The most convenient thing about Tony's new armor now is that it can be put away anytime, anywhere. That is how convenient the nanotech armor is.
Seeing that it was indeed Ethan and Peter, Tony changed back into his casual clothes, smiled, and greeted Peter, while also sizing up the others.
"Aliens... they don't seem much different from Earthlings. Is this a plant?"
Tony looked around, and finally circled Groot.
Groot watched Tony circle him and, as usual, said the only sentence he knew: "I am Groot."
"I'm Tony Stark." After greeting him, Tony looked down and found a raccoon standing in front of him. If this raccoon hadn't been wearing clothes and seemingly carrying a weapon on its back, he would have genuinely thought it was some alien's pet.
"Is this a Raccoonian?"
"This is Rocket."
Ethan immediately introduced Rocket Raccoon. He knew Tony too well. The guy was often sharp-tongued and unrestrained. If no one stopped him, he could offend everyone present in just a few sentences.
He had brought Star-Lord to help, not to bring Star-Lord and his alien group to Earth to start a war.
After a brief introduction, everyone learned that Tony Stark was a rather powerful figure on this backward planet.
This power wasn't just his strength, but also his fame, wealth, and so on. In short, he could grudgingly be considered a big shot.
Of course, given their personalities, this group wouldn't care about such things at all.
What truly mattered to them was that all their food, drink, and supplies on Earth were provided by Tony Stark, which made them show Tony a little more respect.
After a large meal was prepared, because there were too many non-human presences present, food had to be prepared first and then brought directly, and unrelated personnel cleared out before they could start eating.
While waiting, Tony pulled Ethan aside.
"How come you feel off right now?"
"What's wrong?"
Tony gestured with his hands, seemingly searching for the right adjectives.
"Ever since I started learning magic, every time I saw you, I felt like you were a walking source of magic energy. But this time you're back, I can't feel any massive or even terrifying magic energy fluctuations on you."
Tony had secretly used detection spells to check, suspecting this Ethan was an imposter.
However, all the spells he secretly cast were easily dissolved by Ethan. When Ethan dissolved his spells, he did reveal some magic power fluctuations, and it was through this familiar magic fluctuation that he confirmed it was Ethan himself.
"I encountered some things, and I've gained some new insights. My magic level has improved significantly."
Previously, Ethan's magic energy was relatively open. If he didn't deliberately hide his power aura, mages like Tony who studied magic and strong individuals sensitive to energy could feel the vast energy within him.
Even some more advanced energy detection devices could easily detect the massive energy Ethan emitted.
After completing the planetization evolution, Ethan's own magic power became more contained. Without actively using magic to cast spells, his magic power would not easily leak out, but instead form a perfect internal cycle within his spiritual universe. That is why Tony couldn't feel any magic power fluctuations on the current Ethan.
Similarly, like in the Transformers world, when Ratchet wanted to simply use a detection device to discover the vast energy contained within Ethan, that situation would also change.
Simply put, the current Ethan can usually disguise himself as a normal person. As long as he doesn't use magic, it's difficult for anyone, even beings stronger than him, to detect his extraordinary nature.
Only those much stronger than him or with considerable skill in magic would be able to sense Ethan's power.
Tony thought about it but didn't understand what this change meant. Perhaps he hadn't gone far enough on the path of magic yet. After all, he had only been practicing magic for a relatively short time, and his current achievements were already incredibly fast, like using a cheat.
The subsequent dinner proceeded without incident. Tony mobilized his resources to purchase a large amount of supplies to fill the Milano, which would take a few days.
Ethan also called Hill, notifying the commander who was still working for him to report back.
It wasn't until this point that Ethan began to explain the details of the commission to Star-Lord and the others.
Ethan's manor had a suitable conference room, even equipped with various holographic devices for explanations.
However, Ethan didn't need these things this time because he hadn't seen the target planet with his own eyes yet.
His explanation this time was mainly to make these people understand where they were going.
As soon as he started, the whole group was startled.
"You said the target this time isn't in this universe? What does that mean?"
Star-Lord's eyes widened. Returning to Earth, his hometown, had kept his mood low because he was constantly wrestling with whether he should visit his home or not.
It was where he was born and spent his childhood. He should have a special feeling for that place.
But he had also lost his mother there, and he wasn't very sure about his other relatives now. Maybe if he went back, he would find that he had lost all his relatives, which would shatter his beautiful memories and turn into indelible pain.
In his struggle, he even hoped Tony would finish replenishing the supplies quickly so he could urge Ethan to leave soon.
Unexpectedly, the mission location Ethan gave was another universe. What did that mean?
"You've all heard of the concept of parallel universes, right?"
This wasn't some rare and profound concept. Ideas like the multiverse and parallel dimensions were commonplace. Although many people had never actually seen a parallel universe, and countless others doubted the existence of the multiverse, everyone had heard of the idea and had some understanding.
"You mean... you've found a way to travel to other universes, so you've gathered us to go to another universe to scout a certain planet to see if it's suitable for Earthlings to live on?"
Star-Lord's guess was based on the information he currently had. He had always thought Ethan was from Earth, and the current situation in the Milky Way indeed offered no space for Earthlings to expand.
If Ethan had discovered other universes, perhaps Earthlings could develop there? As for why Ethan was considering so much for Earthlings, he didn't know.
However, this guess of his made Tony laugh out loud, which annoyed Star-Lord.
"Is there something funny?"
Tony didn't answer Star-Lord but turned to look at Ethan instead. "You haven't told him yet?"
"I don't think so? I thought I had already mentioned it..."
Star-Lord was completely confused until Ethan's subsequent explanation made him realize what was wrong with his earlier statement.
"Actually, I'm not from this universe."
Ethan spread his hands. The planet I'm asking you to help me explore this time is a planet in the universe where I currently live.
With this explanation, questions like how to go to another universe became unnecessary. Since Ethan wasn't from this universe at all and could still stand here, the other party clearly possessed the technology or ability to cross universal planes.
"That's amazing."
Rocket Raccoon became increasingly excited about this commission. He was very curious about what another universe was like and what strange things might exist there. Maybe he could get some souvenirs to bring back.
Yondu, however, didn't fully believe Ethan's words. He still scrutinized them back and forth, trying to determine if Ethan and Tony were putting on an act.
Gamora and Nebula exchanged glances. Both thought of one thing: if one of the Infinity Stones was placed in another universe, then Thanos would definitely have no way of getting it.
Ethan himself held the Space Stone. Based on his earlier words, he wouldn't stay in this universe often, which meant it would be difficult for Thanos to obtain the Space Stone. He could only try to snatch it when Ethan came over.
Ethan, holding the Space Stone, was undoubtedly very difficult to kill. If things went wrong, he could completely escape using spatial teleportation.
Everyone had their own things to consider, while Ethan focused on explaining the situation to Star-Lord, including some details about his own situation in that world. Rocket Raccoon was also listening carefully.
Tony also offered some opinions on Ethan's situation, especially concerning the spaceship.
"Although I've mastered a lot of new technologies, there are still many things that haven't been sorted out. If I were to build a new ship now, it would be difficult to build a good enough one. Since you have a target, you can get that ship first to get by for a while."
Ethan had no objection to this. This was part of his plan all along.
Once everything was explained, everyone rested for a few more days. The Milano was also fully restocked with supplies, and they even crammed in some nanite repair robots made by Tony, though the guy took a repair nanite spray gun for himself.
After Maria Hill returned, Ethan didn't linger in the Marvel world.
His visit this time was very rushed. Besides Tony, he only had a hasty meeting with Thor and didn't see anyone else.
After completing his predetermined goals in this world, Ethan directly said goodbye to Tony, put the Milano into a container, and then activated a teleportation spell with everyone, arriving on the Prinz Eugen.
Because Ethan had roughly explained his situation beforehand, no one was surprised that their destination was a ship, and a backward surface vessel at that.
Compared to that, they were more interested in this training ground that resembled a small planet.
(To be continued.)
***
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