Plan

"I can't sleep."

Pietro lay on the sofa, tossing and turning. In the past, he would have let himself sink deeper, blaming everything bad in his life on fate. But after hearing the intel Zhang Ye had shared with him, he couldn't stay calm.

He rolled over, curled up, and spoke.

"Zhang, can you tell me more about those multiverse things?"

Zhang Ye glanced at him and couldn't help shaking his head. In this world, the clearer your vision, the deeper your despair. It was hard to imagine that someone as young as Pietro had already suffered such a tragic fate.

After a moment's thought, Zhang Ye began.

"Let me tell you about one of the biggest crises the Avengers faced after they formed. That major event was called the 'Age of Ultron.' But this time, I'll tell you about what happened in one of the multiverse's timelines. In that universe, S.H.I.E.L.D. had just collapsed after being infiltrated by Hydra."

"After the New York Alien Invasion, Hydra agents embedded in S.H.I.E.L.D. secretly took Loki's Scepter. No one knew at the time that the gem set in the scepter was the Mind Stone, one of the legendary six Infinity Stones."

"Then Hydra started mass human experiments, trying to unlock the secrets of the Mind Stone's power. In the end, only one pair of twins succeeded—Wanda and Pietro. That's you from another universe. But what Hydra didn't know was that your powers weren't given by the Mind Stone. They were innate. The Mind Stone just catalyzed them."

Pietro listened quietly, not surprised that Zhang Ye had mentioned his name. Clearly, this wasn't the first time Zhang Ye had told him these things, and Pietro had gradually accepted that in most parallel universes, he had a sister or brother named Wanda.

But in this world, Pietro had no connection to the Scarlet Witch who betrayed the Avengers. He had no memory of anyone like that existing.

Zhang Ye spoke slowly, from Tony creating Ultron out of his own anxiety, all the way to the final battle between the Ultron Army and the Avengers.

"...To protect the children, Hawkeye had no choice but to return to the battlefield. But Ultron wasn't about to let him go. Ultron flew his fighter straight at Hawkeye and the kids, bullets pouring down. Just when Hawkeye thought he was going to die there, a silver streak rushed in."

"The next moment, Hawkeye felt himself being shoved aside. When he came to, he found himself and the little boy behind cover. Outside the cover, Quicksilver's body was riddled with bullets."

"'Didn't you notice?' Quicksilver's tone was still as flippant as ever. Those were his last words in that universe."

Pietro listened, then couldn't help but smirk. "That does sound like something I'd do. If that's my ending, it's not a bad one."

"Maybe."

"At least he died meaningfully, like a real hero. Not like me—someone who could die any day in a dark alley trash can, or get dragged back to the Mutant Prison, lose everything, and never see the sun again." Pietro murmured.

Looking at Quicksilver, Zhang Ye said, "Get some sleep. I'll get you out of here."

Night.

Zhang Ye and Pietro drove along Ocean Drive. Their destination was the Mutant Prison in Texas. They had to cross New Jersey from New York, first to Washington D.C., then straight to Texas.

After Quicksilver escaped, he ran all the way to New York—almost halfway across America. He had planned to run straight out of the country, but his powers nearly starved him to death on the way.

Zhang Ye drove while Pietro slept in the trunk. His identity was too sensitive now. If he was found, he'd be dead for sure. And he couldn't use his powers casually. Once President X locked onto him, it would be a disaster for both of them.

So they decided to go all in and steal the car and cash from next door. In another world, Zhang Ye would never do that—it would get the police on his tail.

But in this world, the global situation was on the verge of collapse. America was plagued by external threats and internal strife. If not for the fear of President X, the country would have already fallen apart. In this environment, murder in broad daylight was normal. Stealing a car? No one cared except the owner.

As he drove, Zhang Ye kept calculating his next move.

Breaking into President X's secret vault was too risky. Quicksilver's fate proved that. And the biggest problem was Professor X's bug-like psychic powers.

If he got locked on and controlled, the whole plan would fall apart. In this world, Magneto hadn't built Cerebro for President X, but President X was still incredibly powerful—especially against an ordinary person like Zhang Ye.

So he had to stir up something big. Something that would grab President X's full attention and keep him distracted. Only then could his plan succeed. Unfortunately, the Avengers in this world had been wiped out. There was no one left who could be called a 'hero.'

If they were still around, using them as bait would have raised his chances.

But if he wanted to go big, he had to choose the right method.

Gang riots? Too small.

Border unrest? Still too small.

He needed something massive. Shocking. Something that could spark the next world war.

Only then would President X, who had been lying low for so long, show up and personally lead the response. But pulling that off wasn't easy.

At first, Zhang Ye had his eyes on the Kree Prisoners. After being hit head-on by nuclear bombs, they were imprisoned by President X—thousands of them locked up in the radiation-soaked Gobi Desert.

If anyone hated President X and had the power to take revenge, those Kree would be a sharp blade.

Honestly, Zhang Ye found their situation ridiculous. Not just in this universe, but in almost every universe, nuclear bombs were incredibly destructive.

Yet these devastating weapons seemed to be Earth's exclusive trump card. Other planets, no matter how advanced their tech—even with interstellar fleets or laser guns—couldn't produce nuclear bombs.

It was as if each planet had its own tech tree, and nuclear bombs were Earth's unique skill, exclusive across the entire universe.

Take these Kree, for example. They came charging in to wipe out Earth's civilization. The next second, they were hit by the radioactive influence of Galactus's corpse. Their portal closed, their stealth mode failed, and their entire fleet was exposed to Earth's firing range.

They couldn't run. They couldn't hide. They couldn't defend. All they could do was watch countless nuclear warheads closing in.

If those Kree were freed, they'd definitely alarm President X. But Zhang Ye eventually scrapped that plan. For one thing, after being exposed to nuclear radiation for so long, who knew if they could still fight?

For another, that place was impossible to enter without protective gear, and it was surrounded by military forces. Even if they were freed, they'd probably be suppressed quickly. That wasn't what Zhang Ye wanted.

So after discussing it with Pietro, Zhang Ye set his sights on the Mutant Prison. There, over a hundred mutants of all kinds lived in hell every day.

Maybe mutant powers were an evolution. But to ordinary people, these mutants were ticking time bombs. If those bombs were released, and they all had President X as their common enemy, it would definitely give him a headache.