Again

Dreykov's private jet landed at a secret base on the outskirts of Moscow. The cabin door slowly opened, and Chen Tian led 2B, Madara, Dante, and Vergil down the gangway. Dreykov followed behind them like a puppet on strings, his eyes vacant and his steps mechanical.

The Red Room's core members had long been lined up on the tarmac awaiting them. When they saw the faces of the arrivals, Alexei and Melina, standing at the front, widened their eyes at the same time.

"Th-this isn't our neighbor, the Sparda Family?" Alexei blurted out, his rugged face full of shock. He unconsciously touched his beard, as if confirming that this was not an illusion.

Melina's elegant posture wavered for the first time. Her gaze shifted between Chen Tian and 2B before finally settling on the silver-haired girl who always helped pick up her dropped grocery bags. "Miss YoRHa?" Her voice carried a trace of uncertainty.

Chen Tian gave her a gentle smile, just as he did whenever they ran into one another in the neighborhood. "Long time no see, Mr. Alexei, Ms. Melina."

The muscles beneath Alexei's suit tensed. He looked at the dazed Dreykov, then at the group of neighbors behind Chen Tian.

Melina quickly regained her composure, though her gaze remained sharp. "Who exactly are you people?"

Chen Tian stepped forward, and Dreykov immediately retreated respectfully behind him. That simple movement made every Red Room agent suck in a breath.

"Like I said before," Chen Tian said in a tone as relaxed as if discussing the weather, "we really are your neighbors. It's just that..." He paused, and his smile deepened. "We also happen to be here to take over the Red Room."

Inside the Red Room's conference room, Dreykov sat at the head of the table while Chen Tian stood behind him, his hands resting on Dreykov's shoulders. His posture was casual, yet it carried an unquestionable sense of control.

"Everyone," Dreykov began, his voice steady but his tone sounding as though he were reading from a script, "starting today, the Red Room's highest decision-making authority will be transferred to Comrade Melina."

The conference room instantly erupted.

"What?!" Alexei shot to his feet, knocking his chair over. "Comrade Dreykov, what nonsense are you talking about?!"

The other senior officials also showed looks of shock. Some even drew their guns and aimed them at Chen Tian. "What did you do to him?!"

Dante whistled, spinning Rebellion around one finger. "Whoa, are we fighting?"

Vergil snorted coldly. Yamato slid slightly from its sheath, flashing with cold light.

Madara's Sharingan turned silently. Everyone in the conference room suddenly froze—their movements, breathing, even their thoughts, were suppressed by the illusion in an instant.

Chen Tian ignored those who had been immobilized and looked at Melina, the only one who could still move.

"It seems you're much smarter than they are."

Melina's pupils contracted slightly, but her expression remained calm. "An illusion? Mind control?"

"Something like that." Chen Tian smiled. "Dreykov is useless now, but the Red Room still has value. And you—"

He walked slowly toward her, his voice carrying a faintly dangerous edge.

"—you're more suited than Dreykov to manage it."

Melina fell silent for several seconds, then gave a soft laugh. "What makes you think I'll cooperate?"

"Because you're not a madwoman like Dreykov." Chen Tian looked directly into her eyes. "You know better than anyone that the Red Room's Black Widow Program was fundamentally a failure—those girls were brainwashed and controlled. In the end, they either became emotionless killing machines or waited for an opportunity to overthrow the Red Room completely."

Melina's gaze wavered slightly.

"But you're different." Chen Tian continued, "I can see it. After your uterus was removed, the feelings you had for Natasha and Yelena were real. You truly treated both of them as your daughters."

Melina's breathing hitched slightly.

"So I'll give you a choice." Chen Tian spread his hands. "Become the new master of the Red Room and remake it my way—or become my puppet alongside Dreykov."

The air in the conference room seemed to freeze.

Several seconds later, Melina slowly raised her head. "If I agree, what do I get?"

"Freedom." Chen Tian smiled. "True freedom. The Red Room will become your home, not your prison."

Melina stared at him, seemingly judging whether his words were true. In the end, she gave a slight nod.

"Deal."

That night, the Red Room's database was completely updated.

Dreykov "voluntarily" signed the documents transferring power, after which he and his loyalists were taken into the execution chamber deep within the Red Room.

Chen Tian stood outside the one-way glass, coldly watching everything inside. Dreykov finally woke from the illusion. He suddenly looked up, fear and fury flashing through his eyes, but it was already too late—his throat was cut, and blood splattered across the cold metal floor.

"I don't need puppets, and I need even less trouble." Chen Tian spoke blandly before turning and leaving.

From that moment onward, the Red Room's new order completely erased all traces of the old era.

After learning that Melina had taken over the Red Room, Alexei stormed into the conference room in a rage. But after seeing Madara's Sharingan, he fell silent. In the end, he chose to accept reality—after all, compared to Dreykov, at least Melina would not treat him as an experiment.

Meanwhile, Melina stood in the Red Room's command center, watching the new instructions flashing across the screen—

[Red Room Reorganization Plan]

1. Terminate all training for underage agents and replace it with formal education.

2. Remove the mind control placed on existing Black Widow agents and allow them to choose freely whether to stay or leave.

3. Transform the Red Room into an independent intelligence organization. Objective—protect the world.

She let out a soft breath and turned toward Chen Tian, who stood in the shadows. "Are you sure this will work?"

"Of course." Chen Tian smiled. "After all, from now on, the Red Room has only one enemy—"

"—anyone who wants to destroy world peace."

Three days later, Natasha and Yelena were sent to a safe house in Norway.

When Melina personally appeared and told them, "The Red Room will never hunt you again," Natasha's expression shifted from vigilance to disbelief.

"Why?" she asked.

Melina looked at her for a long time before finally speaking softly. "Because someone made me understand—some things are more important than control."

Yelena tilted her head. "What things?"

Melina rubbed her hair and revealed a rare, faint smile.

"Feelings."

Chen Tian stood atop the Red Room, looking down over the vast agent empire.

2B walked to his side. "Master, the plan is proceeding smoothly. The brainwashing program jointly developed by Hydra and the Red Room has been completely cracked."

"This is only the beginning." Chen Tian chuckled. "The Red Room was only the first step. Next—"

His gaze turned toward the distance, as though piercing through the clouds to stare directly at some even greater shadow.

"—it's time to let Hydra taste the backlash of the monsters it created."

Siberia · Hydra Secret Base

The moment the heavy blastproof doors were blown apart, Hydra commander Klaus Schneider was still leisurely drinking coffee.

"Alert! Red Room agents are attacking!" A heart-rending roar came from the radio.

Schneider sneered and set down his coffee cup. "Why panic? The Red Room is our ally."

The next second, the remains of the blastproof doors collapsed with a thunderous crash. A woman in a red combat suit walked out through the smoke—Melina Vostokoff.

Schneider's expression froze.

"Ally?" Melina sneered as both pistols in her hands were cocked at once. "No. Starting today, the Red Room is Hydra's gravedigger."

New York · Wall Street Underground Vault

Hydra's financial director Hank was counting stacks of dollars when he suddenly heard a rhythmic knocking from the vault door.

"Who is it?" He warily reached for the submachine gun beneath the table.

"Room service." A sweet female voice came from outside.

Hank had just relaxed when the entire door was kicked flying. A silver-haired girl holding a white katana stepped inside, followed by more than a dozen fully armed former Black Widow agents.

"YoRHa, on behalf of the Red Room, is liquidating Hydra's assets." Blue light flickered in the girl's mechanical eyes. "Friendly reminder: resistance will result in death. P.S., you are also about to become useless."

Hank looked at the Black Widows who had once been brainwashed by Hydra. Now, the flames of vengeance burned in their eyes.

He suddenly understood—Hydra's disaster had arrived.

Hong Kong · Hydra Asia Headquarters

When Dante kicked open the door to the top-floor conference room, Hydra's Asian leader was burning documents.

"Yo, busy destroying evidence?" His red coat fluttered as Rebellion spun on his fingertips. "Need a hand?"

Vergil stepped out from behind him. Yamato flashed with cold light, and all the filing cabinets and the leader were instantly sliced into neat fragments.

"This is faster," the blue-clad swordsman said coldly.

"Bro, could you let me finish my cool line?" Dante spread his hands helplessly.

Melina strode through the central hall, where screens flickered and data streams flowed across her fingertips. She suddenly stopped before a massive tactical display. Fifty-seven percent of Hydra stronghold markers had changed from red to blue. But at that moment, a golden insignia suddenly appeared at the edge of the screen—the symbol of the World Security Council.

"Chen Tian." Her voice carried a hint of gravity. "The situation has changed."

Chen Tian slowly emerged from the shadows, the hem of his trench coat swaying lightly. "The Council finally couldn't sit still?"

Melina quickly pulled up an emergency communication log. On-screen, representatives from the five permanent member states of the World Security Council were holding an emergency meeting. "They've just passed a special resolution defining the Red Room as a 'global threat.'" She pointed to a section of text. "They're demanding that S.H.I.E.L.D. take immediate action."

Chen Tian stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, lightly rubbing his chin with his fingertips. Suddenly, he laughed softly. "Notify all field teams. Activate the Hibernation Protocol."

Melina raised an eyebrow. "Full concealment?"

"Only on the surface." Chen Tian turned around. "Let the snakeheads controlling the Council think they've won this psychological battle."

A deep gleam flashed through Chen Tian's eyes. "I need to go somewhere important." He pressed his wristwatch. "Tell Madara that I need him to temporarily take my place."

With that, he turned and left the command hall. Before stepping through its doors, Chen Tian stopped and looked back at Melina.

"I heard Natasha and Yelena are studying agent courses?"

Melina nodded helplessly. "Yes. I can't stop them. They said they hoped they could help."

Chen Tian chuckled. "Fine, let them work hard. Oh, and Madara will take over next. You can listen to his opinions when appropriate. As long as he's not with Dante, his intelligence is quite reliable. Of course, you're still the boss."

Chen Tian stood before the Shiva Temple in Durbar Square, the evening light stretching his shadow long behind him. Over the past three days, he had searched every dark alley in the ancient city—Kamar-Taj seemed not to exist in this dimension at all.

"Master, there are currently no findings." 2B's voice came through his earpiece. She was controlling three stealth drones as they patrolled the city.

Chen Tian had just turned around when a Little Boy in orange monk's robes suddenly stopped him. "Sir, would you like to buy an amulet?" The child raised a string of bone ornaments. One of the coins bore the image of a Sling Ring.

His pupils contracted slightly. This was clearly a beginner's magical artifact from Kamar-Taj. Just as he was about to ask, the Little Boy gave a sly smile. "Twenty dollars, and you get the Sorcerer Supreme's afternoon tea time for free."

Chen Tian followed the boy through the dark alleyways. The moment he entered the building bearing the worn sign of the Himalayan Tea House, the entire space suddenly twisted and warped like paper crumpled by an invisible hand. Before the space could finish reforming, his figure had already turned into an afterimage.

"Ancient One! What timeline am I in now?!" Chen Tian instantly flashed before Ancient One, who was brewing tea, and slammed his palm heavily onto the tea table. The cups and saucers on the sandalwood tea tray shook violently, while the nebula-like tea mist that had condensed above them was torn apart by the fierce wind.

Cracks spread across the sandalwood tea tray like a spiderweb as Ancient One slowly raised her head. Chen Tian's hand froze in midair—the bald head that had once been smooth as porcelain was now covered in fine wrinkles. Even her signature composed smile bore the traces of time's erosion.

"You... what happened to you?" Chen Tian frowned. Ancient One should not have looked like this. Ancient One of 1996 should still have been eternally youthful.

The golden magic circle at Ancient One's fingertips was dissipating, and tea mist condensed into ice crystals between her wrinkles. "Curious?" She pushed the boiling teapot toward Chen Tian. "Didn't Diablo tell you?"

Chen Tian stared at her fingers, which resembled dead branches. "He didn't say that much."

"To repair the dimensional collapse caused by Diablo's power and the power released when the three Dimensional Demon Gods self-destructed, I had no choice but to use the Time Stone's power." Ancient One suddenly coughed violently, black streaks of blood appearing in the tea. "Dormammu's dark energy can now only delay my death. It cannot reverse it."

"That can't be right. Strange used the power of time too, but he didn't end up like this." Chen Tian sat beside Ancient One.

"Haha, he could only use a small part of it. If he used all of it, he would end up like me too." Ancient One laughed.

Chen Tian sighed. "What should we do next?"

With a smiling wave of her hand, Ancient One restored the blood-streaked tea to its original state. "The me in this time is still the same, but the me in 2010 will probably die."

"So soon? Then Strange is now..." Chen Tian asked in shock.

Ancient One looked at him and shook her head. "When I say probably, I mean that if I stop using my power and rely on the remnants to sustain my body, I can still hold on until Strange comes to find me."

"Then... who will protect Blue Planet from invasion by the Dimensional Demon Gods?"

"Do you think the Dimensional Demon Gods dare not come to Blue Planet just because I exist? Have you forgotten Thor's father?"

"That's true, but it's probably because both of you are here, right?"

"Yes. So Blue Planet will suffer many hardships next. Nothing major, but probably many minor troubles. For example, there will be far more followers of the Dimensional Demon Gods."

"That's not too bad. How is Tony doing now?"

"Not well. He's been looking for you. His attitude toward Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, and those twins has been especially awful."

"Then could you help me notify him?"

"Um, sure. Anyway, since I'm already like this, I can't stop people from disrupting the timeline anymore. Might as well just let things be. What message do you want me to bring back?"

"Just tell him I'm doing fine. Protect Blue Planet, kill all the troublemakers, and remember to buy every new AAA game for me when it comes out."

"You? That's all? Aren't you planning to leave anything behind? You control the Red Room now. You only need to have Tony go there, and he'll be able to obtain the information you left."

"It doesn't matter. He doesn't need Red Room intelligence anyway, and I don't know what I would leave for him. It just feels too sentimental."

"Fine, I'll pass on your words. By the way, what was it that I came here to tell you?"

"Hm? Didn't I come to find you? How did it become you coming to me?"

The moment Chen Tian said that, his body began to glow emerald green.

When Ancient One saw the light, realization appeared on her face. "Right! Your body still has residual Time Stone energy. You may be transported to different points in time from time to time."

At that moment, Chen Tian's mouth was hanging open as he looked back and forth between his blurry figure and Ancient One's face.

"Y-you... why didn't you tell me earlier? You should have told me!" Chen Tian shouted angrily.

"I'm old. I can't remember things very clearly." Ancient One picked up her teacup and took a sip.

"You..." Before Chen Tian could finish speaking, his body vanished into thin air.

Ancient One looked at where Chen Tian had disappeared, tilted her head, and murmured, "What was I here for?"