Chapter 4681: X-Royalty: Annihilation (Part 7)

The air in Krakoa always carried the scent of damp earth. As the golden sun just peeked over the horizon, the morning glow dripped down along the dew on the lush green leaves. When Shiler walked into the washroom, the hazy morning light filtering through the colored crystal windows made the wood grain on the floor ripple like water.

As he groomed his hair in the mirror, he sensed an unusual aura coming from afar. The howling wind carried anger. He walked to the window and, through the gaps in the tall trees, saw a figure shining like a diamond streaking across the sky above Krakoa Island. The mutants, all awakened by the powerful energy fluctuations, were poking their heads out from their windows one after another.

"The White Queen..." Stark's voice came from the living room. Shiler walked out of the washroom and hurried to the living room. Stark stood before the window and turned to look at him: "You've completely pissed her off."

"I cannot let Magneto face the White Queen's fury alone," Shiler said. "And I certainly cannot let her clash with that group from the main universe. Tony, go and stall the Avengers of the main universe; I will be able to explain everything to Emma soon."

After Shiler turned and left, Stark rested his hands on the window frame and looked outside. Immediately following was a gold-and-red figure streaking across the sky. Stark's expression turned serious. If the hot-tempered White Queen and the treacherous Avengers of the main universe collided, it would surely be like a thunderbolt striking a fire; he had to stop them.

A faint glimmer flashed in Stark's eyes. In an instant, the blue-and-white nano-armor enveloped his entire body. In the shimmering morning light of Krakoa, he chased after the gold-and-red figure like a shooting star, flying around him at several times his speed, disrupting the airflow around him and forcing him to stop.

"You bastard!" The Iron Man of the main universe struggled to maintain his balance, forced to stop completely and hover in mid-air, staring daggers at Stark. "Didn't you say you were here for a vacation?!"

"Regardless of why I'm here, at least you aren't here to invade this place," Stark emphasized. "Do you intend to just charge straight into the mutant royal court like this?"

"That woman is furious; her anger will ruin all plans."

"All plans, or just your plans?"

"Do you really have to stop me?!" The Iron Man of the main universe was somewhat exasperated. "What good does interfering with me do for you?"

"I am saving you," Stark had to appear firm. "Do you think the White Queen is that easy to deal with? She is a powerful mutant with telepathic abilities no less than Professor X's. Do you think you'll have a good ending if you charge at her while she's in a rage?"

At this moment, the Iron Man of the main universe also calmed down. One didn't need telepathic abilities, nor did one need to be a mutant, to feel the rage-filled psychic storm that had just swept across Krakoa. The White Queen's power far exceeded their imagination, especially since she was a telepath, which was enough to make anyone wary.

At this time, the rest of the Avengers arrived. The Iron Man of the main universe slowly descended, with Stark following behind him. He glanced briefly; this time, the group was truly complete.

Captain America, Spider-Man, Black Widow, Hulk, Doctor Strange, Hawkeye, Lei Shen—all the famous superheroes had come. It seemed they truly valued this multiverse rescue mission.

While Stark sized them up, they were also quietly sizing up Stark. It was clear that Doctor Strange and Iron Man stood on one side and had no fondness for him. Captain America, Lei Shen, Black Widow, and Hawkeye were relatively neutral, with neither good nor bad attitudes toward him. Only Spider-Man and Dr. Banner, who hadn't turned into the Hulk yet, were relatively friendly.

Stark, of course, knew why.

As the armor receded from his body like a tide, everyone except Spider-Man and Dr. Banner revealed expressions of shock. And what shocked them even more was that Stark stepped forward and shook hands with Captain America.

Captain America was somewhat incredulous when he saw Stark take the initiative to reach out, but out of politeness, he reached out to shake it. Black Widow was quite vigilant; the female spy seemed to think this was a trap, standing quietly by Captain America's side, ready to counterattack at any moment.

"It seems there are still clear-headed people among you," Stark began. "Regardless of why the White Queen came, if you charge into the mutant royal court now, a battle with her is inevitable."

"We aren't afraid of her," Iron Man said again.

"I read too much anger in her mind," Doctor Strange said, frowning. "I worry that her irrationality might lead her to persuade Magneto to act just as irrationally. We are here to dissuade her."

This was typical interventionism, Stark thought. These people didn't care that the White Queen and Magneto were both mutants; whatever decisions they made were internal mutant affairs. As long as they felt the mutants' decisions were wrong, they would find ways to interfere.

Sometimes this did work, because mutants didn't make many correct decisions. To prevent them from suddenly losing their heads, having a third party interfere wasn't entirely a bad thing. So the biggest problem now wasn't whether they wanted to interfere.

Or rather, the key to this whole thing was whether they had the ability to interfere.

The psychic attack of a furious White Queen would be absolutely terrifying. And Professor X was not in a position to show himself, nor would he necessarily be able to stop her in time. Without a way to instantly suppress her, if the two sides fought on Krakoa Island, the mutants' new utopia would perish again, without the human government needing to pull any tricks.

But these people didn't think they lacked the ability to interfere. The fact that they all came together this time clearly showed they intended to use violent suppression. Indeed, Doctor Strange and Lei Shen alone were enough to fear few opponents.

Before this, Stark would have felt it was no big deal to let them clash with the mutants. Whichever side suffered a loss, they would learn to be more cautious, which could be considered a good thing.

But the scenery of Krakoa was truly too beautiful. This was a true promised land. Earth was the greenhouse of the universe, while Krakoa was like an ancient garden left behind by Earth. If it could truly stabilize, the superheroes of the multiverse would certainly not be stingy about coming here for vacations and leisure. Just by developing tourism, the mutants of this universe could make a fortune. Stark was still thinking about bringing Pepper and little Morgan here to play; he couldn't let this good place be ruined by these people.

Suddenly, Stark reached out toward the Iron Man of the main universe. That gold-and-red armor seemed to be pulled by an inexplicable force, flying violently toward him.

The airflow lifted the hair on Stark's forehead, and the gold-and-red armor gradually magnified in his pupils. Until the two Iron Men looked at each other across their armor, the Iron Man of the main universe was stunned by Stark's eyes, which flickered with data-like light, unable to utter a sound for a moment.

Everyone instantly assumed a combat stance.

"Don't move," Stark said in a deep voice. "Krakoa is not only the mutants' new home but also a precious asset to the humans of this universe. Don't you dare try to destroy it with war. Retreat, or don't blame me for being impolite."

Seeing Captain America still trying to close in, Stark raised a hand, and the gold-and-red armor shot straight into the sky; the screams of the Iron Man of the main universe vanished. The Avengers looked up in shock; magic light immediately flickered on Doctor Strange's hands, and he stared fixedly at Stark.

Spider-Man hurriedly reached out to stop him, whispering in his ear: "Don't be impulsive, Mr. Strange, I'm afraid we are no match for him."

"What did you do to Tony?" Captain America asked with some anxiety.

"I just hung him in low Earth orbit to let him cool off," Stark said. "If I really wanted to hurt him, his armor would have crushed him into meat paste long ago."

Captain America looked back at his teammates, and Dr. Banner slowly shook his head at him. He clenched his fists and took a deep breath, at which point Black Widow stepped out and said: "We aren't trying to attack the mutants, but we have the right to know what is happening in the mutant royal court. Because we are now standing with the mutants, if the plan changes, we should be the first to know."

"You can send a representative," Stark chose to compromise. "Choose someone who isn't so impulsive and can persuade the White Queen to come with me. Iron Man and Doctor Strange are out."

Captain America looked back. He knew Doctor Strange was very dissatisfied, but he didn't want to clash head-on with Stark here either, so he just turned and said: "You guys go save Tony first, I'll go with him."

The others had no choice; this Iron Man from another universe who appeared suddenly was truly too bizarre. He seemed to possess a level of technology far exceeding that of the main universe, and his personality seemed much calmer than the Tony they knew, yet he was also somewhat unfathomable, which made people shudder instead.

On the way to the council chamber with Stark, Captain America couldn't help but ask: "Are you the Iron Man of the Central Universe?"

Stark nodded. He didn't say much, actually focusing his mind on appreciating the scenery along the way. The path to the mutant royal court, the council chamber where they had gone yesterday, passed right through the valley. A clear stream flowed through the valley, and countless tall trees blocked out the sky. On the rock walls on both sides were small houses built by mutants with colored crystal windows, layered and beautiful without being obtrusive.

"What did you do to Tony's armor?"

"I made his armor misjudge the identity of its owner," Tony said while walking forward. "This is the disadvantage of not having Jarvis's assistance."

Captain America didn't understand these technical issues; he said: "He is a bit impulsive, but he doesn't want to do bad things."

"Are you trying to ask me to be polite to him?"

"No, your attitude is already very polite," Captain America was still reasonable; he said, "It's just that attacking his armor directly might make him..."

"Have an anxiety attack?"

"If someone suddenly controlled my body or organs, I would also feel very scared," Captain America said.

"If the armor is so important to him, then he should make it more advanced," Stark shook his head and said. "I can imagine that since the multiverse war, you have spent too much time on multiverse diplomacy. Little do you know, the only rule of diplomacy is that a big fist is the hard truth. It's not too late to realize this now, is it?"

Captain America pursed his lips. He was unwilling to admit that their universe's strength was insufficient. The Avengers of the main universe had also defeated many powerful opponents. They were united and all wanted to win a higher status for their universe in the multiverse. If it weren't for their unity, they wouldn't have acted like this together.

However, the scene where the Iron Man of the main universe seemed to have no power to resist in the hands of this Iron Man made them feel terrified. This wasn't because they had miscalculated the average strength of the multiverse, but because this Central Universe was ridiculously strong. ===== CHAPTER 4682 =====