Ian remembered the way to the base.
And he didn't need Gwen's dilapidated bicycle.
As a millionaire from another world, Ian had bought the book 'Things Rich People Should Know', so he was well aware that a boy like himself must be wary of others.
"Today, Gwen dares to lend me a bicycle, tomorrow, she'll dare to ask me to be the new Spider-Man... She's dreaming." Ian would not casually give others the chance to hold a favor over him.
He had to guard against any situation where he might be exploited for a good deed. Filled with the teachings of the transmigrators, Ian traveled in his "bound-and-leap style" until he reached the familiar alley.
Prying open the manhole cover,
Ian leaped down in a freefall.
Perhaps influenced by muscle memory, he instinctively wanted to bound inside the short, wide sewer tunnel. Only after leaping did he realize his head nearly punched through the concrete ceiling above.
"Stark Industries' product quality is truly good. It might even be explosion-proof." Ian dug his hands tightly into the concrete ceiling.
He saw a thick metal pipe with the "Stark Industries" logo on it. He tried to scratch it off to write "Happy Apocalypse" but found he couldn't.
Therefore,
The Ancestor Persona came online.
The golden light naturally arose amidst his frustration.
"Heat Vision still works best~" The gold in Ian's eyes slowly faded as he landed back on the ground.
After engraving a few letters on the metal pipe and casually drawing a stick figure with a prominent posterior, he confirmed that the metal used here must indeed be quite special.
It was definitely very suitable for intercepting missiles.
"Teacher Tony definitely knows the formula." Ian ran between the wet sewer tunnels. The absence of rats meant the place didn't feel dirty at all.
Soon,
the familiar steel door appeared.
The base's entrance recognized Ian's face, a green light flashed with a "beep," and it slowly opened. The inside was completely empty—to be precise, there was not a single living person.
The busy researchers were all gone.
It seemed they had all gone to study Galactus with the other soldiers and Printer People.
The entire base was extremely quiet.
Only the base's core remained in its massive main computer. A holographic projection of Tony Stark stood with his back to the entrance, staring blankly at a monitor screen.
The screen wasn't showing any surveillance footage.
Instead, it was a meaningless cluster of snow-like static.
It was static that seemed meaningless only to Ian, the kind of sprawling, snowy image one sees after forgetting to pay the cable bill.
"Hi, Teacher Tony, have you eaten?" Ian waved. The water stains from his boots left mud prints on the floor, which were quickly absorbed by the floor's self-cleaning function.
Tony's projection didn't turn around.
"Do I look like I can still eat?" He seemed to have known Ian would arrive at this moment and had likely calculated the exact time.
He showed no surprise.
"It's alright, I brought you some digital viruses. Maybe they taste good?" Ian knew that politeness costs nothing. He pulled out the USB drive he had copied from his own computer.
It contained nothing else.
Just lots of viruses.
When you need someone's help, you should always carry a suitable gift.
"..."
The Digital Tony caught the physical gift with his illusory body. He immediately turned and threw it into the trash can, seeming to dislike Ian's customized present.
However,
this Digital God didn't correct Ian's title for him. This made Ian feel that Tony must still like his gift, and would likely go through the trash after he left.
Teachers who like to put on airs are all like this.
Ian already felt the mutual understanding between teacher and student. Just as Ian could confirm that the taste of demons was quite good, he didn't believe any intelligent life could refuse a delicious digital virus.
"Teacher, what are you looking at?"
Ian brazenly approached.
He tried hard to piece together the shape of a beautiful girl from the static on the screen, but either due to a lack of imagination or because Digital Tony had hidden his Digital Lady too well,
the boy strained his eyes until they blurred, but couldn't piece anything together.
"This is a recording."
Digital Tony spoke softly. "A radio wave recording from before the universe collapsed. Did you know that as the universe expands, the wavelength of electromagnetic radiation is stretched and its energy gradually decreases?"
"They eventually form the radio waves everyone is familiar with, and when these radio waves are captured by human instruments, this is the image that appears on the screen."
Digital Tony spoke slowly in a narrative tone.
"So, is there some alien secret hidden in these static points?" Ian was clearly heavily influenced by the book Mysteries of the Unexplained.
Tony gave him a look.
"Do you think I'd be that boring?"
His tone was helpless.
He felt Ian was treating him like an uneducated commoner who hadn't finished his PHD.
"They're not static points. They are the afterglow of the universe's birth... a beauty a brat like you couldn't understand." Tony's voice was unusually gentle.
It even seemed incomprehensible to others.
But Ian could understand.
After all, he possessed Super Wisdom.
"So that's how it is."
Ian roughly understood Tony's meaning, but he didn't care about this kind of romance. He only knew that his guess was correct: Digital Tony had indeed changed in every way.
Even his orientation was affected.
The condition was even more severe than his previous speculation that a Digital Person would fall in love with a Digital Lady.
Lady?
There was no Lady at all! Tony seemed to have transformed directly from the playboy who only slept with the most beautiful women into a state where he only wanted to ravish the most beautiful radio waves!
Yes.
Such a heartbreaking transformation.
It seemed becoming a Digital Person was truly something to be avoided.
"I admit that the radio waves you're staring at are beautiful, and perhaps they're very charismatic, successfully piquing your domineering interest, but actually, Omniman and Sentry's corpses are pretty good too, right?" Ian was frantic and heavy-handed in his hints to Tony. He certainly remembered what he had come to the base to do.
Ian winked suggestively.
Tony didn't choose to pretend not to see it.
He withdrew his gaze from the screen and looked seriously and solemnly at the boy next to him. The facial details of the holographic image suddenly became clear enough to show pores.
"I can let you touch their corpses, but you need to promise me one thing." Clearly, Digital Tony hoped to negotiate some terms with Ian.
"Equivalent exchange, very reasonable. But don't treat me like Dormammu." Ian nodded, not surprised, but he specifically emphasized that Tony shouldn't be too excessive.
"For you, it's a very simple matter."
Tony nodded and spoke softly.
"You want me to help you snap your fingers?" This was something Ian had actually guessed long ago. He wasn't truly mindless, various pieces of information had allowed him to figure this out.
As expected.
"Yes, you need to help us re-establish the order of the universe. The last chance cannot tolerate any failure, or else we will plunge into the real abyss, shatter, and be lost."
"Ultimately, we will become part of the cancer that corrupts other universes." Tony's words were very information-rich. He clearly knew many untold secrets.
"You trust me that much?"
Ian's eyes flickered.
He thought again about the information provided by Ms. Death. Cosmic parasitism and fusion were two methods of invasion, but his feelings over the past few days led Ian to speculate that the situation he encountered might be a third one. The people here seemed to only want to rebuild their own home, with no intention of finding a new one.
Could it be a disguise?
It was hard to say.
However, one thing was likely certain, if the entities of this world wanted to invade DC, they definitely wouldn't choose the Infinity Stones, which only work within the Marvel Universe.
"Can I trust anyone else?"
Tony countered Ian's question with one of his own. "I carry not just souls but also the remnant laws of the universe, and they are diminishing every moment."
"My remaining resources are insufficient to support overly powerful individuals. You can't expect a broken shell like me to still have the right to wield the power of the Infinity Stones, can you?"
This sounded like a plea for pity, but also carried an inexpressible sense of helplessness.
"A last chance... that means you've tried more than once, but many times? How many times?" Ian was still pondering the information Tony had revealed earlier.
Hearing this,
Digital Tony didn't give a specific answer.
"How many times? I'll give you a hint, you can guess." He simply raised his hand and extended an index finger, making a slightly mismatched gesture.
"Huh? I've become Iron Man?" Ian walked behind the virtual projection and looked at Digital Tony's backside. He didn't have a Sorcerer Supreme's cloak or anything.
"Only you can do this one thing."
Digital Tony spoke seriously.
"No, I don't think I can. You must have been monitoring already." Ian seized the opportunity and walked over to the equipment cabinet displaying weapons.
Tony cooperated and opened the cabinet for him.
"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle~"
Ian immediately fired the weapon dozens of times toward his own temple.
[You attempted to learn to catch a bullet by hand. Although the practical learning was declared a failure, you grasped some Daredevil techniques. [Student] Profession Experience Points +1]
[You attempted to learn to catch a bullet by hand. Although the practical learning was declared a failure, you grasped some Daredevil techniques. [Student] Profession Experience Points +1]
[You attempted to learn to catch a bullet by hand. Although the practical learning was declared a failure, you grasped some Daredevil techniques. [Student] Profession Experience Points +1]
...
He still couldn't manage to catch the laser bullets.
It was too difficult.
What made Ian even more frustrated was that as his physical fitness increased, the experience gained from this sensible leveling mechanism decreased. It no longer had that surging feeling of rapid improvement from before.
Of course,
there was still some gain this time.
[Student LV8 (1/1280)]
Ian's [Student] profession had leveled up.
He gained another general skill point accumulated there. To be honest, Ian was currently debating whether to spend the general skill points on [Learning] or to upgrade his [Ian Kent Defense Technique].
Both skills had a very conceptual flavor. The former had a higher growth return, while the latter was a noble percentage-based skill. Both were skills that would have a stronger positive impact on Ian once upgraded.
Entry-level, Basic, Excellent, Elite. These were the tier divisions Ian knew about for ordinary skills. It takes 1 general skill point to go from Entry-level to Basic, 2 general skill points from Basic to Excellent, 4 for Excellent to Elite, and a full 8 general skill points for Elite and above.
Due to the appearance and leveling of the [Writer] profession, and now the [Student] profession leveling up again, Ian had accumulated a total of nine general skill points.
He had indeed accumulated enough general skill points to upgrade the [Learning] skill. However, precisely because of the appearance of [Writer], Ian felt that it might spawn an exclusive skill if it leveled up a few more times.
This was just speculation and intuition.
Since he hadn't had a similar experience,
Ian couldn't make a definitive judgment.
In short, he was somewhat conflicted.
"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle~"
Of course, conflicted or not, Ian didn't stop his leveling pace. After gaining another fifty or sixty experience points, Ian was stopped by Tony just as he planned to make good use of the resources. Tony directly shut down all weapon systems, and the gun in Ian's hand turned into a toy-like model.
"Don't be so stingy..."
Ian was slightly regretful.
"As I said, our resources are gradually decreasing." Tony sighed. "This also means the physical laws I'm preserving are running out."
"Haven't you noticed that you've only been able to move within this city?" His words startled Ian. This truth completely overturned Ian's original expectations.
"So, beyond Earth, is there no universe anymore?"
Ian's eyes widened.
He realized that even the Earth might not be intact.
"There is a universe, but it is also chaotic nothingness. What exists here now is my last remaining strength—but even so, we are already counting down to the final end." Tony's projection flickered. "That we have persisted for so long is even thanks to the help provided by the friend whose corpse you are about to desecrate."
"Otherwise..." He didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning was clear: without Sentry's help, this world would likely have lost its last spark of life long ago.
"Don't worry, I will definitely say thank you to him. Nine times." Ian didn't know how to respond and could only make a solemn guarantee.
Three times meant respect.
Nine times meant three times the respect, and the subtext was gratitude beyond mere thanks.
"..."
Tony was silent precisely because he understood Ian's logic.
And just at this moment,
"Clang~"
The base's door slowly opened. Gwen walked in, escorting a large box. She looked dusty and dirty, clearly having just gone through a rather unpleasant Infinity Stone retrieval operation.
"Gwen! Want some peanuts?"
Ian's attention was drawn to Gwen's seemingly perennial leather pants.
Amidst the "crinkle, crinkle" of a plastic bag, he pulled out a bag of peanuts labeled "Quinn Foods" from his pocket. The golden-brown kernels gleamed invitingly under the base's cold white light.
Gwen's nose twitched.
She smelled the fragrance of natural food.
It was unlike the synthetic snacks and foods in the base. Her fingers reacted before her brain. By the time she realized it, she had mechanically accepted three peanuts.
Gwen's shelling motion was pitifully clumsy.
"Thank you."
The moment the peanut cracked between her teeth, Gwen had a momentary vision of a cornfield bathed in sunlight. She quickly extinguished this fleeting, soft association and thanked the boy for sharing the precious natural food.
This was necessary.
The previous encounter had made Gwen realize what would happen if she didn't say thank you.
"No problem, eat more." Ian stuffed the entire bag of peanuts into Gwen's hands, making her somewhat uneasy about his enthusiastic attitude.
"Uh, the last Infinity Stone is being received. Betty is already prepared." Gwen was stunned for a moment before reporting the external situation to Digital Tony.
"There won't be any problems. I've already arranged everything."
Digital Tony nodded gently, looking back at the static screen. "Success or failure depends on whether our initial idea was built on the correct path."
His sigh was somewhat inexplicable.
Gwen walked toward the testing lab in the back.
"So, since things sound so urgent, why is it still just Betty and Gwen... I'm not looking down on them, but mainly, according to my theory, this kind of thing requires some truly influential people to participate, right? Besides you, who are the other heavy hitters in this world?"
Ian felt that if it were him, even if he could only choose from ordinary people, he would have resurrected a regular Captain America. After all, Gwen and Betty were, at best, plot-level NPCs. They weren't as distinguished as his own Independent NPC status and didn't seem capable of handling such an event.
"When the Multiverse merged, most heroes' consciousnesses became a jumbled mess, but these two girls... their pure souls were the clearest in my records."
Tony revealed the answer that had puzzled Ian for a long time.
Ian suddenly understood.
"Oh~ I get it! I wondered why you were so fond of Peter Parker in one of the universes I remember... Tsk tsk, so that's the reason."
"It seems Peter Parker wasn't too comfortable being your surrogate son, either. By the way, does Pepper know you're into that?" Ian looked like he had grasped the situation thoroughly.
He didn't need to hide the fact that he wasn't local and knew many Marvel "stories." This was normal because hiding it would only be self-amusement.
Tony was now Tony God, the Omniscience Machine, and it was impossible for him not to notice the peculiarities about Ian. After all, Ian was just an Independent NPC. He believed that what happened to "Heaven-Defying Tier NPCs" wouldn't happen to him.
If you know, you know.
Despite facing people described as powerful figures or infinitely wise old monsters, those protagonists always manage to deceive them by employing slightly foolish strategies.
Afterward,
the wise people in their own camp would frantically praise this intelligence-reducing tactic. Ian had tried it and was badly beaten by reality, so he chose the method that suited him best.
I simply don't keep secrets.
How can you pry into my secrets then?
Honestly,
coupled with the fact Ian had already verified that his soul and memory could not be fully read by powerful figures, he truly could act as an unfilterable scourge that wouldn't be judged as an Outer Realm Heavenly Demon.
In terms of self-positioning,
Ian was exceptionally clear.
And how can that not be considered a form of wisdom?
"????"
Tony was now experiencing the full force of Ian. He clearly showed emotional fluctuations that didn't seem like fake, simulated emotions at all.
"It's only because they weren't completely fused with other multiversal individuals, making them easy for me to strip away! You demon, what kind of things do you have in your head!?"
Tony's projection rippled, and he gesticulated wildly at Ian. He was genuinely waving his arms and pointing. If he couldn't physically attack Ian, he probably would have rushed forward to brawl with him.
"Of course, my head is full of Super Wisdom."
Ian looked at Tony suspiciously. Could he not see such a simple thing? He started to doubt that Tony was as smart as others claimed.
"Just shut up. Don't insult wisdom."
Digital Tony sighed dramatically.
"Heh... Teacher Tony, you seem to have gained a little emotion?" Ian didn't plan to convince Tony to believe him, but he keenly noticed some changes in Teacher Tony.
"The time is simply approaching."
Tony reverted to his usual silence.
"The corpses you wanted are over there."
He seemed unwilling to continue this conversation with Ian. He raised his hand and pointed to the room on the left side of the base's main hall. The tightly closed door slowly opened.
A cold fog poured out like dry ice.
Ian walked inside.
It was like walking into a morgue. In the center of the room, two corpses lay on anti-gravity suspension beds, white frost covering their eyelashes. There was no rise or fall in their chests.
They were Omniman and Sentry.
Both corpses looked lifelike, as if they had just died, or perhaps hadn't died at all. Ian stepped forward, pinched both their noses, and waited a few minutes.
"It looks like there's no April Fool's joke."
Ian still remembered the Marvel timeline he had seen on the electronic calendar outside.
He always liked to pay attention.
So he listened for their heartbeats—complete silence.
"Let me see how to proceed." Ian was about to look for tools to cut open the corpses when he found that the thoughtful Teacher Tony had already made a small incision between their eyebrows.
It was very small.
About the size of a mosquito bite.
However, there was still a slight film of blood condensed on the surface of Omniman and Sentry's foreheads.
As if it had been drawn out.
"Praise Tony God, the Omniscience Machine." Ian glanced at the monitor in front. This situation again proved that Tony had indeed analyzed a lot of information about Ian.
He probably even calculated how much blood Ian needed to trigger his special mechanism.
As Ian touched the blood, the system prompt sounded again, but it was somewhat unexpected. Omniman and Sentry did not unlock a new profession. His currently unlockable professions still only included [Lord of Entropy]. The corpses of the two superheroes brought a new system function unlock.
[Obtained Intermediate Correction Data.]
[Obtained Advanced Correction Data.]
[Updated [Savage Tyrant] Basic Information.]
[Profession Characteristics being recorded...]
There was no sharp pain.
No coldness or shaking.
Ian felt a sudden change in himself, as if he had normally unlocked a new profession or leveled up. His physical fitness was rapidly increasing.
[Strength: 26 -> 44]
[Constitution: 44.3 -> 60]
[Intelligence: 3.5 -> 4.2]
[Spirit: 21 -> 31]
...
Ian didn't know what "Obtained Correction Data" meant, but he knew his physical condition had received a considerable stat boost, as if he had learned some kind of super passive ability.
Only after slowly recovering from his astonishment,
did Ian realize the reason.
It was mainly because the confused Ian heard the system prompt.
[Host successfully imported new data. [Body of Hardened Iron] has been corrected to [Perfect Divine Body]. Please check it.] This was the message that appeared in Ian's ear,
and it was the reason why Ian's attributes had increased so much.
[Body of Hardened Iron: The surface of your body will be greatly reinforced, significantly improving Strength and Constitution attributes.] The original exclusive skill of [Savage Tyrant] had changed at this moment.
[Perfect Divine Body: This skill will automatically grow and improve based on its level. How can mere mortal flesh bear divine radiance? This perfect body is your ultimate weapon for crushing all beings!
Your physical fitness has taken a qualitative leap, allowing you to effectively resist all forms of physical attack, and you will also possess significant resistance to magic, toxins, and mental attacks.
When you fully activate the "Perfect Divine Body," your body will undergo a complete transformation, entering a brand-new state and achieving a peak status where all numerical values are doubled.]
It must be said,
the evolution of [Body of Hardened Iron] into [Perfect Divine Body] was a huge improvement. However, looking at the incredibly powerful skill effect, Ian felt a mixture of happiness and sorrow.
"My painstakingly accumulated negative effects!"
The nightmare of the hoarder struck again. Ian watched as the icons for his leveling buffs, such as [Slow Poisoning] and [Nerve Damage], slowly disappeared, leaving only the high-level, hard-to-remove negative effects like [Fel Energy Corruption] and [Slow Corrosion].
"How am I supposed to level up now?"
Ian was naturally happy to gain a powerful skill, but losing a large number of leveling methods was an absolutely significant loss for him.
Just as Ian was sighing over the fact that he might have to subject his body to greater stresses if he wanted to level up quickly in the future, an itchy feeling in his eyes abruptly interrupted his melancholy.
The system hadn't even given a prompt yet.
Ian already had a rough idea of what was happening.
[Name: Ian Kent]
[Ordinary Professions: Student LV8 (56/1280), Writer LV2 (1/20)]
[Extraordinary Professions: Berserker LV4 (75/80), Savage Tyrant LV3 (9/40)]
[World Recognition: Independent NPC]
[Innate Skills: Reverse Blood Furnace, Perfect Divinity]
[Profession Skills: Self-Healing Frenzy, Perfect Divine Body, Eyes of the Eternal Day.]
...
The profession information had not changed.
However,
the skill associated with [Savage Tyrant] had changed again. [Eyes of the Scorching Sun] had become [Eyes of the Eternal Day]. This clearly had an undeniable connection to the Correction Data mentioned by the system.
[Host successfully imported new data.] [Eyes of the Scorching Sun] has been corrected to [Eyes of the Eternal Day]. Please check it.]
The system prompt arrived a tiny bit late, but better late than never.
"Hiss, it feels like ants are crawling inside." Ian covered his eyes. He didn't want to imitate the Uchiha clan and make the world feel pain, but his eyes were indeed undergoing an extremely intense transformation.
[Eyes of the Eternal Day: The Spirit attribute and Constitution attribute will jointly influence this skill's effect. When your eyes become the sun, all things will submit to this light and heat that burns eternally!
Your eyes have fused with the cosmic laws of a "Solar Core." Your pupils transform into two miniature stars, allowing you to freely manipulate cosmic-level forces such as light, heat, and plasma.]
There wasn't much detailed description, but the brief nature of the description was enough to shock Ian. Were his eyes about to be converted into two miniature stellar reactors?
This was no longer just a question of whether he could pass a civil service exam!
Had he become a radiation source?
"And my beautiful blue eyes are gone! Damn it! Is it too late for me to reset my skills and re-allocate them now!" Ian turned around hurriedly to look at the glass nearby.
His itchy eyes reflected a striking luster on the glass.
He panicked.
Ian was truly panicking.
"Quick, turn into a super-high-definition mirror for me!" Ian immediately pulled out the mysterious magic book from above his pants. Its name had now changed to [Ian's Beloved Magic Book He Can't Bear to Eat]. Perhaps sensing Ian's urgency, the book's cover script warped again.
[Ian's Magic Mirror Usage Guide]
It still maintained the stubbornness of a book, but a small round mirror had indeed warped out of the combined elements on the cover. The high-definition mirror surface allowed Ian to clearly see the capillaries on his face. At this moment, Ian's eyes seemed filled with a golden brilliance, his pupils completely turned a molten gold color.
They seemed to be studded with crushed starlight.
"Ehh~ It's kind of handsome?" The previously distraught Ian instantly calmed down. Nuclear reactor or not, it didn't matter, as long as it didn't affect his devastating good looks, then everything was fine.
This was his ultimate capital.
His good friend Madison had taught him this golden path before.
"Even so, the system should apologize to me. It didn't even ask if I was willing to upgrade the skill." Ian sternly criticized his system accessory in his mind.
But this didn't stop him from opening the [Savage Tyrant] skill tree with full anticipation. The profession name hadn't changed, but the skill tree for this profession had been completely overhauled.
First,
two dividing lines appeared on the skill tree, separating the skills into three tiers. The background for each tier was different. The first tier showed a black figure with blood-red eyes laughing maniacally.
It was called [Savage Tyrant].
The second tier showed an expressionless black figure slaughtering people.
It was called [Merciless Conqueror].
It required Level 45 to advance. The description promised a massive increase in attribute points after advancement. The third tier, which could only be reached at Level 90, featured a black figure turning its back on all beings.
It was located at the very top of the skill tree.
It was named [Void Deity].
This was the pinnacle advancement for this profession, and the description stated that one would gain an incredible authority.
"How incredible can it be?"
Ian blinked.
"Did they really turn me into someone playing a game in the real world?"
He couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
He looked at the first tier, the skills belonging to [Savage Tyrant]. Even though the name was the same, the original skills had all been replaced.
[Fear Vision: Actively release a mental presence to plunge enemies within range into panic. The effect is weakened against targets with extremely strong willpower. Enemies who completely lose their will to resist will lose their lives.]
[Combat Instinct: Hardened killing techniques that allow you to instantly analyze an enemy's weaknesses and adopt the most effective method of execution. Your body may react a step before your brain.]
[Absolute Air-Dominance: You gain a bio-force field for flight. Above the sky, you are the Tyrant who controls everything, and looking down on all beings is your inherent privilege.]
...
Bad news.
The [Super Flight] skill was gone.
Good news.
[Absolute Air-Dominance] seemed to come with a tiny bio-force field.
"It can only be used for flying. This bio-force field must be a knock-off delivered by Temu..." Ian felt he should be happy, but his current unsettled mood was slightly complicated.
And just as Ian stared at the two hero corpses and began the promised nine expressions of thanks,
"Buddy, you've been standing here for twenty minutes. I watched the surveillance, and you kept smiling every so often. The last smile even reminded me of Hawking."
Gwen's voice sounded from the doorway.
Her tone was confused.
"You wouldn't understand. Things went contrary to my expectations, but in a good way, so I must respond with a wry smile." Ian sighed, tucking his magic book back above his waistband.
"A wry smile..."
Gwen still struggled to understand some of Ian's statements. Other than seeing that expression on Hawking's face, she had truly never heard of such a thing as a wry smile in her life.
"Yes, and alongside it are a devilish smile, and a faint smile." Ian stepped forward and pulled out a bag of warm soy milk from his long pocket, offering it to her.
It was still natural food.
The packaging made a tempting "crackle" sound.
How could Gwen resist?
Gwen accepted the handout, but she was confused by Ian's eagerness. "Are you asking me for something? Why do you keep giving me food?"
The warm soy milk slid down her throat.
Gwen tasted a strange flavor. No, not an evil kind of strange, but a strange blend of multiple beans, and a slight taste of Senna leaf.
Although the taste buds of this body were not as sensitive as before, they were still somewhat unusual. For a moment, Gwen felt an urge to stop eating.
But the aroma of the natural food made her hesitate.
"I just want to satisfy my curiosity."
Ian spoke sincerely.
As he spoke,
he pulled out some sweet potatoes.
This time,
Gwen didn't dare to take them.
She already sensed that something was highly unusual.
"What curiosity?"
Gwen held the mouthful of soy milk and dared not swallow.
"You wear the same leather pants Black Widow wears every day. I want to see if you passing gas makes a bulge." Ian remained honest, not even letting his gaze linger on Gwen's butt for more than three seconds.
Very gentlemanly.
"Pfft~"
Gwen immediately spat out the soy milk.
Ian dodged in time.
"It seems it does bulge. Bad review. You're using artificial leather. I checked, good real leather doesn't bulge." He had successfully observed the scientific phenomenon he wanted to see.
"No! Can you please focus on something truly important?" Gwen's expression was priceless. She threw the soy milk aside, glancing around as if looking for something.
"What are you looking for?"
Ian was still curious.
"A needle, and thread."
Gwen truly wished she could find the tools to sew Ian's mouth shut.
Just at this moment,
"Rumble~"
The base suddenly began to shake violently.
Ian managed to keep his balance.
But the unlucky Gwen fell onto the ground. And because she was currently in a "bulge" state, the low-quality leather pants finally couldn't bear the strain amidst a long, drawn-out sound of release.
They ripped.
Right at the seat of her pants.
"..."
Gwen couldn't believe everything that was happening to her. She didn't dare to get up, sitting on the ground and staring fixedly ahead, her eyes completely locked onto Ian.
"This has nothing to do with me anymore. I'll buy you a real leather one tomorrow, alright? Master Ian has money." Ian vigilantly took half a step back, guarding his own waistband.
He looked as if he was afraid Gwen would snatch his pants.
At this moment,
the tremor continued.
Dust flaked from the ceiling, rustling down like a sudden gray drizzle.
"Is it time?"
Gwen had no mind to ask for compensation. She looked up. The dome was slowly opening, and the crack was directly above her head.
This made her even more afraid to stand up.
It was too late to kill herself and get a new body.
"Time for what?"
Ian's question received no answer.
"Tony said you would snap that finger for us."
Gwen's gaze was fixed on Ian. Her voice trembled slightly, as if she felt incredibly uncertain about what was coming, an emotion Ian had never seen in her eyes before.
"I told him I might not be able to transmit my will into the Infinity Stones." Ian remembered his own situation. He could interact with this world, but the world had difficulty interacting with him.
"No, you can."
The voice suddenly came from Digital Tony.
"Teacher Tony, where are you?"
Ian turned his head to look.
The alloy walls peeled away like eggshells.
The answer was a sudden influx of light from the sky.
As the blinding sunlight streamed in, Ian realized the entire base had appeared on the surface. The researchers, soldiers, and engineers who had been working on Uncle Galactus's body were all gathered outside.
Galactus's corpse stood in the distance behind them. These people were densely packed on the streets. Looking out, it seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see.
Sunlight filtered through the dilapidated buildings, casting mottled shadows on the ground. Everyone was looking at Ian with an intensity he had never felt before, the same expression that had been in Gwen's eyes moments ago.
Hope?
Expectation?
Ian couldn't clearly define it.
"You don't need to transmit your will. The goal that needs to be achieved has already been recorded into this gauntlet... So, you just need to snap it."
Digital Tony stood at the very front of everyone.
Floating in mid-air.
He had even donned a silver suit of armor.
Though it was only a digital shell,
this was perhaps his way of showing solemnity.
A metal disc rose from the rubble, carrying the Infinity Gauntlet studded with the various colored gems. All the gems were set in place, each radiating a mysterious light.
"Shall we try it then?"
Ian walked toward the Infinity Gauntlet.
He had already touched the corpses Tony provided. A man must keep his word.
"But don't hold your hopes too high for me."
Ian's voice was calmer than expected. He reached out and grasped the gauntlet suspended on the disc. The instant the metal fitted his hand, he felt an unfamiliar and boundless power.
He could actually interact with it!
The power of the Infinity Stones made Ian feel warm all over!
"Now I'm Thanos."
Ian remarked with surprise.
"No, you are our savior." Digital Tony's voice was rarely filled with warmth. The sun broke through the clouds, and at that moment, it laid a golden path right at Ian's feet.
"Omni-level power is in your hands. Only you can create heaven and earth for us. Furthermore, you can use this to achieve your own desire; you will become a source of emerging power." Digital Tony seemed to be frantically providing emotional value. He had even calculated Ian's intent for entering the Marvel Universe this time.
"I can use this to become a source of magic?"
Ian was somewhat tempted.
"Something greater than that."
Digital Tony replied softly.
"Your words sound like a seduction." He looked around. Every person was clearly visible: Betty, Gwen, and Dr. Helen Cho, the researcher who didn't give him snacks.
The look in their eyes.
Ian was very familiar with it because he had seen it before. After something bad had happened, the victims looked at Superman, who had arrived just in time, with the same look and expression.
When Superman descended from the sky, his cape billowing in the dust, the trapped, injured, and despairing people looked up at that red and blue figure.
Their eyes burned with a hope that was almost devout.
Like dry land yearning for rain, like searching for starlight in the deep night. Ian never thought he would step into this scorching field of vision—trembling, fervent, and full of hope.
"I've never been one to trust flattery, but today, I will be your hero." Ian's fingers unconsciously stroked the metal surface of the Infinity Gauntlet.
The faint light of the gems flowed between his fingers.
"I choose to believe my own judgment, you are not phantoms coveting other worlds, but a respectable group craving salvation, one that fought for it until the very last moment of your world."
"Encountering such a tenacious group asking for my help, I am willing to give you a chance. Perhaps this is the influence my old man had on me—I can't let him be too disappointed."
Ian was serious for once, and his tone was very calm.
With that,
he raised the hand wearing the Infinity Gauntlet.
"Please."
Digital Tony bowed slightly at this moment.
Tens of thousands of people stood motionless in the ruins, holding their breath.
"In this moment, I am a Saint of Merit."
Feeling the gaze of everyone on him, including Gwen, who still didn't dare to get up, a feeling surged within Ian—a complex emotion he had never experienced before.
"The focus of all eyes."
"It doesn't seem so bad."
He gently rubbed his fingers together.
"Remember to build me a golden toilet... Forget it, you guys probably won't remember. A mature boy knows he has to steal gold from the Stark house to build his own toilet."
Ian immediately reverted to his original personality.
As his voice fell,
he decisively pressed his thumb down.
Then, a sound like shattering glass immediately rang out. The crisp sound was exceptionally clear in the profound silence.
"Trust him. You are the last hero. The Creator is with you at this moment." Digital Tony's sincere prayer echoed in Ian's ears at the end of this world.
Ian saw everything disappearing. The crowds on the street turned into fragmented light particles. Their expressions didn't even have time to change, remaining frozen in that moment of hope and trust.
All things withered like sand and dust, shattering into firefly-like speckles against the backlight. The world was like a pencil drawing erased directly by an eraser—high-rises, Galactus, even the sunlight crumbled into fine powder and drifted away.
Then,
the world fell silent.
The blankness shrouded in dead silence and the darkness of the void lasted for perhaps three heartbeats. Until the first car horn broke the stillness, and colors suddenly exploded fiercely from all directions.
Neon lights sizzled and glowed magenta. White steam rose from the coffee machine on the street corner. A yellow and blue taxi skidded to a stop, kicking up a rainbow-like spray of water. Pedestrians appeared out of nowhere like magic cards. A housewife with a grocery basket brushed past a skateboarder. The sound of a popcorn bucket dropping mixed with the strumming of a street performer's guitar strings.
The electronic sounds from store windows, the laughter of children chasing each other—sounds washed over the empty streets like a tide. The frozen world seemed to have truly been reshaped and reborn with a single snap.
"Is the Creator there? If so, chirp once."
Ian stood in the center of the crosswalk, a ginkgo leaf drifting onto his shoulder.
"Beep, beep, beep~"
A horn sounded.
"Damn it, Great Fortune Celestial."
Ian's mood had been a little melancholy while looking up at the sky.
Instantly,
he was wide awake.
***
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