Qin Yi's Court-Martial

Winter gave way to summer.

Before they knew it, little Morgan had slowly grown up. Qin Yi was surprised to realize that it was already 2005.

He could not help but sigh. Once there was a child in the house, time really did fly by.

Fortunately, nothing much had happened over the past two years. Most of the time, Qin Yi and Howard and his wife had been keeping little Morgan company.

Tony and Pepper stayed at Stark Industries during the day, then returned to Howard Estate at night. Yet the two of them seemed never to have mentioned marriage or any other plans.

Four-year-old Morgan shouted from far away, "Uncle!"

As she shouted, her little legs carried her racing toward Qin Yi's open arms. Just before she reached him, she paused, then jumped from where she stood into his embrace amid a ripple of magic.

Nestled in Qin Yi's arms, the little girl obediently planted a kiss on his cheek. "Uncle, take me out to play."

Qin Yi rubbed her little head before lovingly telling her, "Morgan, remember, you can't use magic outside."

When the little girl had been three, Qin Yi had taken her to Kamar-Taj.

At the time, Ancient One had fallen silent for a long while after seeing the child in Qin Yi's arms, stunned by Morgan's magical talent.

Could that Kamar-Taj Complete Manual of Maternity Care Magic really be that effective?

Maybe it really was necessary to arrange for some obstetrics mages.

However, Qin Yi had not followed Ancient One's wishes and allowed little Morgan to form a magical contract with the Trinity Vishanti behind Kamar-Taj.

After consulting Ancient One, Qin Yi had, with her help, changed Morgan's magical contract so that it was formed with him instead.

With the inexhaustible energy granted by the sixty-one percent Fairy Force he possessed, along with the Phoenix Force fragment he had devoured—

And those Infinity Stones, Qin Yi felt that the terrifying power within him might have long surpassed those three ancient gods.

After helping little Morgan form her magical contract, Ancient One's eyes, gleaming with wisdom, had remained fixed on Qin Yi for a long time.

Unable to endure her stare any longer, Qin Yi had fled into a spatial vortex with little Morgan in his arms.

"Uncle!"

Morgan pinched Qin Yi's cheek with her little hand. Snapping out of it, Qin Yi could not help muttering inwardly, What's wrong with me? Why has my mind been wandering so badly lately? Could hunger have given me some kind of psychological problem? Looks like I'll need to find time to go back and ask Old Yao whether he has a solution.

"Where do you want to play, Morgan?"

The little girl bit her finger and thought for a long time before softly saying, "I want to play in the sky with Uncle. I want to fly."

Qin Yi looked at little Morgan, who had spread her arms and was waving them like a bird flapping its wings.

"Hold tight, little Morgan."

Qin Yi shot into the sky with the excited little girl in his arms. Having already flown far away, neither of them noticed Howard and his wife calling after Qin Yi.

Aunt Maria turned back angrily and said to Howard, "We need to rein Qin in."

Howard nodded in deep agreement. "Qin definitely heard us just now. He did it on purpose."

Howard thought helplessly that he truly had to do something about it. The boy spoiled Morgan too much. He had already reached the point of taking her into the sky to pick stars and the moon.

A few days ago, when little Morgan had returned from kindergarten, she had mentioned over dinner that her teacher had said stars and the moon could not be picked.

Yet just after dinner, while everyone was clearing the table, Qin Yi had secretly taken Morgan into outer space, to the skies above some dead planet in an unknown star system.

He had shattered that dead planet with one punch, then refined its core into a little necklace and hung it around the girl's neck.

If the little girl had not been unable to withstand Pepper's interrogation at bedtime and confessed the truth, the family would not even have known that Qin Yi had taken the child to such dangerous places.

The next morning, the entire family had held a court-martial for Qin Yi all morning. Yet only two days had passed, and he had taken little Morgan flying off to who knew where again.

In the sky—

Curled up in Qin Yi's arms, little Morgan sang excitedly with him. "I have a pair of invisible wings, / They carry me flying, / They give me hope."

Qin Yi took little Morgan from Antarctica to the Arctic, flying across the entire sky above Earth.

The little girl's cheerful laughter along the way made Qin Yi feel for the first time that he was no longer dreaming. It was all so real, and his heart no longer felt so empty.

After Qin Yi used magic to enclose a cloud, magical shielding cast by him flowed over little Morgan's body.

She leaped from his arms onto the cloud and happily bounced around on it.

After a long while—

Only when the little girl had grown a little tired did she lie in Qin Yi's arms and ask curiously, "Uncle, Teacher said today that we have to keep secrets. What's your biggest secret, Uncle?"

Qin Yi lay on the cloud with both hands behind his head, looking at little Morgan sprawled across his chest. "My biggest secret?"

The little girl nodded excitedly, stars shining in her eyes.

"Uncle used to be called Qin Anyi, and my nickname was Qin Bashi. But Uncle thought it sounded awful, so I changed my name to Qin Yi."

Morgan clenched her little fists and spoke to Qin Yi with a solemn expression. "Uncle, I'll keep your secret for you."

"Mm."

Amused by the little girl, Qin Yi laughed, then suddenly froze.

So the emptiness in his heart was because he had never heard those familiar voices again?

When Qin Yi secretly brought little Morgan back to Howard Estate, the two exchanged a glance. Morgan's eyes asked, Uncle, something doesn't seem right. Let's hide at Kamar-Taj for a couple of days.

Before the two could react, Tony, returning from Qin Yi's newly built laboratory, spotted them sneaking around by the door. "Qin, Morgan, what are you doing standing at the door?"

Morgan desperately waved her hands, signaling for her father to be quiet, but Tony did not understand what she meant at first.

Before the two could flee back to Kamar-Taj, Aunt Maria's voice from inside the house interrupted them. "Qin, have you brought Morgan back?"

Uh... After exchanging a look with the little girl, they obediently walked through the door.

In the living room—

Tony stared blankly at the scene before him. More than once, he wanted to ask what was going on.

But the strange atmosphere before him suppressed his curiosity. Tony understood that, given his rock-bottom status in the family, no one would likely tell him anyway.

Qin Yi and little Morgan sat on the sofa. Standing opposite them were Howard and his wife, along with Pepper.

The three of them were clearly holding something back. After organizing her words for a long time, Aunt Maria finally spoke to Qin Yi. "Qin, you're already twenty years old. You're not a child anymore. Look at you—this month alone, you've taken Morgan to other star systems three times, spent a day at the bottom of the sea, and played on the moon several times.

"What if you run into danger and can't come back? Is Earth too small for the two of you to play on?"

Seeing this, Tony finally understood what was happening.

He looked at Qin Yi with a conflicted expression. Had he misplaced his trust after all? In all these years, Qin Yi had never taken him anywhere like that to play.

The little girl lowered her head without saying a word. One hand clutched Qin Yi's clothes, and she looked utterly aggrieved.

Howard hurriedly stopped his wife from continuing her court-martial of Qin Yi. He picked up little Morgan and gently swayed as he coaxed his granddaughter.

Maria sighed helplessly at the sight. Then, as though remembering something, she hurriedly said to Pepper, "Pepper, keep an eye out for any nice girls and introduce a few to Qin. Otherwise, he'll keep running around everywhere all day."

At night—

After Howard and his wife had coaxed their little granddaughter to sleep, they returned to their room. Before long, both entered dreamland.

A spatial vortex suddenly appeared at the foot of their bed. After confirming the level of life force their bodies could withstand—

Qin Yi secretly channeled life force into them, his brow tightly furrowed. That doesn't make sense. Why is Uncle and Auntie's life force draining so much faster than it was a few years ago?

A moment later, Qin Yi vanished from the room with the spatial vortex.

Tony's room—

Pepper curiously asked Tony, who was lying in bed, "Is Qin really that powerful?"

Tony thought for a moment and nodded.

"How powerful?"

Faced with Pepper's question—

Tony pondered for a long time before finally saying, "As far as we know, he's the strongest person on Earth. Stronger than the Sorcerer Supreme, probably even stronger than the gods of legend. Powerful enough to travel to other universes whenever he wants."