Chapter 162

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"Sir, the journal has been updated."

Inside Tony Stark's luxurious Malibu villa, Jarvis's reminder reached Tony's focused ears as he studied and worked on upgrading his armor suit.

Iron Man paused his work and approached the journal immediately, noticing new content had indeed appeared.

After glancing through it, Tony couldn't help but express surprise.

"Captain Marvel is back on Earth?"

Almost instantly, Tony realized that Nick Fury must have taken his advice and summoned Captain Marvel back.

The purpose was undoubtedly to deal with the Skrull problem.

The man can actually be quite sensible!

Tony nodded in approval, silently criticizing Fury in his mind.

Even a mind as brilliant as Iron Man's struggled to find a solution to the Skrull predicament.

Captain Marvel was now the only hope.

The journal held Captain Marvel in high esteem, much like Zhou Cheng's admiration for her.

Tony prayed silently, hoping that Captain Marvel would live up to the expectations and solve this thorny issue.

"Wait, she only comes back for the Infinity War?"

Nick Fury, standing in front of another journal, was left speechless and slightly frustrated.

The Infinity War was when Thanos snapped his fingers, erasing half of all life in the universe and killing half the Earth's population.

So Captain Marvel would return to Earth only for a threat of this magnitude?

Before this, she had truly never come back!

It seems that Earth isn't that important in Danvers' heart, which is undoubtedly disconcerting for Fury.

However, there's nothing much Fury can do about it.

For his part, he indeed has tried to strengthen Captain Marvel's bond with Earth.

He even toyed with the idea of having Colonel Rhodes meet with Captain Marvel to see if something might develop between them.

After all, in another universe, Colonel Rhodes and Danvers are lovers.

In reality, though, Captain Marvel hardly gave Fury the chance to make this happen as she couldn't stay put on Earth.

Like this time.

Even when her best friend fell ill, she stayed for merely a week before leaving, much to Fury's dismay.

Otherwise, such a powerful figure could undoubtedly be Earth's staunch defender.

Wait.

Danvers' power isn't just limited to what's known!

The journal made it clear that if Danvers activated her "binary" form, she could reach the level of destroying a star.

What does destroying a star mean?

It's as if she could effortlessly annihilate an entire planet.

Nick Fury, who knew Captain Marvel well, was astounded by the revelation of her true power.

Destroying planets is what he's talking about!

In Fury's view, her power level is comparable to Dormammu's world-devouring might.

So, Captain Marvel possesses the strength of a cosmic deity?

But what exactly does "binary" refer to?

This was something Nick Fury couldn't figure out no matter how hard he pondered.

In this world without mutants, whether Captain Marvel has a binary state or not is uncertain.

Regardless, even without her binary state, Captain Marvel is almost unbeatable at this stage.

Especially for characters like Loki and the Chitauri.

With Captain Marvel on Earth, the Battle of New York would practically be a joke.

The Avengers would be unnecessary, as she could alone fly into the wormhole and blow up the Chitauri mothership!

And those Chitauri who made it to New York through the portal would go offline along with the destruction of their mothership.

In essence, the whole Battle of New York might end within minutes, just like that, quick and joyful!

Mutants!

Tony Stark's eyebrows quirked.

Once again, mutants.

The journal had mentioned this group more than once.

Although they did not exist in Iron Man's universe, that didn't mean Tony wouldn't pay attention.

Many signs indicated that the world's future would be the era of the multiverse.

Whether it's the dark Scarlet Witch, the infinite Ultron, the Watcher who presides over the multiverse, or the TVA that ruled time and crossed the multiverse.

All apparently have the ability to travel across multiverses!

And this was just casual spoiling from the journal.

Who knows what other powerful individuals or organizations could traverse universes besides those revealed by the journal?

What if, by chance, mutants from another universe invaded Tony's?

Or suppose Tony, in the future, reached a level where he, too, could roam the multiverse and encountered mutants in another one?

The possibilities were unpredictable!

So Tony kept a watchful eye on the concept of mutants.

Unfortunately, due to the absence of mutants in his universe, the little information spilled by Zhou Cheng from the journal was precious little.

Yet, considering mutants' unique nature, one could easily infer their potential strength and anomaly.

Even if he didn't know the specifics, the fact that mutants had a role in Captain Marvel's binary status showed their importance.

Despite the journal's silence on the details, Iron Man could not guess any further.

Instead, he refocused on the journal, his face filled with confusion.

Captain Marvel flying into the wormhole to blast the Chitauri mothership, he could understand that.

From the journal's revelation of her strength, it seemed trivial for Captain Marvel.

But one thing baffled Tony:

Why would the Chitauri in New York go offline if their mothership were destroyed?

According to the journal, "offline" likely meant death.

But what was the connection between the Chitauri's fate and their mothership?

What made their destruction result in their demise?

This makes no sense at all!

The life of a being and the fate of a spaceship are two unrelated matters!

After all, those Chitauri aren't on the mothership but are in New York through a portal!

So, what exactly is going on?

Could it be that the Chitauri are like Iron Man's suit of armor, controlled by puppetry?

And their central control system is on the mothership?

So, destroying the mothership would cause them to go offline?

The "log-off" mentioned in the diary refers to actually going offline rather than dying?

Is that how it is?

Or do these Chitauri have some sort of hive mind?

All of them are controlled by the "Chitauri King" on the mothership, and killing that leader would be the end of them all?

Tony Stark began to sink into deep thought.

But, after much contemplation, he couldn't reach a definitive conclusion.

Only Zhou Cheng, the owner of that diary, might know the specifics.

[Thus, the original Avengers wouldn't have to suffer a terrible defeat at the hands of the Chitauri.]

[More importantly, Iron Man wouldn't have to risk his life carrying a nuclear bomb into the wormhole.]

[I mean, it was incredibly risky back then, wasn't it? If Black Widow had closed the portal a minute earlier, Iron Man wouldn't have been able to return, right?]

[He would have been blown to bits along with the Chitauri fleet.]

[No wonder Stark developed anxiety and had nightmares after the Battle of New York.]

[He truly suffered a psychological trauma.]

Is this the real truth behind that nuclear bomb in New York?

Tony Stark suddenly had an epiphany, while also heaving a sigh of relief internally.

The diary had already spoiled that a nuclear bomb was launched during the Battle of New York.

Both Tony and other diary holders were worried that, even if the Battle of New York was won, the future of the city would be destroyed.

After all, the power of a nuclear bomb is tremendous!

If it exploded in New York, the city wouldn't stand a chance.

Fortunately, the feared scenario did not occur.

That nuclear bomb didn't explode in New York.

Instead, it was carried into the portal by Tony himself!

But what's on the other side of that portal?

Tony had already analyzed it before, and the spoiler confirmed it—it was the Chitauri fleet!

Turns out, the nuclear bomb was sent directly to the Chitauri's stronghold, a shrewd move indeed.

This must have given the Chitauri a tough time.

However...

Iron Man then harbored another doubt.

Using a nuclear bomb against the Chitauri seems logical, but why carry it there himself?

Missiles have guidance systems; why not just launch it directly into the portal?

Chitauri!

In an instant, Tony realized.

The portal was an integral channel for the Chitauri forces, and they wouldn't simply ignore it.

Plus, as an alien civilization, they would likely find intercepting missiles to be a basic task.

Direct nuclear assault on the portal would probably be ineffective.

So, the question arose.

Knowing this, why would the government launch a nuclear bomb? Did they not understand the futility?

Tony's expression darkened as he grasped the gravity of the situation.

Those fools must have given up on New York already!

Typical of them!

So, carrying the nuclear bomb was, without a doubt, a split-second decision made by Tony after the launch. 

It was him, Tony, who saved New York single-handedly!

As for his anxiety and nightmares...

Such a thing? Impossible!

That's just Zhou Cheng, habitually belittling Tony.

"Is this really Stark?"

On the other side of the diary, Nick Fury showed a hint of surprise.

Iron Man's audacious move was indeed beyond Fury's expectations.

That was a nuclear bomb we're talking about!

To take the bomb into the portal alone was akin to suicide!

Not to mention what lay on the other side of the portal—Chitauri forces where Stark would be deep in enemy territory, facing countless alien ships alone.

It was possible he'd die before the mothership could be destroyed.

Even if the mission succeeded, there was still the risk of being killed in the nuclear blast.

The diary had also mentioned that Iron Man nearly died in the explosion.

With Tony's intelligence, he certainly foresaw the risks, so he must have been prepared to sacrifice himself to save New York.

Considering Tony's usual arrogance and egotism, Fury found Stark's selfless act surprising.

So this was the man beneath the facade of arrogance—Tony Stark?

Additionally,

Iron Man carrying a nuclear bomb and actually managing to destroy the Chitauri mothership surprised Fury too.

That was an alien civilization, and a mere "man in a can" with a nuclear bomb managed to defeat them?

It seemed implausible for such an advanced civilization to be unable to intercept a missile or deal with Iron Man immediately.

Regardless, the situation reminded Fury of a saying—that good and bad are intertwined.

[If not for Stark's anxiety disorder leading him to rely heavily on his suit, would he have created the Iron Legion?]

[Without the Iron Legion, how could he confront Aldrich Killian's Extremis soldiers?]

[Let's not forget, Killian alone destroyed several of Stark's suits with his bare hands!]

[So, Stark's anxiety did play a pivotal role after all.]

[Otherwise, Iron Man might not have survived.]

[The entire United States could have been living under the shadow of terror from the Mandarin.]

"Aldrich Killian."

Tony's face took on a puzzled expression as he muttered the name.

It sounded familiar.

But when he tried to recall any details, he couldn't remember who that person was exactly.

With Tony's high intelligence, this could only mean one of two things:

One, Tony hadn't met Killian but had heard his name mentioned in passing.

Two, Tony had met Killian, but he was such an insignificant figure that Tony never really took notice.