The Classic Plan Goes Awry

Just as Tony flew toward the tower, the machine situated atop Stark Tower had already finished its assembly.

From start to finish, it only took half a minute, and all of this was thanks to the large capacity of the aerospace fighter and its stealth capabilities.

But all of this had also slipped beyond Tony's control.

His original plan was to first locate and monitor Hawkeye's group, ensuring they couldn't summon the Chitauri in a densely populated area, giving everyone ample time to organize a resistance, and finally, he would make his heroic entrance exactly as planned.

However, because Loki realized Tony was a bit too formidable, he directly ordered Hawkeye and the others to speed up, which completely disrupted Tony's plan.

This was also the reason why Tony had just left directly without even driving Nick Fury away.

Especially after seeing that blue pillar of light shooting into the sky and the massive wormhole beginning to open ten thousand meters above.

"Jarvis! Connect me to the military immediately!"

"Right away, sir."

Before long, an elderly voice sounded inside the armor.

"Stark, what do you want at a time like this?"

"Skarot, do you remember the plan I mentioned before?"

"You mean... the Sky Curtain Project?"

"Exactly, and now is the time to initiate it! An incredibly massive group of aliens has been dropped over New York. If you were in New York looking up right now, you'd probably see them."

There was a pause of several breaths on the other end of the line, followed by a string of curses.

"I see it! What the hell is that giant chrysanthemum? Stark? Did you cause this?"

"No! It's S.H.I.E.L.D.! They secretly researched the Tesseract, not knowing that once activated, it broadcasts a signal to civilizations across the entire universe. They've made a massive blunder!"

"F**k! The military will head to New York immediately to provide support! But it takes time! Stark! You know this! It will take at least half an hour for the first wave of reinforcements to arrive! Stark, can your Sky Curtain Project hold up?"

"Rest assured, General."

After Tony finished speaking, he directly hung up the phone.

At the same time, wartime sirens blared across all of New York. Upon hearing the alarms and looking up at the increasingly large "chrysanthemum" in the sky, which now had a diameter exceeding five thousand meters, all the ordinary citizens of New York realized something was terribly wrong.

As Americans, dodging danger at a moment's notice was a required course. Especially after seeing the figures of Chitauri soldiers flying out of the wormhole like locusts, followed by incredibly massive Chitauri war machines, almost everyone simultaneously scrambled to find shelter.

Meanwhile, Tony finally arrived at Stark Tower.

The armor hovered in the sky. Below, Dr. Erik Selvig, several brainwashed S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, and Hawkeye Barton all looked up at Tony simultaneously.

Then, Tony raised his hands, and in an instant, several blasts struck them.

One by one, they were sent flying backward, crashing through the glass and falling to the floor.

Seeing this, Tony completely ignored the unconscious group. If he hadn't intentionally held back, they would already be dead.

Right now, the most important thing was to activate the plan he had been plotting for months.

He quickly dashed into the interior of Stark Tower, his target aimed straight at the giant cold nuclear fusion reactor inside.

In no time, he arrived at the control console in front of the reactor.

"Jarvis! Synchronize my operations with all the giant reactors in New York!"

"Received, sir."

Then, Stark directly pulled open the console in front of him, revealing a groove inside.

He disengaged the armor on his arm, placed his hand inside, and began controlling the energy flow within the reactor.

At the same time, the energy within a total of over fifty defense nodes scattered across New York began operating simultaneously, matching the exact speed and path of the energy Tony was controlling.

On the reactor, hundreds of thousands of array formations activated in sequence.

A dozen seconds later, all the reactors simultaneously erupted with incredibly thick white pillars of light that shot up into the sky.

However, after rushing a thousand meters into the air, these white pillars suddenly dispersed, transforming into fist-sized orbs of white light. Falling from the sky, these orbs seemed to have eyes of their own as they sought out every living being in New York.

White, Black, Asian.

Men, women.

The elderly, children.

These frantically fleeing New York citizens were struck by the light orbs. Before they could even react, they found their entire bodies completely enveloped by a membrane-like white light, and their running speed instantly increased by more than ten times.

At the same time, Tony in Stark Tower finally breathed a sigh of relief. An uncontrollable smile appeared on his lips as he turned and walked toward the top floor.

At this moment, all the citizens of New York looked utterly bewildered. That was until a Black man saw a Chitauri soldier descending from the sky and aiming its weapon at him. Looking at the bizarre alien muzzle, the man instinctively raised his hands to protect his head.

However, as a beam of light shot from the muzzle, the man only felt a slight sting on his arm. He instinctively looked down, only to see a small red mark on his arm.

"Oh my God! Is God protecting me?"

The man exclaimed in shock, while the others around him who had witnessed this scene with their own eyes looked excitedly at the identical white light coats on their own bodies.

Right then, a massive holographic projection appeared above Stark Tower, visible to the entirety of New York.

In the projection, Tony, wearing his armor with only his face exposed, stood there with a solemn expression.

Just as countless New York citizens were still somewhat at a loss, Tony spoke.

"Citizens of New York, just moments ago, an alien army known as the Chitauri invaded our city. You have all seen their method of invasion. To New York, and even to the entire Earth, this is a devastating technological suppression."

"They think our Earth, our New York, is a piece of bread they can knead at will. Their leader confidently told me that he is here to rule the Earth, and that this should be our honor."

"Because in their eyes, we have no voice among the major civilizations of the universe! Our technology is completely worthless in the eyes of cosmic civilizations!"

"But!"

Tony stared straight ahead with an incredibly resolute gaze, as if he were looking at every single person who was watching him.

"I, Tony Stark, will tell them that they messed with the wrong people! They think we are soft bread?!"

"No! We are humans! Humans who stand at the very apex of Earth through our own wisdom! We fear no challenge! And our freedom will never tolerate the rule of any alien race!"

"Those who offend our Earth shall die!"

Tony practically roared the words out, taking several seconds to calm down.

"The shields on your bodies are my latest invention. Until all the giant cold nuclear fusion reactors in New York run completely out of energy, you will possess superhuman strength, defense, and speed! Your fists will shatter steel! Your defense will withstand their bullets!"

"So, everyone! New Yorkers! Go and fight! Pick up the weapons around you! Let those Chitauri who underestimate us know! We humans! Will not stand for any provocation!"

"For!" Tony raised his hand high, then clenched it tightly into a fist: "Freedom!!!"