Choosing the Point in Time

In Wakanda's hall, after nearly three months, Tony and Shuri, with the help of Dr. Banner, who had joined later,

finally succeeded in recreating the Healing Serum.

Everyone's faces were filled with joyful smiles. Black Panther T'Challa excitedly embraced Winter Soldier Bucky.

Spider-Man Peter and Shuri exchanged smiles.

Tony and Dr. Banner lay on the couch, basking in the sun.

Wanda stood quietly by the windowsill, gazing at the sky.

With a ripple of spatial energy, a vortex appeared in the hall. Qin Yi and Thor stepped out of it.

Doctor Strange Stephen quickly stood up and asked Thor,

"Did you find them?"

Thor nodded excitedly.

After Qin Yi placed the Infinity Gauntlet and the six Stones on the table,

the surviving Wakandan warriors excitedly gathered around Qin Yi and began performing a Wakandan dance. Then everyone eagerly lifted Qin Yi and Thor up and tossed them into the air.

All of Wakanda instantly became a sea of celebration.

After a long while, everyone calmed down and sat in the hall.

Stephen was the first to speak.

"We've gathered all six Stones. Now let's discuss who will make the snap."

Thor immediately stood up.

"As the god of Asgard, I failed to protect the people of the Nine Realms before. This snap has to be mine."

Doctor Strange Stephen looked at Dr. Banner, who had only just recovered like himself, and slowly nodded.

"Then next... let's discuss the point in time."

At those words, the Avengers fell silent.

Faced with the temptation of bringing back their beloved family and friends, Spider-Man naturally wanted to revive Iron Man from this universe, as well as Aunt May, his only remaining family.

Thor thought of the Asgardians slaughtered by Thanos, of his father, mother, and Loki, who had all left him one after another...

Black Panther looked at the Wakandan guards behind him, thinking of Okoye, the captain of the Royal Guard, who had left to save him and vanished forever.

Winter Soldier silently looked at the shield in his hand. Steve, if it were you, what would you choose?

Wanda lowered her head, tears in her eyes as she thought of her brother and her beloved Vision.

But if they chose the wrong point in time, could they bear the consequences?

For a time, the hall became even quieter.

Tony sat beside Qin Yi and nudged him with his elbow. Qin Yi shook his head in response.

If they used the Healing Serum, who knew how long it would take to eliminate the zombie virus throughout the universe.

But if they only used the Infinity Stones, then their earlier backup plan—the Healing Serum—would seem somewhat unnecessary.

Still, if it were him, it would not be easy to choose either.

An absolute point in time...

Qin Yi placed both hands behind his head and stretched.

They were still too weak.

Doctor Strange looked at the silent crowd before speaking.

"Three days. Everyone, think it over for three days. After three days, we'll vote."

The people in the hall gradually left.

Winter Soldier Bucky walked over to Qin Yi, who was standing by the window, and handed him a cigarette.

Qin Yi smiled, then habitually held it between the index and middle fingers of his left hand. A tiny flame sprang from the index finger of his right hand. Bucky smiled and lit his own cigarette. The two stood by the window, smoking.

"What are you planning to do later, Bucky?"

"Once things here are settled, I'll go take a look at your world. Need a bodyguard, Mr. Qin?"

Qin Yi burst out laughing and nodded.

"I think the captain would fight me to the death."

"Hahaha..."

Drawn over by the laughter, Tony asked Bucky for a cigarette and joined them.

"Tony, seeing the research of yourself in this world, how do you feel?"

"You knew all along, didn't you, Qin?" Tony looked at Qin Yi resentfully.

Qin Yi shrugged.

"There are some things I shouldn't interfere with too much. If I interfere too much, there might be new problems that can't be resolved. Unless I become stronger—strong enough to ignore those rules."

Tony thought for a while before speaking.

"I understand. We'll deal with the future when it comes. Once we settle things here, it'll be time for us to go back too."

"Yeah. Oh, before we leave, make a copy of Wakandan technology. We can study it slowly later."

Qin Yi looked up and saw Wanda walking alone through the garden.

"I'm going for a walk." Qin Yi then vanished from the windowsill.

Bucky smiled at Tony. "I'm really jealous of that ability."

"Right? Ever since I met Qin nine years ago, I've always been jealous of it."

"Hahaha."

Qin Yi, who had vanished from the windowsill, instantly appeared beside Wanda. The two then walked side by side without any destination in mind.

At the end of the path, they stopped beneath a tree.

Qin Yi looked at Wanda standing under the tree. A faint sorrow always lingered on her cold face. This woman had once been the girl of his dreams.

Fortunately, she did not know that he had kicked her in the butt back then and made her eat tree branches for nearly a month...

What a sin. Still, this woman's life had been far too tragic.

In 1999, her adoptive parents had been killed by a Stark Industries bomb.

The two of them, only ten years old, had been buried under the rubble for two days. Beside them was a bomb they believed could explode at any moment. After enduring that tormenting fear, they entered a Hydra laboratory for revenge.

In her first battle after joining the Avengers, she lost her brother.

And Wanda of this universe, after losing most of her Avengers teammates, had watched Vision, her emotional anchor, commit suicide out of shame.

"Do you need me to erase your memories?" Qin Yi asked Wanda beside him.

Wanda silently stared at the tree before her. Leaves slowly drifted down. After a long while,

"Is an absolute point in time truly impossible to change?"

Qin Yi was silent for a moment.

"For now, I don't have any way to do that."

Wanda then took a deep breath.

"Before you leave, help me erase my memories of before."

Qin Yi nodded. As he watched Wanda leave, he knew that things here were finally coming to an end.

Three days later.

In Wakanda's hall, everyone gathered around Thor.

Thor slowly placed his hand into the Infinity Gauntlet. Of the six brilliantly shining Stones on the Gauntlet, only the Mind Stone's light was slightly dimmer.

Doctor Strange Stephen solemnly said to Thor,

"Thor, if we choose the wrong point in time, our entire universe faces the risk of collapse. The dead would surely want those of us still alive to keep moving forward."

Thor nodded and slowly raised his arm.

Qin Yi waved a hand, and a barrier of energy isolated everyone else.

Loki, forgive me.

The dazzling light of the six Stones gathered together, slowly spreading from the Infinity Gauntlet across Thor's entire arm. Thor painfully raised his hand.

"Ah..." Thor cried out in agony.

Doctor Strange Stephen urgently said to Thor,

"Thor, don't hesitate."

As Thor struggled to make that snap, the sound instantly traveled across the entire universe. The six Infinity Stones became dull and lost all their luster. Thor collapsed to the ground.

Qin Yi hurriedly removed the Infinity Gauntlet from Thor's hand and cast several Healing Spells on his body. As the light of the Healing Spells entered him, Thor fell into a deep sleep.

Everyone quickly placed the color-restored Thor on the couch. Shuri and Wakandan physicians began examining him.

On an unknown planet, the Guardians of the Galaxy, surrounded by zombies, were struggling to hold them off.

Star-Lord angrily turned around and cursed at Rocket.

"Little raccoon, is the ship fixed yet?"

Rocket jumped up and shouted irritably,

"I'm Rocket! Rocket!"

"Then why didn't you react when Mr. Qin called you little raccoon before?" Star-Lord complained while activating the energy shield.

"If you were as strong as Mr. Qin, you could call me that too."

Seeing that the energy shield before them was about to fail, Rocket threw down his wrench. "I'm not fixing it anymore!"

With a loud bang, the massive zombie horde instantly fell silent, and their eyes gradually regained clarity.

The vast crowd looked at their hands in confusion.

"They're back to normal?" Nebula asked doubtfully.

"How would I know? Let's wait and see."

In Wakanda's hall, Black Panther T'Challa directed the Wakandans as they reported surveillance information from around the globe.

"New York has returned to normal..."

"Paris has returned to normal..."

"...has returned to normal..."

As the surveillance reports came in, everyone finally relaxed.

"I'm going to check the other planets." Qin Yi vanished from Wakanda's hall as soon as he finished speaking.