Chapter 133 - 130 | Dam Base, Alkali Lake.
Luke, who is staying in Washington, D.C, is still unaware of the news that the Hellfire Club had added a new member. An Atlantean and the mutants have allied.
Although he had started searching for Sebastian Shaw's whereabouts, it's difficult to accurately locate a mutant without Professor Charles and the brainwave amplification device.
The artificial satellites wouldn't be launched until the two superpowers start their arms race.
What Project Insight? What global surveillance? In this era, even science fiction writers wouldn't think that up.
As for contacting Atlantis, it was even more impractical.
It has been almost nine years since the first nuclear submarine; the USS Nautilus, was launched.
Currently, the maximum depth to which humans could dive didn't exceed 1,000 meters.
For an underwater civilization, this was still far away from their front door.
'That's why we say that technology changes lives. '
Luke silently lamented.
Compared to the future of steel armor, air and space carriers flying everywhere, this era of technological development seemed backward.
So, he specifically urged Howard to put aside the Tesseract research for the time being and shift his focus to the fusion reactor.
Bring out the nuclear submarine, and then consider launching a satellite —— SkyNet is a communications company anyway.
In the future, if the Kree fleet invaded and destroyed their satellite, Ronan the Accuser will see what Superman's iron fist was like.
Luke's vision has always been looking forward. He's even thinking about asking Howard to scale down the ark reactor.
In the future timeline, Tony Stark's phrase 'I am Iron Man' officially opened the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Instead of waiting until that day, Luke thought it would be nice for Howard to complete this thing.
It's all in the family anyway.
As for the technical bottleneck, he believed it would be easy to solve the problem by visiting Wakanda first. Then, establish a diplomatic relationship and friendly exchange with Atlantis.
These two countries, in addition to the Fantastic Four's old rival, Doctor Doom's hometown of Latveria, could be called the most high-tech places on Earth.
Not to mention nuclear fusion technology, time travel, steel army, and spacecraft could be completed.
"General, that's Lake Alkali. "
The accompanying Stryker shouted.
The whirring of the helicopter, combined with the strong air current, forced him to do so.
"It's a great place."
Luke looked down from mid-air at the concrete dam standing tall. It was nestled between snow-capped mountains and dense forests.
"This was once an industrial area, but it was abandoned during the Great Depression. Later, the military was interested in it and bought it in the name of building a dam. "
Stryker explained at the top of his lungs.
Luke wanted to say that he didn't have to shout so loudly; he could hear him.
Superman would never be deaf enough to need him to do that.
"When World War II began, the Department of Defense, fearing a Third Reich attack on their homeland, began to build strong and reliable military bases throughout the country. One of which was in Lake Alkali."
Pointing to the concrete dam, Stryker said, "War supplies were stored deep in the dam, but unfortunately, they were never put to good use. Now that the war is over, these bases have lost their original function. The Pentagon Generals took over responsibility for the allocation. "
"Of course, only you, General, would have the honor to use a military base large enough to withstand a missile bombing as a laboratory. "
In the latter part of his speech, Stryker deliberately praised him.
This upright-looking soldier was well versed at flattering others.
"It's just the Generals showing some mutual respect. "
Luke said humbly.
In the current Pentagon, who didn't know that the recently established S.H.I.E.L.D's Director was a young General who was good at reaching out to Congress for funding.
From cultivating the super-soldier 'rebirth' project, researching the 'Weapon X' project, churning out the 'space exploration' project, … one after another, he was close to draining the budget committee.
The most annoying thing was that, in the face of Luke's insatiable demands, they couldn't refuse.
The reason was that those programs seemed to be very promising and worth investing a lot of money into.
Howard, who heard the news, laughed with Luke. He said that if Luke were to mingle in Wall Street, he would undoubtedly be able to cheat countless investors.
At this, the Major general smiled but didn't say anything.
He learned this from a Chinese entrepreneur who kept avoiding his return to the country and facing indictment. The first plan out a big profitable-looking project, excite the concept and look for a few well-known scientists to support it.
The White House and the group of politicians in Congress would naturally fork out the money obediently.
I was weeding out capitalism, Luke's feelings of guilt.
"William, who do you think is most deserving of development in Task Force X?"
The helicopter landed slowly. Luke stepped on the soft snow and exhaled a white breath of air.
He was dressed thinly but didn't feel cold.
Wrapped tightly, Stryker rubbed his hands, looking enviously at the Major General walking in front of him. Was this Superman's physique?
"Logan, of course!"
Stryker answered without thinking.
The same mutant, the young officer, seemed to have a fondness for Wolverine.
Every time he saw those bone claws, his eyes showed a hint of yearning.
So much so that when the two mutant brothers communicated privately, Sabretooth said that the dwarf scientist Bolivar was a pervert who always stared at him with a strange look.
Wolverine thought that Stryker was more disgusting.
The two brothers looked at each other and felt a chill down their spines.
They can't go on like this!
"Logan. Have you taken a fancy to his self-healing ability?"
Luke wasn't surprised at all. Stryker and Wolverine are destined for each other.
"Yes. I think Logan can be turned into an invincible killing machine! Sabretooth is too irritable, and his emotions would affect his judgment, but Logan is different. His claws, the wildness in his eyes, and the stubbornness in his bones. He was simply born to fight!"
Stryker is thrilled to be involved in Bolivar's research and to learn more and more about mutants.
As a soldier, almost subconsciously, the young officer considered applying the X-gene to his weapons.
"General, the Pentagon's attitude towards mutants is far less gentle than yours. "
Stryker followed Luke deep into the snow and wondered, "The use of mutants for weapons research could yield more results in a shorter period. But you don't seem to want to do that. "
After these days of getting to know him, Stryker figured out part of the Major General's temperament.
Most of the time, the other party was easy to talk to and never showed an angry look.
Strangely enough, this didn't affect the respect and admiration that other people had for Luke.
Stryker attributed this to personal charisma.
"The head of the Third Reich thought the same way, which is why they used Jews and Poles to test the poison gas and conduct human experiments. "
Luke pushed open the heavy steel gate and entered the flood control passage.
Deep inside this concrete dam, there's something else.
All kinds of war supplies, ventilating facilities, weapons, and ammunition are readily available.
It was more like a nuclear bomb or a doomsday preparation.
"It's easy to plant a seed of hatred, but it's hard to get two races to live in harmony with each other. "
Luke's voice echoed in the empty dam base.
"I want to be a bridge, not a butcher. "