Chapter 250: Earth is too peaceful?

The young girl's special superpower led Tony to custom-develop a series of abilities and supporting equipment specifically for her.

Over the past few years, her combat prowess has become quite remarkable.

After all, the Avengers have several individuals with related expertise. Although Tony is not the best teacher, with the help of the highly advanced AI, Jarvis, he analyzed the girl's abilities and developed a comprehensive growth plan.

Within their ranks, there are also teachers like Professor X and Jean Grey. Even Steve Rogers is a master in hand-to-hand combat.

Under such nurturing, the girl's growth rate has been extraordinary.

According to Tony's calculations, when the girl releases her energy to its fullest, her maximum output is comparable to the atomic bomb dropped on Tokyo.

Of course, after such an output, the girl becomes completely exhausted and loses her combat ability.

Nevertheless, this does not diminish the fact that her maximum destructive power is extremely high.

Moreover, this upper limit can still be increased by 14%.

Tony might not be a great teacher, but he understands the importance of stability and balance, two fundamental concepts in the scientific community. Therefore, in nurturing the girl, he has always emphasized these two aspects.

Despite her young age and seemingly unstable abilities, Tabitha is actually quite outstanding in terms of stability and balance.

She is also capable of highly precise control.

For example, she can control an explosion's power to the extent that it can precisely break a steel wire without affecting other wires just a few centimeters away.

Moreover, the girl enjoys researching her abilities and has developed several complementary skills suited to herself. When it comes to destructive power, only Cyclops at full power or, theoretically, Storm could surpass her within the Avengers.

As for Professor X and Jean Grey, they don't count; the former is obvious, while the latter has been experiencing a fusion of her primary and dark personas for unknown reasons, resulting in a very strange state.

One moment she is gentle, and the next, her expression turns sinister.

Recently, however, her condition has improved significantly. Her personality has become more vibrant and decisive, though a hint of madness still flashes in her eyes occasionally.

This worries the X-Men members, causing Cyclops and Wolverine to frequently keep an eye on her, sometimes even with a sense of fear.

If Jean were to lose control, Tabitha and Cyclops would be insignificant; under the power of the Phoenix, everything would be obliterated.

To address this, Tony and Beast Hank have developed some equipment specifically for Jean.

In theory, it might be able to restrain her if she goes berserk, but no one can be certain.

After all, Jean can now use the Phoenix Force, though not fully.

Thus, it's impossible to measure the full extent of the Phoenix Force's detailed data.

Fortunately, things are moving in a positive direction.

In the spacious, modern, and minimalist hall on the second floor of the Avengers headquarters building, Tony, dressed in a suit with a neatly trimmed mustache, gazes calmly at the bustling Avenger staff below through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Every now and then, a Quinjet takes off.

His eyes reveal a hint of concern, his thoughts unknown.

At this moment, soft footsteps approach from behind.

Without turning, Tony already knows who it is. Sure enough, a graceful figure stands beside him, and a slightly husky, magnetic voice speaks, "What are you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking it's too quiet."

"Quiet enough to make me uneasy, Natasha."

The woman beside him, wearing a deep red coat, turns to look at Tony. Her stunning and seductive face is none other than Black Widow Natasha. Natasha glances at Tony, noticing the heavy look between his brows.

"I should say, you smart people tend to overthink."

"Fury?"

Without thinking, Tony knows exactly who Natasha is referring to.

Natasha nods and sighs, "He feels the same as you. Things have been too quiet recently."

This quietness, compared to the numerous major incidents of a few years ago, stands out.

From the Hell's Gate in Greenland to demon invasions and Hell lords descending on Earth—events that threatened global security—things have been too calm these past few years.

These years of peace have caused ordinary people to forget the fear those major events once brought.

But Tony and Nick Fury never forget.

They both know that calm often brews terrible storms. The key issue is they cannot predict when these major events will erupt.

Without foresight, preparations cannot be made in advance.

The unknown is the most frightening, causing both Fury and Tony to become somewhat obsessed over the years with strengthening Earth's defense forces.

SHIELD, the Avengers, Tony himself have all invested substantial funds and effort to enhance Earth's military defense capabilities.

Tony Stark's industrial complex has even canceled some orders with the military to strengthen his own research team, demanding the development of more powerful weapons capable of threatening those terrifying creatures.

As for the effectiveness, it's subjective.

These weapons can easily destroy humanity, but whether they can threaten those monstrous beings is uncertain, even for someone as confident and proud as Tony.

This has led to Tony becoming increasingly anxious.

From Natasha's words, it's clear that not only he, but also Nick Fury, the old fox, shares the same sentiment.

Tony's lips curl into a slight smile, but it only lasts for a brief moment before his expression returns to normal.

"We've prepared sufficiently. Any so-called crisis in the past few years has been easily handled by the Avengers. But thinking about the potential future threats, those terrifying monsters wake me from nightmares. Natasha, have you ever thought about it?"

"Our world could be invaded by those monsters at any time, yet we don't have enough power to resist."