A spatial rift tore open above the Avengers base. The instant Levi landed, his main body had already sensed it.
"Looks like this trip came with an unexpected bonus," Levi said to his clone.
The clone spread his hands. "I'm not in the habit of returning empty-handed."
As soon as he finished speaking, his body dissolved into particles of light and flowed back into Levi.
Tony arrived just then. Though he was already used to Levi casually ripping open dimensional cracks, he still couldn't help complaining.
"Couldn't you make a smaller entrance for once? Every time you show up, you pull this kind of stunt."
Levi didn't answer. He raised his right hand, revealing a fist-sized golden cube floating above his palm, its surface covered in flowing runes.
Tony's pupils shrank.
"What is that?"
"A Mother Box. Core technology from Apokolips in the DC Universe."
Levi tossed the cube toward him.
"Take it and study it. I'll need it in three days."
Tony caught the Mother Box. The moment his fingers touched its surface, JARVIS alarms exploded inside his armor.
The energy readings instantly shot beyond measurable limits. The runes crawled across the metallic surface like living creatures, attempting to invade the system.
"Shit—"
Tony instinctively tried to throw it away, but Levi waved a hand. Golden light enveloped the Mother Box, and the runes immediately quieted.
"Relax. I rewrote its foundational protocols. It only obeys you now."
Levi turned and walked toward the main building.
"Gather everyone. Meeting room."
Tony stared at the Mother Box in his hand, feeling the warmth radiating from it. The energy density inside this thing surpassed the Arc Reactor, surpassed the Tesseract—surpassed every power source he had ever seen.
"Tony, stop spacing out," Levi's voice came from ahead. "The Council of Kangs won't give you time to slowly research it."
---
Ten minutes later, the meeting room was packed.
Tony, Steve, Thor, Wanda, Strange, Natasha, Clint, Rhodey, Sam, Bucky—and Nathaniel Richards, who had just rushed over from the lab.
The dimensional beacon scar on the boy's wrist had healed, though faint golden patterns could still be seen beneath the skin.
Levi looked around the room.
"I've decided to take the offensive and destroy the Council of Kangs."
Silence fell over the room.
Tony broke it first.
"You're planning to go alone?"
"Yes. But before I leave, I need to make sure Earth has enough defensive power. Even if the Council bypasses me and attacks directly, you'll still be able to hold out until I return."
He turned to Tony.
"So I need all of you to become stronger."
Tony spun the Mother Box between his fingers.
"Stronger? What's your plan? Hand each of us an Infinity Stone?"
"Better than that."
Levi walked over and placed his hand on the Mother Box.
"The New Gods of Apokolips aren't powerful because they were born that way. Their very life essence was transformed by Mother Box technology. Matter restructuring, energy conversion, spatial traversal—those abilities were all acquired afterward."
Golden runes appeared in Levi's other palm.
"And I've already grasped the true essence of that technology."
The power of the Alchemy Laws poured into the Mother Box. The runes began to reorganize and evolve. Tony could feel the cube heating up in his hand, its energy fluctuations becoming active—but no longer violent.
"I'm going to use alchemical laws to modify the Mother Box so it integrates with Earth's technological systems. Your nanotech armor is already advanced, but it still operates on the physical level. Once Mother Box technology is added, you'll be able to manipulate matter on the conceptual level."
Tony's eyes lit up.
"You mean—"
"Your armor will no longer just be a combination of metal and energy. It'll become a living entity capable of self-evolution, self-repair… even self-awareness."
"Hold on."
Steve stood up.
"Self-awareness? Isn't that basically Ultron?"
"Not the same thing. Ultron's problem was that Tony gave it free will without giving it the right values. Mother Box technology is different. Its core principle is absolute obedience. As long as Tony remains the master, the armor will never betray him."
Tony was already impatient with excitement.
"How long?"
"Three days. But before that, there's another matter I need to deal with."
Levi turned toward Nathaniel.
The boy had remained silent in the corner the whole time. When Levi's gaze landed on him, he subconsciously clenched his fists, and the golden patterns on his wrist faintly glowed.
"Nathaniel. Come here."
The teenager hesitated before stepping forward.
"There's still residual dimensional beacon energy inside your body. Even though I removed the beacon itself, the energy already fused with your genes."
Nathaniel's expression changed.
"So… the Council of Kangs can still track me?"
"No. But you can track them instead."
Levi's palm glowed as golden energy seeped into Nathaniel's body. The boy groaned, sweat forming on his forehead, but he gritted his teeth and didn't step back.
Wanda rose to move forward, but Strange stopped her.
"Don't interrupt him," Strange said quietly. "What Levi's doing is far more complicated than we imagined."
His golden Eye of Agamotto opened fully.
Levi's energy wasn't destroying—it was rebuilding. The remnants of dimensional beacon energy inside Nathaniel were being stripped apart, purified, and reconstructed by the alchemical laws.
Three minutes later, Levi withdrew his hand.
Nathaniel dropped to one knee, gasping for breath. The golden patterns had spread across his entire arm, forming intricate circuit-like designs.
"You're no longer a living coordinate beacon for the Council of Kangs," Levi said. "You're our radar now."
Nathaniel looked up.
"I can feel them… so many Kangs. They're spread across different timelines, but I can pinpoint their locations."
"Good."
Levi turned toward everyone else.
"For the next seventy-two hours, I'll strengthen each of you. Tony's armor will be upgraded. Thor's Stormbreaker will be infused with new power. Strange will gain stronger defensive spells. Wanda…"
His gaze softened slightly as he looked at her.
"Your Chaos Magic is already powerful, but it isn't stable enough. I'll help you build a mental defense line so that even if Kang alters the timeline, your memories and will won't be rewritten."
Wanda nodded, concern flashing in her eyes.
"And you? Where are you going?"
"Chronopolis. The headquarters of the Council of Kangs."
Sharp intakes of breath echoed through the room.
"Are you insane?" Tony stared at him. "I thought you were going to pick them off one by one, but this—"
"That's their home ground! Infinite Kangs, infinite timelines—you alone—"
"I alone am enough."
Levi cut him off.
"And besides, you still don't understand what a single-universe-level entity truly means. The only reason I didn't go sooner after my breakthrough was because I was worried Earth would be attacked while I was away."
He raised his hand, black energy gathering in his palm.
It was the power of the Anti-Life Equation fragment, fully devoured by his Concept of Greed and transformed into an even purer force of domination.
Levi traced a finger across the table. Golden runes appeared, reconstructing themselves into a complex three-dimensional structure.
"The Council of Kangs controls temporal laws. They can alter causality and leap between timelines. But there's one thing they can't change—their existence is still built upon the concept of order."
Strange's golden eye narrowed slightly.
"So you're planning to use the Anti-Life Equation's absolute domination concept against their order concept?"
"Not against it," Levi said calmly. "To devour it."
With a flick of his finger, the structure shattered into countless motes of light.
"The essence of the Anti-Life Equation is the erasure of free will and the establishment of absolute obedience. The Council's concept of order is also a form of control. Conceptually, they share the same root—they're just expressed differently."
"I've already absorbed the Anti-Life Equation fragment and fused it into my Concept of Greed. Now, I can devour not just energy and matter, but also seize conceptual control itself."
Thor tightened his grip on Stormbreaker.
"Sounds powerful. But are you certain you can face the entire Council?"
"No. But I have to go. Better to eliminate the threat than wait for them to scheme up something worse later."
His eyes swept across everyone in the room.
"I don't want to see that outcome."
Steve spoke up.
"So what do we do now?"
"Get stronger."
Levi turned toward Tony.
"We start with you."
---
Tony raised his right hand. Nanoparticles surged from the Arc Reactor, and within three seconds the complete Mark 85 armor covered his body.
Levi walked up and placed a hand against the armor's chest.
"Release control permissions. Let me access JARVIS's core systems."
Tony complied. The Arc Reactor brightened as all energy circuits opened fully.
Levi closed his eyes and sank his consciousness into the armor.
He saw JARVIS's core code. The nanite control protocols. Every node in the energy distribution system. The armor's design was brilliant—but fundamentally, it was still a machine operating on the physical level.
The power of the Alchemy Laws flooded into the armor, restructuring the nanites at the molecular level. The particles, once capable only of transformation and recombination, gained entirely new properties—energy conversion, matter absorption, self-repair.
Then Levi engraved the Mother Box's core runes into every single nanite.
Ten minutes later, he opened his eyes.
Tony felt the armor trembling—not physically, but through some deeper resonance. The nanites flowed across his body like living things, reorganizing themselves into entirely new patterns.
"Try it," Levi said as he stepped back. "Imagine turning the armor into something else."
Tony focused. In his mind appeared the image of a sword.
Nanites detached from his right arm and reconstructed themselves midair into a massive two-meter-long blade. Runes covered its surface, radiating soft golden light.
"My God…"
Tony gripped the hilt.
"This isn't an illusion. It's actual matter restructuring."
"That's not all. Try absorbing energy."
Tony swung the blade at a nearby metal wall. The sword cut into it—and the wall began to dissolve. Not melt from heat, but break down into base particles that were absorbed into the blade itself.
The golden runes grew brighter. The sword itself grew longer.
Tony released the hilt. The sword floated in midair before dissolving back into nanites and returning to the armor.
"This is insane. What exactly can I do now?"
"In theory, as long as you have enough energy, you can restructure any matter. Including yourself."
Tony froze.
"What do you mean?"
"Your armor is no longer just equipment—it's an extension of your body. If you're injured, the nanites can replace damaged organs. If you need greater strength, they can reconstruct your muscular structure."
"You're turning me into some kind of cybernetic lifeform?"
"No," Levi replied. "I'm turning you into a New God. The New Gods of Apokolips are powerful because their bodies have fused completely with Mother Box technology. Now, so have you."
Tony was silent for a few seconds before grinning.
"Okay, I admit it. This is way cooler than I expected."
He looked at the others.
"Who's next?"
---
Levi turned toward Thor.
"You. Hand me the axe."
Thor passed over Stormbreaker. Levi took it, feeling the immense powers within—thunder, space, reality, and the energies of the six Infinity Stones.
"This axe is already powerful. But it still has potential."
He raised his left hand, black energy appearing in his palm.
"I'm going to infuse it with a new concept."
The black energy flowed into the haft. Runes ignited across the weapon. The six grooves on the axehead lit simultaneously as the Infinity Stones' power merged with the black energy.
Five minutes later, Levi let go.
Stormbreaker had changed. Black-and-gold patterns now covered its surface, radiating a terrifying aura.
"This weapon can no longer be destroyed. Even if shattered, it will repair itself. And it will continue evolving as you grow stronger."
Thor accepted the axe, immediately sensing the difference. Not physical weight—but conceptual weight. The meaning the weapon now carried had fundamentally changed.
"Thank you," Thor said solemnly.
Levi nodded and turned to Strange.
"Your defensive magic needs an upgrade."
The Sorcerer Supreme stood, his golden eye fully open.
"What do I need to do?"
"Nothing."
Levi waved a hand. Golden runes flew from his palm into Strange's forehead.
Strange groaned as his consciousness was dragged into a strange dimension. There was no time. No space. Only countless intertwining conceptual threads.
"This is the conceptual layer," Levi's voice echoed in his mind.
"I'm going to teach you how to build defenses here. Even if the Council rewrites the timeline and erases your history, as long as your concept remains, you can be reborn."
Strange stared at the endless conceptual threads.
"You mean… I need to become a concept myself?"
"The Sorcerer Supreme will no longer just be a title. It'll become an eternal concept. As long as Earth still needs a guardian, you will never truly die."
Golden runes rooted themselves deep within Strange's soul.
When he opened his eyes again, the Eye of Agamotto on his forehead had become pure gold, radiating divine light.
"I feel… different."
"You're now one of Earth's anchors. Even if timelines collapse, you'll still stabilize reality."
---
Finally, Levi looked toward Wanda.
The Scarlet Witch walked over calmly, though Levi could feel the unease hidden within her.
"I don't want you taking this risk," Wanda said softly.
"I know. But it has to be done."
He pressed his forehead against hers. Chaos Magic resonated with the thirteen laws inside his body.
"I'll leave a mark deep within your consciousness. No matter how the Council alters the timeline, this mark will protect your memories and your will."
"And… if something really happens to me, this mark will guide you to find me."
Wanda closed her eyes, feeling Levi's power seep into the depths of her soul. It felt warm and unwavering, like a lamp lit in endless darkness that would never go out.
When Levi finally pulled away, Wanda opened her eyes, scarlet light flickering within them.
"I'll wait for you to come back."
Levi nodded and faced everyone once more.
"You all now possess the power to resist the Council of Kangs. But remember—do not attack recklessly. Defend Earth and wait for my return."
"If seventy-two hours pass and I still haven't returned—"
"You'll come back," Tony interrupted. "Because you still owe me a drink."
Levi laughed.
"Deal."
He raised his right hand and clenched it toward empty space.
The golden patterns on Nathaniel's wrist flared brightly as a powerful causal connection activated. The residual dimensional beacon energy linking him to the Council of Kangs was now being reversed and exploited by Levi.
Space twisted.
A massive rift tore open in the center of the meeting room.
On the other side was a city floating in the void—
Chronopolis, the headquarters of the Council of Kangs.
"I'm leaving," Levi said. "Take care of Earth."
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