Chapter 2016: Of n.o.ble Character and Integrity, Returning Empty-Handed
“5, 4, 3, 2, 1.” In the lab in the bas.e.m.e.nt, Selina and the dog head counted down to five.
Swoos.h.!.+
Luke suddenly appeared where he had just disappeared.
Excitement flashed in Selina’s eyes, but when she saw that his armor was damaged, she was shocked. “What’s wrong?”
!!
The dog head also scratched the gla.s.s anxiously. “Woof?”
Luke opened his helmet to reveal Bale’s face. “Don’t worry, everything’s fine. I’ll disinfect first.”
Saying that, he entered the sterilization room.
A few minutes later, after switching with the clone in the sterilization room, Luke walked out.
Selina and the dog head didn’t know that the clone they had just seen had been quietly switched out. They asked anxiously, “How was it?”
Luke nodded. “I gained a lot. Let’s talk outside. Gold Nugget, go get some snacks and drinks.”
Just like that, Selina and the dog head left, and the clone came out of the sterilization room and entered a separate lab.
This Level 2 clone was precious research material. It could only stay in the bas.e.m.e.nt of the research inst.i.tute for a while.
On the other side, Luke began to selectively describe his experience.
In 2023, Luke had a private chat with Sorcerer Strange after the battle, and learned a lot about the rules of s.p.a.ce and time.
Those who played with s.p.a.ce and time would eventually be played by s.p.a.ce and time. This warning from the Sorcerer Supreme made Luke very wary of traveling through the Quantum Realm.
Thus, there was no need to tell Selina and the dog head about the situation in 2023. Even after the battle, he himself hadn’t learned about the major events there.
Without Batman there, even if the development of major events was similar, there were even more differences.
He didn’t want Selina and the dog head to create a b.u.t.terfly effect in 2012, so he just explained the danger of interfering too much.
At most, he answered some gossipy questions like, “What are the Avengers like over there?”
In fact, Luke didn’t bring back anything from 2023. He also brought back with him the Pym Particle which he had traded to Scott.
It wasn’t him going back on his word – it was his reward for helping the 2023 Avengers fight.
Scott’s father-in-law’s family was back, so Scott didn’t covet this Pym Particle, and hence gave it to Luke.
Luke wanted only this small reward, which made the Avengers very embarra.s.sed.
But after he explained the reason to Tony, although everybody felt that this Knight was being too cautious, they had to admit that his decision not to take anything back with him made a lot of sense.
Perhaps taking some ordinary items from 2023 might not necessarily cause Thanos to attack, but n.o.body could guarantee that there wouldn’t be any other backlash.
Just like that, Luke rejected the temptation of a lot of ‘superior’ technology and vibranium weapons.
He went empty-handed and came back empty-handed. Only the abundant harvest in the system waited quietly for its master to take stock.
That was also one reason why he didn’t take more benefits from that universe. After all, he already had the true benefits in the bag.
System: Kill Thanos and his army and save mankind on Earth. Mission accomplished.
Total experience: 143.7 billion. Total credit: 143.7 billion.
Contribution rate: 20%. EXP +28.7 billion. Credit +28.7 billion.
Host’s level: 40
Extra stat points: 119
Host has reached level 30. Free ability module activated.
Host has reached level 40. Free stat module has been activated.
Preset message activated: At level 50, host will be free from the system. Use and treasure it.
Looking at the notifications carefully, even Luke was shocked.
After the battle in 2023, he had a quick and private ‘heart-to-heart’ with Sorcerer Strange and did his best not to take anything with him. There were two important reasons for this.
Apart from the possible s.p.a.ce and time backlash, the other reason was naturally to return to 2012 as soon as possible and take stock of his ‘new’ a.s.sets.
Technology and vibranium were all external things, and he would be able to get his hands on them sooner or later in 2012. How could they compare with a sharp increase in strength?
Just like this time – had he relied on his armor or vibranium to grab the Infinity Glove? No – from the moment he started using mental suggestions to the desperate fight later, it was all thanks to his hybrid abilities.
If Tony, who was as weak as a chicken, snapped his fingers, he would die on the spot.
Of the Avengers in 2023, Scott, Wanda and Rocket were closer to Luke.
However, Captain Marvel and Sorcerer Strange, these two most terrifying individuals, were suspicious of him.
Luke didn’t want to take stock of his gains under the noses of these two bigshots at all, much less increase his strength in this ‘away-game arena.’
Who the h.e.l.l knew what these two would sense and think?
If Luke was treated like some otherworldly demon, it would be a problem.
Thus, he had no choice but to ‘flaunt’ his relations.h.i.+p with the Ancient One in 2012.
Hearing that, Strange simply closed his eyes and shook his head for a moment.
When he opened his eyes again, he had an indecipherable expression on his face, and agreed to let Luke go.
Using a mental suggestion and Real Dream to snoop around and influence Strange? What a joke.
Only an idiot would do such a stupid thing in front of the Sorcerer Supreme.
It wasn’t until he returned to 2012 that Luke had the system deactivate the information blocker which he had requested.
Experience and credit points were already nothing to him. To reach level 41, he needed ten billion experience and credit points.
Luke would have leveled up once already if Thanos showed up in 2012.
He had an extra 119 stat points from leveling up 13 times in a row.
Because he was cautious, he hadn’t allocated any stat points yet.
His total stats were still 71 Strength, 63 Dexterity and 65 Mental Strength at level 27.
Even without considering the additional stat points he got from cultivating the Kunlun Chi Refining Technique, his stats were close to reaching 100.
Breaking 100 for all three stats was a dream.
He had thought that it would take many years for it to happen, but it had now unexpectedly appeared in front of him and was at his fingertips.
But this was just the appetizer for the two mains which came after.
The first was that after the host reached level 30, the free ability module was activated, and the fusion, complement and disa.s.sembly functions were unlocked.
There were too many basic abilities on his list to count. For example, there were thousands of Basic Firearms.
In the very beginning, when he had very few options, Luke would become proficient with the abilities of one person before he switched to the next person and learned their abilities one by one, thereby completely grasping the strengths of each original owner.
Later, there were too many similar basic abilities, and this method couldn’t be used at all.
However, the system was honest and didn’t charge him for the same thing again.
A basic ability only cost 100 to 200 credit points. In switching to thousands of similar abilities from different sources in the future, there was no need to fork out credit points.
Luke had already brought this up to the system earlier on, but there had been no response.
Now that the free ability module was activated, he could finally save himself some trouble.
Although he still had to pay a fee, which fluctuated depending on the situation, that was exactly what he wanted.
After all, Luke was now a rich man.