You Shouldn't Have Revealed Your Identity

As Luca toyed with the Hextech Crystal in his hand, he seemed to understand a little more about the rules behind his cheat.

It seemed that no matter how unrelated the materials were, as long as they met the "name" requirements for the synthesis materials listed on the panel, the resulting item would be identical to the original.

That went for its appearance and effects, even some highly unscientific conceptual functions.

But cheats like this didn't have to make scientific sense in the first place, so Luca had no trouble accepting it.

It was just a shame that the Hexcore seemed to be another item he wouldn't be able to synthesize anytime soon.

As for a "stable miniature reactor," the only thing Luca could think of was the Arc Reactor in Tony Stark's chest. Tony treasured that thing, so an ordinary person like Luca had no chance of getting his hands on it.

The other material, "four different magical runes," was even more out of reach. His only chance of finding those was probably somewhere like Kamar-Taj or Asgard.

Both synthesis materials were far too distant for now, so Luca could only carefully put away the white-glowing Hextech Crystal.

That left the Monkey Bomb.

"Maybe these are the only three Hextech Crystals in the world. Using one just as a bomb does seem like a waste."

Even so, Luca didn't take the other two crystals out separately.

After all, when it came down to needing one, his life would be worth more than even the most precious item.

He just carefully wrapped the bomb in a strip of cloth to avoid setting it off by accident.

When it came down to it, Hextech Crystals were far more unstable than Chitauri crystals. Even an ordinary bump could make one explode.

Besides the synthesis rules, Luca also noticed that the "2/5" after "Arcane World" on the panel had changed from "1/5."

"Maybe something will change once I collect five Core Components from the same world?"

Putting those thoughts aside for the moment, Luca surveyed the wreckage of his belongings. After a brief hesitation, he decided to throw both headless Chitauri corpses outside.

His home was a complete mess, and it had been "invaded" by aliens. Once the war was over, the authorities would surely come to clean up.

If he hid just two Chitauri Folding Light Guns and a purple crystal, they might go unnoticed. But with two huge corpses lying around, the officials would definitely collect them. He might as well dump them now and save himself the trouble later.

Luca walked over to the hole in the wall and leaned out to look down.

After making sure there was no one below, he dragged one of the Chitauri corpses over and tossed it down.

But when Luca threw the second corpse down, he immediately heard someone below cry out in pain. Even with the constant gunfire and explosions outside, the scream rang clear.

"Crap! Did I hit someone?!"

Luca immediately leaned halfway out again to check, but the sight below made his expression change several times.

Because at that moment, four people he recognized all too well had appeared in the alley below.

One was tall, with green skin all over. He was crouched down, checking on his companion, who'd been hit by the corpse that had fallen from the sky.

With an effortless toss, the green giant sent the corpse Luca had struggled to throw out the window flying more than ten meters away.

The unlucky man who'd been hit was wearing a dark red leather suit. His mouth twitched as he cursed and tried to get back to his feet.

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

The last was dressed in an ordinary jacket, but Luca had just seen a younger version of his face.

There was no mistaking it. The four people who'd suddenly appeared below were Bruce Banner, the Hulk; Scott Lang, Ant-Man; Steve Rogers, Captain America; and Tony Stark, Iron Man.

More importantly, Luca knew that all four of them were from the future.

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

Before he had time to think, the four of them looked up at once.

Luca's expression shifted quickly. He immediately put on a startled look.

"I-I'm sorry. Aliens invaded my home, and I checked that no one was below before I threw it..."

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

Hearing Luca stumble over his words, the four below relaxed a little.

Tony Stark reacted first. He pointed up at Luca and spoke.

"Hey, kid, this isn't your fault. Get back inside and hide. Keep yourself safe!"

Hearing Tony's words, Steve Rogers realized that the four of them had appeared out of nowhere. Scott getting hit really was just bad luck.

Recalling what he'd looked like ten years ago, Steve straightened up and called out, "Kid, get back inside. We're dealing with the aliens. We'll have this wrapped up soon!"

Luca hadn't wanted to get too involved with these people in the first place, so he didn't plan to say anything more.

But before he could retreat inside—

"ROAR~~~"

Amid a furious bellow, a Hulk several times bulkier than Bruce Banner leaped over from the main road, holding a wrecked car over his head. It landed with a crash.

He began smashing a hapless Chitauri with a tremendous clanging and banging.

Only after the car and the Chitauri pinned beneath it had nearly been pounded into a sheet of metal did the enraged Hulk roar again and leap away. No one knew where he went.

The scene turned awkward in an instant.

Everyone, Luca included, looked at Dr. Banner, who was covering his face and seemed at a loss for words.

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

Seeing that the four people below were all standing there awkwardly instead of hurrying off to take care of business, Luca could only play dumb and break the silence.

"Uh... yes, yes! Exactly! He's the Hulk's older brother. Um... Green Chunk! That's right!"

Scott pointed at Bruce Banner beside him, gesturing wildly as he spoke.

Then, after a moment's thought, he added, for some reason, "Oh, and you can call me Ant-Man. Though I haven't been on TV yet!"

The others stared at Scott, speechless.

Seeing that the awkward moment had passed, Luca decided it was best to take his leave.

"Good luck, everyone," he said, then immediately ducked back inside.

The people below exchanged glances and quickly left the scene. But Tony Stark still quietly reminded Scott, "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!"