When Silence Was the Most Terrifying

Twenty-four days passed before anyone realized it.

One morning, while Harvey was having breakfast, he received a call from Tony. The first thing Tony said after the call connected was—

"Did you settle it?"

"Yeah. After a lot of pleading and coaxing, I promised Pepper I’d definitely come back within a year, and she agreed."

"So, are you ready to leave now?"

"I’ll go after I finish breakfast. I’ll be gone for a year, after all. I might not get to eat a breakfast like this over there."

"No? You could make it yourself."

"Come on, do you really think I can cook? My cooking skills are probably about on par with most ordinary people."

"I’m having breakfast too. See you in a bit. There are some things I need to explain to you."

"About your identity in the universe?"

"Yeah. We’ll talk later."

Harvey was not surprised that Tony sounded so proud about not knowing how to cook. After all, Tony had been born with a golden spoon in his mouth.

Not knowing how to cook was indeed something Tony could take pride in, because he had never needed to do it himself.

A little over ten minutes later, Harvey finished breakfast, shut off every power source in his home, and headed straight to Tony’s estate.

Pepper knew Tony was leaving today, so she had not rushed off to work. Instead, she waited there.

"Good morning, Mr. Harvey. I heard some things."

"The universe isn’t Earth, so please take good care of Tony."

Upon seeing Harvey, Pepper gave a slight bow in greeting and sincerely entrusted Tony to him.

"Good morning, Miss Pepper. It has been several months."

"As for taking care of him, there’s no need for that. The universe may be dangerous, but with Tony’s intelligence, talent, and strength, he is more than capable of surviving there."

"It’s just that Tony still cannot directly enter the universe, so his range of activity is limited to Earth for now."

Seeing Pepper, Harvey smiled and returned her greeting.

"I also believe in Tony’s talent and strength, but the universe is a place filled with unknowns for both of us."

"I hope Mr. Harvey can look after Tony. I would be deeply grateful."

Pepper smiled slightly at those words, though worry still lingered in her eyes.

Tony had explained more things to her, so she understood why he wanted to head into the universe now.

If she could, Pepper would have liked to go with him. However, Stark Industries on Earth needed her to manage it, and she could not leave for the time being.

Neither she nor Tony had anyone around them who was sufficiently capable and trustworthy enough to be fully entrusted with it.

So she could only handle it herself. However, after this, she planned to cultivate a confidant, so that she would not be unable to accompany Tony into the universe in the future.

"Pepper, don’t worry so much."

"I gave you the Universal Communicator. I’ll contact you as soon as I get there."

"If you miss me, you can contact me directly anytime."

Seeing Pepper repeatedly ask Harvey to look after him, Tony felt both helpless and warm inside as he spoke.

The fundamental reason Pepper had agreed to let him go to the universe was that even after he got there, they could still talk remotely and would not be completely out of touch for an entire year.

Harvey did not mind how intimate the two were. He simply sat on the sofa and waited while they exchanged pleasantries.

Tony chatted with Pepper for a while before coming over to Harvey’s side.

"Harvey, sorry you had to see that."

Tony said somewhat embarrassedly.

"Didn’t you say that living forever without anyone by your side would be terribly lonely?"

"So it’s a good thing that you two have such a strong relationship."

Harvey did not mind.

"Yeah. Luckily, I have Pepper with me, so I don’t end up unable to take off my armor all the time."

Hearing Harvey’s words, Tony looked back at Pepper with tenderness in his eyes.

"By the way, just tell me whatever you need to explain."

The tenderness in Tony’s eyes faded as he looked at Harvey curiously.

"It isn’t anything complicated."

"You added my cosmic signal, so you should already know that my alias in the universe is Kassadin."

"That is an identity I use for the Void Cult I established."

"They all call me Great God of the Void Kassadin."

"As a member of the Void Cult, when you interact with the other members publicly, you should address me as Lord Kassadin."

"If you can befriend and recruit members of the Void Cult, that is your own ability."

"However, don’t expect to throw your weight around by borrowing my identity and reputation."

"Publicly, you must do that. Privately, it doesn’t matter if you call me Kassadin directly, but you cannot mention my name on Earth."

Harvey explained.

"God of the Void Kassadin. It really suits your title."

"I’ll remember it. I definitely won’t cause you any trouble."

Tony looked somewhat regretful as he spoke.

Because he had indeed originally planned to use Harvey’s name to get closer to the other members more easily.

After all, Harvey was the founder of the Void Cult and the guide who had led the others to believe in the Void.

If he had the status of someone close to Harvey, he would surely earn the respect of the other members.

However, Harvey had clearly seen through his thoughts and blocked that path outright.

Tony did not dwell on it for long. After all, Harvey did not mind him recruiting other Void Cult members, which was already a wonderful thing.

"As long as you remember. I’m taking you to a planet called Xandar."

"The Void Cult’s first base is also on a Private Island on that planet."

Harvey was relieved and casually explained some of the situation.

"The planet with the universe-famous Nova Corps? You really know how to pick a place."

Tony had learned about some of the universe’s civilizations from the books Harvey had previously brought back.

"Yeah. The Kree planet is just as advanced, but its laws and rules are rather troublesome."

"So I chose the equally advanced Xandar."

"Is there anything you plan to bring?"

Harvey nodded.

"Not much. Besides the gravity device you sent me, there’s Jarvis."

"Without Jarvis, the speed of my research and inventions would drop drastically."

Knowing he could visit Xandar, a famous major empire in the universe, Tony was somewhat excited.

"No wonder I haven’t heard Jarvis’s voice. Did you remove him beforehand?"

When Tony said he wanted to bring Jarvis along, Harvey finally noticed that he had been here for a while but had not heard Jarvis greet him as usual.

"I didn’t remove him. I just copied him and created a backup AI called Jarvis Two."

Tony explained.

The moment Tony finished speaking, a voice sounded. "Mr. Tony, how may I assist you?"

"It’s nothing. Just follow Pepper’s instructions as usual."

"Understood, Mr. Tony."

After receiving Tony’s command, Jarvis Two quickly fell silent.

"No wonder this took you so long. You spent the time creating a backup AI."

Harvey said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, wait a moment. Then we can leave."

"Armor, deploy!"

Tony nodded slightly, then stood up and walked to an unobstructed spot in the hall. Spreading his arms, he called out.

Usually, the armor would fly over automatically the moment he called for it. But several seconds passed without any response, and the air fell into a brief, frozen silence.

Tony had originally wanted to show off in front of Harvey, but not only had he failed to look cool, he instead earned a strange look from Harvey.

Tony wished he could dig a hole and crawl into it.

Five chapters today. Please vote.