get-shopping Chapter 360 Nobody taught me!
Chapter 360 Nobody taught me!
Chapter 360 Nobody taught me!
As Joey stepped through the portal back into the cyborg Iron Man universe, he couldn't help but ask a question:
"Why were you able to collect all the Infinity Stones?"
The cyborg Iron Man only showed Superman the scars on his face and his replaced mechanical parts:
"Is that so strange? For us and the Guardians, the Mad Titans were hardly the most difficult challenge, much easier than the Asgardian War many years later."
The Asgardian Wars were a major event in the universe of the cyborg Iron Man that nearly brought everything to a close. Since Thor's death, everything has taken a sharp turn for the worse, and even the realm of Asgard is no longer safe.
Iron Man lost most of his body at that time. If it weren't for the Guardians' desperate fight, he would have lost his life there.
Compared to the fully intact Tony, every scar and every mechanical part on the cyborg Iron Man's body is a medal and proof of the things he has endured over the years.
The cyborg Iron Man's description of the tragic history of his universe made Joey sigh; every universe has its own troubles.
"Perhaps in the future we can provide security for your universe."
Joey's suggestion wasn't a spur-of-the-moment idea; he'd been doing it all along, and Spider-Man, as Green Lantern, had set a good example.
The cyborg Iron Man was anything but polite: "Like the security guarantees my government provides to Europe or Central Asia?"
"I've really had enough of you. Why isn't my Tony as difficult to deal with as you?" Joey rubbed his forehead. This was truly a case of good intentions being taken for granted; it was as if he was begging the other person for help.
"You know that's not how it is!"
Just because it's not like that now doesn't mean it won't be like that in the future.
The cyborg Iron Man was completely unimpressed by the proposal. He could accept short-term support, but he would not accept someone else permanently residing in his universe.
"People and things change, including your Tony. And as for the future, we'll have to wait until we're both alive to talk about it."
It's a bit extravagant for them to start thinking about the future right now.
As they stepped out of this somewhat redundant portal, the two looked up and could almost see another Earth in the sky within eye range, the other building corresponding to Stark Tower below them—the place they had just arrived at.
"Let me ask you a question." Before retrieving the Infinity Stones, the cyborg Iron Man asked Joey a question:
"If all 80 billion people in the world simultaneously started playing rock-paper-scissors in pairs, one round per minute, with no ties and the winner advancing, how long would it take to start the final match?"
Joey quickly gave the answer: "Thirty-two minutes."
Eight billion seems like a lot, but it's not.
This problem doesn't even require a super brain to analyze the question stem, because it is simply an extremely simple Iog2 logarithm problem.
The winner is determined by pairing up, and half of the participants are eliminated in each round. Although it is a bit counterintuitive, it is enough to eliminate 99.99% of the contestants in just half an hour, leaving only a few lucky ones.
"That's right." The cyborg Tony's eyes grew even more somber. "So, we may already be running out of time."
C
Doctor Doom's previous actions of destroying the universe directly blasted a hole in the surrounding parallel universes, creating a safe space.
This has resulted in these universes being sidelined many times. Now, what they are facing is no longer the beginning of a crisis, but the middle stage of its development.
To be pessimistic, this could even be the end of a crisis.
"Once we get past this hurdle, what awaits us is only an even more difficult one."
As a cyborg, Tony, acting rationally, naturally held a very pessimistic view of the crisis:
"Other universes have likely already undergone multiple collisions, so the surviving universes we encounter next will be guarded by formidable forces."
Pessimism is contagious. After the cyborg Tony finished his analysis, even Joey became worried again.
The two stepped into a hidden teleportation array, and with a flash of light, they appeared in a cave deep underground.
In the center of the cave was a golden disc, surrounded by six pillar-shaped objects, each more than half a person tall and of different colors.
Joey went closer and found that each cylinder was built in a different style, some were made of stone, some of metal, and some of vibranium—and each one had a handprint etched on it, each handprint being different.
"After defeating the Mad Titan, to prevent others from using the gems for evil again, we decided to keep them under our own control, entrusting them to trusted individuals for individual safekeeping."
Tony looked at the handprints on the six pillars, a hint of reminiscence flashing in his eyes. Of the heroes and great men of Wakanda, Atlantis, the Sorcerer Supreme, and the mentors of mutants, how many are still alive today?
Tony's cyborg sanity module kicked in, quickly suppressing these unusual thoughts:
"But then a lot of things happened, and we realized that we were too easily defeated one by one, so we built this place."
This facility was built by a secret society of Iron Man, Sorcerer Supreme, Black Panther, and others. The six people responsible for safeguarding the six Infinity Stones sealed them together here.
To retrieve the Infinity Stones, all six individuals must be present to verify their identities before the seal can be broken.
"I don't know about the others, but if I remember correctly—."
Joey pointed to the stone pillar engraved with many familiar runes and spells, presumably the one belonging to the Sorcerer Supreme of their universe:
"Isn't the Sorcerer Supreme of your universe—"
This cyborg Tony's Sorcerer Supreme colleague had already died in the first encounter with Doctor Doom. Now that he's gone, doesn't that mean the seal can never be broken?
"Heh." The cyborg Tony chuckled, a cable popping out from his body and connecting to his own verification machine.
With a snap, several sparks flashed, and the seal that originally required the combined efforts of six people to open was easily broken and opened.
Six Infinity Stones of different colors appeared before Joey and the cyborg Tony.
This left Joey speechless: "Huh?"
"What's so surprising about that?" Tony tilted his head in dissatisfaction, looking at Joey who had raised the question, not even bothering to explain.
How could he feel at ease if such a crucial facility didn't have some backdoors hidden inside?
"They really do look beautiful, don't they?"
The cyborg Tony, seeing Joey somewhat stunned as he witnessed all six Infinity Stones gathered together for the first time, sighed and stepped forward, using a pre-prepared mechanical glove to collect the entire set of stones before handing it to Joey.
"Here you go. Apart from that insane Thanos, everyone else's use of the Infinity Stones is superficial. No one has ever been able to truly unleash its full power. If you have that ability, remember, whatever you do, don't suddenly have any thoughts like snapping your fingers to try it out!"
"It's that simple?" Joey, still somewhat incredulous, received the six gloves containing the Infinity Stones.
"I thought there would be some twists and turns before I could get my hands on it!"
The cyborg Tony was very dissatisfied with Superman's attitude: "What are you doing? What other twists and turns do you want? If any more accidents happen, both of our Earths will collide and be finished!"
After handing over the gems, the cyborg Tony carefully observed Superman's reaction. Finding nothing unusual except for trying to pry the gems off the glove one by one and then put them back on, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
The six Infinity Stones contain ultimate power that surpasses the entire universe. Few people can maintain their true selves under such power and avoid losing themselves.
Giving them all away was a desperate gamble, since reason told him he couldn't possibly win the life-or-death battle between the other universe.
Superman's various metrics have exceeded Tony Stark's comprehension, and are even more outrageous than those of Thor, who died many years ago.
Rather than going all out in a desperate struggle and getting both sides dirty, it's better to take a gamble and seek a way to have a clear conscience in another way.
After reorienting themselves, the two who obtained the Infinity Stones reappeared on the rooftop of Stark Tower in New York.
"Since you say they can push away our two universes that are about to collide."
The cyborg Tony took a step back, leaving the stage to Superman: "Then let's go!"
At this moment, Joey, who was holding the gloves, was in a dilemma. He knew he could do this from Namor the Sea King, but the problem was that no one had taught him how to do it!