Tony Stark currently possessed an Infinity Stone, but he didn't know exactly which one it was.
If Tony had to guess, he'd say it was the Mind Stone.
Because, based on his extensive research on the scepter, he had already discovered that the stone's power was a type of energy that could self-calculate, much like a computer.
The related images provided by the answering system also showed that Ultron's creation was due to Jarvis downloading the data stream from the scepter.
In other words, Ultron's intelligent program could actually be seen as a replica of the stone.
It could function as Ultron's brain.
What kind of stone would that be? Naturally, it would be the Mind Stone.
"We don't know who Thanos stole the Power Stone from, but this is an important clue for us to analyze."
Captain America then said in a low voice, glancing at Star-Lord, "Star-Lord, you seem to know what planet is shown in the image."
"That's Xandar."
Star-Lord nodded. "The capital of the Nova Empire. The Nova Corps is a very powerful cosmic defense force. Guys, you didn't know that?"
Were these people from some backwater planet?
This place was Earth, and Earth was this backward?
"If that's the case..." Black Widow pondered slightly, "the Power Stone, could it have ended up in the hands of the Nova Corps?"
Although the Power Stone was ultimately taken by Star-Lord and his team, they were only four people, while the Nova Corps also participated in that battle.
In this situation, Star-Lord and his team were unlikely to keep the Power Stone, and it was very possible that it was taken away by the Nova Corps.
"That's possible, but it's more likely that Yondu took it." Star-Lord shook his head. "Yondu was there too."
Star-Lord knew Yondu too well.
A Ravager like Yondu would absolutely not pass up the chance to get the Power Stone if he encountered it.
Star-Lord even had a guess now: the reason Yondu dared to take a risk and go head-to-head with a cosmic overlord like Ronan might be because he wanted to steal the Power Stone.
Otherwise, Star-Lord couldn't think of any other reason.
"In other words, Thanos's first stop to steal the stones will either be Xandar, or that guy Yondu," Tony Stark summed up from the side.
As he spoke, Tony Stark glanced at Thor beside him. "Thor, Earth currently doesn't have the means to explore the universe. This matter will probably have to be left to you Asgardians."
Thor didn't hesitate and nodded in agreement. "When I return, I will go to Xandar. And the Ravagers... I know them. I will also pay a visit to their headquarters."
The matter was thus agreed upon.
"Everyone, I think we have all six Infinity Stones now!"
Tony Stark spoke to everyone after some thought.
The expressions of the people present couldn't help but become serious, their faces becoming solemn. No one could remain calm when the Infinity Stones were mentioned.
"The green stone is the Time Stone, the purple stone is the Power Stone. We just learned that the orange stone is the Soul Stone, as we knew from the previous quiz."
"The Tesseract should be the Space Stone, and the one in the scepter should be the Mind Stone."
"Then the last remaining red stone is naturally the Reality Stone," Tony Stark said to everyone under their gaze, laying out his deductions.
"The Tesseract can travel through space, so it should indeed be the Space Stone. And the scepter... it's similar to Jarvis. Dr. Banner also said the digital projections of the scepter were like neurons firing, like a human brain thinking. So, that's right, it should be the Mind Stone."
Captain America considered for a moment, then agreed with Tony Stark's deduction.
The others present didn't voice any objections either; based on the intelligence and clues they had gathered so far, it was likely correct.
Up to this point, everyone finally understood what the six Infinity Stones were.
[Question: After Doctor Strange learned from Dr. Banner that Thanos was about to invade Earth, who did he notify first?] [A. Thor] [B. Iron Man, Tony Stark] [C. Scarlet Witch, Wanda Maximoff] [D. Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers]
[Friendly reminder: Those who answer correctly will receive a reward: an improved Zhang Family Qilin bloodline; Those who answer incorrectly will have a random attribute deducted, including but not limited to knowledge, experience, skills, and possessions...]
After some discussion, everyone was interrupted by a newly appeared question.
The group temporarily stopped their discussion about the Infinity Stones and turned their attention to the large screen in front of them.
Upon seeing the question, everyone's spirits lifted slightly.
Because the important information this question would "spoil" for them was about the eve of Thanos' invasion of Earth!
This was a very important piece of information for everyone.
"Doctor Strange learned from Dr. Banner that Thanos was going to invade Earth." Thor felt a little strange. "So, the first person to know this news was Banner?"
"Besides that, Thanos hadn't invaded Earth yet, which means Thanos was still on an alien planet."
"Then, how did Dr. Banner find out about this?"
Black Widow added, "What kind of question is that? Is that even a question?"
Star-Lord, upon hearing this, couldn't help but scratch his head. "Thanos didn't come to Earth, so that Dr. Banner went to an alien planet, right? Isn't that obvious?"
Star-Lord had grown up in a spacefaring environment, roaming various planets since childhood, and naturally developed a habitual way of thinking, treating Earth as just another planet.
However, he didn't expect that Earth was basically isolated from the rest of the interstellar community.
The interactions between Earth and other interstellar civilizations, aside from the arrival of Thor and Loki, were limited to alien fleets invading.
"Star-Lord, it's different. Earth currently doesn't have the capability to explore the universe, so..." Doctor Strange shrugged. "Going to alien planets might be ordinary for you, but for us, it's very unusual."
"No way, Earth is actually such a backward planet?" Star-Lord said, a bit surprised.
He had seen how powerful these Earthlings were and had assumed Earth was a very advanced planet.
"With Earth's current level of technological exploration of the universe, it's impossible to detect Thanos's invasion in advance, even decades from now."
Tony Stark, as a top-tier scientist, was very clear on this point.
This, of course, wasn't referring to Thanos's fleet entering the atmosphere. The prompt said "imminent invasion," not "invasion," which made a difference.
"So, if Dr. Banner really knew about Thanos coming, there are only two possibilities."
"The first possibility: Dr. Banner is on Earth, but certain signs or events on Earth have alerted him to Thanos's arrival."
"For example, Thanos sent a vanguard force, or Thanos sent a message declaring war on Earth, and so on. We don't know the specifics."
"The second possibility is what Star-Lord said: Dr. Banner is not on Earth, but on another planet, and thus learned of Thanos's impending invasion."
Although they couldn't pinpoint exactly how Dr. Banner knew, this summary was sound.
Either Banner was on Earth, or he was in outer space. Those were the only two possibilities; there couldn't be any others.
"That makes sense."
Thor nodded in agreement, "But we can't determine the specifics of what happened for now."
Everyone present fell silent, deep in thought.
However, after some consideration, they couldn't come up with any concrete conclusions. How Dr. Banner had learned of this information was truly a mystery.
"In that case, let's analyze both possibilities," Tony Stark suggested.
"Wait a minute, regardless of the possibility, I think we can rule out Captain Marvel," Black Widow said, recalling something.
"Remember the footage of chopping off Thanos's head? Colonel Rhodes questioned Captain Marvel about where she had been all this time."
"It's clear that before that, Captain Marvel wasn't on Earth."
"And at that time, Thanos had already gathered the Stones, even snapping his fingers on Earth!"
"That means Captain Marvel wasn't on Earth when Thanos invaded."
Since Captain Marvel wasn't on Earth, it was naturally impossible to notify her.
"Wait a minute!"
Captain America frowned slightly, remembering some things. "Stark said Captain Marvel was present during Endgame. How do we explain that?"
A contradiction had arisen.
The image of Thanos's head being chopped off showed that she wasn't present during the entire process of Thanos successfully killing half the universe's life.
Not only Colonel Rhodes, but Captain Marvel herself had said, "Because you didn't have me last time," and so on.
That's not a problem.
But in Endgame, Captain Marvel went head-to-head with Thanos, with all the Stones, which was definitely real.
These two well-known facts don't quite align.
The only explanation is...
"Time travel!"
Tony Stark frowned slightly, but quickly relaxed, his eyes shining as he said to everyone, "The only explanation is time travel."
Indeed, besides time travel, there was no more reasonable explanation.
"When we last discussed the issue of time travel, we overlooked Captain Marvel. If we consider Captain Marvel, the correct sequence should be to chop off Thanos's head first, and then travel back in time, which is Endgame."
Captain America pondered, then spoke.
This sequence aligned perfectly with the discussions everyone had previously.
The only slight discrepancy was why Tony Stark would ask Doctor Strange for a way to fight Thanos, even after they'd traveled back in time.
"It seems this is indeed the correct timeline," Tony Stark agreed, nodding.
More and more clues fit perfectly into this puzzle. It was a web, not a line.
This meant the puzzle was correct.
As for the small question of "Doctor Strange flipping the bird," it wasn't impossible to explain.
Perhaps they'd gone back too early, or some other factor had changed the events of the original timeline.
This made it impossible for them to know how things would play out, even though they were time travelers. In this situation, asking Doctor Strange was a reasonable course of action.
The others present exchanged ideas, and most of them agreed with this time travel sequence.
Since that was the case, Captain Marvel could indeed be ruled out, without a doubt.
"So next, let's discuss what answers we might get based on the two possibilities," Thor said to everyone.
"If it's based on the first possibility, we can't do anything with this question for the time being."
Everyone present carefully considered the situation. Finally, Captain America glanced at everyone and spoke.
Countless scenarios could occur in this situation. Without any relevant clues, they really couldn't do any effective analysis.
"It seems we can only analyze the second scenario for now," Doctor Strange shrugged. "But even that second scenario seems like a dead end."
"No, I think we might be able to analyze it."
Tony Stark seemed to have remembered something. "Does everyone remember the footage of Loki being killed by Thanos?"
Everyone present wasn't stupid, and after Tony Stark's reminder, many people realized something.
"After Thanos killed Loki, he ordered his subordinates to come to Earth to find the other two stones!" Black Widow's eyes sparkled. "Dr. Banner was on that ship at the time, and he clearly witnessed Thanos seizing the Space Stone."
"And then, Dr. Banner was sent back to Earth by Heimdall! Everyone, what would Dr. Banner do after returning to Earth?"
Unquestionably, he would of course notify Earth to prepare accordingly to deal with Thanos's arrival.
In other words, this matter became exactly the same as what was described in the question.
Outer space isn't like next door; you can't just pop over. Dr. Banner went to outer space twice, and both times he learned that Thanos was after the Stones, then returned to Earth to warn everyone.
What are the odds of that?
"In other words, Dr. Banner brought the news back to Earth that time!" Thor slapped his thigh and said heavily, "Stark, Natasha, is that what you mean?"
.......
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