"No wonder it's called the Central Universe," said the Main Universe Black Widow, "It does have some skills."
Having tested the Life Support System, everyone was relieved. Besides ensuring their safety, they also discovered that this universe indeed has strength and is incredibly well-prepared, as if it had been ready for this battle for a long time.
While they were sparring with each other on the training ground to adapt to new equipment, Robert hurried over with a document in hand: "Iron Man, has Iron Man arrived yet?! You still haven't claimed your equipment!"
The Main Universe Iron Man flew over, bewildered, and asked, "What? What's missing?"
"Your equipment." Robert handed him the document, saying, "And your registration report is filled out way too messily. I can't read what you wrote. Hurry up and rewrite it, then go claim your equipment."
"Oh, God. Why do I have to deal with this?!" The Main Universe Iron Man was impatient as hell. "All my equipment is right here. What else do I need to pick up?! You guys don't really intend to hand me a few guns, do you? Give me a break!"
"Sorry, others can prepare their own equipment, but not Iron Man. You have transportation load missions, and if you don't transport the items within the specified time, it's considered disobeying orders on the battlefield. The commander will not be pleased!"
"Tch, he can make me..."
"Hello, Main Universe Iron Man. I am the chief commander of this war, Professor X, currently communicating with you from the front-line command post in the Triangulum Galaxy. When can your allocated M112-353 equipment box be delivered?"
"Right away, Commander."
After realizing Professor X's voice had faded from his mind, the Main Universe Iron Man couldn't help but curse, then suddenly realized: "Where did that guy say he was?"
"Man, isn't the Triangulum Galaxy millions of light-years from here? And you're having real-time communication? Does physics even exist anymore?"
Bemoaning aside, the Main Universe Iron Man was still reliable when it came to work, and went to the equipment depot to pack up his stuff. When he saw Howard, he was stunned.
In fact, he had already heard from Spider Man that Howard from the Central Universe had been revived, but for some reason, he hadn't come to visit—or rather, all the Iron Men hadn't. The sudden meeting was somewhat awkward.
The Main Universe Iron Man rubbed his fingers and said, "Long time no see. How have you been?"
"Not too bad." Howard smiled at him and then said, "You've reached my age now, naturally you should know what I'm doing. Alright, it's not the time for a catch-up. The Iron Man equipment depot is at the very back, make sure to take according to number. Only you can operate those machines. Go on."
The Main Universe Iron Man walked past everything in a distracted state, to the point where he didn't immediately register when he saw those massive nest bases.
"What the hell is... this..." The moment the Main Universe Iron Man snapped back to reality, he realized what he had seen.
The space inside this room was vastly larger than expected, or rather the outside was at most a counter, and the space inside was the true hall, with rows upon rows of colossal equipment measuring dozens to even hundreds of meters high, as far as the eye could see.
With Iron Man's expertise in mechanical engineering, he recognized what this was at a glance—after all, having just been beaten by the Mechanical Overlord, how could he not recognize the mechanical army?
However, unlike the robots cranked out by the Mechanical Overlord, these machines were clearly more heavy-duty engineering-based, meaning this was the production line and storeroom for the mechanical army, endlessly producing endless robots.
"My God." The Main Universe Iron Man couldn't help but exclaim. Though amazed by the scale, it wasn't just for that; he was more amazed that The Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D., and various governments could actually allow Iron Man to have such power.
This was already beyond the level of destroying Earth, not even just ruling the Solar System. With this thing, ruling the Milky Way was just a matter of time. Two of the Three Great Empires dominated the cosmos with this kind of infinite troop-producing strategy.
The Main Universe Iron Man swallowed hard, circling the equipment repeatedly, seemingly trying to find some flaws. But this thing clearly underwent years of research and development and was not a last-minute effort, possibly created years ago and only recently activated, with no flaws at all.
Following the serial numbers, the Main Universe Iron Man found the equipment he needed to bring. He had brought over a hundred mechas, but it wasn't nearly enough to move such massive things. Just when he thought about asking The Avengers for help but didn't want to lose face, he saw an operating instruction sign nearby.
The Main Universe Iron Man went over and took a closer look, his shock growing. This was actually an operation manual for nano-scaling technology, meaning these things could be shrunk using Pym particles. The manual was also written by Pym, with his signature at the bottom.
Although it didn't have a lot written, it was actually quite complex to operate and left out a lot of beginner know-how, with special notes stating: outsiders without experience using the particles should not operate lightly. No wonder it had to be Iron Man to transport them; an outsider could easily break them.
The Main Universe Iron Man remembered Dr. Pym from his universe. Although this mess was kind of his doing, it wasn't entirely his responsibility—if that bunch of governments and Hydra didn't keep conducting illegal experiments, those mad scientists could clearly have better opportunities. For instance, this universe's Pym, Doom, and Reed, aren't they all shining in their respective fields?
On one hand, they restrict power, not allowing large-scale research; on the other, they secretly conduct various illegal experiments, forcing mad scientists into their labs. In the end, creating all sorts of accidents, leaving Earth riddled with holes, with no technological advancements but rather leading to the destruction of various achievements and loss of technology. If this model continues, falling behind is inevitable.
A difficult-to-express anger rose within the Main Universe Iron Man. He clenched his fists, slaughtering that group of people in his mind countless times.
After gathering the equipment on his side, the other members were almost ready too. They passed through the Teleportation Portal again to the Triangulum Galaxy. One foot hadn't even stepped through yet when sharp alarm bells echoed in everyone's ears.
"Detected intense energy fluctuations at the scheduled location! Traces of space teleportation." Professor X's voice echoed across the cosmos, "They're here! They..."
Professor X's voice abruptly stopped. Next, a scene that shocked everyone appeared—where the Teleportation Portal should have emerged, a massive supergiant planet appeared out of nowhere, as if a natural disaster had descended upon everyone.
"What is that?!!"
"What is this planet?!!"
"What is going on?!!"
Shiller, who was moving construction materials, also paused, standing on the base looking up at the massive structure that blocked all light, and slowly uttered a single word:
"...Apocalypse Star."