My family runs an adventurer's guild.

Chapter 290, Dark Elves, Delivering Ships to Our Doorstep!

Holding the Aether (Reality Stone), a dark red, glowing, unidentified liquid, in a magical manner, Tony Stark, now the Sorcerer Supreme, stands on the devastated banks of the Thames, gazing at the ruined city of London, performing a miracle before the eyes of everyone.

—The collapsed Tower Bridge, the crumbling Big Ben, the collapsed Westminster Abbey, the cracked and potholed streets, the scorched Hyde Park… even the sunken cruise ship, the charred red double-decker bus, and the seriously injured disabled people, all recovered in the blink of an eye!

Just like a computer game scene being restored, the banks of the Thames, which were once covered in ruins, are now as good as they were yesterday!

The way everyone looked at Tony Stark was as if they were looking at a god!

Divine grace is as vast as the sea, divine power is as deep as a prison!

Omnipotent! Like God.

Of course, in this age of lost faith, even if God were to descend, He could not stop the greed of some people.

—While the citizens were worshipping Tony, who had repaired several streets with a snap of his fingers, as if he were a god, a large group of fully armed military police suddenly appeared out of nowhere, with helicopters circling overhead, and they ruthlessly tried to seize Tony's Reality Stone. Even Nick Fury, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., couldn't stop them from reprimanding him.

However, Tony simply frowned and waved his hand, and the guns in their hands turned into water guns, the armored vehicles and tanks into paper cars, the armed helicopters into paper airplanes, and the pilot, dressed in a paper suit, screamed as he fell into the Thames, then struggled to swim to the shore naked...

Fortunately, after years of environmental remediation and deindustrialization, the Thames River is now much clearer. It is no longer the filthy, toxic river it was during the height of the Victorian British Empire, when it was so polluted that even bacteria could not survive. Therefore, these poor pilots were able to struggle to swim ashore instead of being suffocated by the river or developing skin cancer a few days later.

Then, things suddenly became quiet around Tony Stark, Iron Man. Apart from a few reckless or incompetent lobbyists—who, in a very "politically correct" manner, sent women, black men, and black women to pester Tony with both soft and hard tactics, no other armed personnel dared to approach and forcibly seize the Reality Stone, and there was no long-range attack from bombers or strategic missiles.

It seems the British haven't gone so far as to imitate the World Security Council's actions during the Battle of New York, where they recklessly dropped nuclear bombs on Manhattan, and instead planted mushrooms at Big Ben and their own Houses of Parliament to create a "Radio London" scenario.

Of course, even if the British Prime Minister went mad and wanted to nuke London, his cabinet alone probably couldn't do it. Because the codes for the submarine-launched nuclear warheads on Britain's nuclear submarines are all in the hands of the Pentagon in the United States…

So, after Tony impatiently turned these lobbyists into stones and left them to bask in the breeze by the river, he was finally free of all worldly troubles.

Even Thor and his Asgardian warriors fell silent, realizing they were no match for the Sorcerer Supreme, Tony Stark, who possessed both the Time Stone and the Reality Stone. If they spoke politely, they might still be able to remain friends with Tony; otherwise, if they continued to be unreasonable, they'd get a beating… Although Thor was generally foolish and endearing, he still believed in the power of might.

(Just as Iron Man Tony only befriends intelligent people, Thor only treats those who can defeat him as equals.)

Moreover, his real reason for wanting to take the Aether (Reality Stone) wasn't out of greed for the treasure, but because he felt humanity was too weak to protect it. Now that Tony has demonstrated such power, that excuse is clearly untenable.

So Thor took the opportunity to back down and went into silent observation mode, no longer making any demands.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

"...Tsk tsk, just as I imagined, violence brings peace! There is no peace without violence!"

As Tony cast a spell to restore the famous Ferris wheel on the banks of the Thames, he said to the charcoal-haired Chief Nick Fury beside him, "...Should we say that all governments in this world are so cowardly and bullying? They treat the kind-hearted with guns and cannons, and then tremble under the knives of villains?"

I was invited to scout locations for a magic school, but instead of a grand welcome, I was met with various protests and bizarre obstruction. Just now, I used magic to help them rebuild the city, and Whitehall responded with an armed attack as a form of gratitude! In the end, I had to resort to violence to get their reluctant cooperation!

In fact, under normal circumstances, government and law are necessary evils. Government agencies should be part of the lawful evil camp. A government that is too kind is a bad government. Superheroes and civilian organizations that wield great power (such as the Avengers and Kamar-Taj) are more righteous and kind, and they are more likely to be labeled as evil and then condemned by both the government and the public.

What should the superheroes do in that situation?

Trying to reason with them? The other party simply blocked him, indicating, "I won't listen, I won't listen!"

Fighting? Fine, you've hurt me! You're the mortal enemy of justice! We can incite countless righteous cannon fodder to fight you to the death. The more you win, the more truly evil you become. Just wait, this isn't over! Justice will prevail! All righteous people of the world, unite!

So what exactly do you want? Kneel down and confess your sins, hand over everything you own, and then accept a fair trial from the people!

Finally, with no other option, the hero had to truly transform into a demon, using violence to crush everything... When it really came to this, those who had previously been making grand pronouncements and condemning the superheroes suddenly cowered, even turning 180 degrees and using the most disgusting tone to sing praises to the corrupted superheroes, demonstrating in practice what "non-violent non-cooperation" means—no violence, no cooperation!

Ultimately, superheroes are essentially acting as government agents without receiving corresponding titles or positions, making them a mismatch between their reputation and reality.

Moreover, the superheroes are performing the most crucial military function... Every competent ruler knows what it means for military power to fall into other hands! This naturally makes rulers worry, feeling that "there are always treacherous subjects trying to harm me."

Therefore, the relationship between superheroes and the government is similar to that between the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army and Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist government.

Even when faced with the most terrifying crises and the most ferocious enemies, governments can't resist taking advantage of superheroes.

Even if they barely manage to suppress the urge to betray their allies during a crisis, they will definitely smear the superheroes once the crisis is over.

The idea of ​​"better to give to foreign enemies than to domestic slaves" was not something that only existed in the mind of the Empress Dowager Cixi in the late Qing Dynasty.

Therefore, we can conclude that a superhero who does not strive to overthrow the government or at least seize power is not a good superhero!

To use an Eastern proverb, it means, "If you don't take what Heaven gives you, you will suffer the consequences; time waits for no one!"

"...Well, I also regret the rude actions taken by the UK and the EU. However, this supernatural object does pose a significant threat to world peace and order and should be entrusted to an authoritative and influential official body trusted worldwide."

Nick Fury, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., carefully crafted his words—if he could, he would also very much like to obtain the Reality Stone, or rather, the Aether, just as he had once withheld the inheritance left to Tony's father, Howard Sr., until Tony was on the verge of death from palladium poisoning, at which point he "generously" handed over Howard's legacy to Tony to save his life, and Tony had to swallow his pride and express his gratitude...

"...Therefore only I am suitable to take charge of it, because I am the guardian of the earth, the new Sorcerer Supreme."

Tony said proudly, "...If you don't want to be my enemy, then please, S.H.I.E.L.D., don't even think about messing with it."

—Didn't you kill the conversation the moment you opened your mouth?

Nick Fury couldn't help but roll his eyes, feeling utterly exhausted.

But out of a sense of duty, he had to put aside his pride and continue the awkward conversation, "...However, such a cosmic treasure should perhaps be used to benefit the general public around the world, rather than merely to satisfy personal desires..."

"...And then what? Just like last time when you used the Tesseract (Space Stone) to lure alien invaders, causing another catastrophe? Then you tried to use deception to get us to clean up the mess, and in the end, instead of rewarding us for our contributions, you even turned around and attacked the heroes?"

This kind of tactic only needs to be used once! Please don't treat me like a fool, Chief.

You do not represent the people. The Reality Gem can only be used to benefit the people if it is in my hands. Once it is handed over to some irresponsible government agency, you'll be lucky to be locked in a cellar; more likely, it will be used to persecute civilians!

Besides, you don't actually think just anyone can use the Reality Stone, do you? Ridiculous!

Tony sneered and retorted, "...Without sufficient strength, anyone who touches the Reality Stone will be blown to smithereens! And on this Earth, only two people can use it, one of whom is me!"

So, I can nominally acknowledge S.H.I.E.L.D.'s ownership of the Reality Stone, but don't even think about actually taking it away!

Nick Fury was momentarily speechless, but then he had no choice but to admit that S.H.I.E.L.D. had indeed messed things up when dealing with the Tesseract last time, not only attracting an alien invasion but also leaving behind a mess that hadn't been resolved to this day.

Furthermore, although Nick Fury was very resistant to this due to his bureaucratic mindset, he still had to admit that Tony, the Iron Man, had the ability to take on the whole world single-handedly, and naturally deserved the respect of the whole world. All matters could only be discussed with him, and no one could give orders.

As the famous joke goes, "When you possess one nuclear bomb, you are a rogue force disrupting world peace; when you possess ten nuclear bombs, you are an important force maintaining regional stability; when you possess one hundred nuclear bombs, you are a major force maintaining world peace; when you possess ten thousand nuclear bombs, you are the primary driving force for maintaining world peace..."

With the Reality Stone at his disposal, Tony could rewrite the real world at will. How could his destructive power possibly amount to ten thousand nuclear bombs?

—In a world where power is imposed upon you, once you become strong enough, when official organizations stand up on behalf of the people under the banner of righteousness and demand that you safeguard the overall situation, you can proudly declare, "I am the overall situation, and you should kneel down to protect me!"

Therefore, given that there was no hope of getting the Reality Stone from Tony, Nick Fury decisively changed the subject.

"...Understood, Mr. Stark. I won't bring up any more inappropriate ideas. However, could you satisfy my curiosity and explain the function of this thing? Can it really grant any wish like the magic lamp in One Thousand and One Nights?"

He changed the subject.

"...That's not entirely true. While the Reality Stone is incredibly powerful, it still has its limitations. This stone can only bring certain concrete ideas to life; it can create things I understand. But it can't create things I don't understand."

Tony didn't hide anything and spoke frankly, "...for example, if I wanted to get a motorcycle..."

He held up the Reality Gem and casually waved it, and a brand-new Harley-Davidson motorcycle appeared on the street in front of him, seemingly still smelling of engine oil.

Then, at the joint signal of Tony Stark (Iron Man) and Nick Fury (Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.), a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent stepped forward, got on the Harley-Davidson motorcycle, started the engine, rode around a few times, and then turned to give everyone an "OK" sign.

"...Because I know this kind of motorcycle very well, and have personally ridden and repaired it, the Harley-Davidson motorcycle created with the Reality Stone works just like a brand new, genuine product. However, if it were something I don't understand, or even something that doesn't exist on Earth..."

Tony continued explaining, raising the Reality Stone again and making a gesture, "...for example, the Queen Naboo Royal spaceship from Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace..."

With his gesture, a streamlined spaceship gleaming with silver light suddenly appeared on the lawn of a park along the Thames River, much to everyone's surprise. Next, the hatch at the bottom of the spaceship slowly opened, but neither the duckbill robot nor Queen Amidala appeared… Several curious S.H.I.E.L.D. agents couldn't resist going closer to take a look, only to find the spaceship empty.

—No crew, no engine, no instruments…not even walls separating the compartments, just a large, empty cavity.

"...Unfortunately, this is just an empty shell, because such a spaceship has never actually existed on Earth. Without a physical reference, I have no way to design and build a spaceship that can actually travel between stars like the Queen Royal Naboo."

Tony said with some regret, "...it can only be used as a movie set at best, but it can't take us to space."

"...That's already quite good, Mr. Stark! You can replicate anything, whether man-made or natural, that exists on Earth."

Nick Fury was puzzled. "...What's the difference between this and wish fulfillment?"

"...Its biggest flaw is that it can only imitate and not innovate! If we want to break out of Earth's cradle and conquer the stars, we can't just rely on copying a bunch of space shuttles or Apollo spacecraft to colonize other planets, can we? Director, you know that if we can't break out of Earth and obtain the endless resources in the universe, our human civilization will not have a bright future... Of course, I also know that I am too greedy."

Tony sighed, "...But I really wish that a real spaceship—not the little gadgets we have now, which can only circle around planetary surfaces and near-Earth orbit—could suddenly appear in front of me, and then I could replicate dozens or hundreds of them in one go, instantly propelling humanity into the space age and completely escaping that bleak future of resource depletion and civilization collapse..."

Everyone just smiled faintly at this, thinking that Tony's idea was too wonderful.

However, what they didn't know was that at that very moment, in some desolate corner of the universe, there was indeed a group of "generous" individuals piloting a genuine spaceship, anxiously "delivering" it to Tony's doorstep...

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Just as Tony was showing off the Reality Stone's abilities in various ways on the streets of London, an invisible, cross-shaped ancient spaceship was quietly activated in the wasteland of Wattheim.

One hibernation pod after another was slowly opened under the dim light, and one after another, white-haired dark elves awoke from their millennia-long slumber.

Next, these still somewhat bewildered remnants of the ancient dark elves were kicked in the backside by their leader Malekith and forced to their posts, starting and piloting the spaceship that had been sealed away for thousands of years, embarking on their journey to Earth.

"...I sensed the fluctuations of the aether particles coming from Midgard (Earth)! Someone there has stolen the treasure belonging to the dark elves! Right here on Earth! And this thief is using it brazenly! This is an insult and a provocation to our dark elf race!"

Malekith, the leader of the Dark Elves and known as the strongest Dark Elf warrior, roared angrily at his Dark Elf subordinates in Dark Elf language: "...I will definitely take back the Aether! Whoever takes the Aether, we will take it back!"

Chapter 291, Space Battleship Received, Thumbs Up!

—In the Marvel universe, according to Norse mythology, there is a system of the "World Tree" and the so-called "Nine Kingdoms".

Simply put, the "World Tree" in the Marvel Universe is a spatial passage system whose origins are unknown—whether it was originally man-made or formed naturally. It's like a subway loop, connecting nine "stations," namely the "Nine Kingdoms," or nine planets.

The Aesir, who were the first to discover and make full use of this "metro loop," connected the "Nine Kingdoms" with a rainbow bridge (which can be imagined as a metro train), and gave each of the nine planets on the "World Tree" a name full of Norse mythology.

Among them, the Earth, where humans live, is called "Midgard," which translates to "Middle Kingdom."

The Aesir, represented by Thor and Odin, resided in the dazzling kingdom of Asgard.

In addition, there is the icy kingdom where frost giants live, the dark underworld with its cold, eternal night, the beautiful courtyard where elves reside, and so on.

However, in the Marvel Universe, the situation of the Nine Kingdoms is not static.

Not to mention the final fate of Asgard, which was destroyed by Hela, the goddess of death, and Balrog, as well as Thanos's invasion.

Even before this, the Nine Kingdoms had experienced the twilight of collapse and the dawn of birth.

Before that even earlier dawn, there was an era when the Dark Elves dominated this universe, reigning supreme over the nine kingdoms, unmatched by anyone.

These ancient dark elves, born from the Eternal Night, were the earliest rulers of the Nine Kingdoms, and their leader was named Malekith.

Malekith once possessed something called the Aether, one of only six ancient artifacts in the universe known as the Infinity Stones.

In ancient times, this arrogant and delusional character, Malekith, once arrogantly attempted to use the energy of the Aether to completely transform the nine kingdoms of the universe into the endless darkness favored by the Dark Elves. However, for some reason, he ultimately failed to achieve his goal—after a long and bloody war, the former Asgardian god-king, Bauer, finally won a hard-won victory, ushering in thousands of years of stable order for the nine kingdoms.

However, Malekith, once a fearsome and incomparably powerful being in this universe, though defeated by the gods, did not die. He merely separated the Aether from his body and then fell into a long slumber along with his warship. It wasn't until the Aether, a magical artifact that once belonged to the Dark Elves, was taken and activated by Tony Stark that Malekith and his Dark Elf followers, who had slumbered for thousands of years, were awakened.

Next, in order to track down and retrieve the crucial Aether particles and gain the means to deal with his old enemies, the Asgardians, Malekith, along with his newly awakened Dark Elf subordinates, activated the last remaining spaceship at top speed. Without conducting any reconnaissance, he simply relied on his own sense of the Aether particles to start the ancient spaceship, which had not been inspected for thousands of years, and charged towards Earth...

Although it seemed incredibly reckless, Malekith, the leader of the Dark Elves, thought it was no big deal at all. His mind and memories were still stuck thousands of years in the past, believing that the native inhabitants of Earth were still the primitive tribes of yesteryear, easily crushed with a single step, and he had no interest in even gathering intelligence.

Therefore, although the Dark Elves at this time were nothing more than a remnant of a fallen kingdom, a fallen phoenix no better than a chicken, and could not compare to their former glory, their entire power consisted only of this warship. However, Malekith, the supreme leader of these Dark Elf remnants, still had no interest in engaging in peaceful negotiations with the Earthlings, and instead prepared for a large-scale invasion from the very beginning.

Unfortunately, this group of remnants of the Dark Elves, who recklessly intruded into Earth, clearly underestimated the adversaries they would face on the planet.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

In short, after repairing the London Eye, the new Sorcerer Supreme, Tony Stark, had just put away the Reality Stone and was preparing to head to the next London landmark awaiting reconstruction when he heard someone nearby exclaim in surprise: "...Look! What's that?"

Tony turned around in astonishment, only to see a towering black alien warship, as tall as a skyscraper, slowly emerging from the air—even more terrifying was that, had it not appeared automatically, no one on Earth had sensed the existence of this colossal vessel even seconds before. No one had noticed that it had silently landed on the ground and entered London!

—In the realm of stealth and spatial technology, the Dark Elves are undoubtedly among the best in the entire universe. Even after slumbering for thousands of years, their stealthy warships remain virtually impossible to defend against. Human-deployed ground-based radar and other detection devices proved utterly ineffective at this moment. Even satellites, space stations, and space telescopes in orbit failed to detect the arrival of this Dark Elf spaceship.

Next, the Dark Elf warship, which looked like a giant cross sword, appeared and stood upright in the Thames River. It then quickly parted the water and moved forward with great momentum, heading straight for the location of Iron Man Tony!

In fact, this dark elf warship wasn't particularly fast, but its towering, massive black hull and bizarre vertical locomotion made people subconsciously overlook its speed, creating a heavy psychological pressure and visual impact, like a dark cloud looming over the city...

Can you imagine a skyscraper suddenly growing legs and then chasing after you aggressively?

To make matters worse, the newly repaired Tower Bridge happened to be blocking the path of this dark elf spaceship.

And so, the Tower Bridge, which Tony had just repaired with the Reality Stone, crumbled once again, with both towers collapsing...

The Londoners present couldn't help but put their hands to their foreheads, revealing expressions of sadness.

Finally, the black spaceship broke free of the water and landed on the embankment, like an inverted sword cutting through the ground. With a thunderous roar and splashing earth and water, it stood firmly on the land on the banks of the Thames.

At first glance, it looked as if a new skyscraper had been added to central London—a skyscraper filled with enemies!

Immediately afterwards, the bulkheads opened with a clattering sound, turning into landing ramps. Squads of dark elf soldiers roared out of the warship and charged straight toward Tony and his group. Whether it was because they were too contemptuous of humans or worried about damaging the aether and causing an accident, the dark elf leader Malekith didn't even take off his razor-shaped fighters before rushing forward with his men!

Logically, as the former owner of the Aether (Reality Stone), Malekith should have been aware of the terrifying power of this rare treasure. However, the problem was that he also knew the difficulty of using the Aether and the risks involved—those who were truly weak would be annihilated upon touching it; and those who were not strong enough would only be blasted away by the Aether, becoming shooting stars in the sky.

Malekith did not believe that the barbarians on Earth (whose impression of Earth was stuck five thousand years ago) could use the Aether particles so fluently and freely to rewrite reality at will—something even he himself found difficult to do—which is why he was so tactically careless and reckless.

On the other hand, Malekith's last remaining dark elf warship was indeed not equipped with many weapons from the very beginning.

The Dark Elves' last remaining spaceship is more of a military landing ship than a space warship. It is completely devoid of large naval weapons such as shipborne main guns, and therefore cannot carry out devastating space warfare tactics such as "near-orbit bombing".

At this moment, Malekith, the leader of the Dark Elves, only had the individual firearms of the ship's soldiers and the futuristic black hole bombs left, along with four razor-shaped Dark Elf fighter planes, making his firepower noticeably weak—so he might as well just charge in!

According to Malekith, their goal wasn't to conquer territory, but simply to seize the Aether and leave. As long as they could get in and out quickly before the enemy could react, having a small elite force to carry out special operations seemed more than enough.

Unfortunately, Malekith not only severely underestimated his opponent, but also greatly overestimated himself...

Thus, the Dark Elf remnants' special operation to reclaim their racial relic, the Aether, turned into a windfall gift for Tony.