Loki did not immediately go looking for Thor.
The Dark Elves had not fully revived yet, and he also needed to make new arrangements for Tony—to find some pretext to get him into the arena.
Though he was already impatient to leave, he did not cut corners. He staged a little drama of miners planning a revolt, luring Tony into joining the action. Tony, who longed for freedom, was naturally tempted, and then…
Then there was no "then." The rebellion was swiftly suppressed. Tony was captured once again, given a brutal beating, and then shoved like a dog into a cramped iron cage, apparently to be transported somewhere else.
His body lay curled in a dark corner of the cell, his chest barely rising, gasping for breath so faintly that one might wonder if he had already stopped breathing.
But on closer inspection, one could see his eyes open in the darkness, his cracked lips moving slightly, emitting indistinct sounds.
He looked as if he were about to die.
But Tony did not care.
He treated this as his penance. Every night he told himself: Tony Stark, you deserve this. This is your just punishment. If even one person on Earth dies because of Ultron, that death is on your hands.
He told himself: Tony Stark, even if you die here, no one will mourn you.
"But I can't die."
Every time he thought of this, a glimmer of light returned to his gradually numbing eyes.
"You can't just die and be done with it, Tony Stark. The threat of Ultron still exists. Earth is still waiting for you to return and save it."
"You have to keep this life, find Bant Parker, bow your head to the person you once belittled, and beg the Celestial Union for help."
He could die, but not a worthless death.
Before dying, he should at least make up for the foolish mistakes he had made.
It was because of this conviction that he had managed to hold on. Anyone else, subjected to such torment, would probably have collapsed long ago.
Even Loki was somewhat shaken by Tony Stark's tenacity. After all, Tony had always been wild and dissolute, spending his days in revelry, seemingly able to solve everything with ease—giving off a distinctly unreliable impression.
But now, Loki's opinion of him had changed considerably.
One could say that anyone who witnessed Tony Stark's performance had their perception of him refreshed. And with Pepper constantly running PR for him, the negative impressions people on Earth had of Tony had already diminished greatly.
Even Wakanda was no exception.
What they saw was a Tony Stark who had been exiled by Ultron, yet still refused to give up in the face of adversity.
They now understood that Ultron's actions had not been ordered by Tony—that Tony Stark himself was one of those deceived by Ultron. He had already been punished, and he had never for a single moment abandoned the thought of saving Earth.
It was just…
What use was it to think about saving Earth in his own head?
Tony thought despairingly. The mine uprising had failed. He had no chance of escape at all. And even if he did escape, in this vast universe, where would he find the Celestial Union?
Tony's heart gradually sank into despair—yet it was precisely this that made Loki approve of him.
But Loki would never say anything kind.
Tony could feel the ship slowly coming to a stop. Then the mine owner walked over cruelly, opened the iron cage, grabbed the chain attached to the collar on Tony's neck, and dragged Tony out, half-carrying him.
Tony lifted his eyes weakly to glance at him, seeming to have no will to resist anymore. But Loki suddenly became talkative, kicking Tony in the body and saying, "Kid, if you'd just done your work in the mine like a good boy, you'd still have a chance to live. And you still thought about escaping? Wait until you get into the arena—then see how you run. Get up!"
He yanked Tony upward again, forcing Tony to straighten his body to avoid having his cervical spine snapped by Loki.
Loki delivered another kick. "Move!"
Then he led him down from the ship like a dog on a leash.
Tony Stark walked numbly, like a soulless puppet.
The moment he stepped out of the cabin, the outside light made Tony instinctively narrow his eyes. When he opened them, the towering buildings of the imperial capital seemed to rush toward him from all directions, pressing down on him.
All kinds of vehicles drove through the sky in layers, like magic.
Tony froze, somewhat surprised.
This planet's technological level was far higher than he had imagined. His eyes could not take it all in—colors cascaded one after another, assaulting his pupils—until he saw the tallest building in the imperial capital.
"What is that?" Tony's eyes instantly lit up, and even his somewhat withered body seemed injected with a bit of vitality.
In those eyes, it was as if a spark of hope had been ignited.
"Hm?" Loki followed his gaze and saw that what Tony was looking at were the statues on the Totem Tower. "Ah, those are the statues of the arena's past champions."
He glanced at Tony and said with a half-smile, guiding him, "If you can become a champion in the arena too, you'll gain the same status as the other champions. But… I'd say you should focus on surviving the first round first."
But Tony did not care about anyone else's statues. His eyes saw only one thing—the statue of Luma.
He grew excited and shouted, "I know her! I know her!"
When Thanos had brought his army to Earth, this female alien and the leader of the Celestial Union had come to Earth together!
Tony clenched his fists tightly, and the hope in his heart flared up once more.
"I'm not mistaken! Four eyes and four arms—it's her!"
"It's her!"
Loki pushed Tony toward the totem, but Tony's eyes were still fixed on Luma's statue, and his feet seemed rooted to the ground, refusing to move forward.
He stubbornly braced his feet against the ground, letting his shoulders and head fall back into Loki, looking as if he wanted to collapse entirely into Loki's arms. He kept shouting, "I know her! Let me talk to her! I know her!"
Loki sneered coldly, mercilessly grabbed Tony's collar, lifted him up, and then hurled him several meters away, smashing him onto the ground.
"You know her? So what? On this planet, everyone knows the mighty Red Wind Queen."
"Any match the Red Wind Queen attends, not a single person on this planet would miss. What makes you so special?"
Tony lay face-down on the ground, gasping.
He had little strength to begin with, and after being thrown by Loki, his vision was swimming. Every pore on his head felt as though thousands of needles were being driven into it—an indescribable, dense, prickling sensation.
His head was heavy, and his body failed several times to stand again. He could only roll himself over onto his back, facing the sky, tears streaming from his eyes, refusing to shift his gaze.
It was as if that was no longer a sculpture of Luma, but some kind of faith—his last hope!
"I… I have to see her…"
No matter what, he had to see the Red Wind Queen. As long as he saw her, he could contact Bant, and he could obtain the Celestial Union's aid.
"Want to see the Red Wind Queen? Simple—just enter the Championship Challenge and win all the way to the end." Loki casually grabbed the chain and dragged Tony toward the interior of the Totem Tower.
He mentioned the Championship Challenge offhandedly, but his tone was full of contempt, as if he did not take Tony seriously at all.
But Tony seemed to have latched onto something, muttering to himself.
"Championship Challenge…"
"Lo—… Beck," Kaira had been waiting outside the Totem Tower for a while. Seeing Loki approach, she nearly exposed Loki's real name. "What are you doing here?"
Loki smoothly tossed Stark in front of her and said, "One of the mine uprising personnel. A disobedient farm tool is better destroyed early. And it can serve as entertainment."
Kaira glanced at Tony and frowned slightly, pretending to interrogate him. "I recall that after King Sakaar took over, the mines have been using machines for extraction—except for criminals. What crime did he commit?"
"Illegal trespassing," Loki said with a shrug.
"There's no record of this person in Sakaar's resident registry. I've already checked."
"Now you can add illegal insurrection."
Kaira nodded. "Illegal trespassing… You're lucky. Sakaar's arena is no longer as bloody and inhumane as it was under the Red King's rule. As long as you surrender quickly enough, you can still survive."
"Take him down for treatment. In this condition, even if no one touches him, he won't last long."
She waved her hand, and several red-skinned guards came over, seized Tony, and prepared to take him away.
At the same time, Pepper, who had been watching Tony closely from Earth, heard Kaira's words and was so moved she nearly cried.
This alien woman was actually going to give Tony medical treatment!
It felt like their luck had finally turned!
Tony did indeed feel his luck had turned—so much so that a burst of strength erupted from his battered body. He broke free from the two guards and said, "I want to enter the Championship Challenge!"
"What did you say?" Kaira was taken aback.
She had not expected Tony to be so bold—to open his mouth and immediately ask for the Championship Challenge.
After all, she had just told Tony the trick to staying alive: in the current arena, as long as you surrendered fast enough, you could live.
According to the script, this guy should have been lying low in the arena, waiting for Bant to come and deal with him, right?
She looked at Loki and found that Loki was smiling at her with an expression that said everything was under control. Clearly, Loki was not at all surprised that Tony would take the risk.
"I want to enter the Championship Challenge. Is that not allowed?"
Tony did not want to give up hope, and he also understood that he had to hurry. Every minute he delayed, the situation on Earth could grow worse.
"When I said that surrendering quickly enough in the arena could save your life, that did not include the Championship Challenge." Mentioning the Championship Challenge, Kaira's expression grew much more serious.
The Championship Challenge was not merely a competition to select the king of combat.
Their King Sakaar had defeated the tyrannical Red King through the Championship Challenge and had become the prophesied Son of Sakaar, bringing vitality and life to the planet.
Since then, it had become a competition carrying sacred significance.
"I'm entering!" Tony said without the slightest hesitation.
"Fine." Kaira did not try to dissuade him further. She merely instructed the two guards, "Take him down for treatment. Any weapons he wants, see that he gets them. The first Championship Challenge match will be held in one week."
With that, Tony was taken away.
This time, unexpectedly, he was not sent to the underground cells of the original arena, but to a place not much different from the room where Hulk rested in Thor: Ragnarok.
Several alien girls prepared healing agents in a bath for him, then carefully applied towels to the various wounds on his body. Before long, aside from his broken arm, all of Tony's injuries had improved considerably.
"Hah…"
He exhaled almost blissfully, feeling as if both body and spirit had finally gotten a rare moment of rest.
Then he began acting improper, whistling at the Sakaar girls who were taking care of him. "Honestly, this place is much better than the mine. I thought I'd be locked in a dungeon. You've changed your ways… Got anything to eat?"
One of the girls brought him some yellow fruits and said, "For people who are about to die, letting them enjoy themselves before death counts as mercy."
Tony: …
"Alright, clearly you're not great with words. But let me tell you—I know your Red Wind Queen. When the time comes, I just need to say one name, and she won't lay a finger on me." Tony moved around a bit, then said in surprise, "Your medicine isn't bad. What's the formula? Don't get me wrong—I just want to compare it to one of my friend's inventions. Obviously my friend's is better. The medicine he invented can even heal severed hands… Though compared to me, his intelligence is still a little lacking."
"It won't help even if you know King Sakaar," the girl said, rolling her eyes at him, clearly taking him for a braggart. "You have to go through three Championship Challenges, survive, and win before you can stand before the Red Wind Queen."
"What did you say?"
"I have to fight three matches to see her?"
Tony sprang up from the pool, the towel falling away and revealing his little weapon.
The Sakaar girls were all quite bold. They glanced at it curiously, then all showed expressions of disgust.
So small!
They exchanged smiles.
At the same time, the people on Earth also saw this scene.
Happy, acting as bodyguard and driver, covered his face, unable to watch.
Peter, who was searching for the vanished Venom above New York, nearly lost his grip on his webbing. Tony Stark's little sparrow was on full display—was this even safe to broadcast?
But…
So small.
Peter blinked. He truly had never imagined that Tony Stark's equipment was only that much.
Elsewhere, Electro also saw the image. He frowned slightly. Then a black substance surged out from his shoulder, letting out a mocking laugh. "I never would have guessed the famous arms dealer Tony Stark uses a ladies' compact pistol. And to think—he's slept with all those cover models, and not one of them ever leaked this information. Money really is the best thing in the world!"
/-\
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