Chapter 162: Tony Stark, Big Spender
In the Marvel cinematic universe, in his own mansion, Tony Stark sat on the couch staring at the rock that had appeared in his hand.
All he'd done was tap that so-called red envelope in his head.
And then, out of absolutely nowhere, a chunk of stone had materialised in his palm.
Twenty, maybe thirty pounds of it.
A rock that size couldn't just appear — and yet here it was, conjured from nothing, without a single hint of warning.
Tony turned it over, weighing it.
The texture, the density — completely ordinary. Indistinguishable from any stone you'd kick off a footpath.
But if the Dimensional Chat Group was real…
Then this rock might have come from another world.
A rock. From another world.
No matter how he framed it, that was absurd.
"JARVIS, run an analysis on this. Structure, composition — anything that sets it apart from regular stone."
"Of course, Mr. Stark. Please allow thirty seconds. Scanning now…"
Thirty seconds passed.
"Mr. Stark, the composition is identical to ordinary stone in every measurable respect. There are no detectable anomalies."
No anomalies.
Which didn't mean it wasn't from somewhere else. It just meant that wherever it came from, they also had rocks. And that actually tracked — the Group Announcement had described a chat system connecting dimensions across the multiverse. Different dimensions would presumably all have planets. Which meant other Earths. Which meant other rocks.
So this was possibly… a rock from a different Earth?
That was the only explanation that held together.
The Dimensional Chat Group.
Unbelievable.
Honestly, Tony Stark was already about thirty percent convinced. Because a spatial transfer of a physical object with no visible mechanism and zero lead time — by any previous standard, that was flatly impossible.
He reached back into the group.
The moment he tried to say something, he ran headlong into a notification.
[Group Member "I'm Rolling In It" has been muted by an Administrator for 1 minute.]
…Pfft.
So this chat group had muting functionality. Which meant someone in here had serious admin privileges.
The nerve. Muting Uncle Tony.
Did they think one mute was going to make Tony Stark bow his head?
Not a chance. He, Stark, did not bend.
Fifteen seconds in—
"That bastard. Why hasn't he lifted it yet? I only said a few things when I joined. Did I somehow manage to offend someone already?"
Tony fell into thought. He genuinely couldn't identify the offence.
The minute crawled by. He endured it.
When the mute finally expired, he fired off a message immediately.
I'm Rolling In It: I'm starting to believe this thing is actually real.
I'm Rolling In It: Whoever built it — incredible work. I, Tony Stark, hereby declare them the second greatest genius in existence, right behind me.
I'm Rolling In It: Also — who muted me just now? Having admin privileges doesn't mean you can intimidate your handsome Uncle Tony. Uncle Tony fears nothing.
Kaguya-sama: ???
Kaguya-sama: I have never in my life witnessed such breathtaking shamelessness.
Terrible Tornado: I have never in my life witnessed such breathtaking shamelessness.
Admiral Kizaru: In all my years, I have never witnessed such breathtaking shamelessness~
Wandering Little Planet: Your adorable Little Planet interrupts the chain once again~ This new member certainly makes himself at home. Whether he's another heavyweight, though, remains to be seen.
Crazy Diamond: …Even if he is, is he a bigger heavyweight than you?
Sakura of the Tohsaka: A-agreed…
[Group Member "I'm Rolling In It" has been muted by an Administrator for 1 minute.]
The group went quiet for a few seconds.
A new member, muted twice inside of ten minutes.
That was…
Deeply satisfying, actually.
They were all professionals. They could hold it together. Right up until the moment they couldn't.
The messages came flooding in.
Kaguya-sama: Pfft — I knew he was going to get himself nuked. You can't say that stuff and not expect consequences.
Crazy Diamond: Admin has once again restored order to the realm.
Edward Newgate: Gurarara — poor kid! How about becoming one of my sons?
Terrible Tornado: Whitebeard's at it again with the daily adoption drive.
Admiral Kizaru: What if it's a woman~?
Edward Newgate: Then she'd be a daughter! Gurarara!
Eternally Seventeen: Admin is abusing their privileges again.
RawrSoFierce: [Blank stare]
RawrSoFierce: [Image] That was your mute, and you know it.
Eternally Seventeen: OUTRAGEOUS. How can you see that?! On my end it just says "xxx was muted by an Administrator today" — how did "Administrator" turn into my username on your screen?!
RawrSoFierce: Because I'm the Group Admin. I can see everything.
Eternally Seventeen: Unacceptable. I miscalculated. Frame job: failed.
"…"
Tony Stark sat there, very confused, as his second mute ticked down.
Had he said something wrong again?
He'd been a bit cocky, sure. But he hadn't actually insulted anyone.
Wait — the Group Announcement had said something. Please do not provoke the Group Admin.
Had what he'd just written counted as provocation?
…
Oops.
Oops.
Tony Stark allowed himself a small, awkward, technically-still-polite smile.
He'd been a playboy his whole life. He never thought about who he was offending when he opened his mouth — that was just how he operated. Chronic foot-in-mouth syndrome. Couldn't shake it even in a chat group apparently.
And so without even trying, he'd managed to alienate both the Admin and the Moderator inside two minutes.
He was a proud man. He didn't apologise easily.
But these people didn't seem like the type you wanted to mess with. When he'd said whoever built this was the second greatest genius alive, that had honestly just been trash talk — because Tony Stark knew, privately, that given a hundred years he probably couldn't build something like this. Which meant the people running this group might be operating at a level genuinely beyond his.
…Should he maybe apologise?
No. That's not Uncle Tony's style.
Meanwhile, the group's interest had shifted toward the new arrival.
Edward Newgate: @RawrSoFierce — so Admin, who is this new kid? Seems pretty lively.
RawrSoFierce: …Think of him as a version of Wolffy who builds things. Except measurably less impressive than Wolffy.
RawrSoFierce: Because Wolffy is genuinely broken.
RawrSoFierce: This one's called Tony Stark. Goes by Iron Man. He's a superhero. Bit of an arrogant playboy, but decent person underneath it.
Crazy Diamond: A superhero? So he's one of the good guys?
RawrSoFierce: …Broadly speaking, yeah.
Tony's eyes snapped wide.
The Group Admin knew his name. His actual name, and his alias. And he claimed to be from another world entirely.
How?
And who was this "Wolffy" that his engineering apparently fell short of? That stung. Tony Stark had been a genius since childhood. Stark Industries was what it was because of him. His father had done good work, sure, but that was decades ago.
He was very nearly ready to pick a fight about it.
Except — mute number three would not look good.
Fine. He shelved it.
"…Although, I suppose if they're from other dimensions, it's conceivable they have scientists who go beyond me. Vanishingly unlikely. Like, three-decimal-places unlikely. But technically non-zero."
He kept turning over the name. Wolffy.
He had no idea he was picturing an actual wolf. If he ever found out, he'd probably need several days alone to process the implications. Tony Stark, edged out by a cartoon wolf.
Some information was genuinely better not knowing.
Back in the JoJo fan world, Ryū withdrew his attention from the group and glanced at the spatial passage beside him.
Quest ② — done. Quest ① — done.
Which meant Quest ③ was just a thought away.
One newborn Gaia Consciousness.
If it hadn't spent its infancy trying to engineer an invasion of Qin's Moon, none of this would have happened. Then again, if it hadn't, Ryū wouldn't have 40,000+ Points coming his way. So perhaps a moment of silence was in order.
One second.
Observed.
"Consume the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (Fan Version) world's Gaia Consciousness."
The moment the thought formed, something in the fabric of this world quietly ceased to be. Nothing visible. No tremor, no light. Just a subtle absence where something had been.
It wouldn't affect the planet's operations. A world without a Gaia Consciousness could run perfectly fine — conceivably better, without the interference. Whether that was true here, Ryū genuinely didn't know. It was speculation. Either way, it was done.
[Group Quest ③: The newborn Gaia Consciousness of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (Fan Version) world has been confirmed to pose an extinction-level threat to the world of Group Member "Ying Zheng The Sovereign." Upon completion of the above two Group Quests, you may consume the JoJo (Fan Version) world's newborn Gaia — whereupon the Chat Group will undergo a major version update!
Quest Complete! Click the link → [Link] to claim your reward!
All Group Quests completed. Group Admin "RawrSoFierce" and Group Members "Edward Newgate," "Admiral Kizaru," and "Terrible Tornado" will be forcibly returned to their home worlds in 24 hours. Members may also return early by thinking: return to home world.]
Ryū clicked the link without ceremony. 10,000 Points deposited. Added to the existing 30,000-odd.
Total balance: 40,000+.
"Forced out in 24 hours. Classic."
He shook his head and filed it away.
And then another notification appeared.
[Gaia Consciousness of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (Fan Version) successfully consumed. Dimensional Chat Group major version update in progress! The following updates are currently queued—
① Cross-world travel function: optimised ② Member invitation function: optimised ③ Protection Mode: unlocked ④ Arena: unlocked ⑤ Membership Tier System: added
Please allow approximately 1 hour for all Group Members, Admin, and Moderators.
Update will complete in 1 hour.
For full patch notes, see: [Details]]
Well, he hadn't expected that.
The group updating right now. And not a minor patch either — five items, all at once.
Though Quest ③ had flagged a major version update as part of the reward, so it wasn't out of nowhere.
Cross-world travel. Member invitations. Protection Mode. Arena. Membership Tier System.
The first four were fine. Sensible, even. But that last one made the corner of his mouth twitch.
Membership Tier System.
That gave him flashbacks to a certain penguin-shaped tech giant from his old life — the one that had practically invented the paid-tier chat ecosystem. The Chat Group had already borrowed its entire interface from that company's software. And now it was importing this too.
Ryū was starting to seriously wonder if the Dimensional Chat Group had that company's surname somewhere in its terms of service.
Although — the group ran on Points, not money.
Did that mean membership tiers were paid in Points?
…
No. Surely not.
…Right?
That would be a bit much.
[End of Chapter 162]
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