"I'm sorry for putting you in danger, but I didn't mean to, I hope you... Tony? You are Iron Man Tony Stark, weren't you with teacher?" Strange apologized in a low voice.
"You don't need to apologize, you didn't put us in danger. On the contrary, you saved us, it's just... it's just a matter of a little earlier or a little later." Dr. Doom shook his head with a bitter smile.
"I saved you? Did something happen to Lucas?" Strange pressed.
"Who is Lucas?" Johnny asked back.
Strange was stunned, then reacted. "You don't know Lucas, could it be... you are from another Universe?"
"Another Universe?"
Reed was also stunned, then he quickly ran out of the room and looked up at the sky, only to see countless stars in the night sky, completely devoid of the terrifying, sky-obscuring shadow.
"We've gone to another Universe again?" He said with a wry smile.
The four of them were not originally indigenous to the Earth devoured by Galactus, but had traveled from another Universe's Earth.
But after living on that Earth for a long time, they developed feelings for it, and thus, when Galactus invaded, they gave up escaping and resisted with all their might. They just didn't expect that by some strange twist of fate, they still ended up escaping to another Earth.
"Hello, five visitors from a parallel Universe." A voice sounded, coming from Wong.
"Let me introduce myself, I am Wong, sorcerer of Earth-404 Kamar-Taj and the Sorcerer Supreme's capable assistant."
"I am very sorry that you came to this Universe because of Strange. We will do our best to help you return, but this will take some time."
"No need, we can't go back. Our Planet was attacked by Galactus, and it's already..." Susan said in a low tone.
"Damn Galactus, my condolences." Wong cursed softly, then comforted Susan, who only gave a polite smile.
Seeing that the Fantastic Four and Dr. Doom were all in low spirits, Wong arranged lodging for them first, letting them rest.
After Mordo finished reading Lucas divine book, Wong took it and read it again.
This was mainly out of curiosity about magic knowledge and alternative ways of knowledge dissemination, rather than to confirm whether Strange was lying.
Upon seeing the title of the book, Wong believed Strange's statement that the book did not explain the dangers and possible consequences of the magic.
After all, although their new Sorcerer Supreme was terrifyingly powerful and very capable of solving problems, how the problems arose could not be scrutinized too closely.
After a few instructions, Wong returned the book to Strange.
Thereafter, the Fantastic Four and Dr. Doom temporarily stayed at Kamar-Taj.
After spending a few days adjusting his mood, Reed approached Wong.
Reed vaguely remembered that Wong had said the Sorcerer Supreme could send them back, which indicated that the Sorcerer Supreme possessed stable and reliable inter-Universe transmission technology.
Reed was very interested in this. Although their original home, that retro-futuristic Earth, had been destroyed by Galactus, they still had a homeland.
Compared to staying in this unfamiliar world, Reed wanted to return to his homeland more.
"So, you previously arrived in another Universe, and now you want to return to the original Universe?"
After listening to Reed's explanation, Wong frowned slightly. "If it's the Universe where Strange accidentally opened a space-time rift, it wouldn't be difficult to send you back because we have the coordinates."
"But if it's another Universe with no information or features whatsoever... I don't know if the Sorcerer Supreme can do it. Maybe, maybe not."
Reed said, "I have the coordinates. I researched how to return home for a long time before, and I had some success."
Wong said with some confusion, "But first of all, whether your coordinates are correct or not is another thing. The coordinates required for the portal magic are different from the coordinates you provided."
"It's just a different form of expression, a little conversion will do."
Unlike Wong's confusion, Reed was full of confidence. "Believe me, this problem won't be too difficult to solve."
"Alright."
Dr. Doom hadn't been idle these past few days either. He figured out why Strange had mistaken his and the Fantastic Four's identities during their first meeting.
He bore a striking resemblance to a man named Tony from this Earth. Even more coincidentally, they both owned a company, a self-developed battle suit, and practiced magic.
This greatly puzzled Dr. Doom. He once suspected that this Tony was his parallel world counterpart, only he didn't know why he had changed his name.
However, Dr. Doom searched the internet for a long time but couldn't find any information to support this conjecture.
As the helmsman of Stark Industries, a military-industrial and energy giant renowned across the U.S. and even the world, Tony's life history was transparent. It clearly stated that he had been named Tony Stark since birth and had never changed his name.
That day, after Reed returned from Wong, he brought the other three to Dr. Doom.
Although they had once been enemies and opposed each other, the shared experience of fighting Galactus had significantly eased their relationship.
Reed asked directly, "Dr. Doom, I want to ask, what are your plans for the future?"
"Plans?" Dr. Doom shook his head.
Now that he was alone in another Earth, what plans could he have?
"I asked Wong, the sorcerer here, and he said that the Sorcerer Supreme has a way to send us back to our original Universe."
"Hmm?" Dr. Doom raised an eyebrow.
He glanced at Susan and said unpleasantly, "Reed, you don't need to tell me this news. Where you go next has nothing to do with me."
He paused, then sneered, "Besides, you wouldn't want me to go with you, would you?"
Reed fell silent.
Although his relationship with Dr. Doom had eased considerably, he still didn't trust Dr. Doom. Dr. Doom's ambition to conquer the world filled him with fear.
Seeing this, Dr. Doom merely let out a few sarcastic laughs and waved his hand, dismissing Reed and the others.
Johnny and Ben were indignant, but were still pulled away by Reed and Susan.
Dr. Doom was both right and wrong.
The Fantastic Four were both worried about Dr. Doom causing trouble in their Earth and couldn't bear to see him wander alone in an unfamiliar world.
At this moment, the five of them were very likely the last survivors of that retro-futuristic Earth.
— — —
Outside reality, Lucas wasn't sure how long had passed in Earth-404 terms. He only remembered that the person who rested the least among Tony and the other four had rested ten times.
After a long period of work, Tony and the others finally completed the data collection in the Superflow.
Next, they would pass through the Superflow and head to the final boundary of the Marvel Multiverse: Neutral Zone.
Neutral Zone was different from the Superflow. The Superflow contained numerous realities and alternate dimensions, while the Neutral Zone contained almost nothing.
The only things that existed were various kinds of weird looking creatures.
Thus, Lucas, who had been slacking off for a long time, had no choice but to start working, fulfilling his duties as a safety officer and bodyguard.
In Neutral Zone, a spaceship tens of meters long floated. Its hatch opened, and several figures, faintly glowing with white light, moved in and out.
Compared to the vastness of Neutral Zone, this spaceship was like a drop in the ocean.
But in this almost void-like Neutral Zone, it was like a black dot on a white paper, tiny yet conspicuous.
Silently, a black humanoid creature with two wings on its back approached the spaceship. Upon closer inspection, the wings on the humanoid creature's back were not made of feathers, but countless arms and spider legs. Its head, like a fly's compound eye, was composed of countless bird heads.
As such a terrifying monster approached, Tony and the others merely glanced up before looking away, showing little reaction.
Nothing else, just habit.
Seeing that everyone ignored him, the humanoid creature neither got angry nor rushed to attack. It wandered around the spaceship with interest, curiously observing the working people, and occasionally making strange sounds.
The strange sounds were not harsh, and the humanoid creature did not get closer to interfere with Tony and the others collecting data, so Lucas simply pretended it wasn't there.
"*******"
"*******"
"*******"
"Hello."
Tony and the others suddenly froze.
They had been in the Neutral Zone for a while, encountering attacks multiple times, but this was the first time they had met a creature who actively greeted them.
"What are you doing? Mortals, this is not a place you can meddle in." The humanoid creature's voice sounded again.
It seemed to have realized from Tony and the others' reactions that they understood its previous greeting.
The five of them, including Tony, exchanged glances, and finally decided that Tony would handle the negotiation.
"Before asking others questions, shouldn't you introduce yourself first?"
"Is that your custom? Makes sense."
The humanoid creature nodded, and the countless bird heads on its face collectively lowered, as if changing faces.
"Nyarlathotep, my name is Nyarlathotep. As you can see, I am a god living in Neutral Zone."
Tony smiled, not startled by Nyarlathotep's face-changing act. "Tony Stark. As you can see, I am a scientist who came to the Neutral Zone for an investigation."
A hint of greed flashed in the depths of Nyarlathotep's eyes.
He praised, "A scientist? To be able to build a spaceship that can reach the Neutral Zone, your civilization must be extraordinary."
"I'd love to accept your compliment, but unfortunately, this spaceship was not developed by my civilization."
Tony's answer greatly disappointed Nyarlathotep, and his interest immediately waned. "So it's just a child who picked up a beautiful seashell by the sea, scrawny with little meat. I thought it would be a plump and tender lamb."
As if sighing regretfully, Nyarlathotep suddenly opened all the bird beaks on his face.
"Fear!"
A scream carrying a power called 'Fear' assailed Tony and the others. The invisible sound was now like a tangible shockwave, stirring up waves in the almost void-like Neutral Zone.
"Alas..."
A sigh suddenly sounded, smoothing the surrounding space that had been violently disturbed by Nyarlathotep's attack.
Nyarlathotep looked in the direction of the sound and suddenly realized that there was still one person inside the spaceship, a person radiating endless brilliance.
Without hesitation, Nyarlathotep's arms vibrated, and he fled at extreme speed into the distance.
"People who don't seek death won't die, and neither will gods."
A leisurely voice caught up with Nyarlathotep, and with it came a silver streak of light. The silver light swept past Nyarlathotep, like a wet cloth wiping a blackboard, silently erasing him.
This scene deterred several indescribable beings nearby, and they quietly retreated.
After the interlude, Tony and the others continued to collect data.
And without Nyarlathotep nearby, it wasn't long before the spaceship's surroundings once again welcomed uninvited guests.
Lucas sighed helplessly, he really wasn't setting a trap.
If he maintained high-intensity energy fluctuations, he could indeed deter the surroundings and prevent all the creatures in the Neutral Zone from approaching.
But the Neutral Zone was too close to beyond all things. If he recklessly unleashed his power, he could easily be perceived by other beings.
(End of Chapter)
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