Chapter 167: Chapter 167: Hulk Announces Retirement! Tony Is Going to Have a Daughter!
After Lorien finished speaking, he lay down with the two women for a normal night’s rest.
But before drifting off, Wanda and Gwen exchanged glances in his arms. They both looked at Lorien, finding it strange.
Could he really fall asleep so casually? Neither of them could believe it.
Yet the truth was clear. Lorien was truly asleep. With the steady rhythm of his breathing, nothing unexpected happened at all.
"?"
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Both women felt unsettled. This wasn’t like Lorien at all.
Wanda was deeply puzzled, while Gwen felt a sense of dread. It wasn’t immediate, but it was coming.
She rubbed her arm, uneasy. Wanda thought for a moment and nodded. She didn’t have Gwen’s sharp jolt of fear, but her intuition told her the same thing.
This wasn’t simple!
But what could they do? Sleep.
So the two leaned against Lorien and fell asleep as well.
...
Meanwhile, in the dead of night, Lorien slept soundly.
But in a cabin on the outskirts, Tony lay awake.
Pepper was already fast asleep, yet Tony kept staring upward. Not at the ceiling, but at a projection screen.
He wore earbuds to hear the audio feed in silence. Beside his bed lay a stack of magic books—borrowed from Kamar-Taj. He had to return them undamaged.
The price of borrowing? Building public facilities for the nearby town—free parks, recreation centers, roads, libraries, and more. On top of that, he had to pay locals to maintain them.
But Tony didn’t mind. What were a few hundred million compared to magic? Just money.
That wasn’t the issue.
The issue was what he was seeing on the satellite feed.
At the inner edge of the Solar System, high-energy reactions were erupting nonstop.
If Mars hadn’t recently reached its closest point to Earth in orbit, he wouldn’t have detected any of this.
But why were such reactions coming from there? That was Mars, wasn’t it? What happened to Mars? Did it explode?
Tony frowned. He had no probes near Mars, so all he could do was watch helplessly.
Even after the activity subsided, he pressed his lips together, still uncertain.
"Mars... or maybe something’s happening on the outer planets?"
He rubbed his chin, thinking. Possible. But only speculation.
So what should he do?
Maybe build a craft to investigate? Then call Lorien tomorrow at noon for advice? That could work.
But first, he’d ask Friday.
Quietly, Tony spoke.
"Friday, can my current Earth satellite system probe Mars?"
His satellites—his own. There were many. Mostly early warning systems. The only one with combat ability was Veronica, the Anti-Hulk satellite in low orbit.
After running calculations, Friday soon replied,
"Sir, all your satellites are in medium-to-low orbit. With a one-time fuel boost, they could pass the Solar System and take a set of photos, but they’d burn out and couldn’t be recovered."
Tony nodded.
"Fine. Launch one."
Just one satellite. How much could that cost?
As long as he got the photos to put his mind at ease, Tony didn’t care—he had plenty of satellites to spare.
"....."
Suddenly, movement stirred beside him. Tony instantly shut down the projection, turned his head, and closed his eyes, feigning sleep.
A moment later.
"Tony...?"
Pepper had woken up, feeling slightly unwell. She went to the bathroom, then returned to bed.
Tony figured he should finally sleep too.
But just as he closed his eyes, the earpiece still in his ear whispered,
"Sir, according to the discharge monitoring system, Miss Pepper’s recent bathroom results indicate: she is four weeks pregnant."
"!!??"
In the darkness, Tony’s eyes flew wide open!
...
The next morning, Lorien did exactly as he’d said the night before.
"Everyone, get some rest. Go to bed early."
Then he wrapped his arms around the two girls and fell asleep peacefully.
At 8:30 AM sharp, Lorien opened his eyes. After stretching lazily, Gwen and Wanda, well-rested, woke up too. They hadn’t been worn out the previous day, so they didn’t need much extra sleep that night.
As Lorien awoke, both girls immediately snuggled up to him. Gwen climbed on top, pressing her chest against his forehead. Wanda clutched his large hand tightly, and then insisted on wrapping her legs around him too. Perhaps it just felt comfortable that way.
Ten minutes later, the snuggling ended. Lorien slipped his hand free from where it was trapped between them, then gently pushed Gwen’s face away as her breath tickled him.
"Time to get up."
"No more sleeping in for anyone."
With that, Lorien headed straight to the bathroom to wash up.
Gwen bounced up from the bed instantly. Mid-air, she nimbly pulled on her clothes, her movements leaving faint afterimages in the air, before following Lorien to the bathroom.
Wanda opened her eyes more slowly. She tossed aside her blanket, revealing smooth, pale skin. Thanks to Lorien’s influence, she had gotten used to sleeping without much concern. As for the usual problems that came with that, Wanda had long since solved them with magic—just a small modification to her sealing spells. Simple enough.
She went to the walk-in closet to choose her outfit: a red leather jacket, a short red leather skirt, and a black fitted top underneath. Once dressed, she headed toward the bathroom.
But when she reached the doorway, she saw Gwen straddling Lorien’s lap.
Lorien had just finished brushing his teeth and spit out the toothpaste. Gwen, on the other hand, had a mouth full of toothpaste foam—and was still trying to kiss him.
Of course Lorien refused. He pushed her face away. Kissing with toothpaste foam? Too disgusting. He couldn’t accept it.
But Gwen was relentless. The two were stuck in a standoff.
Fortunately, Wanda stepped in to rescue him.
"Wanda, get this crazy girl off me."
Gwen clung to Lorien’s hand.
"Gwen kiss, then I’ll get down! Kiss!"
"I won’t!"
In the end, Wanda pulled Gwen off, since she found it gross too. A mouth full of toothpaste foam... if Gwen had actually kissed him like that, Wanda wouldn’t have wanted to kiss Lorien at all today. Who knew what had gotten into Gwen.
After the three of them finished washing up, Lorien said,
"You two pick breakfast. Whatever you eat, I’ll eat. I’m heading down first."
He left the choice to the two of them, then went downstairs to work.
...
At 8:55 AM, Lorien opened his office door and stepped inside.
Aria and Bella followed him in. Bella, as usual, handed him milk tea, opened it, and passed it over.
Sipping the sweet drink, Lorien didn’t worry about sugar or weight gain. That kind of energy was negligible to him.
He switched on the TV and checked the latest news.
"Superhero Hulk, also known as Bruce Banner, has publicly stated: He acknowledges his rage caused bloody consequences, and from now on, he will go into seclusion with his cousin, no longer appearing in the city as the Hulk."
In short—
I, Hulk, won’t apologize.
You complain? I quit!
Whoever wants to protect this city, go ahead.
I’m out!
But... seclusion?
Wait, even you’re retreating?
In the original timeline, wasn’t Banner supposed to be training his cousin? He never said anything about going into hiding.
Now he’s retreating? Was this Tony’s influence?
Hold on... if Tony’s early retreat had an effect, then this might be tied back to him. Because of him, Tony ended up stepping back far earlier than he should have.
Ah, this...
Lorien gave a helpless chuckle. Now he understood. Even if he hadn’t directly involved himself in many events, the ripple effects of his presence had still caused a chain reaction.
So yes—it still traced back to him.
He glanced at the news again.
"With Iron Man in seclusion, Scarlet Witch gone, Captain America vanished, and now Hulk announcing his retreat, only Spider-Woman remains active in the city. If our city faces another threat, who will step up? The President’s military?"
Comments followed:
"Holy crap, it’s been a while. It really feels like there are no superheroes left. If another crisis hits... who’s going to help us?"
"Only Spider-Woman remains from the Goddess Alliance... With Scarlet Witch quietly withdrawing, that man who always stood behind them is gone too..."
"You fools, don’t you see? It’s not hardship that’s forcing superheroes to retreat—it’s you, driving them away. Next time, save yourselves."
Sure enough, with Hulk’s announcement, people finally realized—superheroes had all but vanished from sight.
Most had chosen seclusion. Natasha, Hawkeye, Falcon, Thor, Loki, Ant-Man, Vision—they only carried out covert missions now, no longer appearing in public.
Iron Man, Hulk, Scarlet Witch—already withdrawn. Captain America and Winter Soldier—half-hidden, or lying low.
So who was still in the city fighting crime daily?
Only Gwen.
And people noticed that only Gwen, with her hidden identity, faced none of the burdens of being a superhero. Her life was normal—even better than before.
Her love life? Happier than ever.
Her career? Unmatched. She stood above the Skyfather tier, just below the Universal level—yet strong enough to take down a Universal-level being on her own. And on top of that, she wielded the Power Stone.
Did her strength really need further explanation?
Which meant—among all current superheroes, Gwen was the happiest.
Next was Wanda.
Then Tony.
Everything else had to wait. But some observant people noticed something.
The top three were all very close to Lorien. The first two had even been in zero-distance contact. And all three had sought Lorien’s advice and psychological counseling. So the result was obvious.
Know what a psychologist does? · Leans back dramatically.
Know what a life coach does? · Leans back dramatically.
As for the online comments—Lorien didn’t care at all. He just wanted to laugh.
First: Whatever.
Second: Serves them right.
End of summary.
"...Clink~~"
Just then, Gwen and Wanda came in carrying breakfast for Lorien and themselves. Both of them were holding bowls of noodles.
Lorien glanced at them—thin noodles.
"You two like this now?"
Gwen set her own bowl down and pushed Lorien’s portion toward him. Then she pulled the chopsticks from her mouth and said,
"Wanda and I are eating this for the first time."
"But the fridge, Nora, said these thin noodles are your favorite, so we ordered them."
Nora... Lorien froze, surprised. That refrigerator really was thoughtful.
These thin noodles were less than 1.5 millimeters thick. Lorien usually asked Nora to simmer the broth well. Why? Because thin noodles paired with good broth made the flavor incredibly fragrant.
That was why Lorien loved them—something you couldn’t find abroad. Their full name: Dragon Beard Noodles.
And so, the three began breakfast. Wanda and Gwen took their first bites and immediately realized these noodles were something else.
"Mmm~!"
Gwen’s eyes widened. She quickly swallowed and exclaimed,
"It’s so good!"
"Compared to American noodles, these have flavor all the way through, while other noodles only taste good on the outside."
Wanda nodded in agreement. She didn’t bother saying more—too delicious to waste words.
Lorien gave a thumbs-up, and the three dug in.
But halfway through their meal—
"Riiing~~~"
Lorien’s phone rang. He picked it up.
Tony?
Lorien put it on speaker, set it on the table, and asked while still eating,
"Hey Tony, what’s up?"
"Huh? How did you know I’m about to be a dad?"
At that, Lorien was speechless. He paused, then went back to eating his damn noodles.
Wanda, however, suddenly caught on.
"Miss Pepper is pregnant?"
Since it was on speaker, Tony heard her too. He immediately shouted with excitement,
"Lorien, I just found out at dawn—Pepper’s already four weeks pregnant!"
"In just 36 weeks, I’ll be a dad!"
"Lorien! When he or she is born, you absolutely have to come! We’ll celebrate big!"
Hearing this, Lorien nodded.
"Of course."
Tony’s child. If Lorien remembered right, it would be a daughter. The future Iron Man II, and a stunning beauty when she grew up.
In fact, in the deleted ending of Avengers: Endgame, Tony’s daughter had already grown up and was watching her father’s life story.
Wait—what was her name again?
At that moment, Wanda looked at Lorien, signaling with her hands and eyes for him to ask. In America, parents usually picked names in advance.
So Lorien asked,
"Tony, have you thought of a name for the baby?"
"Already decided!" Tony declared.
"Oh?" Lorien asked with interest. "What is it?"
"Morgan Stark!"
"And for a daughter?"
"Morgan Stark!"
"Huh? Then for a boy?"
"Morgan Stark!"
"...Wait, you mean no matter what, the baby’s name is Morgan Stark?"
"Yes!"
Lorien’s mouth twitched. He exchanged glances with Wanda, who was rubbing her forehead, and Gwen, who looked utterly baffled.
Who used the same name for both genders? And honestly, Morgan didn’t even fit a girl.
"Tony, if you name the baby like that, it’s definitely going to be a girl."
Tony was taken aback.
"Why?"
"Because, from a metaphysical perspective, that name is far stranger for a girl. Which means it’s very likely you’ll have a daughter."
Tony froze, not expecting that explanation.
"Alright... if it really is a daughter, then I’ll believe in metaphysics."
...
(50 Chapters Ahead)
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