"OMG!"
Dr. Banner and Natasha couldn't help but murmur as they looked at the stunning [Star Map] that shone like the vast starry sky.
"You didn't tell us you had so many Infinity Stones?" Strange was clearly shocked by the scene. He even saw some emerald green light in it. That was the light emitted by the Time Stone!
It was obvious that the Time Stone was on him. However, he could sense that the Time Stones on the Star Map also possessed the power of time.
This struck Strange as absurd. The Sorcerer Supreme existed to protect the Time Stone and safeguard the universe from being eroded by dark forces, but looking at this scene, he suddenly felt that protecting the Stone might be worth reconsidering.
"A lot? Not much. They all have their uses. What do you think is the reason for the constant updating and expansion of the data dimension? I use these things to form nodes, extract their power, and integrate it into the data dimension," Luke said softly. In his eyes, these condensed and extracted raw stones are just some parts of the data dimension's server hardware.
"Since you have so many raw stones, can you lend us some?" Ant-Man Scott murmured.
"They're not as magical as you think." Luke poured cold water on their expectations without hesitation. "Strictly speaking, although they have the power of rough stones, they can't be regarded as real rough stones."
"What do you mean?" Stark and Dr. Banner looked at each other, somewhat confused by Luke's words.
"What I mean is, this is just a cake-cutting technique." Luke didn't try to sound sophisticated, and said bluntly, "The quantity has indeed increased, but the total amount remains the same."
"I still don't quite understand." Nick Fury looked at the wall full of [starry sky], and there was still shock in his eyes.
"No matter how many pieces a cake is cut into, its volume will not increase. I think what he meant is that these raw stones are like slices of cake. The number seems to increase, but the energy is less." Stark gave his answer thoughtfully.
"You understand it very well," Luke said. "When there was only one Infinity Stone, the energy it released was unique. But as the number of identical stones increases, it's like a series of water pipes. While it may seem that its energy is still infinite, the amount released has been continuously weakened. If you want to restore your universe to normal, under normal circumstances, bringing these stones back will not be effective. The energy they release cannot support the energy consumption required to restore the universe to its original state. Of course, you can choose to try to restore your home galaxy."
"Wait a minute, if these stones are brought back by Tony from another world, shouldn't they become the only stones in their universe? Their power will still be affected by us?" Nick raised his hand and asked in confusion.
"No one knows." Luke shrugged. "There must be some binding property between the original stones and their native universe. They are the embodiment of the rules of the current universe. Strictly speaking, these original stones can only exert their strongest effects in their own universe. If they leave their native universe and go to other universes, some problems such as mismatch or failure may occur."
"When did you manage to collect so many Infinity Stones?" Strange's focus remained on the Infinity Stone Star Map. He keenly noticed that the revealed map contained four different Infinity Stones. In his memory, Luke only possessed two Infinity Stones. Even if the Time Stone from the Sorcerer Supreme's lineage was included, there was still one extra.
"That's the Power Stone." Luke stretched out his hand and snapped his fingers. A purple-tinged stone floated down from the star map and landed on Luke's open palm under the gaze of everyone.
"Where did you get it?" Strange looked at the purple gem that emitted powerful energy fluctuations in surprise and asked with a frown.
"Didn't I tell you that?" Luke asked back in surprise.
"Of course you didn't say that!" Strange answered with certainty and looked at Nick Fury beside him.
"Remember the invading Chitauri?" Luke asked, looking at them.
"Of course I remember. I read the report afterwards. You created a virus that caused chaos among them, sealed the space gem, closed the wormhole, and took the opportunity to drive them out completely." Nick replied immediately.
"Yes, but some of the infected Chitauri had some changes. They betrayed their own tribe and betrayed Thanos. They knew that Thanos valued those gems, so they have been searching for similar gems in the universe over the years. The Power Stone was the one they found." Luke relaxed his hand lightly, returned the Power Stone floating in his palm to the star map, and explained.
"On our side, the Power Stone was found by a man named Star-Lord on an abandoned planet called Morag." Dr. Banner told the information in his memory.
"Similarly, the Power Stone here was also found by Star-Lord. However, he sold it. Eventually, a battle broke out over this gem in the buyer's territory.
"The Chitauri, the Kree, the Reavers, and even Thanos's Black Order. Ultimately, the Chitauri, with my help, emerged victorious, and the Power Stone fell into their hands." Luke confessed without reservation, leaving Nick and the others looking at each other in bewilderment. Nick, in particular, was slightly surprised that Luke had quietly established his own armed force in the universe.
"Actually, there's a sequel. We had a fierce battle with Ronan the Accuser's army in the Barren Lands. He seized the Power Stone and intended to use it to destroy the Nova Corps headquarters on Xandar. It was Star-Lord and us who stopped him!" An unfamiliar voice suddenly interrupted. Rocket emerged from a hazy glow, followed by two Thors, one large and one small.
"Is this the Thor from your place? What's with that piece of meat on his belly? Doesn't he have any dietary restrictions?" Young Tony looked at the naive and weathered Thor, and couldn't help but walked forward and pressed his belly, and asked in surprise.
"Hamburgers, cola, and a lot of alcohol. Eat whatever is high in calories." Thor didn't mind Tony's hand pressing on his stomach, and answered gently.
"My future will never be like his." Seeing Tony and Nick's eyes turned to him, young Thor's face darkened and he emphasized again and again: "Absolutely not!"
"Thor!" Dr. Banner and his companions were delighted but also filled with frustration when they saw another companion appear before them. It seemed they weren't the only ones who had traveled to the wrong place; everyone had. After all, they had traveled here together.
"Now, the only ones left are Star-Lord, Clint, and the others on Morag and Vormir," said Natasha, a voice from another world, helplessly. Their journey had been a failure, but the good news was that, while they didn't obtain the gems, they had something else to gain. At least Luke was willing to teach them the technique to re-condense the original stones.
"If your other companions want to go to Morag, they will probably return disappointed." Luke looked at Natasha and the others and said.
"Isn't it because the Power Stone is no longer there?" Natasha and the others nodded in understanding.
"No, it's because a battle broke out on Morag before, and it should have fallen into a state of disintegration." Luke corrected Natasha and the others.
"If they see the planet Morag disintegrate and don't find the Power Stone on it, where will they go next?" Natasha and the others looked at each other in surprise, and then, led by Rocket, all spoke up to name a place.
"The Land of Nothingness!"
"That's even worse. I used the data dimension and the power gem to modify that place and used it as a carrier for an experiment. It's very chaotic there now. Many major organizations in the universe have people stationed there long-term. They may not have a pleasant experience after they go there." Luke looked at Natasha and others who were looking at him and asking him to verify some information, and he politely told them the information he had.
"Oh, by the way, Thanos' Dark Quadrant also has troops stationed there. He even went there himself, trying to retrieve the Black Order from the Void. He was only stopped by Ms. Marvel, Carol Danvers, and her men. But Thanos didn't give up. He really wanted to know what happened in the Void and where the Power Stone went."
After a pause, Luke seemed to remember something and added a few more words.
"Carol Danvers?" Nick Fury was surprised to hear the name again, coming from Luke. He wasn't even sure how much Luke knew about his relationship with Danvers. After all, Luke's information was becoming increasingly mysterious.
"Your old friend," Luke unsurprisingly said, making Nick smile bitterly.
"How did you know?" Nick was very curious about Luke's information channel.
"The energy of the original stone isotope in her body is about to overflow. The Space Stone! To a certain extent, she is competing with Little Becky for energy, or using Little Becky's rule energy. And the Space Stone has always been in the Nine Realms. I checked some information in the confidential library. Before you became the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., you once cooperated with a female soldier named Carol Danvers." Luke gave a relatively reluctant answer.
Nick knew that Luke's source of information was definitely not just what he said, but he didn't dwell on it. He just thought that the trump card he had been holding seemed to be completely exposed.
"Can you give me a ship so we can bring them back? Or give me some tools so I can build a communicator to contact them?" Rocket Raccoon stepped forward, spread his paws, and begged Luke. Although he had just arrived, he had already realized that the owner of this place, or the person who could make the decisions, was none other than Luke.
"Go ahead." Luke didn't object. He even thoughtfully gave Rocket Raccoon access to the data dimension.
"When do we start learning the technology to condense and extract the raw stones?" Stark and Dr. Banner stepped forward and came in front of Luke and asked. There was an urgency on their faces, and it was obvious that they didn't want to delay here for too long.
"Anytime. But what price are you willing to pay in exchange for my technology?" Luke answered promptly, but immediately asked his own question to the two people in front of him.
"Is there any further price?" Natasha and Scott, who had just gathered around, also heard Luke's words and exclaimed in surprise. They seemed to have not expected Luke to do this.
But Nick, Thor, and young Tony nearby all looked relieved, as expected. They had actually thought Luke had changed his ways.
"What else? Are you planning to take our technology for free?" Luke replied in surprise. "Your universe had a problem, and you came to ours because of some unexpected event, seeking our help. We responded and provided solutions. Isn't it only natural that you pay the price?"
"Don't look at me, I'll definitely listen to Luke." Seeing the look that Cang San Thor was looking at him, Young Thor simply shook his head. Even if his brain was not as bright as Cang San Thor's now, it didn't mean that he was stupid and couldn't tell which side he was in.
Just like Nick Fury had no emotional reaction when he heard the news of his own death in another universe, he would stand on the side of the familiar Luke out of position and friendship. Moreover, he thought Luke's request was quite reasonable.
"What do you want? I can give you all of Stark's technology and everything." Stark was silent for a moment and looked up.
"I can help you with something." Thor raised his hand. Dr. Banner and the others nodded.
"No need to be so serious. You can learn the technology first, and then decide these things after you restore your universe. We don't want your things. We just want to establish some connections between the two universes. For example, without affecting you, set up a contact point in your universe?" Facing Stark and others who were as if facing a great enemy and seemed determined to give up everything, Luke smiled, looked at their faces, and vaguely stated his request.
…
An area of the universe near the Void.
A Dark Quadrant mothership blocked the path of a Predator standard-issue flying ship. The tractor beam on the mothership slowly sucked the flying ship into the interior of the mothership.
"Damn, what is that?" Rhodes, Clint, and Star-Lord in the spaceship all spoke out.
"That's Thanos's flagship!" Nebula, who looked in extremely bad condition, said with a look of horror on his face, gritting his teeth.