Richard looked down at Wanda and was stunned by her beautiful, fair face.
The words of comfort instantly became much gentler.
" Little Wanda, you'll feel a little pain in a bit. Don't be afraid, just bear with it, it'll only hurt for a moment..."
"Mmm~" Wanda tilted her head back, gazing at Richard with a dazed look, and murmured in response.
Tony felt a momentarily uncomfortable upon hearing this conversation.
As if sensing something, Howard Sr. and Maria exchanged a glance and smiled simultaneously.
At that moment, Richard manipulated his Perception Tentacle to sever the connection between the crimson energy and Wanda's body.
In an instant, an unbearable, yet intangible, needle-like pain surged from the depths of Wanda's body.
"Ugh!" Wanda's face paled, and she couldn't help but let out a muffled groan.
Richard raised his hand and gestured, Perception Tentacle, wrapped in scarlet energy, quickly withdrew from her body.
With a slight pinch of his right thumb and forefinger, he crushed the outer layer of scarlet energy.
Richard's eyes flashed with a crimson light as he scanned the Gray Light Dot that had revealed its true form.
This is...?!
His eyes widened instantly, and he exclaimed in disbelief, " Dream Dimension Rule Fragment?!"
Just as Richard was surprised, Pepper's exclamation suddenly rang in his ears.
" Wanda!!!"
He immediately looked down at Wanda, only to see her body begin to emit an uncertain, scarlet glow.
Her once shapely eighteen-year-old body has begun to regress.
Wanda also noticed the changes in her body and immediately began to panic.
No! I don't want to turn back into thirteen!
She hurriedly grabbed Richard's sleeve and pleaded urgently, "Lord Richard, I don't want to turn back!"
Richard looked at her flickering face, then glanced at the Gray Light Dot, lost in thought.
"I see."
After saying that, he pinched the Gray Light Dot, flicked his finger, and instantly sent the Gray Light Dot back into Wanda's body.
A wisp of scarlet energy automatically surged from Wanda's body, enveloping the Gray Light Dot just as it had at the beginning and bringing it back deep into Wanda's body.
The moment the Gray Light Dot returned to its place, the flickering light on Wanda's body vanished.
Her shrinking figure also returned to the appearance of an eighteen-year-old.
" Wanda!" Pepper rushed over and hugged Wanda tightly. She asked Richard with concern, " Richard, Wanda's health..."
Richard smiled and said, "Don't worry, Little Wanda is fine."
His words did not reassure Pepper; her brow remained furrowed.
"Then why did she revert back to her original form just now?"
At this moment, old Howard said, "Alright, now that His Richard Pepper is here, what else do you need to worry about?"
"Your Majesty, please have a seat."
"My dear, quickly make His Majesty a cup of tea."
Maria nodded, then turned and hurried toward the kitchen.
And so, Richard was warmly invited by old Howard to sit on the sofa.
Unlike Howard Sr.'s obsequious manner, Tony's attitude towards Richard remained unchanged.
" Richard, what exactly is going on?"
Richard glanced at Wanda, who was nestled beside Pepper, and chuckled, "Don't worry, Tony. For Wanda, this might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
Tony asked in surprise, "What do you mean?"
Richard raised his hand and gestured, and a Gray Light Dot appeared in mid-air.
He pointed to the Gray Light Dot and said, " Wanda's misfortune is caused by this thing."
Tony stared at the Gray Light Dot and pressed, "What is that?"
Richard suddenly asked, " Tony, as you know, there are many different Dimensional Space in this Multiverse."
Tony replied, "Like your Crimson Dimension?"
Richard nodded. "That's right, this Gray Light Dot comes from one of the many Dimensional Space called the Dream Dimension."
" Dream Dimension?" Tony frowned. "That name sounds familiar!"
Then, he slapped his forehead and exclaimed, "I remember now! Are you talking about the Dream Dimension, one of the many Dimensional Space that have been watching over Earth, as recorded in the Kamar-Taj Library?!"
"I remember the Lord of Dimension the Dream Dimension is called Nightmare?!"
"That's right," Richard laughed, "It's this Dream Dimension."
"The reason I just said this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Wanda is because this Gray Light Dot is a fragment of the rules of the Dream Dimension..."
"Fragments of rules?" Tony repeated, then asked, "This sounds like it's important to the Dream Dimension?"
"Hahaha, of course it's important!" Richard laughed loudly. "You must understand, the reason Nightmare became the Lord of Dreams is because it mastered the Dream rules of the Dream Dimension."
At this point, he turned to look at Wanda.
"I don't know how these Dream Rule Fragment came to appear in Wanda's body, but with these Dream Rule Fragment, Wanda may be able to replace Nightmare and become the new Lord of Dreams in the future!"
"Hiss!" Tony couldn't help but gasp.
He stared at Wanda in disbelief, muttering to himself, " Wanda... my daughter, has become Lord of Dimension?!"
Just then, Maria came out of the kitchen carrying a tray.
Pietro jumped to his feet and shouted, " Grandma Maria, let me help you!"
He quickly ran over and took the tray.
Maria patted his arm affectionately, and they walked back to the sofa together.
She picked up a cup of hot tea with both hands and respectfully placed it on the tea table in front of Richard.
"Your Majesty, please have some tea."
Richard smiled and nodded to her, "Thank you, Madam Maria."
Maria bowed respectfully before handing the tea from the tray to Old Howard and the others.
Tony held the teacup in both hands, remaining silent.
Upon seeing this, Richard immediately guessed the reason.
"What? Worried that Wanda is being targeted by Nightmare?"
Tony replied with a wry smile, "As you just said, the reason Nightmare became the master of the Dream Dimension is because it has mastered all the rules of Dream."
"But now, suddenly, a fragment of Dream has appeared in Wanda's hands..."
"If it were me, I would also try every means to take back what rightfully belongs to me!"
"Don't worry," Richard patted him on the shoulder, reassuring him, "As long as Wanda doesn't leave Earth, Nightmare will never be able to find her."
"That's something that's giving me a headache too!" Tony put down his teacup and rubbed his forehead in frustration. "I can't guarantee that Wanda will stay on Earth forever."
"Hmm?" Richard narrowed his eyes and asked, "From what you're saying, she left Earth before?!"
"I guess you could say I've left..." Tony said uncertainly, then turned to Wanda and said, " Wanda, tell me what happened before again."
Wanda immediately sat up straight. She glanced cautiously at Richard before saying, her face slightly flushed, "Okay, Uncle Tony."
"For the past week, I've been having the same dream every night..."
He recounted in detail everything that would happen to Wanda Adult Wanda would encounter in the future.
After listening, Richard stroked his chin and fell into deep thought.
Wanda as an adult in the future?
Is she that crazy woman who, after studying the " Darkhold," went on a Multiverse search for her husband and son?!
Hmm, I remember this woman ended up destroying all the Darkhold in the Multiverse together...
Hmm, I'll have Wang keep a close eye on the Darkhold kept in the Kamar-Taj Library.
Then, as if remembering something, Wanda quickly added, " Richard! There's something else that I find very strange!"
Richard asked, "Oh? What is it?"
Wanda recalled, "That future me mentioned her Robot Husband's name several times, but I didn't hear it, it was like... like it was being obscured by some force..."
"Your name is obscured?!" Richard raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You mean Vision?!"
"Huh?!" Wanda's eyes widened in surprise. "Its name is Vision?! But I didn't hear it before?!"
"I couldn't hear it before, but now I can hear it again..." Richard was somewhat surprised.
He thought about it carefully, then suddenly said, " Wanda, would you be interested in doing a small experiment with me?"
Wanda's eyes lit up, and she nodded excitedly, "Yes! Yes!"
Richard turned to Maria and Pepper, who looked worried, and said, "Don't worry, Madam Maria, Ms. Pepper, it's just a simple little experiment. I assure you she'll be in no danger."
Maria and Pepper exchanged a glance.
Pepper hesitated, then said, "This..."
At this moment, Tony chimed in with a laugh, "Go ahead. With you here, we naturally don't worry about Wanda's safety."
Richard stood up and said, "There's no time to lose, let's set off now."
Wanda strode over to him and boldly grabbed Richard's arm.
Richard nodded to Tony, Howard Sr., and the others, then vanished in a flash with Wanda.
Pepper watched them leave, then suddenly let out a long sigh, "Sigh..."
Tony assumed she was worried about Wanda's safety, so he smiled and reassured her, " Pepper, with Richard here, Wanda will be fine."
Unexpectedly, Pepper turned around, glared at him irritably, and got up to leave.
Tony was now completely baffled.
He muttered under his breath, "Why... why did he suddenly get angry?!"
"Tony, you..." Maria Stark stood up, pointing at Tony, and said, "What am I supposed to say about you!"
After saying that, she left.
Tony was completely dumbfounded.
He scratched his head, looking puzzled, and said, "Wait, why is everyone suddenly angry?!"
Old Howard patted him on the shoulder sympathetically, shook his head, and sighed, " Tony, you should pay more attention to Wanda."
After saying that, the old man left.
Tony was stunned.
"I don't usually care about Wanda?!"
He turned to look at Pietro, who was still there, with a resentful expression.
" Pietro, don't I usually care about your sister?!"
Pietro, who had been propped up on the sofa and was lifting his buttocks, squatted down there.
"Uh, Uncle Tony, do you want the truth or a lie?"
Tony glared at him and said, "Of course it's the truth!"
Pietro scratched his face, then plopped back down on the sofa, turning to Tony and saying, "To be honest, you've taken excellent care of Wanda!"
"But in other aspects..."
Tony raised an eyebrow. "Other aspects? Is there anything else Wanda needs to be concerned about?"
"Of course!" Pietro plopped down next to Tony. "Let me tell you, Uncle Tony, these little girls are so hard to understand!"
"She was all smiles one second, and then suddenly turned on me the next!"
"Yes, yes, yes!" Tony nodded repeatedly in agreement. "That's exactly what your Aunt Pepper was just like! One second she was fine, and the next she suddenly got angry. It was so inexplicable!"
"Uh..." Pietro blinked, his face full of curiosity, and asked, "Uncle Tony, did you really not know why Aunt Pepper was angry just now?"
Tony shrugged helplessly. "If I had known, would it have been this troublesome?"
Pietro slapped his forehead, suddenly realizing, "No wonder Aunt Pepper was so angry just now! You didn't know Wanda has always liked Lord Richard!"
"What?!?" Tony jumped to his feet upon hearing this.
He grabbed Pietro's shoulder, asking in a mixture of surprise and anger, "You're saying Wanda likes that Richard kid?!"
Pietro was startled by Tony's reaction. He ignored the pain in his shoulder from being grabbed and nodded, "Yes, yes! Aunt Pepper knows about this too."
Tony, his face ashen, cursed, "Fuck! Richard has so many women already, and he still dares to lay a hand on my daughter?!"
Pietro weakly retorted, "Well, as far as I know, Wanda has always had a one-sided crush on me; Richard has no idea what she feels for her."
"What?!" Tony was even angrier now. He roared, "He doesn't even want my precious daughter?!"
Pietro:...
He couldn't understand why his usually brilliant Uncle Tony had suddenly become as if he couldn't understand human speech.
So he chose to keep his mouth shut and say nothing more.
But Tony was unusually angry at this moment.
He released his grip on Pietro's shoulder and paced back and forth in the living room.
Tony grew angrier and more worried the more he thought about it.
Oh no! Richard is a playboy just as bad as I am!
If Wanda were still a thirteen-year-old girl, Richard probably wouldn't have any lustful thoughts!
Wanda is a stunning 18-year-old beauty! Who knows what kind of wicked ideas Richard might have!
Damn it! Damn it!
No wonder Pepper was so angry just now!
I also reassured her!
Don't be so sure!
This isn't like letting a sheep into a tiger's den...
Did the lamb walk into the tiger's den?!
"No!" Tony stopped abruptly, looked up and shouted, " Jarvis! Contact Xiao Bai immediately! Have her tell Richard to bring Wanda back to me right now!"
"Tell Xiao Bai, if Wanda loses even a single hair, I'll never forgive that bastard Richard!"
Jarvis:...
He hesitated before saying, "Sir, are you going to fall out with Richard?"
Tony, his face flushed, snapped, "So what if you turn your back on me? What? You have a problem with that?!"
Jarvis: "... I have no objection, sir."
Enraged, Tony waved his hands wildly, venting his anger by shouting, "That Li guy dared to lay a finger on my daughter, I won't let him get away with it!"
Jarvis calmly stated, "Sir, based on data analysis, I must remind you that if you choose to go to war with Richard, the chance of defeat is one hundred percent."
Tony: "..."