After thinking it over carefully, Tony decided to have an open and honest talk with that alien.
As long as he wanted something, they could negotiate a solution.
If words failed, Tony would let him find out what Stark Industries' main line of business was.
He immediately drove to the Martial Arts School again with Happy and an interpreter.
Zhan Liu was conducting his usual class when he suddenly saw Tony arrive in a fury. He found it rather surprising.
His original plan had been to wait until he trained a disciple who reached Current Drive, then send that disciple to Stark Tower to mock Tony to his face—ridicule his scientific literacy and stir up his thirst for unknown knowledge.
As someone cursed by knowledge, he would never refuse unknown knowledge. Thus, on one timeline, he had once replaced Doctor Strange and become the Sorcerer Supreme. Magic was knowledge too, and there was no knowledge Tony wanted to learn that he could not master.
But now that Tony had suddenly come running over again, Zhan Liu became extremely curious. This did not fit the Tony Stark he knew.
"What did you do to me? What do you want?" Tony demanded aggressively the moment he arrived.
"You're rambling nonsense. What are you talking about?"
After waiting for the interpreter to translate his words to Tony, Zhan Liu flicked his hand and sent Tony and the others flying.
"Learn some manners next time. Thank you."
There were fewer people with Tony this time. He did not land on Happy's big belly, nor was there a head bodyguard to reach out and catch him. He hit the ground hard and rolled.
He scrambled up in embarrassment, then heard Zhan Liu's final words through the interpreter. Furious, he roared at the gate, "You say I have no manners? Ha! And you have manners? You've been interfering with my rest, giving me nightmares every night. Is this how you aliens show courtesy?"
The nightmares had become more frequent these past few days. They were driving him nearly insane, and his emotions were on the verge of spiraling out of control.
After cursing, he stormed toward the Martial Arts School again. But upon reaching the entrance, he abruptly stopped and pointed at the interpreter. "You. Go in and translate what I just said to him. Then come back and translate his words for me."
The last two times he had been sent flying, he had not fallen, so he could say he had suffered no loss and barged in without concern. But this time, he had hit the ground and learned what pain felt like. He was not about to keep asking for trouble.
As long as there was money to be made, the interpreter did not care about taking a tumble. He immediately jogged into the Martial Arts School and relayed Tony's words to Zhan Liu.
Zhan Liu had heard everything already, but he had no idea what Tony was saying. Nor did he want to search Tony's memories. The man was still a playboy; who knew whether his head was full of bodily fluids?
"I am the War God. I disdain such petty tricks and have never tampered with him. Perhaps he offended someone else, who is deliberately framing me. That cannot be ruled out."
The interpreter jogged back outside and conveyed the words to Tony.
After hearing this, Tony frowned deeply. He knew perfectly well that he had offended countless people. If he really investigated them all, even Jarvis would be unable to keep up.
After thinking for a moment, he shook his head. "No. I have a general grasp of all existing technology. There can't be any technology capable of bypassing my defenses and affecting me, unless it's alien technology I've never seen before."
The interpreter ran back inside once more.
Zhan Liu thought that there was no telling how much alien technology existed on Earth, but it was not necessarily beyond Tony's technological level.
The ones capable of doing this were most likely S.H.I.E.L.D.
But there had been no such scene in the movies. Was this a butterfly effect caused by the earlier Battle of Earth?
It would make sense if S.H.I.E.L.D. had obtained some intelligence from Nick Fury and was therefore framing him to Tony Stark.
But Tony was only an ordinary playboy now, not Iron Man. Why would S.H.I.E.L.D. think to drive a wedge between the two of them?
"Have him come in and explain the details to me."
The interpreter went outside and brought Tony in.
"Starting half a year ago, I kept having the same dream. It was an absurd dream."
"I actually dreamed of a New York Flood! Not the kind after heavy rain, but a vast, overwhelming flood that surged in and washed down countless skyscrapers..."
Tony had only said a few sentences when he saw that Zhan Liu's expression had become strange. His heart stirred. Instead of continuing, he asked directly, "Do you know something?"
Zhan Liu slowly nodded. "I know what happened... Let's talk inside."
He turned and entered the living room. Tony followed closely behind him.
They took their respective seats as host and guests. Before Zhan Liu could instruct a disciple to serve tea, Tony impatiently pressed, "You said you knew what happened?"
"That's right. It wasn't a dream. It was something that truly happened."
"What? Are you kidding me? Look at New York now. Where is there even the slightest trace of water? No amount of news censorship could cover up a disaster that massive."
"Because someone used Time Reversal magic to turn time back to before everything happened."
"Time Reversal?" This was not Tony's question, but the interpreter's. He suspected that he had misheard.
"You heard correctly. Time Reversal. Under normal circumstances, no ordinary person should retain memories of that time. But clearly, you, Tony Stark, have recovered the memories of that lost period. Translate that for him."
The interpreter was distracted and shaken as he stammered through the translation. Then he saw that Tony was not surprised in the slightest and accepted the explanation with ease.
"Magic really exists in this world?" Tony asked curiously.
"It does, but in the current universe, the age of magic has already ended. The age of technology is the universe's mainstream."
Zhan Liu had no intention of concealing it and told Tony the truth.
Unless tactics required it, the War God disdained lying.
"How did that disaster happen?"
"Carol Danvers and I fought. The enormous shock waves caused a tsunami to crash ashore."
"Carol Danvers? Is she an alien too?"
"No. She is an Earthling. You call her Captain Marvel."
"Did you use some high-powered weapon? To cause such a huge disturbance, didn't the Federal Government come after you?"
"We fought with our bodies. Our bodies are our strongest weapons. As for the so-called Federal Government? They are worthless and incapable of putting up a fight."
Zhan Liu's disdain was obvious, but Tony clearly did not believe him. He merely assumed the Federal Government had not deployed the military.
"Fine, none of that has anything to do with me. What I want to know is how to stop having this nightmare?"
Before you continue