As soon as Lorien opened his eyes, he could already sense that Tony had sent him a message.
Even without checking his phone, and without receiving any sort of notification through other means, he just knew.
This was the anticipatory effect of the Phoenix Force—anything connected to him, he could sense ahead of time. Of course, if it became bothersome, he could always block it, like using a filter.
After waking, Lorien gently slipped his hand out of Gwen's embrace and reached for the phone on the bedside table.
The message was from Tony. Along with a few words, there was a selfie attached.
In the picture, Tony held a sandwich and a milk tea in one hand, sipping through the straw. With the other hand, he held his phone for the shot. The setting was his backyard, and in the background, Stephen could be seen looking at the camera from across the table.
The message read:
"Oh, my dear Super Milk Tea Partner, how've you been? Did anything big happen in the universe last night?"
"Not sure why, but I couldn't sleep last night. Stephen couldn't either. We figured it might be that cosmic crisis we talked about before."
"We're at the usual spot right now. Planning a barbecue this afternoon. Want to bring a date over after work tonight?"
They were already familiar enough with each other that Tony didn't bother beating around the bush. That suited Lorien just fine—it saved him from having to answer in circles.
After reading, Lorien replied directly:
"Just woke up. Got back too late last night. Didn't feel like going to work today, so I skipped. Resting this afternoon. I'll come by after work hours."
...
Meanwhile, Tony and Stephen had been in the courtyard chatting all morning.
They were discussing the integration of magic and technology. Tony had even taken out his grimoire and shown Stephen his experimental spell-machinery.
Tony's progress was no small thing by now, and Stephen was willing to have a deeper conversation, exploring entirely new directions for merging magic with tech.
Just then, Friday interrupted.
"Sir, Dr. Su has replied to your priority messages."
"Huh!?"
Hearing that, Tony immediately snatched up his phone and opened it. Stephen leaned over to read as well.
After they both saw the reply, Tony's first reaction was satisfaction.
"Didn't feel like going to work, so he didn't." Tony grinned. "That's the perk of being the boss."
Stephen gave him a look.
"That's you being lazy. Lorien just got back late."
Tony pretended not to hear. Stephen, however, frowned slightly, lost in thought.
"Let's hope the outcome of the war is what we expect."
"Of course it is." Tony patted Stephen's shoulder. "Don't overthink it. If Lorien isn't worried, then nothing's wrong. If the Transformers civilization had lost to the Annihilation Wave, Earth would already be finished. Do you think we'd still be planning a barbecue tonight?"
Stephen considered it.
"True."
The seriousness of the situation was clear from Lorien's attitude.
Well—though Lorien rarely showed much of a reaction to anything. Or rather, only to women, ahem.
But his lack of concern was exactly what gave Tony and Stephen their confidence.
The anchor that steadies the sea—get it?
...
Inside the Northern Tower.
As Lorien woke up, he played on his phone while absentmindedly twirling Wanda's burgundy hair around his fingers.
Truthfully, he wanted to stroke it or run his hand through it, but that would wake her. Twirling it would do.
He scrolled through the news. Most of the headlines still revolved around the Norman Osborn Industries incident from the night before.
The impact had been massive.
Osborn Group, Venom, news outlets, the military-industrial sector, civilian tech, even the Spider-Alliance—everything had been affected.
After the Osborn Group's rocket exploded, its stock was immediately suspended and delisted. Or rather, outright seized.
Stark Industries also faced a wave of panic selling at first. The cause? Deliberate online rumors.
It was suspected that institutional investors had spread them on purpose to short Tony's stock. People feared Stark Industries might be hiding its own scandal, and the panic drove Stark stock down 10% overnight. Short-sellers cashed in big.
With Osborn's delisting fresh in mind, institutions expected Stark's stock to plunge 30–50% at minimum. So they doubled down.
But the very next day, an anonymous leak surfaced online—recordings of internal calls and hard evidence of institutions colluding to short the market.
No one knew who leaked it. But the evidence was real.
And Tony? He didn't say a word about it. His TikTok kept posting cooking clips and videos of him servicing the Mark armors, business as usual.
That was when people realized—damn, they'd been duped by rumors!
Investors piled back in, sending Stark Industries stock into a sharp V-shaped rebound.
The frenzy snowballed.
As the stock soared past margin thresholds, short-sellers were forced to cover. Covering meant buying back the very shares they had shorted. That buying pressure drove the price even higher.
The climb attracted more buyers chasing the rally, which in turn forced more shorts into liquidation.
In just a few days, Stark stock had whipped up and down by 30–50%.
And for a company the size of Stark Industries, that kind of move was no small amount.
After the crash and rebound, the internet roared with laughter.
Because this time, it wasn't the hedge funds and institutions who made the most money. It was the ordinary people who jumped in on the leaked news.
Soon, mocking posts targeting the short-sellers flooded every corner of the web.
And it didn't stop there.
Once the story spread, CEOs of companies that had been shorted before took to TikTok to celebrate. Some even went straight to cursing:
"Short-sellers, drop dead!"
"How pathetic, these people."
Lorien chuckled as he read, thoroughly entertained.
"It's rare to see capitalists and ordinary people standing on the same side in this capitalist country."
Just then, another file suddenly arrived on Lorien's phone. It was from Natasha.
He opened it.
[Complete Roster of New Avengers Members]
"Complete roster?"
He tapped it open.
[Natasha, Hulk, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Vision, War Machine, Thor, Loki, Falcon, Ant-Man, the Wasp II, She-Hulk, Moon Knight, Venom Eddie...]
The list was extensive, each entry complete with photos and detailed information. Clearly, this was a backup roster compiled by the agency.
Those listed at the top were the earliest Avengers. Those further down had joined later.
What amused Lorien was this—Moon Knight and Venom had joined the Avengers too?
Now that was pure redemption.
One was a former mercenary.
The other a former major villain—the kind who used to eat people's heads raw.
And now both were Avengers. Who was supposed to be avenging who, exactly?
Still, judging from the comics, this number of members wasn't unusual. In fact, the Avengers weren't just one team; there were other branches across different locations.
After scanning the list, Lorien replied to Natasha.
[Lorien: I'm curious—since Venom joined, how are you planning to restrict his diet?]
[Natasha: Oh~ that's a shady little story. Want to hear it?]
[Lorien: Forget it, I'm afraid it's too dark for my fragile little soul.]
[Natasha: You're really something.]
At that moment, Gwen stirred behind him.
Still half-asleep, she pressed herself against him, wrapping her arms around him and letting her hands wander.
With a helpless sigh, Lorien shut off his phone and flicked her forehead.
So guys, don't be too naive. Girls are often far more mischievous than boys. When faced with temptation, their reactions can be even stronger.
Of course, once a man gets aroused, it's hard to settle down. Women, though, have better self-control.
Flick~
"Aww~"
Gwen yelped softly, but instead of letting go, she only clutched him tighter.
Lorien gently pried her hands apart and asked in a low voice,
"Did you sleep too well last night and now want to make up your daily tasks?"
Gwen didn't answer, but her actions made her intentions clear.
Wandering hands? No. She dove right in.
Seeing her so forward, Lorien didn't bother saying more—because he was just as proactive.
Wanda kept sleeping… until she was inevitably dragged into the crossfire. Jolted awake, she looked utterly baffled as Lorien and a grinning Gwen pulled her in, before collapsing again with gritted teeth.
...
By afternoon, the three of them emerged from the bathroom draped in robes. Nora was asked to prepare an early—or rather, late—meal.
But when Wanda mentioned making a lot, Lorien reminded her,
"Just something light to fill our stomachs. We'll be heading to Tony's place for a bonfire barbecue soon."
"Who's going?" Gwen asked.
"Just the two of you and me," Lorien waved dismissively. "The others don't need to. It's just a casual chat and dinner."
Wanda thought for a moment, then suddenly realized,
"Wait—by now, Pepper must be several months along, right? She's about to give birth?"
Gwen's eyes went wide.
"They're having a baby already? That fast!?"
"Oh, is it a boy or a girl?"
"No idea. You can ask Pepper when we get there."
"Fair enough."
...
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