Avengers Tower was brightly lit at this time.
Or rather, since Tony obtained the data for that spaceship capable of traveling out of the Marvel world and beyond all things from Lucas two years ago, the lights in the Avengers Tower laboratory had rarely been turned off.
Knock! Knock!
"Come in."
"Good evening, Tony."
"Good evening, Ultron."
"Good evening, Mr. Lucas."
"One moment."
Seeing Tony engrossed in his work without even looking up, Lucas didn't disturb him. He asked Ultron to get him a cup of coconut water and then went to a nearby sofa to wait.
A moment later, Tony put down his work. He got up, made a cup of coffee, and then brought the coffee to the sofa.
Lucas asked, "I heard the project is progressing unexpectedly smoothly and has already entered the experimental phase."
Tony nodded. "I underestimated my own wisdom."
"Are you sure it's not because of Strange's help?"
"Strange? Alright, I admit that he did provide some negligible help. Let's say he gets one percent of the credit."
A black line flashed across Lucas's forehead, and he said exasperatedly, "Alright, Tony, I get it, it's all your credit. Now tell me, why did you call me over?"
"I need a little more trivial help from you."
"Trivial help?"
Tony put down his coffee cup and said, "Yes, trivial. The next phase is the testing phase, and some unpredictable malfunctions may occur. I need a safety officer to stop the spaceship in time if an accident happens."
Lucas nodded and casually said, "Tell me in detail."
Tony opened a projection screen, which listed test indicators. He pointed at these test indicators with a laser pointer, but before he could speak, Tony saw Lucas's expression drop.
He paused and closed the projection.
"You don't understand these technical details."
"In short, after the final round of inspection, I will start the spaceship for actual testing to collect test data. If everything goes well, it will enter the Superflow and Neutral Zone."
"You know, it's very dangerous if something goes wrong in a place like that. Anyway, just come with me."
"Okay, if there's nothing else, I'll leave first. You can call me then."
Picking up the unfinished coconut water on the table, Lucas was about to get up and leave.
"Wait."
Tony stopped Lucas. "Ultron, how much longer for the final inspection?"
"Mr. Stark, approximately 75 hours."
After receiving Ultron's reply, Tony nodded and instructed Lucas, "Did you hear that? Don't run around these few days. Keep your phone on so I don't have trouble finding you."
"Don't worry, I'll either be at the bookstore or Kamar-Taj during this time. Besides, don't you have my special communicator?"
After muttering a few words, Lucas stepped out and disappeared, leaving only Tony with a black line across his forehead.
You said you've been on Earth-404 all this time, so why do you always disappear for days at a time?
Tony didn't understand this, or rather, he didn't want to understand.
74 hours passed in a flash.
Under Tony's repeated urging, Lucas did not leave Earth-404 during these hours, only running between Kamar-Taj and New York.
Lucas was very attentive to this promising introductory disciple. The frequency and duration of his visits to Kamar-Taj during this period surpassed any previous period.
A teacher, therefore, imparts knowledge, teaches skills, and resolves doubts.
Lucas spent a few hours almost every day in Kamar-Taj, waiting for Strange to ask questions.
However, to his disappointment, Strange, who had entered a new stage of magic learning, had not encountered any problems that stumped him these past few days. Whether it was magic theory, spellcasting practice, or advanced combat practice, he was able to perform almost perfectly.
Except for physical learning.
After officially starting spell learning and coming into contact with Lucas's specially supplied white energy, Strange finally understood why every Kamar-Taj sorcerer was a little Superman, and he finally understood why physical training occupied an important position in Kamar-Taj's curriculum.
With such a strong physique, who would still want to be a squishy sorcerer who could only hide far away and throw small fireballs?
However, the initial rapid increase in physical fitness sometimes caused Strange distress.
Lucas poured a cup of tea and handed it to Strange, teasing, "Strange, why are you sitting on the ground?"
Strange awkwardly took the tea. He held the teacup with one hand and carefully supported it with the other, looking quite comical.
"My strength has increased too quickly recently, and I'm a bit unaccustomed to it. Teacher, is there any way to solve this?"
Lucas explained, "Your talent for magic is very good, and your mental power is growing too quickly, which drives your body's absorption rate of this energy."
"But your current physical foundation is too poor, so the changes appear particularly obvious. It will get better after a while, once your physical fitness improves."
Strange nodded knowingly, unconsciously losing control of the strength in his hand. With a snap, the teacup was crushed in his hand, and the scalding tea spilled out onto his palm.
Strange quickly got up, wanting to find running water to treat the burn. He also had some experience in treating burns. He knew that rinsing the burn with running cold water for 20-30 minutes after discovery could effectively lower the temperature of the injured area, relieve pain, and prevent the burn from worsening.
However, after getting up, Strange suddenly realized that he didn't feel any subtle pain in the palm that had been splashed with tea, only a slight warmth.
"Under normal circumstances, strengthening your physical body will not reduce your sensitivity to temperature changes and various external stimuli. It only increases your resistance to various abnormal conditions."
Lucas said calmly, "Otherwise, in an environment like Kamar-Taj, where the indoor and outdoor temperature difference is so extreme, if sorcerers went out for morning runs every day, they'd catch a cold every other day."
Strange nodded thoughtfully.
He sat down again and curiously examined his palm.
The moment the tea poured onto it, he had felt a scalding sensation, but this feeling came and went quickly.
His palm had only received a certain stimulus and had not suffered any damage.
Strange couldn't help but exclaim, "How amazing."
Lucas smiled and took a sip of tea.
This direction of enhancement was something he had specifically adjusted.
If one loses the ability to react to external stimuli, it can easily make them feel like they are not human, but a machine.
"Strange, I called you over this time because I have something to tell you."
Before Strange could ask, Lucas continued, "I will be leaving reality for a while later. You should know that the flow of time in different environments is not exactly the same, so I'm not sure how long this trip will take for now."
"For your usual magic studies, if you have any questions, you can ask Wong and Mordo, they will answer them for you."
"If it involves the field of Time Magic, then go see the Ancient One."
Strange first nodded, and after waiting for a long time without hearing Lucas's next words, he asked in confusion, "Where should I look for the Ancient One?"
"Just go look. If she wants to see you, you'll naturally find her. If she doesn't want to see you, telling you the address is useless."
Lucas wasn't sure to what extent Ancient One was slacking off, but he figured she wouldn't completely ignore her grand-disciple, right?
After instructing Strange, Lucas also spoke to Wong and Mordo, telling them to be a little more careful during this time.
...
Avengers Tower.
When Lucas opened the portal and arrived, Tony and the others were already ready.
Connecting to the internet, refreshing the time, Lucas waved at the five people.
"It's not that I'm late, it's that you arrived early."
"Lucas, no one is blaming you for being late." Natasha said with a laugh.
"Since Lucas is here, let's get ready to depart." Steve looked around, and seeing everyone present, he suggested.
For this operation, almost all of the Avengers were deployed.
Why "almost"?
Because Pietro was busy with graduation matters, working hard to avoid delaying his graduation, and simply couldn't spare the time.
Of course, even if he could spare the time, Tony and the others wouldn't want him to come along. How could someone who barely graduated from college understand how to operate these instruments?
After the greetings, Lucas and Tony's group entered the spaceship together.
With Clint retired, and the Super Hero Registration Act suppressing and failing to recruit new members, the Avengers were down to just a few members.
They were: Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers, Maria Hill, Natasha Romanoff.
No, there was one more person—Ultron.
"Mr. Lucas, Mr. Stark, good evening."
"Hey, Ultron, why aren't you greeting me? I put in a lot of effort when developing you, you know?" Bruce's voice sounded.
Perhaps sensing that Steve, Hill, and Natasha in the team were relatively nervous, Bruce teased Ultron, making a small joke.
"Banner, good evening. I was just about to address you."
Ultron said somewhat innocently, and then he greeted the other few people, distinguishing them by title.
"Captain Rogers, good evening."
"Commander Hill, good evening."
"Miss Natasha, good evening."
"That's more like it." Bruce muttered, and then he couldn't help but laugh himself.
Although the others didn't laugh, his interruption had relaxed the atmosphere considerably.
Seeing the hatch close and the spaceship officially set sail, Steve said, "Tony, Bruce, can you tell us what this spaceship is exactly?"
"Also, what is our objective this time?"
As his words fell, Hill and Natasha also looked at Tony, with a hint of dissatisfaction in their eyes, dissatisfaction with Tony's lack of trust.
Tony gestured with his hand to calm them down and listen to his explanation.
"It's not that I don't trust you, but this matter is too significant."
"So, what is it exactly?" Natasha crossed her legs, staring intently at Tony. "Tony, you gave no explanation, yet we practiced operating various purely mechanical instruments day and night for over a year. This is our trust in you."
"I hope you can trust us too."