Chương 71: Chapter 71: Pre-Battle Preparations 

Watching the "bald egg" use gasoline and a thirty-year warranty to trick a hundred-meter-tall mechanical child into becoming his subordinate, Luke couldn't bear to watch. 

He's still just a baby! You're literally bullying him into signing a contract because he doesn't know any better! 

Luke averted his eyes but silently took mental notes. After all, he might need to use that exact same tactic later. 

"Thanks," Nick Fury said, walking over with the AllSpark in his hands. He hadn't expected the artifact to be so powerful; it had nearly set his Helicarrier completely free. 

Prying the AllSpark out of Fury's incredibly tight grip, Luke tossed the hot potato over to Tony, completely ignoring the Director's fiery, covetous gaze. 

"So Loki got away. Where do we go next?" Luke asked, looking back at the group. 

"The guy might have run, but I left him a little parting gift. Saturday," Tony clapped his hands. His sentient armor, Saturday, stepped forward and projected a holographic map. Tony looked at the solitary blinking dot. "Use Stark Industries' credentials to access the global satellite network. Link the world map to the projection." 

Saturday complied. In seconds, Loki's exact location was pinpointed on the map. 

"He's still moving. Can we determine his destination?" Steve asked, studying the projection. 

"Saturday, extrapolate his destination based on his current trajectory," Tony said, shooting the "old popsicle" a look. 

"Based on his heading, he will arrive in..." Saturday drew a straight line across the map. "New York." 

"His base is in New York? Damn it, he's right under our noses," Natasha said in annoyance, supporting a groggy, newly-awakened Hawkeye. 

"But why would he set up his base in New York? That place is basically my and Luke's home turf," Tony said, utterly bewildered. 

"Didn't Dr. Banner mention earlier that opening the portal requires heating the Tesseract to over a hundred million degrees? That should require a massive amount of energy, right?" Luke casually guided the Avengers' train of thought. 

"Exactly. To heat the Tesseract to that level, you need a tremendous power supply," Dr. Banner said, pulling his glasses out from who-knows-where and putting them on. 

"My Tower!" Tony exclaimed in shock. 

"I literally just installed the new clean-energy Arc Reactor!" Tony said, his voice rising in anger. 

Luke nodded. "Then let's get moving. Loki just reached the outskirts of New York. If we head over now, we can still stop him." 

With a casual wave of his hand, Luke drew a Sling Ring portal and stepped through first. Tony, Thor, Cap, Natasha, and the recently conscious Hawkeye all followed. 

Dr. Banner, however, hesitated. "I'm just a research scientist. I really don't think I'm suited for combat." 

Luke looked at him. A research scientist who can beat Thor and Captain America into the ground? 

Still, Banner's actual combat skills were practically non-existent; he was far less effective than the Hulk, who just knew how to smash. 

Luke thought for a moment. Remembering that Banner had two souls residing in his body, a brilliant idea popped into his head. Why not just make a new body for Banner and yank his soul out? 

With a plan in mind, Luke nodded. "But we still need the Hulk's strength." Otherwise, we'll miss out on some classic Marvel iconic scenes. 

Luke tossed out a million-tier Dark Energy Crystal, molding it into a featureless black synthetic body. He walked up to Dr. Banner, raised his hand, and delivered a swift palm strike to his chest. 

Smack! Two souls were instantly knocked out of Banner's body. 

Grabbing Banner's soul, Luke ruthlessly stuffed him into the black synthetic body. 

"Uh, this feels really weird," the black body said a second later, holding its head as it gained sentience. 

"Looks like the compatibility is pretty good," Luke nodded. He then grabbed the Hulk's soul and shoved it back into the original body. 

Immediately, the original body's skin began to turn green, rapidly expanding and transforming into the Incredible Hulk. 

"Steady, Hulk!" Luke tried to communicate with him again. This time, the Hulk actually stabilized. 

"Hulk... knows you." The Hulk glanced at the black synthetic body next to him, then pointed a massive green finger at Luke. 

"Good, I thought you forgot me." Luke nodded. "We're going to go beat up the bad guy who gave Hulk a headache earlier. Does Hulk want to come?" 

Seemingly recalling the agonizing migraine from the scepter, the Hulk rubbed his head. "SMASH! HULK! SMASH!" 

"Then follow me." Luke led the Hulk through the portal, stepping out into Stark Tower. 

Banner breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness he didn't have to fight; he didn't know the first thing about combat tactics. But the very next second, an ethereal, invisible chain yanked him violently forward, dragging him through the portal after the Hulk. 

"Looks like you two can't be separated by too much distance," Luke noted with a nod. Kamar-Taj didn't have any records on this kind of dual-soul dynamic; it was worth observing. 

"What do I do then?! If I get hit in this crossfire, won't I just die?!" Banner yelled, floating helplessly in the air as he was dragged along. 

"Nah, you'll be fine. That energy crystal contains a massive amount of power. As long as the crystal has energy, you won't get hurt," Luke shook his head. "I reckon that body can tank a few hundred direct hits without a scratch." 

"Oh, that's fine then," Banner sighed in relief. 

Back on the Helicarrier, Fury stared at the portal but didn't step through. "Do you need my backup?" 

Luke glanced at him. "No need. Just coordinate with the military for us. Make sure they don't suddenly decide to launch a nuke at us while we're fighting." 

Fury nodded. "Could you possibly..." 

But Luke acted as if he hadn't heard a thing and abruptly snapped the portal shut. 

"...turn my aircraft carrier back to its original size," Fury finished his sentence with a helpless sigh, turning to look at the ten-meter-tall, very pouty-looking mechanical giant standing on the tarmac. 

Luke obviously wasn't going to turn it back. If he did, the military might actually send jets to drop nukes during the battle. As for other military bases, even if they launched a nuke, it wouldn't reach New York right away. 

"Big guy, please don't tear down my house. I'll treat you to barbecue after the fight," Tony said, eyeing the increasingly agitated Hulk who had just stepped into the penthouse. 

"Bar...becue?" The Hulk repeated, sounding confused. 

"Looks like your dad didn't treat you right. You've lived this long and never even had barbecue? Poor kid," Tony shook his head. Beside him, Banner sighed audibly; he hadn't eaten anything good in a long time either. 

Glancing at Natasha, who was checking the magazine of her small glock, Tony—the former weapons merchant—spoke up helplessly. "You aren't seriously planning to go into a warzone with that little thing, are you?" 

Seeing Natasha's indifferent expression, Tony sighed. He grabbed the AllSpark and walked over to a reinforced wall. 

The wall automatically opened, revealing his Hall of Armor—all the older suits he had cycled through over the years. Holding the AllSpark, he tapped each one in sequence. 

"You're Tuesday. Follow the guy with the ridiculously perky ass. No, not the woman, the guy in the spandex! Capsicle, be careful—I didn't install high-altitude anti-icing systems on this one, so unless you want to take another decades-long nap, don't fly too high." 

"You're Wednesday. Follow the lady with the wavy red hair. Show her what real high-tech firepower is, so she doesn't have to go pew-pew with her little pistols." 

"Thursday? You don't have much combat capability... Uh, how about you go book a venue? We'll need a place to celebrate after we win." 

"As for Friday, see the guy holding the bow and arrows? Stick with him. Build a predictive model—I want to know how the hell his trick arrows actually work." 

Tony animated all his older armors, assigning them to the team members who lacked mobility or heavy firepower. 

"I'm just lending these to you. Remember to return them when we're done," Tony said, finally stopping in front of the last pod. 

This was his newest masterpiece: the Mark VII. Though, in a moment, it would become "Sunday." 

Tony looked at his latest state-of-the-art armor, nodded in satisfaction, and tapped the AllSpark against it. 

A suit significantly bulkier and more heavily armed than the Mark VI stepped out autonomously. This was Tony's direct upgrade to Saturday, boasting powerful laser weaponry, nearly a hundred micro-missiles, and the highest firepower of any suit he'd built so far. It also featured remote deployment via bracelet targeting—though, technically, now that they were all alive, they could all do that. 

"Sunday, reporting for duty, my Creator," Sunday said, immediately dropping to one knee and offering a flawless knight's salute. 

Tony blinked, a bit taken aback. He hadn't expected this one to have such a unique personality. 

"Welcome to the team, my Knight," Tony said solemnly, placing a hand on Sunday's pauldron. 

Sunday stood up and took his place silently behind Tony. 

"So... do you want me to wear you into battle, or what?" Tony asked the silent sentinel. 

"As a knight, it is my duty to charge the front lines first," Sunday replied, offering another salute. 

"Alright then. I'll stuff some extra weapons into you in a few days to boost your endurance. Saturday, suit up!" 

Saturday, who had been feeling a bit dejected thinking Tony was going to replace him, instantly lit up and flew over, rapidly assembling around Tony. 

Looking at the fully geared, massively upgraded team, Tony smirked. "Ready to rock?" 

"Is Loki here yet?" Luke asked. 

Saturday projected a holographic radar. "He appears to be steadily approaching our location." 

"Then let's take the fight to him," Luke said, flying straight out the window. The rest of the team followed close behind. 

"HULK! CAN'T FLY!" The Hulk roared in frustration. Seeing the black synthetic body containing Banner hovering in the air, the Hulk grunted and launched himself out the window. 

"SLOW DOWN!" Banner left a trail of desperate screams in the air as he was violently dragged along by the ethereal chain. 

The Hulk bounded from rooftop to rooftop, brute-forcing his way to keep up with Luke and the flying armors. 

"According to the GPS, Loki is moving along the streets. He should be in a vehicle. Keep your eyes peeled," Tony instructed over the comms. 

Luke nodded, following the signal until he spotted a motorcade. 

"Found a suspicious convoy!" Luke announced. He dropped directly out of the sky, landing squarely in the middle of the street, blocking the motorcade's path. 

The next second, a hail of bullets rained down on him. 

With a casual wave of his hand, a tidal wave of dark energy surged forward, instantly vaporizing the escort vehicles into dust, leaving only the central black sedan containing Loki's signal. 

Shadow Ninjas materialized from the alleyways, rapidly dispersing the panicked civilians in the area. 

"What's up?! What's happening?! Why are there so many Iron Men?!" a civilian yelled as a ninja carried him away. He looked up to see half a dozen Iron Man armors descending from the sky, completely surrounding the black sedan. 

What kind of lineup requires this many Iron Men? Is Arnold Schwarzenegger in that car?! 

The team surrounded the sedan from all angles. "Loki! Hands on your head and step out of the vehicle immediately!" Tony's voice boomed through his external speakers. 

But after several tense seconds, there was no reaction from the car. It was making Tony look bad. 

The next second, accompanied by a continuous, trailing scream from the sky, a massive green bulk crashed directly onto the roof of the sedan, flattening it like a pancake. 

"Hulk HATES running!" the green giant roared. 

"My brother!" Thor panicked for a second and immediately rushed over. 

He ripped the crumpled car door off its hinges, only to find the interior completely empty... except for a pile of explosives and a blinking GPS tracker. 

"Damn it! A bomb!" Thor only had time to raise his hammer to shield his face as the explosives detonated. 

Luke instantly teleported next to the car. A massive dome of dark energy erupted outward, entirely engulfing the vehicle. 

The explosive flames and the deadly shockwave were completely absorbed and smothered by the dark energy, fading into nothingness. 

"Damn you, Loki! You tricked me again!" Thor yelled, honestly unsure whether he should be furious or relieved. 

"Looks like Loki set a reverse-trap for us. The real question is, where is he now?" Luke asked. Sure enough, the plot had completely derailed. He had no idea where Loki would be setting up the portal. 

Banner, who had thought the roller-coaster ride would give him a heart attack (luckily, his synthetic body didn't have a heart), sighed in relief. 

"Although Loki isn't here, his original trajectory was heading this way, which means he's definitely still in the New York area. To heat the Tesseract to a hundred million degrees, he needs a massive energy source. Is there any facility nearby capable of that?" Banner asked. 

Luke looked blank. He was basically a homebody when he was in New York. He rarely went out and had no idea where the city's power grid hubs were located. 

"I know a place that fits the bill," a grim voice said. 

Luke turned to see Tony's faceplate retracted, his expression pale and furious. 

"The old Stark Industries factory. There's a massive, old-generation Palladium Arc Reactor housed there. It would generate more than enough energy for what he needs." 

Luke nodded. "Then we head there immediately." 

He raised his hand to draw a portal, but before he could finish the gesture, a colossal beam of blue light pierced the sky in the distance. 

A massive, swirling portal tore open in the heavens above the city. Even from miles away, they could see tiny black dots beginning to swarm out of the rift like locusts. 

"Damn it! We need to move, NOW!"