Chapter 268 - 265 | Seniors Gather, A Gathering Of Heroes.
When Tony opened his eyes, he found himself lying in the Regeneration Cradle, soaked in the nutrient solution.
A warm feeling wrapped around him as if he was a baby that had returned to his mother's womb.
"Uh, am I dreaming? Otherwise, why am I lying in Stark Industries' Regeneration Cradle?"
Tony's pale face, which had lost a lot of blood, showed a trace of confusion.
In his groggy head, his memory was scattered and fragmented, like a badly edited movie clip.
He saw the alloy hatch on it, and there was a familiar logo similar to the letter A in a conspicuous place, which was the symbol of Stark Industries.
With a light touch of his hand, a virtual interface suddenly appeared.
Tony was familiar with the operation, and before long, the nutrient solution covering his body gradually receded, and the lid of the Regeneration Cradle automatically opened.
"Are you awake?"
It so happened that a young man walked into the room and saw Tony, naked and skinny. He threw a bath towel at him casually.
"A few minutes faster than I expected. You seem to be fine."
Tony caught the bath towel and wiped off the residual nutrient solution.
Then, he took out a brand-new set of clothes from the lower compartment.
He seemed to know the layout and facilities of the room very well.
"Who are you? Why am I here? If I remember correctly, this cabin seems to be the Regeneration Cradle I designed earlier!"
Tony had a lot of questions in his heart. He touched the ferocious wound at the bottom part of his chest.
The originally infected pus was cleaned up, leaving no trace of scars on the surface of his skin.
If Tony didn't remember it clearly, he might have thought the fierce battle with Thanos on Titan was a terrible nightmare.
As if nothing actually happened.
The snap that erased half of every living being in the universe, the sacrifices of the Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man, and Doctor Strange, were all just the reflection of his inner fear.
"I said, according to seniority, you should call me godfather."
The young man who brought Iron Man back from the Milano was none other than Luke.
He first found Nebula, identified himself, and entered the spaceship.
Immediately afterward, he found that Iron Man's physical condition wasn't optimistic and quickly sent him to the Quinjet.
Fortunately, Luke anticipated that Tony might be in a weak state before leaving and specially prepared Dr. Helen Cho's Regeneration Cradle system.
The vibranium body created by Ultron back then, and later the idea of ??Iron Man's nano armor, all came from it.
"Godfather? To be honest, you should probably call me Uncle Stark."
Tony changed into a well-fitting jacket and felt like he had a new lease on life.
"I know a high school student who can't stop talking, and you don't look much older than him! Just graduated from college this year?"
Tony obviously didn't believe in the so-called 'godfather'.
It was hard for anyone to accept a godfather who was much younger than they were.
"Hmm, every time I meet someone, I have to explain my origins to them. This is becoming an annoyance."
Luke opened his hand and smiled, "Tony, I know your father, Howard. Although he's your father in another universe, you have the same blood in your body, with the Stark family's innate narcissism, pride, as well as a genius mind."
"Although you weren't born in my universe, Howard has promised to let me be your godfather —— provided that he could really get married before the age of 35."
"I have no idea how much of a fascinating woman your mother, Mary, was. But to have Howard take on the responsibility of a family is, I must say, a remarkable thing."
Seeing Luke's familiarity, talking about his father and mother, Tony's brain couldn't help but crash.
He tried to analyze the meaning of Luke's words, but the results weren't satisfactory.
Different time and space in the universe, different time nodes —— these were things that ordinary people couldn't understand. Wanting to digest and accept quickly would be a big problem for anyone.
Even if Iron Man was one of the top geniuses in the world.
But without knowing Luke's identity, he still showed a confused look on his face.
"That means that this guy, oh no, my godfather, who came from another universe, wasn't only the Captain's comrade but also knew my Dad's. By the way, you actually managed to beat Thor in a one-on-one match; that's amazing!"
Half an hour later, Tony, who chewed some compressed biscuits and drank tons of coke, finally cleared his mind.
"Hey! I just didn't take it seriously!"
Thor said resentfully.
He hated it when people repeatedly brought up that defeat.
"Hmm, I'll keep my mouth shut."
Tony waved his hand. He had regained his physical strength and spirit and had become the energetic Iron Man again.
"Back to the subject, Luke… do you want me to call you Godfather or Uncle Cavill?"
Luke recognized the teasing in his words and shrugged his shoulders, "You know, although parallel universes don't interfere with each other, there are exceptions to everything."
"Tony, back in my universe, you aren't born yet, and your father isn't married. In other words, it's possible for you not to be born, causing a chain of accidents."
"I believe you have watched [Back to the Future]. You should know what I'm talking about."
Tony, who swallowed the last bite of compressed biscuits, made a surrender gesture and pouted, "Okay, I'll call you Uncle Cavill."
After some back-and-forth, the atmosphere inside the Quinjet's cockpit grew heavy.
"Tony, we are all very happy that you're okay."
Captain America opened his speech with these words.
"After the tragic defeat in Thanos's hands, we have all lost a lot."
"The unlucky Quill, Gamora, and Drax, that big idiot…"
Rocket sat on Thor's shoulder, sniffled, and then wiped it with Thor's cloak.
The Guardians of the Galaxy only had one seedling left now, and the rest of its members had been erased by the snap.
Such a mortality rate was simply astonishing!
Looking back at The Avengers.
All the senior members were fine.
It can only be said that Thanos's absolute fairness and random probability may be the will of the universe.
"Do you have any plans, or specific plans, Captain?"
Tony asked while biting a straw.
Because of Luke's presence, he didn't look at Captain America with antagonism.
If there was a chance to restore everything, then working together and fighting together would be the most important objective.
"We're going to go straight to Thanos, get the Infinity Gauntlet back from him, and kill that bastard!"
Captain America glanced at Luke sitting next to him and spoke in a heavy tone.
"Wow, Captain Rogers said a swear word! Did any of you hear it? Please write it down for me!"
Tony said exaggeratedly, with a strange look on his face.
He couldn't help it. There was a battle once before, Iron Man just said 'sh*t', and then he was lectured by Captain America, the team leader.
Therefore, Tony certainly wouldn't let go of this opportunity.
Captain America smiled helplessly and continued, "Nebula mentioned that Thanos has a 'retirement plan'. When he completes his mission and accomplishes his goal, he will return to a planet called 'The Garden'."
"Banner, who had studied gamma rays before, is perhaps the most knowledgeable expert on the energy of the universe."
"What a wise man! You plan to scan the energy residue of the Infinity Stones with the Earth as the center and then find the traces of dispersion to determine Thanos's location."
Tony instantly understood what Captain America really meant.
"That's right. When Thanos left, he used the Space Stone to open a portal. Whenever energy is released, there are bound to be traceable clues left behind."
Captain America nodded his head. This was an idea that Luke and Banner came up with after some discussions.
"So, did you find him?"
Tony's face turned serious.
Thinking of the terrible guy who erased half of life in the universe, the wound on his chest was aching.
"After comparing the range of energy radiation, the intensity of the energy response, and the results of extensive scans, we finally confirmed the possibility that Thanos was on this planet."
Captain America pointed to a projected image, which shows a beautiful planet.
"Then what are we waiting for?"
Thor, being the impatient Thor, couldn't wait.
Captain America tightened his lips, looked around, and asked in a deep voice, "Ladies and gentlemen, are you confident enough to fight again?"
The superheroes nodded one after another, with a look of determination in their eyes.
"Well, then, Avengers —— assemble!"
Captain America and Iron Man looked at each other and shouted the classic line.
…