Chapter 6: You Should Not Have Revealed Your Identity

Turning the [Hex Crystal] over in his hand, Luca seemed to gain a clearer understanding of the crafting rules behind his golden finger.

It appeared that no matter how unrelated the materials might be, so long as they satisfied the panel’s requirement for the consumable’s “name,” the item ultimately forged would remain identical to the original.

Its appearance, its effects, even certain wildly unscientific conceptual abilities.

Still, a golden finger was never meant to be scientific in the first place, and Luca had no trouble accepting that.

It was only a little regrettable that the [Hex Core] also seemed to be an item he would not be able to craft any time soon.

The only thing Luca could think of for a “stable small reactor” was Tony Stark’s Arc Reactor. He treasured that thing far too much, and an ordinary person would have virtually no chance of getting close to it.

As for the other material, “four different magical runes,” it was even farther beyond Luca’s reach. He figured only places like Kamar-Taj or the realm of Asgard would offer any hope of obtaining them.

Both materials were far too distant, so Luca could only carefully put away the white-glowing [Hex Crystal] for the moment.

As for the remaining [Little Monkey Bomb]—

“Maybe these are the only three Hex Crystals in this world. Using one purely as a bomb does feel like a waste.”

Though he thought that, Luca still did not take out the remaining two crystals separately.

After all, when the time came that he truly needed to use it, no precious item would matter more than his own life.

He merely wrapped the bomb carefully in strips of cloth to prevent accidental contact.

To begin with, Hex Crystals were far more unstable than Chitauri Crystals. Even the slightest bump could trigger an explosion.

In addition, apart from the crafting rules, Luca also noticed that the “1/5” behind “World of Battle of the Two Cities” on the panel had changed to “2/5.”

“Maybe once I gather five core components from the same world, something different will happen?”

Setting those thoughts aside for the time being, Luca glanced at the wreckage of supplies. After a brief hesitation, he still decided to throw out both headless Chitauri corpses.

His home was already ruined beyond recognition, and after being “invaded” by aliens, officials would surely come to clean up once the battle was over.

If it were only a pair of folded Chitauri light guns and a purple crystal hidden away, perhaps no one would notice. But with two full corpses lying there, government personnel would certainly recover and take them away. Better to discard them now and avoid trouble later.

Luca first walked to the edge of the broken wall and peeked down toward the street below.

After confirming that no one was beneath him, he simply dragged one Chitauri corpse over and hurled it down.

However, when Luca threw the second corpse as well, he immediately heard a scream from below. Even with gunfire and explosions raging outside, the cry was not drowned out.

“Damn it! Did I hit someone?!”

Luca promptly leaned out again to look down, and what he saw caused his expression to shift several times.

For below him, in the alley beside the building, stood four people he could not have been more familiar with.

One was tall, with green skin all over, crouching down to check on a companion who had been struck by the falling corpse.

With a casual toss, the green giant sent the body Luca had struggled so hard to throw over the side flying more than a dozen meters away.

The unlucky soul who had been hit wore a dark red leather suit and was now grimacing and cursing as he tried to get back up.

The other two were one man in a blue skintight suit holding a circular metal shield.

The last, though dressed only in an ordinary jacket, had a face Luca had just seen in a younger version.

That’s right: the four who had suddenly appeared below were Bruce Banner, Scott Lang, Steve Rogers, and Tony Stark.

More importantly, Luca knew perfectly well that all four had come from the future.

“Damn it! Is this the plot of Avengers 4?!”

With no time to think further, just as the four of them all looked up at once, Luca rapidly changed his expression and put on a look of mild panic.

“S-sorry, my home was invaded by aliens. I just checked and there was no one down there...”

“Oh my God! Are you Iron Man, Captain America, and the Hulk? I’ve seen you on TV!”

Seeing Luca speak in such a disjointed manner, the four below relaxed slightly.

Tony Stark, the quickest to react, spoke first and pointed at Luca.

“Hey, kid, this isn’t your fault. Hurry back inside and hide. Take care of yourself!”

Hearing Tony’s words, Steve Rogers immediately realized that the four of them had indeed appeared out of nowhere, and Scott being hit could only be called bad luck.

Thinking of what he had looked like ten years ago, Steve straightened himself a little and said loudly,

“Kid, get back inside. We’re dealing with the aliens, and this will be over soon!”

Luca had never wanted any more contact with these people than necessary, so hearing them say that, he did not plan to say anything else.

However, before he could retreat back into the house—

“Roar~~~”

Amid an enraged bellow, a green giant several times more massive than the Bruce Banner before him leaped in from the main road beside them, hoisting a wrecked sedan overhead with a thunderous crash.

He then smashed it furiously into one unlucky Chitauri after another.

Only after the car, along with the Chitauri pinned beneath it, had nearly been beaten flat into a sheet of iron did the furious green giant roar again and leap away to who knew where.

...

The scene instantly fell into an awkward silence.

Including Luca, everyone turned to look at Doctor Banner, who covered his face and seemed to have no idea what to say.

“Was that just now... the Hulk’s brother?”

Seeing that the four below were all frozen in embarrassment and not even rushing off to handle the real business, Luca could only play dumb and break the silence for them.

“Uh... yes, yes! That’s right! He is the Hulk’s brother, um... the Green Giant! Right!”

Scott pointed at Bruce Banner beside him and gestured wildly with both hands.

After a moment, he seemed to think of something, though he clearly had no idea why, and added,

“Oh, and you can call me Ant-Man. Um, even though I haven’t been on TV yet!”

The others stared at Scott with utter speechlessness.

Seeing that the issue had been resolved, Luca naturally intended to leave tactfully as well.

After saying, “I wish you all success,” he immediately withdrew back into the house.

The people below exchanged glances and swiftly left the spot, though Tony Stark still leaned toward Scott and warned him in a low voice,

“You shouldn’t have exposed your identity. It might affect the future of their timeline.”

“Especially since the person you told was that kid Luca Orange!”