"No," Karl said after thinking for a moment. "I'm not going to look for the Self-Stone right now."
"Maybe in the future."
"But first, we should wait until you finish building the warship, right?"
He looked at Yan with a helpless expression.
Of course Karl wanted the Self-Stone.
But locating it would not be easy.
Not only did the treasure map indicate that it required other Infinity Stones to trace its position, Karl currently possessed only one.
The Mind Stone.
The others were scattered across the universe.
The Space Stone was in Asgard.
The Reality Stone had not yet appeared.
The Time Stone remained under the protection of the Ancient One in Kamar-Taj.
The Power Stone was still hidden somewhere in the cosmos.
The Soul Stone was guarded by the mysterious Red Skull.
Without gathering those stones, finding the Self-Stone would be almost impossible.
After hearing Karl's explanation, Yan thought quietly for a moment.
Then she simply opened a wormhole.
Without saying another word, she stepped inside and disappeared.
She didn't even return the Dark Bible or the Sun Bible before leaving.
Karl stared at the empty space where she had vanished and gave a wry smile.
"It feels like I just summoned an ancestor instead of a subordinate…"
Meanwhile, after returning to his villa with the convoy of antiques, Tony Stark faced a large group of representatives from various global financial families.
Everyone waited anxiously.
They were all hoping that one or two of their artifacts had caught Karl's attention.
Because that would mean lifespan.
Tony stood in front of the crowd and spoke calmly.
"Alright."
"This time I have four hundred years of lifespan essence."
"Only two families obtained it."
"The Herbati family and the Elilo family."
"Each of you gets two hundred years."
Tony opened the silver-white box Karl had given him.
Inside were four glass tubes filled with pale white liquid.
This was the refined dragon bone essence.
Even the wealthy elites who didn't receive any lifespan immediately recognized the liquid.
They had seen it during the previous exchange.
Although some governments—especially China—had quietly questioned whether the substance truly extended life, the two families that had previously received it had never denied its effectiveness.
That alone was enough proof.
The two family representatives stepped forward.
Each opened their own black containers and carefully transferred two tubes of lifespan essence into their cases.
While the transaction was taking place, bodyguards were already contacting their employers.
"Life essence obtained."
"Send escort teams immediately."
Within minutes, the wealthy guests began leaving Tony's villa.
No one wanted to start a fight here.
Attacking inside Tony Stark's property would be suicidal.
Besides, Tony's reputation as Iron Man had not been earned for nothing.
But the moment the convoy left New York…
Chaos erupted again.
Just like the previous incident.
Armed groups, mercenaries, and hired mutants ambushed the vehicles on the highway heading toward the airport.
This time the two families were not as lucky.
One convoy was attacked by several mutants with unusual abilities.
They stole every container in the vehicle.
Even the decoy boxes.
Eventually they discovered the correct box containing the 200-year lifespan essence.
The second family encountered an even worse situation.
Their escort forces were delayed by several super-powered attackers.
Then a mysterious man appeared.
A man wearing ten glowing rings.
Within minutes, he defeated the remaining guards and stole the lifespan essence.
He was the Mandarin.
Because the underground black market had already valued lifespan essence at ten billion dollars per year, he had begun monitoring Stark's villa days earlier.
Once the convoy left the property, he simply followed the vehicles until he identified the correct target.
The situation perfectly embodied an old saying:
The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
The two families had barely begun celebrating before receiving the news.
Their lifespan essence had been stolen.
Both offices were smashed to pieces in rage.
Shortly afterward, even worse news arrived.
Someone had announced an auction of lifespan essence on the underground black market.
Their fury doubled instantly.
At the same time, Hammer and Aldrich Killian had begun implementing their plan.
The recent bombings and terrorist incidents across New York City were all part of their scheme.
Even S.H.I.E.L.D. had begun investigating.
Their methods were extremely difficult to detect.
The attackers were failed Extremis test subjects.
Human bombs.
Their bodies constantly overheated due to unstable Extremis reactions.
Killian simply sent them into crowded areas.
Once their body temperatures reached the critical threshold—
They exploded.
This situation created a nightmare for the New York Police Department.
Especially for Police Chief George Stacy.
His department had been working non-stop for days.
Helen Stacy, after seeing the news reports, realized the seriousness of the situation.
She suggested something to her husband.
"Maybe you should ask Karl for help."
George immediately shook his head.
"It's too much trouble."
"I can't keep bothering him with everything."
Helen sighed helplessly.
BOOM—!
An explosion suddenly occurred outside Stark Tower.
The vehicle that exploded was a Rolls-Royce belonging to Happy Hogan.
It was also Pepper Potts' personal car.
Tony received the news immediately.
When he arrived at the hospital, he saw Happy lying unconscious on a bed, his body wrapped heavily in bandages.
The explosion had nearly killed him.
Tony's expression darkened.
If Pepper had been in that car…
The consequences would have been unthinkable.
Soon afterward, a video appeared online.
An elderly man appeared in the footage, openly provoking Tony Stark.
Tony watched the video silently.
Then he walked outside the hospital where numerous reporters were gathered.
His anger was barely restrained.
"I'm not afraid of you."
"I'm going to find you."
"And shove your head up your own ass."
"My home address is 10880 Malibu Point."
"Come find me if you dare."
Tony had just publicly declared war.
When several financial families learned about the situation, they immediately began investigating the attackers.
Helping Tony would earn them a valuable favor.
After all—
Behind Tony stood the world's strongest man.
The Gold Saint, Karl.
Meanwhile, Karl himself was already at New York Airport.
He was preparing to travel to the East.
The passengers included:
May
Raven
Gwen
Helen Cho
Black Phoenix
Yan
Wanda
Pietro
Peter
Yelena
Juggernaut
The reason was simple.
The Eastern Embassy had personally invited Karl to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.
After hearing about it, Karl found the idea interesting.
So he decided to take everyone along for a short trip.
A private aircraft soon took off from the airport.
Several high-speed fighter jets escorted the plane.
No country in the world was foolish enough to attack the private aircraft of a Gold Saint.
Karl only learned about Tony's situation after boarding the plane.
Based on the timeline, the mastermind was almost certainly Aldrich Killian.
Karl wasn't worried.
Even if something unexpected happened, Tony could contact him immediately.
And with Karl's abilities—
He could return to New York in an instant.
So he simply ignored the situation and relaxed during the flight.
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