Chapter 225: Chapter 218
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"Stark, is this how you treat your guests?" Ajax laughed, his eyes deliberately sweeping around the doorway. "Or do you prefer to discuss matters at the door? Especially important matters like these?"
"First, I haven't decided if you're my guests yet," Tony pointed sternly with one finger, followed by a second. "Second, I haven't decided if I want to talk to you. That depends on you."
"Alright." Ajax had completely conceded to Tony, a guy who didn't play by the rules. He had to introduce himself and his purpose as requested. "Have you ever heard of the Eternals?"
After a moment's thought, Ajax looked earnestly at Tony.
The Eternals? These two are from the Eternals? It must be said, this was something Iron Man had never anticipated. After receiving spoilers about the Eternals in his journal, Tony had Jarvis research this group. Unsurprisingly, no clues related to them were found. This group, validated by the journal as formidable, seemed to not exist at all!
However, today, they suddenly showed up at his door? And for the Scepter? What the hell! The journal never mentioned that the Eternals were also eyeing the Infinity Stones! But according to the spoilers from the journal and the information learned from Thor, this group was not evil. In fact, it made Fury and Tony believe this was a group worth aligning with. As for how to treat the two Eternals in front of him, Tony had a good idea.
"So, you say you're Eternals, right?" Tony's eyes revealed curiosity and eagerness for knowledge. "How can you prove it?"
"How to prove… wait, aren't you surprised and confused? You know about the Eternals?" Sersi couldn't hide her astonishment. Their people had always refrained from interfering in human affairs and generally kept their identity hidden. But upon further thought, well, that was in the past. Since the team disbanded and everyone integrated into human society, this couldn't be guaranteed anymore.
For instance, Ikaris, the superstar, had even told his identity to his agent! And oddly enough, the agent believed him! Even Sprite had told her story to others, though it was dismissed as a child's wild imagination. In this context, it wasn't surprising Tony Stark knew about the Eternals from some source. Sersi didn't dwell on it further; she just asked Tony with slight annoyance, "How do you want us to prove it? I've never had to prove this to anyone."
"Every one of you Eternals has a special ability, right? So, what about you?" Tony's look was filled with anticipation. It was clear he wanted Sersi to demonstrate her power.
"It seems you indeed know quite a bit about us, and I'm curious, where did you get our information?" Ajax looked at Tony with curiosity and a bit of confusion. Even if the Eternals had integrated into human society, it wasn't likely their secrets would have leaked like this.
"Come on, who am I? Tony Stark!" Iron Man shrugged, his face smirking. "There's nothing in this world I don't know about!" Seeing Tony obviously didn't want to reveal his source, Ajax tactfully stayed silent, not pressing further.
"Ajax," at that moment, Sersi turned her questioning look to Ajax at her side. After a slight nod from Ajax, there was nothing left for Sersi to hesitate about. She glanced around, then rested her hand on the doorknob next to her. Her power activated.
Whoosh! A perfectly normal door transformed into countless bright red petals!
"This is... matter conversion? Is this your ability? You turned a glass door into petals, altering its molecular structure! Truly an impressive ability!" Tony marveled, unable to suppress his exclamations. Now, Iron Man had no doubts left about Ajax and Sersi's identity as Eternals.
"So, are we guests now?" Ajax spoke with a confident smile curling on his lips.
"Come in." Tony stepped aside, making a welcoming gesture and leading them into the reception room of the lab.
"All right, Ajax, Sersi, tell me. Why are the Eternals interested in the Scepter?" After brief pleasantries, Tony started to ask directly about the matter at hand.
"In the near future, Earth will face a major crisis, and everything here will cease to exist. To stop the impending calamity, we need the power of the Scepter." Ajax gathered his thoughts briefly before revealing his true intentions to Iron Man.
"Stark, I know this might sound ridiculous to you or even like a joke." Sersi also started speaking earnestly, "But believe me, you don't know what the true nature of this world is."
According to the journal, Tony Stark was a potential Avenger with tremendous future potential and would participate in various major events. But currently, none of those events had occurred? The Battle of New York hadn't even happened yet! So the Tony Stark, described in the journal as having a "mortal body comparable to a deity," was just slightly smarter than an average person right now?
"Believe me, I know far more than you can imagine," Iron Man spoke with a profound look. It wasn't just Tony boasting; as the holder of the journal, his knowledge and insights, even about groups like the Eternals, were vast.
"Ajax," after shifting his attention from Sersi, Tony turned his gaze back to Ajax. "The great crisis you mentioned, is it about the guy sleeping under the Earth?"
As soon as Tony finished speaking, he immediately saw Ajax and Sersi, both sitting across from him, show a change in their expressions. Startled. The two Eternals were indeed a bit shocked. What Stark mentioned was clearly about the imminent birth of Tiamat.
"Why would he even know about such a thing? It would have made sense if this person had prior knowledge about the Eternals since they are integrated into human society and might inadvertently reveal some information. But Tiamut's situation should have been impossible to disclose! After all, just a few months ago, only Ajak and Ikaris were privy to this on the whole planet! Even Sersi only found out after receiving that 'mysterious item'. There's no way it could have been leaked! So what's going on here? 'It seems so!'"
There was no need for Ajak to respond because Iron Man, seeing their expressions, knew he had guessed correctly. According to the spoilers in the diary, besides Ikaris and Sprite, the other Eternals had betrayed Arishem and planned to prevent Tiamut's emergence. Tony grew more certain and made an even more logical guess, "So, you plan to use the energy of the gems to prevent that guy from emerging, right?"
Whish!
The facial expressions of Ajak and Sersi changed again.
They were intensely stirred by Iron Man's remarks.
What a joke!
Why did this man know everything?
This was the most secret of their secrets!
In an instant, both Ajak and Sersi felt as though they were sitting on pins and needles. The feeling of being completely seen through by others was undoubtedly too terrible.
"How do you know all this?"
"This is not a secret that ordinary people should know."
Ajak's facial expression changed several times before she finally stared intensely at Tony and demanded sharply, "I am not an ordinary person!"
Iron Man spread his hands with a cocky smile.
"Stark, don't play word games with me; you know what I mean."
"This is a secret exclusive to the Eternals, and I'm sure none of us leaked it."
Ajak's voice also became very stern.
"Wait a minute!"
Suddenly, Sersi had a realization, "That's right, none of us leaked the secret, but maybe we didn't need to unless..."
Prompted by Sersi, Ajak also suddenly realized.
The 'mysterious item'!
According to Sersi, that mysterious item revealed plenty about the big secrets of the Eternals and the Celestials.
If Tony Stark had also obtained that mysterious item, then everything made sense.
After all, Sersi never said the 'mysterious item' was exclusively hers, did she?
Since she obtained it, it wasn't impossible for others to have it too!
Moreover, that 'mysterious item' also included extensive information on Stark.
This clearly showed the item was also connected to Stark.
"What riddles are you two playing at?"
Seeing the expressions of Ajak and Sersi, Tony couldn't help but ask curiously.
"Please wait a moment."
After exchanging a nod with Tony, Sersi rapidly took out the mysterious and baffling diary from her bag.
She placed it in front of Iron Man.
It was the diary!
Tony Stark immediately exhibited a look of surprise and curiosity, his gaze locked onto the diary.
At that moment, Iron Man finally had his epiphany.
Why these two Eternals were after the scepter.
It was all because of the influence of the diary!
Indeed, how to solve the problem of Celestial Tiamut was all laid out in the 'guide' in the diary.
Collecting the Infinity Stones was one of the suggestions.
"You really can see 'it'."
Sersi's eyes also brightened, and she too had her realization.
No wonder Tony Stark knew everything; after all, like her, he was also a holder of the diary.
This was getting interesting.
On the side, Ajak felt almost unable to join in.
"Originally, the Eternals also had someone who held this 'thing'; I must say, this is truly beyond my expectation."
Tony exclaimed and then shrugged at them, "But if that's the case, I think things just got a lot simpler."
Because Ajak, the "outsider," was present, they couldn't speak directly about the diary.
Thus, Sersi and Tony used terms like 'it' and 'thing' instead.
"I think so too."
Sersi smiled.
The atmosphere among them changed, becoming lighter and more harmonious.
After all, being holders of the diary, they truly understood each other.
Some matters could now be discussed openly.
"I got 'it' around three or four months ago. I had just finished a day's work and when I got back to my rented house, I suddenly found 'it' on my dresser."
"And you? When did you get it?"
Sersi quickly shared with Tony how she came to possess the diary.
The excitement was undeniable.
Heaven knows she had been bottling it up for months, unable to share it in any form, and now she could finally speak freely.
"Three or four months? Okay, I am your senior, and by a significant margin at that."
Tony's mouth twitched in swagger.
"It looks like you've had 'it' for a long time? How long?"
Sersi curiously pressed.
"Three or four years."
Tony swaggered even more.
Three or four years!
Sersi was secretly astonished; that was a long time indeed.
Wait a minute!
Sersi suddenly understood.
Why some of the things recorded in the diary appeared biased—perhaps it was because the 'plot' was known in advance and intentionally avoided?
Thus, Tony and Sersi began to communicate about the diary, and the atmosphere on site was excellent.
So much so that Ajak found it hard to get a word in.
"By the way Stark, besides you, has anyone else obtained 'it'?"
After chatting for a while, Sersi thought of a crucial question and asked Tony.
"Of course."
Tony smiled inscrutably, then extended an invitation to Sersi, "Are you interested in meeting them?"
This wasn't just a spur-of-the-moment thought for Tony.
He had this idea since Sersi and Ajak appeared.
After all, recruiting the Eternals was something several diary holders had wanted to do.
It had only been difficult to locate them.
Now that they had come to him, Iron Man naturally wouldn't let the opportunity slip.
The favorable situation only spurred Tony to extend his invitation.
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