Tony’s New Armor

Li Congxin was still holding his phone in one hand, but his eyes had already fallen on the corpse at the center of the examination table. Tony suddenly jolted and nearly dropped his phone.

Received Impression Points from Tony Stark...

Received...

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"You guy, weren’t you just saying you were on the battlefield between the Shi’ar Empire and the Kree Empire? How did you… Fine, you don’t need to explain. I know you used spatial abilities to teleport back."

Received Impression Points from Tony Stark +99999!

The ability to go wherever you wanted was truly enviable!

He absolutely couldn’t let that envy show. Otherwise, it would only make this guy even more smug.

Compared to Tony’s emotional reaction, Old Pi was clearly much steadier. He had immediately caught the key point in Li Congxin’s earlier words. "You know this person?"

Looking at the corpse lying on the table, its face deathly pale and its body giving off a foul stench, Li Congxin said without changing expression, "More or less."

"More or less?"

Everyone focused their puzzled gazes on Li Congxin. Such an ambiguous answer clearly failed to satisfy them.

Li Congxin shrugged and continued, "I’ve seen this guy in another Parallel Universe. However, the corpse in front of us isn’t the same person I saw in that Parallel Universe. Their relationship is much closer than that. As for how exactly to describe it…"

"Wait a moment!" Tony hurriedly interrupted Li Congxin’s explanation and asked, "What exactly do you mean by Parallel Universe and ‘the same person’? Is it the same concept as the timeline you traveled through before?"

Li Congxin seriously shook his head and explained, "Many people have counterparts with similar fates in Parallel Universes. Most of them are people favored by fate. For example, the few of you. But although individuals with similar fates exist in every universe, changes in external factors mean they aren’t completely identical. Take Tony, for example…"

Tony: "Why use me as an example?"

"Because you’re more representative."

Tony: ???

Received Impression Points from Tony Stark +66666!

What kind of explanation was that?

Still, he didn’t dwell on the matter. After all, he was also curious about what sort of life he had ended up living in other Parallel Universes.

Li Congxin continued, "In other Parallel Universes, some versions of you are good people, while others become bad people. Some eat themselves into being shut-in fatsoes, while others obtain fulfilling lives."

Tony’s eyes lit up. "Tell me more about the one who obtained a fulfilling life."

Li Congxin smiled faintly. "In that Parallel Universe, you’re a woman named Toni Stark. Using your brilliant mind, you also became Iron Man and found the true love destined for you—Captain America Steve Rogers. The two of you married amid everyone’s blessings…"

"Stop!"

After hearing about the life of the Parallel Universe’s iron lady, Tony instantly broke out in goosebumps.

That scene was simply too beautiful. Forget seeing it—Tony didn’t even dare imagine it!

Received Impression Points from Tony Stark +99999!

Li Congxin chuckled. "These things are merely clues I glimpsed from the trajectories of fate. I don’t know whether the you two from that Parallel Universe are already together or still passionately in love. If you haven’t married yet, I’ll definitely take a commemorative photo on your wedding day and send it back to you."

Received Impression Points from Tony Stark +99999!

This was simply bullying Iron Man too much!

So what if he could travel through Parallel Universes?

…That did sound pretty impressive.

How infuriating!

Seeing Howard Stark’s son being needled by Li Congxin like this, Old Pi was delighted. However, he could also see that Tony was about to explode. To avoid affecting the team’s unity, he stepped forward and coughed lightly before steering the conversation back to the vampire’s corpse. "Clark, you just said this corpse isn’t related to your Parallel Universe theory. Then what exactly is it?"

Li Congxin shrugged and gave a scientific term everyone present could understand and even put into practice. "A clone."

A cloned vampire?

That was some seriously wild stuff!

After hearing Li Congxin’s answer, the scientists lost interest in the vampire’s corpse.

Everyone had gathered merely to investigate the source of this thing. Now that Li Congxin already knew the answer, there was naturally no need for them to conduct further scientific research.

Cloning was child’s play to the scientific bigwigs of the Avengers.

As for the vampire itself having research value?

Forget that it was only the corpse of a clone. Even if it had been the original, so what? Could it possibly have more research value than Thanos’s corpse?

Seeing that everyone had already left, Tony finally said, "Actually, the corpse itself isn’t much of a problem. But its target was Little Peter, and its attacks were extremely vicious. Fortunately, I had installed an alarm on the suit I gave Peter earlier. When he was in mortal danger, I received the warning and rushed over to support him. Otherwise, that kid probably wouldn’t have been able to deal with an enemy like this."

Li Congxin nodded lightly. "You can tell from the wounds on this corpse."

That was what he said aloud, but Li Congxin was already pondering the matter in his mind.

Gwen had been attacked, and Peter had also been attacked—by the same person. Moreover, judging from the fate trajectory of the one who attacked Gwen, the opponent was definitely not acting alone. They were targeting Spider-Man with organization and premeditation.

Or perhaps they were hunting Spider-Man?

Although this guy was already dead, and his fate trajectory had vanished along with his death, Li Congxin was a Multiversal Level powerhouse who could use the Time Stone’s power to glimpse the circumstances of his appearance. However, he couldn’t see the fate trajectory surrounding him from the timeline of the past. Unless he directly crossed the timeline and returned to the moment when Little Peter was attacked to observe it himself.

But if he did that, he would only throw the opponent’s fate trajectory into chaos. The intervention of a Multiversal Level powerhouse could change far too many things.

Judging solely from the fate trajectory of the vampire who attacked Gwen, Li Congxin still couldn’t determine whether the opponent’s organization was a common entity spanning Parallel Universes or a Multiversal Level criminal organization operating across multiple Parallel Universes.

"How is it? Have you thought of any clues about the culprit?"

Tony had always possessed a particular fondness for Little Spider. Li Congxin even felt that after passing marriageable age, this guy’s paternal instincts had begun overflowing. He seemed to regard Little Spider as his own son.

There shouldn’t be anything wrong with Tony in that regard, right? Did he really need to seek psychological comfort this way?

Li Congxin shook his head and said, "I can only say that the danger probably hasn’t passed. There’s a high chance Little Peter will be attacked again. I also need to keep an eye on the Phoenix Force and Dormammu. With great power comes great responsibility. You’re Iron Man, so it’s decided—you’re the one. This delicate flower of the Avengers is your responsibility to protect."

Tony was sent reeling by Li Congxin’s barrage of flattery. Still, he didn’t object to protecting Little Spider and agreed after a token struggle.

At that moment, Li Congxin began casually surveying Tony’s laboratory. Tony had already upgraded his Iron Man suit to Mark 83, while Number 84 was still under development.

Tony seemed quite confident in his research. The data was displayed openly on a projection screen nearby, and he wasn’t worried about anyone else seeing it.

Li Congxin casually glanced over. His super vision and supercomputational abilities activated naturally, and in an instant, he understood Tony’s objective.

There was no denying it—this guy was a genius!

Seeing that Li Congxin was interested in his research, Tony finally found a chance to strike back. He casually asked, "Well? Can you figure out what project I’m researching?"

Li Congxin smiled faintly and answered casually, "After the nanotechnology of Mark 49 and Mark 50, you spent several years perfecting nanotechnology. Now you’re finally preparing to abandon ordinary nanomaterials and make a new breakthrough."

Received Impression Points from Tony Stark +99999!

He had actually gotten it right!

Tony shook his head. He stubbornly believed that Li Congxin had merely deduced the result from the facts at hand, rather than understood the genius design he had poured countless hours into.

However, before he could say anything else, Li Congxin continued on his own. "You’re combining the Extremis Virus with nanotechnology. That way, the nanomaterials can become part of the body. Not only will they be controlled more naturally, they’ll also possess powerful self-repair capabilities. On top of that, there are many other benefits. It really is a genius idea."

Hearing Li Congxin say this, Tony finally abandoned the idea of showing off to a nonhuman. Just as he was beginning to feel bored, he heard Li Congxin continue, "However…"

Tony was taken aback. "However what?"

"There’s a very small error in your calculation formula. It directly caused deviations throughout the entire set of data." Li Congxin spoke with complete confidence. "Friday, back up the current data, then change the formula here…"

"Understood, Mr. Clark."

Received Impression Points from Tony Stark +99999!

Li Congxin calmly explained his suggestions to Friday. Beside him, Tony’s eyes widened again. "Oh, Clark, what exactly did you do to Friday? How can she execute your commands?"

Li Congxin answered casually, "I merely used reality manipulation to temporarily give myself command authority over Friday. It’ll be over in a moment. What are you panicking about?"

"How could I not panic?" Tony said nervously. "If an enemy could do the same thing during battle, then how could I possibly have any security?"

Li Congxin shrugged. Do you have any idea what Multiversal Level means? Are you even qualified to call someone at that level an ‘enemy’?

Tony was about to say something else when Friday’s voice suddenly rang out again. "Calculation successful. All data is normal. You can proceed to the experimental stage."

Tony: (⊙_⊙)