"I'm sorry, Boss. We failed the mission..."
In the video call, Raina and the other two lowered their heads heavily, none of them daring to look at Luca's expression.
However, Luca wasn't actually that angry. Instead, his face showed a look of confusion, as if he hadn't fully processed the news yet.
"You just reported to me that you secured the Vibranium. How much time has passed since then? How did the mission fail?"
"First, tell me what happened."
Regardless, he needed to understand the situation first. Although he could directly have Hakimi retrieve the stored data from the combat personnel's equipment, he wanted to hear the explanation from Raina and the other two eyewitnesses first.
As the three of them recounted the events, Luca gained a general understanding of what had transpired after he hung up the call.
In fact, after the initial surprise attack, although both sides suffered casualties...
With Quicksilver joining the fray, the Aurantius combat squad quickly gained the upper hand.
But don't forget, the enemy had three high-powered fighter jets hovering above the tanker. On the Aurantius side, since the mission hadn't anticipated such a need, the transport plane carrying the soldiers had minimal firepower.
This disparity naturally led to a one-sided battle in the later stages.
After several rounds of enemy bombardment blew the abandoned tanker to pieces, the Aurantius combat squad, having suffered over 50% casualties, had no choice but to abandon the fight for the Vibranium.
"If Pietro hadn't gotten injured, causing Wanda to suddenly erupt and shoot down one of the enemy fighters, we might not have even had the chance to retreat alive..."
Ending their first mission in such a disastrous defeat left Raina and the others, who had just gained superpowers and were brimming with ambition, feeling incredibly low.
Especially since this wasn't supposed to be a difficult mission. The sudden, unexpected turn of events left them feeling bewildered and frustrated.
However, after listening to Raina's description, Luca immediately understood where these so-called enemies came from.
"Why is it Wakanda?"
Luca frowned slightly.
He naturally knew the "Vibranium Homeland," the "Tycoon Nation with technology far ahead of the entire Earth" from the original story.
He wasn't surprised that Wakanda would suddenly appear to snatch this batch of Vibranium.
Ulysses Klaue had stolen the Vibranium from within Wakanda's borders years ago, and he had been on their wanted list ever since.
As long as they caught wind of a clue, Wakanda would inevitably dispatch personnel to do whatever it took to capture him and reclaim the stolen Vibranium.
What surprised Luca was that Wakanda, generally portrayed as a relatively positive faction in the source material, chose to strike with lethal force immediately without any negotiation.
Uh, well, as a state-level violent organization, righteousness and style could be set aside for a moment.
But if he remembered correctly, Wakanda should still be implementing an isolationist policy at this time.
Why would Wakanda—a nation that hid itself under a veil, rarely communicated with the outside world, and was internationally known as the "poorest country in the world"—choose to act so recklessly?
Fighter jets, high-tech weapons of mass destruction... weren't they afraid of exposing Wakanda's existence?
At this point in time, Wakanda's king should be that unlucky guy who took the Heart-Shaped Herb, had a body comparable to a super soldier, but still got killed by a bomb, right?
Or has Black Panther T'Challa already succeeded the throne and chosen to open the country?
No, that doesn't seem like T'Challa's style either...
Puzzled, Luca didn't question Raina and the others further. Instead, he had Hakimi pull up the surveillance footage recorded by the combat personnel's equipment and fast-forwarded through it himself.
Since the battle didn't last long, Luca quickly reviewed it.
The situation matched Raina's account. In fact, judging from the video, even without the aerial support, the Aurantius ground squads might not have been able to hold their own against the Wakandan ground forces if not for Quicksilver's intervention.
However, Luca didn't blame his people for this.
The original target was just Ulysses, an arms smuggler, so the soldiers Luca assigned to Raina weren't the strongest in the Aurantius hierarchy.
In reality, the Aurantius Industries security team had long since integrated with the Sokovian military.
This force included not just these frontline special ops soldiers controlling drones and smart robots, but also aerial combat fighters, drone carriers, heavy assault ground troops, and even 16-foot humanoid mobile armor units. The Fearless Legion, composed entirely of smart robots, represented a military level far surpassing current Earth standards.
Although most were designed and manufactured by his research team based on the technology and direction Luca provided.
If he truly mobilized everything, conquering Europe might still be difficult due to numbers...
But relying solely on special operations, Sokovia could already make most countries cry for their mothers.
This failure could only be attributed to the unforeseen intervention of a super-spec anomaly like Wakanda.
However, perhaps Raina's mission wasn't a total failure after all.
Fast-forwarding the video to the end.
When Luca saw that the retreating Wakandans failed to retrieve the fighter jet whose engine Wanda had torn apart—though the rest of it was relatively intact...
Luca nodded slightly.
"I'll send someone to pick you up now. Just bring back that enemy jet. Focus on training your abilities for now; don't worry about the rest!"
After speaking, Luca hung up the call again.
This time, however, he didn't go back to tinkering with his previous work. instead, he had Hakimi keep an eye on the remaining squads there, then summoned The Spot to make a trip and bring the people and items back.
Of course, Luca wasn't the type to swallow a loss without hitting back.
After arranging these matters, he turned to Mitsuki, who had also just been summoned.
"Have your people investigate the current situation in Wakanda. I'll have Hakimi allocate some computing power to help you process the intelligence."
Ignoring Mitsuki, who nodded quickly and withdrew, Luca asked the computer.
"Hakimi, what's the current progress on the Genetic Mutator and the Psychic Dominator?"
The AI on the screen gave the answer without hesitation.
"The Construction Yard has finished manufacturing all building modules for the Genetic Mutator. Assembly will take 5 days. Including satellite launch, deployment is estimated to be complete within a week."
"The power consumption of the Psychic Dominator exceeds the current quota. More Bio-Reactors need to be built for energy reserves first."
"If we halt the supply of materials for all other buildings, the deployment of the Psychic Dominator is estimated to be completed within two months."
Luca nodded slightly upon hearing this.
"Only the Genetic Mutator? But that's enough! I'd like to see how you want to play this game!"