Looking at the approaching force ahead of them, it was clear that neither physical nor magical attacks would have any effect.
Tony Stark was filled with anxiety.
The remaining energy of his armor had dropped below fifty percent. If the armor lost power on the moon, the consequences were unimaginable.
"There's one last way!"
Hearing the impatience in Tony's voice, Linen raised his hand and opened the device on his wrist armor.
"Since this monster can absorb energy," Linen said calmly, "then let it absorb enough."
As his words fell, a dazzling golden light erupted from Linen's palm.
In the next instant, the golden energy surged forward and struck the monster.
Seeing the monster endlessly absorbing and devouring the energy, Linen directly increased the output.
This was energy Linen had absorbed from the Self Gem, refined and converted into his own power.
Its purity and magnitude far surpassed that of the other six Infinity Stones.
As the monster absorbed more and more Self Gem energy, its body began to swell violently.
In just a few seconds, the creature—originally over thirty meters tall—expanded to several hundred meters in height.
"Oh my God…"
As its size increased, the monster roared in agony.
Tony Stark rushed to Linen's side and exclaimed, "What kind of ability is this?! This is unbelievable!"
Linen didn't answer.
Instead, he grabbed Tony and pulled him back dozens of meters at extreme speed.
The moment they landed, the monster's body reached its critical limit.
Then—
A violent explosion erupted.
"Oh my God…"
The explosion sprayed scarlet and dark green fluids everywhere, scattering across the lunar surface.
Tony Stark's mouth twitched.
"I don't think I'll be able to look at watermelon juice or kiwi juice for at least half a month."
Then he added, puzzled, "But seriously—what was that thing? Some kind of monster unique to the moon?"
"It can even produce sound in a vacuum environment. That alone is worth studying!"
Linen shrugged.
"Who knows? But it's obvious this monster was made from hundreds of dying people."
"It was likely created by someone—or some force—using a special kind of energy."
At this point, Linen turned to Tony and asked seriously,
"Tony, did you record the distorted faces on the monster?"
"Once we're back, we can investigate them. We might be able to identify who those people were."
"It's already recorded," Tony nodded.
"Once we return to Earth, we'll cross-check it using the global database."
"If living people were really turned into monsters by human hands," Tony said grimly, "that's beyond cruel."
He then looked around.
Aside from the floating remains of the monster, there was no other movement.
Tony sighed helplessly.
"They really don't intend to come out and see me. Even when their son was facing a monster like that, they still didn't show themselves."
Hearing the frustration hidden in Tony's voice, Linen suddenly said,
"Is it possible they aren't on the moon right now at all?"
"What do you mean?"
Tony looked at Linen, hope flashing in his eyes once more.
"My half-succubus Delis told me that your parents often travel between the moon and other dimensions to prevent monsters from invading Earth."
"Maybe right now, they're guarding Earth from another dimension."
After hearing this, Tony nodded slowly.
"That's very likely. No—actually, that's probably the truth."
"Otherwise, even if my father couldn't appear because of his duties as a Wall Keeper, my mother would never stand by and watch her son get attacked."
After calming down, Tony returned to his usual demeanor.
Looking at the floating remains ahead, he asked,
"Should we take a sample back for research?"
"Absolutely not," Linen said immediately, stopping him.
"Who knows if this thing carries some kind of infection or unknown pathogen?"
"If it does, and it spreads to Earth, then you would be responsible for the planet's destruction."
"Tsk…"
Realizing Linen was right, Tony sighed in regret.
"Let's go, buddy. We're clearly not meant to be here this time."
"We'll come back to the moon again someday."
With that, the two flew back toward the rocket.
Back at the launch site, Tony took out the flag he had prepared in advance and planted it firmly into the lunar soil.
Written on the flag were the words:
[Tony Stark and Linen Visited Here]
Seeing it, Linen laughed and boarded the return capsule.
As the rocket ignited and flew toward Earth, deep within the moon—
Maria Stark's eyes were filled with reluctance.
"We will meet Tony, dear. Once we finish what we agreed upon with that female Loki, everything will finally be over."
Hearing Howard Stark's words, Maria nodded gently.
Watching the rocket disappear into the distance, she sighed.
"If we want to end our 'work,' we must first find a suitable successor."
"Dear… what do you think of Nick Fury?"
"The current director of S.H.I.E.L.D."
Hearing the suggestion, Howard pondered Nick Fury's actions over the years.
"This man has many flaws, and his methods are far from clean," Howard admitted.
"But he is capable."
"And more importantly, no matter how unscrupulous he may be, protecting Earth has always been his sole objective."
"Perhaps, when the time comes, we can consider making him the next Wall Keeper."
Seeing her husband agree, Maria smiled.
But as she looked once more at the empty sky, her eyes were filled with longing.
"Achoo!"
Nick Fury sneezed and rubbed his nose.
For some reason, he felt as if someone had been watching him just moments ago.
But the sensation quickly vanished, and he dismissed it as his imagination.
"Hill," Fury said, setting down his pen, "how's the 'cleanup' going?"
"We've completed about ten percent," Maria Hill replied.
"According to the list provided by Pierce, we've eliminated roughly ten percent of HYDRA operatives embedded under various identities."
"However, HYDRA's scale is too large. If we eliminate them all at once, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s operational strength would be severely weakened—possibly even paralyzed."
"So, as you instructed, we're proceeding slowly, aiming to complete the cleanup by 2014—two years from now."
"We'll also recruit new agents from the Eagle's Nest to replace them."
At this point, Hill hesitated, then asked,
"Director Fury… why must everything be completed before 2014? Does that specific time point matter?"
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