Tony fell silent upon hearing Marcus's statement.
It wasn't that he considered these technologies too advanced to comprehend. As a super genius, he felt confident he could absorb and utilize all these innovations. He simply hadn't expected Marcus to encounter so many technologically superior civilizations during his universal travels.
"It appears the technology I've mastered remains far behind," Tony said slowly.
The technology he'd absorbed over recent years came from Xandar, the Skrulls, Chitauri, and portions of the Kree Empire.
While these civilizations' technologies were equally impressive, compared to what Marcus possessed, his accumulated knowledge seemed woefully inadequate.
Beyond other considerations, Krypton's World Engine alone contained countless powerful technologies.
Two World Engines working in tandem could not only alter surrounding gravitational environments but gradually reshape planetary surfaces, making worlds more suitable for habitation.
Such technology was beyond not only Tony's capabilities but even Howard's, despite the latter's early entry into extraterrestrial research fields.
"Ha! So you'll actually admit your skills are inferior sometimes," Marcus laughed upon hearing Tony's sigh.
After so many years, Tony's personality had changed considerably. Previously, Tony had been definitively arrogant, confident he could easily surpass any technology.
But now Tony was actually acknowledging that his technological mastery fell short of Marcus's acquisitions.
"People grow up, and besides, Pepper is pregnant. I want to set a good example for our child," Tony replied.
"A child? You, a former playboy, have finally changed your nature?" Marcus looked at Tony with surprise. "Pepper has been with you for so many years—it's finally bearing fruit."
His first encounter with Pepper had occurred long ago, when Tony still retained considerable immaturity.
But now Tony had become sufficiently reliable, shouldering his responsibilities properly.
"After years of playing around, you eventually tire of it, and we've been together for ages," Tony responded, showing resistance to Marcus calling him a playboy.
Since being with Pepper, he had never acted like a playboy. Even when hosting parties, he simply invited people for celebration.
He was now a family man who loved his home, wanting only peaceful life with Pepper and their unborn child.
If he'd become Iron Man initially to show off, now he chose to act as Iron Man purely to maintain Earth's stability, allowing his family to live peacefully.
"Ha! Twenty years ago, you would never have believed you'd say such things. If Howard and Maria were here, their expressions would be fascinating."
Hearing Marcus mention his parents, Tony's expression shifted slightly before nodding in agreement.
His parents remained alive—this hadn't been revealed. Only a few people knew of their survival, and meeting them proved extremely difficult.
After all, Howard and Maria's spacecraft remained outside Earth. While others might visit parents through holographic projection, Hydra hadn't been completely eliminated, and he couldn't risk his parents' safety.
"What else do you need to accomplish this time besides dealing with Thanos's army?" Tony asked.
In Tony's memory, since Marcus first contacted their family, he rarely remained here long.
They'd known each other nearly forty years. Tony had grown from teenager to middle age, but Marcus hadn't changed at all.
Moreover, Marcus's combat capabilities remained consistently unimaginable. Regardless of opponents faced, he could handle them effortlessly.
Except for the period when his parents were present, when Marcus had stayed briefly, he would typically bid farewell after handling local matters.
This marked Marcus's second return. While Tony didn't know Marcus's current objectives, he understood Marcus would depart soon.
"There are numerous tasks... many responsibilities, though I may not remain on Earth extensively," Marcus replied.
Thanos's army had withdrawn, and now he was focusing on the Time Variance Authority.
This strange force was accelerating parallel world emergence. Soon these multiplying parallel realities would create problems, potentially allowing Tony to encounter another version of himself—one completely unfamiliar to him.
"As expected," Tony wasn't surprised by Marcus's answer.
He didn't know what kept Marcus busy, but he consistently returned during their most critical moments—that was sufficient.
The two seemed to return to their previous dynamic, mocking and teasing each other while their eyes remained full of warmth.
"So these runes can be integrated into my Iron suit?" Tony asked softly, examining the rune-engraved iron pieces Marcus had given him.
They had discussed extensively, and after Marcus mentioned magical civilizations, he'd decided to provide several runes.
These runes carved into metal fragments emitted faint light, and when his nano-suit incorporated the runic pieces, their illumination became more brilliant.
"Certainly, you can use these runes anywhere. Of course, if you're sufficiently talented, you could study their operational principles," Marcus explained.
"In my opinion, magic and technology are essentially identical once they develop sufficiently, so don't worry about utilizing these runes."
A flame rune pattern appeared at Marcus's fingertip. With energy injection, the flame rune immediately blazed, appearing extraordinarily magical.
This demonstration made Tony's mouth twitch.
"You're becoming less human constantly. Thor still requires a hammer for electrical discharge, but you can release magic by simply drawing random patterns."
Perhaps due to experiencing too much over recent years, Tony wasn't curious about Marcus's methods.
He'd encountered wizards before, though their performances had disappointed him. Without their magical techniques, he would have considered them merely warriors.
After all, among wizards he'd observed—whether Loki or Kamar-Taj practitioners—all were close-combat enthusiasts, very different from the elegant wizards he'd imagined.
"Ha!" Marcus chuckled without answering.
Strictly speaking, he truly wasn't human anymore. He was merely an existence with human appearance.
He was the Void—the sole eternal existence. Fundamentally, he had long exceeded human scope.
The two conversed for some time before Tony returned to his quarters.
Due to Thanos's attack, people worldwide had hidden in fortifications. Though the battle had ended, few locations hadn't experienced combat.
High-rise buildings that appeared intact had already become structurally dangerous. Having any resting place was fortunate—no one would be particular.
Lying on his bed, Marcus's eyes radiated Void power. His gaze penetrated endless time, witnessing the Void Eye's perspective on Loki.
"Where is this location?"
Loki's current environment resembled a projection hall, though no images were displayed. Loki was weeping at a table within the chamber.
"What did he witness?" Marcus wondered.
He raised his hand and gestured, causing images recorded by the Void Eye to manifest before him.
Loki had observed his own future through the projector—a timeline unknown to this Loki that contained no Marcus. He lost his mother Frigga, lost Asgard where he'd sought to prove himself, and finally lost everything including his life.
This represented the path Loki would have taken, but due to certain accidents, he'd been captured by TVA hunters and brought here.
Because of this, he could see everything about his future—the root cause of Loki's anguish.
He was willing to sacrifice everything for the throne, but he didn't truly desire it. He simply wanted to prove he could also become Asgard's king.
He was proving to his father Odin that royal blood flowing through his veins wasn't meaningless—that he could accomplish what Thor could achieve.
But after seeing future events, Loki realized everything he pursued was actually pointless.
If he followed the established route, Loki would eventually die tragically at Thanos's hands, and everything he'd done would become meaningless.
"So that's the situation. Indeed, their timeline contains no me..."
Due to his unique nature, this Loki's timeline lacked Marcus entirely, so temporal development differed.
Marcus's involvement had changed everything. Thanos couldn't locate the Infinity Stones and had chosen direct assault instead.
"It seems my timeline is unique," Marcus observed.
Because of him, this world had become different, with future development taking numerous directions.
Seeing no immediate action, Marcus retracted his observation. The Time Variance Authority required no immediate investigation.
TVA Facility - Loki's Perspective
Loki finally recovered from witnessing his future—events that would have occurred if he hadn't been captured here. Now knowing all this, he would never allow such circumstances to continue.
"I must escape from here," he declared, studying the room's layout thoughtfully.
The TVA's restraining device had eliminated his powers. To escape, he could only rely on cunning.
"Besides removing this device, I must retrieve the Tesseract."
To use his abilities, he needed to eliminate the body restraint, and to leave here, he could only depend on Tesseract teleportation.
Just as he contemplated this, the door opened and Mobius—whom he'd met once—entered.
After entering the screening room, Mobius glanced at Loki and said, "It appears you already know future developments, but don't worry—I simply need your assistance."
While Loki's behavior had deviated from future development, it wasn't fundamentally serious, and Mobius had approached Loki for another matter entirely.
"Need my help? Why should I assist you?" Loki asked calmly, maintaining his usual composure.
He had done nothing wrong yet was captured by TVA hunters. Though he'd seen his future here, he felt no debt to the Time Variance Authority.
Mobius, bearing Howard's face, didn't concern himself with Loki's questioning. He escorted Loki from the screening room, explaining while touring.
"The Time Variance Authority maintains proper temporal development, but people occasionally take actions differing from established facts—that's why we enforce temporal law."
"For example, you shouldn't have contacted the Tesseract in normal temporal development, but due to certain accidents, you did contact it, causing future development to deviate. That's why we apprehended you—we're correcting history."
They reached a massive office while conversing. The office appeared unremarkable, even more primitive than what Loki had observed on Earth.
After all, typewriters had been obsolete on Earth for ages—some people considered them antiques.
"Wait here briefly. I must apply to remove your restraint," Mobius said, walking toward second-floor offices.
Removing Loki's limiter required judicial decree.
After Mobius departed, Loki began exploring the area. He was extremely curious about the Time Variance Authority's operational methods.
Approaching an empty desk, Loki was attracted by desktop objects.
"Strange, why does this resemble the Tesseract so closely?"
"Of course it does—because it is the Tesseract," the nearby worker explained while continuing his tasks. "Not only the Tesseract, but other Infinity Stones are also genuine!"
Loki discovered these different-colored objects were all Infinity Stones, and quite numerous.
Almost everyone had Infinity Stones on their desks, with the Tesseract he'd observed being used as a paperweight.
"These are all authentic—so why don't I see you using them?" Loki asked, reaching toward the Tesseract.
"You mean these Infinity Stones?" the man smiled and replied. "They remain Infinity Stones in different timelines, but here they're merely decorative stones."
Were Infinity Stones powerful? Certainly—otherwise Thanos couldn't have eliminated half universal life with a finger snap.
But here, in the Time Variance Authority where countless timelines converged, Infinity Stones could only become beautiful paperweights.
Hearing the staff member's explanation, Loki was equally shocked. He hadn't expected that in his future, both he and Asgard would disappear because of Infinity Stones. Such powerful artifacts had become waste here.