Howard Stark

Avengers Compound, in the hangar.

"I'm serious, which time do you want to go?"

"About 2000 years ago, but not too long ago."

Tony looked up at Lin Xu, his face serious. "2000 years ago? But in 2000 AD?"

"AD is?"

"Ha, Anno Domini, you illiterate!"

"Of course it's the year 2000... Do you think I'm going to find Native Americans?" Lin Xu turned to look at Tony, suspecting the man was doing it on purpose!

"Oh, be clearer with your grammar next time." Tony smirked, finally winning a round.

"The fewer people who know about this thing, the better, so start it up quickly. I'll be back in five seconds!"

Seeing Lin Xu's impatient manner, Tony felt a pang of doubt. Who was he hiding from?

"Good!"

Tony suppressed his doubts, looked at the time setting of the Quantum Tunnel, and hesitated. "Is anything before the year 2000 possible?"

"What's wrong? Why is it taking so long?"

"... fine."

Tony casually flicked the switch twice, activating the Quantum Tunnel, Lin Xu immediately disappeared.

New York, 1991.

Lin Xu walked out of the Captain America Memorial Hall with a strange expression. Captain America was only the second-generation Howling Commandos captain.

As for the first captain, he was a mysterious white man. No one knew what he looked like, except that one of his eyes was injured by an explosion, after which he withdrew from frontline combat.

Nicholas Joseph.

Damn it, don't think I won't recognize you just because you've gone from Nick Fury to a boiled egg and you've changed your last name!

Nick Fury, or Nick Fury for short!

After these past few days of learning, Lin Xu now knows what kind of universe he has entered.

There are Blade and vampires.

Nick and Natasha are characters from World War II, both based on comic book characters, but other historical events are remarkably similar to those in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

There are no Mutants, no Inhumans. (These two things are difficult to write about in the early stages, and the power levels are a bit inconsistent; we'll discuss that later.)

In conclusion, this is yet another merged universe.

I just don't know why, even though I've been here for several days, Ancient One hasn't come looking for me.

But this is good, it makes things much easier, after all, family members understand each other.

"1991!"

Tony chose the timing, and Lin Xu knew why.

It's June now. Six months from now, a genius limited by his era will die unexpectedly in a car accident.

"Sir, I don't think we've met before."

"I've seen the photos."

"This is my office!"

"I know, so out of respect, I didn't go to your house."

So, I should thank you?

"You're welcome, it's my pleasure."

To be honest, Howard had lived most of his life and this was the first time he had ever met someone like Lin Xu —thick-skinned and incredibly capable.

He thought his office's security level should be about the same as S.H.I.E.L.D..'s, but he never expected that someone would brazenly break in.

Lin Xu: There are plenty of shameless people like me at Kamar-Taj...

What do you want?

I heard that your driver and butler, JARVIS, passed away last year.

"Then what?"

"So you're currently short of a housekeeper. Oh, by the way, I don't have any experience in this area, so please also help me find a housekeeper assistant."

Howard: "..."

Is this a proper butler?

"Don't refuse just yet, let me show you something."

Lin Xu took out his wallet, pulled out a business card, and handed it to Howard.

"Nine Sun Restaurant?"

Howard looked at Lin Xu as if he were looking at a salesperson.

"Ahem... Sorry, I took the wrong one, this is the right one."

"Lin Xu, Stark Industries... board of directors?"

He didn't recall having an Asian member on his company's board of directors.

"The business card is quite well-made, even gilded. Such impressive infiltration skills, all just to make me laugh, sir? I think you've succeeded."

"Hey, don't rush!"

Lin Xu smiled slightly, took out his phone from his pocket, opened the photo album, and found a picture.

"Does this person look familiar?"

The picture shows Tony right after he was rescued, with his hand bandaged, still managing to eat a hamburger.

However, he used an N79 to shoot it, so the image quality is a bit blurry.

"... Howard Potts?"

"Of course you recognize him, because he is... wait a minute? Who the hell are you saying he is?"

At this moment, both Howard and Lin Xu fell silent.

Lin Xu showed Howard Tony's picture just to play the straight man and tell him he came from the future, but he didn't expect to get such an unexpected reward.

Howard Potts, if he remembers correctly, was a name Tony made up to fool his father when he traveled through time during Endgame. It was a combination of his father's first name and Pepper's last name.

And this means that Howard knows this universe, which is the same universe that Tony Captain America traveled through...

Howard, on the other hand, had more to think about.

Twenty-one years ago, at the New Jersey base, he met a man who called himself Howard Potts, from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

But later, Dr. Pym's research results were stolen, and the blame was placed on that person. He even confirmed with Massachusetts Institute of Technology that there was no such person at all.

He initially thought it was a trivial matter that didn't matter.

In recent years, he has noticed that his son looks more and more like that person!

Although he was pretty sure Maria wouldn't do such a thing, they did look a bit too alike.

Now, it seems he has figured out the truth of the matter.

"He's my son, isn't he?"

Stroking the photos on his phone, Howard asked softly.

"He looked older in person than in the photos; he must have shouldered a lot of responsibility!"

"... I almost died several times..."

"I heard I have a granddaughter?"

Morgan Stark ~

"Very nice!"

"However, according to... time is unidirectional and irreversible, he must be Tony from a parallel universe."

Howard then picked up his phone, examined it carefully, and then let out a gasp of surprise.

For him, smartphones are not technologically advanced; they are merely products of mass production of materials and have a long way to go in terms of communication infrastructure and future development.

After Howard finished asking his questions, it was Lin Xu's turn.

"Did you meet him at the old S.H.I.E.L.D.. site in New Jersey?"

"That's right."

Where is Steve Rogers?

"Haven't found it yet; it should be in the Arctic Ocean."

"... Where is Carter?"

"Sorry, this is classified information by S.H.I.E.L.D..!"

"Let me ask you another question: Is Carter still alive?"

Howard looked up at Lin Xu, somewhat puzzled. Wasn't he supposed to be applying for a butler job? Why was he suddenly showing interest in S.H.I.E.L.D..?

I saw her last year...

That's great!

Hearing this, Lin Xu instantly breathed a sigh of relief, as long as it wasn't a timeline Loki had visited.