Morning, Stark Villa.
"Jarvis, is the space detector ready?"
Tony stood in the studio, holding a cup of coffee, staring intently at the projection of the armor in front of him.
"Sir, everything is ready. Any abnormal fluctuations will be recorded for later investigation and research."
A gentle voice replied, and Tony nodded slightly.
Then he took a sip of his drink, placed it next to him, and waved his hand. The virtual projection of the armor changed, and the projection of the armor's robotic arm was enlarged several times.
With a swipe of his hands, he enlarged the arm further, studied several larger parts, thought for a moment, and canceled the parts with another swipe.
At the same time, he opened a new projection, briefly sketched out a few lines, drew a new part, and placed it in the robotic arm, leaving a certain amount of space.
He then ordered Jarvis: "Record this space for the vibranium version of the magic radiation jammer."
"Yes, sir." Jarvis replied smoothly.
"By the way, Jarvis, what is the total amount of vibranium purchased so far?" Tony asked. "Can it be used to make the jammer?"
"Sir, US$1 billion has been spent so far, but the amount of vibranium acquired is still insufficient, and the difficulty of obtaining more has increased significantly." Jarvis responded before adding a suggestion.
"I recommend you proceed with the second option: temporarily abandon the production of pure vibranium jammers and use magic metal or other precious metals as substitutes."
"Okay," Tony sighed. "Let's go with the second plan for now."
He had the money, but vibranium was scarce and difficult to obtain.
Although magic metal could serve as a substitute, the ideal solution was a device made entirely from vibranium.
At that moment, Jarvis's urgent voice broke in.
"Sir, space fluctuations have been detected and are being recorded."
Immediately afterward, a red-flame portal opened next to Tony, and Lockhart stepped out.
"Hi, Tony, good morning," Lockhart greeted him.
"Morning." Tony raised his coffee cup and responded simply.
At the same time, Jarvis chimed in: "Good morning, Mr. Lockhart, and welcome to Stark Villa."
"Morning, Jarvis," Lockhart replied.
Lockhart turned back to Tony and asked directly: "Tony, you mentioned in your message that the machine for making gold galleons is ready. Can I see it now?"
Lockhart was more direct than usual, skipping the pleasantries.
Tony was a little surprised but nodded, saying, "Sure, no problem, Lockhart."
He started walking forward with his coffee, Lockhart following closely behind.
Soon, they stopped in front of an elevator. After entering, they headed down toward the basement.
In the elevator, Tony asked curiously: "Lockhart, has something happened recently? You seem a bit off."
Hearing Tony's question, Lockhart replied with a sigh: "I've been dealing with a tough guy lately, and it's been a bit of a challenge. But we've found some clues, so I believe it'll be resolved soon."
Tony nodded, and the two fell silent.
After some thought, Tony finally said, "If you need anything, just let me know."
Lockhart nodded, not saying anything more, though his expression softened slightly.
Ding!
The elevator bell rang as the door opened, and they entered the basement.
Just a few steps in, Lockhart saw a slender, slightly bulky instrument.
Looking at the various precision parts inside, Lockhart asked Tony: "How long does it take to make a gold galleon now?"
"If you're making them one by one, it takes 10 minutes per coin," Tony replied, adding: "In batch mode, the best we've managed is about 60 coins an hour."
Hearing this, Lockhart quickly did the math in his head. At 60 pieces per hour, running 24 hours a day, over 1,400 coins could be produced per day. In a month, more than 40,000 coins could be made in theory.
Excluding potential issues, producing 20,000 to 30,000 coins a month should be achievable.
Considering this, Lockhart asked: "Tony, how much does this machine cost? Also, if I wanted 10 units, how long would it take to build them?"
Tony responded calmly: "The price of one unit is at least $200 million. For 10 units, the price would be slightly lower, but you'd still be looking at around $1.5 billion. And keep in mind, this doesn't include the price of the Ark reactors. These machines consume a lot of energy, and you'll need to purchase the reactors. The Ark reactors alone will cost at least $500 million."
Lockhart fell silent for a moment, stunned by the enormous figure Tony had just mentioned.
His current focus was mainly on the magical world, so he wasn't very active in the mundane world. As a result, he only had about $20 to $30 million on hand.
It seemed he might need to hunt down some Hydra agents.
Letting things take their course wasn't an option; otherwise, where could he get such large sums of money?
"As for the time," Tony continued, "10 machines will take at least 2 to 3 months to build."
Lockhart frowned slightly at the timeframe. Although he wanted them sooner, two or three months was still acceptable.
But as he studied the slightly bulky machine in front of him, Lockhart drew out his wand, stepped up to it, and gently touched it, sending magic into the machine.
Magic flowed throughout the machine, and Lockhart closed his eyes slightly, feeling the feedback from the magic—things like magic conductivity and resistance.
Next to him, Tony watched the process with great interest and whispered to Jarvis to record everything, planning to study it later.
Soon, Lockhart opened his eyes, a faint smile appearing on his face as he looked at the machine.
He took a few steps back, waved his wand, and quickly said: "Geminio."
A duplication spell!
In an instant, a white light shot from the tip of his wand, striking the machine directly, then spread over it, wrapping the entire machine like a scanner.
Under Tony's watchful eyes, a phantom of the machine gradually emerged, moving sideways under Lockhart's guidance.
With the continued infusion of magic, the phantom slowly solidified.
A moment later, two identical machines for casting gold galleons stood in front of Lockhart and Tony.
Seeing this, Tony quickly stepped forward, touching the surface to feel the same cold, hard texture. His eyes flashed with disbelief, and he murmured to himself:
"Incredible... is this 3D printing? No, is it particle-level reproduction? Or..."
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