As You Wish

Zhang Ye did not have to wait long. Just five or six minutes later, with a click, the castle gates slowly moved aside, opening an entrance for the two of them.

"See? I told you it wasn't hard." Pietro waved excitedly, then looked back at Zhang Ye as if claiming credit.

"Nicely done. Now let's get out of here. Before long, the flames of war might spread to our side." Zhang Ye nodded slightly in approval, then stepped forward and walked straight in.

The interior layout of the ancient castle was almost exactly as Zhang Ye had guessed. Aside from a few minor details, it was not much different from the castles he had seen in films in his previous life. Pretty much every foreign castle had this sort of decor.

As for the differences in interior decorating styles, or the specific cultural influences on castle designs in different countries, Zhang Ye did not know much about any of that. He had never studied it, so he could only let out a quiet sigh of amazement at the extravagantly gorgeous interior—damn impressive!

The castle had probably gone untended for too long. It was filthy and run-down everywhere. Dust had piled up on the display cabinets holding long-dead plants, and cobwebs hung over the old paintings on the walls. It seemed that even President X had not returned here in a very long time.

"Where is everything hidden?" Zhang Ye surveyed the surroundings. Huge vases stood along both sides of the corridor—or rather, bottle-shaped ornaments. They were taller than a person. Their designs looked somewhat Chinese, while the patterns on them were standard landscape paintings.

"At the very bottom of the castle. It used to be a wine cellar, but President X turned it into a large collection room. The good news is that there was almost no security there. I don't know if President X was just too confident, but he didn't set up defenses around his collection. Of course, that was only what I experienced back then. I can't be sure what it's like now."

"We'll know once we take a look." Zhang Ye and Pietro moved quickly. They did not stop along the way, instead swiftly making their way through the corridors under Pietro's lead.

Zhang Ye was excited at the moment, gripped by an indescribable feeling. He was thrilled that he would soon be able to leave this damned world, but he was also worried. If the Time Twister could not be used or was broken, then he might truly be trapped here for the rest of his life.

With that weighing on his mind, Zhang Ye had no mood to admire the castle's interior. If it had been the old him, he would definitely have taken a good look around this place and casually pocketed a few valuable items.

Walking down the dark, chilling passageway, the two soon arrived beside an elevator built inside the castle. Pietro expertly pressed the switch, and the elevator doors slowly opened.

"Let's hope there aren't any traps down there." Zhang Ye spoke calmly, while also taking up a guarded stance. Since President X had crushed the Iron Suit into pieces, Zhang Ye could only pull out his last remaining weapon—the pistol tucked against his chest.

"Probably not. But if there really are traps, I'll protect you even if it kills me." Pietro gave Zhang Ye a thumbs-up, though his current disabled state made it hard for Zhang Ye to place much hope in him.

The elevator descended, carrying the two of them down to the lowest level while they remained tense and alert.

Ding!

The elevator indicator turned green, and the automatic doors slid open. The traps Zhang Ye had worried about did not appear. Instead, a long corridor stretched out before them.

As the two stepped out of the elevator, lights flickered on section by section along the previously pitch-dark corridor, spreading from near to far until the entire passage was illuminated.

Zhang Ye and Pietro exchanged a glance. Neither spoke. Still unwilling to lower their guard, they prepared themselves for anything and started forward.

The corridor was made of smooth metal. Zhang Ye did not know what material it was, but it did not look like something from this era. At the same time, it resembled a bank vault.

"Pretty spectacular, right? The first time I came in here, I was shocked too. I thought I'd entered some alien spaceship." Pietro said as he guided his wheelchair forward.

"Not bad." Zhang Ye gave a perfunctory response. Having seen plenty of movies, he was not especially surprised by this. Still, the place reminded him of the mutant base from the X-Men films. It seemed to look just like this.

After turning a corner in the corridor, a metal door resembling a bank vault entrance soon came into Zhang Ye's view. A huge "X" symbol was emblazoned across it.

"This is it." Pietro wheeled up to the door and found a smart combination lock beside it. Besides entering a password, it could also be unlocked with a palm print or iris scan.

This time, Pietro took even less time. After barely ten seconds, the metal doors let out a harsh grinding sound and slid apart.

Sure enough, this really had been the X-Men's base. But in this world, the insane President X had transformed it into his personal secret chamber, storing all manner of trophies inside. Every item here could fetch a great deal of money on the black market.

Aside from the completely useless Darkhold and Book of Vishanti, Zhang Ye also saw Captain America's shield bearing a six-pointed star, Iron Man's helmet and faceplate, Hawkeye's bow and arrows, Hank Pym's unfinished Ant-Man suit, and even a Mjolnir!

There were actually two people in this world who claimed to be Thor. One had joined the Avengers. Wielding an indestructible hammer, he claimed to be the true Thor, but this so-called god had died in a Patriot Missile bombardment.

The hammer in his hand had not been as magical as the legends claimed, either. The fact that it could be kept here as a trophy was enough to prove that it was a fake anyone could lift.

The other self-proclaimed Thor was an old man who had founded the Thor Cult, but public security officers cracking down on cults had dragged him into the street and shot him.

In short, anyone in this world who claimed to wield "magic," "sorcery," or "divine power" generally did not end well.

"Over here, Zhang. The thing you're looking for is here." Just as Zhang Ye was absorbed in examining these remarkable items, Pietro stopped beside a display cabinet not far away and called out to him.

Hearing that, Zhang Ye immediately stopped thinking about those things and went over to Pietro. Following the direction Pietro pointed, Zhang Ye saw the tablet-sized device. An orange clock was engraved on its back, exactly like Miss Minutes from his memories.

"This is it!" A gleam flashed in Zhang Ye's eyes. He snatched up the Time Twister and repeatedly tapped its surface with his fingers.

At his touch, the Time Twister immediately lit up, and an image appeared on the screen. It was the real Miss Minutes, a two-dimensional animated creation.

But this Miss Minutes was unlike the one Zhang Ye remembered from the TV series Loki. She slowly opened her eyes, and her pupils shifted toward Zhang Ye. Her gaze was so cold and sinister that it was frightening. Even Zhang Ye could not help feeling a chill under that stare.

"&...%&*Failure((&*(Error%#..."

Like the hoarse static of an old radio, Miss Minutes' mouth opened and closed as she produced all kinds of garbled, incomprehensible sounds. It was like the language of another planet, or a sentence being played backward.

"Miss Minutes, take us out of here." Zhang Ye's heart tightened, and he could not help saying it aloud.

If this damn thing really is broken, then all my previous efforts were for nothing!

As soon as he spoke, Miss Minutes' chaotic noises abruptly stopped. Then, a trace of human-like emotion seemed to appear in her eyes. Heaven knew how Zhang Ye and Pietro managed to discern emotional fluctuations in the gaze of an animated character.

".You. Know me?" Miss Minutes finally spoke her first understandable words.

It was not the language of any country, but a sound akin to biological waves, allowing any intelligent creature to understand what she meant.

"Yes, I know you. Take me out of here." Zhang Ye held the Time Twister and spoke seriously.

Miss Minutes stared blankly at Zhang Ye. She seemed to be learning and comprehending the meaning of his words, or perhaps the machine simply reacted too slowly to process so much information.

Seeing this, Zhang Ye urged her again.

"I know you can open a time passage. Hurry up, take us out of this world!"

Zhang Ye's brow furrowed deeply. He had never encountered a situation like this before. Pietro, standing beside him, remained silent and did not dare interrupt the conversation between Zhang Ye and Miss Minutes, even though he desperately wanted to speak.

After an unknown amount of time, Miss Minutes finally reacted. She stiffly pulled her mouth into a broad smile—if it could be called a smile.

Then, a purple barrier rapidly expanded from beneath Zhang Ye and Pietro's feet.

".As you wish."