"How are Morgana and Thor doing now?" Ian asked.
Morgana cast her magic, and the computer screen switched, showing him photos, videos and countless articles about Thor.
"As you can see, he is now a famous author named Donald Odinson. His innovative stories about Norse mythology have attracted a wide range of readers around the world."
"That's so clever," Ian chuckled. He guessed that the stories were based on Thor's adventures, which allowed him to add some realism to his writing. As the saying goes - write what you know.
"Do you think he's changed?"
"Yes, I believe he has changed and learned a little humility."
"In this case, the final test will appear soon." According to the plan to train Thor, Odin will also send Destroyer to teach Thor about the meaning of sacrifice. At the same time, his mother will teach him through dreams every night to avoid wasting his three years on earth.
Once Thor proves that he is worthy of that power again, he will regain all of his strength and training memories.
"Huh? He really met Jane? And it seems like they are very close friends. I guess some people are destined to be together," Ian commented while looking at the photo of the two people. He turned off the screen, relaxed his body on the chair, and fell into deep thought.
He would spend the next few years trying to bring Avengers together to prepare for the future. His relationship with Wakanda improved greatly when he brought Ulysses Klaue to Wakanda.
It would be ideal if Namor and Talokan could be brought to his side, but he felt that considering Namor's character, this would be more difficult.
'Once the battle officially begins and his people are affected, Namor will have no choice but to join. But until then, that is unlikely,' Ian mused.
'So, my next target should be Noah Dimension or Ta Lo.' Those special dimensions could be of great help, and he had already prepared for the alliance by sending Aisha home and rescuing Shang-Chi's mother Ying Li a year ago.
Drop! Drop!
"We have an emergency," Morgana said suddenly as the screen lit up.
"What happened?"
"Someone stole Tesseract."
"What are you talking about?"
"Numerous of our systems were compromised and made to look like they were still functioning normally. At the same time, a group led by Brock Rumlow infiltrated our base and took Tesseract."
"Rumlow? How is this possible?" Ian had already completely controlled all the members of Hydra and took them for his own use. He hurriedly checked his computer, and Morgana said he saw Rumlow and a group of people get into a military jeep and drive away.
"Follow him."
"Yes."
Ian has launched "Wizard's Eye", which means he has the best satellite in the world. He tracked the group and kept an eye on them even as they entered remote areas without cameras. They soon arrived at a base, but Ian didn't recognize it as one of the Hydra Bases under his control.
Rumlow and his people quickly arrived at their destination, where a well-dressed middle-aged man was waiting for them. They bowed respectfully to him, and then handed him a suitcase containing Tesseract. The man opened the suitcase, checked it, and frowned.
"You are being followed."
"What? How is this possible? We are very careful."
The man ignored Rumlow, but raised his head and looked up at the sky. Ian could feel his eyes staring at him. "Interesting," he muttered, then stood up and opened a portal in their direction.
Ian looked at these people and immediately frowned. "Why are the seals I planted in their souls missing?" He ensured that he could completely control Hydra, and he used these control methods without mercy.
"That's my masterpiece," replied the well-dressed gentleman.
"Who are you again?"
"Now is not the time to introduce Self."
Ian sniffed, "I can smell the disgusting smell of sulfur and corruption - you are from Hell."
The gentleman paused, then smiled and said, "It seems that I underestimated you. I thought my biggest threat was Sorcerer Supreme. In this case, please allow me to formally introduce myself.
"I am the ninth lord Hell, Mephisto."
Ian frowned. Mephisto is a famous character in Marvel Comics who has never appeared in Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the comics, he is indeed the ruler of Hell.
Therefore, Ian speculated that he might be one of the 36 Hell lords mentioned by the Ancient One. However, he never thought that the other party's status would be so high. According to records, the top ten Hell lords are on par with Demon God King.
'What's wrong with Luck is that their bodies cannot come to Material World, and it seems like this one is the same.'
"How did you sneak onto Earth?"
"You seem to know a lot," Mephisto replied.
"How could Kamar-Taj people not know you," Ian retorted.
"Really?" The Hell lord's eyes briefly Blink. "To answer your question, it's all thanks to you."
"Me?"
"The two souls you summoned from Hell."
"Kaecilius's family?"
"Exactly."
"You are lying. These souls should be in heaven or the underworld. What does they have to do with you?" As far as he knows, in the afterlife of this world, only sinners will be judged in the hell dimension, while other souls will be judged based on their religious beliefs. If they have no faith, their souls will be sent to the neutral underworld for trial.
"I am deeply offended by these words. I never lie."
"Demons said so. No, it's Lord Demons."
"Well said."
"So, are you going to answer my question?"
"Why should I answer?" Mephisto asked.
"That makes sense," Ian nodded. "Hand over Tesseract."
"That's not a small tone," Mephisto said with a polite smile, but his eyes contained bottomless cruelty.
"Maybe it would be okay if your body was here," Ian countered. He had nothing to fear from this incarnation that was essentially just a meat puppet. The two stared at each other, and the air began to tear due to the conflict between their momentums. A portal suddenly appeared, followed by a terrible flame, burning everything in sight. Ian waved his hand to disperse the flames, but Mephisto and Rumlow were gone.
What happened to Luck was that he saved Tesseract by burning off one of Mephisto's hands. The box containing Magic Cube flew into his hands, and Ian checked the contents.
"Emergency," Morgana suddenly heard a voice from the watch he was wearing.
"What happens now?"
"All agents under our control and Hydra Base have disappeared."
"All?"
"Yes, and they also left you a message."
She showed him red graffiti on one of the bases:
"Cut off one head and two will grow."
"So, we lost control of Hydra?"
"It seems so," Morgana replied.
"An uncontrollable variable, this is exactly what we don't want to happen," Ian snorted. "We need to contact the ontology and let him handle this situation."
"I'm already watching," a voice said suddenly.
"Very good. I'll leave it to you then."
Kamar-Taj:
Ian has tried his best to locate Mephisto or any branch of Hydra, but to no avail. He exhaled deeply.
"You should have expected this. After all, Mephisto is stronger than you," Morgana said. "Although he is just an incarnation, his methods are still extraordinary."
"I know, but we need to take action. Otherwise, if Mephisto suddenly steps in, many of our plans will be disrupted."
"Do you have any ideas?"
"We need to hold him off for a while," Ian suggested. "I might have a solution. But first, let's find out the connection between Kaecilius and Mephisto. I don't want any more surprises."
It's now obvious that this timeline has undergone greater changes than he expected, and things may be starting to get out of control.