Kamar-Taj Library.
Dust motes slowly drifted in the beam of light.
"This book..."
Stephen Strange wiped away the thick layer of dust on the table with his sleeve, revealing ancient runic carvings underneath. He carefully placed the glowing golden ancient book in the center.
A faint glow illuminated the medical doctor's furrowed brow.
Ian's Magic Book
The title shimmered faintly in the dim light.
It seemed to be breathing as if it had a life of its own.
"Ian... Ian's Magic Book... This is probably not a coincidence." Doctor Strange murmured, his fingertip tracing the cover. The book glowing was something he had never encountered before.
This book had been sealed for many years.
It had existed in the library since the birth of Kamar-Taj.
However.
It had never emitted a golden glow before today. With one accident following another, Doctor Strange, who had read all kinds of detective novels, was convinced that this could not be a mere coincidence.
"According to my irresponsible bastard teacher, the origin of this book is untraceable, but it is at least two thousand years old. It was discovered alongside the ancestral artifacts of Kamar-Taj."
Doctor Strange pulled open his collar and yanked out an ancient pendant—it was a small metal disc inlaid with a jade-green gem, its surface etched with the same runes found on the book's flyleaf. The Time Stone was sealed within the container, faintly glowing with an imperceptible green light in Doctor Strange's grasp.
"Because of this book, the pendant is called the Eye of Ian. Legend says it is an artifact of an ancient, high-dimensional entity." Doctor Strange had gone through almost all the books in Kamar-Taj's library more than once over the years. That was why when he recalled the name Ian, familiar memories surfaced.
"Ian, Ian's Magic Book, Ian's Artifact Eye."
He murmured again.
The Time Stone flickered slightly in its container, reflecting Doctor Strange's contemplative face. He felt as if Sherlock Holmes had possessed him at that moment. His brain was spinning, and he began to connect the clues:
1. The boy knew about the existence of the Sorcerer Supreme but was completely ignorant of the modern magic system.
2. The boy mentioned the Dimensional Lords, Dormammu, and Cyttorak, names known to no one.
3. His powerful magical talent, which even the Sanctum Sanctorum had to surrender to.
...
At this moment.
Doctor Strange's pupils violently contracted. He felt he truly understood.
"He is an ancient entity that has awakened from slumber!" Doctor Strange's eyes shook violently, as if he had sudden retinopathy. His fingers tapped the table unconsciously.
"Yes, that must be it. That's why he seemed so contradictory, knowing about sorcerers but also displaying ignorance of the magic world."
"In reality, the ignorant one is probably me. What he was talking about is likely an ancient secret, a true history that has been swallowed by the river of time!"
"What Dimensional Lords, Demon Masters... he was subtly expressing his own identity and testing me, testing the only Sorcerer Supreme of this generation who could pose a threat to him!"
As this thought took hold.
Doctor Strange was deeply shaken.
His tapping on the table grew faster and faster. The temperature in the library seemed to drop several degrees. Doctor Strange's breath condensed into white mist in the cold air.
Or perhaps Doctor Strange's mind was simply racing.
After all.
Reflecting and thinking with this kind of speculation, Stephen Strange, the medical genius, used his superhuman intellect to realize that he had likely already revealed sensitive information.
"My answers amounted to telling him that there are no more demons or Dimensional Lords in this world. He has become the sole surviving demon god after some shocking catastrophe!"
Doctor Strange felt he had connected all the clues. Sure enough, reading detective novels all these years had paid off. He even connected Ian's final act of pushing him down and "arrogantly" leaving—wasn't this a clear statement that he no longer cared about a mere Sorcerer Supreme with no backing?
And his act of abducting the takeout girl!
It was a blatant display of arrogance, showing he could do whatever he wanted!
"This is astonishing!"
Doctor Strange was shocked by his own deduction. Could there truly have been an era like this, straight out of a legend? Was there a glorious age where a sorcerer could gain power without effort?
"Now is not the time for me to envy those sorcerers. If demons and demon gods truly existed in this world, does this mean that boy..."
Doctor Strange's fingertips trembled.
His Adam's apple bobbed.
"That boy is the legendary evil villain who only exists in stories?" What a strange term, yet it sent chills down Doctor Strange's spine.
Not to mention him.
Even his teacher, the Ancient One, might not have encountered such a thing. The Sorcerer Supreme was the peak of magic. The daily life of eating, sleeping, and sleeping, then eating, had lasted for generations.
Saying a few nice words and scamming some living expenses on the street was the daily routine of the Sorcerer Supreme... But now, a genuine, ancient threat had appeared?
"I will be the only one who can prevent the disaster?"
An unprecedented emotion arose in Doctor Strange's heart. Anxiety and excitement intertwined in his veins. He felt that his empty life might finally have found its meaning.
"I will become... a hero?"
Doctor Strange felt his pores gradually open up. He wasn't particularly fond of self-sacrifice, but his monotonous life had finally found a rare ripple of excitement.
How could he not seize this opportunity?
"He said he was going to Stark Tower!"
At this moment, the excited Doctor Strange felt his mind was more active than ever. He predicted one evil plan after another that could be brewed using Stark Industries.
He knew.
He had to do something.
The red cloak automatically flew over and draped itself across the shoulders of the man shouldering the new responsibility. He grabbed the Time Stone pendant, hung it on his chest, and stood up, running toward the door.
However.
After about ten seconds, Doctor Strange backed up.
"Thank you. No wonder my bastard teacher said I was the smartest Sorcerer Supreme of all time."
He kissed The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. If he hadn't read this book, he felt he wouldn't have possessed such a logically rigorous way of thinking, like Sherlock Holmes.
"Now, you are my Watson."
Doctor Strange patted the cloak behind him and ran toward the door again—his figure disappeared outside. His mind was so hyperactive that he even forgot to close the library door.
A slight breeze blew through, and the door hinges silently rotated, slowly closing.
"Snap."
An aged hand gently pressed the door panel, completely sealing the gap.
"Sigh~"
A deep sigh followed.
"This is just too smart... for his own good." A slightly hunched old man stood in the quiet library, the sleeves of his yellow robe hanging down. He was the bastard teacher who had died in Doctor Strange's memory.
The previous Sorcerer Supreme.
The Ancient One.
"People who haven't been beaten up always need to experience some setbacks." The Ancient One's bald head glowed warmly in the candlelight, a helpless smile on his lips.
In the library, the dust settled again, as if time flowed particularly slowly here. He walked slowly to the center of the room, his gaze fixed on Ian's Magic Book.
"I studied it for eight hundred years, and there was no magic in it. Turns out, the book's owner doesn't even know magic yet." The Ancient One put the golden book back on the shelf.
"Our Sorcerer Supreme will help me figure out what's going on."
"However, I need to take precautions. He better not actually believe the nonsense I told him about going to heaven and earth after death, traveling the cosmos... becoming a free astral spirit."
The Ancient One muttered as he walked to a hanging rope and retied the knot from a dead knot to a slipknot. He tugged it twice to make sure no one could hang themselves before he finally relaxed a little.
"I'll have to appear in his dream tonight and tell him that until he finds a successor, even if he dies a heroic death, it doesn't count." The Ancient One talked to himself, his figure gradually disappearing from the empty room.
He was in the physical world.
He had simply left his old haunt again.
---
New York.
Above Manhattan.
Ian was ricocheting between the buildings like a human cannonball.
Of course, people witnessed his actions.
"Ahhh—look, there's a person bouncing in the sky! Is he the Rabbit Man?" Below, on the street, gasps of astonishment rose and fell.
"Oh, my God, he must be delivering takeout."
A girl pointed at the sky, her voice full of awe.
"That's so amazing. If I had his abilities, I can't imagine how much money I could make in tips in a day." The girl's boyfriend said with an envious tone.
He was probably a delivery guy himself.
"Can you be a little more ambitious? With that kind of ability, why would you still deliver takeout? You should be transporting specialty goods from Mexico—avocados are so expensive here."
The girl severely criticized her boyfriend for his lack of foresight.
Her boyfriend looked ashamed.
"You're right. I could also transport cigars from Cuba."
The boyfriend actually started to fantasize.
"Smuggling tobacco? Wouldn't that be a little too bad?"
The girl also began to worry about her boyfriend's character.
Well, this was why they said birds of a feather flock together.
Both of them were quite imaginative.
The encouraging thing was that no one called the police—the citizens of this world's New York seemed to take the existence of "bouncing spandex-clad perverts" as part of the city's infrastructure.
Perhaps.
Was it because excessive evil had never been allowed to flourish in this world?
With another leap.
Ian was far away from the Sanctum Sanctorum.
"Don't move, you're making my shoulder uncomfortable." Gwen Stacy, perched on Ian's shoulder like a startled cat, tightly clutched Ian's collar, her face utterly exasperated.
She was being carried by Ian like a sack of potatoes.
Head down.
When she opened her eyes, all she could see was Ian's well-developed, perky butt.
"My dad is a cop! He's a really good shot! Put me down now!" Gwen yelled through gritted teeth, her voice fragmented by the oncoming strong wind.
"I'm handling important business, and you guys were the ones who begged me to help you." Ian thoughtfully made a slight turn in mid-air so that the bird poop, which would have gone into Gwen's mouth from her yelling, only landed on her cheek. He didn't need Gwen to say thank you, as he was slightly at fault this time.
If his return time wasn't so imminent, Ian wouldn't have resorted to such a direct method.
"My dad will seriously put you in jail!" Gwen, while using the tissue Ian handed her to wipe her cheek, still persisted in pressuring Ian.
"Stop it. Competing over dads is boring. I've aged a few hours now, I'm past the age for competing over dads, and I won't brag about how great a superhero my dad is to you anymore."
Ian solemnly used his other hand to pinch the back of Gwen's neck.
Gwen immediately recoiled her neck.
"No, wait, why does this feel familiar?" Gwen, reacting instinctively, was confused, unable to understand this indescribable feeling.
Hearing her words.
Ian's golden pupils flickered slightly.
"That's because even though the bond between us has been broken, I'm still giving you guidance." Ian was deliberately testing how to trigger Gwen's soul memory.
"See, I guarantee Spider-Man can't do this."
He suddenly bent his knees and pushed off.
He propelled himself up a large distance again from a height of over a dozen stories, caught the bird that had just pooped, and then, as he descended, shoved it toward Gwen on his shoulder.
"That's thoughtful enough, right? Regretting not choosing me to be the new Spider-Man now, aren't you?" Ian landed again on the top of a tall tower, looking around for the location of Stark Tower.
"..."
Gwen didn't feel the self-proclaimed warm-heartedness of Ian. She immediately let go and released the culprit of her attack. "You little lunatic! Didn't you just say that I was the one who begged you to be the new Spider-Man?"
Her question was filled with suspicion and confusion. For some unknown reason, apart from the anxiety of being "kidnapped," Gwen didn't seem to fear the high-altitude environment.
She was surprisingly calm.
"Tsk tsk." Ian rolled his eyes.
"A normal person should be questioning why I kidnapped her, but you're concerned about who begged whom to be Spider-Man. With a mental state like yours, no wonder you can sit at the same table as Tony."
His words left Gwen speechless.
Although confused, she was still seeing red.
"I've questioned you dozens of times already!" She emphasized loudly. Ian ignored her, merely scanning the distant buildings with his super eyesight.
In the city.
There were several tall buildings.
But none of them looked like Stark Tower.
"That's weird!"
Ian remembered Stark Tower should be very conspicuous.
"Where is Stark Tower?"
He asked Gwen, the local.
"Why should I help you after you kidnapped me?" Gwen held onto Ian's neck tightly, closing her eyes with a cold smirk.
Ian nodded, acknowledging Gwen's point. However, that didn't mean he had no countermeasure. "Setting aside the bond, you don't want me getting lost and having to ask for directions everywhere, do you?"
"Maybe we'll end up running through every corner of the city." He knew Gwen was an excellent student and was already calculating the probability of running into someone she knew.
"Who taught you to be so despicable?"
Gwen was genuinely shocked. This threat was clearly very effective.
"My Uncle Batman."
Ian lowered his voice.
"He's definitely not a good person!"
Gwen didn't know who Ian was referring to, but that didn't affect the certainty in her tone. "Damn it, playing mind games with me... Stark Industries is over there!"
Gwen ultimately conceded.
She pointed Ian in the right direction.
She didn't know why this feeling of being stifled was so familiar, but she knew she shouldn't have left the house today. Otherwise, she wouldn't have run into this damn nemesis again!
Hmm?
Why did I use the word again?
Gwen was completely bewildered.
Just at that moment.
Ian, having gotten the directions, immediately leapt up. The rush of air blew Gwen's bunny-ear hat off, but she was quick enough to grab it back with her hand.
"Of course, I know a bit of psychology. I'm experienced, after all." Ian had a mouthful of hair, so his reply was slightly delayed. He furiously spat out Gwen's hair, feeling a bit wronged.
"You definitely didn't wash your hair today!"
His voice was deafening.
Gwen's silence was just as potent.
She stopped yelling about kidnapping and sank into awkwardness instead. With that, Ian got a moment of quiet and continued his leaping journey between the buildings.
Minutes later.
The two traced a perfect parabola.
Finally landing with a crash on the plaza in front of Stark Tower. It wasn't particularly wide, and the building was only of a normal height, which explained why Ian had trouble spotting it.
*Boom*
Ian's high-altitude landing lacked the appropriate family tradition.
The pavement tiles beneath his feet shattered radially.
However.
The moment they landed, Gwen only felt a slight jolt. The comfort on Ian's shoulder made Gwen feel as if Ian's body had a luxury-grade shock absorption system, perfectly mitigating the impact of the landing—this was likely due to Ian's absolute control over his muscles and strength.
"We're here."
Ian set Gwen down.
Gwen, who was trying to credit the "shock absorption" to her own chest fat, was back on solid ground.
She still hadn't fully recovered.
"What are you doing?"
Gwen watched Ian squatting on the ground, completely confused.
"Although, according to the merit I've accumulated, I'm completely exempt from any compensation, but I'm a person of high quality." Ian placed three hundred dollars under the cracked floor tiles.
Along with a note saying that whoever found the money was responsible for repairing the tiles.
The three hundred dollars, as long as Commissioner Smith wasn't involved, even covered the labor costs. It was the decent thing to do. Whether others were decent or not was no concern of Ian's conscience.
"Hmm? You damaged public property and paid compensation? I don't believe you have that kind of awareness." Gwen seemed very surprised, sizing up Ian, who had just stood up again.
"I can't help it. Since this is the world I created, it deserves for me to demonstrate my quality." Ian clapped his hands and turned toward the entrance of Stark Tower.
"It's already escalated to the point where you're God, and believing in you grants eternal life, is that it? Are you planning to erect a giant statue of yourself in the city center next?"
Gwen saw Ian heading for the door and immediately followed him.
Since she was already here.
She also wanted to find out why Ian felt so familiar. It was as if she had forgotten something, and she felt like she wouldn't be able to sleep tonight if she didn't figure out this strange feeling.
"A little taller than the Statue of Liberty is fine, thank you." Ian's steps were swift. The glass door of Stark Tower immediately slid open silently as it sensed their approach.
There were no guards, no security checks, not even a reception robot. There were two beautiful women at the front desk, but they merely glanced at Ian and the nervous Gwen.
No reaction at all.
Ian walked straight toward the elevator.
Gwen followed closely behind.
"Are you a shareholder of Stark Industries?"
She chased Ian into the elevator, her face filled with disbelief. This was a luxury elevator, the interior wrapped entirely in genuine leather, and even the handrails were polished mahogany.
Gwen saw the sign that indicated it was for management personnel only.
"I'm a shareholder of your world. Now, I'm going to ask the executive who planned this world what kind of trick he pulled in the planning proposal."
Ian pressed the button for the topmost floor.
The elevator door slowly closed, ascending rapidly.
"What exactly are you talking about?"
Gwen felt she shouldn't understand Ian's words, yet she had a contradictory feeling that she did understand. This absurd feeling made her increasingly confused.
"Ding~"
It wasn't Ian's system going off, it was the elevator arriving at the top floor. As the elevator opened, the young girl, who had endured too much for one day, discovered that the outside was indeed the CEO's office.
"You have this kind of access?"
Gwen was stunned.
She knew that in big companies like Stark Industries, different floors required different access, and only a few people were typically qualified to reach the CEO's floor.
"You still deny being a Stark Industries shareholder! Liar!" Gwen stared at Ian suspiciously. She didn't understand why Ian had such high-level corporate access.
Yet he couldn't even find where Stark Industries was located.
"I speak at least twenty percent of the truth every day. How can I be a liar?" Ian glanced at Gwen, annoyed. He had just been testing whether his "special access" was still functional.
The result of this test did not disappoint Ian. Whether it was a privilege granted by Tony-sensei or the Creator, the other party hadn't completely thrown him under the bus.
He could still gain some special access by flashing his face.
"Alright, I have twenty minutes left. I need to find a way to use you to awaken Tony's memory." Ian stepped out of the elevator. The area outside was a lavishly exaggerated office.
Gold threads were woven into the Persian rug. A wall-sized glass cabinet displayed extravagantly aged whiskey. A pure gold globe on the desk glittered in the sunlight.
It reeked of nouveau riche.
"Jarvis? Is Jarvis here?" Seeing the office was empty, Ian spoke toward a surveillance camera. He remembered that Tony's beloved AI was ubiquitous in Stark Industries.
This was probably why there were no guards at the main entrance.
"Who is Jarvis?"
Gwen looked around.
She seemed to disapprove of the taste of the office's owner.
"Jarvis? I need to speak to your boss."
Ian jumped up and knocked on the camera's head.
The camera didn't respond.
The response came from the restroom on the left side of the office—*flush*, the sound of a flushing toilet. The restroom door opened, and a shiny bald head peeked out.
"Jarvis died many years ago, and so did my dear friend Howard. Now, I am the boss here." The bald man slowly walked out of the restroom while fastening a luxurious Hermès belt.
Seeing this man, Ian's jaw almost dropped onto the carpet. His mind went slightly blank.
"Huh? You... why are you here? Iron Monger!" Ian was truly bewildered. Even with his intellect, he hadn't predicted this scene.
"Uh, his name should be Obadiah Stane." Gwen, seeing the major figure she had only seen on TV, nervously hid behind Ian.
As the descendant of a police family, she knew all too well what illegal entry was. "Little lunatic, you're not here for a family reunion, are you? Are you a descendant of the Stark family?"
This was probably the only reasonable explanation Gwen could think of.
She clearly hadn't missed many prime-time soap operas.
"I am Obadiah Stane, not some Iron Monger. Your little girlfriend is much more knowledgeable than you." The bald man, Obadiah, walked toward his luxurious office desk.
"I'm not his girlfriend, I'm his hostage." Gwen quickly denied it. This was to create grounds for later discussion, allowing the police and the court to go easy on her.
"Aren't you the navigator I captured?"
Ian turned back and glanced at the incredibly shrewd Gwen.
"So, now that my value is used up, there's no more bond between us, is that it? I'm just the navigator now?" Gwen wanted to curse him as a jerk, but she realized she couldn't remember the word.
"Damn it, what's wrong with me?"
Gwen covered her forehead, feeling a lot of memory fragments surfacing.
"Use her up and discard her. That's just how men are..." Obadiah chuckled and teased, applying moisturizing cream to his hands. He looked at Ian and Gwen with curiosity.
"Clearly, I don't know either of you. Normally, you shouldn't have access to my office." Obadiah picked up the phone, seemingly intending to call the front desk to inquire.
He didn't appear nervous or particularly guarded.
"This little lunatic is looking for Tony Stark. He keeps mentioning 'Tony Stark'." Gwen spoke for Ian while he was frowning and surveying the surroundings.
Her words made Obadiah pause.
"Looking for Tony?"
Obadiah put down the phone.
He looked thoughtful.
"Tony, are these your guests?"
Obadiah spoke into a microphone.
"Yes, sir."
A familiar voice replied. The next moment, something unexpected happened: Tony appeared, but he was still a holographic projection.
"..."
Ian was dumbfounded.
The holographic Tony just glanced at him and then turned back toward Obadiah.
"This is Mr. Ian from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. We have some sensitive business involving Stark Industries to discuss."
His words surprised Obadiah.
"This kid isn't even an adult, is he?"
Obadiah looked at Ian strangely. Many people only knew how powerful the IRS was in the US, but few people realized that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was just as formidable.
Most companies felt a degree of fear toward both departments.
"Who said I wasn't an adult?"
Ian wanted to pull out his spirit medium card, but he forgot he didn't have it. Seeing this, the holographic Tony immediately defended Ian, lowering his voice to speak to Obadiah.
"It's hereditary. That's how it is."
A very logical statement.
Obadiah suddenly understood.
His attitude immediately became much more enthusiastic.
"I knew it. In that case, I'll leave you to it. Drink whatever you like. There's also a private room I custom-built inside. You'll love the little gadgets in there."
He winked at Ian and left the office without suspicion. Only when the elevator door closed, displaying a continuous descent, did Ian and Gwen look away.
"What little gadget room?" Gwen's curiosity was piqued, and she was about to explore the side room. Before she could take two steps, Ian grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and pulled her back.
"Damn it! What is it? Why is my neck so sensitive!" Gwen felt like a cat, having a stress reaction. Ian "imprisoned" her between the office desk and the coffee table and sofa.
"To know what happened, you'll have to ask him." Ian looked at the holographic Tony. "Are you dead? How did you end up like this? And did Obadiah steal the company?"
Ian didn't know if Tony remembered him, so he immediately started with his "witty remarks" as a form of greeting. The holographic Tony didn't seem angry about this.
"Howard Stark never had a child, only an artificial intelligence created with his life's work—that is me, Tony Stark."
His words were utterly shocking.
It gave Ian another major Marvel shock.
"????"
Ian's face was covered in question marks. He felt he was about to turn into a white-guy-question-mark meme.
"So, let me get this straight. You're saying that Tony Stark—the playboy, billionaire, philanthropist, genius inventor—was never a living person in this universe?"
This fact was truly beyond Ian's imagination.
He was a writer, after all.
But even he wouldn't write such an absurd plot.
"If the Tony Stark you are referring to is me, then I can answer that I have indeed never been alive. I was a companion created by Howard for his wife after she suffered a miscarriage."
"At least, that's how it was at the beginning."
The holographic Tony nodded, answering Ian's question.
"..."
Ian opened his mouth, unable to form coherent speech again. His mind was completely filled with the concept-level creatures known as the "Grass Mud Horses," galloping through.
This plot twist was insane! Just then, Gwen, squatting behind the desk, suddenly spoke up: "He lost his soul at the very beginning."
"So in the new world, he won't have a second chance." After saying this, even Gwen was shocked, covering her mouth in disbelief.
"Hmm?"
Ian's pupils shook, and he looked at the holographic Tony.
"Is that true?"
The holographic Tony's face showed some confusion. "Since my creation, there has been a piece of information in my core that even Howard didn't understand. I believe this was left for you."
As he spoke.
He displayed a portion of his stored data.
It was a video.
In the footage.
The background was still the underground base.
"Where is this place?"
Gwen wanted to ask but was silenced by Ian's hand over her mouth. In the video, the familiar digital Tony turned around, as if facing the camera recording the information.
"When you see this message, everything must have gone very smoothly." The digital Tony's calm tone made Ian feel a slight difference in comprehension between humans and the intelligent machine.
No wonder there was an AI crisis.
This was more than just a difference in worldview, wasn't it?
"What do you mean, smoothly?"
Ian was too tired to even complain about everything he had encountered today. Perhaps the digital Tony had anticipated his question, as he continued to speak in the video.
"You may be confused, but that's normal. The world you are facing now is not the result of my deliberate adjustment but an unavoidable beginning. It is a universe we have re-created, yet it has not gone through the entire process required for a universe to develop to its current state."
"People and things, good and evil, they will be in a state of chaos for a while, but eventually, they will gradually settle. This process cannot be accurately simulated by data computation."
This sentence was packed with information.
Ian's brain spun—spun—and was still spinning.
The digital Tony might have seen Ian's computational limit. "All you need to know is that if you want to continue receiving the kind of help that the Omni Man and the Sentry gave you."
"Then what you need to do is help this world return to the right track—at least the right track according to you. It will ultimately become a benchmark, evolving into the center of a new Multiverse."
The digital Tony looked like an NPC giving a quest.
His voice was devoid of emotion.
Whether he was trying to cover up something or not.
Ian still felt there was a little bit of Tony's personal touch mixed into this world.
"Doesn't that warrant a new job title like 'Marvel Nanny'?"
Ian roughly understood Tony's meaning: he needed to help all the heroes return to the right path. Perhaps this was his new way of acquiring the profession contained within those heroes.
He didn't need to ponder how Tony calculated this.
Tony, the God of All Machines.
Of course, he possessed a wisdom slightly more super than super-intelligence.
"No way, are you guys seriously discussing creation?" Since Ian had let go of her hand, Gwen could finally speak again. Her face was as horrified as if she had seen a ghost.
Ian ignored Gwen.
He looked at the time.
He was anxious and wanted to ask the Tony in the video why he had been chosen. But the video was at its end, and the digital Tony gave Ian an apologetic look.
"Listen, the world should be like this—sunshine, coffee, damnable traffic jams, annoying reporters... even the crap we always complain about."
"It shouldn't be ruins. It shouldn't be the end of the world. So... we rewrote its ending together."
"I've done everything I can. I'm sorry, I'm too far away, and there's no way for me to return, so I won't be able to provide you with any further help."
The seemingly melancholy digital Tony lowered his head.
"This was predetermined from the beginning, and it's the ending I've accepted. After all, if someone has to make a sacrifice, it's better that it's me—saves others from messing up."
"The sun came up, and the world is still turning. That's enough."
His image gradually blurred.
The projection finally vanished.
"That wasn't me."
The holographic Tony spoke.
"We all know he's not you. He's a tiny bit handsomer than you."
Ian replied, his mood complex.
Hearing this.
The holographic Tony didn't deny it.
He simply stared directly at Ian, data streams flowing in his eyes.
"However, I will also provide you with all the help within my capability. This is Howard's highest directive for me—all my subsequent upgrades were to prepare for the arrival of the recipient of this video." The holographic Tony explained, thus shedding light on why he had covered for Ian earlier.
It wasn't a remnant of the digital Tony.
It was because of the man, Howard Stark.
"Hmm?"
Ian looked at this unfamiliar Tony-sensei, his eyes slightly flickering. His intellect couldn't fathom Tony, the God of All Machines, but he felt he could make some sense of Howard.
Why would Howard issue such a directive to this holographic Tony?
There must be a deeper meaning behind it!
As for what the deeper meaning was... he would have to think about it later. Ian figured the moment he figured it out would be the perfect time to slap his forehead and have an epiphany.
"Then I have a request."
Honestly, Ian still had many questions, but he looked at the clock. There was only one minute left until his time to return to the DC Universe.
"I need technology, lots of technology, and... some ready-made black technology." This was Ian's request, and in response, the new Tony-sensei, like the old Tony-sensei, was compliant.
He was quick to grant the request.
And he was really fast.
When the bell of return rang.
Ian awoke from his sleep.
He was back with a full harvest.
"Where is he!!"
Gwen, seeing Ian disappear from where he stood, her mind instantly blank. She felt a flood of memories rushing in, and she clutched her head in pain, squatting on the floor again.
"Ian said he left you the fare to go home."
The holographic Tony controlled a robotic arm in the office to hand Gwen fifty-six dollars.
"I..."
Gwen took a few deep breaths. She didn't take the money, stumbling toward the elevator. Long after she had left, tiny golden sparks appeared in the office air.
"Sorry, I took a shower and dressed up... Wait, where is he? My tracking must be right." A completely refreshed Doctor Strange arrived late.
...
The night outside the window was as thick as spilled ink, with a few struggling stars piercing through with a faint glow.
"Tonight was too scary."
Ian turned on the desk lamp in front of him. He had a lot of information to digest today, and he still had unresolved questions. However, he could enter the Marvel world again tomorrow night.
"Now, let me check out the new Tony-sensei's black technology." Ian first used his old phone to make a call. Sure enough, at night, he would be intermittently blocked by that man.
Before.
Ian could only get frustrated about this.
But now, things were different.
He pulled out his new phone.
Of course.
He didn't dispose of the old phone either. It was linked to the new phone. No matter which Tony-sensei's technology it was, it worked. Ian successfully pushed the call through despite being blocked.
"What's wrong with you? Why can you hack into my phone?" The person on the other end seemed to be beating someone. A villain was yelling, and the low voice was strained.
"Don't underestimate family inheritance, Batman..." Ian also lowered his voice. However, before he could finish, he was interrupted by a voice that was countless times deeper.
"Speak normally."
Batman's tone was cautionary.
"Uh, alright. Actually, it's because I also used my external brain... I wanted to see who was smarter between my dad's external brain and mine."
Ian was being honest.
At least, he thought he was giving an honest answer.
"????"
Batman on the other end fell silent.
But his movements seemed to become more forceful.
The screams of the Gotham villain were ferocious.
And very recognizable.
After all, villains in typical cities don't exercise much, and their wails would never be this prolonged—so much so that Ian couldn't stand it and pulled the phone about half a meter away from his ear.
He looked disgusted.