Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics Chapter 6222: The Stars' Pact (Part 2)

The plan for Iron Man to fight against destiny dates back long before the Old 616 Main Universe left the Great World, when most people in the Main Universe had yet to realize the existence of destiny. The main participants were him and Reed, and he himself was responsible for devising the entire plan and executing its most critical aspects.

This led to a problem – most people could not understand what he was doing. To onlookers, Iron Man seemed to suddenly go insane, starting to take on bizarre actions and mumbling to himself. If asked, he’d put on a mysterious face and refuse to explain.

At that time, the Main Universe had already gone through much, and seeing him act like this, people thought he might have been subjected to spirit manipulation or was blackened. This led to a series of conflicts among them, eventually forcing Iron Man to disclose some information.

However, since verbal evidence holds no weight, and they had no point of reference, they weren’t sure if their universe’s circumstances were normal. Until the Battleworld grew increasingly prosperous and multiversal communication became more frequent, others gradually realized that there might be an Invisible Hand controlling everything.

By this point, Iron Man’s actions became more drastic. He wasn’t merely preparing gear; he was directly using himself as bait and announced he was leaving one day.

Initially, he did not broadcast it widely, but he had to give Pepper an explanation, because beyond their intimate relationship, they had highly intertwined interests. If he just left, Pepper would undoubtedly face issues. So, he shared some of his plans with her, intending to prepare her.

As expected, Pepper firmly opposed him. She wasn’t against him resisting destiny, but against his method. Despite not knowing the plan’s details, it clearly sounded like a suicide mission. Iron Man’s insistence on sacrificing himself angered Pepper, who then spread the news.

Of course, she didn’t tell the masses but informed S.H.I.E.L.D. and The Avengers. As anticipated, both entities strongly objected, even Strange and Reed who had supported him advised reconsideration. Given that the Multiverse was already connected, other solutions existed, and there was no need to sacrifice himself.

In truth, apart from Iron Man, others did not perceive the situation as a life-and-death moment. Even if they acknowledged destiny’s existence, it wouldn’t immediately annihilate them all. Under such circumstances, aggressive action seemed unnecessary; a gradual approach seemed more reasonable.

Moreover, they harbored doubts; Iron Man’s hurry to push such a grand plan might lead to failure, resulting in loss of both his life and the mission. It was truly risky.

Only Iron Man understood that there was a window of opportunity to address certain issues. Once missed, things would irrevocably spiral out of control, with no chance to get back on track. The most crucial window was Shiller.

If Shiller needed a universe to change, it undoubtedly had to be the Main Universe, for this might be its only chance. Thus, Iron Man maintained his stance despite opposition, insisting on this course of action.

Others desperately tried to stop him, while Iron Man steadfastly forged ahead, intensifying the conflict between them. Iron Man had no choice but to adopt more radical measures, in his words, actions akin to Batman’s tactics.

Shiller was baffled by the description. What had Batman done? Wasn’t he diligently guarding the city and leading the Justice League? Since when did his tactics become a catchphrase?

Then Shiller came to know that Iron Man was referring to the Tower of Babel plan.

This plan was devised by Batman as a contingency against everyone in the Justice League. Simply put, it involved collecting weaknesses of Justice League members and preparing countermeasures. Unsurprisingly, it was eventually stolen by villains.

Shiller was both amused and exasperated. Batman had the Tower of Babel plan, so did you concoct a Nimrod plan? Now you both have become complementary to each other.

Nonetheless, Shiller was puzzled as well, for Iron Man had previously developed things like the Hulkbuster armor, and the Illuminati hadn’t shied away from striking their own. Others should be used to such situations. Why was the reaction so intense this time?

Then Shiller learned about a fact that left him speechless. This time, Iron Man wasn’t using mechanical engineering as a method but switched to biochemical means. His countermeasure was a genetic weapon based on the Extremis Virus.

Upon hearing the extensive list of technical terms, Shiller could tell it wasn’t good. Iron Man was serious this time, even harsher than the White Can, whose intention was simply to earn money; whereas Iron Man, when crazy, could truly destroy the world.

This raised the question of whether a blackened Iron Man was stronger than the regular Iron Man. According to Shiller’s own observation, neither the Iron Man flipped by good and evil, nor the one under spirit manipulation, matched the strength of the true Iron Man.

This was actually due to Iron Man’s operation principle; he relied on external objects to enhance himself, and creating those objects required inspiration, which required belief. Essentially, Iron Man was an idealistic hero, and if his belief weakened or vanished, his power drastically declined.

At the time, Iron Man’s belief in resisting destiny was so unwavering that inspiration came one after another. The Extremis Virus, used by the White Can merely to enhance fish, had been taken to an extraordinary level by him. He had developed a biochemical weaponry capable of precisely weakening the genes of all superheroes to ordinary human levels upon infection. Most terrifyingly, it was effective against mutants as well.

Now it’s a mess, The Avengers have gone crazy, S.H.I.E.L.D. has gone crazy, the Mutant Brotherhood and X-Men have gone crazy too. Please, Great Saint, put away your powers. If this thing leaks, would fate even need to wipe us out?

“So how dare you create something like this?” Shiller was also curious, knowing there might be fate interference to let this thing leak, how did he dare? Was he also under fate’s manipulation at that time?

“It’s actually just a theory,” Iron Man said, “What’s in that cabinet is just regular Extremis Virus, but I’ve written a complete set of theories proving I could indeed do it, and they’ve also found that I could indeed do it. So what’s in that cabinet, whether it’s real or not, is not important.”

Shiller sighed and said, “Leaking the theory itself is also a troublesome matter.”

“No one besides me can do it,” Iron Man said confidently. After a pause, he said, “The key point of the matter is, I intended to attack everyone indiscriminately, even those who were good to me, and I was completely ungrateful, even repaid kindness with enmity.”

“You realize that, huh?” Shiller intensified his tone, “Can’t you rally a few supporters and then persuade others?”

“It’s not like I’ve never done that before,” Main Universe Iron Man spread his hands and said, “The result was a Civil War.”

Shiller opened his mouth, somewhat speechless. During the Civil War, Iron Man indeed rallied a batch of supporters, even built a prison for enemies. Both sides fought fiercely, affecting countless people.

If you say he learned from experience, then this time he indeed didn’t form alliances, but the problem is, the alternative he chose was to intimidate the whole world by himself.

Shiller thought about it, and he seemed to have no qualifications to speak against him since he made the same choice before as well. From a logical perspective, this was actually a much better approach than forming alliances and then going to war. Iron Man’s choice can be understood.

But just like Shiller’s previous encounters, everyone will definitely unite to teach Iron Man a lesson, to let him know that such bottomless self-sacrifice has a price. If they can’t beat him, they’ll only protest in silence. No wonder they so readily accepted the White Can and avoided talking about the previous Iron Man.

Unexpectedly, if Iron Man returns now, his situation will become awkward, he might even become redundant. Compared to him, the White Can seems much more normal. Having intentions for wrongdoing maybe doesn’t make one as terrifying as upholding justice through extreme measures.

“Are you asking me to put in a good word for you?” Shiller thought about it and said, “As a psychiatrist, my professional judgment is, the best solution is for you to die in the Cthulhu Universe. They would cry very sorrowfully at your funeral.”

“Is there even a need for you then?” Iron Man said irritably, “Don’t forget you were part of this whole plan too. If you don’t help me, I’ll tell them you’re the mastermind who forced me to do this.”

“Do you think they’d believe that?” Shiller snorted coldly, “Even though I don’t have a great reputation in the Multiverse, everyone knows I don’t threaten others to do my bidding. Also, I helped them sort out a wedding not long ago, they’re sure to side with me.”

Iron Man scratched his hair, “But I really need to go back, I’m very worried about them, especially Peter.”

“He was deeply hurt by you,” Shiller said, “But I think he indeed is a breakthrough point, he’s the easiest among everyone to soften towards you. However, you must genuinely change, or they definitely won’t buy it.”

“It’s certainly not possible soon,” Iron Man sighed heavily, “Divine Will sent me a message, saying he and Brainiac have cooked something up, I need to go take a look.”

“What have they come up with?”

“It’s still unknown,” Iron Man thought and said, “It seems your universe’s Iron Man is involved too, do you want to go take a look?”

Upon hearing about the Central Universe’s Iron Man, Shiller had a bad premonition. He knew all too well what his universe’s Iron Man was researching, and the other two Iron Man he found also each had their own skills. Three Iron Men plus a Brainiac, they might truly come up with something formidable, he must go see.

As for Iron Man, Shiller still feels a bit trusting, the key lies in Brainiac. This guy hasn’t made any big moves since he came here, he seems to be biding his time, but he won’t stay quiet forever. Maybe he’ll soon bring a big surprise.