After the subtle "doom" atmosphere caused by the Collector that enveloped Xiao Han was wiped away by invisible hands, the world seemed to briefly return to a fragile balance. However, the irritability accumulated by countless interruptions and peeks was like magma buried deep underground, which did not cool down, but temporarily dormant under greater pressure.
Xiao Han's frequency of searching the starry sky has increased significantly. His Super-Brain is like a silently running supercomputer, filtering light, gravitational waves, and neutrino flows from all corners of the universe, assessing the age, Spectrum, stability of countless stars, and whether their planetary systems meet the necessary conditions for "quietness" - no intelligent civilization, no frequent interstellar activities, and no abnormal space fluctuations.
This process itself gave off an increasingly obvious sense of "alienation". He seemed to have begun to psychologically separate himself from this noisy planet.
Tony·Stark monitored these changes day and night, anxious. He could clearly feel that the tight string was on the verge of breaking. Any new stimulus might be the straw that broke the camel's back.
He used almost every means he could think of to maintain "extreme silence" around the villa: blocking all nearby mobile phone signal towers (looking for an excuse to upgrade technology), restricting the traffic flow on the seaside road, and even trying to use some kind of sound waves to drive away the seabirds that occasionally passed by (in the end, it almost caused the birds to panic but made more noise, so he quickly stopped).
But everything he did seemed so futile and ridiculous in the face of cosmic "noise".
The continuous "Leviathan Echo" broadcast still sounded like a death knell.
Watchers Council's cold "gaze" never left.
On Earth, although A. I. M.'s crazy experiments have moved deeper, its energy leaks are surging like geysers from time to time; Hydra remnants are scurrying in the shadows like cockroaches; even the weather seems to have become less stable, with occasional abnormal thunderstorms forming in the distance.
All of this continues to rub Xiao Han's increasingly sensitive nerves.
His patience has truly entered the countdown.
However, the depth of the universe is destined to always breed new and unpredictable variables.
In a deserted star field far away from the main spiral arm of Milky Way, a strange spaceship that looks like a huge metal Leech, with a surface covered with biomass and mechanical structures, is slowly sailing along an ancient and forgotten interstellar route. OK. This is the ship of the "Sweeper" clan, an ancient and paranoid civilization whose mission is to "purify" the star fields they consider "noisy" or "unbalanced". They are not based on conquest or greed, but out of a twisted worship of "absolute order" and "silence".
When they received the broadcast of "Leviathan Echo", they were not interested in its labeled energy source, but were irritated by the "disordered", "repetitive" and "interfering" characteristics of the broadcast itself.
"Continuous, meaningless source of deep space noise pollution has been detected. The coordinates have been locked." In the spacecraft, a "Cleaner" commander whose body has been mostly integrated with the control system issued a cold, inorganic voice, "Determination: 'Acoustic Order Imbalance' exists in this star field. Execute the seventh item of the purification protocol: Silent Maxim."
The method of "purification" of the "Sweepers" is not to destroy the planet, but to launch a special "Silence Field" generator, which can permanently suppress the propagation of electromagnetic waves and specific molecular vibrations within a certain range, effectively turning the target area into a "quiet zone" where sound cannot be transmitted, wireless communication is impossible, and even certain chemical reactions become extremely difficult. They believe this is "restoring order" in the universe.
A "Silence Field" generator with a strange shape, like a giant metal cross, was loaded into the launch cabin and aimed in the direction of the earth.
"Launch."
The generator trailed a light blue ion trail, shooting towards Solar System at a slow but steady speed.
Its goal: to deploy in low-Earth orbit and permanently silence this "noisy" planet.
The actions of the "sweepers" are not out of malice, but even with a "noble" sense of mission and passion. But this kind of self-righteous "purification" is undoubtedly fatal to earth civilization. Once "Silence Field" unfolds, global communications will be interrupted, the operation of society that relies on electromagnetic waves will collapse instantly, and even atmospheric circulation may be affected.
And for Xiao Han--
When the "Silence Field" generator broke into the inner area of Solar System, the energy field it emitted, which was designed to "suppress order" and "eliminate fluctuations" and had the characteristics of forced calmness, was like a drop of ice water trying to instantly cool down a boiling oil pan in Xiao Han's perception. It itself became the most abrupt, discordant, and disgusting--
Noise!
And it's a noise that tries to forcibly "mute" him!
The irritability that had been at the critical point was completely crushed by this last straw.
Xiao Han suddenly stood up from the beach chair.
This time, there was no pause, no hesitation.
His eyes were no longer indifferent or impatient, but burning with an extremely cold anger.
He's had enough.
Enough of these endless bugs.
Enough of these self-righteous shenanigans.
Enough of this noisy corner of the universe.
He raised his hand, not at the "Silence Field" generator, but at the sky above his head, at the direction of the source of the invisible and continuous "Leviathan Echo" broadcast, at the prying eyes still hidden in the gaps between dimensions, and at all the noise-making insect dens on the planet -
The five fingers suddenly tightened!
There were no earth-shattering explosions, no bright beams of energy.
But in a flash, across the globe and beyond:
The "Leviathan Echo" broadcast that lasted for an unknown amount of time came to an abrupt end! It was as if it had never existed!
Watchers Council's invisible "gaze" seemed to be cut off by a sharp blade and disappeared instantly!
In space, the "Silence Field" generator flying towards the earth silently turned into cosmic dust!
On the earth, all A. I. M. bases, Hydra strongholds, and several other nests with the most obvious energy agitation, all the energy reactions inside them were instantly extinguished, all equipment permanently failed, and the personnel inside were at a loss, but they had no idea what was happening!
Even those abnormal thunderstorm clouds in the atmosphere that were about to form dissipated instantly, as if they were smoothed away by an invisible hand!
An absolute, deep feeling, as if it were from the birth of the universe -
Silence.
has arrived.
It's not the silence of sound, but the absolute tranquility on the perceptual level that comes after all "noise sources" are forcibly erased.
Tony·Stark was stunned. All the crazy alarming instruments in his laboratory instantly returned to zero and became dead silent. Global communication seemed to be briefly interrupted for a second, and then resumed, but the invisible pressure field that permeated the air disappeared.
"He... what did he do?" Tony murmured to himself, feeling cold all over.
Fury, T'Challa, Strange... All those familiar with the matter felt the instant, sweeping "cleaning" and the heart-stopping silence that followed.
Xiao Han stood on the beach, slowly put down his hands, feeling the long-lost, true tranquility.
There is only the sound of wind, waves, and... the weak but still existing Vibranium energy fluctuations (Wakanda) inside the planet beneath your feet.
He lowered his head and glanced at the ground.
The last bit of noise.
He raised his foot and stomped it lightly.
It is not a destructive force, but an extremely precise vibration wave that instantly spreads across the world along the earth's crust, like a gentle smoothing.
Wakanda, the energy cores of all underground laboratories were instantly forced to sleep, and all equipment stopped operating, but no buildings or personnel were damaged. However, for a short period of time, they could no longer start any large-scale energy projects.
After doing all this, Xiao Han is finally satisfied.
The world is clean.
He raised his head and took one last look at the sky and the planet.
No nostalgia at all.
His figure swayed slightly, as if blending into the light, and the next moment he completely disappeared.
No goodbyes, no traces.
It's like he never showed up.
There is only one left who has finally calmed down completely, but has also lost his greatest shelter and is about to face the violent storm of the entire universe -
Earth.
Tony·Stark looked at the empty beach, and the tool in his hand fell to the ground with a clatter.
He finally left.
After cleaning up all the "noise", left without hesitation.
The peace of the earth has finally arrived.
And the tranquility that came in this way made all those who knew about it feel unprecedented -
Cold and fear.
The real storm has just begun now.