259 Kagura, the Living Infinity Gauntlet (x)

—2015, New York City

[Reality Stone successfully integrated]

[Dual-core mode activated. Core energy functioning normally]

[Remaining core energy: 92.7%]

[Full-body diagnostics complete. No abnormalities detected]

"Whew... That should do it."

Kagura let out a long sigh of relief. "I didn't expect this humanoid body of mine to actually be capable of hosting an Infinity Stone."

So basically...

'Does that mean I'm a walking, talking Infinity Gauntlet?!'

That's... terrifying!

What surprised her most was that merging with the Reality Stone hadn't caused any side effects.

Unlike when she had temporarily stored the Aether in her body and had to deal with the annoying "core energy must not drop below 20%" warning, this full version of the Reality Stone didn't seem to trigger any such limitations.

Still, there didn't seem to be any new powers or abilities emerging either...

I mean, it is the Reality Stone, right?

Shouldn't I be able to do cool stuff like create illusions, warp reality, or shoot some flashy "pew pew pew" energy beams like Malekith or something?

Disappointingly, none of that seemed to be happening.

Not even a slight weight gain!

'Ugh... Don't tell me I got a counterfeit Reality Stone?!'

But then again, it is the hardest of all the Infinity Stones to master.

Maybe even for a humanoid android like her, misusing it could lead to unpredictable consequences.

Perhaps new abilities would only awaken with further development, or once her android core level increased.

Still…

'Am I really just a beautiful girl version of the Infinity Gauntlet?'

Kagura, the humanoid Infinity Gauntlet.

Hmm...

Nope. Too dumb. I refuse!

Looking around the high-tech underground lab, Kagura let out another long sigh.

She lounged in her chair, casually waving her hand to scroll through the floating holographic screens, browsing the latest batch of weird videos and news clips on streaming sites.

Sigh... It had been a long time since she could just relax like this, with nothing urgent to do.

Yup!

This was that long-lost slice of life vibe.

After tying up the loose ends from the whole Dark Elf incident, she finally had time to take a well-earned break.

Not that things had been easy for her lately.

Ever since that bizarre bath-time teleportation into deep space, chaos had been nonstop. She barely had time to breathe, and even ended up fighting a full-blown interstellar war in New York…

Fortunately, the city didn't suffer too much damage—certainly nothing compared to the 2012 Chitauri invasion.

Civilians were mostly unharmed, and with some repairs to roads and infrastructure, NYC bounced back to its usual bustle.

Rhodes Island Industries, though… They took a massive hit.

The "Third Neo-New York City" fortress-city system was devastated.

Just restoring it to its pre-attack state cost more than several months' worth of Rhodes Island's profit.

Not to mention the VF fighter squadron that suffered over 50% losses during their rushed first deployment.

Still, considering they lacked real combat experience and advanced tactical modules, the fact that Cortana managed to get the VF squadron to perform so well was already impressive.

In fact, compared to the Iron Legion under J.A.R.V.I.S., the VF squadron—thanks to the support of the "Skylark" hive command protocol proved significantly more capable and effective against the Dark Elf fleet.

Of course, not everything about the Dark Elf invasion was bad news.

The military immediately took notice of the debut of the VF fighters.

Rhodes Island's VF units utilized Kagura's next-gen forward-swept wing technology, which she'd spent years perfecting.

Their mobility and flight endurance easily outclassed any current aircraft (well, except Iron Man's suit).

Coupled with top-tier stealth capabilities, solid firepower, and cutting-edge electronic warfare systems, the VF earned glowing reviews from both the Air Force and Naval Aviation.

Massive orders from the military started pouring in—more aggressively than when everyone went crazy over Iron Man suits.

And this wasn't some fancy exoskeleton tech—this was the real deal: fighter jets.

At its core, Rhodes Island Industries was still an arms manufacturer. It'd be weird if they didn't sell fighter jets.

Well, sometimes you gotta get back to basics. Constantly messing around with quirky security gear wasn't exactly inspiring investor confidence.

After some consideration, Kagura decided to sell a "limited" version of her VF fighter—slashing the performance by about 50% and stripping out the transformation function.

Thus, the VF-M series was born.

Even with the downgrade, the VF-M still easily outperformed current mainline fighters like the F-22.

Naturally, she couldn't risk selling full-spec units. Game-changing air superiority weapons could disrupt the fragile balance of global power.

And once that balance is broken, not even a top-tier defense company—or a superhero group—can keep things under control.

Thanks to the profits from the VF-M sales, Kagura was finally able to cover the repair costs for Third Neo-New York—and still have money left over.

Finally!

No more dipping into her personal allowance to fix the fortress-city!

The girl practically beamed with joy.

It was January 2015. In the northern hemisphere, snow was falling over New York City.

At night, warm and cozy inside her heated room, Kagura lounged in a camisole, staring out the window.

The bustling city was wrapped in a silver blanket. Passersby exhaled white puffs of breath as they trudged home through the quiet streets.

Snowflakes drifted gently from the sky like silver fairies, ethereal and dreamlike.

That serene atmosphere spread across the vast metropolis, bringing with it a long-awaited sense of peace and calm.

Kagura breathed softly onto the glass, her breath fogging the window.

With a finger, she traced a smiling cat face into the condensation.

"Mmm… This kind of quiet, peaceful life—that's what I've always wished for."

No wars.

No invasions.

No magic.

No disasters...

She longed for a future filled with warmth and normalcy—like the world she once came from. Calm, ordinary, maybe a little boring... but always wrapped in happiness.

A world where everyone could live in harmony.

A life where everyone had something beautiful to strive for.

Well...

'I guess I am a little tired now…'

Three streaks of light shot across the night sky—Iron Legion suits from Stark Industries on patrol.

Now that she thought about it...

Weren't those suits showing up more frequently lately?