The answer was surprisingly simple.
It stemmed from the Diary's previous upgrade.
The new version of the Diary was fundamentally different from the old one; it had become far more user-friendly.
Not only was it easier to operate, but it had also gained a protective mechanism for its host!
Because of this,
Neither Tony nor Nick Fury,
Nor the rest of the Avengers,
Could recall such an obvious answer.
"Tony," Black Widow, who had also joined the group chat, interjected.
"I think you're getting hung up on this. The Box Theory, the Creator Theory—these are just hypotheses that can neither be proven nor disproven. Nothing more."
"Wave Function Collapse, String Theory, Quantum Suicide Theory... There are countless such theories in the scientific community."
"If you get bogged down in these, I think you're just tying yourself in knots."
As a top-tier scientist, Black Widow's concerns were not lost on Playboy.
But this situation was entirely different from those theoretical debates.
They had indeed discovered works related to their own worlds within the DC Dimension.
This was no longer just theory.
"Tony, what's your plan now?"
Tony didn't answer Black Widow. Instead, Captain America turned to Playboy and asked, "What do you intend to do next?"
"Let's all meet up," Playboy replied, avoiding a direct answer. After a moment of contemplation, he issued a summons to everyone.
The Avengers readily agreed without hesitation.
They quickly set a time and gathered once more.
Even Thor, who was far away in Asgard, made the journey.
"Tony, what's this mysterious business that has you acting so secretive?"
Thor carefully set down his hammer before walking to his seat. He couldn't help but stare at Playboy, asking, "My gut tells me what he's about to say will be quite heart-stopping."
Black Widow wore a knowing smile. "Alright, Tony. Everyone's here."
"What are you waiting for?"
Nick Fury shrugged at Playboy, urging him on. "Natasha's right."
Under everyone's gaze, Playboy stood up with a solemn expression. "What I'm about to reveal is indeed quite stimulating, even for you all."
"So, brace yourselves. If anyone has high blood pressure, speak up now. I have medication."
*Well, that's quite the dramatic buildup.*
Tony had completely whetted everyone's appetite.
"You might be right. I've been obsessing over the origins of our universe, getting too fixated."
"Perhaps so," Tony said, "but I can't simply accept all this cruelty as you some of you can."
"I'm going to keep investigating. I won't stop."
"There's a good chance I'll end up doing something crazy because of this."
"Like what?" Thor interrupted.
"Like... I've been thinking we could try dimensional travel. Go to the DC universe and take a look."
"We might find some clues there."
Meeting everyone's gaze, the Playboy laid out his idea.
It was truly earth-shattering, sending a jolt through the room.
The conference room fell into a stunned silence as everyone exchanged bewildered glances.
"Come on," Tony said, shrugging as he continued to hold forth before them. "It's the only way. If we can't find answers in our own dimension, we have to broaden our horizons."
"You're downplaying it a bit by calling it 'broadening our horizons'."
Even Egghead, who was usually fearless in his research and mischief, struggled to remain calm. "We're talking about dimensional travel here."
"Exactly, but what's so outrageous about that?"
The Playboy remained unshaken. "We already know the Diary's owner went to the DC Dimension, don't we?"
*That's not the same thing at all!*
The Avengers silently seethed.
They were just "ordinary people," while the Diary's owner was a mysterious, unfathomable being.
They were either a "Box Invader" from beyond the Box, or they had an extraordinary connection to the dimension-transcending Creator—or perhaps they were the Creator themselves.
How could someone of such stature be casually compared to them?
"You're right, Tony. You've definitely stirred things up," Captain America said, his expression grave.
Given Captain America's nature, he would naturally oppose such a reckless endeavor.
"Have you considered the risks involved?"
"Do you understand the potential consequences?"
Captain America slowly straightened his posture, his soul-piercing questions directed at Tony.
"If we're paralyzed by caution, we won't accomplish anything."
"Even walking carries the risk of tripping. Should we lock ourselves up at home because of that?"
The Playboy scoffed at Captain America's concerns.
In his view, the "old man" had truly aged.
Though physically he appeared even younger than Tony, his mindset had clearly failed to keep up with the times.
"Every time someone tries to harness power they can't control, it leads to catastrophic consequences."
"Haven't we learned our lesson yet?"
Captain America's gaze sharpened, his voice firm and reasoned.
"Who says we can't control it?"
"Dimensional travel—what's the big deal?"
"I even have a general framework in mind. Why else would I have called you here?"
The Playboy exuded confidence, as if he truly had a comprehensive plan laid out.
"Stark, are you sure you know what you're talking about?"
Thor chuckled. "No offense, buddy, but you can't even reach other planets yet, and you're already discussing dimensional travel? Shouldn't you learn to walk before you try running?"
"Exactly my point."
Tony nodded emphatically. "And you're wrong about one thing. I don't need to learn to walk. A car is much faster than running."
"So, where's our car?" Nick Fury asked, cutting straight to the point.
"The Infinity Stones!" Tony declared, his answer heavy with weight.
This was the true purpose behind his summoning of everyone.
"Infinity Ultron could traverse the Multiverse and shatter the walls between dimensions. Do I need to say more?"
Given the Avengers' intelligence, no further explanation was needed. They could easily replicate Infinity Ultron's feat, creating an Infinity Vision of their own. In fact, there was little difference between the two. If Infinity Ultron could traverse dimensions, Infinity Vision should be capable of the same.
How difficult would such a replication be? For Tony, the challenge had been minimized. Only the Time Stone remained missing. Coincidentally, Tony knew that Nick Fury had been investigating Kamar-Taj recently. If he uncovered anything, it would be perfect.
"I disagree," Captain America said, his voice firm. "This involves our entire universe. We can't risk it all on some baseless, absurd theory."
"Captain, I'm not necessarily supporting Stark, but I have to say, his theory isn't as absurd as it sounds."
Nick Fury chimed in, explaining to Captain America from the side.
"I see. The same old story."
"You have some classified information, but I'm not authorized to know the truth?"
"Nick, we're a team. We need to trust each other!"
Egghead inwardly groaned.
It wasn't that he was unwilling to reveal the source of the information. The problem was that Captain America wasn't the Diary's owner, and they simply couldn't disclose it.
And so, the Avengers gathered around the table, launching into a heated debate over Tony's proposal to dimension-hop.
In this initial meeting, divisions within the Avengers were stark.
The "conservatives," led by Captain America, firmly opposed the plan.
Meanwhile, radicals like Nick Fury threw their full support behind Tony's scheme.
The two sides clashed fiercely, their arguments flying like spittle, but they couldn't reach a consensus. Ultimately, they had to abandon the discussion for the time being.
The only thing the Playboy could do was use his Diary to gather information from Clark, his Other-Dimensional online friend.
"I've searched every Marvel series, and Universe 199999 doesn't exist in the comics."
Clark also provided an answer to a question Tony had been focusing on earlier.
*Doesn't exist?*
Tony fell into deep thought.
*Why doesn't Universe 199999 exist in DC's works?*
*From another perspective, this means that within the DC world, there are only parallel universes related to their own universe, but none of their own universe's works!*
"Tony, you can relax now, right?"
This news made the Avengers breathe a collective sigh of relief, their moods lifting noticeably.
What did this mean?
It meant everyone had overreacted!
The Box Theory, the Creator Theory—they were probably just overthinking things.
Especially the Box Theory.
*If you don't even have a box, how can you talk about the Box Theory?*
"If there isn't even a single work based on our universe, how can you claim to be characters living in a story?"
"Yeah, we were overthinking things before."
"There's simply no comic book about our world. We're not living in a comic book."
Black Widow agreed with this, adding her own analysis.
"Clearly, the Creator Theory is the truth!"
"Like Tony said, maybe that Creator has traveled through many worlds, or perhaps he's a god of stories who knows about things in different dimensions."
"That's why he's created a series of related works based on these experiences."
Now that they'd confirmed their universe wasn't part of the Marvel comic continuity, the Creator Theory seemed far more convincing than the Box Theory.
Black Widow even proposed another equally plausible idea:
"There's even another possibility."
"We already know that dreams are projections of someone else's experiences in another universe. So, could it be that our entire universe is being projected onto someone in another universe?"
"So, our dimension inspired their creations?"
"And because our dimension and the DC Dimension are relatively close—not in a physical sense, but on a higher dimensional level—we're essentially neighbors."
"Does that mean our dimensions and the DC Dimension have been projecting onto each other?"
Black Widow's hypothesis, based on the Creator Theory, was undeniably plausible.
Others chimed in with their own theories, sparking an intense debate.
"We can't jump to conclusions yet," Tony cautioned, maintaining his rigorous approach. "While the DC Universe doesn't feature stories from our universe, that doesn't mean other universes don't."
"We need to investigate this thoroughly as soon as possible."
Once the seed of doubt was planted, it was far from easy to dispel.
Of course, these discussions took place within the Avengers' private group chat.
In Clark's group chat, they only discussed matters related to him.
He didn't dare discuss it so freely, lest he waste words.
Meanwhile, in the group chat, Clark asked about the Mother Box.
The Avengers, who had specifically researched it in the comics, provided him with answers.
"Victor Stone, also known as Cyborg, is a superhero transformed by the Mother Box's power," Black Widow replied. "His father, Silas Stone, is still in charge. You should start your investigation there."
*Victor Stone?*
Clark's spirits immediately lifted.
Knowing the father and son's full names made the investigation trivial for him.
The only issue was that Black Widow's information came from the DC Main Universe, not necessarily his own.
Even so, stories from parallel universes could still offer valuable insights.
After logging off, Clark wasted no time.
He immediately began investigating Victor Stone and his father.
For someone with Clark's abilities, this level of investigation was child's play.
Within just a few days, he found himself outside a military-grade research facility—S.T.A.R. Labs, led by Silas Stone, Cyborg's father.
*Whoosh!*
Standing far down the street, Clark gazed at the massive S.T.A.R. Labs and activated his X-ray vision.
In an instant, the entire facility became transparent in his vision.
-----------------------
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