Meeting and Introductions

"Why did you travel back to 2016?"

Tony thought for a moment, then asked Future Banner. Future Banner did not hide anything and briefly explained what had happened. Everyone looked at one another. Thanos had successfully snapped his fingers and wiped out half the life in the universe, so the Super Heroes had returned to the past to search for the Infinity Stones?

"I mean, aren’t you guys way too useless? You actually let Thanos get all Six Infinity Stones?"

Tony asked in confusion, "Was there no Bert in your world? Bert Wang, the Blood God, World Guardian, Star Destroyer Level Expert, Number One Scumbag in the Universe!"

"Who exactly is Bert? And are all those things you just mentioned his titles?"

Future Banner was stunned. He said, "Tony, don’t call us useless. Guess who led the Super Heroes in our world?"

"If you don’t know Bert, that means there’s no Bert in your world."

Tony blinked and said, "Without Bert, the Most Handsome Guy must have been me, Tony Stark."

Everyone was speechless. That was truly narcissistic. Future Banner nodded and said, "That’s right. You led the Super Heroes, and under your leadership, we successfully let Thanos snap his fingers."

Dr. Richards could not help laughing. "So you’re the most useless one, Tony."

"That’s impossible. How could I be that useless?"

Tony was deeply displeased. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly received a message from Jarvis. He immediately flew into the air and said, "Someone who looks exactly like me has gone to my villa. It should be that loser. I’m going to find him. Take these two to S.W.O.R.D.

"Also, notify S.W.O.R.D. to seal off the surrounding area and send experts to deal with the laboratory and search for Dr. Pym."

"Alright, leave it to me."

Banner glanced at Future Banner and said, "This guy probably doesn’t have much combat ability. He doesn’t have even a trace of anger."

Future Banner said honestly, "I’m a peaceful person. I rarely fight."

Banner was speechless. Hulk directly spat on the ground. A Hulk without any anger was truly disgraceful.

Tony did not waste any more words and flew toward his New York villa. Dr. Richards thought for a moment and asked, "How many of you are there?"

"Tony, Thor, and Steve."

Future Banner said, "Everyone, we aren’t bad people. Once we obtain the Infinity Stones and Pym Particles, we’ll leave immediately."

"That may be a little difficult. Bert won’t allow you to take the Infinity Stones."

Dr. Richards said frankly, "The Space Stone and the Mind Stone belong to him. I hear the Power Stone is also in his possession."

"He has that many Stones?"

Future Banner was startled. He said, "I want to meet him. I’m not borrowing them without returning them. Once we snap our fingers and restore half the life in the universe, I’ll return the Stones to him immediately."

Dr. Richards nodded. "I’ll contact him. If nothing unexpected happens, you’ll meet him at S.W.O.R.D."

"By the way, what have they been looking for?"

Future Ant-Man pointed at Hope and Ant-Man and asked in confusion. Scott turned around and sighed. "They’re looking for Dr. Pym. He had just entered the Quantum Realm when the Space Channel exploded."

"What?"

Future Banner and Future Ant-Man were both stunned. Their primary target had actually vanished? Then what were they supposed to do about the Pym Particles?…

Let us turn our attention to Tony Stark’s New York villa—major events generally happened in New York, so Tony had specially bought a large villa there to avoid having to fly over from Malibu every time.

At that moment, a figure was walking into the villa. Tony’s security system showed no reaction whatsoever. The reason was simple: the figure was Tony—or rather, Future Tony.

"This world is completely different from ours. The Ancient One was right. This is a parallel world. In that case, I might as well directly seek cooperation from this world’s Tony Stark. Since it’s a parallel world, there won’t be any time paradox."

Future Tony thought to himself. He believed that this world’s version of himself would not refuse to cooperate, because he was Iron Man. At worst, he could offer more future technology in exchange.

Furthermore, Future Tony knew Tony lived here because he had just gone online.

"Daddy."

Morgan and Murphy, who had been playing on the lawn, saw Future Tony and immediately ran over together on their short little legs.

Morgan and Murphy were only a little over a year old, yet they could already run and talk. They were also slightly bigger than children their age, after all, they had constantly been nourished by qi.

"Morgan! Huh, this world’s Tony even has a son?"

Future Tony recognized Morgan and smiled as he opened his arms, ready to welcome his children. At that moment, Morgan and Murphy grinned at the same time, suddenly leaped up, and rammed their little heads straight into Future Tony’s chest.

Ah! Future Tony had never expected things to develop like this. He was knocked flat on the ground and nearly threw up.

"Daddy, you’re lame."

Murphy climbed out of Future Tony’s arms and said disdainfully. Morgan nodded repeatedly, made a face, and shouted, "Daddy, you’re lame."

"This world’s Morgan is definitely black-hearted. And that brat is such a daddy-trapper."

Future Tony bared his teeth as he climbed up from the ground. Just as he was about to say something, two pulling forces came from nearby, and Morgan and Murphy were directly pulled away.

Pepper shielded Morgan and Murphy behind her and shouted at Future Tony, "Who are you? Why have you turned into Tony?"

"Pepper? Huh, why do you look so young? What brand of cosmetics do you use?"

Future Tony was extremely surprised. Pepper’s skin was as good as that of a twenty-year-old girl.

Pepper said, "Thank you for the compliment, but this is private property. Jarvis, take him down and wait for Tony to return and deal with him."

The ground rumbled open, and then Jarvis’s enormous body appeared before everyone—there was an underground base beneath the villa, which was Jarvis’s home. Incidentally, Yelena lived there too.

"Jarvis, you’re not dead? Hmm, why are you so huge? Whose taste is this terrible?"

Future Tony was dumbfounded. Jarvis said, "Mr. Tony Stark from the future, Mr. Stark is returning now. Please wait for him over there."

Pepper was stunned. "Tony Stark from the future?"

"Yes, I contacted Mr. Stark. This Tony Stark is genuine. He comes from the future and is a loser—uh, that last evaluation was added by Mr. Stark."

Jarvis said, "Personally, I strongly agree with it."

"Who are you calling a loser?"

Future Tony was so angry his nose nearly twisted. Jarvis said, "Of course, you. Mr. Stark is very dissatisfied that you led the world yet still allowed Thanos to snap his fingers. He even refuses to acknowledge your identity."

Future Tony gritted his teeth. "You have no idea how powerful Thanos is."

"No, you have no idea how powerful we are."

Jarvis said confidently, "Thanos could never snap his fingers in our universe. Of that, I am completely certain."

"Is that so? Then let me see what you’re capable of. Come on, let’s play."

Future Tony snorted coldly as his Nanotech Armor rapidly covered his body. He wanted Jarvis to know who the real loser was.

"Vibranium shell, Antimatter Reactor, gravity waves, lasers, Thunder Light Cannons, High-Temperature Light Beams, black holes. Are you sure you want to fight me?"

Jarvis said blandly as he opened his chest armor and displayed his Antimatter Reactor.

Future Tony was dumbstruck and immediately changed his tune. "You misunderstood just now. I want to fight this era’s Tony Stark, not you. You’re family. How could I possibly attack you?"

An Antimatter Reactor and black holes? That was far too advanced.

Pepper almost wanted to roll her eyes. No matter which Tony it was, they were both so cowardly.

Jarvis did not speak, because a figure was descending from the sky.

With a bang, Iron Man landed before everyone on one knee. He then stood up, opened his faceplate, and said to Future Tony, "I heard someone wanted to fight me. I’m here."

"Two daddies?"

Morgan and Murphy were a little dizzy. Why were there two daddies? Pepper shook her head and led the two children back into the house. It seemed more trouble was about to happen, but it would not be a major problem. After all, the Blood God was here.

Future Tony said, "Let’s fight first. Just seeing that face of yours annoys me. It’s so greasy, like some pretty boy."

"You’ve got the nerve to say that? What year did you come back from? How did your face get so old? And you look so bitter and burdened. Walking outside like that would be embarrassing for me."

Tony snorted. Then, both of them closed their faceplates at the same time and raised their hands, firing large Pulse Cannons at each other.

Boom! The Pulse Cannons collided and caused a violent explosion. Future Tony was blasted away, while Tony did not move an inch.

"How can your Pulse Cannon be so powerful?"

Future Tony flew up from the ground and shouted in disbelief, "That makes no sense. An Arc Reactor doesn’t have that much output."

"Because I use a larger reactor. Its output is three times that of an ordinary reactor."

Tony said proudly, "Don’t you? Uh, I forgot. You’re a weakling. You can’t handle a larger reactor."

Future Tony was stunned. "A larger reactor? You’re an Enhanced Human?"

"You could say that."

Tony said, "The difference in output is too great. No matter whether your technology is more advanced than mine, you can’t possibly be my opponent."

Although Future Tony was unwilling to accept it, he knew Tony was right. He sighed and deactivated his Nanotech Armor. "Have you met Hulk and the others?"

"Hulk and Ant-Man."

Having defeated his future self, Tony was in a great mood. He said, "They told me what happened. Honestly, I feel pretty ashamed. The world I led actually failed."

Future Tony said, "I’ll say it again: you have no idea how powerful Thanos is. We did everything we could to stop him, yet he easily defeated us and took all the Infinity Stones."

Tony snorted. "It’s not that Thanos was too strong. It’s that you were too weak."

Future Tony wanted to argue, but he recalled their previous fight and could not help sighing. "Tony Stark, I need your help."

"No problem. We’re the same person. By the way, first tell me about your experiences in detail. Hulk only gave me a brief introduction earlier."

Tony smiled. The reason he had fought Future Tony was to put him in his place. Only then would the other man cooperate honestly—he understood himself far too well.

"Fine, but before that, tell me about the Blood God."

Future Tony said, "The internet says the Blood God is Earth’s guardian. There was no Blood God in our world."

"Though I hate to admit it, he really is Earth’s guardian. He also has the final say regarding the Infinity Stones."

Tony said, "The Blood God is a member of the Blood Clan…"

Future Tony asked in astonishment, "Wait, the Blood Clan? Are you joking? How can something so unscientific exist?"

Tony was equally shocked. "You don’t know about the Blood Clan? Wait, don’t tell me you don’t know about devils, angels, or gods either?"

"In a scientific world, where would devils come from? As for gods, they’re just aliens, like Thor, Loki, and Odin."

Future Tony shook his head. "There is a magician who supposedly knows magic, but I had only known him for two days before he died."

"You don’t even know about the Blood Clan and devils. No wonder you couldn’t even defeat Thanos. You know absolutely nothing about this world."

Tony shook his head repeatedly. His future self was truly far too pathetic.

Future Tony asked in astonishment, "There are really members of the Blood Clan and devils in the world?"

"Should I tell you that my son is Mephisto reincarnated? Mephisto, the Demon King of Hell!"

Tony said with a smug expression, completely forgetting that his son tricked him every day.

"What? That little brat just now is Mephisto reincarnated?"

Future Tony was dumbfounded. This world’s version of himself was far too outrageous, wasn’t he?

Tony waved his hand. "Forget it. Tell me about your experiences first, then I’ll slowly explain the situation in our world to you."

"Alright, starting from when I became Iron Man."

Future Tony shook his head and began recounting his experiences. Tony listened attentively, occasionally offering commentary—sharp-tongued commentary.

Looking at the two nearly identical Tonys, Jarvis secretly shook his head. Their ages were not far apart, but their temperaments were completely different. Future Tony was full of old age and gloom, while Tony was radiant and energetic. Standing together, they looked more like father and son than the same person.

"That bastard Ivan is dead? Hahaha, serves him right. That guy really was a weakling."

"So I was the one who sent the nuke into outer space, not Bert. That guy stole my spotlight! What? Post-traumatic stress disorder? You’re way too weak, aren’t you?"

"I created Ultron? And destroyed Sokovia? No wonder Bert has always refused to let me mess with robots."

"You’re way too ridiculous. You actually signed that kind of agreement?"

"Wanda actually got together with Vision?"

"Splitting into two groups to fight Thanos? What were you thinking?"

"Shut up! I am you, and you are me. If you were in my world, everything you did would be exactly the same as what I did."

Future Tony finally could not take it anymore and cursed loudly—he took all the credit for the good things and pushed all the bad things onto him. Could this guy be any more of an asshole?

Future Tony finally understood why so many people wanted to beat him up. It had to be said that his former self really had been asking for a beating.

Jarvis nodded in deep agreement. "That’s right. You are indeed the same person. Equally assholish."

Both Tonys glared at Jarvis. Future Tony asked, "Why haven’t you dismantled him when he acts like this?"

"You think I don’t want to?"

Tony’s face darkened slightly. He said to Future Tony, "Seriously, your vision is way too narrow, isn’t it? All you do every day is fight and kill. You never lead the world forward at all.

"Rather than calling you a group of Super Heroes, it would be more accurate to call you a group of combat tools. And you actually let America ride roughshod over you?"

Future Tony frowned and said, "Lead the world forward? We have always tried our best to make the world safer."