This book is completely doomed.
I don't know what's wrong with my writing...
The data started to plummet on the 20th...
I'm completely baffled by the 6.0 rating.
5000 words today, hope you enjoyed reading.
The next morning, Lynn found Thanos.
Thanos was already dressed and sitting on the edge of the bed.
"I've come to ask you for the exact spacetime coordinates," Lynn said, leaning against the doorframe.
Thanos nodded, took a neatly folded piece of paper from his pocket, and handed it over.
Lynn took the paper, glanced at it, folded it, and put it in her jacket pocket.
What have you thought about it?
"I'm still considering it. I'll give you an answer before we leave," Thanos said.
Lynn looked at him, nodded, and didn't ask any further questions.
When Lynn delivered the coordinates to the lab, Tony was dozing off at the control panel, a stack of printed quantum model drawings beside him. Banner sat to the side, frowning at the data on the screen. JARVIS sat next to him, constantly verifying various parameters.
"I've got the time-space coordinates." Lynn placed the note in front of Tony.
Tony jolted awake, grabbed the note, glanced at it, and instantly became fully alert.
Tony whistled and turned to look at Banner.
"With this, the anchor point accuracy problem is solved."
Banner adjusted his glasses, leaned closer to look at the coordinate data, and nodded.
Over the next few days, Tony and his two companions went into a frenzy.
They practically lived in the lab, with JARVIS on call around the clock, constantly adjusting the parameters of the Quantum Tunnel.
On the day the traversal platform was completed, everyone was summoned to the laboratory.
A massive metal dome stands in the center of the room, its surface covered with densely packed quantum circuits that gleam with a pale blue light. Six supporting pillars surround the dome.
Banner stood beside the round platform, holding a writing board, explaining the precautions for time travel to everyone.
He glanced at the tense expressions on everyone's faces, cleared his throat, and tried to lighten the mood.
"I know this sounds scary, but trust the data. JARVIS ran hundreds of simulations with a success rate of over 97%. So don't panic, just follow the plan."
Lynn leaned against the wall, watching Banner unconsciously rubbing his fingers along the edge of the writing board as he spoke, and couldn't help but smile.
"Alright, Banner."
Banner stopped and looked at him.
"The person who needs to relax the most right now is yourself."
Banner took a deep breath. "Okay. You're right."
He stepped back, giving Tony some space.
JARVIS stepped forward and began making final adjustments, his fingers flying across the control panel, checking each parameter one by one.
" The Quantum Tunnel is stable. Pym Particles reserves are sufficient. The time anchor has been locked."
He stood up and dusted off his hands.
"Preparation complete."
Scott suddenly walked out and looked at everyone with a serious expression.
I'll emphasize it again.
"We only have this many Pym Particles left. Enough for one round trip. So each of you must, absolutely must, complete this task."
If we mess this up, we're really out of options.
Lynn stepped forward and stood beside the round platform, his gaze sweeping over everyone.
"Each group confirms its own objective."
He looked at Tony, Steve, Scott, and Banner.
"First set, 2012 Battle of New York. The Tesseract, the Time Stone, the Mind Stone."
He then looked at Ivan and Thor.
"The second set, 2013 Asgard. The Reality Stone."
Finally, his gaze fell on Thanos.
"The third group: the Power Stone, the Soul Stone, and Thanos and me."
No one raised any objections.
Tony was the last to step onto the platform. After standing still, he glanced at Lynn.
Lynn nodded slightly at him.
Tony gave Lynn a thumbs up.
The Pym Particles storage tanks on the six supporting pillars simultaneously emitted a low hum. The pale blue light suddenly brightened, enveloping the entire platform.
The figures of everyone gradually became blurred and transparent in the light.
The lights on the platform slowly went out.
The laboratory fell silent.
JARVIS stood in front of the control panel, looking at the platform in front of him.
Now, all we can do is wait.
New York, 2012.
The Chitauri fleet surged across the spatial rift torn open above Stark Tower. The streets were filled with panicked crowds fleeing, sirens blaring, explosions exploding, and the rumble of collapsing buildings mingling together, plunging the entire city into chaos.
Tony, Steve, Scott, and Banner appeared in a secluded alley near Stark Tower.
"Proceed according to plan." Tony quickly glanced at the time display on his wrist. " The Mind Scepter is with the S.H.I.E.L.D.. transport team. The Tesseract is with Loki, who will soon be taken away. The Time Stone is with the Ancient One in Kamar-Taj."
"I'll take the Mind Scepter," Steve said.
" The Tesseract is mine and Scott's. We'll steal it while things are in chaos."
Banner took a deep breath. " The Time Stone, I'll go. I know the New York Sanctum well."
The four men exchanged a glance, then turned and disappeared into the chaos of New York.
Steve changed into the intercepted Hydra agent uniform and waited at the intersection the convoy was bound to pass through. When the convoy arrived, he stepped forward, showed off his forged credentials, and used a pre-prepared story to stop the escort team.
"The order is that the scepter must be moved to a safer location."
The escort, Crossbones, glanced at him, then at his identification, but didn't suspect anything.
"Okay, sign here."
After signing the papers, Steve took the metal box containing the Mind Scepter and turned to leave.
After walking two blocks, he turned into an elevator in a building. Just as the elevator doors were about to close, a person in S.H.I.E.L.D.. uniform rushed in.
It's Steve Rogers from 2012.
The two people looked into each other's eyes.
The Steve of the past, seeing the "himself" in front of him dressed in Hydra uniform and carrying a metal box, instantly became alert.
"Who are you?"
"Don't be nervous." Modern Steve hid the metal box behind his back. "Listen to me..."
In 2012, Steve struck a battle pose. "Are you Loki in disguise?"
"I'm not..."
Before he could finish speaking, Steve threw a punch.
Modern-day Steve dodged to the side, and the two began to wrestle inside the elevator. The elevator was cramped, limiting their movements, and their fists and elbows pounded against the metal walls.
Modern Steve, with his greater combat experience, pinned his past self against the elevator wall after a few rounds.
"Listen!" he whispered, " Bucky's alive!"
Steve froze instantly in 2012.
"What?"
Bucky Barnes, your best friend. He's still alive.
The Steve of the past stared wide-eyed, as if frozen in place.
While he was in a daze, Steve grabbed the metal box and rushed out of the elevator.
"I've got this sorted out on my end. How's it going on your end?"
"Never mind that." Tony's voice came through the phone. "Something's happened between Scott and me."
Tony and Scott infiltrated the transport area of Stark Tower. Loki was being bound hand and foot, being escorted back to S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters, with a briefcase containing the Tesseract being carried by someone nearby.
Scott shrunk to the size of an ant and silently crawled onto the body of the former Tony...
Everything went very smoothly.
Until 2012, when Hulk kicked open the iron door of the emergency exit.
The iron door swung open and hit Tony squarely. Tony was thrown into the air and crashed heavily into the wall, his vision going black.
In the chaos, the Tesseract rolled down to Loki's feet.
Loki reacted incredibly quickly, bending down to pick up the Tesseract, activating the Space Stone's power, and instantly vanishing from the spot.
"No..." Tony crawled out of the rubble, rubbing his chest.
" Loki took the Tesseract," Tony said over the comms. "Mission failed."
Steve's voice came through. "I got the Mind Scepter."
Where's Banner?
"Although the process was somewhat complicated, the Time Stone was finally obtained."
Tony was silent for two seconds.
"Okay. Two cubes in hand, now I need the Tesseract."
He quickly went through all the possible solutions in his mind.
" Scott, you take the Mind Scepter and go back first. Banner, after you get the Time Stone, you leave first too. Steve and I will stay."
"Where are you going?"
"1970, New Jersey, a secret S.H.I.E.L.D.. military base. There's Hank Pym's lab, a stockpile of Pym Particles, and the Tesseract."
Steve hesitated for a moment.
Are you sure?
"OK."
Seeing that he couldn't persuade the two, Scott activated the teleportation program, and his figure disappeared into the Quantum Tunnel.
After Banner obtained the Time Stone, he followed suit and fled.
Tony and Steve exchanged a glance.
"Let's go, old man," Tony said.
The two activated the timeline of 1970 and disappeared into the Quantum Tunnel.
Asgard, 2013.
Ivan and Thor appeared in the gardens of the Asgard palace.
The sky was the Eternity color of the aurora borealis, and the golden spires shimmered in the light. The flowers in the garden emitted a faint glow, and a sweet fragrance filled the air.
Thor stood in the garden, silently looking around.
He was much more bloated than before, his long hair was disheveled, and his eyes carried a perpetual weariness.
"Let's go." Ivan patted him on the shoulder. "Jane should be in her chambers behind the scenes right now. The Aether is inside her."
Thor took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in his heart, and led Ivan toward the bedroom.
Ivan took out the extraction device that Lynn had prepared in advance from his backpack. It was a palm-sized metal instrument with fine energy circuits engraved all over its surface.
Ivan activated the device, and a soft orange beam of light enveloped Jane's body. The red Aether, as if drawn by some force, were slowly drawn out of her body and fell into a container in Ivan's palm.
"I got it," Ivan said.
The whole process took less than five minutes.
Thor did not participate in the extraction process. He stood outside, wandering aimlessly along the palace corridors.
Then he saw Frigga at the end of the corridor.
His mother stood by the colonnade, gazing at the surging sea of clouds in the distance, her long hair fluttering gently in the wind.
Thor stopped in his tracks.
Frigga turned to look at him. Her gaze lingered on Thor's face for a few seconds, then she smiled slightly.
"You've gained weight."
Thor was stunned.
"You... you noticed?"
Frigga stepped forward and reached out to tidy his disheveled long hair.
"My son, no matter what you become, I will recognize you."
Thor's eyes reddened. He lowered his head, not wanting his mother to see his tears.
Frigga didn't ask him what had happened. She simply reached out and gently patted his face.
"Everyone is lost, unable to find their way."
Sometimes, failure can give you new insights.
Thor closed his eyes and stood there for a long time.
When he opened his eyes again, Ivan was already standing at the end of the corridor waiting for him.
"Let's go," Thor said.
He glanced at Frigga one last time, then turned and followed Ivan.
Behind her, Frigga watched her son's figure disappear at the end of the corridor.
Two figures transformed into beams of light in the garden and disappeared into the Quantum Tunnel.
Vormir.
On the desolate cliffs, the wind howled, carrying sand and gravel. The sky was Eternity dark red, like dried blood.
Lynn and Thanos appeared at the bottom of the stone steps leading to the summit.
The stone steps wound upwards, disappearing into the clouds. The Red Skull stood beside the altar at the cliff top, its gray skin appearing particularly eerie in the dark red light of the sky.
Thanos stood at the bottom of the stone steps, looking up at the path leading to the top of the mountain.
He didn't move.
Lynn stood beside him, not urging him.
"Let's go," Thanos said.
He stepped onto the first stone step.
Every step was heavy. He used to walk this path with Gamora by his side.
He remembered the last look she gave him.
The stone steps weren't long, but it took him a long time to walk up them.
Upon reaching the top of the cliff, Red Skull looked at Thanos with a meaningful expression on his gray face.
Thanos, son of A'lars.
Thanos ignored him. He walked to the edge of the cliff and looked down into the bottomless abyss.
A wind blew up from below, carrying a biting chill.
Lynn stood a few steps away, releasing an invisible spatial barrier to completely isolate the two of them. Red Skull's gaze swept over them, he frowned, but said nothing, retreating to the altar to wait quietly.
According to the timeline, the Thanos of the past would soon Gamora.
Thanos stood motionless in the shadows at the edge of the cliff.
Lynn stood behind him without saying a word.
The wait wasn't long.
Footsteps echoed from below the stone steps.
A figure appeared at the corner of the stone steps.
It's the Thanos from before.
Gamora was with him.
Her hands were bound, her lips were tightly pressed together, and her eyes were filled with anger and resentment. She had struggled all the way, but to no avail. She knew where she was going and what was about to happen.
Thanos stood in the shadows, watching himself five years ago, holding Gamora's hand, walking step by step up the stone steps.
His fists clenched.
The Red Skull slowly revealed the method to obtain the Soul Stone: exchange souls, sacrifice the life of the person you cherish most.
The Thanos of the past remained silent for a long time.
Then he lowered his head, and tears slid down his purple face.
Gamora.
The Thanos of the past has closed his eyes.
Gamora's body arched backward, plummeting into the abyss.
At that very moment, Thanos moved from the shadows.
He was so fast that Lynn barely had time to react. Dark purple energy exploded in his palm, and in the instant Gamora fell less than half a second, he rushed to the edge of the cliff, reached out and grabbed Gamora's wrist tightly, pulling the falling girl up and suspending her in mid-air.
At the same moment, Thanos, whose center of gravity had been disrupted by the impact, was still in the posture of pushing people, and was in a moment of emotional collapse and confusion.
Thanos gripped Gamora firmly with one hand, and using the momentum, kicked her hard in the Thanos. With his other hand, taking advantage of her loss of balance and backward lean, he swiftly ripped off the empty Infinity Gauntlet from her wrist.
The immense force sent the Thanos of the past staggering backward and plunging into the abyss.
The Red Skull's voice came from the direction of the altar, tinged with surprise.
"A soul for a soul. You sacrificed... yourself?"
The Soul Stone slowly rose from the abyss, its orange light illuminating the entire cliff top.
Thanos stood on the edge of the cliff, one hand still gripping Gamora's wrist. He pulled hard, dragging Gamora back from the edge and placing her on the ground.
Gamora collapsed to the ground, red marks still visible on her wrist from being gripped so tightly. She looked up at Thanos, who appeared much older than she remembered, her face filled with bewilderment.
"Who... who are you?"
Thanos did not answer.
He bent down and grasped the Soul Stone floating in mid-air, then casually picked up the Infinity Gauntlet he had just stolen.
They were handed to Lynn together.
Thanos nodded, turned around, and looked at Gamora sitting on the ground.
She looked up and met Thanos's gaze.
Those green eyes were filled with confusion.
She didn't know who the person in front of her was, but she could sense that this Thanos was different from the Thanos who had pushed her off the cliff earlier.
Thanos looked at her, his lips twitching slightly, then turned and walked towards Lynn.
Lynn glanced at him but didn't ask any questions.
He directly used his abilities to create a new teleportation device and handed it to Thanos.
Thanos took the clothes and helped Gamora put them on; the three of them then activated the return-to-origin procedure simultaneously.
SSC Base Laboratory.
A light shone on the platform, and Lynn and Thanos appeared simultaneously.
Lynn held the Infinity Gauntlet, which was inlaid with four gems, in his hand. Thanos stood beside him, silent.
(I've fallen silent... I only just remembered that I got 4 gems at once here... Consider the rest as collecting candy beans...)
JARVIS strode forward.
"Four gems?"
Lynn nodded.
Gamora stood on the platform, looking around. The enormous laboratory, the flickering holographic screens, the unfamiliar metal equipment—everything was beyond her comprehension. Her hand was still clutching Thanos's sleeve, and she didn't let go.
Thanos looked down at her.
He knelt down, reached out, and gently touched her hair.
Gamora froze. She looked up and met Thanos's gaze.
Thanos withdrew his hand, stood up, and walked towards Lynn.
Gamora stood there, silently watching Thanos's retreating figure.