【I Am the Cosmic Rich Woman】: "Welcome, newcomer!"
【The Infamous V】: "Welcome, newcomer!"
【Drop-Resistant King of Cybertron】: "Welcome, newcomer!"
This familiar triple-bubble greeting caught Lin Mai off guard. Looking at the suddenly active group members, he decided to follow the trend and send a message of his own.
【Viaduct in the Storm】: "Welcome, newcomer!"
……
Marvel Universe.
"Yinsen, did you hear something?"
Tony Stark looked toward the bald middleman beside him, making a gesture with his hand. "Right inside my head."
"No."
Dr. Yinsen shook his head.
Tony fell into brief contemplation, then spoke up. "Let me check if I'm hallucinating."
His consciousness sank into the Dimensional Chat Group.
As he went deeper, a chat interface that looked just like any normal social messaging app appeared in his field of vision, displaying the chat history all the way back to the moment he joined the group.
Everything seemed normal, except that his nickname had been randomly generated.
【Broad-Minded Iron Man】: "Where is this?"
【Group Leader / Dimensional Cute Newbie】: "Dimensional Chat Group. I presume you must be Mr. Tony Stark."
"This person knows me?"
Tony was startled.
Although he frequently appeared on television channels, if this person who had maliciously invaded his mind knew his identity, common sense dictated that they harbored malicious intentions.
Had they planted a time bomb in his brain? Or did they want shares in his company?
Two thoughts instantly intertwined in his mind.
Yet, he forced down a swallow and continued to speak in the chat group.
【Broad-Minded Iron Man】: "What do you want?"
【Broad-Minded Iron Man】: "With the resources of Stark Industries, I can help you achieve whatever is within our power, whether it's becoming the cover girl of a fashion magazine or a billionaire with countless renown..."
【Group Leader / Dimensional Cute Newbie】: "Ah?"
【Group Leader / Dimensional Cute Newbie】: "You've misunderstood. I'm not from your world, and these group members come from the myriad realms. Our core principle is mutual benefit and a win-win outcome."
【Group Leader / Dimensional Cute Newbie】: "If I'm not mistaken... you should currently be in a terrorist base, preparing to escape with Dr. Yinsen, right?"
……
Shilan Middle School, parking lot.
"The timeline of Iron Man 1, huh..."
Lin Mai gazed at the events unfolding in the Dimensional Chat Group and fell into deep thought.
The power scaling of the Marvel Universe could be exceptionally high—so high it broke through the multiverse level—or it could be extremely low, limited to blowing up buildings or even just bricks.
Regardless, the addition of this new group member provided the group members with a channel to grow stronger.
However...
Wasn't "Broad-Minded" a bit too hellish?
In the original plot, Tony's chest was struck by shrapnel, and he even had a specialized electromagnet installed to keep the metal fragments from entering his heart. Even when he didn't have his armor on once, that hole remained.
Talk about hell knocking on hell's door, it was hell all the way home.
Why not "Joyful Iron Man"?
Lin Mai was speechless, but in his heart, he was calculating what kind of value Iron Man could bring him.
First was the power source of the Iron Man armor.
Once he had that contraption, he should be able to fly, while also unlocking high-intensity beam attacks and a series of technological developments.
Poor people rely on mutation, rich people rely on technology.
Perhaps his own body could also possess Spiritual Words and drink Dragon Blood, but his main direction would still be mechanical ascension.
Just imagine: in the battle between kings, amidst a sky full of Spiritual Words, shouting out his own technological might might also be a different kind of romance.
Secondly, there were other things in the Marvel Universe.
Whether it was the Infinity Stones or the Tesseract, as long as he could get his hands on these items later on, the boost to his own strength would be considerable.
After all, this world's system was too flamboyant, and the useful items were inexhaustible and untraceable—one couldn't even begin to imagine them all.
Therefore, Iron Man was a fat sheep.
Faced with such a thick-fleeced, meaty, and juicy new group member, Lin Mai's thought was...
"Time to shear him!"
……
Tony was shocked beyond measure.
He gradually realized that what this person in the chat group was saying might actually be true.
"This is my future?"
Compared to an Endgame-level conflict where universes were born and destroyed, the crisis he currently faced hardly counted as danger at all; it was merely a minor skirmish.
All he needed to do right now was develop the Mark I armor.
【Broad-Minded Iron Man】: "I understand."
【Broad-Minded Iron Man】: "Everyone, once I escape from the terrorist base, how about coming over to visit my company? I will treat you with the finest service."
【The Infamous V】: "Uh..."
【The Infamous V】: "Is there any possibility that without the hard conditions of group missions, our current permissions don't support crossing between worlds?"
【The Infamous V】: "However, if you want to thank us, just send us some red envelopes back then. Remember, we don't want money; we want technological products."
【Broad-Minded Iron Man】: "Got it."
【I Am the Cosmic Rich Woman】: "Oh, what a sentimental little plot."
【I Am the Cosmic Rich Woman】: "Still, a world as amazing as that must have pretty decent gifts, right?"
【Broad-Minded Iron Man】: "Rest assured, I, Tony Stark, treat people with integrity."
【Broad-Minded Iron Man】: "Once I master the technology to build the armor, I'll definitely be happy to share it with the various group members. If I manage to escape this time, I can even share some shares."
【Group Leader / Dimensional Cute Newbie】: "..."
【Group Leader / Dimensional Cute Newbie】: "Forget about that. Even if you gave us shares, we couldn't spend them over here."
【Group Leader / Dimensional Cute Newbie】: "Do you really think your Stark Industries spans across the myriad realms?"
Seeing this, Tony merely chuckled. Through this simple exchange and contact, he had also gotten to know the other group members.
However, he hadn't expected his own world to be so fascinating.
Since he was in a Middle Eastern terrorist base, every move Tony made was monitored, so he could only briefly assemble the modules and wait until he put the armor on his body before he could operate it.
"Yinsen, hand me the wrench over there."
Hearing this, a wrench was passed from Yinsen's hand to Tony's side.
Tony studied the mechanical parts, sweat already beading heavily on his forehead in the sweltering environment. Yet, judging by this progress, he probably wasn't far from finishing.
Right at that moment—
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
A sudden knock sounded on the door.
Someone outside shouted harshly in what sounded like Hungarian, but the distance was too great to make out clearly.
"Damn it... they're here. Yinsen, hurry up and turn on the power!"
Tony stood up from assembling the modules, laboriously using the wrench to fit the parts onto his body, but the noise outside grew increasingly fierce, as if they were about to break through the door at any second.
"There's no time!"
Yinsen looked at the loading bar on the computer, equally frantic with anxiety.
Suddenly, the chat group's notification chime rang out sharply.
"Ding!"
"The chat group has issued a group mission: Assist group member【Broad-Minded Iron Man】and his companion in successfully leaving the Middle Eastern terrorist base. The participant limit for this mission is: 4 people!"