Method

When Falcon asked, Spider-Man replied, "Of course I don’t want to, but we can’t kill people. There has to be another way."

"Typical Super Hero optimism."

Nick Fury shook his head and asked Tony, "Tony, what did the Blood God say?"

"The Blood God is suppressing the Cosmic Storm and hasn’t replied to me yet."

Tony thought for a moment and said, "In this situation, Bert might not be able to handle it unless his main body descends in person."

Nick Fury frowned. "So we can’t stop the parallel time-space fusion. In that case, we have to seriously consider what Captain said earlier. Should we do something?"

"I don’t want to do anything. I’m a Super Hero, not a supervillain who destroys Earth."

Tony said, "But I don’t have family here. I’m not qualified to make the decision for you, so I abstain this time."

Strange smiled. "So you can speak like a human after all."

Tony gave him the finger and could not be bothered with him. Once this was all over, he would demolish Kamar-Taj’s New York branch and see what Strange did then.

"How about we vote?"

Steve said, "Let me make this clear first: I don’t support destroying Earths in other universes, though I am a little worried about being replaced by someone else."

"Who isn’t?"

Steve’s words made everyone sigh. No matter when it was, death was a great terror.

"A vote will only divide us."

After thinking for a moment, Strange said, "The Blood God can’t protect the entire Earth, but protecting a group of people shouldn’t be a problem."

Everyone’s eyes lit up. "You mean?"

"I mean we give up on most people and only protect the ones we care about."

Strange said, "It’s a little selfish, but at least we won’t have to slaughter people from other universes."

Nick Fury asked, "Can the Blood God do that?"

"With Bert’s abilities, protecting some people definitely won’t be a problem."

Tony said, "He’s done something similar before, merging Mutant Planet with Earth."

Everyone was overjoyed. Steve said, "That’s great. I agree with this method."

"I agree too."

Everyone nodded, but Spider-Man had objections. He said, "I’m not against this method, but I think we should find a way to save the whole Earth. This has only just begun, hasn’t it? There might still be a way. It’s too early to give up.

"There are so many people on Earth. We can’t just abandon them."

"Kid, you’re being too selfish. What we should save isn’t everyone on Earth, but everyone across all parallel universes. Whether they’re aliens or people from other universes, we have to save them all."

Loki said passionately, "We’re Super Heroes. We can’t be so selfish. There’s no such thing as impossible in our dictionary. As long as we unite, as long as we give it everything we have, we can definitely save everyone."

The crowd burst into laughter. Spider-Man was embarrassed and angry. "That’s not what I meant. I’m saying that at the very least, we can try."

Strange asked, "Peter, you watched the Sacred Timeline too. Have you forgotten how your aunt died? Besides, they aren’t dying. They’re just being randomly replaced by someone else."

Spider-Man had no answer. In the Sacred Timeline, if his savior complex had not flared up, his aunt would not have died.

Spider-Man said unwillingly, "But we’re Super Heroes."

"Parker, don’t get worked up. You’re right. Under normal circumstances, we should indeed save Earth, save the universe."

Tony said, "But we don’t have time right now. People from other universes will keep coming into ours, and we have to deal with them first. Parker, I promise you, if we have any spare capacity, we’ll find a way to save the whole Earth."

Spider-Man said gratefully, "I understand. Thank you, Mr. Stark."

"What are you thanking me for? Still, Parker, don’t act on your own. Whatever happens, you must discuss it with us first. Otherwise, what happened on the Sacred Timeline might really come to pass."

Tony gave the warning solemnly. The others were fine, but Spider-Man was too young and had too strong a sense of justice. It would be easy for him to cause trouble.

"I understand."

Spider-Man nodded obediently. To be honest, he was a little lacking in confidence right now. Mysterio had fooled him completely not long ago, and worse still, Old Tony had scolded him.

Tony said, "All right, gather together the people you want to protect so Bert can shield them more easily. Also, the number can’t be too large."

Everyone nodded. "No problem."

Just then, Wang Bert’s voice suddenly rang out. "Your line of thinking isn’t wrong."

Tony said happily, "Bert, does that mean you can protect some people?"

"Of course. Even if I’m only an avatar."

Wang Bert smiled. "But I have a better method: kill everyone on Earth."

Everyone was dumbfounded. "What?"

Tony said irritably, "Bert, that joke isn’t funny."

"I’m not joking."

Wang Bert said, "Set up a Magic Array to kill everyone, then collect their souls into the Mind Sea for protection. Once my main body descends, revive them. That way, we can preserve everyone on Earth.

"However, there may be two Earths in the future. One will be the Earth I create, and the other will be the Earth after the parallel time-space fusion."

Everyone froze. After thinking it over, Strange said, "Setting aside your twisted sense of humor, Blood God, this is indeed a good method. It can protect everyone."

Nick Fury asked, "Blood God, can you make everyone die silently and without pain?"

Wang Bert smiled. "Of course. Their minds are entirely under my control."

"This is indeed a good method, but it feels strange."

Steve said, and many of the Super Heroes nodded. Killing everyone and then reviving them did feel rather strange.

"Bert, can they avoid dying?"

Tony asked, "Freeze everyone, then thaw them after this is over, just like that old popsicle Captain."

Steve rolled his eyes. Was that polite?

"No. If they don’t die once, their life imprints can’t be erased."

Wang Bert said, "A universe can only contain one copy of the same life imprint. In other words, even if they’re frozen, they’ll still be randomly erased."

"I see?"

The Super Heroes discussed it among themselves. Overall, they supported Wang Bert’s approach, but they still had reservations. Life and death were matters of great importance.

"Bert, can we decide later?"

Tony asked, "Let’s first see whether there’s another way to save Earth, such as stopping the universe fusion."

"Of course, but you must make the decision before the universes begin to merge."

Wang Bert said, "Also, the universe fusion will impact the Mind Sea, and I also have to calm the Cosmic Storm. During this time, I won’t have the attention to spare for matters on Earth. You’ll have to deal with those travelers yourselves."

"No problem. We’re the strongest Super Heroes in all parallel time-spaces."

Tony declared arrogantly. Everyone nodded, full of confidence—except Dr. Banner.

"All right. The Eternals are on the moon, and they’ll help you fend off alien enemies."

Wang Bert continued, "If needed, you can call them back to help."

Tony said carelessly, "With our strength, plus so many Eternals, there definitely won’t be a problem. Bert, go in peace."

Under Wang Bert’s control, the air formed a middle finger. Then it dispersed, and Wang Bert’s consciousness left Avengers Base.

In the Mind Sea, Wang Bert sighed and set up a Magic Array on the surface of the sea—a Magic Array to draw in Earth’s souls. Next, many people on Earth would die, and he had to protect the entire planet.

Why do I feel like I’m becoming more and more of a saint? Have people called me Savior too many times?

Wang Bert shook his head. Whatever. Saving a few more beauties was fine too. He could come by for some snacks later.

"Under normal circumstances, Tony and the others should be able to handle it. But Nemesis and Kang the Conqueror will probably pull something, so I have to do something."

With a thought from Wang Bert, a Mental Projection appeared out of thin air. It nodded to Wang Bert and vanished.

"What would Earth do without me?" Wang Bert smiled and continued setting up the array.

Back at the base, after Wang Bert’s consciousness left, Steve said to Tony, "I was very confident, but after hearing that, I suddenly don’t know why I’ve lost confidence."

"Because getting slapped in the face is part of his character setting."

Strange said, "Tony Stark has everything going for him except that mouth."

Everyone laughed loudly. Tony gave them the finger. "I will never get slapped in the face again. I’m a Savior now."

"Let’s hope so. By the way, what do we do with these people?"

Black Widow pointed at the visitors from other universes inside the energy cages and asked, "Their universes don’t have a Blood God. To avoid being erased, they’ll definitely fight us to the death."

Nick Fury sighed. "Having the Blood God is truly our good fortune. We even have two options. Unlike them, who have no options at all and can only force themselves to do what they least want to do."

Everyone nodded in deep agreement. Having someone powerful to rely on really was wonderful.

Black Widow said irritably, "What you’re saying may be true, but I want a solution, not praise for the Blood God."

Steve said, "Lock them up for now. We’re Super Heroes. We can’t kill people casually."

"How pedantic. These people should be killed directly."

Loki said, "They’re Super Heroes, and every one of them has special abilities. Holding them will require a great deal of thought and effort, and if we aren’t careful, they could turn the tables on us. Kill them, and it’s over."

"Although I hate Loki, I agree with her this time."

Nick Fury said, "We don’t have the energy to guard them. Sending them on their way is the best method. They wanted to massacre our Earth."

Tony said, "The feeling of killing ourselves is too awful."

Strange said, "We can take turns killing them. For example, I’ll kill the Tony Starks."

"You’ve wanted to kill me for a long time, haven’t you?"

Tony grumbled. After considering it, he said, "Exile them to other universes. What they do there is up to them."

Dr. Banner asked, "What if they come back?"

Tony said, "I’ll develop something to incorporate into their genes. The moment they return to this universe, they’ll die."

"Useless. No matter what method you develop, they can crack it, because they have Tony Stark too."

"I’m not some ordinary Tony Stark."

Tony said, "I’ll add Ikaris’s strongest genes to it. Unless other universes also have the strongest Eternals and those Eternals are willing to cooperate with them fully, they’ll never figure out how to break it.

"Besides, I won’t tell them about this. They won’t know where the shackles on them came from."

"In that case, it could work."

The group exchanged glances and nodded in agreement. Tony said, "All right, the prisoners are settled. Let’s discuss how to set up our defenses and deal with this crisis."

Everyone was about to nod when Friday said, "Mr. Stark, please return to New York immediately. A very terrifying person has appeared in New York."

Tony shouted, "Who? Strange, open a portal."

Friday activated a holographic projection, and a light screen appeared before them.

On the screen, an old man in an ugly helmet and a cloak floated in midair. Steel bars from nearby buildings, along with other metals, rapidly gathered around him, forming one strange steel force field after another.

With the steel bars pulled out, many buildings collapsed with a crash. Countless people screamed miserably. It looked as if the apocalypse had arrived.

"Damn, it’s Magneto. I’ll go deal with him immediately. He can easily destroy an entire city."

Tony’s expression changed slightly, and he hurried into the portal Strange had just opened.

"Should we go help?"

Spider-Man asked. Just then, Friday spoke again. "An enemy has been discovered in Los Angeles. Super Heroes are needed to deal with it."

Another light screen descended. In Los Angeles, a flaming motorcycle raced wildly through the streets. Wherever it passed, nearby stores exploded with thunderous blasts. Flames soared everywhere, and large numbers of citizens were instantly burned to ash.

"This is Ghost Rider, who once appeared in the Main Universe. His ability is Hellfire, and he can animate vehicles. Also, don’t look into his eyes, or you’ll be judged."

Friday introduced him. After Tony took control of Stark Industries, he had entered a vast amount of information into the database.

"Ghost Rider? Hellfire?"

Strange said, "This should fall under the magic side. I’ll handle it."

As he spoke, Strange opened a magic portal to Kamar-Taj. Then he said, "Wong, bring the sorcerers over to open portals for the Super Heroes. I think there may be quite a lot of enemies this time."

"Okay."

Wong immediately ran through the portal. He sighed. "There’s so much going on. I wonder when Kamar-Taj will finally be rebuilt?"

Kamar-Taj had been bombed by Old Tony and now needed to be rebuilt. That was also why Strange was so displeased with Iron Man.

"Take it slowly. Deal with this first."

Strange shook his head and stepped into the portal to Los Angeles. The moment he disappeared, Friday released several holographic projections in succession.