AHumanMadeMOFO
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Chapter 278: The Spaceship in the Ice (1)
🕑 Added 2025-03-16 16:47:49 +0000 UTCBoom! With a loud explosion, the snow-covered valley echoed as a cliff opened like a massive door, revealing a deep, dark room inside.
A squad of military robots, waiting outside, quickly moved in tactical formation and entered.
"Area secured!" A few minutes later, after scanning the entire space inside the mountain, the robots reported back via communications.
Shortly after, a rugged, futuristic-looking armored off-road vehicle approached from the distance and stopped in front of the mountain.
It was a Multi-Purpose Infantry Vehicle.
Of course, reality wasn't like a game where such vehicles could be instantly modified to fit different roles. Any modifications still required a proper workshop.
But that didn't stop these vehicles from being a common standard for both the Allies and the Soviets in the Red Alert world.
Yes, in this real-world setting, multi-purpose infantry vehicles weren’t exclusive to the Allies—both factions had their own versions, just like jeeps.
The reason was simple. In a real-world power struggle, aside from top-secret advanced technologies, most conventional weapons and equipment were quite similar between the factions.
This similarity was more about function rather than appearance.
For example, if one side developed an assault rifle and it proved effective, the other side would create its own version.
If one side invented a rocket launcher, the other side would follow suit.
The designs and performance might differ, but the function remained the same.
Infantry vehicles were no exception.
Just because the Allies built a multipurpose infantry vehicle didn't mean the Soviets wouldn't do the same.
In fact, the Soviet infantry vehicle was bulkier than the Allied version, but its durability was unmatched.
It performed excellently in any terrain, desert or mountain, and came with well-equipped internal facilities.
The only drawback? Comfort was not its strong suit.
Josh, rubbing his sore waist as he stepped out of the vehicle, couldn't help but think about that.
Looking around at the desolate, snow-covered landscape, he had to admit—the Wakandans were really good at hiding things.
Right now, he was on King George Island, the largest of the South Shetland Islands, which was technically part of the Antarctic region.
For the past month, Josh had traveled all over the world—Europe, Africa, North and South America, and now Antarctica.
His mission?
To recover the Vibranium that former Wakandan kings had hidden in secret locations around the world.
A month ago, after capturing the remaining Wakandan forces, he had obtained the Wakandan Royal Vibranium Box—a micro-map of the Earth that marked a total of 23 hidden Vibranium storage sites scattered across the globe.
With each site discovered, Josh's system storage saw its Vibranium stockpile grow exponentially.
Now, forget just fulfilling Yuri's order—he had more than enough Vibranium to handle ten times the amount if needed.
Even if Yuri had that many orders, Josh wouldn't take them all. This advanced metal was a limited resource—once used, it couldn’t be replaced, at least until its true origin was discovered.
Since vibranium came from a meteorite, that meant there had to be more of it somewhere in the universe. But finding its exact origin in the vastness of space was nearly impossible.
Even though Josh now had an extended lifespan, compared to the universe itself, he was still insignificant.
The Vibranium cache on King George Island was the final hiding spot—and also the largest.
Since the robots had already checked the interior, and previous recoveries had gone smoothly, Josh felt at ease as he entered the mountain.
Inside, rows of long metal Wakandan-style storage crates filled the space.
To be honest, they looked a lot like coffins.
Not that Josh minded—after all, not only was the Vibranium stored inside, but even the crates themselves were made of the precious metal.
With a simple touch, all of the crates were absorbed into his system storage, greatly increasing his Vibranium supply.
This final stash contained the most Vibranium of all the hidden locations.
After finishing the collection, Josh exited the mountain and signaled the robot soldiers to clean up.
"Cleaning up" meant blowing up the cave.
Since the site contained more than just Vibranium—there were also various Wakandan-style artifacts—Josh didn’t want anyone in the future to connect this place to Wakanda. Destroying it all was the best solution.
It was impressive how all the Wakandan storage sites were in remote, uninhabited locations, making Josh's job easier.
King George Island, for example, had been discovered by Europeans in the 17th century, but no one lived there because of the extreme cold. It would be at least another decade before countries began to establish research stations.
At this point, the only visitors were the occasional whaling ships that came to the surrounding waters during the Antarctic summer in January. Otherwise, no one ever set foot here—well, except for the numerous birds.
Thinking about it, Josh recalled the countless penguins he had seen on the beach and the terns soaring through the cold sea breeze.
"Commander, the system has detected an unusual signal from the center of the island!"
Just as Josh was about to get into the infantry vehicle to leave, the scanner robot on the vehicle suddenly reported.
"How far?" Josh frowned.
An unknown signal in this desolate, frozen wasteland? This was how horror movies started.
And in Antarctica, of all places? Wait—Alien vs. Predator?
No, that didn't make sense. He'd never heard Mar-Vell mention anything about a Yautja-like civilization in this world.
If Predators existed here, they would’ve definitely clashed with the Kree by now.
“Not far—about fifteen kilometers,” the scanner bot replied.
"Send a squad of robots to check it out."
Even though it seemed suspicious, Josh decided to investigate.
As for himself, he ordered the robot driver to take the multi-purpose infantry vehicle back to the VTOL stationed outside the valley.
That way, even if the robot squad encountered any problems, Josh could escape at any time.
And in the worst-case scenario, he still had his teleportation belt.
