Tony Stark's seaside villa was one of the very few places in the world where trouble rarely dared to appear.
After all—world-famous tycoon, billionaire, Iron Man.
Those titles alone were enough to deter most intruders.
The mansion stood along the coastline, overflowing with modern artistic design. Spanning nearly ten thousand square meters, it featured a private swimming pool, a massive underground garage, and a dedicated helicopter landing platform.
Anything one could imagine—it was all here.
"So this is your place?" Aiden Cross remarked casually.
"Pretty extravagant."
"Technically, one of my places," Tony Stark replied, rolling his shoulders as the suffocating sensation faded. "And I've got to say—your ability is seriously uncomfortable. I almost couldn't breathe."
"My apologies," Aiden Cross said calmly.
"It was my first time transporting passengers in flight."
Traveling from Stark Restaurant to the villa was obviously not done on foot.
Aiden Cross and Ulric Cinder possessed natural flight.
Seraphina Dawnshield, Mash Shieldheart, and Tony Stark—whose armor was now scrap—did not.
To save time, Aiden Cross condensed his power into a massive spectral hand, grasped them, and carried them through the air.
Ulric's spiritual pressure already hovered at the peak of A-Class.
Aiden Cross, however, stood firmly at the absolute peak of S-Class.
Carrying several people simultaneously was trivial.
The only drawback was finesse.
To ordinary humans, it felt like being tightly bound by steel cables.
Tony silently vowed that he would never again board this kind of "illegal flight."
"Hey, pal," Tony muttered.
"Looks like we've got two uninvited guests. You might want to think about how to deal with them."
"Ladies and gentlemen," a deep voice said coldly,
"welcome to the United States. But I believe you owe us an explanation—regarding what happened at Stark Restaurant."
At the landing platform, two men in black suits approached.
One was senior S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson.
The other—
The director of S.H.I.E.L.D. himself.
Nick Fury.
The bald man with an eyepatch was unmistakable.
"Who gave you permission to speak directly to my lord, you trash?"
Ulric Cinder released only a trace of his spiritual pressure.
Instantly, the two high-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were crushed to the ground, unable to move even a finger.
This was suppression that struck at the soul itself.
There was no resisting it.
Tony Stark had permission—Ulric ignored him.
But two ordinary humans daring to question his lord?
They were courting death.
"That's enough, Ulric."
"Yes, my lord."
The pressure vanished instantly.
Even so, Coulson and Fury were drenched in cold sweat, their backs soaked.
They looked at Ulric with deep fear.
This being had already transcended humanity.
If he wished, erasing New York from the map would not be difficult.
"Since you represent local authority," Aiden Cross said calmly,
"I'll explain things briefly. Follow me."
"Hey—this is still my villa," Tony muttered.
No one responded.
Grumbling, Tony followed them inside.
The interior of the villa was a showcase of cutting-edge technology.
Normally, Tony's secretary and personal assistant, Pepper Potts, would have greeted guests.
But Tony had been fully immersed in armor research, handing all corporate affairs over to Pepper and officially appointing her as CEO of Stark Industries.
"Sit."
"I'll repeat—it's my villa."
"Hmm?"
Ulric Cinder released a single cold syllable.
Tony instantly felt locked in place.
The sensation vanished just as quickly.
Realizing resistance was pointless, Tony obediently sat down.
One more word, and he suspected he'd be eating fists.
"Who exactly are you people?" Nick Fury asked grimly.
These individuals had appeared out of nowhere.
No identities.
No records.
No traceable history.
And the power they displayed was terrifying.
The cold youth alone was unfathomable.
The blonde woman who tore a monster apart barehanded was essentially a humanoid war machine.
And both of them clearly deferred to the black-haired, red-eyed young man.
Which meant only one thing—
That man was the true leader.
A force of this magnitude appearing on Earth without S.H.I.E.L.D.'s knowledge was extremely dangerous.
"You're aware of the Great Cataclysm one month ago, correct?" Aiden Cross asked.
"Yes," Fury nodded.
The thousand-mile fox-claw strike that descended upon the Eastern continent—
The rise of a fox-demon dominion known as Foxveil Sanctuary, a supernatural faction that maintained conditional coexistence with humanity, provided its absolute boundaries were respected.
The massive spatial rupture over the Pacific—
Followed by erasure-level spatial shocks occurring worldwide, accompanied by the appearance of beings known as Spirits.
And finally—
The mysterious structure that appeared in New York.
The Hero League Headquarters.
Satellites could not observe it.
The military could not approach it.
Any satellite attempting surveillance over Foxveil Sanctuary or the Hero League returned nothing but blank data.
Any military force entering within a hundred-mile radius was instantly annihilated.
"We come from an interdimensional hero organization," Aiden Cross said calmly.
"One that protects this world from the shadows."
"It is called—"
The Hero League.
"Hero… League?" Nick Fury repeated, stunned.
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