Are You Ready?

After the New York War ended,

Lacey, Renoli, Kyle, and the Precognitor planned to stay on Earth for a while. Tony would cover all their food, lodging, transportation, and expenses.

Although they did not care about that amount of money, the four of them might not have been truly fabulously wealthy in the universe, but they were all billionaires.

If they specifically chose planets with less advanced technology, each of them had the strength to become a ruler there.

But compared to doing such trivial things, they would rather live on Void Island on Xandar.

The reason they had temporarily stayed this time was also because they wanted to experience Earth’s food and see what the more developed entertainment Tony had mentioned was actually like.

Previously, they had needed to prepare for war as soon as they arrived, so none of them had time to relax.

Now that the war was over, they could finally think without any burden about where to go have fun every day.

Three days later, on one of Tony’s Private Islands.

"Thor, thank you for your help this time."

"Remember to come visit Earth now and then."

"I’m still hoping to have another match with you."

Tony smiled as he looked at Thor.

"Protecting the Nine Realms is already within the scope of my duties, so there is no need to thank me."

"You have a Universal Communicator, so everything will be easy to discuss."

"If Earth is invaded by foreign enemies again, you can notify me at any time, as long as I am not tied down by some trouble I cannot get away from."

"I will definitely come to protect Earth."

Thor smiled as he responded to Tony’s words.

Wars constantly broke out within the various worlds of the Nine Realms. Asgard did not interfere in those wars, because doing so would instead upset the balance.

So unless there was an utterly evil powerhouse who completely shattered Earth’s internal balance,

or enemies from the universe appeared, Asgard would not step in to help.

"With those words, I can rest easy."

Tony said with a smile.

"Mm, then farewell for now."

Thor nodded slightly, then looked at Steve and Banner, who had come to see him off, and spoke.

Afterward, Thor took Loki with him and unleashed the power of the Tesseract. A beam of light rose into the sky, and the two returned to Asgard.

"Even now, it still feels a little surreal, but I have to admit that sometimes, having gods in this world is a good thing."

Steve watched Thor and Loki leave and spoke with some emotion.

"Don’t celebrate too soon."

"Since gods from myths and legends exist in this world, then the demons from those legends and all kinds of terrifying things probably exist too."

"Even if stronger powerhouses protect Earth, if humanity as a whole is too weak,"

"and cannot even hold out until reinforcements arrive, then unforeseen disasters could strike at any time."

"So if humanity wants to truly survive in the universe,"

"we still have to rely on our own overall development, rather than blindly depending on other people’s rescue."

Tony poured cold water on Steve’s words, while also warning himself that he absolutely could not let his guard down.

Even if Earth were destroyed, he indeed had a way out, but the billions of humans on Earth had no such escape.

He had the ability to leave countless humans on Earth a way out, so he would do it.

Although humanity had not yet formed a unified body and was still divided internally, and there were plenty of bastards in the world, there were also countless innocent people.

"Rely on our own strength…"

"Tony, the person you mentioned before—is he Harvey Anberaka?"

Steve’s eyes flickered when he heard Tony’s words. He clenched his fist and asked.

"Looks like Banner told you?"

Tony did not deny it.

"Yeah. Banner told me that if he went to Harvey Anberaka and gained his recognition,"

"then he would definitely be able to perfectly control his power."

Steve nodded.

"Steve suffered some setbacks during the war, so I talked with him."

Banner spoke up at this moment, explaining why he had told Steve.

"So, Steve, do you desire power?"

Tony looked at Steve and asked.

"My strength is only barely adequate within Earth’s borders."

"When facing an invasion by foreign enemies, I do not possess enough strength to protect what I want to protect."

"So I want to learn more. If possible, I also hope to gain greater strength to protect Earth."

Steve nodded, his gaze somewhat complicated.

"I’ll introduce you to him."

"If you can gain his recognition and receive the blessing he grants,"

"then the world you can see and take part in will no longer be limited to Earth, but the entire universe."

"If you gain his recognition, I’ll explain the specifics to you in detail later."

"If you do not gain his recognition, then do not blame me for keeping things from you."

Tony spoke slowly.

When they had first met, Steve had not left a particularly good impression on him.

However, considering that Steve was a figure from decades ago, a symbol of an era, and that no one from that era had a body comparable to Steve’s, it was normal for Steve to have some arrogance in his heart.

As for Banner, there was not much to say. Banner’s thinking had simply gone wrong, but now that it had been corrected, Tony naturally had no issue with him.

The Void Cult would grow larger and larger in the future, and its members would become more numerous. But the universe was so vast that Tony understood the principle that distant water could not put out a nearby fire.

This time, he had known of Loki’s plan and seen through the Chitauri’s intention to attack Earth, which was why he had time to ask his friends for help.

Not every battle could be known in advance. More often, enemies launched sudden attacks.

So of course Tony hoped that Earth would have more fellow members of the Void Cult.

"Wait a moment. I’ll introduce you and let you take a look."

After saying this, Tony took out his phone and directly made a call.

More than ten seconds passed before the call connected.

The projection of a handsome young man with black hair, star-like eyes, handsome features, and a tall, straight figure appeared before Steve and Banner.

"I already know what you are thinking."

"If you receive my blessing, you will break free of the limits of a human lifespan and gain a far longer life."

"A long life brings not only power, but also loneliness."

"Tony found something to devote himself to for the sake of his ideals, which was why he chose to accept this blessing."

"What about you? Have you already found something to devote your long lives to, as well as your ideals?"

The moment Harvey’s projection appeared and saw Banner and Steve, he immediately understood the situation and spoke.