"What's going on? Why did they leave?" Black Widow leaned against the window, arms crossed as she looked outside and asked, "That guy in the black outfit is quite a powerful Mutant, isn't he? Did he have a falling out with Magneto?"
Hawkeye adjusted his bowstring opposite her, not lifting his head as he said, "It's no surprise if Magneto has a falling out with anyone. Maybe that guy thought there was no hope this time and left early."
"Just as expected, a scattered mess." Black Widow sighed, showing an expression of "I knew it." She glanced at Hawkeye and then said, "Why are you still cleaning your equipment? There's no fight happening."
"Are you sure?" Hawkeye looked at the wall behind Black Widow. During their conversation, there was a constant noisy background sound coming from the next room.
"Tony Stark! We rushed to Wang Ting to prevent any changes in the plan, and now you tell me you want to change the plan to steal technology from the Red Orchid Factory to build Mecha for yourself?!"
"Why can't you understand? If we can't deal with that Central Universe Iron Man, all our plans are for nothing!"
"You just want to beat him because he embarrassed you. Actually, we do have ways to deal with him, and Mutants may not necessarily side with him! You just want to outdo him!"
"You're crazy, Steve. If Mutants choose sides, they'll pick the stronger one, won't they? If we can't show we are more valuable than Iron Man, why would they side with us?"
"Do you have to confront him?"
"It's him who insists on confronting me!"
Knock, knock, knock. The door was knocked, and both the Main Universe Iron Man and Captain America turned their heads towards the door.
After a moment, Thor walked in and said, "That Central Universe Iron Man is here. Shall we let him in?"
Captain America frowned slightly. Turning his gaze to the Main Universe Iron Man, he noticed his face looked very bad.
"I'll go find him." Captain America glanced at the Main Universe Iron Man and said, "You guys keep an eye on Tony, don't let him run around."
"Wait." The Main Universe Iron Man spoke up, "Why are you going out to see him? Do you think I'm afraid of him?"
Captain America's expression darkened. He stared at Iron Man and said, "You don't even realize you're anxious to the point of losing control, Tony. Thor, keep an eye on him."
With that, he left. Iron Man took a step forward as if to go out, but Thor stepped up to stop him and said, "You better not go out, Tony. Rescuing you from near-Earth orbit wasn't easy. If it happens again, S.H.I.E.L.D. would definitely find out, and we'd be up against this universe's Avengers."
"Where's Steven?" The Main Universe Iron Man asked, "I want to see him."
Captain America walked out, and Stark was already waiting in the living room. Seeing Captain America come out, Stark said, "The drones Iron Man sent to Red Orchid Base have been shot down."
Captain America was stunned: "Drones?"
"Don't you know?" Stark asked with a frown. He pulled out his phone, queued up a video, and handed it to Captain America, then said, "He deployed a fleet of drones to the Red Orchid Base, but they were shot down without even breaching the outer defenses, and the wreckage was captured by S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Damn it!" Captain America cursed. He turned to confront Iron Man, but Stark hurriedly held him back. "What are you going to do?"
"How could Tony be so impulsive? This universe's Earth Government clearly has a high level of technology. We had already ruled out his plan to probe with drones, yet he still did it!"
"There's nothing wrong with using drones to probe."
"But his drones were captured! This might alert the Earth Government; they'll realize Mutants have allies."
"That's not what you should be concerned about," Stark said with some frustration. "Once S.H.I.E.L.D. captures the drones, they'll quickly realize it's Tony Stark's technology. S.H.I.E.L.D. and the regular government may not know about Battleworld; they'll think this universe's Iron Man is spying on Red Orchid Base."
Captain America was a bit bewildered, seemingly not realizing the implications. Stark had to spell it out, "This is a great opportunity to sow distrust. Now, Earth's various factions are eager to gain control of Red Orchid. If we let them believe Stark Group has such ambitions, they might have internal conflicts."
Captain America finally realized, and at that moment, Thor walked over and asked, "How did you get this information?"
"I hacked into the external defense system of the Red Orchid Factory," Stark said, "and happened to see the scene where the drones were destroyed by the laser gun."
"You can hack into the defense system?" Thor said in shock, "Then you could destroy the Mother Module?"
Stark sighed deeply and said, "Why would I destroy the Mother Module?"
"Aren't you here to help the Mutants?"
"If Mutants are strong, the Mother Module targets them; but if Mutants are weak enough, the Mother Module targets humanity itself. If I want to help Mutants, I cannot destroy it."
"So you could destroy it," Captain America said.
Stark did not answer the question, but instead said, "Perhaps you can have Iron Man send more drones over, and let S.H.I.E.L.D. catch them in the act. With enough evidence, someone will move against Stark Group."
Then he turned and said as he walked away, "I will also tell the mutants about this plan. If it works, they will be very grateful to you."
"We can't do that," said Thor looking at Captain America.
"Why?" asked Captain America.
Thor sighed helplessly. Whether it was Captain America or Iron Man, neither had any sensitivity to politics, and there was no way to expect them to understand the intricacies here.
"We can't be enemies with this universe's Avengers," said Thor. "If we really use such a tactic to frame Stark Group, and let him get caught by S.H.I.E.L.D. or the military, he will surely bear a grudge against us."
Captain America walked over, sat down, nodded and said, "That's indeed the case. We don't really want to help the mutants conquer the world, just mediate between them. If we use such tactics against the Avengers, wouldn't we become accomplices in invading Earth?"
Captain America stood up again and said, "Tony is way too impulsive. S.H.I.E.L.D. has already gotten hold of the drone wreckage. They don't know about the multiverse, but this universe's Iron Man surely does. He will definitely think we're framing him!"
After saying this, he grabbed his shield and went inside to find Main Universe Iron Man. At this moment, Main Universe Iron Man was plotting with Doctor Strange, and when these two got together, nothing good could come out of it.
"Steven, I can try to control the Mother Module," Main Universe Iron Man said in a low voice. "As long as I can break through the outer defenses, I can hack into the Mother Module that hasn't fully awakened. It is a very powerful weapon, and we can use it to mediate the war between humans and mutants."
Doctor Strange furrowed his brows slightly, but he did not object. He said, "The technology of ordinary people in this universe is very powerful, breaking through the outer defenses won't be easy."
"I've already investigated," Main Universe Iron Man said. "The technology used by Red Orchid Factory is not entirely from Earth, there's the shadow of the Shi'ar Empire. I hope you can go to the Shi'ar Empire and identify potential technological vulnerabilities in their defense apparatus."
"If I were to appear in the cosmos rashly, it might cause quite a stir," Doctor Strange said, furrowing his brows.
"You can impersonate this universe's Doctor Strange," Main Universe Iron Man continued, "In any universe, the Supreme Magician is bound to be treated as an honored guest. You can infiltrate the Shi'ar Empire and find the technological loopholes. Together, we can seize control of the Mother Module, and by then, both the Iron Man of the Central Universe and the mutants and ordinary people of this universe will have to listen to us."
Doctor Strange pondered for a moment before nodding: "Alright, I'll go."
"Don't leave now," Main Universe Iron Man said. "I can see that the Captain has been completely captivated by that Iron Man from the Central Universe; he might not agree with our plan. Wait until nightfall to sneak away."
With a bang, the door swung open. Captain America shouted, "You guys are crazy! Do you want to be enemies with the Avengers of this universe?!"
"Steve Rogers!" Main Universe Iron Man roared back, "The dignified Captain America also plays eavesdropping games?!"
"If I hadn't overheard your plan, you would have ruined everything!" Captain America shouted angrily, brandishing his shield. "You can't frame the Avengers of this universe, it would completely ruin our reputation in the multiverse!"
"Calm down, Steve." Main Universe Iron Man stepped forward and looked into his eyes, saying, "Once we capture the Mother Module, we'll have power capable of destroying the Earth. The Avengers of this universe will follow our orders; this is much more effective than trying to appease them!"
"You're crazy." Thor also came in, saying, "What you're doing is no different from those monsters invading Earth."
"We won't endanger the Earth," Doctor Strange said, "We're simply using this method to gain allies. You should understand, there are no permanent friends, only permanent interests. By controlling Earth's lifeline, they will do our bidding."
"I disagree," Dr. Banner also came in, saying, "Using the deterrent of super-weapons to coerce the Avengers is a terrifyingly evil act. I will never allow you to do it!"
"How confident are you, Tony?" Black Widow asked leaning against the door. Although she didn't explicitly show whose side she was on, her question already indicated her stance.
"As long as we break through the outer defenses," Main Universe Iron Man said, "This isn't entirely human technology; they aren't skilled in its use, and they haven't fully understood it, hastily put in place to address the mutant crisis. There are bound to be loopholes."
"Absolutely not," Dr. Banner said, "How dare you use your knowledge for this? If word gets out, no universe in the multiverse will dare to befriend us."
"Who dares to gossip?" Doctor Strange squinted as he spoke, "If the plan succeeds, people of this universe certainly won't."
"What about the people of the Central Universe? Can you guarantee that Iron Man won't spread the word?"
"Then we'll make sure he stays," Doctor Strange's eyes flashed with a hint of fierceness, "No one can withstand a strike from the Mother Module, that kind of super weapon. Surely, two Avenger groups and a super weapon can make him stay?"
"You're utterly crazy!" Dr. Banner gasped, "You want to kill the Iron Man from the Central Universe?!"
"You're too naive, Doctor," Main Universe Iron Man looked at him and said, "The Central Universe is destined to be the stumbling block in our path to becoming leaders of the multiverse. There is bound to be a battle between us, isn't it?"
Amidst the heated argument among members of the Main Universe Avengers, none noticed that one member had been absent all along. Spider Man, hanging from the ceiling, retracted his spider silk, stealthily crawled to the window, and jumped out.
"Mr. Stark! Mr. Stark! Someone wants to kill you!!!"