Chapter 249: Visitor from the Wrong Universe
"Beg me? Shouldn't they be looking for Yashida Corporation!?"
Sunlight filtered through the green canopy of the grape trellis, falling on the flyleaf of the *Huang Ting Jing* covering Boss Tang's face. From beneath the book, Boss Tang's voice carried a hint of laziness.
On the low table beside him lay pieces of blue energy crystals.
With each breath he took, the energy contained within the sunlight and the power from the energy crystals extracted by the Space Gem from various Dimensional Realms surged into his body through all eighty-four thousand pores.
This energy was converted into the surging True Essence within him. Tang Song didn't need to cultivate deliberately at all; with every breath, he could clearly feel his strength increasing and his physical body strengthening.
After undergoing Condensing Fiendish Qi and Refining Astral Qi, the True Essence within Tang Song's body, tempered by the two, formed a black and white True Essence Power.
This True Essence circulated within his body, gathered near his Dantian, and subtly formed a black and white Yin-Yang Fish Qi Cyclone.
It was also this Yin-Yang Qi Cyclone, like a grinding mill, that continuously absorbed the sunlight from the sky and the nearby energy. A black hole seemed to appear within his Dantian, and a black and white Yin and Yang light sphere slowly pulsed within the black hole.
With each pulse, various energies from the outside world surged into his body like a tide. Sunlight, Gamma Particles, everything was broken down into the most basic energy particles after passing through the Yin-Yang Fish Qi Cyclone, finally becoming part of Tang Song's Yin-Yang Great Core.
A Golden Core swallowed into the belly, only then do I know my fate is not decided by heaven!
Lane held a bunch of grapes in his hand, plucking off the reddish-purple grape beads one by one, squeezing the pulp into his mouth, and tossing the grape skins into the trash can nearby. His voice was somewhat helpless.
"Boss, the relationship between Mariko and you is no secret among the Federal High-level Staff!"
"Those people in the Department of Defense know exactly who holds the true method for opening the Space Gate!"
Lane had no way to deal with this Boss who lacked self-awareness. From South Korea to Japan, the Boss and Mariko Yashida were practically inseparable, showing no intention of hiding it.
The Arc Reactor used as a power source and the disguised Space Gate Instruments were all transported from Tang Group to Japan.
If those people in the Federal Department of Defense weren't Blind Persons, they could definitely guess who the real opener of the Space Gate was.
"How troublesome!" Tang Song removed the *Huang Ting Jing* from his face, sat up from the lounge chair, picked up a bunch of purplish-red grapes from the fruit plate in front of him, and bit off a grape directly with his mouth.
The sweet juice flowed into Tang Song's mouth as he chewed the pulp. Tang Song held the grapes and looked at Lane, asking:
"I heard from Hill that the Ancient Titan 'King' observed by Monarch has shown signs of activity?"
"Monarch's observation report indicates that three days after Yamata no Orochi was sent into Heimdall by you, that Godzilla appeared in Japanese Waters, seemingly searching for something? This is one of the reasons for the Federal Department of Defense's tension, because of Yamata no Orochi's disappearance, they are afraid of triggering a chain reaction among these Ancient Titans."
Since the incident where Yamata no Orochi rampaged through TV Tokyo, the World Security Council immediately strengthened its supervision over Monarch,
Especially in terms of information exchange, several of Monarch's Observation Posts had to share intelligence with the World Security Council. After all, no country wanted a nuclear bomb that could detonate at any time existing on their territory.
Judging from Yamata no Orochi's performance in Japan, these walking nuclear weapons, their destructive power was even more dangerous than nuclear weapons.
As the intelligence and security Department directly subordinate to the World Security Council, Maria Hill could get the latest information the moment Monarch's intelligence was transmitted.
Under Hill's leadership, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s intelligence network and Tang Group Intelligence Department were generally indistinguishable.
S.H.I.E.L.D. knowing the news meant the news had already reached Boss Tang's ears.
"Since it's called 'King' by Monarch, with its subject missing, this Ancient Titan naturally cares. Don't rush the Ancient Titan matter for now. The development on Heimdall's side is progressing quite smoothly. Throwing a few Ancient Titans over there now would instead affect Kane's development progress! Just find an excuse to push it back!
Hmm, tell them that we haven't fully mastered the Space Gate's positioning coordinates yet, and the last time was just luck. If something goes wrong and those Titans are thrown into Washington, that would be terrible!"
"Understood, Boss. Oh, there are two more matters I need to report to you!"
After understanding the Boss's meaning, Lane began to formulate the wording for the Department of Defense.
After finishing a bunch of grapes, he took out a white handkerchief from his pocket to wipe the grape juice from his hands, and then spoke about the main business.
"Last time, after we used Yamata no Orochi to deal with Hawkeye and Phil Coulson, Hill carefully sorted through the data left by Nick Fury and discovered that before his death, he still had a batch of hidden agents. These people disappeared after Steve Rogers and others were purged, including Winter Soldier Bucky!"
"Winter Soldier! Steve Rogers' good brother? Find him as soon as possible. I don't want someone killing their way to my doorstep to stage a scene of revenge for a brother!"
"I've already arranged for people to investigate. I believe there will be news soon!" Lane replied.
"Tell Hill to mobilize S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to search for him, under the name of hunting down Hydra remnants. Also, have her send a copy of the Winter Soldier's data to Tony Stark, so Tony knows who his father was killed by!"
"Yes, Boss!"
In the blink of an eye, it was noon. After asking for Boss Tang's opinion, a group of maids set up the dining table directly under the grape trellis. After the dishes were served, as soon as Tang Song sat down, Skye led Rogue, Gu Zi Yun, and Zheng Duo En in from outside the courtyard. Gu Zi Yun and Zheng Duo En were playfully fighting over a plump orange cat in Rogue's arms!
*Da da da*—
Wearing high heels and a blue and white porcelain qipao, Skye walked gracefully along the Long Corridor towards them. The qipao was slit up to her knees, revealing her fair calves.
After following Tang Song to cultivate the cultivation method, Skye's face was much more refined and fair than before.
Skye came to Tang Song's side, wrapped her arms around his neck, and sat in his arms. She took the bunch of grapes from his hand, peeled them, and fed them into his mouth.
"What are your plans for this afternoon?"
The few women who had been with Tang Song for a long time, except for Rogue, Gu Zi Yun, and Zheng Duo En, these Little Girls, all had their own "undertakings"! Women, you always have to find something for them to do to consume their energy, otherwise, after a long time, they will be extremely bored, and it's inevitable that they will stage scenes of palace intrigue like in Qing Dynasty palace dramas.
Among Boss Tang's women, Fox currently represents him in controlling two seats on the High Table, managing the Hitmen under her command and the affairs of the former League of Assassins.
Selene manages the Dark Black Market and the Vampire Clans who have pledged allegiance to Boss Tang.
As for Skye, she is responsible for Tang Group's Network Security Department. Because of the existence of Red Queen, the artificial intelligence, Skye doesn't have much to deal with. In her free time, she likes to go shopping on Fifth Avenue with Gu Zi Yun and the others.
"Mmm!" Skye fed the grape pulp into Tang Song's mouth, and Tang Song held her finger.
Tang Song's finger stroked the embryo of the porcelain bottle. The item form was good. From the curve outlined by the brushstrokes, one could feel a gentle and smooth quality.
She smiled sweetly, wriggling her body on Tang Song.
"There seems to be an underground racing competition in Brooklyn this afternoon. Haven't Zi Yun and Duo En been fighting over the feeding rights of the Big Cat recently? So they plan to compete in racing to contend for the Big Cat's custody!"
"Racing! Just for it?" Tang Song looked at the Big Cat in Rogue's arms, which was almost spherical. A tiger, even if shrunk, should look like a tiger. It was so fat it looked like a ball, with no trace of dominance.
"Meow!"
Upon encountering Boss Tang's disdainful gaze, the Big Cat's fat face immediately fell.
"Your Small Dried Fish!"
Boss Tang was in a rare good mood today, so he called a maid to bring a box of Small Dried Fish air-shipped from Alaska.
He opened the lid and placed it in front of the Big Cat. This fellow had its own dining table and a dedicated maid to serve it food.
Of course, when it returned to its tiger form, the feeding job was usually done by the Bodyguards in the Manor.
Steak cooked medium-rare, plus King Crab legs already extracted, without too much seasoning, paired with Bordeaux red wine.
Sufficiently fresh ingredients didn't require much preparation, and the taste was decent.
Tang Song used a dining knife to cut the beef and fed it to Skye in his arms.
"How was the ore production from Heimdall this month? Has it all been shipped back?"
Lane used a knife and fork to cut the steak in front of him, sprinkled some black pepper on it, and then forked a piece of beef into his mouth.
"Production has tripled compared to last month. We added ten thousand Miners this month, and we expect production to double again next month!"
Lane chewed the beef in his mouth, picked up the wine glass in front of him, and took a sip.
"Boss, Heimdall is a complete world no less than Earth. It would be a pity if we only used it for mining!"
"Hmm?" Rogue used a fork to pick up a piece of cut steak and fed it to Tang Song's mouth. Tang Song opened his mouth to take it, and stroked Rogue's hand. The Little Girl's face was somewhat flushed.
"What are your thoughts?" Tang Song chewed the beef fed by Rogue while listening to Lane explain his opinion on the development of Heimdall.
During this time, although Lane was said to be assisting Magneto in managing the affairs of Utopia, he was practically in charge of everything from Utopia's most basic water and electricity, civil facilities, to the military and administration.
As for Magneto, although he had been fighting for Mutants for so many years, he was like a ruffian who had rebelled for years but had completely failed to consider how to manage things after succeeding.
He had no idea how to govern a country. One could refer to a man surnamed Li from Great Shun who was emperor for only forty-two days, and a certain Taliban in a parallel world.
The so-called Utopia established by Mutants is completely controlled by Tang Group's people who hold the country's basic lifelines, people's livelihood (water and electricity), grain, and national defense military, even taxes. It's only because Magneto is Boss Tang's nominal father-in-law, otherwise, with a single command from Tang Song, the so-called Utopia could immediately change allegiance.
"Boss! We can completely emulate Utopia and establish our own country in Heimdall," Lane suggested. "Form an army, produce weapons, starships..."
Tang Song listened to Lane's suggestion, thought for a moment, the silver fork clinking lightly on the plate, and rejected Lane's proposal.
"Lane, the most important purpose of me forming a faction is to search for cultivation resources for myself, and also to enjoy life. Establishing a country, well, it's possible, but the management, you'll do it?!"
When Lane heard Tang Song's words, he immediately shook his head repeatedly as if encountering something terrifying, and said with a bitter smile, "Forget it, Boss, pretend I didn't say anything. Please let me off the hook. I feel this is quite good! I still want to live a couple more years!"
Lane knew deeply that the Boss wasn't just saying this casually. He could really pull off a hands-off approach.
Dealing with the various affairs of Utopia during this time, even though Lane had the mutant ability of photographic memory and his physique was different from ordinary people after cultivation, when busy, his hair was falling out in handfuls.
There was nothing he could do. Most of those Mutants were talents who hadn't had much schooling, and he couldn't find suitable people. Only the few teachers at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters could help him share some of the burden.
Thinking about establishing a country from scratch again, and in a world as large as Heimdall that was waiting to be developed, Lane felt a headache just thinking about it.
He didn't expect this guy in front of him, bah, the Boss in front of him, to help him share the burden. In Chinese, this was a hands-off master.
Lane finished his steak in a few bites and quickly left, just in case Boss Tang suddenly had a strange idea and followed up on his topic, actually wanting to establish a country in Heimdall. That would be asking for trouble.
"When is the racing competition?"
"We're going to the Modification Base this afternoon to choose cars. The competition is scheduled for the evening. Boss, will you come with us? Choose one for yourself too, and participate in the competition tonight!"
"What's the stake? I don't want to feed this fat cat!"
"Uncle, what stake do you want?"
"*********** How about that?"
"As expected of you, Lecherous Uncle! Okay, we'll bet with you, but let's agree beforehand, you're not allowed to use your ability to cheat!" Just as Boss Tang was accompanying his women to select and configure their preferred race cars at a famous car modification factory in New York.
Tony Stark, who had been busy modifying the battlegear all day, decided to balance work and rest. He took Pepper Potts on a yacht for some sea fishing at a location he had marked nearby.
It was also a way to clear his head. The Avengers that Nick Fury had founded before his death, after a snake disaster, Captain America, Hawkeye, and Black Widow had all died.
Now the Avengers only consisted of him, Dr. Banner, and Thor. Thor was still in Asgard, so the so-called Avengers now existed in name only.
Tony Stark had just left the Seaside Villa when an uninvited guest arrived at the villa and quickly and easily took over J.A.R.V.I.S.'s core password.
"Mr. Stark, you are somewhat different!"
The significantly aged Tony Stark, while drinking coffee, operated the computer. "J.A.R.V.I.S., this is the difference between us humanity and you machines. We get old, you don't. But honestly, J.A.R.V.I.S., it's good to see you!" Tony Stark quickly checked the computer, searching for the differences between this world and the universe he came from.
He came from another universe. In that universe, there was Iron Man, there was Hulk, there was the Chitauri invasion, there was a civil war among the Avengers, and there was a Thanos who invaded Earth, wanting to destroy the universe. The key was that purple big guy succeeded.
He and his companions used a Quantum Channel to travel to this universe, hoping to find the six Infinity Stones and use their power to save his world.
But he had come to the wrong place, the wrong location, and the timeline was also incorrect, a few years later than he had expected.
"Differences found, Mutants. My universe doesn't have this race. The Chitauri invasion location also changed. Tang Group..." Tony's gaze fixed on an obituary.
"Captain America is dead, Hawkeye killed in action. The Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. is Agent Hill. Where is Nick Fury? Where are the Mind Stone and the Space Gem?
Damn it, why is the Space Gate still open? To close it and get the Space Gem, I must get the Mind Scepter!"
"J.A.R.V.I.S., someone has tampered with your software!"
As dusk fell, Tony returned from the sea with Pepper Potts, carrying empty buckets. From Pepper Potts' weak legs and flushed face, it was clear she had a great harvest from her sea fishing this time.
As soon as he entered the Room, Tony Stark noticed something was wrong. The wine had been touched, the coffee had been drunk, and the computer also showed signs of being used.
Tony Stark connected to J.A.R.V.I.S. and discovered that J.A.R.V.I.S.'s core data had actually been tampered with. How was this possible? With J.A.R.V.I.S.'s encryption software, it was impossible for anyone to crack his encryption secrets.
Soon, he recovered the internal surveillance footage of the Seaside Villa through a hidden camera.
"Tony?"
"Mutant?"
Tony Stark and Pepper Potts looked at the image on the surveillance footage, somewhat surprised. The footage surprisingly showed another Tony Stark.
Tony Stark's first suspicion fell on Mutants, especially Mystique, who had shapeshifting abilities.
He knew that the purpose of the Anti-Tang Song battlegear he was currently designing was to counter Tang Song.
And everyone knew that Utopia, this mutant nation, was facilitated by Tang Song.
Tony Stark had reason to suspect that Mystique's purpose was to steal his battlegear data.
No, even if Mystique could become exactly like him, she couldn't crack J.A.R.V.I.S.'s core program.
Tony Stark cupped his chin, staring intently at every move of the imposter in the surveillance footage. For some reason, he had a feeling that the Tony Stark in the video didn't feel fake. An absurd idea formed in Tony's mind.
The Second Universe, let's call it that for now.
The slightly older Tony returned to his world through the Quantum Channel.
He was in the process of upgrading his Iron Suit for the 97th time.
In recent years, the combat power levels he encountered had become increasingly high, forcing Iron Man to continuously upgrade his weapons battlegear in all aspects.
He constantly learned the increasingly rich engineering knowledge on Earth and absorbed nutrients from alien technology.
He continuously searched for new materials from all over the world.
He continuously upgraded the firepower system and installed more advanced weapons on the battlegear.
This made Tony feel as if he had returned to the state of designing weapons all day when he was young, but he didn't resist this return to his "old line of work".
On the one hand, after experiencing Thanos' world destruction last time, Tony realized he didn't have enough trump cards to deal with emergencies.
On the other hand, the Anti-Tang Song battlegear designed by the Iron Man from the other universe gave him inspiration.
Stronger firepower meant he had a greater chance of winning in future battles.
Weapons are indeed often used for carrying out killing and violence.
But when heroes wield weapons, these killing weapons can also be transformed into the power of protection.
Tony had understood this the first time he acted as a hero with the Iron Suit.
He wanted to save the world, and he needed to have enough strength.
"Tony, something is wrong. The other universe we went to through quantum space is very different from our universe."
Tony, who was buried in building the concept map for the new fire control system, raised his head and looked at the fully armed Captain America. He pushed up his design glasses and said, "I know! Captain! The variables are too great. The Mind Stone is missing, and we can't even take out the Space Gem. The two universes are not in a state of quantum entanglement; they are two independent universes! I think we went to the wrong place!"
Tony took off his glasses. "How is Ant-Man? Did he get back enough Pym Particles? We need it."
The most difficult part was the feasibility of traveling through the quantum tunnel, which they had already solved. What remained was finding a way to get back the six Infinity Stones to save their world.
Tony stood up and stretched his body.
Captain America frowned. "Ant-Man is back. We currently have enough Pym Particles, but besides the three of us, no one else has returned!"
Captain America asked:
"What did you find out?"
Tony walked to the coffee machine and made himself a cup of coffee. "Many things. The differences between the other universe and ours, like Mutants, this race doesn't exist in our world at all. The Battle of New York was also different. The location changed. The Chitauri invasion that originally happened in New York, the location became Leon, Mexico.
The Cosmic Cube turned into a Space Gate and is still hanging in the Leon Urban Area, leading all of humanity into the Interstellar Age."
Tony took a sip of coffee and raised his cup towards Captain America. "I used an intelligent program. We couldn't get the Space Gem during the WWII Period. The biggest possibility is the Anchoring Theory."
"Anchoring Theory?" Captain America was somewhat confused.
Tony explained, "Our goal is to get the six Infinity Stones to save our universe. If we succeed, we will return these six Infinity Stones. They fit into their own history. But it's clear that during the WWII Period, we got the Space Gem but couldn't bring it back. There is clearly some kind of power tying it down, like a ship's anchor!"
Captain America frowned. !
Tony snapped his fingers. "I knew you wouldn't understand. To put it simply, from the perspective of quantum entanglement, there should be a universe that developed exactly the same as ours, like light and shadow, just mutually light and shadow, two sides of the same coin.
But we clearly found the wrong universe, so we can't get the Space Gem back. Even if we could, the subtle differences between the two universes would affect the Infinity Stones. As products of rules, I think even if we get the Space Gem back, its effect in our universe might not be much better than a rock!"
"But the good news is, we got back enough Pym Particles, enough for our trial and error needs. We can completely search for our true target, the universe that is quantum entangled with our universe!"
"Of course, we need to call Star-Lord and the others back first!"
Knowhere. When Star-Lord's somewhat dilapidated ship just landed, a group of green aliens with six arms and over three meters tall surrounded them. All six of their arms held various weapons, energy guns, and cold weapons that looked extremely sharp.
*Clang*, Star-Lord opened the ship's hatch. Thirteen Card Soldiers followed closely behind. They were fully clad in fully enclosed Black Demon Battle Armor, wearing face masks modified from Predator's Environment-Adaptive Helmets on their heads.
Twelve of them each held a silver briefcase in their hands.
"They are the Gululu, also a wandering race in the universe. It seems they see us as fat sheep who just arrived here. I'll handle it!"
Star-Lord looked at these green-skins, turned back, and said to a Card Soldier wearing fully enclosed armor. This Card Soldier was not carrying a briefcase in his hand; instead, he was holding an energy rifle.
After speaking, Star-Lord turned around, looked at these green-skins, and opened the communicator on his neck.
"Hey, get lost, you guys! I'm the famous Ravager Star-Lord, not some newcomers who just arrived at Knowhere. Do you think you can scare me just with you guys?"
"Hey, Star-Lord, we've heard your name. Someone on Yondu's ship said you found a big business. Can you leave these boxes? We're very curious what's in your boxes?"
A green-skin with tentacle-like pigtails on its head finished speaking, and the group of green-skins behind it all raised the weapons in their hands and pointed them at Star-Lord and his group!
"Shit, Yondu, that Bastard! I should have thrown the coordinates on the communicator into the Death Sector!" Star-Lord cursed and grumbled.
He suspected that Yondu had deliberately revealed this information to get revenge on him. Hadn't he just changed the position of the coordinates in the communicator a bit? It must be that old guy who was angered by embarrassment because he wanted to steal his big business but failed.
"Will killing them affect spaceship procurement?"
The Card Soldier who came to Star-Lord's side patted his shoulder and asked.
"This is Knowhere, one of the biggest black markets in the Southern Galaxy. The owner here generally won't care about these small matters!" Before Star-Lord finished speaking.
*Whoosh*
The Card Soldier standing beside him raised the rifle in his hand. The energy rifle shot out an energy beam that whistled and shot onto a leading alien green-skin. The modified energy rifle instantly tore this slightly ferocious-looking alien Ravager completely open from the waist.
Foul-smelling blood water splashed everywhere.
Before these Gululu Ravagers could react from the situation of their leader being killed, the Card Soldier raised his left hand, slid it forward, and made a tactical gesture.
From the hands of the twelve silent Card Soldiers behind him, magic sabers forged from Adamantium mixed with Essence of Five Metals simultaneously ejected, pouncing towards the Ravagers in front who wanted to rob them, like black meteors.
These Card Soldiers were extremely powerful, like fierce tigers pouncing into a flock of sheep. In just a few seconds, the alien Ravagers who saw them as fat sheep were all dealt with.
By the time Star-Lord blinked his small eyes and reacted, the group of Card Soldiers on the battlefield had already started collecting the weapons from these Gululu.
"Uh, these Gululu are all carrying some old-fashioned energy guns, not worth much money?"
Star-Lord had completely not expected that the on-board procurement personnel sent by Boss Tang would have such good skill.
It's just their taste was a bit poor.
(end of chapter)