Ego’s Message

After hearing Friday say that Li Congxin had helped him complete the final step of the calculation formula, Tony felt no joy at all. Instead, he dropped into his chair like a deflated balloon.

Tony had always possessed absolute confidence in his research into powered armor.

He believed that, at the very least, no one could surpass him in the field of exoskeletal armor—not even Li Congxin.

It was precisely because of this confidence that Tony had the nerve to declare, "I am Iron Man."

But now, Li Congxin was telling him through his actions, I can do it!

Not only can I do it, I can do it better than you!

This was no longer merely a matter of humiliating him. The blow it dealt to Tony’s confidence was far more serious!

Seeing how utterly dispirited Tony looked, Li Congxin knew the blow had hit him hard. If Iron Man truly sank into depression because of this, it would be bad for everyone.

Li Congxin walked over to Tony, patted him on the shoulder, and said with a smile, "What’s wrong? Feeling discouraged?"

Tony rolled his eyes at him. "Look at you, so pleased with yourself."

"Actually, I’m not pleased with myself, and there’s nothing to be pleased about." Li Congxin paused briefly, then said as casually as if they were discussing everyday matters, "As my strength broke through, my life level underwent several qualitative transformations. The processing speed of my brain is now far beyond even Friday’s and Eris’s."

"So here’s the question: between Friday and Tony Stark, which one is Iron Man?"

Tony’s body trembled when he heard this. He looked at Li Congxin in confusion. Of course he knew that Li Congxin possessed his own consciousness and was not merely an unintelligent supercomputer. So what exactly was he trying to say?

At that moment, Li Congxin casually reached out and grabbed at the air, pulling the data projection closer to himself. He continued, "Your most valuable asset is actually your creativity. That’s something no one else can surpass. For example, the idea of combining the Extremis Virus with nanotechnology isn’t something an ordinary person could imagine. Even if they did imagine it, they still couldn’t accomplish it."

As he spoke, Li Congxin pulled several formulas from the data. "Especially these few sections. If it were me, I wouldn’t have been able to think of a solution at all. I might even have assumed that combining the two was impossible through scientific means. Yet you thought of a way to make it work."

"That is your creativity." Li Congxin spoke honestly. "The calculation loophole I discovered earlier was merely a small error that occurred during your calculations. Perhaps your thoughts had fallen into a dead end, preventing you from noticing it for the moment. But maybe after getting some sleep, you would suddenly figure it out."

"But without all the data you listed earlier, my extraordinary calculating ability would have been useless in this area."

Tony finally let out a long breath. "Hearing you say that makes me feel much better. So you’re saying that without me, you wouldn’t have been able to combine the Extremis Virus with nanotechnology?"

"No!" Li Congxin shook his head again and answered with complete honesty. "I can alter reality."

Received +99,999 Impression Points from Tony Stark!

And I actually thought this guy was a good person earlier. I was still too naïve!

Just then, the door suddenly opened. Xing Hua sashayed in, swaying her slender waist, and said seriously to Li Congxin, "Mr. Clark, I just heard Doctor Banner say that you had returned. So it was true."

Smelling the somewhat overpowering fragrance on Xing Hua, Li Congxin frowned slightly. "Why have you started behaving so badly? You’re a dignified space pirate, yet you’ve started spraying perfume like an ordinary woman?"

Xing Hua shrugged. "I think it smells pretty good. It can cover up the scent of blood on me."

The scent of blood on your body can be washed away easily. What’s really troubling you is the scent of blood in your heart!

Li Congxin thought this but did not say it aloud. Although he was now a Multiversal Level powerhouse, he was far from omniscient and omnipotent. When it came to Xing Hua’s problems, he might not be as professional as an ordinary psychologist.

Perhaps the Avengers should find a trustworthy psychologist too, someone to give them occasional treatment.

He silently noted down the idea, then asked, "Xing Hua, you still haven’t said why you came looking for me."

Xing Hua smiled faintly. "Weren’t you looking for Ego’s planet? We have a lead."

Li Congxin immediately perked up. Xing Hua did not waste any words. She simply raised a hand and pressed it against her left temple. Her mechanical eye immediately projected a beam of light, displaying a scene in front of her.

The scene showed an ivory-white, oval-shaped spaceship that looked like an egg. Its hatch opened, and warm beige light poured out through the doorway, as if the eggshell had cracked open and the yolk were flowing out.

A man and a woman emerged from the light. The man looked kind and benevolent, like a kindly elder. The woman wore green clothes and held her hands together in front of her. She stood timidly beside the old man, looking cautious and restrained, like a maid.

As the scene appeared, Xing Hua said, "After Zayn’s matter was settled, Nebula immediately began searching the entire universe for Gamora. She wanted to prove that she was now stronger than Gamora."

Li Congxin nodded, indicating that he understood.

Defeating Gamora once and taking revenge on Thanos—those two things had always been Nebula’s demons. Li Congxin did not object. He had even snatched a pair of Swords of the Night Sky from Hela and given one each to Nebula and Xing Hua.

Since they had chosen to follow him, he naturally had to let his subordinates see hope of achieving their life goals.

Besides, neither of Nebula’s goals was particularly difficult to achieve.

Gamora’s strength was certainly not weak, but compared with Nebula, even if she was stronger, the difference was limited. Now that Nebula had an artifact in hand, there should be no reason she could not defeat her opponent.

But judging from the scene…

Li Congxin slightly furrowed his brows. "Nebula lost?"

Xing Hua gently shook her head, then added, "She only wanted to defeat Gamora, but the opponent she faced was a team."

So it was simply a case of one pair of fists being unable to defeat four hands.

Li Congxin nodded. "You didn’t plan to go help her?"

To ensure the stability of the projected video, Xing Hua maintained her motionless posture. "This is her Gamora, not mine."

At that moment, the scene’s fade-in had officially begun. The old man gave Star-Lord an incredibly benevolent smile. "My name is Ego. I’m your father…"

The conversation that followed was rather long-winded, so Xing Hua decisively fast-forwarded through it.

While selecting several information-rich clips to show Li Congxin, Xing Hua also explained the situation through brief narration.

In short, although Ego really was Star-Lord’s father, he had failed to gain the trust of Star-Lord and the others. In the end, Gamora decided to travel with Nebula to Ego’s planet and investigate. If he truly was Star-Lord’s father, that would naturally be ideal. But if he was a villain, Gamora was confident she could eliminate the sinister man.

In the end, the Guardians of the Galaxy decided to split up. Star-Lord, Gamora, and Drax boarded Ego’s spaceship, while Rocket Raccoon and Groot stayed behind to repair the damaged vessel. They also had to keep watch over Nebula, who was being held prisoner, while waiting for the others to return.

Watching the three of them board Ego’s spaceship, Li Congxin curled his lips. "That Gamora actually wants to kill Ego? Who gave her that kind of courage?"

Xing Hua shut off the video projection and said helplessly, "Nebula already told them how much you value Ego. Unfortunately, she tried to kill Gamora more than once before. No one believes her now that she’s telling the truth." After a brief pause, she asked worriedly, "Is that Ego very strong?"

Li Congxin answered firmly, "Very strong." After saying that, he added silently, For you people, at least, that’s certainly true.

Xing Hua immediately pressed him for more. "How strong?"

And you said this Gamora had nothing to do with you. Look how worried you are.

Li Congxin saw through her without exposing her. He simply followed her question and explained, "If his true body is the one taking action, he could at least crush Thanos without any problem."

"But now that we’ve found Ego’s location, I can’t entrust Earth’s safety to the luck of those people." As he spoke, Li Congxin gently turned his head. Daisy, dressed in a fitted combat outfit, walked in.

Daisy’s equipment was now extremely impressive. The armor covering her body was not much different in design from before, but its materials had all been replaced with a nanoscopic vibranium structure, giving it defensive power comparable to the Black Panther suit. However, to preserve Black Panther’s advantage, Shuri had not designed a helmet for her, leaving her entire head exposed. Her flowing hair spilled over the vibranium armor, making her look even more heroic.

After more than a year of training, Daisy had now completely mastered the pair of bracers forged from the Star Core. Her true strength surpassed the Thor of this period, making her the second-strongest member of the Avengers after Li Congxin.

Daisy quickly walked up to Li Congxin and Xing Hua and said seriously, "Clark, I hope you’ll take me with you on this mission. After all, this crisis is about to engulf the entire Earth. You can’t possibly shoulder everything alone."

Considering that Daisy’s current strength seemed comparable to Thor wielding Stormbreaker, though she still lacked combat experience, Li Congxin knew that dealing with the so-called villains on Earth was far too easy for her and provided no meaningful training. He immediately nodded. "All right."

With that, space energy swept around them, and the figures of Li Congxin and Daisy vanished from their original location. The next moment, they appeared inside the Milano spaceship, which was stationed at Borat star.