As soon as Tony finished speaking, several more main battleships appeared in the sky.
[This is the perfect opportunity to test the limits of the Apollo Armor. Have fun, Tony.]
"Motherfu—…"
Tony stared at the disconnected communication link, feeling utterly frustrated.
Though he could've hidden beside Lorna, Tony's pride simply wouldn't allow that.
"Bring it on, who's afraid of who? JARVIS, activate Iron Man Party Mode."
[Yes, sir.]
A hidden compartment inside the Stark Tower opened, revealing several Iron Man suits of various models.
Ever since he learned about this war, he had been preparing. He originally thought these suits would never be needed.
A few minutes earlier.
In a dark alley somewhere in New York, four silhouettes appeared out of thin air.
"All right, we each have our own targets… Tony, are you sure we didn't come to the wrong place?"
Future Captain America looked up at the sky, stunned.
Future Tony replied confidently, "Of course I'm sure. I made precise calculations. Hurry, our time—"
But then, future Tony looked up at the sky and was utterly shocked by the enormous wormhole, several hundred meters wide.
Professor Hulk and Ant-Man looked up with confused expressions as well.
"Oh my god…"
"How did you even win this war the first time?"
A massive enemy army was flooding out from the wormhole.
"We didn't have this many enemies back then," Professor Hulk tried to explain.
Then, future Tony heard something.
"Hide! Someone's coming."
They pressed themselves against the alley wall.
A loud roar approached rapidly. A golden-red Iron Man suit landed atop a nearby building—followed closely by dozens of alien battleships.
"That's Iron Man… but is he wearing the Hulkbuster armor?" Professor Hulk frowned.
That version of the Hulkbuster was a joint creation between him and Tony. It wasn't supposed to be completed for another six months.
Just as future Tony was about to say something—
Boom!
A massive energy cannon shot down from above, obliterating the enemy battleships in a single hit. The sheer force of the blast weighed heavily on everyone's hearts.
Once the Iron Man in the sky disappeared, they snapped back to reality and turned to future Tony.
"You had that kind of firepower all along and never used it?" Future Cap asked with a complicated look.
"That blast could take out the Hulk!" added Professor Hulk.
"How the hell are we going to steal the Infinity Stones from these guys?" Ant-Man said in frustration.
"…"
"We're in the wrong place," future Tony said bitterly, his head spinning. "This isn't the past—it's a parallel universe."
That kind of power output wasn't from a new arc reactor—it had to be something even stronger. But he couldn't understand why the alternate version of himself would use such a wasteful attack method.
"We've failed," Ant-Man muttered in despair.
"No, we haven't," Professor Hulk countered. "Even if it's a parallel universe, the Infinity Stones still exist. If we get them here, they'll work just the same."
He pointed to the center of the wormhole.
"Two stones are in the Upper City, and one is in the Lower City. Banner, go find Strange and get the Time Stone. We'll go after the Space and Mind Stones."
Future Cap looked determined. They didn't have another chance to try again.
Future Tony used Friday to connect to this universe's internet.
Demon King. Demon Corp. Healing serum. Stark Industries' shareholders. Mutants…
This world had changed drastically, starting with the rise of the Demon King.
With their plan finalized—
Professor Hulk leapt across tall buildings, pretending to be this world's version of the Hulk.
It worked. People only glanced at him, and some even waved hello. He pretended not to notice.
Soon, he located the New York Sanctum.
Just as he was about to make a big leap—
His leg was grabbed mid-air and he was slammed into the ground.
"Well, well, look who we have here—little Hulk."
Professor Hulk looked up and saw his old nemesis.
"Abomination?! How are you so huge?!"
This version of Abomination was over four meters tall.
"That's nothing. You haven't seen bigger."
Before Professor Hulk could process what he meant, the ground shook violently.
He turned and saw this universe's Hulk—over five meters tall.
Compared to him, Professor Hulk looked like a malnourished child.
"Oh my God…"
"HULK HATES FAKES!"
"Wait, hold on—AHHH!"
On the Chitauri Mothership.
Qino watched as thirty Iron Man suits worked together, effortlessly destroying enemy ships.
"Venom, stop playing around. We still need some of those ships."
"That was awesome. First time I've played such a realistic StarCraft game," Venom said, stretching lazily.
"As long as you enjoyed yourself," the Chitauri commander said bitterly.
You had fun.
The Chitauri had thrown in everything they had.
Their soldiers, aside from commanders, were all genetically and cybernetically enhanced.
They didn't feel fatigue, didn't fear death, and followed commands with absolute loyalty—an ideal vanguard fleet.
Their only flaw? If the mothership was captured, they lost all coordination—like a headless giant.
Qino didn't need the army.
All he needed was the mothership and a few key battleships.
Qino took out the Mind Stone. His eyes began to glow bright yellow.
"From now on, worship me as your one true god. Surrender all technology, star maps, and resources—then go die."
"Yes, my god!"
The Chitauri in the command center gazed at him with fanatic devotion.
The mothership shut down all engines. Qino exited the ship, preparing to return to Earth.
Suddenly, he thought of something.
"Venom, mess up my clothes a little and make it look like I've been injured."
[Understood.]
(So many ideas to write... I hope it doesn't feel too chaotic for you guys.)
Back on Earth, the invading Chitauri soldiers, Leviathan-class warships, and main battleships suddenly lost all power—falling from the sky like toys with their batteries yanked out.
Everyone looked up. Cameras turned skyward.
A massive mothership slowly descended from the wormhole. Its oppressive presence weighed heavily on everyone's hearts.
But soon, all eyes noticed the figure beneath it.
Qino gently landed the mothership onto a destroyed part of the city.
Mutants, the Demon Gear Squad, Lorna, the scientists, Iron Man, and even regular citizens of New York gathered behind Qino.
He turned around, and everyone's expressions changed.
His golden battle armor was torn and scorched, revealing his upper body.
His chest was blackened, his abdomen had a gaping hole exposing internal organs, and his face and arms were covered in injuries.
Tony's heart dropped—Qino was hurt.
But then it clicked. He was faking.
Otherwise, who was it that took his call earlier and mind-controlled an entire alien army?
Hela's eyelid twitched. Fake. A foe like this wouldn't have even made her lose a strand of hair back in her day.
"Ahem! Everyone, we've won. Although the cost was great, humanity has triumphed in its first war against an alien invasion. Rejoice!"
Qino's warm smile and heavily wounded appearance conveyed just how much he had endured for this victory.
This scene was broadcasted to the entire world.
"Waaah! Who said the Demon King died?! He went alone to face the most powerful alien force!"
"I'm such an idiot for ever badmouthing the Demon King!"
"He's so badly injured…"
Of course, not everyone believed the story.
The Demon King is bleeding… Is he really still invincible?
"Darling!"
"Qino!"
Lorna tried to run to him, but her legs gave out and she collapsed in shock.
Pamela and Jean, unaware he was faking it, rushed over. They injected him with healing serum—but it had no effect.
Even Xiyue didn't believe her Emperor could be wounded—but she played along, helping support him.
"It's useless," Qino said. "This was a special energy weapon. Only I can recover from it—slowly."
His words were also broadcasted worldwide.
Tony finally understood what Qino was doing.
"Everyone, shut down all floating camera drones—now!"
Only then did everyone react. They grabbed the floating cameras and shut them off. The more impatient ones even smashed them.
But by then… Qino's message had already spread across the internet.
Quote of the Chapter:"In a world where truth is what you choose to show, even a god must bleed to earn their crown."
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