2 Years Later

Marvel Main Universe

Earth

2008

Qin Yi had been gone for a full two years.

Over those two years, nothing major had happened on Earth.

Seven-year-old Morgan had become especially well-behaved, though sometimes she would tug on her father's hand and ask,

"Dad, when will Uncle come back?"

Tony smiled bitterly as he stroked Morgan's head. He had no idea what Qin Yi had encountered.

Thirty-eight-year-old Tony

had already upgraded to the Mark VII back in 2005—the year the military restarted the Super Soldier Program, and an experimental accident turned Dr. Banner into the Hulk.

It was the very armor used during the Battle of New York at the end of The Avengers.

After his father passed away, Tony had developed a new element ahead of schedule to replace the palladium used in the previous generations of reactors, creating a harmless and more powerful reactor.

However, Tony had never publicly appeared in armor.

He clearly remembered some of the things he had asked the Avengers heroes of that universe in the Zombie Universe.

Tony had also made a suit of Iron Man armor for Qin Yi, but he did not know whether he would ever have the chance to give it to him.

He truly could not imagine what kind of crisis could make someone as powerful as Qin Yi disappear for two years.

He did not dare think about it. Perhaps Qin Yi had already left this world.

Tony had turned another type of fully automated combat armor into an intelligent home butler.

He remembered Qin Yi saying that if they continued developing military combat armor, Earth might once again be shrouded by an arms race and the shadow of war.

After his experiences in the Zombie Universe, Tony's horizons had surpassed the limits of his era. He was no longer the playboy arms dealer he once was.

Over the past few years, the Ikong product line had undergone fourteen generations of upgrades, and Stark Communications Group's market value had even left Stark Industries far behind.

As the CEO of Stark Industries and the owner of half the shares in Stark Communications Group, Tony had become the richest man on Earth in public view.

Making money was no longer Tony's goal, though sometimes he still felt a little indignant. Why was a company selling phones and computers worth so much?

Tony had heard

that Magneto had started a company, though not a construction company. It was a charitable disaster relief company.

In recent years, Mutants had even shown signs of becoming superheroes. The internet was filled with fervent fans cheering for Magneto.

Everything on Earth was quiet, as though the curtain on the grand play had yet to rise.

Bucky had remained near Howard Estate to protect Tony's family. He felt grateful toward Qin Yi, who had once saved his universe.

He believed that if this universe encountered a crisis in the future, Qin Yi would surely be the savior.

Bucky drove with Tony to take Morgan to school. After Morgan entered the campus,

Tony finally said to Bucky,

"Bucky, I'm going to Afghanistan this afternoon. You and Happy help look after Morgan for the next few days."

Tony turned to glance at Bucky in the driver's seat. The moment he heard Afghanistan, his face had filled with shock.

He waved a hand in front of Bucky.

After a moment of silence, Bucky finally said,

"I'll go with you."

Tony did not think much of it and nodded. It was just a trip to give a demonstration and sell some weapons along the way. Two people it was.

On the way to Stark Industries, Bucky remained expressionless. He clearly remembered that the Tony of his universe had been kidnapped in Afghanistan and held in a cave. Later, he escaped in the Mark I and became Iron Man.

Was history going to repeat itself?

But this time, it should not happen, right?

Bucky clenched his fists, feeling the strength he had gained after taking the Heart-Shaped Herb, as well as the Vibranium outfit T'Challa had tailored specifically for him. That should be more than enough to handle a group of terrorists.

When the two arrived at Stark Industries, Pepper was not there.

After Qin Yi disappeared, Tony had been too busy to manage everything, so he had sent Pepper to help run Stark Communications Group.

Tony gave Happy a few instructions, then nodded amid Happy's chest-thumping assurances.

The two drove toward the military airport.

In another universe that had already turned into Void,

a constantly spinning vortex stared in confusion at the pitch-black universe.

The universe, where no matter remained, made it incredibly agitated.

Until it discovered something like a watch beside the vortex.

Excitedly, the vortex sent out a strand of energy and pulled toward the object.

The watch flashing with red light instantly transformed into a massive spaceship.

A familiar voice sounded inside the spaceship.

"Bzz! Bzz! Warning! Warning! Life-threatening danger detected. Initiating forced awakening procedure."

The vortex stared at the spaceship with puzzled eyes, as though it had remembered something.

Inside the spaceship, Mechanical Entity 89757, forcibly awakened, shook itself awake for a moment before furiously shouting at the ship's screen,

"I haven't even finished evolving yet..."

The spaceship's warning sounds lasted only a moment before stopping.

Mechanical Entity 89757 turned its head and looked over, only to discover in horror that its spaceship was gradually being swallowed by a vortex.

It swiftly leaped out of the ship. After escaping the vortex's pull,

it looked at the Void universe before it and the vortex that had already devoured the entire spaceship.

It sensed a familiar aura from the vortex before it.

"Hey, Host, is that you, Host? Don't scare me, Host!"

Mechanical Entity 89757 hurriedly pulled a gemstone radiating holy light from its body and threw it forward. It was quickly dragged into the vortex.

After devouring the gemstone, the vortex seemed to regain a trace of clarity.

A confused voice came from within it.

"You little bastard?"

Mechanical Entity 89757 immediately jumped up and shouted,

"It's me, Host! It's me!"

After some time,

"Host, how did you end up like this? Did something go wrong with your cultivation?"

Mechanical Entity 89757 curiously asked Qin Yi.

Qin Yi, who had returned to human form, grabbed 89757 by its mechanical neck.

"Why did you insist on choosing Fairy Force for me to fuse with back then?"

89757 gave a few embarrassed chuckles before saying,

"At the time... Fairy Force was the only one sealed away..."

Qin Yi gripped the mechanical entity's neck and shook it.

"Then didn't you know what I would turn into once my hunger reached 100%?"

The mechanical entity struggled symbolically twice before saying,

"I knew. I knew."

Qin Yi wanted nothing more than to dismantle this useless system right now. Gritting his teeth, he shouted,

"Then why the hell didn't you think of a way to solve it for me?"

Mechanical Entity 89757 froze for a moment before awkwardly saying,

"Didn't I give you one back then?"

The expression on Qin Yi's face immediately froze. He seriously recalled everything that had happened since meeting this useless system, before arriving in the Marvel Universe.

"So you had a fucking solution, but forgot to give it to me? Huh?"

"Hehe."

Mechanical Entity 89757 awkwardly rummaged around inside its body for a long time, then pulled out a seven-colored heart-shaped stone and handed it to Qin Yi.

Qin Yi took it and examined it for a long while before asking,

"What is this thing? It doesn't have some kind of negative effect too, does it?"

89757 placed its two mechanical arms on its waist and said with certainty,

"No, no. Don't worry, Host. This thing is usually not very useful, but it's extremely useful for your current situation."

Qin Yi asked in confusion,

"How do I use it? Eat it or wear it?"

The mechanical entity stared in astonishment as Qin Yi swallowed the heart-shaped stone in one bite. Then it looked at the Void universe around them, thought for a moment, and asked,

"Host, you didn't eat the entire universe, did you?"

Qin Yi looked around.

"This universe was already destroyed because of its collapse. Judging by the current situation, I probably ate all the remaining matter."

Qin Yi asked 89757 again,

"Did you finish evolving?"

The mechanical entity shook its head.

"You interrupted me, and the spaceship is gone too. Now I really can't leave this greater universe."

Qin Yi patted the sighing mechanical entity.

"Don't think too much about it. I'll return to the main universe first. Who knows how much time has passed? I even ate everything in the magic space."

Hearing this, the awakened Mechanical Entity 89757 nodded and transformed back into a watch around Qin Yi's left wrist.