Chapter 133: Gamma Ray Detection Device

Queens, New York, Ingram Street, Dr. Zhong’s Clinic.

3:14 a.m.

Dr. Zhong Xinxiu was sound asleep when Ivan’s call abruptly woke him.

Suppressing the urge to curse at being disturbed in the dead of night, Zhong answered the phone.

Ivan’s excited voice came through: “Boss! I’ve built the miniature gamma-ray detection device. Come and take a look!”

Zhong gave a few brief replies and, rubbing his sleepy eyes, prepared to head to the secret base.

Since acquiring his healing technique, Zhong’s sleep schedule had been well secured—he now enjoyed a solid eight to nine hours daily, a luxury envied by many former corporate slaves in his past life.

His mental energy depended on sleep for recovery, so he gradually cultivated this routine.

Especially lately, he could visit the secret base during the day, so there was no need to exhaust the nighttime hours as before.

Previously, he would sleep at 1 a.m. and wake late in the morning, naturally waking up without interruption. The gangsters didn’t dare knock on his door or disturb him, even if they arrived early—they waited quietly outside. In emergencies, they would take patients to a nearby hospital instead.

Though the hospital’s treatments were inferior and more expensive than Zhong’s, they had no other choice.

Recently, they became wiser, often opting for emergency care at the hospital before waiting for Zhong to open his door, having grown accustomed to his swift and precise healing.

Nowadays, Zhong rarely used his healing technique on these gangsters.

They had no special ailments worth his energy.

Moreover, wasting mental energy on them was futile—he’d rather use it to earn money from wealthy clients or save it for Peter’s card draws.

Thus, he relied solely on his medical expertise. Coupled with his development of chaos magic-based diagnostics—whereas other doctors used X-rays or auxiliary equipment to locate lesions and determine treatments, Zhong pinpointed every lesion within 0.1 millimeters using chaos magic.

He could instantly detect even the slightest dynamic changes in diseases—a terrifying ability that made his patients almost transparent before his eyes.

Combined with his medical proficiency, it was as if he had divine assistance.

That said, the rest of New York’s elite were even more polite—though their private comments about Zhong were unknown, they always waited silently outside, even if arriving early.

When Zhong awoke naturally and opened the door, they greeted him with well-rehearsed smiles, exchanged pleasantries, and then entered the clinic for treatment.

So, it had been a long time since anyone disturbed Zhong’s sleep.

As he skillfully and stealthily slipped out the back door into the alley, the cool night breeze brushed his face, easing his drowsiness.

His mind began to race.

He realized the significance of Ivan’s words just now.

“Boss, I’ve built a miniature gamma-ray detection device.”

At first, Zhong hadn’t grasped its importance. Now, recalling it, he was so shocked his mouth nearly dropped open.

This was unbelievably fast.

Had Ivan taken some kind of stimulant? Or was he injecting himself with eight pounds of adrenaline?

In Zhong’s plan, this was the most challenging part.

Back in Moscow, Fitz and several Shield researchers had worked day and night for seven or eight days to develop such a device.

And here Ivan was, alone—or with Peter as a half assistant—for only a few days, yet already had a working model.

He had surpassed the Shield research team in speed.

Truly astonishing.

Ivan’s role was evidently crucial.

Indeed, recruiting Ivan was one of Zhong’s best decisions when forming this team, he thought with admiration.

With these thoughts, Zhong arrived at the secret base entrance and took the elevator down.

Through his True Sight, he saw Anton Vanko, the old drunkard, still up late gaming—Zhong feared the day this old man would drop dead from overexertion.

Wanda was meditating in her bedroom.

Since tasting the benefits of chaos magic enhancement, Wanda’s meditation frequency and duration had increased noticeably.

Zhong was puzzled because Wanda’s meditation resembled that of a typical mage—she could even use it to replace sleep.

“Could I do that too?” Zhong wondered.

He had tested meditation a few times before but abandoned it when he saw no mental improvement.

But Wanda’s persistent change sparked a desire in Zhong to try again.

Yet he soon dismissed the idea.

His mental energy clearly could not be increased through meditation.

Even if meditation could replace sleep for him, it wasn’t necessary since he already had his own method to restore mental energy, which was sufficient daily.

Besides, he cherished sleep.

Sleep was perhaps one of nature’s greatest gifts to humanity—the feeling after a night’s rest, when all negative emotions and fatigue are washed away, was incomparable.

Now that his plans were on track, there was no need to push himself excessively.

Though not luxurious, Zhong simply wanted to preserve his basic human right to sleep undisturbed.

Compared to others, this wish was modest.

He only wanted to wake naturally each day.

A desire impossible in his former life, but attainable in this world.

Perhaps that was why he rarely used meditation.

The elevator dinged, interrupting his thoughts.

The doors opened onto the now much emptier secret base.

Not far away, Ivan’s cluttered workstation sat strewn with mechanical parts.

Dark circles under Ivan’s eyes showed he had been working long hours; his face bore some fatigue.

But when Ivan saw Zhong, his weariness quickly vanished, replaced by excitement as he grinned broadly and said, “Boss, come over quickly!”

Zhong smiled and nodded, approaching.

Ivan held up a black box—an unassuming, pitch-black cube.

On top was an old-fashioned antenna, like something from a radio in the ‘80s or ‘90s, which Ivan extended with a swift pull.

A miniature gamma-ray detection device? Why did it look so vintage? Zhong quietly mused.

Ivan seemed to read his thoughts and chuckled, explaining, “This is just the experimental prototype. The exterior doesn’t matter; the core inside is what took me days.”

Core?

Zhong stepped closer to examine the black box carefully.

But from the outside, it looked no different than a uniquely styled radio.

The long antenna seemed to emit some signal, but without tools, Zhong could only sense its presence, not identify it.

As Zhong leaned in further, Ivan quickly hugged the box protectively, staring closely at him.

“Boss, don’t touch it—that’s my baby.”

Zhong smiled wryly and raised his hands, “I won’t, I won’t.”

Ivan relaxed his grip.

“Tell me about it. What’s the maximum range? How precise is it?” Zhong asked.

“This little device, at full power, can detect gamma rays within a one-kilometer radius,” Ivan said proudly.

Clearly, this was his pride and joy.

Hearing this, Zhong relaxed a bit, then continued, “And the precision? You haven’t answered that yet. Also, I want to know about its wall penetration—how thick of a substrate can it detect through?”

After all, Shield liked building bases underground; if the device couldn’t detect underground signals, it would be useless.

“Don’t worry about precision, boss. I’ll demonstrate it shortly. As for wall penetration and underground signal transmission, I’ve studied those too. Just add a signal antenna, and it’ll work.”

“For the upcoming large mobile gamma-ray detector, I’ll install two antennas—one for underground signals, one for above ground—making detection comprehensive,” Ivan explained earnestly.

Zhong nodded; he never doubted Ivan’s meticulousness with mechanical devices.

“Show me your test then. I want to see how precise this thing is,” Zhong said, stepping back.

“Alright, boss, give me a moment to prepare the equipment,” Ivan replied.

He pulled a wire from the side of the black box, connecting it to a tablet.

Instantly, the screen displayed a radar-like interface.

No signals appeared yet.

Ivan explained, “I modified an Ark reactor using your method, boss, and made a smaller version to fit inside the black box. When I build the larger one, I’ll separate them for safety.”

Zhong smiled approvingly.

Ivan opened another device—a lead-glass-encased electronic apparatus, sealed tight.

He couldn’t touch it directly, using a remote instead.

A gentle click, and the instrument lit up.

An invisible gamma-ray beam emitted inside.

Zhong could sense it.

Though minuscule, it resembled Zhong’s chaos magic somewhat, but with fundamental differences.

Zhong’s chaos magic was like a sentient creature; this gamma ray was stiff and lifeless, like a giant tiger with a rigid, deceased body.

No wonder gamma rays were important in the Marvel universe, Zhong thought wryly.

Because the gamma rays were so weak and entirely sealed inside lead glass, only negligible amounts penetrated.

Without his chaos magic perception, Zhong would not have sensed the faint leakage.

Ivan noticed Zhong’s gaze and, unsure if he recognized the device, said, “Boss, you probably haven’t seen this before. It’s a miniature gamma-ray generator I built.”

Zhong nodded, not contradicting the first part.

He couldn’t exactly say, “I use chaos magic daily, which is almost identical to gamma rays; I’ve dealt with them more than you.”

Ivan continued, “Since it’s fully wrapped in lead glass, the gamma rays escaping are very weak. I’ll move it to the small storage room, then activate the detector. Boss, you’ll see how precise it is.”

He wheeled the lead-glass-encased generator into the storage room.

Soon he returned empty-handed.

Ivan tapped the tablet a few times; the radar screen refreshed.

After a short wait, a small red dot appeared.

Ivan tapped again; the dot displayed linear distance and altitude difference, accurate to centimeters.

On the right, latitude and longitude comparisons appeared, though less precise.

“I’ll improve that feature,” Ivan said, ever the perfectionist.

Zhong ignored that, focusing on the distance and altitude data.

Even without precise coordinates, the device was impressive.

The accuracy was extraordinary.

“Ivan’s really something,” Zhong thought admiringly.

Suddenly, a massive red dot appeared on the screen.

Ivan’s eyes widened as he stared intently, muttering, “Such powerful gamma rays...”