Bab 195: Chapter 190
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To put it plainly, Thanos' daughter has always been dedicated to fighting against her own father?
Considering the extreme things Thanos had done, those mad ideologies and actions, Tony was hardly surprised by this outcome.
A lunatic who aimed to destroy half the living beings in the universe—it's not strange for even his own daughter to oppose him.
But what is this "father-in-law" nonsense?
So, Star-Lord and Thanos have this hidden relationship? Tony never thought of this possibility.
So, Thanos faces opposition both from his daughter and his son-in-law? From this perspective, Thanos is quite the failure!
"What's going on here?"
Tony's brow furrowed slightly.
The battle on Titan where the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Avengers teamed up against Thanos—details in the journal were scant.
But why would Star-Lord punching Thanos lead to the failure of the Infinity War? If Star-Lord attacked Thanos during the battle, that seemed right.
But from the journal's tone, if Star-Lord hadn't punched Thanos, they would've captured him!
Star-Lord's attack was actually detrimental?
???
A series of question marks crawled across Tony's forehead.
Why was that? What exactly happened during that battle on Titan?
Remember, Mantis, Star-Lord's sister, temporarily controlled Thanos' mind, putting him in a hypnotic state.
That's Thanos, not some random nobody!
Mantis is undoubtedly one of the most underrated members of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Her power is indeed substantial.
She could hypnotize Ego and Thanos, a crucial ability capable of deciding victories in critical moments.
If it weren't for Star-Lord losing control and attacking Thanos on Titan, everyone would've snatched the Infinity Gauntlet away already.
What a pity, they were so close!
Mantis!
Tony noted the name down discreetly while acting nonchalant in front of the journal.
This was yet another member of the Guardians of the Galaxy revealed, following Drax, Star-Lord, and Rocket Raccoon.
But, Mantis?
Since her name includes "mantis," it must mean she has some mantis-like traits.
Or perhaps she possesses some abilities related to a mantis? Or maybe, she looks like a mantis?
No way, right?
The thought made Tony shudder. Looking like a mantis would be terrifying!
No, that shouldn't be it. After all, Mantis is Star-Lord's sister!
And Star-Lord is the child of Ego and a human woman.
So, Mantis should also have a human form, right?
Wait!
No, that's not right either!
Tony shook his head, rejecting his previous thoughts.
He recalled the journal mentioning that Ego was like a cosmic stud, executing a cosmic seeding plan.
In other words, he had offspring with countless species across the universe.
So, Star-Lord's siblings are scattered all over the universe, belonging to various strange races!
So, having a mantis-like sister theoretically isn't surprising.
After all, there is Rocket Raccoon in the Guardians of the Galaxy, isn't there?
Is this the style of the Guardians of the Galaxy? Truly out of this world.
"Controlling the mind?"
As these thoughts passed through Tony's mind, he continued to glance over the journal, feeling a surge of surprise.
Is that Mantis's ability?
This ability has nothing to do with an actual mantis.
So, does Mantis's appearance relate to her name?
Alright, that's not the point. The point is Mantis's power is truly formidable!
She can control even Thanos' mind.
She can also control the minds of the Celestials!
Being able to affect beings of that level really says something.
Finally, it became clear to Tony why Star-Lord's punches caused the failure of the battle on Titan.
It was because he woke Thanos prematurely!
"What was Star-Lord thinking?"
Even just reading the journal, not being present at the battle, made Tony want to slap his thigh in frustration.
What a regretful, missed opportunity!
What exactly happened to Star-Lord back then? Why did he lose control at such a critical moment and ruin everything?
According to the journal, the Avengers almost took the Infinity Gauntlet!
Which means, they almost grabbed all the stones Thanos had collected.
Thanos was in a hypnotized state then; they could've even killed him!
What a great opportunity!
So, did Star-Lord not understand such reasoning?
Indubitably impossible!
Something must have happened that drove Star-Lord to such madness at that crucial time.
So, what was it?
That's the key!
Additionally, the journal's spoilers provided Tony with a significant reminder or rather an enlightening thought.
Targeting the mind might be an effective way to fight Thanos.
After extracting and summarizing the key information, Tony turned his attention back to the journal, eagerly awaiting more spoilers.
But after a few minutes without more hints, Tony understood and closed the journal.
He sat straight, leaning comfortably in his luxurious car's seat, pondering over the journal's revelations.
Frankly, these spoilers revealed quite a bit of critical information.
Firstly, the Avengers traveling from the future.
Besides the already known Captain America, another version of himself, and Ant-Man, there's also Bruce Banner who went to Kamar-Taj!
Ant-Man's identity is also exposed.
Considering these future Avengers are trying to steal the stones from them, this spoiler couldn't have come at a better time.
It's extremely timely.
Additionally, motives behind Thanos wishing to erase half the universe's population and hints on how to defeat him are provided.
"Wait, wait, wait."
For Tony, these were critical pieces of information.
"Tony, we're here."
As Tony pondered, a jolt of inertia brought him back to reality. The car slowed down rapidly, and Happy's voice chimed in.
Tony snapped out of his thoughts, exchanged greetings with Happy, and hurriedly got out of the car, heading straight towards the Triskelion.
As for the notebook in the car? Tony completely ignored it.
After all, it was invisible and non-existent to anyone other than its owner. Plus, it had an "auto-tracking" feature, meaning it would always appear by the owner's side, so there was no fear of losing it.
Tony soon arrived at the command center, joining Nick Fury, Captain America, and Black Widow. Oh, and Bruce Banner too.
As for the Red Guardian and Hawkeye Barton, they were absent, leading a team to guard the scepter.
"What's with the gloomy faces?"
"Don't tell me Loki's scepter has been stolen too."
Tony glanced at everyone and sensed the heavy atmosphere in the room, prompting him to speak up.
"The scepter is still in our possession," Black Widow informed Tony, "but the Tesseract is still a major issue."
"That's why I'm here, right?" Tony responded, spreading his hands.
"Stark, you successfully tracked the Tesseract before. We need you to do it again," Captain America said seriously.
Of course, Cap knew the Tesseract was something significant, but unlike the notebook holders, he didn't know its true nature and importance.
Even so, Captain America was determined not to let it fall into unknown hands.
"I already have JARVIS working on that," Tony assured them. "Finding the Tesseract isn't the problem. The real issue is what we do once we find it."
Nick Fury, Black Widow, and everyone else in the room immediately tensed up.
That truly was the key issue.
For Fury and Black Widow, in addition to Tony, the sight of another destroyer armor more advanced than Tony's, which had bested Tony in a direct confrontation, was nerve-wracking.
It was evident that SHIELD couldn't handle such a threat, nor could the Avengers easily confront it.
"There's also the scepter!" Fury's voice echoed, his expression grave. "We can't let anyone take the scepter!"
Like Tony, Fury quickly realized how the Tesseract was stolen after the notebook predicted Ant-Man's involvement.
If that were the case, the scepter was just as vulnerable.
All the security measures around the scepter were insufficient!
It was possible that Ant-Man was already attempting to steal the scepter while they were discussing countermeasures.
Captain America's face turned solemn upon hearing this.
He couldn't comprehend how someone could have possibly stolen the scepter. It seemed nearly impossible.
"This is truly unsettling; we don't even know how they managed to steal the Tesseract," Dr. Banner said, voicing everyone's concerns.
Without knowing the thieves' methods, how could they defend against it?
The safety of the scepter couldn't be guaranteed.
"Alright, I've conducted some research on this," Tony spoke up.
He shared the intel he had just gathered from Japan about Ant-Man with Cap and Dr. Banner, who were clueless about it.
Cap and Dr. Banner were shocked.
Someone could shrink and enlarge themselves or other objects at will?
Such a seemingly magical capability explained how they stole the Tesseract without anyone noticing.
Because of this, Cap and Dr. Banner were increasingly distressed.
If the enemy could do something this incredible, it meant that conventional security measures were useless!
The scepter was in real danger!
Therefore, the most important task was to safeguard the scepter, preventing the enemy from stealing it without a trace.
"We need a new security system."
"Until then, the scepter must be under constant watch, always in our sight!"
Captain America suggested reasonably, looking around the room.
No one objected.
"Sir, we've located the Tesseract," JARVIS interrupted.
It had once again pinpointed the Tesseract through its specific gamma-ray signature.
Everyone's spirits lifted.
Normally, JARVIS would hack into nearby cameras to survey the area when it found the Tesseract.
But now, with FRIDAY protecting it, JARVIS couldn't complete the hack.
So, JARVIS only knew the Tesseract's location, but the status of the future Avengers remained unknown.
And this intelligence gap was the primary issue that needed addressing.
Action plans relied on comprehensive information.
However, Tony had fewer reservations about this.
"I'll go talk to them first," Tony decided.
After all, they were his future self and the future Avengers!
Tony didn't want to burn bridges unless absolutely necessary.
Reactions to Tony's decision varied.
Captain America disapproved, seeing it as reckless and pointless.
But Nick Fury, also a notebook holder, supported Tony.
Those were future Avengers, after all.
Even if negotiations failed, and conflicts arose, they wouldn't kill Tony.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone