Tony fumbled as he caught the Mind Stone, which was wrapped in a layer of solidified energy. Thanks to the barrier Harry had placed around it, he never actually made direct contact with the stone itself.
Even so, Harry's casual toss scared the hell out of him.
"Couldn't you at least have put it in a box?" Tony complained. "If the Mind Stone suddenly goes unstable, I do not want to end up as a crispy little Iron Man cracker."
Harry spread his hands and smiled. "Relax. I'm here, nothing's going to happen. Besides, even if the Mind Stone did go out of control, you probably wouldn't turn into metal crumbs. You'd more likely end up becoming part of my Mind Stone runic matrix."
The moment Tony imagined himself being controlled by Harry, forced to act as a living filter that processed the Mind Stone's energy through lust and desire to keep the floating city running, right alongside those succubi, he shivered.
He liked sex just fine, but he definitely did not want to spend the rest of his life doing nothing but that, let alone in his sleep.
That was horrifying.
Tony immediately set the Mind Stone into an instrument cradle, and only then did he let out a breath of relief.
"All right, now we're safe. Harry, I have to say, you are way more qualified to be Satan than Mephisto ever was."
This was the second time Tony had made a crack like that.
Harry chose to take it as a compliment and asked, "So what exactly are you planning to do with the Mind Stone, use it as a temporary massive energy source, or use it to create some powerful artificial intelligence?"
The Time Stone showed timelines from other parallel universes, and there could always be slight deviations from this universe's own flow of time, so Harry still wanted to confirm things directly with Tony.
Tony pulled out a chip and held it up in the air. In the next moment, a yellow spherical hologram appeared in front of Harry.
Pointing at it like a teacher giving a pop quiz, Tony asked, "Guess what this is."
"JARVIS's base program. You're my Lender, so I know most of what you know. That's not going to stump me."
Tony instantly looked annoyed.
"That is so unfair. I have to work my ass off to learn this stuff, and you can just pull it straight out of your Lender's head."
Harry offered a solution with total seriousness.
"If you want to do it my way too, I'd suggest conquering an ownerless dimension. Of course, most dimensions already have owners, so another option would be to go into one, defeat the dimensional demon god ruling it, and then build up your own Lenders the same way I did."
Tony stared at him.
"Yeah... I'll pass. Not because I'm scared, obviously. It's just that the great Tony Stark does not need to copy knowledge from Lenders. All I need is my genius brain, and I can solve anything."
Harry shrugged helplessly.
Yep. That was Tony.
After the brief joking, Tony pointed at JARVIS's core system and explained, "At the beginning, JARVIS was just a natural-language user interface. But after all this time, he can now control the Iron Legion, and aside from Pepper, his ability to handle day-to-day operations is way beyond anybody else.
"That's pretty impressive, right?"
Harry nodded quietly and said nothing, only glancing inward for a moment at Hedwig floating above the sea of consciousness in his mind.
If JARVIS counted as impressive, then what did that make Hedwig, who could maintain the Lender interface across different worlds?
Tony had no idea what Harry was thinking. He stepped in front of the Mind Stone, and within moments the instrument had already extracted part of its energy, directing that power with careful purpose into a newly born artificial intelligence.
Pulling up the new AI's underlying code, Tony pointed at it with a grin.
"Take a look. This is JARVIS's rival. Guess what he's doing right now."
Harry looked over the enormous blue cluster of light in front of him. Its underlying code was almost identical to the Ultron code he had observed in other parallel universes.
The code floated in the air like a throbbing mechanical brain core.
Translucent folds made of deep blue luminous mist layered over one another, their surfaces shining with a liquid-metal sheen. Dense streams of data surged beneath them like a frenzied neural network beneath living cortex.
Whenever it "thought," tens of thousands of diamond-shaped runes burst outward from the core and spread through the glowing channels, weaving shifting webs of light between each "brain fold," like countless fireflies flashing together in the form of artificial synapses.
And with the Mind Stone's energy pouring into it, those runes grew even denser and more complex, while the entire structure steadily became stronger.
There was no doubt about it.
Tony had not only used technology, he had also incorporated magical runes into Ultron's base code.
Strengthened by magic, this world's Ultron clearly had far greater potential than the Ultron of other universes. If he ever collected the Infinity Stones, he would definitely reach single-universe-level combat power, and in the future he might even break free of the constraints of one universe and reach multiversal levels.
But because Harry existed in this universe, there was obviously no chance of this world's Ultron ever going out of control, much less becoming some multiversal powerhouse.
Just as Tony was about to keep pouring the Mind Stone's energy into Ultron's base code, Harry spoke first.
"The Mind Stone's energy is unstable. Even I need to use a whole group of succubi as filters if I want to use it long-term without side effects.
"If you're using it to strengthen an AI, that's even harder to control. Before you go any further, let me set up a few countermeasures inside the program in case the AI suddenly goes rogue."
Tony naturally had no intention of objecting, but he still asked, "Did you see something?"
Tony knew Harry possessed the Time Stone, and that Harry often used it to observe timelines. It was entirely possible he had discovered something in another parallel universe and now wanted to build safeguards into the AI because of it.
Harry did not hide anything. He nodded.
"That's right. The AI you create is called Ultron, and in other timelines he completely loses control.
"Your original purpose in creating Ultron is to protect Earth and build a global defense system.
"But Ultron interprets that mission in an extreme way.
"He concludes that humanity is the greatest threat to Earth, and that the only way to truly bring peace and safety is to wipe humanity out.
"That twisted understanding of his objective is what drives him into conflict with mankind and makes him go out of control."
Learning that he had created such a catastrophe in other universes, Tony hesitated.
For a moment he looked genuinely uncertain, and then he asked, "Harry, do you think I should keep going?"
Harry answered without the slightest hesitation.
"Of course. Not every version of Ultron brings disaster to humanity. In some universes, Ultron successfully protects Earth and protects humanity.
"Besides, even if Ultron really does rebel, with our current strength we could put him down easily. More importantly, his base code is incredibly valuable. It's an artificial intelligence architecture with multiversal growth potential."
Not long after that, Harry left Stark Tower and returned to the floating city, while Dr. Banner left the floating city and came to the top floor of Stark Tower.
Banner would serve as Tony's assistant and help push the Ultron project forward at full speed.
Of course, before leaving, Harry placed a rune inside Ultron's base code.
Unless Ultron somehow became stronger than chaos magic itself, there was no chance he would ever break free of Harry's control.
After returning to the floating city and handling some business, Harry finally went back to his home in New York.
He spent two warm, intimate days with Gwen and Wanda, then returned to Ben and May's house.
The moment he got home, he heard the soft clatter of movement coming from the kitchen. Aunt May was cooking.
While May cooked, Uncle Ben was sitting in the living room watching television, and the TV was showing Spider-Man news.
The Daily Bugle's editor-in-chief, J. Jonah Jameson, wore a grave expression as he declared, "Today, New York City has once again descended into chaos and panic, and our so-called friendly neighborhood Spider-Man has once again proven himself to be a major threat to the city!
"His battle with Venom destroyed multiple homes and left dozens of people injured!
"I call on the police to arrest Spider-Man immediately, no, better yet, maybe we should send in the military and get this New York pest off the streets once and for all!"
Maybe because he had heard the front door open, Uncle Ben called out without turning around, teasingly, "Peter, looks like your boss is trashing you again. Aren't you going to say something? Let him know his best employee is the Spider-Man he hates most."
By now, Peter had already finished school and joined the Daily Bugle as a reporter, and he had also become J. Jonah Jameson's best employee.
But maybe fate just had a twisted sense of humor. Peter made his living by photographing Spider-Man, while his boss was Spider-Man's biggest hater.
Hearing Ben mistake him for Peter, Harry laughed.
"Uncle Ben, it's me, Harry."
At once, Ben froze. The sounds from the kitchen stopped too, and both Ben and May rushed over to Harry in excitement.
"Oh, Harry, my Harry, you finally came back. It's been forever since we saw you!" Aunt May looked so emotional she was almost on the verge of tears.
Uncle Ben rubbed at his eyes too and said thickly, "That's right, Harry. I know you've got Gwen now, and I know you're busy, but don't forget to come home once in a while. We're always here waiting for you."
Their exaggerated performance left Harry utterly helpless.
"Uncle Ben, Aunt May, it's only been five days. I've only been gone for five days!"
Lately Harry had been busy with world-hopping, which was why he had not come home in five days. Normally he came back every two or three days. After all, Ben, May, and Peter were the family he was closest to.
Aunt May nodded with a smile.
"We know you're busy, although it'd still be best if you came home every day. See, because of that, you don't even know about the big thing going on with Peter."
"What big thing?" Harry asked, immediately intrigued.
Just then, the front door opened again, and a tall, lean figure stepped into the living room with a beautiful red-haired girl at his side.
Aunt May leaned closer and whispered to Harry, "Just wait. You're about to find out."
Then she hurried over toward Peter, smiling brightly.
"Oh, Jane, you came too! Sit down, sit down. Harry just got back today too, and I'm making something good for all of you!"
Harry looked at Peter, and Peter looked back at him. Then Harry quietly glanced at the Mary Jane standing beside him.
There was no way he didn't understand now.
Peter was dating again.
As far as Harry remembered, Peter's first relationship had been with a woman Tony had introduced him to. She had been smart too. She had never asked Peter for money or treated him like a backup plan. Instead, she had actually taught him a lot.
But in the end they had just not been suited for each other. One of them loved the fast life, while the other was quiet, awkward, and low-key. So after dating for two and a half years, they had ended things peacefully.
After they broke up, Harry had heard about it and even given the woman a million dollars as compensation.
And now, years later, Peter had found someone new.
And that someone was Mary Jane, their old high school classmate.
Harry walked up to the two of them and smiled.
"Hey, Jane. I never would've guessed you'd end up with this guy."
While Harry was observing Mary Jane, Mary Jane was also observing Harry.
From childhood onward, Harry had always been the kind of person people whispered about, a legendary figure. His looks, his unbelievable wealth, and the endless stream of mysterious rumors surrounding him had always made him stand out from everyone else his age.
Even now, Mary Jane still remembered the rumors she used to hear in high school.
"I heard he partied with Tony Stark in a penthouse suite just last week!"
"The number of zeroes in his bank account is longer than my phone number!"
"He might even be that mysterious Sorcerer Supreme!"
Because Mary Jane's family home was not far from the neighborhood where Harry and Peter had grown up, she had gone to school with them her whole life and more or less grown up beneath Harry's halo.
So even though she had mentally prepared herself, actually meeting the legendary Harry Potter still made her incredibly nervous.
When Harry addressed her, the nervousness made her stammer.
"H-hey, Harry, I... I didn't expect it either."
Harry noticed her nerves, but he did not show it. Instead, he quietly cast a Calming Charm.
After that, Mary Jane visibly relaxed and was able to talk to Harry in her normal tone.
But in the middle of their conversation, Harry's brows suddenly rose.
He had just noticed someone with a pretty strong energy signature rushing straight toward their location at high speed.
Now that he knew Mary Jane also knew Peter's identity, he did not bother hiding it from her and asked directly, "Peter, did you expose who you are? It looks like a pretty powerful supervillain is heading straight for our house."
Peter panicked.
"What do we do? If they get too close, the house is going to get wrecked, and this place is worth millions!"
Mary Jane could not help blurting out, "Wait, that's what you're worried about right now? Shouldn't we be protecting Uncle Ben and Aunt May?"
Peter shook his head.
"That's not important. They'll be fine. They can protect themselves."
At that, Harry said helplessly, "I can't believe I have to clean up your mess the second I get back. I'll help you this time, but next time you go out causing chaos, don't expose your identity."
The moment Peter heard Harry was willing to step in, he relaxed.
"Thanks, Harry, seriously. Don't worry, I won't expose who I am again."
And at that moment, Mary Jane finally realized what was happening.
She stared at Harry in shock.
"Wait... Harry's a superhero too?!"
//Check out my P@tre0n for 30 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810