amaotonovel Chapter 4713 X Royal Clash (9)
Chapter 4713 X Royal Clash (9)
Chapter 4713 X Royal Family: Fierce Battle (19)
Everyone wore an expression of "unexpected, yet perfectly logical." At their core, all Iron Men in this world are driven by emotion. Ultimately, why would someone as wealthy as them become a superhero if they weren't truly compassionate and deeply responsible? Batman is like that, and so is Iron Man.
"Tony," Captain America called out to him, walked over to him, and said, "Shall we go with you?"
The main universe's Iron Man shook his head and said, "No, these are things only I can do. Like you said, coming here was my suggestion, and I have to take responsibility for the current situation."
"While I am indeed unwilling to accept that our universe's technological development lags behind that of the central universe, I don't want them to get involved. It's not entirely my pride that's holding me back. That universe is too strange, like a super engine that can't stop, which would add too many variables to the multiverse. My instinct makes me reject dealing with them. I'm not sure if this is right, but you know, my inspiration has never failed me."
This was the first time Iron Man from the main universe had explained these things to them, but perhaps the others had already sensed it. They didn't have time to rest and recuperate, hastily setting off. Much of the anxiety that pressured them stemmed from what they had seen and heard in the central universe. It wasn't that it was bad, but if something was too unique, there must be a reason. The gifts God bestowed always came with a hidden price.
“You have to be careful,” Black Widow said. “That Schiller is so famous, and I think it’s probably not just because of what he did in the fighting world that he gained that reputation. Perhaps the only thing we did right was to fight against them.”
While this sounded somewhat stubborn, no one refuted it, not even Spider-Man. Although the main universe's Spider-Man disliked this multiverse aid plan, he couldn't deny that Schiller was indeed dangerous. He even suspected that the current predicament was Schiller's doing.
Although the Iron Man from the main universe went to ask for help, he wasn't being subservient. Or rather, he went precisely because he was confident that the Iron Man from the central universe would help him. Because he had a vague suspicion in his heart.
"Where are your companions?" the main universe Iron Man asked.
“You mean Schiller?” Stark turned around, raised an eyebrow, and said, “He should be resting in his room.”
"In the room?" The main universe's Iron Man shook his head and said, "I don't want to know where he went. I just want to ask, were you aware of the Shi'ar Empire's invasion plan?"
“Why would I know?” Stark asked. “I’m neither a member of the Shi’ar Empire nor was I ever involved in the construction of the Redgate Orchid factory. How could you think that?”
“Since you were unaware of the situation, you couldn’t possibly be unaware of the problems. The arrival of the Shi’ar army was too strange. And their subsequent operations against us demonstrated their unparalleled knowledge of the Avengers.”
"Do you think it's anything new for an insider to exist on Earth?"
"Stop beating around the bush," the main universe Iron Man said, looking at him. "You know better than I what kind of mole could do something like this. The local universe Iron Man can contact the Shi'ar Imperial Guard; something's probably happened there by now, isn't it?"
Stark paused. He looked at the main universe's Iron Man and said, "What do you want?"
"I can roughly guess that his high-profile introduction of foreign enemies and subsequent crushing of the Avengers were all to force us to ask you for help..."
“You don’t know him at all,” Stark said. “If he really did it, he’s more likely to want you guys to come together. I mean you guys with the local Avengers and the Earth government, not the central universe.”
"Is that so?" The Iron Man of the main universe narrowed his eyes.
"You still haven't grasped one thing: the central universe is the opposite of interventionism. Simply put, we're not here to help mutants; we're here to stop your interference."
“But we intervene only to gain enough power to counter you,” the main universe’s Iron Man pointed out. “We can’t expect everyone in such an advanced universe to be good. What if you want to colonize the multiverse? What if your universe gets out of control? We need to have enough power to keep things in check, don’t we?”
“Excuse my bluntness, but you still have a Cold War mentality.” Stark retorted, “You see all powerful things as bombs that could explode at any moment, so you treat them like dangerous weapons and try to resist and suppress them, without ever considering communication and cooperation.”
"Aren't you the same? Then what about the Shia Empire's army?"
"We are certainly different from you. We use force to get everyone to sit down and talk, to promote peace through military force, not to exchange intimidation for stronger intimidation. And that's what you're planning to do. Do you dare say that once you acquire enough power, you won't lead your followers to resist us and split the entire multiverse into two poles once again?"
The main universe's Iron Man sighed and said, "From my perspective and that of many universes that support me, we are simply seeking power to protect ourselves. The United States thought the same way when faced with the threat from the Soviet Union."
“And you should know very well that there are no winners in the Cold War, only survivors.” Stark walked up to him, looking into his eyes through his visor. “Everything we’ve done in this universe is just to tell you that we are more capable of preventing the Cold War from the start than winning it. If we were the Soviet Union, you’d better consider whether you deserve to be called the America of its golden age.”
The main universe's Iron Man remained silent. Of course, he knew they didn't qualify. Let alone the United States, they were now roughly equivalent to the level of the Third World back then. They only had the title of "main universe" to make them seem special, but in reality, they were all show and no substance, their strength far inferior.
“So, Schiller still managed to get us to choose to cooperate,” the main universe Iron Man said. “He succeeded.”
"I'll say it again, judging from his personality, he might really just be solving problems in this universe."
"Why are you so sure?" The main universe's Iron Man seemed somewhat exasperated. His expression conveyed, "What's blinding you?"
“Because you’ve never seen it running at full speed,” Stark said with a sneer. “If it were to leave the multiverse with no other choice, it wouldn’t just be the Shi’ar army showing up in the solar system portal today. Thank us, this broken engine has been slightly repaired, at least it’s not making that creaking noise anymore.”
The Iron Man of the main universe seemed stunned. He had just participated in the battle near the sun and knew how powerful the Shi'ar army was. Even if someone was sabotaging them from behind, without sheer strength, those tactics against the Avengers couldn't have been executed. If that wasn't enough, what did Schiller intend to use to force the multiverse to submit?
Before the main universe's Iron Man could speak, Stark said, "You're saying that if such a dangerous individual existed, then your deterrence tactics wouldn't be entirely unreasonable. But the fact is, if he were an individual or an organization, you could certainly do that. But Schiller isn't."
"Then what is he?" the Iron Man of the main universe wondered.
“You can think of it as some kind of rule governing the universe.” Stark picked up the coffee cup next to him, took a sip, and looked at Iron Man from the main universe with a hint of reminiscence. “Deterrence is useless until you have access to the true truth of the universe.”
The main universe's Iron Man stared at him blankly. But he quickly asked again, "But you say you changed him, through universal truth?"
Stark shook his head: "How do the Avengers change each other? How did you change your friend, and how did he change you? Was it because of your mech-building skills?"
After saying that, Stark patted the main universe's Iron Man on the shoulder, picked up his coffee cup, and left. The main universe's Iron Man stood there for a long time.
"Wrong, all wrong." The main universe's Iron Man walked into the living room, and everyone turned to look at him. Hearing his words, everyone tensed up.
"What?" Captain America stood up and looked at him, saying, "Are you alright, Tony? What did he do to you? Did he curse at you?"
The main universe's Iron Man stood in the room, glanced around, and looked at them, saying, "We've made a mistake, a huge mistake."
"What?" Banner asked, frowning. Hawkeye was also very surprised; for the main universe's Iron Man to admit a mistake in such an attitude, it must be no ordinary mistake.
"Why are we wary of the central universe?" asked Iron Man from the main universe.
“Because they are very strong,” Black Widow sighed. “They might compete with us for leadership of the Multiverse Human Alliance, or even take over the position of the main universe. Of course, that’s what we said in meetings, but privately I think this universe is too dangerous.”
Where is the danger?
“Because they are different from all other universes,” Dr. Banner began. He wasn’t an interventionist, and his presence here with the Avengers wasn’t because he actually wanted to interfere in the internal affairs of any universe. He merely partially agreed with the idea that the main universe should acquire greater power to shoulder its responsibilities, which included guarding against the catastrophes posed by some potentially out-of-control universes. And those potentially out-of-control universes naturally included the central universe.
“That’s exactly where we went wrong,” said the main universe’s Iron Man.
“You’re saying all universes are the same,” Captain America continued. “Of course, I don’t deny that people are the same, but…aren’t the ways they manifest themselves a bit too different?”
“Our logic is this,” said Iron Man from the main universe. “The central universe is very powerful and dangerous, which gives us a sense of existential anxiety. And the main source of this sense of crisis is that they are so different. It’s fair to say that they are different from most universes, both in terms of their level of development and in terms of each individual entity.”
Everyone nodded. Their actions stemmed from their sense of crisis, which in turn arose from the fact that the central universe was far too different and far too powerful. Anything unfamiliar and powerful in this world can easily trigger existential anxiety.
"What do you think makes them different?" the main universe Iron Man asked again.
Everyone pondered the situation, but no one could offer an answer, including Spider-Man, who knew the central universe best. Although he frequently traveled there, the main universe had been rebooted, and he didn't understand what had happened over the past decade or so, not even a general idea.
But they also knew that the situation was similar across so many multiverses, except for the central universe, which must have a reason. The Spider-Man from the main universe thought for a moment and said, "Schiller?"
Everyone looked at him, and the Spider-Man from the main universe explained, "I've rarely seen Dr. Schiller in other universes, including ours. The central universe seems to be his home. If there's anything different about him, it's probably him."
“It is him, but that’s not what I’m talking about,” the main universe Iron Man said. “What I’m saying is that we’ve got one thing wrong—the central universe is no different from ours.”