Banner, who had been wavering, immediately steadied his resolve the moment he heard the words "return to a normal life."
Locking eyes with Tony, he gave a slight nod. "I understand. I'll do my best to cooperate with you. But I believe we need to discuss this with Steve and the others."
Banner had clearly sensed that Tony had no intention of informing Captain America and the team about this plan. However, as a team, if they were truly working for the good of everyone, then they had to be upfront and transparent about it.
"If you refuse to tell them, then I'm sorry—I'll have to go back on my word. I can't agree to this without the team's knowledge."
Tony let out a long sigh. "With Steve's stubborn personality, convincing him won't be easy."
Glancing at Banner and seeing his determination only growing stronger, Tony reluctantly raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "Alright, I get it. I'll try my best to convince them. Maybe I'll just curse in front of Cap every single day until he agrees."
Banner burst out laughing. "Isn't that just another way of torturing the Captain?"
---
Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Alan and Red Queen had just left the Sanctum Sanctorum. Standing on the street, Alan began reading the newspaper.
He was well aware of the Marvel movie timeline, but this world had already deviated too much. Now that Ebony Maw had taken the Time Stone, things were bound to shift even further.
Fortunately, the Ancient One remained unharmed. With only one Infinity Stone in his possession, Thanos had no way of carrying out his plan to wipe out half of the universe's population.
But the battle between the Avengers and Thanos was far from over.
Alan needed Scott Lang to appear soon, undergo training, and join the Avengers as quickly as possible. More importantly, Hela and Angara's involvement would further accelerate changes in the storyline.
If he didn't push the plot forward, the deviations might spiral out of control.
"Master, what are you reading?" Red Queen stood quietly behind Alan. It was just the two of them—no Wanda, no Gwen, and none of the Guardians.
"Red Queen, can you track down the man in this newspaper? Find out where he is now?" Alan handed the newspaper to Red Queen. His priority was to locate Scott Lang.
"Using a supercomputer and facial recognition, I can accurately pinpoint his location. Starting identification now—it will take approximately four minutes." Red Queen's eyes began to glow faintly.
Alan was truly beginning to appreciate the value of having an advanced AI by his side. It was like having a powerful military strategist—one capable of planning operations, running simulations, and selecting the best course of action.
Before the four minutes were up, the glow in Red Queen's eyes faded. She calmly stated an address, and in the blink of an eye, they arrived at their destination.
At this point, Alan moved freely, unhindered by anything. There was no place in the entire universe he couldn't reach.
Red Queen lifted her gaze to the sign above the entrance—it read Buffet Café, 613.
"Master, should we wait outside?" she asked.
Alan shook his head. "No, we're going in. Besides, you should try ice cream while we're here."
Red Queen knew the exact ingredients that made up ice cream, but as a supercomputer, she had never actually tasted it before.
"According to the data, ice cream is sweet," she remarked.
Alan smiled, gently patting her on the head. Now that the Mind Stone was embedded within her, she was learning about human emotions. However, no amount of data could compare to firsthand experience.
"Try it yourself and see if it matches the data."
...
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