Another Press Conference

Early morning

Qin Yi looked at Wanda in his arms and could not help reaching out to stroke her hair, quietly watching her for a long time.

After getting out of bed softly, Qin Yi made his way to the kitchen with practiced ease and began preparing breakfast.

Thinking of the dishes Aunt Maria used to make, he fell into deep thought again.

Last night

89757 had entered dormancy again. Qin Yi had not even had time to ask how one could become a God of Rules.

Could it be

that he had to kill the old God of Rules in order to replace them?

But that led back into a vicious cycle. If he was not a God of Rules, he could not find the old Gods of Rules.

If he could not find them, he could not kill them. And even if he did kill them, there was no guarantee he would successfully become a new God of Rules, never mind whether he could beat them in the first place.

How about

taking some time to return to Kamar-Taj and ask Old Yao? He did not know whether the God of Rules behind Old Yao, "Eternity," could still be contacted.

What had Tivan meant when he said this universe had changed?

Was it because it had merged with Mutants, along with factors such as the Inhumans and Atlanteans who had yet to reveal themselves?

Or was it because of his arrival?

Qin Yi rubbed his head.

It seemed he would not be finding the goddess "Death" anytime soon.

That meant bringing back Uncle Howard's and Aunt Maria's souls would have to be postponed as well.

And there was that absolute point in time in 2023.

What exactly were rules?

It was not until Wanda's suppressed laughter reached him that Qin Yi came back to his senses and discovered that the egg pancake in the pan had already burned.

The two exchanged a smile.

Wanda walked over and wrapped her arms around Qin Yi, and the two embraced.

Breathing in the scent of her hair, Qin Yi's heart gradually calmed.

Then the phone suddenly rang.

With an irritated wave of his hand, Qin Yi sent a stream of energy curling around the phone.

Who was it now?

Did they not know enough to pick a time before calling this early in the morning?

Qin Yi had intended to toss it far away, but when he saw Tony's profile picture, the phone was pulled into his hand by the energy.

After he answered, Tony's voice came through from the other end.

"Hey, Qin, um... Pepper, what are they called again? Oh, right, that Strategic Homeland Defense... Attack and Logistics Agency. That Coulson from yesterday wants to ask you something.

But they can't get into your building. He's at the backstage area from the last press conference."

After hanging up, Qin Yi asked Wanda,

"Want to come along?"

Wanda nodded happily, then said,

"I'll go change. Wait for me a bit."

Qin Yi had clearly underestimated just what kind of unit of time a girl's "a bit" was.

After boredly playing Prototype for an hour,

Qin Yi stared at the screen of his phone, which was filled with red.

After closing the game,

he angrily found A Wei's number and called him.

A Wei's excited voice came through.

"Ah, Boss, you finally remembered me!"

Before Qin Yi could say anything, A Wei continued excitedly,

"I never expected you to be a superpowered person too, Boss. Have you seen the internet? That video of yours has gone absolutely viral."

For a moment, Qin Yi actually forgot why he had called this kid, until he remembered the screen full of red.

"A Wei, which bastard designed the pitfall for this season? Hurry up and fire him for me."

A Wei's puzzled voice came through.

"Why, Boss?"

"Why? Is that fucking difficulty meant for humans???"

On the other side, A Wei's hand holding the phone trembled. He gathered his courage and said,

"Boss, is there a possibility that you're just too bad at it... That's an internal account you have, and if it wasn't difficult, how would it make tens of billions of dollars a year..."

Qin Yi's hand holding the phone trembled slightly. He fell silent for a moment.

"Give that bastard a bonus, then send him to the conference room. Make him play the pitfall for an entire day, and film him with your phone from the side. Not a single second less."

After hanging up, Qin Yi half-reclined on the sofa and sank into self-doubt.

Could it really be because he was just bad at it?

Stark Industries

Pepper awkwardly poured Coulson a glass of water.

The footage of last night's battle at Stark Industries Tower had spread online and fermented for a full day, sparking discussion throughout the United States.

Faced with the public's doubts, the military and Stark Industries had no choice but to hold another press conference.

It was just that

Tony sat backstage, rubbing his chin as if contemplating something, forcing the press conference to be delayed several times.

Coulson had not reported his desire to ask Qin Yi about something to his superior at the agency.

He simply felt that if those two could join their agency, saving the world would become much easier for them.

It was not as if he had never considered recruiting Mutants before.

But

for some reason, even when faced with the generous terms offered by the agency,

those Mutants looked as though they had all found great jobs, staring at Coulson without the slightest reaction.

As for the more famous Mutants among the X-Men, he could not even catch a glimpse of them.

Could they really have all found good jobs?

But how could there suddenly be so many good jobs?

At that moment,

a spatial vortex appeared beside them, and Qin Yi and Wanda stepped out of it.

Coulson stood up, took out a note, and handed it to Tony.

"Just read from this. Yesterday, you were on a yacht. We have testimony from fifty witnesses, and you only have ninety seconds."

Coulson glanced at Qin Yi again before adding,

"Mr. Qin, just explain it as being a Mutant."

Qin Yi looked at the familiar scene before him, quickly glanced around, and waved at the dazed Happy. But Happy remained where he was, staring blankly ahead.

Could he still not have recovered from the trauma of losing to Black Widow?

Qin Yi did not read Happy's thoughts. He still maintained the most basic respect for those around him.

"Happy?"

After being patted on the shoulder, Happy quickly straightened up.

"Boss Qin."

"Later, take your phone and record the entire press conference."

Happy nodded at that and followed Tony toward the front of the press conference.

Qin Yi found a good seat on the second floor and sat down.

At the press conference

As Tony appeared, Rhodes addressed the crowd.

"Mr. Stark has prepared a statement. He will not be taking any questions. Thank you!"

Tony looked conflicted as he walked onto the stage.

"Uh, it's been a while since I've shown my face. I'll just read the statement.

"Some have speculated that I personally participated in what happened at..."

The blonde female reporter who had spent a night with Tony interrupted his statement.

"Mr. Stark, do you honestly expect us to believe that a bodyguard wearing armor happened to appear at just the right moment?"

Tony looked at the reporter. He could not quite remember who she was.

"I understand there's nothing wrong with questioning the official statement, but you shouldn't make baseless assumptions and call me some kind of superhero for no reason."

The blonde reporter quickly spoke up.

"I never said you were a superhero."

Tony nodded awkwardly and began speaking somewhat incoherently.

"That's good. If that were true, it would be absurd. Ridiculous. I... I'm not hero material. When I was younger, I did a lot of absurd things, things with a very bad influence.

"You all know I have a younger brother... He started busying himself with saving the world when he was still very young. I've lost count of how many lives he's saved.

"He was very little when he first came to our family. That was my first encounter with superpowers. More than once, I dreamed that I could have superpowers like his too.

"To save the world...

"I remember him telling me about someone who, with a mortal body, stood shoulder to shoulder with gods.

"These years..."

Realizing something was wrong, Rhodes hurriedly leaned in.

"Just read from the statement."

Tony brought the statement up before him and fell silent for a moment.

"Actually... I am Iron Man."

The venue erupted into chaos.

Camera flashes burst relentlessly, illuminating Tony's face.