You Shouldn't Have Revealed Your Identity

Fiddling with the Hextech Crystal in his hand, Luca seemed to gain a slightly better understanding of the synthesis rules for his golden finger.

It appeared that regardless of how unrelated the materials were, as long as they met the "name" requirements for synthesis components on the panel, the final item would remain identical to the original version.

This applied to its appearance, its efficacy, and even certain highly unscientific conceptual functions.

However, a golden finger was not something that concerned itself with science, and Luca found nothing about that difficult to accept.

It was just a pity that the Hexcore seemed to be another item that couldn't be synthesized in the short term.

As for a "stable small-scale reactor," the only thing that came to Luca's mind was the Arc Reactor in Tony Stark's chest, which the man guarded like a treasure. An ordinary person would certainly have no chance of getting their hands on one.

The other material, "four different magic runes," was even further out of reach; he figured only places like Kamar-Taj or Asgard would have them.

With both synthesis materials being so unattainable, Luca could only carefully stow away the white-glowing Hextech Crystal for the time being.

As for the remaining Monkey Bomb.

"Perhaps these are the only three Hextech Crystals in this world; using them purely as bombs does seem a bit wasteful."

Though he thought so, Luca still didn't separate the remaining two crystals.

After all, when the time came that he truly needed such things, no item was more precious than his own life.

He simply wrapped the bomb carefully in cloth strips to prevent any accidental activation.

When it came down to it, Hextech Crystals were far more unstable than Chitauri crystals; even ordinary bumps and knocks could potentially cause them to detonate.

Furthermore, aside from the synthesis rules, Luca noticed that the "1/5" next to "Arcane" on his panel had changed to "2/5."

"Perhaps something different will happen once I collect five core components from the same world?"

Putting these thoughts to the back of his mind and looking at the mess of supplies, Luca hesitated for a moment before deciding to toss the two headless Chitauri corpses out.

His home was already in ruins and had been "invaded" by aliens; once the war ended, official personnel would surely come to clean up.

If he were only hiding two Folding Light Guns and a purple crystal, no one might notice, but with two massive corpses lying here, they would definitely be recovered by the authorities. It was better to discard them now and avoid the trouble later.

Luca walked to the hole in his wall and leaned out to peer down at the street.

Confirming no one was below, he dragged one of the Chitauri corpses over and threw it down.

However, the moment Luca tossed the second corpse, he immediately heard a scream from below. Even with the constant sound of gunfire and explosions echoing through the air, the cry was not drowned out.

Oh no! Did I hit someone?!

Luca immediately leaned out again to look, but the sight before him caused his expression to shift rapidly.

For in the alleyway below the building, there stood four people he was all too familiar with.

One was a tall, green-skinned giant, currently crouching down to check on a companion who had been struck by the falling corpse.

The green giant casually flicked the corpse—which Luca had struggled so hard to throw—a dozen meters away.

The unlucky fellow who had been hit was wearing a dark red leather suit, his mouth twitching as he cursed and tried to stand up.

Of the other two, one wore a blue bodysuit and held a circular metal shield.

Although the last man was wearing an ordinary jacket, Luca had just seen a younger version of that very face.

Indeed, the four people who had suddenly appeared below were the Hulk, Bruce Banner; Ant-Man, Scott Lang; Captain America, Steve Rogers; and Iron Man, Tony Stark.

More importantly, Luca knew clearly that all four of them had come from the future.

Damn it! Isn't this the plot of Avengers: Endgame?!

There was no time to overthink it as he saw all four of them look up at once.

Luca's expression shifted rapidly, and he immediately put on a look of panic and confusion.

"S-sorry! My house was invaded by aliens; I checked and thought there was no one down there..."

"Oh my god! Are you Iron Man, Captain America, and the Hulk? I've seen you on TV!"

Seeing Luca's incoherent babbling, the four below relaxed slightly.

Tony Stark, the quickest to react, spoke first, gesturing toward Luca.

"Hey, kid, it's not your fault. Get back inside and hide, keep yourself safe!"

Hearing Tony's words, Steve Rogers also realized that the four of them had indeed appeared suddenly, and Scott getting hit was just bad luck.

Recalling his own appearance from ten years ago, Steve straightened his posture slightly and said in a clear voice.

"Kid, get back inside. We're dealing with the aliens; we'll have this resolved soon!"

Luca, who had no desire to have any further contact with these people, didn't intend to say anything more.

However, before he could retreat into the room.

"ROAR~~~"

Amidst an angry roar, a green giant several times more massive than the Bruce Banner before him jumped over, holding a wrecked car high above his head with a loud "BOOM."

He began to smash the vehicle repeatedly against an unlucky Chitauri.

Only after the car and the Chitauri trapped beneath it were flattened into a metal pancake did the enraged green giant roar again and leap away to parts unknown.

The scene turned awkward in an instant.

Everyone, including Luca Orange, turned their gaze toward Dr. Banner, who was covering his face and at a loss for words.

"Was that... the Hulk's brother?"

Seeing the four of them standing there in an awkward stupor instead of getting on with their business, Luca had no choice but to play dumb to break the silence.

"Uh... right, right! Exactly! He is the Hulk's brother, um... Green Chunk! That's it!"

Scott pointed at Bruce Banner beside him, gesturing wildly with his hands.

At the last moment, he thought for a second, and for some inexplicable reason, added another line.

"Oh, and also, you can call me Ant-Man, um, even though I haven't been on TV yet!"

The others all looked at Scott with speechless expressions.

Seeing the problem resolved, Luca naturally prepared to tactfully withdraw.

He left behind a "Good luck to you all" and immediately retreated back into the house.

The group downstairs exchanged glances and quickly departed the area, though Tony Stark still whispered a warning to Scott beside him.

"You shouldn't have revealed your identity; it could affect the future of this timeline."

"Especially since the person you told was that kid, Luca Orange!"