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Chapter 349: Helplessness
The arrival of the Chitauri had an immense impact on the Earthlings. There were too many new things for them to process.
A bustling universe, powerful weapons, advanced warships, living Transformers, and all sorts of superhumans...
Their old worldview was brutally shattered. The very things those high-and-mighty politicians tried so desperately to hide were laid bare before the world, paved with millions of corpses.
Tony's act of publicly throwing that fat pig onto the battlefield and indifferently watching him get dismembered by the Chitauri sent massive waves through the upper echelons. Countless politicians closed their doors, denouncing Tony's barbaric methods. They clamored that Tony had broken the game rules and that they had to find a way to teach him a lesson.
Tony's actions were the cruelest of all, directly dragging them, who were ordinary people, out of their safe concrete jungles and throwing them to their deaths among the enemy.
Moreover, he didn't even try to hide it, making it clear he intended to kill the fat pig who disagreed with him.
If he could kill the third-in-command today, he could just as easily drag away the President and the Secretary of State tomorrow without a sound.
Every politician feared for their own safety.
Some wanted to deal with Tony, but after thinking it over, they lost their nerve. No matter how they looked at it, their methods were nothing more than child's play.
How could they deal with him? A nuclear bomb? Before it could even be launched, Tony would take control of the silo and detonate it. Even if it was launched, he could easily redirect the nuke to a major city like New York.
Assassination? The mere thought of the footage of Tony fighting the Destroyer sent a chill down the politicians' spines. Was that even human? He could create a massive crater hundreds of meters across and deep with a single punch, without even a second to charge up, and instantly break the sound barrier...
And it was suspected that Tony had single-handedly dealt with the invading Chitauri and destroyed their space fleet.
They discovered to their despair that they were completely powerless against the formidable Tony.
"Without a doubt, ladies and gentlemen, Tony is by no means the strongest being on our planet. From what we know, there are three others more powerful than him."
At a secret meeting, a politician stood at the front, counting on his fingers.
Ancient One, Shazam, Dormammu...
These were the three monsters they believed to be more powerful than Tony. They were still frantically analyzing the footage, but they were completely unable to determine the upper limits of these three individuals' power.
A civilian Sorcerer who had sided with The Authorities leaked the news that Dormammu had become Tony's slave. This wasn't exactly a secret; Tony and Kamar-Taj had never hidden it, nor did they have any reason to.
Many people were on the verge of going mad. This was just what they had been exposed to; what about the things they hadn't? And then there were mythological figures like Thor... just how much was there in this world that they didn't know?!
It was as if the world they controlled had suddenly become unfamiliar overnight!!!
"We must find a way to control our own high-end military power. If technology can't deal with people like Tony, then we need to cultivate our own teams of superhumans—the more, the better, just like that Eastern Great Power."
Below, many high-ranking officials remained silent.
They all understood the speaker's meaning. They knew even more clearly that a better solution would be to become superhumans themselves. That way, when people like Tony came to kill them, they would have the power to resist.
But... how was that possible?
Willingly become superhumans? Then what was the point of all the years they had spent slaughtering and ostracizing Mutants?!!
Weren't their actions against the Mutants born out of fear that they would endanger public security, steal confidential documents, and cause social and national instability, growing beyond their control?
And now they were supposed to willingly become superhumans themselves?!!
Impossible. To do so would be wrong.
People began to speak one after another. Someone proposed further developing the power of the Tesseract, a suggestion that received widespread approval.
The politician who was speaking said helplessly, "I have another piece of unfortunate news for all of you. The Tesseract was taken by Tony. Along with the criminal named Loki, both were taken by Tony. Thor is completely ignoring us, which means we've gained nothing from this battle."
"What?"
"That villain! How dare he steal things belonging to The Authorities? This is outrageous!!!"
"That's the property of S.H.I.E.L.D., a treasure belonging to all of humanity! S.H.I.E.L.D. had possessed it since World War II. By what right does he claim it for himself?"
The crowd erupted in curses, but not a single person suggested settling the score with Tony. All they could do was vent their anger with words.
In short, under the dual pressure from Tony and the Chitauri, the Mortal World was forced to change. For example, they began to gradually release classified information, vigorously praise heroes like Iron Man, and push forward with various research projects—some necessary, and some not.
...
Kamar-Taj.
Thor sat boredly on the floor, leaning uncomfortably against a bookshelf, an unnatural expression on his face as he looked at the Sorcerers glaring at him.
In the main hall, there were usually many Sorcerers coming and going. This place served as both a venue for discussing important matters and, on normal days, a large reading area.
"Uh, why are you all looking at me like that? Don't you have books to read?" Thor coughed, then stared back at them, grabbing a random book and pretending to read it.
Occasionally, he would lower the book slightly to meet the many hostile gazes, only to hastily cover his face with it again.
His brother, Loki, had brought the notorious Chitauri from across the universe. It was no wonder that these Sorcerers, who saw themselves as guardians, didn't look kindly upon him.
"All of you, leave. I have matters to discuss with the son of Odin," Tony said as he walked over slowly.
After the numerous Sorcerers had left, Thor hurried forward and asked, "Where is my brother?"
"I've already locked him in prison. Barring any accidents, he'll spend the rest of his life there." Tony sat down cross-legged and calmly poured a cup of tea.
Thor's expression turned ugly. He found the situation extremely difficult. He was unwilling to leave Loki to be imprisoned by Earthlings, because no matter what Loki had done, he was still an Asgardian and should be brought back to Asgard for judgment.
But from the looks of it, Tony had no intention of negotiating with him; he was simply here to inform him of the outcome.
"Let me take him back. He will be judged by the laws of Asgard, and we will give Earth a satisfactory resolution."
"You should say that to the dead civilians, to the million skeletons," Tony said faintly.
The more indifferent he sounded, the greater the pressure on Thor.
Thor tightened his grip on Mjolnir in his hand, his anger inevitably rising. But here in Kamar-Taj, he couldn't make a move. He couldn't defeat the people here.
Besides Tony, there was that other guy.
"Hahaha, let me see, isn't this the son of that old bastard Odin?" Outside the door, the ever-present Dormammu was desperately showing off his sense of superiority.
Inside the hall, the two of them remained silent. Tony drank his tea without speaking, and Thor grew even more stubborn, saying nothing at all.
After a long time, Odin's voice finally came from Asgard, telling Thor to return.
Letting a one-track-minded guy like Thor negotiate with Tony was simply getting them nowhere.
(end of chapter)
The arrival of the Chitauri had an immense impact on the Earthlings. There were too many new things for them to process.
A bustling universe, powerful weapons, advanced warships, living Transformers, and all sorts of superhumans...
Their old worldview was brutally shattered. The very things those high-and-mighty politicians tried so desperately to hide were laid bare before the world, paved with millions of corpses.
Tony's act of publicly throwing that fat pig onto the battlefield and indifferently watching him get dismembered by the Chitauri sent massive waves through the upper echelons. Countless politicians closed their doors, denouncing Tony's barbaric methods. They clamored that Tony had broken the game rules and that they had to find a way to teach him a lesson.
Tony's actions were the cruelest of all, directly dragging them, who were ordinary people, out of their safe concrete jungles and throwing them to their deaths among the enemy.
Moreover, he didn't even try to hide it, making it clear he intended to kill the fat pig who disagreed with him.
If he could kill the third-in-command today, he could just as easily drag away the President and the Secretary of State tomorrow without a sound.
Every politician feared for their own safety.
Some wanted to deal with Tony, but after thinking it over, they lost their nerve. No matter how they looked at it, their methods were nothing more than child's play.
How could they deal with him? A nuclear bomb? Before it could even be launched, Tony would take control of the silo and detonate it. Even if it was launched, he could easily redirect the nuke to a major city like New York.
Assassination? The mere thought of the footage of Tony fighting the Destroyer sent a chill down the politicians' spines. Was that even human? He could create a massive crater hundreds of meters across and deep with a single punch, without even a second to charge up, and instantly break the sound barrier...
And it was suspected that Tony had single-handedly dealt with the invading Chitauri and destroyed their space fleet.
They discovered to their despair that they were completely powerless against the formidable Tony.
"Without a doubt, ladies and gentlemen, Tony is by no means the strongest being on our planet. From what we know, there are three others more powerful than him."
At a secret meeting, a politician stood at the front, counting on his fingers.
Ancient One, Shazam, Dormammu...
These were the three monsters they believed to be more powerful than Tony. They were still frantically analyzing the footage, but they were completely unable to determine the upper limits of these three individuals' power.
A civilian Sorcerer who had sided with The Authorities leaked the news that Dormammu had become Tony's slave. This wasn't exactly a secret; Tony and Kamar-Taj had never hidden it, nor did they have any reason to.
Many people were on the verge of going mad. This was just what they had been exposed to; what about the things they hadn't? And then there were mythological figures like Thor... just how much was there in this world that they didn't know?!
It was as if the world they controlled had suddenly become unfamiliar overnight!!!
"We must find a way to control our own high-end military power. If technology can't deal with people like Tony, then we need to cultivate our own teams of superhumans—the more, the better, just like that Eastern Great Power."
Below, many high-ranking officials remained silent.
They all understood the speaker's meaning. They knew even more clearly that a better solution would be to become superhumans themselves. That way, when people like Tony came to kill them, they would have the power to resist.
But... how was that possible?
Willingly become superhumans? Then what was the point of all the years they had spent slaughtering and ostracizing Mutants?!!
Weren't their actions against the Mutants born out of fear that they would endanger public security, steal confidential documents, and cause social and national instability, growing beyond their control?
And now they were supposed to willingly become superhumans themselves?!!
Impossible. To do so would be wrong.
People began to speak one after another. Someone proposed further developing the power of the Tesseract, a suggestion that received widespread approval.
The politician who was speaking said helplessly, "I have another piece of unfortunate news for all of you. The Tesseract was taken by Tony. Along with the criminal named Loki, both were taken by Tony. Thor is completely ignoring us, which means we've gained nothing from this battle."
"What?"
"That villain! How dare he steal things belonging to The Authorities? This is outrageous!!!"
"That's the property of S.H.I.E.L.D., a treasure belonging to all of humanity! S.H.I.E.L.D. had possessed it since World War II. By what right does he claim it for himself?"
The crowd erupted in curses, but not a single person suggested settling the score with Tony. All they could do was vent their anger with words.
In short, under the dual pressure from Tony and the Chitauri, the Mortal World was forced to change. For example, they began to gradually release classified information, vigorously praise heroes like Iron Man, and push forward with various research projects—some necessary, and some not.
...
Kamar-Taj.
Thor sat boredly on the floor, leaning uncomfortably against a bookshelf, an unnatural expression on his face as he looked at the Sorcerers glaring at him.
In the main hall, there were usually many Sorcerers coming and going. This place served as both a venue for discussing important matters and, on normal days, a large reading area.
"Uh, why are you all looking at me like that? Don't you have books to read?" Thor coughed, then stared back at them, grabbing a random book and pretending to read it.
Occasionally, he would lower the book slightly to meet the many hostile gazes, only to hastily cover his face with it again.
His brother, Loki, had brought the notorious Chitauri from across the universe. It was no wonder that these Sorcerers, who saw themselves as guardians, didn't look kindly upon him.
"All of you, leave. I have matters to discuss with the son of Odin," Tony said as he walked over slowly.
After the numerous Sorcerers had left, Thor hurried forward and asked, "Where is my brother?"
"I've already locked him in prison. Barring any accidents, he'll spend the rest of his life there." Tony sat down cross-legged and calmly poured a cup of tea.
Thor's expression turned ugly. He found the situation extremely difficult. He was unwilling to leave Loki to be imprisoned by Earthlings, because no matter what Loki had done, he was still an Asgardian and should be brought back to Asgard for judgment.
But from the looks of it, Tony had no intention of negotiating with him; he was simply here to inform him of the outcome.
"Let me take him back. He will be judged by the laws of Asgard, and we will give Earth a satisfactory resolution."
"You should say that to the dead civilians, to the million skeletons," Tony said faintly.
The more indifferent he sounded, the greater the pressure on Thor.
Thor tightened his grip on Mjolnir in his hand, his anger inevitably rising. But here in Kamar-Taj, he couldn't make a move. He couldn't defeat the people here.
Besides Tony, there was that other guy.
"Hahaha, let me see, isn't this the son of that old bastard Odin?" Outside the door, the ever-present Dormammu was desperately showing off his sense of superiority.
Inside the hall, the two of them remained silent. Tony drank his tea without speaking, and Thor grew even more stubborn, saying nothing at all.
After a long time, Odin's voice finally came from Asgard, telling Thor to return.
Letting a one-track-minded guy like Thor negotiate with Tony was simply getting them nowhere.
(end of chapter)
