Darkness enveloped the entire control room, and the flickering of the holographic projection abruptly ceased. The final scene seemed to be frozen there, Digital Tony did not show what happened afterward.
However, Ian was no longer concerned with the history of the Marvel Universe. Coveting the abilities that Sentry's blood might grant, he used every trick in the book to badger Tony relentlessly.
"Just a touch... can you help me break open Sentry's corpse? It's fine if you can't break it open, just let me touch his hemorrhoids. I bet he has more than one!"
"I'll do anything you want afterward!" If Ian hadn't known Digital Tony had no physical form, the shameless boy might have even climbed onto Tony's projection like an octopus.
He couldn't help it.
Who could refuse the temptation of Sentry?
Even Omniman, who had previously made him envious, wasn't as appealing as Sentry! Of course, if he could touch Omniman too, that would be ideal. Ian firmly believed that Homelander + Omniman + Sentry could truly integrate him into the family.
He might even be able to let his dear father experience the feeling of his son chasing him while Superman flies ahead. He was sure his father would be delighted that his child had finally grown up!
The filial son thought to himself.
His internal desire grew stronger.
"How about this? I'll let my good partner, the Abyssal Demon Bucket, kowtow twice for you. If that's not enough, I can ask my two older brothers when I go back."
"They love me very much, and I love them too, so I'll put a soft cushion down for them when they kowtow." He even started negotiating like a grown-up, setting conditions.
"..."
Digital Tony's projection twitched at the corner of its mouth when it saw this scene. "A part of Deadpool, and a part of Peter Parker, would probably really like you."
He couldn't help but sigh.
"Deadpool and Peter are unimportant to me. I only hope you like me too... of course, only with the most pure affection an adult can have for a child."
"You can't build some kind of Shotacon Island and kidnap me there." Ian used the flirtatious language he learned from Madison, but after a slight pause, he emphasized his statement with a touch of insecurity.
"?????"
Digital Tony looked at the clothes he was wearing. They weren't a priest's robes. He couldn't quite understand Ian's thought process, and eventually, he just sighed helplessly and spoke softly.
"That will take some time."
Clearly.
Digital Tony had agreed to Ian's request.
"Praise the Almighty Machine God Tony!"
Ian beamed with joy and offered sincere gratitude. Moreover, he confirmed something from Tony's answer: it was true that not only the bodies of the Hulk and Homelander had been fully preserved. Perhaps others thought Ian's way of thinking was abnormal, but he always just had his own ideas.
Most of the time, these ideas resulted in a win-win situation. Now, Ian had won twice and could seamlessly ask, "Where are these corpses kept?"
Don't misunderstand, this wasn't a rat trying to break into a rice bin. It was just that some treasures truly shouldn't be buried.
"It's a dimension that transcends reality. Robert helped me complete the final step." Digital Tony gave Ian a cautious look and didn't reveal any further details.
Ian even suspected that this "transcends reality" dimension was an attempt to fool him.
"Ah, is this the trust between humans and computers? What a day to completely understand the 'Synthetic Intelligence Crisis.'" Ian's clumsy provocation, still in its initial stages, was naturally unsuccessful.
"I was once human."
Digital Tony opened his mouth expressionlessly. "Just as you saw, I foresaw this possibility early on, and when I confirmed that it was unavoidable..."
He paused slightly here. "I chose to upload my consciousness and abandon my soul—I believe that only a machine can remain unaffected by this disaster."
How to put it?
Worthy of being the intelligence expert in the Marvel Universe, fitting Ian's stereotypical image of Iron Man.
"Were you ultimately affected?" Ian was very curious about what happened after the scene that was just shown. He asked the complex-looking Digital Tony in a low voice.
"Just tell me quietly, I promise I won't tell anyone outside." Ian's shifty expression made Digital Tony fall silent for a long time.
A moment later.
"You will see Robert's body in two days. I will allocate some computing power to retrieve his corpse." Digital Tony shook his head, looking somewhat weary.
An indirect answer.
Ian nodded thoughtfully.
"Allocating computing power? That means you have limits too, right? Is most of your computing power being used to guide the Infinity Stones back to Earth?" He shifted the topic at the appropriate time and felt a new confusion.
Ian was still unclear about AI Tony's true capabilities.
"Guiding the Infinity Stones back to Earth is a minor issue." Digital Tony was honest and patiently answered the youth who had been tagged as [Annoying Pest] in his database.
"The main task my computing power is currently engaged in, just like everyone you see in this base, is to strip every affected soul back to its original state."
"Gwen, Betty, and everyone else can be seen as testing my ongoing experiments."
"This is a massive undertaking. Every fused soul needs to undergo the most precise calculation to correctly separate it into thousands of different individuals."
"Ultimately, all these individual souls will be guided by me back to their original lives." Tony concisely summarized what he was doing.
Ian was astonished upon hearing this and gasped. His imagination, as a well-known writer in a previous life, didn't dare to venture in this direction.
"I thought Gwen and the others were relatively special souls..." Ian inwardly clicked his tongue. Perhaps the main theme of Marvel was that Iron Man would ultimately become its savior?
No.
He was more than just a savior now.
Tony was going to straight-up moonlight as the Creator!
"Are you planning to use the Infinity Stones to reboot the Multiverse? Can the Infinity Stones even do something like that?" Ian could naturally connect the previous information with the current information.
If the other party wasn't lying.
He might have completely understood the meaning of Digital Tony's existence.
"It doesn't have to achieve the goal all at once. We have infinite time, enough for us to reboot an infinite number of universes." Tony raised his hand against the dark holographic background.
"Whether successful or not, my existence is to carry out this attempt."
As his voice faded.
Four shimmering gems floated in his palm—the purple Power Stone, the blue Space Stone, the red Reality Stone, and the green Time Stone.
Only the Soul Stone and Mind Stone were missing.