Future

"All right, that's enough to assess your abilities."

Just as Wei Xiuming was preparing to adapt to each move as it came, The Ancient One suddenly lowered her hands. The magic shield and long magic blade vanished, and a shift in space carried her beyond the reach of Wei Xiuming's attacks, leaving a safe distance between them.

"There is a second possible future for you in this world. You are defeated by a hero who, like you, came from another dimension. Everything you've done, every conspiracy you've concealed, is exposed to the public, and you become an utterly unforgivable supervillain."

I always knew that Infinite Flow Male Protagonist wouldn't let me off the hook. I just didn't expect that, out of the two predetermined futures, him killing me to prove his Dao would be one of them. He was the one who tried to kill me first.

The ever-present sense of danger was confirmed, and Wei Xiuming flared with rage. He didn't even need to exert himself; his medium-length black hair stood on end, every strand bristling. That was exactly what it meant to be furious.

The Ancient One spoke unhurriedly. "The greatest difference between these two outcomes is whether I came to see you after learning of your existence."

"If I'm someone willing to sacrifice all life to pave my own path, why would the Sorcerer Supreme bring about that future?" Wei Xiuming took a few breaths to calm himself, then tore off his tattered lab coat.

The coat was riddled with holes and stained red with blood. Wei Xiuming was alarmed. The Sorcerer Supreme was not only a master of magic, but also highly skilled in close-quarters combat and with bladed weapons. Most of his injuries were to joints that affected his movement, or to vital points—the kind of attacks that would either kill him or leave him with half his strength. Since this body had come into being, he'd never suffered such serious injuries.

If not for his two healing abilities working together to nearly turn back time, he would have died more times than he could count.

The Sorcerer Supreme, who possessed the Time Stone, surely knew this. She had tested Wei Xiuming's limits and discovered the only two weaknesses he had left: his brain and his heart. Yet she had spared his life. That alone revealed quite a lot.

She'd forced him to fight for his life, then deliberately held back. What else could that be but giving him pointers? Even so, Wei Xiuming still felt a little uncomfortable about it.

The Ancient One casually waved a hand. Magic formed a point, and then the point suddenly expanded...

"I know about the Big Bang Theory. You don't need to demonstrate it," Wei Xiuming said, waving his hand. "Please, go ahead and explain whatever you want. I can follow your reasoning well enough."

The Ancient One said, "This universe came into being 13.8 billion Earth years ago. Over that vast span of time, life has gone through countless generations. Even on an insignificant planet like Earth, the rise and fall of life and civilizations over 4.55 billion years is commonplace. To this universe, life is unimportant."

"Only life itself considers life precious. When people promote protecting the Earth, all they're really doing is preserving the fragile ecosystem they depend on. Human activity has no effect on the Earth's existence. When all is said and done, it's just a ball of matter made up of iron, oxygen, silicon, and other substances."

"The universe doesn't change its course according to human will. Even if the universe is destroyed, it will one day be born anew. What happens is simply the migration of matter and the conversion of energy..."

Though he was no longer affected by heat or cold, Wei Xiuming still shuddered. The Ancient One's plainspoken words filled him with a chill—the overwhelming contrast between the vastness of the universe and the insignificance of individual life.

He knew that feeling well, having crossed many star systems and witnessed their vast expanses. It was especially strong when he practiced Magnetic Field Rotation and sensed the pulse of the entire universe.

Perhaps his human survival instinct had made him deliberately forget those memories. Now the Ancient One had brought them back with just a few words. The universe's essence was a chaotic, disordered madness. Humble life measured its scale using only what it could comprehend, just as the unknowable passage of time was represented by the markings on a clock.

"The essence of life is to continually seek evolution, to surpass the limits of oneself and even one's species. This is the prevailing course of this world, and the pursuit of every intelligent species," The Ancient One said calmly. "As the Sorcerer Supreme who protects Earth, I shouldn't say this. Nor do I have the right to make decisions on behalf of all life. But becoming part of God may not be such a bad ending."

Am I the one who's gone mad, or is this world? After following The Ancient One's reasoning for a while, Wei Xiuming roared inwardly. He'd always thought that, as a mastermind, his actions had crossed every line of human morality. But sometimes, doing nothing and letting things run their course was even more terrifying.

"The most important reason is that although you came from another dimensional world, you are still part of the same greater universe. Our worlds are parallel, and may one day merge. But that so-called hero bears no trace of belonging to our greater universe. He is an absolute outsider."

"The being who gave me my revelation said that witnessing the birth of another god in the multiverse was far better than letting an outsider take all the benefits. I acted according to his revelation."

Putting The Ancient One's words into different terms, Wei Xiuming more or less understood. His current body, Weapon X's Clark Kent, was a native of the X-Men world, even if he was a Gene-Modded Human. Although Marvel, through poor management, had sold the film rights, at least those characters were still products of the same company.

Especially after the Marvel Cinematic Universe became a huge success and raked in box-office earnings worldwide, Marvel had gradually started trying to buy back the rights to the characters it had sold. And after Disney bought the company, its deep pockets made all the difference. In Avengers 4, the heroes' first chance to save the world had come from a mouse.

In one possible future, mutants would appear in this world. So as a mutant himself, he would be one of the family. Even if family members fought fiercely, they were still family. Magneto and Professor X had spent half their lives fighting over the future of mutants, but neither had ever truly tried to kill the other. Instead, they grieved when the other passed away.

As for that Infinite Flow Male Protagonist—hah!

After hearing the explanation, Wei Xiuming let down his guard. Going by the comics, when the Infinite Flow Male Protagonist's Golden Finger had banished him to this world, one or more of the five creator gods must already have sensed his presence. The one who had given The Ancient One her revelation was Eternity, the embodiment of the totality of time in the universe.

To a god who could witness infinite dimensions being reborn or destroyed, the lives in a single universe were a small price to pay.

The Ancient One turned her palm, and the chaotic Mirror Dimension quickly returned to normal. Once everything had settled, the two of them were back in Wei Xiuming's dorm room.