The lights in the control room came back on.
Chu Hang stood in the center and turned his right hand gently in the air.
Three masses of silvery liquid metal rose from the depths of the Inner Universe within him. Each was the size of a human head.
The metal seemed alive, fine patterns of light flowing across its surface.
It kept rearranging itself, trying to repair the damage left behind before the Mapmakers were destroyed.
Tony Stark had still been weighed down by the prospect of the Multiverse's imminent collapse.
But the instant he saw the three masses of silver metal, he jolted as if struck by electricity.
His armor's scanners activated automatically.
Countless blue beams shot from the Arc Reactor in his chest and enveloped the metal.
Data raced across his display.
Molecular diagrams, energy-spectrum analyses, and conclusions he had reached through physical testing—every result flew in the face of the scientific understanding he had spent thirty years building.
Tony practically ran to the metal.
An almost feverish light shone in his eyes.
He reached out to touch it.
But Chu Hang raised a hand to stop him.
Not because the metal was dangerous in itself, but because it still retained parts of the Mapmakers' programming.
Without purification, anyone who touched it risked having their consciousness contaminated by residual Beyonder data.
Chu Hang called upon the Control Origin.
Golden light pierced the core of each mass like fine needles, erasing the Beyonder directives hidden deep within them one by one.
It all happened absurdly fast.
In less than thirty seconds, the metal changed from an uncanny silvery white to a pure matte silver.
Not a trace of foreign will remained.
Only then did Tony cradle one of the masses as though he had found a priceless treasure.
The