Frieza Planet 002. Formerly the headquarters of the Nova Corps, now the Frieza Group's Primary Research Center.
Beneath the colossal laboratory dome, countless precision instruments were operating at overload capacity.
Here gathered the most brilliant minds in the entire galaxy. Kree scientists, Nova engineers, and that rubber man from Earth, Mr. Fantastic, Reed Richards.
"Useless."
A single, weightless comment echoed through the vast laboratory.
Frieza sat in a floating, pristine white executive chair, toying with the green Time Stone in his hand.
He stared at the cluster of holographic projections flashing with error codes before him. His brow furrowed slightly, and a look of impatience crossed his face.
"Mr. Richards."
Frieza's voice was elegant yet ice-cold.
"I have already given you three days."
"With the unlimited energy provided by the Infinity Stones, plus the resources of an entire galaxy at your disposal..."
"Are you telling me now that you cannot build a navigator capable of stably accessing other parallel universes?"
Standing before the console, Reed Richards was soaked in cold sweat. His face, gaunt from exhaustion, was written with anxiety and helplessness.
"My Lord... it isn't just a matter of energy."
Reed wiped the sweat from his forehead, his voice hoarse.
"Breaking the barrier of a single universe is simple; with your current power, you could tear it open with a wave of your hand."
"However, to precisely locate valuable universes with advanced civilizations amidst the infinite foam of the Multiverse... that requires an extremely complex anchoring algorithm."
Reed brought up a complex Mobius strip model.
"I'm stuck on the paradox between quantum entanglement and temporal flow rates. My brain excels at elasticity and macro-physics, but on this specific engineering algorithm model... I am missing a piece of the puzzle."
"A puzzle piece?"
Frieza narrowed his eyes, his crimson pupils flickering with dangerous light.
"Are you implying that you are admitting incompetence?"
"No... it's not that I'm incompetent."
Reed felt the killing intent washing over him and instinctively shuddered, but he gritted his teeth and continued:
"It's about specialization. If... if that egomaniac were still around, perhaps he could untie this knot."
"Egomaniac?"
Frieza paused for a moment.
Then, the image of a man in a red-and-gold tin can suit—a man whose mouth was harder than his life—surfaced in his mind.
The guy who had been thoroughly killed during the Battle of Earth, pierced through the chest by Magneto with countless steel bars.
"You mean... Tony Stark?"
A playful smile curled on Frieza's lips.
"My, my. That is a nostalgic name."
"That monkey who only knew how to build tin toys actually has a use like this?"
Reed nodded, looking grim.
"As much as I hate to admit it, in the field of combining chaos algorithms with mechanical engineering, he really is... a genius. Unfortunately, he is already dead."
"Dead?"
Frieza stood up from his chair.
He walked slowly to the center of the laboratory and spread his arms.
"Reed, Reed."
"It seems you still harbor some misunderstandings about the weight of the title 'Emperor of the Universe'."
Frieza raised his right hand.
It wasn't just the Time Stone on that hand.
Blue Space, Red Reality, Purple Power, Orange Soul, Yellow Mind.
The brilliance of the six Infinity Stones wove a dazzling rainbow at his fingertips.
"In front of this Emperor..."
"Life and death are nothing more than a program that can be modified at will."
"Since your brain isn't sufficient, I'll just find another brain."
Frieza's gaze suddenly sharpened.
"Reality: Rewrite!"
"Time: Reverse!"
"Soul: Return!"
HUMMM——————!!!
An indescribable cosmic force instantly enveloped the empty space in the center of the lab.
The Reality Stone reorganized atoms from the air, constructing bone, blood vessels, muscle, and skin out of nothing.
It was Tony Stark's body!
Even the gaping hole in his chest where the reactor had been destroyed was perfectly repaired.
Immediately following, the Time Stone activated.
It forcibly dragged the temporal state of the body back to one second before his death, then reversed the fatal wound.
Finally, the Soul Stone flashed with an eerie orange glow.
From that distant realm of death, it forcibly dragged that proud soul back!
GASP!
With a violent intake of breath, like a drowning man breaking the surface.
The man who had been a corpse just moments ago...
Suddenly sat up on the floor!
"URGHHH—!!!"
Tony Stark let out a bloodcurdling scream.
It was the phantom pain of death lingering in his nerves. He clawed frantically at his chest, trying to pull out steel bars that didn't exist.
"JARVIS! Armor! Full thrusters!!"
Tony roared, his eyes filled with the terror and despair of his final moments.
However.
The expected pain did not continue.
Nor were there cold ruins or the stinging scent of blood.
Instead, there were bright lights and the faint, expensive aroma of red wine.
Tony froze.
He gasped for air, sweat sliding down his cheeks.
He looked down and touched his chest.
No bloody hole.
Even the reactor keeping him alive was emitting a steady blue light.
"I... I'm not dead?"
Tony looked up blankly.
Then.
He saw the figure he wouldn't forget even as a ghost.
The demon looking at him like a lab rat.
Frieza.
"Yo. Good morning, Mr. Stark."
Frieza tilted his head, a teasing smile on his exquisite face.
"How was the food in Hell? Judging by your complexion, it didn't seem to agree with you."
Tony's pupils instantly contracted to pinpoints.
Memories came flooding back like a tide. Magneto's metal storm, the agony of his body being pierced, the darkness before his consciousness faded...
He had died.
He was certain he had died.
But now, he was alive again. Standing in front of this demon.
"You..."
Tony struggled to stand, only to find his legs as weak as noodles.
"What did you do to me?! Is this an illusion? Or some kind of prank by the devil?!"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk..."
Frieza shook his head, wearing an expression that said 'You really haven't seen the world.'
"I just resurrected you. Is there a need to make such a fuss?"
Frieza pointed to the six Infinity Stones floating beside him.
"I have the full set of tools. Fixing a broken toy isn't much harder than fixing a toilet."
Tony looked at the stones, a storm of shock raging in his heart.
He... collected them all?
That monster whom even Odin couldn't stop now possessed the power to rewrite reality?
Despair. A despair deeper than death washed over him.
"Why bring me back?"
Tony gritted his teeth, holding onto his last shred of dignity, and sneered:
"If you're expecting a 'thank you,' you've got the wrong guy. My suggestion? Kill me again right now. Make it quick."
"Oh ho ho ho..."
Frieza laughed.
"Stark, I do love how stubborn your mouth is."
"However, this Emperor is no philanthropist."
Frieza's smile faded, his eyes becoming cold and pragmatic.
He pointed a finger at the awkward-looking Reed nearby.
"That rubber man over there has run into a technical difficulty."
"He says that for the Multiverse navigation algorithm, only you, the egomaniac, can figure it out."
"So, I dragged you back from the pile of dead bodies not to listen to your stand-up comedy."
Frieza walked up to Tony, looking down at the former superhero.
"Get to work."
"Solve this problem and help me open the door to other universes."
"Otherwise..."
Red light flashed in Frieza's eyes.
"I wouldn't mind letting you experience what it means to beg for death but be denied it."
"For example, I could extract your soul, stuff it into a robot that only knows how to clean toilets, and let you scrub latrines for all eternity."
Tony shuddered.
He looked at Reed not far away. The scientist, who used to be incredibly proud, was now looking at him with pleading eyes.
"Tony... we need that navigator," Reed whispered. "For the people still alive."
Tony fell silent.
He understood the meaning in Reed's eyes.
This was a trade.
Using his intellect in exchange for the lingering survival of those survivors on Earth.
"Heh..."
Tony let out a self-deprecating laugh and climbed up from the ground.
"Multiverse navigation?"
Tony walked to the console, looked at the messy data, and his eyes instantly became sharp.
That was the domain of a genius.
"This algorithm is written like shit. Reed, did you put your brain through a pasta maker?"
Tony cursed as his hands began to fly across the keyboard.
"Give me ten minutes."
"I'll show you what a true genius looks like."
Watching Tony instantly enter work mode, Frieza turned around with satisfaction and sat back in his executive chair.
"That's more like it."
"As long as the mind doesn't slip, there are always more solutions than problems."
"It seems this resurrection fee was money well spent."
"Oh ho ho ho..."