Chapter 6: The Comic Universe, Fraught with Peril (Revised)
2022-10-19 Author: Great Demon Spirit
After the funeral, Tony kept his head down and returned in silence.
Having been together for a few months, it would be hypocritical to say their bond was profound, but to say there were no feelings at all would be heartless.
Arriving in front of a scrapped pickup truck, Tony and Agent Coulson, who was following him closely, observed it in detail.
This Changan Xingka was in terrible condition. The hood was gone, exposing the wiring and engine underneath. The glass was almost completely shattered, with only a few remaining shards stubbornly clinging to the frame. Three of the four tires had vanished, and the last one was flat, its hub mostly gone.
There wasn't a single intact part on the entire vehicle; it was a miracle it hadn't fallen apart completely.
"Mr. Tony, because we aren't clear on the specifics of your abilities, we didn't rashly attempt to repair this vehicle. We only wiped off the dust to make it look a bit better," Agent Coulson explained, taking the initiative to break the silence when he saw Tony standing quietly.
Tony gave Agent Coulson a grateful look and said softly, "Thank you. Optimus Prime is very important to me."
Tony hadn't reacted much to his own resettlement. Before losing consciousness, he had already anticipated the possible outcomes and was mentally prepared for any of them. But at this moment, a sincere sense of goodwill toward Agent Coulson rose within him. The man was meticulous yet tactful, his handling of the situation was perfect and irreproachable.
Even if it was just for show, he easily won others' favor. Many people were willing to talk to Agent Coulson, even knowing he was an agent.
Optimus Prime was all Tony had left; he was of the utmost importance.
Although, the people from S.H.I.E.L.D. had probably already collected and studied some of Optimus Prime's broken parts. But without the Allspark, they wouldn't get anywhere.
Agent Coulson smiled warmly and made a welcoming gesture. He already understood, having gained more insight into Tony's psychological profile, which was enough to construct a more complete psychological model.
"Optimus Prime? Is that his name?" Agent Coulson asked with a smile that put people at ease, subtly breaking the awkward atmosphere.
"It's the name I gave him. It represents justice and responsibility. I hope he will be the hope and belief in my heart that never falls," Tony said, the sharp pain in his brain growing more intense.
Tony tried to gather the parts from Optimus Prime's other sections, but after the Allspark made contact, every piece of matter it touched clearly told him that forcibly arming a complete Optimus Prime with this pitiful metal would only result in a sudden collapse, like a house without its steel reinforcements—utterly fragile.
Tony's Allspark gave him an astonishing comprehension and intuition for creating and modifying Optimus Prime, allowing him to make changes in the shortest possible time.
This was an unprecedented ability. Wherever the Allspark Energy permeated, all metal seemed to become transparent. He could understand all of its properties to the fullest extent and utilize them.
But for now, it was limited to Optimus Prime, the pickup truck he had spent every day with. Only it could undergo these changes smoothly. The specific principles behind it still required further experimentation.
After the battle with Abomination, this ability had already caught the eye of interested parties. A new, suspected Level Four Mutant was already attracting countless gazes of attention. The oppressive feeling that could overwhelm a city in a short time was a hallmark of a Level Four Mutant, not to mention this miraculous ability to create a robot. The principles behind it were difficult to analyze, and countless people were covetous and curious, wanting to understand this power further.
"It seems he has a special meaning to you. Would you mind telling me about it?"
"There's nothing to hide." Tony walked over, patting Optimus Prime's metal body, and slowly began to speak. "My family of three, we all relied on him to transport goods, earning freight fees to support our family..."
Tony told him that his family's life wasn't very good. They didn't have any particularly valuable skills, so they struggled in a city with an extremely high cost of living like New York. They were proud to be able to afford a house in New York, and afterward, they scrimped and saved to buy a Changan Xingka pickup to run a transport business. Because of its small tonnage, it couldn't carry much cargo, so they had to make more trips to earn money.
Life wasn't wealthy, but it was warm. His family was healthy, and their lives were simple and peaceful. Their daily worries were about how many trips they could make to earn a little more money, build up their savings, and perform some maintenance on the hero of their family—the small pickup truck—using better quality gasoline.
His parents drove the pickup every day, and Tony would often help out. Sometimes they even ate and slept in the truck. This old pickup, which worked tirelessly through wind and rain, was an important member of their family. Everyone cherished him.
As Tony spoke, a slight smile appeared on his face.
"But now, there's nothing left," Tony said, his nails digging deep into his flesh, drawing specks of blood. He was speaking not only of his experience in this life but in his previous one as well.
"I'm very sorry. Please accept my condolences. After all, you and this truck carry on their beliefs, don't you?"
Agent Coulson had someone bring over a black suit and gestured for him to put it on.
Tony looked at the suit. The size was perfect; they had prepared it especially for him. Black, representing solemnity, but also signifying a kind of unspoken sorrow, a time when cries must fall silent.
Tony pressed him about the Hulk's whereabouts.
Agent Coulson was silent for a moment before choosing his words carefully. "We've been searching for that monster's tracks, but the Hulk moves at an astonishing speed. We lost him."
Agent Coulson didn't reveal that the Hulk and Banner were one and the same, and Tony pretended not to know.
"It's not like I'm going to settle the score with it right now. What are you hiding? I'm no match for the Hulk, I'm not an idiot," Tony said calmly.
Agent Coulson's smile became even more pleasant as he gently guided the conversation. "Mr. Tony, the Hulk's Clearance Level is very high. I'm not authorized to disclose it to outsiders. Please forgive me; secrecy is an instinct for us agents."
Tony instantly understood Agent Coulson's underlying meaning. His face was expressionless. He decided they should discuss this issue later; he had no intention of joining any official organization right now, but he would seriously consider it.
Tony didn't trust the people at S.H.I.E.L.D., at least not yet. There was no guarantee that if he stupidly walked right into their hands, those delusional madmen from Hydra wouldn't concoct some plan for him, like a "Tony Number One Enhanced Human" or "Tony Number Two Enhanced Human."
A rare Mutant whose Life Essence was Level Four! They'd be fools to do nothing.
"Mr. Tony, a lot of people are watching you. You're in great danger right now."
Agent Coulson, not one to give up easily, wanted to continue persuading him. He had the psychological evaluation reports from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s team of experts and the psychological model established for Tony. Combined with their recent interactions, Agent Coulson was confident he had a better understanding of Tony. This was someone he could have a serious talk with.
If this had been Dr. Banner, he would have been staring suspiciously long ago, before turning into the Hulk and smashing everything...
Tony gave a faint, playful smile. He pointed to the sky and said, "I believe Professor X and the others will never abandon me—don't try to fool me. His student, Jean, just recently gave a public speech in Congress, calling for society to pay attention to the rights of mutants. It was a brilliant speech; I happened to see it."
Agent Coulson gave an awkward laugh.
Professor X's character and his protectiveness of his people were no secret. As Magneto's actions grew more radical, Professor X had gradually stepped into the open. Jean also frequented various venues, speaking out for mutants.
The two continued to talk for a while longer. Tony made a promise: if their organization ran into trouble in the future, they could come to him. If he had the ability, he would repay this kindness.
Agent Coulson smiled and nodded, his opinion of Tony rising even higher. Combined with the psychologists' assessments, his confidence grew.
How great was the debt of saving his life and cleaning up his mess? How could it ever be considered fully repaid? Agent Coulson was quite pleased. They had already gotten a hold on one half of this potential Level Four Mutant.
Tony smiled too. Never be able to repay it? Not a chance. Anyone with even a slight understanding of this universe, or even the multiverse, knew that S.H.I.E.L.D. was mired in filth and had no hope of climbing out of the swamp.
In the future of this universe, countless terrifying monsters roamed the stars, and there would be countless blood wars where superheroes would fall one after another. Beings capable of a Star-Shattering Punch were innumerable and considered High-Level Cannon Fodder.
Based on Tony's observations, combined with an assessment of typical figures like Magneto, he confirmed that this world was primarily based on the Comic Universe. Even someone like Magneto, whose Combat Power was considered insignificant, possessed world-ending capabilities, able to create a global super-tsunami in minutes.
In that case, the monsters from the comics who were powerful to an insane degree would also appear sooner or later.
A Star-Shattering Punch was child's play. A Universe-Shattering Slap was a low-end feat. Someone like Thanos with the Infinity Stones, who could go toe-to-toe with the five Creator Gods and was at a Multiversal Level, was not even considered top-tier in the comics. There were far, far too many who were stronger than him.
There was Mr. Mxyzptlk, who destroyed the Multiverse with a fart, and the Witch Wanda, who could reboot the multiverse with a simple Chaos Wave...
The Fifth Dimension, the Top Ten Celestials among the Celestials, the Beyonders, The Endless, and so on, were all unbelievably formidable characters.
If Tony was unable to develop his own abilities, unable to restore his power, unable to reignite the Allspark, he would forever remain a Pseudo-Level 4. He would only be considered an elite soldier, qualified to be low-level Cannon Fodder.
He would either die or face countless blood wars, rising to the challenge and carving out a path for himself, bathed in blood.
Repaying this debt would not be difficult.
(end of chapter)