a bit odd, as if he were trying to stifle a laugh, “but Kraft, haven’t you forgotten that you have a ray gun that can make objects grow or shrink at will?” Damn it! I completely forgot about that! Kraft slapped his forehead in frustration. With a flashlight that could change size at will, why the hell was he even stressing about this? He could easily shrink his entire arsenal, set it up in his room to manufacture weapons, and then just enlarge it whenever he needed to use them! And if he ever dreamed up the technology for that all-purpose capsule in the future, he wouldn’t even need to prepare an enlarging lamp! He must have crammed too much into his head lately, making his thinking sluggish. Realizing how foolish he’d been, Kraft awkwardly scratched his head. Unable to bear Martin Lee’s half-smiling, half-sarcastic gaze any longer, he made up a flimsy excuse and slipped back to his room. “I still have some homework left to finish, so I’m heading back to my room to work on it!” Quinn tilted his head, stuck out his tongue, and ran after Kraft. Circling around his feet, he asked, “Bro, didn’t you hand your homework over to Harrow to take care of ages ago?” Martin Lee, who had been watching Kraft make a hasty retreat with a hint of a smile on his face, suddenly turned serious: “Kraft!!!” “Stupid doggy-kitty~” Beya wagged her tail, rolled over in Alice’s arms, and exposed her belly so Alice could keep massaging her. Having found a solution, Kraft, driven by a sense of urgency, simply had Martin arrange for him to take an extended leave of absence from school. Martin Lee didn’t want to agree at first, but he couldn’t resist Kraft’s persistent nagging. Plus, ever since getting the learning helmet, Kraft’s grades had consistently ranked first in his grade, so he eventually gave in. Kraft cleared out a large open space in his workshop to set up the armory he was about to build. At first, he’d considered converting the entire basement or something similar, but upon reflection, he realized that with Angela providing protection, there was no need to waste that time. Besides, by keeping the miniaturized factories out in the open and disguising them as models, no lunatic would ever suspect those “models” were actual armories. As for the armory’s blueprints, Kraft didn’t copy any from his dreams. Instead, he redesigned them from scratch based on his own knowledge and personal needs. Furthermore, to ensure Angela and Haro could help with the construction, he deliberately removed any equipment unique to the dream world and replaced it with devices from this world that served similar functions. After completing the blueprints, Kraft didn’t rush into construction. Instead, he built several construction robots called SCVs—these too originated from Swan’s world, though he hadn’t been the protagonist of that dream at the time. By handing control of the downscaled SCVs to Angela and Harlow, Kraft didn’t need to get his hands dirty. He simply stood by and watched as they controlled a swarm of tiny SCV robots to build a “model” of an armory on the cleared plot of land. It actually felt a bit like playing a holographic strategy game~