A massive holographic projection rotated slowly in the center of the laboratory.
Countless complex formulas, dimensional coordinates, and quantum entanglement data flowed through the air like a waterfall.
Tony's fingers tapped rapidly on the virtual keyboard. His face was as pale as paper, his forehead drenched in cold sweat—a sign of the weakness from his body functions not yet fully adapting after his recent resurrection.
"This isn't right."
Tony looked at the Mobius strip model continuously taking shape on the screen and spoke in a raspy voice.
He didn't turn his head, as if he were merely talking to himself. But Reed, standing beside him, knew the words were meant for him.
"You see it too, don't you, Rubber Man?"
Tony's fingers didn't stop, but his speaking pace quickened, carrying his usual irritability and sharp tongue.
"This model isn't just for navigation. It's using the quantum tunneling effect to forcibly lock onto high-dimensional coordinates."
"That freak..."
Tony gritted his teeth, Frieza's nauseating smile surfacing in his mind.
"He doesn't just want to go sightseeing in other Universes. He wants to turn other Universes into his colonies as well."
Reed Richards, once the smartest man on Earth, was now hunched over like an old man in his twilight years. He mechanically assisted Tony in inputting parameters, his voice flat and devoid of emotion. "It's obvious, Tony. He is the emperor of the universe. One Universe cannot satisfy his appetite, it's perfectly logical."
"Logic? To hell with logic!"
Tony abruptly stopped his movements and turned his head, his bloodshot eyes staring intently at Reed.
"We are helping a demon open the gates of Hell!"
"Once this device is activated, countless parallel Universes and countless Earths will suffer the same fate as us."
"Reed, you're Mister Fantastic. Where's your brain? Has it been stretched out just like your body?"
Tony lowered his voice and leaned in closer to Reed, his tone urgent and dangerous. "I found a loophole in the core algorithm. If we just tamper with the phase shift a little, we can teleport him to the center of a singularity in the anti-matter universe, or some dead dimension with no concept of time. Even if he's a god, he'll be trapped there forever."
"This is our chance. Our only chance."
A flame called hope burned in Tony's eyes.
This was his final act of defiance as Iron Man and an Avenger.
Even if he had died once before, he was determined to tear a piece of flesh from this demon.
However, facing Tony's burning gaze, Reed slowly stopped his work. He looked up, and in those eyes that once shone with the light of wisdom, there was now only a deathly, dull gray.
"Tony."
Reed's voice was very soft, as faint as a sigh.
"Do you know?"
"The moment Washington was leveled, I ran the calculations."
"The success rate of our resistance is zero."
"Absolute zero."
Tony froze for a moment, then flared up in anger. "So what? We should just kneel on the ground and be his dogs? Help him bite others?"
"Look outside. Look at what this world has become."
"No."
Reed shook his head, an expression more painful than crying appearing on his sagging face.
"Don't you understand yet?"
"We aren't helping him, we are saving ourselves."
Reed reached out and performed an operation on the holographic screen. He didn't modify the phase shift as Tony had suggested. Instead, he fixed the tiny logical loophole Tony had intentionally left behind.
"What are you doing?"
Tony's pupils constricted sharply, and he reached out to seize control. But Reed's arm instantly stretched out like a python, tightly coiling around Tony's wrist.
"I'm saving you, Tony. And Sue, and my children, and the remaining billions of people on this planet."
Reed looked at Tony, there was no apology in his eyes, only a chilling rationality.
"Do you think he doesn't know?"
"Do you think that monster who possesses the six Infinity Stones, the one who can blow up Galactus with a single punch, wouldn't see through your little trick?"
"The Mind Stone can read minds, the Time Stone can foresee the future, and the Space Stone can sense the fluctuations of all dimensions."
"Before him, we are like goldfish in a transparent glass bowl. Any foolish thought of resistance will result in the bowl being completely shattered."
Reed released Tony's hand and continued to tap rapidly on the keyboard, perfecting the final algorithm.
"I have already lost my dignity and my freedom. I cannot lose my family as well."
"Tony, face reality."
"As long as we kneel fast enough and thoroughly enough, death will not catch up to us."
"You..."
Tony looked at his former comrade-in-arms in disbelief.
That Mister Fantastic who dedicated himself to exploring the unknown and protecting peace, was dead.
Dead within the abyss called fear.
This person before him was nothing more than a walking corpse whose courage had been shattered.
"Well done, Reed."
Just then, an elegant, crisp voice that made Tony's very soul tremble rang out from the laboratory entrance.
Clap! Clap! Clap...
Accompanied by slow, rhythmic clapping, Frieza strolled in leisurely. His crimson eyes were full of playful mockery.
"As expected of the smartest man on Earth. Though your spine is a bit soft, that brain of yours is certainly much more useful than certain tin cans who only know how to play the hero."
Frieza walked up to the two of them. He didn't even glance at the holographic screen, as if he were completely indifferent to the cross-Universe device nearing completion.
His gaze fell upon Tony's pale face. "My, my, Mr. Stark. In that moment just now, your heart rate increased quite a bit. Are you thinking of some wicked idea?"
Frieza extended a finger and lightly tapped the arc reactor on Tony's chest, which had just been repaired.
Clang!
A crisp metallic clink rang out.
"N-No..."
Tony wanted to step back, but he found his legs were as heavy as lead.
It was the fear born of biological instinct.
It was the physiological rejection of the source of death by someone who had already died once.
"Oh ho ho ho..."
Frieza burst into laughter, his whole body shaking with amusement.
"Don't be so nervous. I'm very magnanimous."
"As long as you can build this thing well, I can forgive you even if you curse me in your heart."
Frieza withdrew his hand and looked at Reed. "How is the progress?"
"R-Reporting to Lord Frieza."
Reed immediately bowed his head, his posture humble to the point of being in the dust.
"The core algorithm has been corrected, and the stability of the quantum channel has reached 99.9%."
"It only needs one final charge."
"The device named the 'Multiverse Shuttle Gate' can then be activated."
"Very good." Frieza nodded with satisfaction.
With a casual wave of his hand, the six Infinity Stones emerged from his body, orbiting him and emitting terrifying fluctuations that warped the very space around them.
"Then let it be charged with my own energy."
BOOM—
Six-colored light instantly surged into the massive ring-shaped device in the center of the laboratory.
Hummm!
The machine began to operate frantically, the piercing howl of energy echoing throughout the building.
Space began to tear and a vortex filled with unknown colors slowly took shape in the center of the ring.
Through that vortex, it was as if countless bizarre and wondrous worlds could be seen flashing in alternation.
Some worlds burned with eternal fire, some were wastelands, and some were filled with skyscrapers.
The gate to the Multiverse was open.
"Oh ho ho ho..."
Frieza stared at the vortex, the greed in his eyes almost overflowing.
"What a charming sight."
"So many unknown Planets, so many unknown powerful beings."
"And..."
"So much fear waiting to be harvested."
Frieza spread his arms as if to embrace these infinite possibilities.
Frieza suddenly turned his head to look at Tony slumped in his chair with a look of despair.
"Look."
"This is your masterpiece."
"It was you who personally opened the back door to new colonies for me."
"You should feel proud."
"After all..."
A cruel smile appeared at the corners of Frieza's lips.
"This is a feat that even Thanos couldn't achieve."