Prediction and the Price

The lingering aftermath of the Quantum Storm churned through Lin Xiu's consciousness like raging tides. He woke to a needle-like stab of pain at the back of his neck.

The first thing he smelled was the pungent stench of mildew mixed with heavy metallic rust, as if countless tiny particles were drilling into his nostrils. His throat felt as though it had been scraped repeatedly with rough sandpaper, dry and painful, every swallow burning like fire.

His eyelashes trembled faintly as his vision gradually cleared—the concrete ceiling of the abandoned warehouse was webbed with fine cracks. Several strands of golden sunlight spilled through holes like threads of gold, casting mottled patches across the dust-covered floor, where dust motes danced in the light like tiny sprites.

The hard, icy touch of the armor on his left arm remained, but the dark-gold patterns that had once covered his body had receded, leaving only the core on his chest faintly glowing with a dim light. Nanoparticles were contracting into his body through his pores, bringing an itchy, tingling sensation. It was a typical sign of power-saving mode.

"Oracle System, retrieve the combat log." His voice was hoarse, as though sandpaper were lodged in his throat. His fingertips pressed against the biological interface at his neck, where he could feel a faint warmth.

A pale-blue holographic screen unfolded before him, glowing softly. Amid the scrolling data, a scarlet alert suddenly appeared: [Time-Slot Seer program activated (0.03 seconds)].

Lin Xiu's pupils contracted slightly—that was a module he had never seen in the system. Its code structure carried the chaotic spirals unique to quantum entanglement, like some mysterious vortex, and closely matched the energy fluctuations of the Tesseract Fragment.

The ability known as "Time-Slot Seer" might have interacted with the energy of the Tesseract Fragment at the quantum level in an extremely complex way, allowing for low-level observation of the timeline. But such observation could be affected by quantum-state uncertainty, creating observational errors and the potential risk of energy backlash.

"So when I faced Loki..." He pushed himself upright, his molars clenched tight. "I didn't predict his movements. This program was reading the future?"

The Oracle System's mechanical voice sounded at once. "Quantum residual energy has been detected with a 0.97 compatibility rate with the Tesseract Fragment. It is inferred that 'Time-Slot Seer' is a hidden function independently evolved by the Nanocore after being impacted by Tesseract energy."

Lin Xiu's fingers unconsciously traced the armor patterns around his wrist, feeling their fine texture.

He remembered what the lab notes had said: as the Space Stone, the Tesseract's energy was essentially absolute control over quantum states. If the Nanocore had truly analyzed a fragment of it, then this so-called "prediction" might be some form of low-level timeline observation.

"I have to verify whether this ability is controllable." He rose to his feet, his combat boots crushing broken glass on the floor with a crisp sound that echoed through the empty warehouse.

Brooklyn's dark alleys carried a damp, chilling cold in the afternoon. The wet walls exuded a rotten smell, and wind swept through the alley with threads of icy chill, cutting across his face like blades.

Lin Xiu stood in an old district frequented by Chitauri remnants, deliberately slowing his pace.

An alien weapons smuggling case had taken place here three days ago, and the Avengers patrol had only left two hours earlier—enough time for those stragglers to lower their guard.

"They're here." He suddenly stopped and stared at the shadow around the corner, which seemed to conceal countless secrets.

Three figures in heavy tactical vests closed in from the dark alleys on both sides. One of them held a modified Chitauri Energy Gun, blue light slowly gathering at its muzzle with a sizzling sound, as though it were building immense power.

A countdown suddenly flashed across Lin Xiu's retina: [0.3 seconds].

His heartbeat leaped into his throat, his heart pounding wildly in his chest like a startled deer.

He remembered the feeling of filming nanoparticle movement with a high-speed camera in the lab—the world had suddenly been put into slow motion.

The blue light of the energy gun spread outward like a blooming blue demon flower. The enemy on the left was squeezing the trigger with a faint click, while the one on the right crushed a piece of broken brick beneath his heel with a subtle crack.

"Now."

He twisted aside so quickly that he stirred up a gust of damp air, his back sliding half a meter along the wet, peeling wall. The wall's cold, rough texture seeped through his clothes to his skin.

The first shot grazed past his left chest, its scorching blast wave searing his skin like flames; the second skimmed his right trouser leg and burned a blackened hole into the wall, filling the air with a pungent charred smell; the third was blocked by his raised arm—the nanoparticles in his armguard instantly hardened into a shield, knocking the shot away with a sharp clang that rang especially loudly through the dark alley.

In the instant the three enemies froze, a dense Nanite Swarm seeped from Lin Xiu's palm.

The silver specks burrowed into the weapon ports like living creatures. The blue light of the energy guns abruptly died, and the electronic locks on the tactical vests clicked shut, binding all three men's arms tightly to their sides.

"You picked the wrong target." He tore off one man's mask. The dark-gold patterns flowing across his armor reflected in the man's pupils, and his face instantly went pale.

An invisible force seemed to pull his consciousness out of the dark, damp alley. In an instant, a strange light flashed before his eyes like a shooting star crossing the night sky, and the scene shifted to the mystic astrological chamber of Kamar-Taj.

In Kamar-Taj's astrological chamber, the crystal ball suddenly rippled with murky waves that spread outward in rings like ripples on water.

Vela Knox's fingertips hovered over the sphere, her brows slightly furrowed. "Master Ancient One, that fluctuation has appeared again."

The Ancient One's red cloak hung behind her like frozen flames. She sat with her eyes closed on a meditation cushion, lightly stroking the Eye of Agamotto at her neck. "It is that mechanic."

"His consciousness..." Vela looked at the overlapping timelines in the crystal ball. "It seems to exist in the present, three seconds ago, and five seconds later at the same time."

"The timeline has always been a flowing river." The Ancient One opened her eyes, galaxy-like light shifting within her pupils. "Let him continue. I want to see what kind of flower this seed, kissed by the Quantum Storm, will finally bloom into."

When Lin Xiu returned to the underground laboratory, the biological interface at the back of his neck was still burning. The heat traveled through his skin to his brain, leaving him slightly dizzy.

He tore off his slashed jacket and threw it over the back of a chair, then rapidly tapped across the console and imported all operational data from Time-Slot Seer into an encrypted layer. "Memory Isolation Protocol, triple lock."

The Oracle System's prompt sounded. "Data sealed. It cannot be decrypted without source-fragment authorization."

He rubbed his throbbing temples, feeling as if his head were about to explode, then turned to reach for the bottled water on the table.

His phone suddenly vibrated on the console. The instant its screen lit up, his breathing stopped—the anonymous email's subject line was as piercing as a blade: "You aren't the only one who has seen the future."

His heart instantly filled with doubt and vigilance. Who was this anonymous sender?

Was it an enemy testing him, or someone else with the same ability?

He was deeply conflicted over whether to go. On one hand, he feared it was a trap; on the other, he wanted to know exactly how much the sender knew.

His finger hovered above the screen for three seconds before he slowly opened it.

The message contained only one line: "Ten tonight. Brooklyn subway station, Exit D."

The laboratory's overhead light suddenly flickered.

Lin Xiu looked up at the emergency light on the ceiling, then lowered his gaze to the phone screen.

In the darkness, the core in his armor's chest glowed faintly like a sleepless eye, casting a weak light.

He reached out and switched off every light. In complete darkness, he felt around for his jacket and put it on, sensing its rough texture.

The cold glow of his phone screen illuminated his taut jawline. At last, he slipped the phone into his pocket, turned, and walked toward the laboratory elevator.

The moment the metal doors closed, he heard his own heartbeat—like war drums, like a countdown—echoing especially loudly in the silent elevator.

The electronic display at Brooklyn subway station's Exit D glowed white in the night like a gigantic ghost. Lin Xiu's shadow stretched long beneath the streetlamp like a black ribbon.

He stood three steps away from the stairs, watching the time for the last train tick across the display. His Adam's apple bobbed—ten minutes remained.

Wind rushed out from the tunnel entrance, carrying the damp smell of the tracks, a mixture of rust and earth that blew cold against his body.

His fingers unconsciously rubbed the armor around his wrist. The nanoparticles there were faintly heating with his heartbeat, bringing a gentle warmth.

From some corner of the darkness came the sound of footsteps. They drew nearer and nearer, beating against his nerves like drumbeats.