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*****
"A crisis for the entire universe?"
Hope asked in astonishment, "What is that?"
Feny did not answer her, however. Instead, he shifted the topic and said, "The quantum tunnel will be absolutely essential for traveling to the Quantum Realm. If you encounter any difficulties during its construction, feel free to come to me for help."
Seeing that Feny was unwilling to elaborate, Hope didn't dare to press further. As for Hank Pym, he expressed neither agreement nor objection to Feny's words.
In truth, both of them still harbored many doubts in their hearts, and they also held a certain level of suspicion regarding Feny's motives. They weren't about to judge Feny as a good person solely based on media reports.
As she gradually calmed down, Hope recalled the 'future' Feny had demonstrated earlier and couldn't help but ask, "Then what about Darren Cross?"
"That is your business!"
The current Darren Cross was just an ordinary man. Even if he eventually reverse-engineered the Pym Particles and put on the Yellowjacket suit, he wouldn't be all that powerful. Feny couldn't muster much interest in him.
Hearing Feny's reply, the father and daughter exchanged a look and asked no further questions. The room fell quiet for a moment.
"Alright, my contact information is on this. Let me know if anything comes up. I'll be taking my leave now!"
Feny could sense their awkward restraint, so after leaving a business card, he didn't intend to linger. At any rate, his goal had been accomplished. Next, he only needed to wait patiently for the quantum tunnel to be built.
Seeing Feny preparing to leave just like that, Hope was slightly stunned before immediately offering, "I'll see you out!"
"No need!"
Feny shook his head, gave her a glance, and said, "The two of you probably have a lot to talk about. I can head back on my own!"
After saying that, he turned his gaze to Hank Pym and warned, "Furthermore, I happen to dislike ants. If you control them to crawl onto me again, don't blame me for being impolite!"
"They are actually very cute creatures!"
Hank Pym didn't show any embarrassment and merely offered a brief defense. However, he didn't dare to let any more ants carrying surveillance equipment get near Feny.
Feny simply glanced at him, turned around, and left the house.
After Feny departed, the father and daughter quietly looked at each other in the room. Eventually, Hope was the first to speak: "Can you tell me about Mom's situation now?"
Hank Pym let out a sigh, walked over to a chair, sat down, and said slowly, "I really shouldn't have agreed to let her join that mission back then..."
Hank Pym then carefully recounted the story of how Hope's mother had shrunk into the Quantum Realm to stop a missile launch. For a moment, the eyes of both father and daughter brimmed with tears.
With everything explained clearly, their strained relationship finally returned to normal.
Wiping away her tears, Hope brought the conversation back to the departed Feny, asking, "Is what he said true? Is Mom really still alive?"
"I'm not sure!"
Hearing Hope's question, Hank Pym's expression turned complex as he replied, "I actually know next to nothing about the Quantum Realm. Aside from Janet, I'm afraid no one knows what it's like in there."
"But as long as there is a glimmer of hope, we shouldn't give up. I've already kept her waiting for thirty years; I can't make her wait any longer. In the worst-case scenario, even if it means going in myself to accompany her!"
Hope immediately grasped Hank Pym's hand, feeling a wave of guilt over her past actions.
"Then what should we do about Cross?"
Now that she knew about her mother's situation, Hope naturally had no heart left to work at the company. But based on the future Feny had described, they clearly couldn't just leave Darren Cross to his own devices.
"He has already taken control of almost the entire company. Even if I wanted you to come back, I wouldn't be able to make it happen!"
As she spoke, the guilt in Hope's heart grew even deeper. If she hadn't cast that decisive vote back then, Hank Pym wouldn't have been kicked out of the company.
"It's alright. I was the one who made mistakes back then, and I hid too much from you!"
Hank Pym saw his daughter's guilt. He squeezed her hand, smiled comfortingly, and continued, "For now, stay by his side and monitor the situation. I'll figure something out for everything else. Also, you must prioritize your safety!"
Although he learned from Feny's 'future' that Darren Cross would eventually reverse-engineer the Pym Particles, Hank Pym, who was proud of his own technological prowess, believed that this process would take a considerable amount of time.
"Mhm!"
Though Hope preferred to stay and help build the quantum tunnel, she also knew that Darren Cross's affairs couldn't be ignored, so she ultimately agreed.
While the father and daughter were discussing their strategy, Feny, who was driving, received a phone call from Tony. Consequently, he drove over to Stark Tower.
Arriving at the rooftop, Tony began to show off the moment they met, saying, "I've already cracked your magic necklace. It primarily absorbs surrounding energy to generate a force field that isolates bacteria and dust. Science can accomplish this kind of magic, too!"
"So what?"
Feny rolled his eyes and looked at Tony speechlessly, asking, "You didn't call me over just to tell me this, did you?"
"Shouldn't your reaction be a bit more shocked?"
Tony looked at Feny with a lack of amusement, and then his expression turned somewhat serious as he asked, "Were you the one who told that old popsicle about Bucky Barnes?"
Feny was slightly taken aback, then nodded and admitted, "Yes!"
Tony didn't actually mind Feny telling Captain America about it. After all, if Feny hadn't informed them, he still wouldn't know the truth of the matter to this day.
It was just that he still hadn't figured out how exactly he should face Bucky. With a complex expression, he continued to ask, "Is he still being controlled by Hydra right now?"
Since Tony already knew that Captain America was aware of Bucky's existence, Feny wasn't surprised that he knew about Hydra either. He nodded once more and replied:
"If nothing unexpected happens, he should still be under their control!"
Hearing Feny's answer, Tony fell silent. After a moment, he let out a sigh and chose not to pursue the topic of Bucky any further, asking instead:
"Why didn't you go help them?"
"There are a lot of reasons!"
Feny shrugged and replied with a flat expression, "First of all, Hydra isn't worthy of my intervention. Furthermore, I killed too many people during my recent trip out. If I keep killing like this, I'm worried it will cause problems sooner or later!"
When he carefully calculated it, the amount of slaughter he had caused over the past two years was truly significant.
During the Battle of New York, he had wiped out almost an entire fleet of Chitauri. In Vanaheim, a single blast of explosion magic had eliminated nearly ten thousand lives.
Thor's fifteen hundred years of warfare hadn't resulted in as many kills in a single battle as Feny had achieved.
However, because those were all aliens, the psychological pressure on Feny wasn't that immense. But if they were replaced by fellow Earthlings, it would be a completely different story.
Coupled with the fact that there was no benefit to be gained from it--and it might instead cause mental issues for himself--Feny resisted participating in this conflict.
"Killed too many people?"
Tony was stunned by Feny's answer. Looking at Feny's expressionless face, he couldn't help but ask, "Just how many aliens did you kill?"