"Of course, aside from feeding, there was also the path of adaptive evolution."
"But if you wanted to improve your strength through adaptive evolution..."
"You needed to go somewhere that made you extremely uncomfortable and harmed your body, stay there for a while, and your body would automatically evolve the ability to resist it."
"The harsher the environment, the faster the adaptive evolution."
Harvey taught Tony Stark some of the experience he had gained over the past few years.
He was not afraid that Tony Stark would surpass him, so he had no reason to be stingy with this knowledge.
"A harsh environment? Like an incredibly dry desert?"
Tony Stark fell into thought at those words.
"No. The surface of a desert would only make you slightly uncomfortable and merely make you resistant to that kind of heat."
"But if you wanted to gain a deeper level of evolution in the desert..."
"You would need to voluntarily venture beneath the desert and let yourself be buried alive by the yellow sand for a while."
"The immense pressure of being buried by sand was what would grant your body deeper abilities."
"The ocean worked on the same principle. As long as you could stay there for a period of time, you would definitely evolve the ability to breathe underwater."
"However, if you wanted to withstand water pressure and enter the deep sea, you would need time to adapt and evolve."
Harvey shook his head and explained.
"It sounds like adaptive evolution requires risking your life."
Tony Stark had originally wanted to pursue both paths at once, but after hearing Harvey Anberaka's words, he immediately dismissed the idea.
"In essence, it really is risking your life."
"Adaptive evolution occurs when you are trapped in an extreme environment with no other choice, forcing you to rapidly adapt and strengthen your ability to survive."
"Of course, if you wanted to travel through the universe with your physical body, explore various harsh environments in search of truth, and fight all kinds of powerful enemies along the way..."
"You needed to make every preparation you could foresee and strengthen yourself in order to ensure your survival."
Harvey nodded in deep agreement and spoke slowly.
"Traveling through the void with one's body..."
Hearing this, Tony Stark recalled the enormous void creatures he had just seen, each as vast as a galaxy.
Tony Stark could not comprehend just how powerful they were.
But he understood one thing: if one truly evolved to that extent, then forget traveling freely through the universe—the universe itself would be nothing more than a backyard.
The universe's various radiation hazards, things like Gamma Rays, were utterly insignificant to such terrifying void creatures.
Moreover, those unimaginably evolved monsters were all merely one of the powers Harvey Anberaka possessed.
Forget evolving to Harvey Anberaka's level; even reaching the pinnacle of one of the powers Harvey Anberaka wielded would likely require an immeasurable amount of time.
Fortunately, his lifespan was no longer limited to a mere hundred years. As long as he lived long enough, one day he would surely glimpse the truth of the void and obtain one of its powers.
And as the first person to join the void, Tony Stark felt that before anyone else joined it, he needed to evolve further and let those who came later understand what it meant to be a pioneer.
"It really does sound fascinating."
A smile appeared on Tony Stark's face.
Before this, Tony Stark had only dared to imagine relying on technology he invented to enter space.
As long as he continued researching his Iron Man armor, traveling through the areas near Blue Planet beyond its atmosphere should not have been a dream, but an achievable ideal.
But entering space directly with his physical body was something he had never even dared to imagine.
Even setting aside humanity's difficult need to breathe, the intense ultraviolet rays unblocked by the ozone layer alone could kill him outright, let alone all manner of radiation and cosmic rays.
"Don't get happy too soon. Just because you joined the void did not mean you could do whatever you wanted now."
"There are some major figures on Blue Planet as well. If you provoke them, they could bring death upon you while you are still weak."
Seeing Tony Stark's smile, Harvey reminded him.
"Major figures? You mean Captain Marvel?"
Tony Stark immediately thought of a name and asked.
"That Captain Marvel is currently helping the inhabitants of various planets throughout the universe, so you do not need to worry about her for now."
"The one you need to watch out for most is the Ancient One, Sorcerer Supreme. She has protected Blue Planet for hundreds of years."
Since Tony Stark had officially joined the void and was now on his side, Harvey revealed more information to him.
That way, Tony Stark would not foolishly act recklessly and end up drawing the Ancient One, Sorcerer Supreme here.
"Protected humanity for hundreds of years? The Ancient One, Sorcerer Supreme, is not human either?"
Tony Stark asked in disbelief.
After all, he had never heard of any human who had lived beyond one hundred and fifty years.
Now Harvey Anberaka was talking about someone who had lived for centuries, which he found unbelievable.
"She is human. She merely wields the power of magic and has extended her lifespan through certain methods."
"Usually, she does not easily interfere in matters on the material plane, because she oversees the magical world and enemies from various dimensions."
Harvey explained.
"I always believed magic was something fictional."
"But now that I have met you and joined the void, it does not seem impossible that someone in the universe could wield magic."
Tony Stark pondered for a moment, then muttered to himself.
"Forget the universe. Blue Planet alone has many powers ordinary people cannot comprehend."
"You have only just stepped beyond the bounds of humanity. To ordinary people, your strength will soon surpass common sense."
"But compared to powerful people who possess all kinds of superpowers and magic, you are currently no more than an ant that knows it can fight."
Harvey used his words to temper Tony Stark.
"Although I know I am weak right now, could you at least describe me as a person?"
The fire burning in Tony Stark's heart was doused by a bucket of cold water. He did not question Harvey Anberaka's words, but wanted to correct him.
He had lived as a human for nearly forty years. Although joining the void had drastically changed both his race and the world he came into contact with, even if his level of life had changed, his way of thinking was still human.
"I was only talking about the difference in strength, but it is good that you have this awareness."
"It will help you better resist the temptations of desire in the future."
Harvey glanced at Tony Stark with some appreciation and praised him.
"How strong is the Ancient One, Sorcerer Supreme?"
"Hurry up and tell me more. Once Pepper joins too..."
"I will be able to brag to her... explain it to her."
Tony Stark kept everything Harvey Anberaka had said in mind and asked curiously.
Now that he had joined the void and Harvey Anberaka's faction, he should have truly come into contact with the extraordinary world beyond humanity's reach.
Yet he knew far too little about that extraordinary world.
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