Shadow of the Beautiful World

The white light that filled the field of vision lit up from Tony Stark's eyes.

It's as if in a moment, I have experienced a lifetime, no, I have experienced many lifetimes.

He saw a lot in that light, about Merlin, about other people, about everyone, about the stars, and about beyond the stars.

Like a traveler who walked into the treasure house of infinite knowledge, Tony greedily wanted to remember all those pictures.

But that is obviously impossible to do.

Human memory is always limited, and even the most intelligent human beings cannot memorize so much knowledge.

The next moment, Tony suddenly opened his eyes.

He felt a pair of warm arms approaching him, exuding the familiar scent of perfume.

Tony saw the ceiling.

A futuristic black and white ceiling, his favorite style and, if memory serves, he filled his villa with such decorations.

Um?

The chaotic memory made Tony a little dazed, and there was that strange but familiar feeling.

Immediately afterwards, an unbearable impulse was released, and then there was a sense of relief, and the chaotic knowledge and memory seemed to appear in front of Tony's eyes.

Of course this is just an illusion.

Miss Potts, who was crouching beside Tony and swallowing something, was very dissatisfied.

The latter raised his head, covered his mouth, and gave Tony a reproachful look, then turned around, picked up a tissue, and wiped his mouth.

She stood up straight, with her back to Tony, and whispered as she put on her underwear:

I'm going to Melbourne for a meeting today, and I may not be back until evening. Don't forget to pick up Hope. Her school has arranged to visit the New York Museum today.

Melbourne? Hope? Visit?

Sitting on the bed, like a fool, Tony repeated what Miss Potts said blankly.

This made the latter turn around suspiciously.

She felt that her husband had been behaving abnormally since he woke up today.

Poz was very worried about Tony's mental state. After all, this guy has been researching some very strange things recently.

Are you too tired?

Miss Potts sat tenderly on the edge of the bed, and she said to Tony:

Do you want me to call a psychiatrist for you?

Or, in a few days, we will take Hope to go on vacation together? Cybertron just recently held a Mechanics Goddess celebration. It is said to be very lively, and Hope also wants to go there.

Wait, wait, I'm a little messed up.

Tony stretched out his hand and interrupted Miss Potts. He rubbed his forehead while sorting out his memory.

Very peculiar.

In Tony's mind, there were two memory lines running at the same time, and it took him a few minutes to sort out the relationship between the two.

The previous memory line stopped at the moment when he snapped his fingers in the light of the cosmic furnace, and he was overwhelmed by endless light.

In the second memory line, there was no incident of the descending of the outer gods at all, and the whole journey came so peacefully.

Most importantly, in the second timeline, there is no such person as Merlin at all!

What day is it today?

Tony raised his head and stared at Miss Potts. Probably because of the memory recovery, Tony returned to the state of fighting bloody battles on the battlefield of stars. The bravery exuded from him made Miss Potts tremble in fear.

Like a terrified kitten.

She looked at the changed Tony, and she whispered:

Today is, July 17, 2013...

2013? Has it been a year already?

Tony muttered to himself that his state made Miss Potts even more worried. She felt that it was really necessary to send Tony to see a psychiatrist, or simply invite a wizard over.

Well, why not just ask Dr. Strange.

He was a wizard as well as a psychiatrist, and Tony had a good relationship with the doctor.

Uh, don't worry, I'm fine, it's just... I slept a little fuzzy, and I dreamed of some weird things.

Tony quickly noticed Potts' expression, he immediately comforted his wife, and promised to pick up his daughter on time today.

Although Tony, who has recovered his memory, feels that he has never had a daughter...

After coaxing and tricking Potts away, Tony quickly came to the basement. Fortunately, he didn't seem to change the shape of the basement in the past 8 years, and even the position of the instruments he used didn't change.

It's just that the technology has advanced a lot, and Tony was a little at a loss for a while.

But he is a smart man after all, and he quickly mastered this technology, which is at least 20 years more advanced than in 2012.

Inquire!

Tony looked at the jumping blue light curtain in front of him, he tried to calm himself down, he said:

Raven!

swish

The first entry that appeared on the light curtain was a picture of a raven, a black bird.

Of course not this!

Tony quickly reviewed the information collected on the Internet, and the more he looked at it, the more gloomy his face became.

Inquiry, Merlin Riley!

Tony threw another key word.

This time I found a lot of information, but they were all guys with the same name and surname, and there was no such thing as the slightly thinner face with a gentle smile in Tony's memory.

No?

Tony narrowed his eyes.

He now feels that things have become a little subtle.

There is Icarus, S.H.I.E.L.D., Son of Hell, Ms. Carol, Aunt May, and even Riven, Lorna, and Laura, but there is no Merlin...

Tony rubbed his forehead and said:

Lacking this most critical link, you can still be connected together...Cut, who are you kidding!

A smile appeared on Iron Man's face.

He was basically sure that Merlin should still be in this world, but he concealed his existence in a weird way.

The Riley Family linked together by data flow is the best evidence.

If Merlin didn't exist, it would be basically impossible for these people's lives to overlap.

But judging from Miss Potts' previous reaction, she should have never heard of the name Merlin Riley.

What's going on here?

Everything oozes abnormality, which makes Tony think a lot again, but he doesn't forget that he has a job to do, and he has to pick up his daughter.

Little Hope...

Tony changed his clothes, and the image of a scary little girl kept appearing in his mind.

That is his daughter. According to my memory, Hope was born in 2008 and she is 5 years old this year.

But in fact, in the old memory line, Miss Potts was only just pregnant until 2012, when the Outer God came.

That said, the timeline has changed slightly, presumably because Tony is the one who snapped his fingers, and the Infinity Stones distorted his personal time.

Except for him, the whole world should be reshaped back to the 2012 scene.

But because Tony, the butterfly that runs through the two timelines, flaps its wings slightly, this new world has been changed a lot.

or...

This change actually has nothing to do with him, but the result of another force.

With this quasi-philosophical question, Tony boarded a private jet to New York, and he was relieved that everything had changed except Happy.

The fat bodyguard was still his best friend in this new timeline.

wow

The silver Audi concept sports car was parked on the street in front of the New York Museum, and Tony, wearing brown sunglasses, opened the door.

He held a cup of milk tea in his hand and drank it through a straw while looking left and right at the bustling scenery on the street.

He's waiting for his daughter's visit to end, probably less than seven minutes away.

Hand over your wallet!

A weak scolding sound came into Tony's ears, Iron Man turned his head, and saw a few young men besieging a thin guy in a dark alley not far from the museum.

Ha, New York!

Even in the new world, this is a place where demons dance wildly.

Tony didn't intend to be nosy at first, but when he saw those young people who wantonly used maliciousness, an unreasonable anger broke out in him.

boom

Tony threw the milk tea in his hand into the trash can, looked around, and then strode towards the dark alley.

Hand over your wallet, bastard! Wouldn't it be better to spare yourself the beating?

A sleazy street thug intimidates the emaciated student, brandishing a pocket knife that's more intimidating than useful.

Seeing that the emaciated student didn't intend to give in, a fierce look appeared in the eyes of the little bastard, and he wanted to stab him with a knife.

Snapped

The little bastard's wrists were easily clasped by the metal-covered gauntlet, and then, a huge force struck, knocking the little bastards to the ground with ease.

Tony, who was wearing a steel battle suit, looked at the young people screaming in pain at his feet, and said in a low voice:

You are wasting your precious life, allowing yourself to degenerate into bastards not worthy of pity!

You've failed this new world! You didn't deserve what you're enjoying now, bastards!

Tony's outburst came from the bottom of his heart.

This cannot be faked.

He stretched out his hand, lifted the panicked bastard in the air, and slammed it hard against the wall. He scolded:

If you can't learn to cherish your life, then you don't need to have it...

Leave resources to those who are more worthy, don't let me see you on this street, go back to school, understand?

Several punks were terrified.

They didn't expect that just grabbing some money would attract superheroes like Iron Man to intervene.

They were so frightened by today's extraordinarily violent Iron Man, they didn't dare to resist at all, so they could only run away in despair.

Tony watched the gangsters leave with their heads down, took a deep breath, the intense emotion came and went quickly.

Tony put the suit back into the nano storage bracelet on his wrist, and he patted his cheek.

My own thinking is obviously still stuck on the battlefield in the center of the universe, which is not good...

The wrath of the old world cannot be brought into the new world.

This is a blasphemy against the victims.

Why are you so irritable today? Tony.

Just as Tony was reviewing himself, a familiar voice sounded behind him.

Tony turned around in surprise, and saw a hale and hearty old man wearing a white jacket, black trousers, leaning on a cane, full of white hair, looking at him with a smile.

Despite the wrinkles on his face, Tony still saw the familiar soul in those bright eyes.

Steve!

With sincere joy on Tony's face, he took a few steps forward, grabbed Steve's wrist, and said:

You... you really came back.

ah?

Steve was a little overwhelmed by Tony's weird greeting, he gave Tony a weird look, and he said:

I never left at all, okay?

I've been living in Carter Manor for more than a year, and my retirement life is very pleasant. I just brewed a batch of wine a few days ago. When it's ready, I'll ask you and Thor to taste it together. Don't come here!

Thor...where is he now?

Tony remembered the scene when the mortal Rune King fell, he shook his head, and put those sad memories out of his mind, he asked:

Is he still in New Asgard?

Did you drink too much today?

Steve replied in a dissatisfied tone:

New Asgard returned to the stars half a year ago, and the people of Asgard rebuilt their country at the former site of God's Domain.

Although there are still some Asgardians who choose to stay on Earth, there is no place called New Asgard in this world anymore.

As for Thor, hasn't he been in Manhattan?

I just got married to Jane and Sif three months ago. The three of us live together quite harmoniously. I heard that he is about to have a baby.

Alright alright.

The information disclosed by Steve made Tony a little dizzy.

His previous estimation was a bit wrong. This world has not changed on the surface, but too many internal changes.

Tony straightened his mind, looked around, lowered his voice, and said to Steve:

Merlin, he...

Merlin?

Hearing Tony mention the name, Steve blinked suspiciously, and he said:

Who is that?

Uh, I mean, Star Wars...

Damn it, Tony, you are definitely not normal today, have you forgotten? We all signed a non-disclosure agreement for what happened last year, so we can't just say it!

Steve interrupted Tony immediately, and he said in a low voice:

Even if you snapped your fingers and rescued everyone, it doesn't mean you have more freedom to tell the top secret incident!

Alright alright.

Tony was a little confused by this series of unconventional messages.

He was about to ask Steve what happened last year, and then he saw a group of children pouring out of the New York Museum, and old Steve immediately put on a smile and waved to one of the beautiful little girls.

dad!

The little girl jumped up and ran to Steve, looked at Tony again, and greeted him very politely:

Hello, Uncle Tony, are you here to pick up Hope? She's over there, look!

Tony followed little Sharon's fingers.

Sure enough, at the entrance of the museum, there was a child somewhat similar to him looking around. When he saw the child, Tony felt an indescribable tenderness in his heart.

He instinctively stepped forward and walked towards the child. Behind him, Steve carried his daughter on his back. He said to Tony:

Tony, in 3 days, don't forget the important day, Dum and Wanda's wedding, don't be late, you are the host.

Tony couldn't hear Steve's shouts anymore.

His heart and attention were all on his strange yet familiar daughter. He walked up to Hope and squatted down. He looked at his daughter, and Hope Stark also looked at his father.

She felt that her father was a little strange today.

I'll take you to eat pizza, okay?

Tony held back for a long time before he could say this, but Hope immediately cheered. She hugged her father's arm and screamed:

Go to Mick's! I want seafood pizza! Eat two!

Okay, eat two.

Tony cheerfully put his daughter on his neck, turned and walked towards his sports car.

But just when he turned his head, the time of the whole world stopped at this moment.

Except that Tony and Hope could move, everything stopped, even the activity of atoms in the air stopped.

Tony saw that familiar figure sitting on the co-pilot of his sports car.

Merlin was holding a cup of milk tea in his hand, he turned his head lazily, looked at Tony with a straw in his mouth.

This guy has eyes like the reflections of stars.

He said to Tony:

Hi dude... Long time no see.

I heard, are you looking for me?