"I do have some impression of this. This artifact is also a treasure obtained by the Asgardians from elsewhere. In the universe, its true name should be the Tesseract. What? Did you find the Tesseract?" Shin asked, narrowing his eyes slightly.
S.H.I.E.L.D. possessing the Tesseract was something Shin had long been aware of. However, because the six Infinity Gems could only be utilized within this universe, he had not given the artifact much thought. Its significance was undeniable, but to him, its limitations made it less practical than other treasures.
Still, knowing how highly S.H.I.E.L.D. valued the Tesseract, he understood they would never reveal its existence lightly. Unless something truly catastrophic had occurred, there was no reason for them to disclose such a secret to him, especially since he was an outsider they could not control.
Although Tony Stark was far more open-handed than Nick Fury, S.H.I.E.L.D. was not Stark Industries. As one of its members, Tony inevitably carried the organization's cautious culture. For him to reveal the secret of the Tesseract so suddenly was out of character, particularly when he knew Shin had ties to the Asgardians.
If the Asgardians came asking for the Tesseract, would Tony hand it over or not? That dilemma alone kept him silent for years, as he also knew there were countless mysteries within the cube he had not yet unraveled.
Tony finally let out a long, weary sigh. "Yes, I did discover the Tesseract. No… more accurately, S.H.I.E.L.D. discovered it. My father was the one who first uncovered it."
Shin crossed his arms, his tone steady. "So something is wrong with the Tesseract? Otherwise, I can't understand why you'd tell me this secret now. You know as well as I do, the Tesseract is a treasure even in the vast universe."
"Something's definitely happening," Tony admitted, his voice laced with frustration. "The Tesseract has been vibrating constantly, releasing energy and signals. Based on your earlier calculations, it doesn't seem like anyone is directly using it to open a portal."
Shin nodded thoughtfully. His actions across the multiverse had often produced butterfly effects, but this time it seemed they had not spread far enough to alter the Tesseract's fate. Could this disturbance be the work of Thanos once again?
"How long has it been like this?" Shin asked, his tone sharpening.
Tony spread his hands helplessly. "Seven months. Maybe seven and a half."
Shin coughed lightly, suppressing the urge to laugh at the absurdity of Tony's phrasing. "Seven or seven months, huh? Are you seriously telling me the Tesseract might blow up the entire Earth?"
Tony rolled his eyes. "Yes, but you're too slow on the uptake. Fortunately, you were there when the Tesseract mutated. You built that machine to channel its energy into a Klein bottle structure, letting it redirect its power into a stable loop. Without that, the Cube would have ripped a hole open ages ago."
Shin's lips parted in mild surprise. So the butterfly effect had happened after all. He had tinkered with the Tesseract's energy structure, but he hadn't realized how much it had altered the timeline. If Thanos discovered the Cube's altered function, he was probably livid. Still, that didn't change the present situation; he had to return to Earth and deal with it.
"So, what do you want from me?" Shin asked, glancing at Tony.
Tony sighed again, his shoulders sagging. "The cube's energy is weakening. The flow within the structure keeps circulating, but instead of dispersing, it's compressing. Originally, if it had exploded, it might have destroyed New York. But now? If it detonates, it could shatter the entire planet into dust."
His voice dropped lower. "The worst part is, even if we shut down the structure, the remaining energy will surge outward instantly. That would be enough to annihilate the Earth all the same."
Shin immediately understood. Someone out there had remotely activated the Tesseract. Tony, desperate to prevent disaster, had used Shin's earlier design to create a containment loop. It was clever, almost genius, but it was also temporary. The longer it went on, the more unstable the system became.
The Tesseract was no longer a treasure. It was a bomb with no timer, one that could obliterate the planet in the blink of an eye.
Shin frowned. "So what exactly do you expect from me? Do you think I know how to stop the Cube's energy?"
Tony gave a wry smile. "I figured maybe you could ask the Asgardians. After all, this thing technically belongs to them, doesn't it? If they had a solution, we'd be fine. And if not… well, we'd just give it back to them. Their mess, their responsibility."
Shin's lips curved in a humorless smile. "You really think they'd accept it if you handed it over now? That'd be like giving them a nuclear bomb with the fuse already lit."
Tony winced. "Fair point."
His mood soured further as he muttered, "And considering you've already made contact with the Asgardians, that's… really not good news for us."
Nearby, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and Black Widow had been quietly listening. The more they absorbed the conversation, the heavier the atmosphere grew. Wanda and Pietro, having witnessed their share of apocalyptic threats, held their composure. But Natasha Romanoff's heart was racing, her instincts warning her just how dire this situation was.
"Wait a minute," Natasha whispered, her voice taut. "Are you telling me the Earth is about to be destroyed? And why does he—" she pointed at Shin—"know everything about it?"
Tony, who had looked so frustrated moments earlier, suddenly smiled smugly. "Agent Romanoff, you seem to have forgotten. You're only a Level 4 agent. The secret he just heard? That's a Level 10 clearance secret, something known only to the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and a handful of top researchers."
He chuckled, clearly amused with himself. "And by the way, he'll have to sign a confidentiality agreement now. Promise to keep this all to himself."
Natasha's expression twisted between anger and disbelief. She had thought Tony's antics were bad enough, but this level of scheming was outrageous. "So you plan to let everyone sit here calmly while we wait for the sky to fall?"
Tony shrugged, utterly unfazed. "What good would it do to tell everyone? If I can't solve it, if he can't solve it, who else could? S.H.I.E.L.D.? The Security Council? Please."
Natasha crossed her arms tightly. "What about other scientists? Reed Richards, for example. Mr. Fantastic's research capabilities are said to surpass yours in some fields."
Tony's smirk faltered for a moment, but he recovered quickly. Natasha had been Fury's right hand for years, and she had seen the secret dossiers.
Fury once analyzed every scientific mind on Earth and compiled a ranking list. To her surprise, the top name hadn't been Tony Stark, but Reed Richards.
That list wasn't ranked by raw intelligence, but by research safety. The more stable and replicable the discoveries, the higher the rating. Stark's work, by comparison, often walked the razor's edge of catastrophe.
In other words, Tony was a genius, but Reed was a safer genius.
[T/N: I'm not so sure about that.]
The room fell silent for a moment, the weight of the Tesseract's threat pressing down on them all. What was once the universe's treasure had become humanity's greatest danger. And if no one found a way to stabilize it soon, Earth's days were numbered.
*******************************
For each power stones milestone—25, 50, 100, 150, and beyond—I will release a bonus chapter.
If you would like to gain early access, you can join me at www.patre on.com/bookbattalion
70+ Advance Chapters Now Available!