The seventeen minutes that time was stolen are like an invisible scar, left in the collective consciousness of the earth. S.H.I.E.L.D. tried his best to investigate, but only captured some vague fragments: a shadow traveling through the folds of time, an existence that minutely "pruned" history.
"He is not trying to destroy the world," Bruce·Banner analyzed the remaining time data, "But he is modifying... the details of certain key nodes. Like Gardener, he is pruning the branches and leaves to make history grow in the direction he wants."
Nick Fury's single eye scanned one anomaly report after another, "In the missing persons database, three seemingly unrelated names were completely erased; in the patent file of a small technology company, a certain key data was replaced; and even... there were slight changes in the casualty list of a certain battle during World War II. What do these modifications have in common?"
"There is currently no direct connection," Maria·Hill shook his head, "But every modification is extremely precise and leaves almost no traces. If there were no 'folds' in the time structure itself, we would not be able to detect it at all."
Strange guards Sanctum, wary of any new fluctuations in the time flow. "He is weaving a web, using subtle changes to affect the direction of the future. He must be stopped before he causes greater damage."
Avengers went out again. With the time fluctuation detector developed by Strange's Eye of Agamotto and Tony, they struggled to track the shadow called "Time Thief", traveling through different time fragments, trying to repair the tampered historical nodes.
This is a silent war that takes place in the gaps of time. They have witnessed the strange deviation of history due to subtle changes: people who should have died are alive, great inventions that should have been made Oblivion, and areas that should have been peaceful have fallen into war.
"He is testing!" Tony exclaimed after a short time jump, "Testing which modifications can produce the greatest 'butterfly effect'! He is looking for the most critical time fulcrum!"
Finally, they captured a strong signal. "Time Thief" was trying to take action on a more significant event - trying to make Howard·Stark accidentally die in an early experiment.
"No!" Tony roared, rushing towards that time desperately.
A chase battle in the time stream begins. Avengers and "Time Thief" confront each other in the corridors of history, trying to prevent him from tampering with the fate of Tony's father. Time itself becomes a weapon and obstacle, and the scenes of the past and the future are strangely intertwined.
However, "Time Thief"'s control over time far exceeds theirs. He easily sets time traps, trapping Avengers in different time loops, and even tries to banish them to the end of time.
Just when Tony seemed to have no time to stop the "accident"--
The entire time flow suddenly stagnated.
It is not the cessation of time, but the arrival of an extreme "stability". All the wrinkles, vortices, and cycles of time are forcibly smoothed out by an invisible but absolute force. History has restored the smooth trajectory it should have.
Howard·Stark's experiment was a near miss, and he survived.
The figure of "Time Thief" let out a horrifying silent scream in the time stream. He felt as if he had hit an infinitely thick wall, and all his ability to control time instantly failed in the face of this absolute "immutability". He was forced to be "squeezed" out of the time stream, fell back into the real dimension in embarrassment, and appeared in front of Avengers - a pale man with incredible fear in his eyes.
Avengers was also out of the time dilemma and stared blankly at the scene in front of him.
Tony instantly subdued "Time Thief" who had lost the ability to time, but his heart was full of questions. "What happened?"
Strange felt something and looked into the void. "The flow of time... was forcibly stabilized. It was like a giant hand smoothing all the waves."
The voice of Banner came from their communicator, with shock. "Just now... an unprecedented 'Super-Solidification' phenomenon occurred in the global time structure! All abnormalities subsided instantly! The energy signature... points to Malibu!"
Stark Villa Beach.
Xiao Han just turned over impatiently. Just now, he felt an extremely annoying and tiny "fluctuation" in the flow of time around his body, as if mosquitoes and flies were constantly interfering with the Eternity's unchanging tranquility when he was enjoying the sun.
He didn't even bother to think about the reason, he just subconsciously released his own constant Biological Force Field, completely smoothing out this insignificant "time noise".
The world has returned to a comfortable "smoothness".
As for the meaning behind this small fluctuation, he didn't care.
S.H.I.E.L.D. interrogation room.
The captured "Time Thief" Alas Morn, a historian from the distant future, faced the interrogation with a dejected expression but a hint of fanaticism.
"Don't you understand?" He murmured, "I am saving the future! According to historical records, an uncontrollable 'Solar Catastrophe' will devour everything in the near future! I must modify the past to prevent the birth of that existence! Or... make him controllable!"
"Solar Catastrophe?" Steve frowned.
"That's him!" Ailas raised his head suddenly, looking in the direction of Malibu with fear in his eyes, "That existence called Xiao Han! His power will continue to grow, and eventually exceed the limit of the universe, causing reality to collapse! I must modify everything related to him from the root before he becomes unstoppable!"
Avengers looked at each other with shock in their hearts.
"So your target has always been him?" Natasha asked.
"Not entirely..." Ailas shook his head. "Initially, I just wanted to make slight adjustments to avoid certain key events that would allow him to grow faster. But every attempt will cause violent rejection and rebound of the time flow... It is as if his existence itself is an 'absolute constant' that cannot be modified."
He smiled bitterly, "Until just now... I finally felt it personally... what it felt like. The power of my time in front of him was like a stream trying to shake the sea... No, it was trying to shake an eternal star... Ridiculous..."
After the interrogation, the atmosphere was heavy.
"What he said... is it possible?" Banner asked worriedly.
"The future is not destined," Strange pondered, "But the existence of Xiao Han is indeed like a huge 'anchor', more stable than imagined. Any time operation that attempts to bypass him or affect him is extremely difficult and even dangerous."
Tony looked at Xiao Han, who was still basking in the sun on the surveillance screen, with mixed emotions. "So, our 'neighbor' not only finds it noisy, but he is also a 'time paradox' himself?"
The voice of Fury came. "Be optimistic about that time criminal. As for the prophecy of 'Solar Catastrophe'... it is listed as top secret surveillance. At present, he is still our only... and last resort when solving more imminent crises."
Xiao Han, on the other hand, still knows nothing about all this and has no interest in it. He just feels that today's sunshine seems to be particularly "stable" and "quiet".
This is good.