Ruins

Chapter 2: Ruins

Yes, the silver-haired man before him was the famous mutant from Zhang Ye's memories—Quicksilver.

But right now, his appearance was indescribably wretched. His hair hadn't been tended in so long it was starting to mat, and his face was so overgrown with stubble that no one would believe he was only a nineteen-year-old kid.

What was most shocking was his empty right sleeve. Someone had cut off his right arm, and even this injury hadn't been properly bandaged—just a crude stop to the bleeding. As a result, the wound on his stump was hideously scarred, even though his super-speed had helped it heal.

Zhang Ye had met Pietro a week ago. Back then, he'd been fighting a dog for food. He'd been starving for a long time; his incredible speed came with an incredible metabolism. If he hadn't run into Zhang Ye, he would have starved to death. The other Scavengers wouldn't have cared whether he lived or died.

Pietro had been wary of Zhang Ye at first, but once they got familiar, he slowly opened up. He told Zhang Ye about some of his experiences—how President X had locked him in a mutant prison, and how he'd escaped.

Last time, because he broke out, when they caught him and dragged him back, they cut off his arm.

Zhang Ye pulled a bag of bread and two bottles of beer from his pack, kept one for himself, handed the rest to Pietro, and continued.

"Listen, Pietro. I don't know how strong President X is without Cerebro, but I do know that every time mutants use their powers, there's a chance he'll sense them. I don't want to open my eyes and find myself surrounded by a small army. I'm sure you didn't bust out just to get thrown back in."

Hearing this, Pietro thought back to his past. He didn't say anything. He sat down quietly, opened the beer with one hand, and took a long gulp.

Seeing this, Zhang Ye sighed. This damned world. It gave superpowered people no way to live, and ordinary people no way to live either. With the economic crisis in full swing, every country had taken a massive hit. The American states were no exception. That was exactly why President X wanted to wipe out the Avengers as fast as possible.

Prices were skyrocketing. Countless people were homeless. Every state was in chaos. It probably wouldn't be long before another world war broke out. And now, this world was already gasping its last breath, just waiting for someone to fire the first shot and nail the coffin shut.

Rumors were spreading that the world was doomed, that the apocalypse was coming, and only those mutant freaks would survive.

And it was true. In this world, most so-called "superpowered" people didn't actually have powers. Like that old man who claimed to be Thor reincarnated. Wakanda had no Vibranium meteorite. The Black Panther was just the name of a gang.

As for magic—Zhang Ye had searched New York for three days and three nights and never found the legendary 177A Bleecker Street, the place called the New York Sanctum. In this world, 177A was a nightclub about to go bankrupt.

As for the superhero Iron Fist, who supposedly inherited the power of "Chi," Zhang Ye couldn't find any information about him either. Maybe he'd died in some accident long ago, just like Matt Murdock, Daredevil, who got hit by a car.

This world probably had no supernatural powers at all. Only ordinary people who died in random accidents, and those genetically mutated "Mutant Monsters."

But even when they did get powers, the mutants in this world weren't that strong. On the contrary, genetic mutation wasn't a gift to them—it was an uncontrollable disaster.

Magneto's power had become a passive skill. He was constantly emitting magnetic force, so he had to wear a Demagnetizer. But over a decade ago, he had an accident at the airport. An agent accidentally broke his Demagnetizer, causing several planes to be pulled in by his magnetism. Magneto died on the spot.

Then there was Mystique. She could shapeshift into anyone, but at the same time, she'd absorb the target's personality. This gave her multiple personality disorder. One wrong move and she'd end up dead in the street.

Thinking this over, Zhang Ye looked at Pietro across from him. Maybe this guy was the lucky one. Quicksilver's powers were superhuman cognition and superhuman speed.

In the comics, Quicksilver's abilities were hard to pin down. He could even slow down time around him or boost his own speed—like in the movie, when he saved everyone while listening to music, slowing everything around him.

But here, Pietro wasn't that impressive. He was just a really fast mutant. Zhang Ye even doubted he could dodge bullets.

"What's it like out there?" Pietro asked after a moment of silence.

"War's coming. People are already jumping off buildings in groups. President X hasn't made a move yet—probably saving up for something big. Every gang in the country is getting restless."

"What about the Avengers?"

"All dead. Even that old man who claimed to be Thor reincarnated got killed. The ones who survived are in hiding. I don't have the means to find them. If I kept digging for information, I'd draw attention."

"Do you think we can really pull this off?" Pietro sounded worried. At his age, he should have been in school. Instead, he was a wanted fugitive.

"Yes." Zhang Ye said firmly. "If we don't believe in ourselves, nothing we do will succeed."

"I heard Texas has erupted into riots. The Mexico border is in chaos too. Maybe this is our chance. If we succeed, we can leave this damned world behind. But that's only if everything you said is true."

"Everything I said is true. I wouldn't lie to you." Pietro shot back immediately, as if offended by Zhang Ye's distrust.

Zhang Ye didn't argue. He knew the odds of Pietro lying to him were basically zero. He'd stumbled onto this information by accident, and the Pietro of this world couldn't possibly know what that thing was.

Quicksilver had been arrested for theft. He didn't just steal from shops and rich people. Maybe it was because he was young and fearless, or maybe he thought he couldn't fail, but the guy had the audacity to break into President X's secret vault and try to steal the "treasures" inside.

That vault was personally created by President X. It held countless secret artifacts and trophies from defeating the Avengers. But since this world probably had no supernatural energy, most of those treasures were just fancy names with no real power.

For example, the Darkhold, seized from a cult purge, and the Book of Vishanti, snatched from Strange. But they were basically empty shells, useless—like the ravings of madmen. No one could learn any spells from them.

But as Pietro described it, one item in the vault caught Zhang Ye's attention.

It was a small yellow box, about the size of a phone, but exquisitely made. It definitely wasn't from Earth. And interestingly, inside it was an orange round cookie with arms and legs that just laughed.

No one knew what it was. But Zhang Ye did.

That wasn't some orange cookie. That was Miss Minutes. A product of the TVA (Time Variance Authority). And that phone-like thing was probably a Time Twister.

In the Loki TV series, the TVA was an organization founded by Kang. He maintained the Sacred Timeline to prevent a Multiversal war. They had incredibly powerful abilities—they could travel between different universes and prune parallel timelines to prevent paradoxes. You could see that from the drawer full of Infinity Stones in Loki Season 1.

But in the comics, the TVA barely showed up. They didn't appear in any major events either. They were mostly just a background organization.

To Zhang Ye, though, this was incredible news.

He didn't know why this world had gone so wrong. But if he could get his hands on that Time Twister, he could leave this ruined wasteland of an apocalypse. Zhang Ye didn't think he'd survive the coming nuclear war.

Finishing his beer, Zhang Ye looked at Pietro, who had just finished his bread, and spoke.

"Get ready. We're moving tonight."