Thor put down his cutlery and scanned everyone present.
"I'll go find the Watcher later."
"Let him reset your cycle of reincarnation. I'll deal with this virus before anything else happens."
"But--"
Thor held up one finger.
"By then, you will have lost all memory of this apocalypse. You won't know me, Wanda, or Valeria."
The silence lasted for about three seconds.
Dazzler Alison was the first to speak, her voice a little hoarse. "You mean, we'll go back to... the time before all this happened?"
Thor nodded.
"What about those who died?" Felicia pressed, her fingers unconsciously rubbing the grappling hook at her waist. " Spider-Man, Daredevil... those who were infected on day one?"
"They will all live."
Felicia didn't speak again. She turned her face to the dark wasteland outside the window, her shoulders tensed for a few seconds, and then relaxed.
Doctor Doom spoke coldly, " Doom doesn't need your charity."
"Do you need to bring your dead citizens back to life?"
A faint metallic scraping sound came from beneath Doom's mask—the sound of teeth grinding amplified by the steel.
He did not answer.
Morgan le Fay set down his glass, his slender fingers tracing the rim, then he raised his chin to look at Thor, a hint of something ambiguous in his smile, "Losing your memory... isn't all bad. Some things are cleaner when you forget them."
She glanced at Doom as she said this.
Just as the atmosphere was still tense, a rustling sound came from the corner.
Valeria crouched on the ground, holding a palm-sized scanner in her hand, gesturing up and down at Ash was lying half-dead on the blanket.
The blue light at the top of the instrument flashed across Ash's body as she stared at the projected data stream, her hand flying across the terminal as she recorded data.
"Abnormal cell activity... no known viral vectors detected in the blood... this is not scientifically sound."
She muttered something and shoved the scanner at Ash's face again.
"What exactly is the structure of your immune system? Is your universe's evolutionary tree distorted?"
Ash did not respond, because he was still unconscious.
Valeria poked his cheek. "Hey, wake up, I need your brainwave data when you're awake."
No response.
She rolled her eyes and turned up the scanner's power. The blue light turned white and shone directly on Ash's eyelids.
"Hmm--"
Ash's eyelids twitched, then snapped open.
He paused for half a second, his focus shifting from blurry to clear, revealing an excessively exquisite young face—golden hair tied in a ponytail, an expression of indifference on his face, yet possessing a face so beautiful it was almost unfair.
Ash's mouth moved before her brain.
"Hi, sweetheart."
He propped himself up halfway from the ground, flashing what he thought was a charming smile, revealing bloodstained teeth.
"Where did you come from, angel? Let me guess—were you by my side while I was unconscious? Don't be shy, you can admit it."
Valeria stared at him expressionlessly and retracted the scanner two inches.
"Your EEG data just showed an abnormal spike. I suggest you keep quiet so I can get a cleaner baseline."
"Oh, you're a smart girl." Ash sat up straight, supporting himself with his left hand on the ground, and made an exaggerated hair-flipping motion with his other hand, even though his hair was already a mess.
"I love intelligent women, you know? In my world, all blonde beauties are—"
A dark green arc of magical light struck Ash's back without warning.
"Smack!"
It crackled like a whip.
Ash was sent flying, rolled twice on the ground, and slammed his back against the wall with a dull thud.
"Hold--!!"
He sprang to his feet, hugging his back, and turned to see Doctor Doom standing five meters away, his dark green Cloak motionless, his right hand enveloped in a layer of dim magical light.
The eyes behind the mask were so somber they seemed to drip with tears.
" Doom allows you to breathe, but that doesn't mean you're allowed to lay a single tongue on Doom 'Doom goddaughter in his presence."
Before Ash could utter a second curse, a second magic whip lashed out, striking his calf precisely.
"Aww--!"
"Second warning." Doom withdrew his hand. "There won't be a third."
Thor sat there the whole time, chewing on a piece of bread, watching Ash get whipped and roll around on the ground.
He slowly raised a thumbs up.
" Ash, you're really something else."
Thor mumbled between chewing sounds.
"To flirt with Doctor Doom's goddaughter in front of him—tsk tsk tsk, that takes a lot of guts."
Ash clutched his back, baring his teeth and glaring at him. "You were just sitting there watching the show, weren't you?!"
"Or what? You want me to beat you up too?"
Thor said this while eating large chunks of meat.
Beside her, Valeria had already packed up the scanner. She stood up without changing her expression, dusted off her knees, and walked to the other side without looking back.
"The EEG data for the conscious state has been collected. Thank you for your cooperation."
Ash opened his mouth, as if to say something, but in the end found himself speechless.
He gets electrocuted for swearing and beaten for flirting with beautiful women; his life is just too difficult.
Wanda came over with a bowl of soup and sat down next to Thor.
She didn't speak immediately. She took a sip of soup, then placed the bowl on her lap and stirred it twice with a spoon.
" Chthon."
Thor turned his head to look at her.
Wanda's profile looked exceptionally young in the candlelight, her long brown hair swaying.
Why did he throw me into this universe?
She asked directly, without any preamble or small talk. Wanda was always like that; she never beat around the bush when it came to asking questions.
Thor put down the bread and wiped his hands.
The mental sand table was already spinning.
Chthon, is one of the most prominent dimensional demons in the Marvel universe.
Wanda was the most perfect host for the Chaos Magic he created—not just "one of," but "the only one."
For a demon of this caliber to descend upon the material universe, it needs a vessel large enough to contain its power. And in the entire multiverse, only Wanda possesses a physical body capable of withstanding this level of Chaos Magic without collapsing on the spot.
Throw her into Zombie Universe —a dead land where civilization has collapsed, order has vanished, and no force can interfere...
This makes it easier for him to plan things out; he can secretly carry out any kind of ceremony.
"It's most likely for your health."
Thor said.
Wanda's spoon paused in the bowl for a moment.
"He needs time to prepare before he descends upon Earth. Throwing you into this neglected universe makes it easier for him to do his thing." Thor broke off a piece of bread and popped it into his mouth. "But I don't know the specifics of his plan."
He paused, then added.
"Anyway, if he causes trouble again, I'll just storm into his dimension and have a one-on-one duel with him."
Wanda stopped eating altogether, turning to look at Thor, trying to find a trace of a joke on his face.
"We're all Multiverse Level, who's afraid of who?" Thor chewed on his bread, looking completely nonchalant. "Anyway, if I can't beat them, I can always call for backup."
"Besides, I promised that old bald man, the Ancient One, that I would take good care of you. You don't need to worry about a mere dimensional demon."
Wanda didn't reply and lowered her head to drink her soup again.
After a few seconds, Thor changed the subject.
"Now that things are settled in this universe, would you like to take a trip to the next universe?"
While sipping her soup, Wanda casually asked, "What's in the next universe?"
"There is a you who has turned into a zombie."
Wanda nearly choked on the soup she had just drunk.
"... What?"
"You, in your zombie form, are planning something big with the Infinity Stones." Thor's tone was excessively calm. "Why don't you go over and teach them a lesson?"
Wanda put down her bowl and stared at Thor for two seconds.
A zombie version of herself? Using the Infinity Stones? To be honest, she really wanted to see for herself what that kind of being was. But--
"With you here, I can just watch, can't I?"
"..."
Thor was surprised that she so readily pushed the job back.
Okay.
He didn't dwell on that topic, and changed the subject. "How's it like being the Sorcerer Supreme?"
Wanda thought for a moment.
"It's alright." She picked up the bowl and took another sip. "I never thought I'd be able to shoulder the responsibility of protecting the Earth. But those dimensional invaders... they weren't very strong."
Thor did not answer.
Those dimensional creatures were already considered hopeless opponents for ordinary mages.
But there's no way around it; the Sorcerer Supreme of the Prime Universe is Wanda Maximoff, an existence capable of easily suppressing Captain Marvel and draining her photon energy.
Furthermore, the overall combat power in the Prime Universe has now veered off course to some absurdly extreme. As long as they don't encounter individuals using cheat codes... they're not afraid of anyone. After all, Dr. Banner has become One-Punch Man, and the original storyline of the Prime Universe has gone completely astray.
"Beep beep beep! Beep beep beep!"
Suddenly, a piercing alarm ripped through the entire fortress.
"Warning! Warning! A large number of zombies have been detected approaching!"
Red warning lights lit up one after another from the ceiling, turning everyone's faces blood red.