Chapter 136: The Dumbfounded Avengers of Universe 199999
Time is an extremely dangerous power. The slightest misstep could trigger a cataclysm affecting the entire universe, causing a segment of established history on an entire timeline to become unrecognizable.
Therefore, anyone who deals with time, especially those who perform time travel to achieve a certain goal, must be extremely cautious.
Unless they are a god. A single-universe god can interfere with the time of an entire universe, while a multiversal god can shake the time of the entire multiverse. Without that level of strength, it is wise to minimize the butterfly effect of one's actions.
At least, that was what this group of travelers, who had strayed into this universe due to a sudden temporal fluctuation, believed. They had made thorough preparations, formulated a meticulous plan, and specifically chose a suitable time node, all for the sake of obtaining the Infinity Stones and bringing them back to save their own piece of history.
"Guys, I have some bad news. We've arrived two hours after the start of the Battle of New York. This is bad news."
A slightly world-weary Captain America glanced down at the computer on his arm, and his expression instantly changed.
The faces of the others also became grim.
"It seems the bizarre temporal chaos is the cause. Time wouldn't experience such a major disturbance for no reason. It's like a massive vortex suddenly appearing in a calm ocean. After spreading for a great distance, the remaining, insignificant ripple happened to cover stowaways like us walking on the sea's surface."
Tony, now looking older, had a grim expression. This was the kind of situation he feared the most.
Ant-Man Scott began to complain, "Why are we so unlucky? Logically, we were supposed to perform a targeted traversal through our own universe's time via the Quantum Tunnel. We weren't supposed to cross into a parallel universe, so why were we still affected?"
"There's also another possibility: we were affected precisely because we risked time travel. On the temporal plane, cause and effect are often chaotic. If we hadn't undertaken this journey, we wouldn't have been affected by the temporal fluctuation—okay, I know that sounds like nonsense, but I believe you know what I mean."
Tony explained with some impatience. Sometimes, he really didn't want to waste time on explanations that felt insignificant but were still necessary. Yet, it was a crucial measure to keep the team united.
Tony continued, "We have a finite number of Pym Particles, and not many to waste. We can't guarantee that our next trip won't be affected by some unknown influence, causing another deviation. So, we must prepare for the worst. At this point, two hours after the start of the Battle of New York, we have to get the Infinity Stones and return safely."
"How? Are you saying we should go steal the Pym Particles from this time period now? It doesn't seem like there's a better way," Dr. Banner said.
"I think it's more important to figure out what caused the change in the timeline. Otherwise, we can't guarantee we won't be affected on our way back."
Tony's expression was extremely grave. "But the bad news is, since we've already been affected by the temporal fluctuation, it means that our every move right now could be a result of the already-altered time. This will affect us. It's possible that our thoughts, memories, words, and actions have already been changed, but I can't be sure."
No matter how smart he was, this was still his first time traveling through time. All his research on the subject was limited to theory. As for what real time travel was actually like and what kinds of sudden situations might arise, Tony was completely in the dark.
"First, let's figure out the situation. It's too quiet around here. There are clear signs of a battle, but it looks like it happened a while ago. It doesn't look like they just defeated the Chitauri. Friday, access this world's internet, gather intelligence, and prepare us to acquire the Infinity Stones," Tony commanded his artificial intelligence.
Soon, analyses of various major events at the current time were transmitted to the personal computers of the four individuals.
According to their initial plan, even being two hours late for the Battle of New York was a huge setback to their mission to steal the Infinity Stones, making it much harder to find an easy opportunity.
But it wasn't a total loss.
"Wait, is there something wrong with the data Friday provided?" Dr. Banner said with difficulty.
"...Looks like I'm not the only one who thinks so."
"Du Wa, Knull the God of Symbiotes, Sentry... who are these guys? I recognize Xenomorph and Dormammu, though..."
"This... this planet has experienced a galaxy-level war? Hundreds of millions of Symbiotes attacked this timeline's Earth? Did this happen in our history? How come I don't know about it!"
"This proves one thing: either for some special reason, the history we know has undergone a world-shaking upheaval, or we've simply come to the wrong place—an unfamiliar timeline."
Tony looked at the data in his hand. Just picking out a few key points to observe filled him with a deep sense of unease.
There were many videos uploaded by netizens online. Just by clicking on one, they could see a Symbiote black tide that seemed to obscure the entire cosmos frantically pouncing on Earth, devouring everything and filling the planet with humans and animals possessed by Symbiotes.
There were also terrifying creatures known as Xenomorphs, breeding madly in the ocean in massive swarms, battling all sorts of powerful foes under the command of a man named Du Wa.
In the footage, the horrifyingly dense numbers of the Alien Legion and their robotic efficiency and precision in slaughter deeply shook these Superheroes from Universe 199999.
What particularly shattered their worldview was seeing a large group of Xenomorphs actually fly into the sky and charge directly into outer space to fight.
Then there were the cruel battles between gods, spanning countless light-years in an instant, shaking numerous planets and tearing apart space-time.
This was a realm they couldn't even imagine. While they were still focused on how to cautiously travel through time, in the eyes of the gods of this world, time was just a toy to be played with however they wished.
"We need to figure out what's going on with this universe, why it has deviated so drastically."
The Avengers were stunned numb. They began to move with trepidation. Even just observing the current New York City from the shadows, this familiar yet strange city, left them thoroughly numb.
As far as the eye could see, Xenomorphs would frequently dart out from streets and alleys, scaling walls and leaping across rooftops.
And the citizens of New York seemed used to it, even cheering loudly from a distance when they saw a Xenomorph.
A deadly aura and a sense of security had achieved a bizarre, perfect balance.
Seeing this scene, the four heroes fell silent.
Especially the highly intelligent Tony and Banner. They exchanged a few glances, seemingly having discovered something. Their faces turned ashen as they rapidly calculated on their computers.
Scott was completely baffled. "I say, did we travel to another universe, into a Xenomorph universe? These are all Xenomorphs, right? But this world also has some heroes or criminals we're familiar with—of course, there are also many we've never heard of. Look at this Knull. In the official file on him, it's clearly recorded that he's a deity with a lifespan of at least tens of billions of years, possessing abilities like energy manipulation, space travel, and mind control... Good grief, where did they get that information? Did that human named Du Wa actually put a god on a dissection table?"
"Maybe our universe has Knull too. We're just at too low a level to have had the chance to encounter him—perhaps someone like Thanos knows."
"This is the worst news."
"That's right. That person who commands the Xenomorphs and nearly destroyed S.H.I.E.L.D. must be countless times more powerful than Thanos. If I'm right about my guess, we're in big trouble."
"Isn't that a good thing? If we had a guy like that in our history, I don't believe Thanos could have destroyed half the population of the universe."
"It's not that simple. This isn't a matter of strength. The key is the Xenomorphs... This suggests that the origin of the Xenomorphs in our world might be tied to the person who rules them in this universe. Maybe it's some kind of projection mechanism from a parallel universe, or some other rule is at play."
Tony and Banner conversed, deeply worried. The words they used already included terms like "parallel universe." They had already realized it.
For these two intelligent men, the fact that events in one universe could manifest as clues in another was surprising but not unacceptable. When it came to parallel universe theory, some scientists had proposed similar hypotheses long ago.
In fact, a few years later in Universe 199999's timeline, when Doctor Strange traveled through multiple universes to stop a corrupted Scarlet Witch, he had briefly stopped in a comic-book-style universe.
It was just that some of the videos and secret information circulating on this world's internet were too shocking, making Tony and the others—a group of world-saving Superheroes, people at the top of humanity's pyramid—feel like barbarians witnessing an advanced civilization for the first time.
In comparison, their universe was laughably weak.
They could understand wars between mortals, but the wars between gods were something they couldn't grasp through videos or text; they could only try to imagine the scale.
"It's terrifying... Look closely. Three years ago, the level of civilization on this Earth was basically in sync with our universe, except that this Earth's history included a branch of humanity called 'Mutants,' which led to significant racial conflict with ordinary humans... On this Earth, the overall strength of superhumans was far, far greater than on our Earth. But it was Du Wa who truly widened the gap, escalating the conflicts to a divine level."
"Look at this world's Tony Stark. He's written many papers with detailed discussions on gods, even analyzing cosmic rules, as if this universe's Tony had really become a god," Banner said, projecting a virtual screen from his computer and pointing to one of the papers.
"This universe's me may not have been a god, but he definitely came into contact with the power of a god. Du Wa is one, and this several-hundred-meter-tall robot is another."
Tony then opened a video. It was a scene of this universe's Tony controlling a Celestial armor. He could fly into the sky and burrow into the earth at will, his movements exceeded the speed of light, and his casual strikes could easily cause global tectonic tremors.
This left the four heroes in complete silence.
This universe was seriously out of their league. Although the world's population had decreased due to various disasters, making it significantly smaller than their world's total before Thanos destroyed half of it.
But the overall standard of this world far exceeded their imagination.
From Tony and the others' perspective, they couldn't even imagine how the humanity of this world had survived one planet-destroying disaster after another.
What should they do now? Go back? Empty-handed?
Just then, a world-shaking commotion erupted more than 100 kilometers away. The ground trembled faintly, and in its wake, towering skyscrapers swayed slightly.
"Who's fighting? What's with all the commotion?"
"Look, those green rings of light, that's the Time Stone! And it's being used by a sorcerer from Kamar-Taj! Is that the Ancient One?"
"The Time Stone... The fighting is probably what caused the time stream fluctuation that brought us to this unrecognizable place. No matter what happened to this Earth, we must find a way to save our world! Change of plans. Banner and I will head toward the Time Stone. Captain, you and Scott go to Stark Tower. If you run into a truly dangerous situation, I've entered a key code for Jarvis into your computer. That will connect with this world's Jarvis so it won't treat you as enemies. It might even help you, hiding you within the massive Stark Tower and establishing a reliable stronghold for us."
Tony made a decisive call, speaking quickly, "Universes are similar in most respects. We can only hope this works to our advantage. Remember my words: the ultimate goal of our time travel is to save our own world. Whatever is happening to this Earth, its own people and gods will have to solve it."
The four-man team immediately split up.
Captain America and Ant-Man secretly infiltrated Stark Tower. In this world, this place had also become the headquarters of The Avengers, although this world's Avengers seemed to have a weak presence.
Fortunately, they weren't discovered by the swarms of Xenomorphs.
"Captain, is there a battle plan? The Tesseract shouldn't be in Stark Tower anymore, right?"
"I hope so. Listen, see that guy? This proves Tony was right. Universes are mostly the same. Although I haven't figured out why these guys are here, maybe they're carrying the Tesseract."
Captain America's eyes locked onto a short, bald man with glasses who looked more like a white-collar office worker than a Hydra agent.
Hydra Agent Regit, leading Crossbones and others, was walking into an elevator with a briefcase.
"Strange. Since there was no Chitauri invasion, why are these agents able to move around in Stark Tower? Did this universe's Tony team up with the nearly extinct S.H.I.E.L.D.?" A hint of unease appeared on Captain America's face, but he gritted his teeth. If he missed this opportunity, he didn't know if there would be another.
"...Captain?"
Just as Regit, Crossbones, and the others entered the elevator, they saw a blond, muscular man walk in, incongruously carrying a shield. They all froze, fear appearing in their eyes.
"What are you trying to do?" A tall, burly man's heart pounded wildly.
"Rumlow, you're nervous."
Captain America took a deep breath, calling out Crossbones' name. He then turned to the motionless Regit and said, "The situation has changed. I need the case in your hand."
He hesitated for a moment, feeling the atmosphere was strange. He realized something he didn't know must have happened. Was he exposed? But that didn't seem right. He could only bite the bullet and whisper, "Hail Hydra."
"Enough, you lunatic! You destroyed S.H.I.E.L.D., and you destroyed all our hard work! And now you want to mess with us, play games?!"
Facing the terrifying pressure, Regit could no longer bear it. He didn't know what crazy trick this psycho Captain America was playing. "Avengers Assemble!!"
A group of men, with the determination to die, frantically rushed forward and pinned Captain America against the wall.
Captain America: "???"
(end of chapter )