Punch First, Talk Later

February 14, 2008, alleyway behind a building in Los Angeles.

A flash of light appeared, and Natasha and Tony, clad in white Quantum Realm Armor, materialized there.

"Where's Xia? Stark, where did Xia go?"

Natasha had barely opened her helmet when she asked impatiently.

Just now, when they were in the Quantum Tunnel, the three of them flew in turn, with Xia Yu at the very back, so neither of them saw Xia Yu being stopped.

"He should be with us."

Tony opened the Microcomputer on his wrist and glanced at it. The time and location were correct. He had specifically checked Xia Yu and Natasha's records before setting off, so there shouldn't be any errors.

"Don't worry, he might be nearby."

While comforting Natasha, Tony looked around for Xia Yu.

Tony looked around and felt that something was off.

Suddenly, his gaze fell upon the building in front of him.

"Natasha, I remember today is the official launch day of the Herbal medicine Group. Xia and I came to meet with the employees. Look at this building."

Tony stared blankly at the building in front of him and said.

Coordinates, locators— Tony made them himself, he knew they couldn't possibly be wrong. What on earth was going on?

Natasha was stunned when she raised her hand.

She was originally a high-level spy with first-rate observation skills, but she hadn't paid attention to her surroundings for a moment because she was worried about Xia Yu's whereabouts.

Upon closer inspection, it became clear that this building was not the Herbal medicine Tower at all, or rather, it was the predecessor of the Herbal medicine Tower. Logically, Tony Stark should have already purchased it by this time.

The billboards have been replaced and the interior has been renovated.

But the building in front of us is still the same as it was before Tony bought it.

"Stark, what time have you taken us to?"

Tony, oblivious to his surprise, also wanted to know where and when he was.

He quickly turned on the Microcomputer and hacked into Stark Industries and JARVIS at the time. He knew exactly where the backdoor was.

After confirming the time and location, and reviewing a large number of files on JARVIS's server again, Tony Stark was somewhat dumbfounded.

This is February 14, 2008. The time is correct, the location is correct, but the only strange thing is that Xia Yu is not in this world, nor is anything related to him.

JARVIS's server records almost everything related to Tony Stark; virtually all private matters are stored through JARVIS.

Tony could even find the blueprints for the Missiles he was researching back then, and that period was correct.

However, nothing could be found related to Xia Yu, including his access permissions and records for his house, his personal phone call records, and even his personal travel records.

"See for yourself..."

Tony didn't know how to explain it, so he simply let Natasha see for herself.

Then, equally dumbfounded, Natasha used her personal Microcomputer to access S.H.I.E.L.D..'s database with the same privileges she had previously held.

Everything here is exactly the same as before, except for Xia Yu. They even looked into the treatments of some ordinary people in their daily lives, such as an ordinary employee of Stark, a pizzeria employee, and so on.

"Stark?"

Natasha was at a loss and could only look to Tony Stark.

"Wait, give me some time. Let's find a safe place first. I need some time to tidy up."

On the other hand, in the Quantum Realm, Xia Yu tried various methods but couldn't get through that invisible barrier or break it.

Helpless and worried about Natasha's safety, Xia Yu suddenly remembered his other purpose for coming to the Quantum Realm: the Black-Clad Man.

Xia Yu was certain that the Black-Clad Man who supported Thanos in the Snap was hiding in the Quantum Realm; at the very least, they had considerable knowledge of the Quantum Realm.

With this thought in mind, Xia Yu flew off in another direction.

Although many rules from the Infinity Stones cannot be used in the Quantum Realm, for example, Xia Yu cannot use the energy of the Space Stone to directly tear space apart.

However, this did not prevent Xia Yu from directly absorbing energy from the universe. Moreover, Xia Yu vaguely felt that flying here using his own energy seemed to be faster than in the normal world.

Here, there seems to be no limit to speed.

Ignoring the unique scenery of the Quantum Realm, Xia Yu transformed into a bolt of Flash, flying swiftly throughout the Quantum Realm.

Using his powerful mental strength, he searched everywhere for the place where he had caught a glimpse of that amazing sight.

"This is it!"

Xia Yu stopped in a place filled with bubble-like Membrane.

A quick glance revealed a group of buildings atop a tall, Membrane.

Naturally, the logo of the Time Variance Authority was also visible above.

Xia Yu had seen the trailer for the Loki series, and he clearly remembered a scene where Loki was wearing prison clothes with this symbol on them.

"Time Variance Authority? So you're the ones causing trouble behind the scenes, the so-called executors of the Cosmic Will?"

Xia Yu sneered and flew towards the Time Variance Authority.

Just as I set off, I saw alarms suddenly blaring from the buildings over there, and something identical to the Membrane beneath the Time Variance Authority's buildings rose out of thin air from the Membrane below.

"That's right, it seems you disguised yourself like this last time."

The rising Membrane was incredibly fast, and it looked like it was about to close up overhead.

Xia Yu suddenly accelerated and rushed straight into the gap.

They entered the Time Variance Authority's Territory just before it was fully closed.

Based on this location and the gaze of the Black-Clad Man from last time, Xia Yu was certain that they were the ones behind Thanos.

What did the old man in Chinatown teach me? There's no such thing as being polite first and then resorting to force. You have to use your fists first, knock the other person down, and then you can talk to them about reason.

Thanos' The Snap gave Xia Yu such a big surprise last time, so let's collect some interest first.

Xia Yu looked at the six buildings arranged in a staggered pattern in front of him.

He slowly raised his right hand, and his palm suddenly lit up.

After a brief pause, an Energy Cannon hurtled straight toward the first building.

"Boom!!"

With a muffled thud, the massive building was reduced to ruins by Xia Yu's single strike.

A small Energy Shield up in the middle of the ruins, protecting the three Black-Clad Man inside. Large chunks of concrete slammed into the Energy Shield and slowly slid off.

Xia Yu caught a glimpse of the Black-Clad Man's gaze through the gap.

"That's right, it's you!"