As the scanner completed its sweep of the globe,
"Got it!" Loki's face lit up with excitement at the location shown.
"But there's no trace of Lady Loki," Agent Mobius pointed out.
"That's fine. Let's check on that man first. If his strength isn't enough, we can do whatever we want at this point in time."
Mobius thought it over. That did make sense. Better to gauge the opponent's strength first.
"Let's go."
The two studied the scanner's coordinates and rushed toward Lorien's location from five years earlier.
...
Meanwhile, Sylvie was still quietly waiting atop a lighthouse in Iceland. Wrapped in her cloak, she sat on the wall, staring out at the endless ocean.
By her estimation, the Time Variance Authority wouldn't stay patient for long. She had been running for so long. Now she was certain she was trapped in this universe. There was nowhere left to go.
If she left this universe, running would be meaningless. Getting caught was only a matter of time.
But this time, she had a chance to turn things around!
Clasping her hands at her chest, Sylvie prayed. They had to make a mistake—recklessly provoking the king of this universe. They absolutely had to!
At that very moment, as Agent Mobius and the outsider Loki stepped into the timeline of Universe 28, Sylvie froze for an instant, then burst into a joyful smile.
Why? Because she knew exactly how they were. The moment they entered, they were bound to cause trouble!
It wasn't arrogance, not exactly. Their abilities simply worked that way—not using them would almost be wrong.
And across the Multiverse, 99.999% of beings had no way to counter it. They could freely traverse timelines and temporal nodes! What superhero could resist that?
That's why they acted so recklessly.
But today, they'd picked the wrong target! They'd provoked Lorien Su, the one with the Silver Superman Template! Someone who ignored all attacks across time and dimensions!
Sensing their arrival, Sylvie immediately sprang into action. She teleported straight to the same temporal node.
At the very least, she had to make sure Lorien stayed safe. Because Lorien was far too important. Whether they could unite against the Time Variance Authority all depended on him!
...
The scene shifted back to five years earlier in New York.
Guided by the scanner's signal, Agent Mobius and the Outsider Loki arrived at the entrance of a university library.
Looking at the medical university's library, the Outsider Loki chuckled.
"Could it be he was a doctor before becoming a god?"
Agent Mobius didn't respond. Instead, he led the way inside.
The moment they entered, the receptionist at the door noticed the odd pair—one in a suit, the other in a robe. Clearly, they weren't here for anything legitimate, and the receptionist tried to stop them.
Loki raised a finger at him. The receptionist's eyes rolled back, and he slumped over unconscious. Loki then glanced around and changed his appearance before the two continued their search through the library, following the scanner's readings.
At the entrance, a ripple of distorted space appeared. Sylvie, cloaked in her hood, stepped out of it. Clutching her cloak tightly, she slipped inside and followed quietly.
The library was spacious, but not so large that searching would take long. Before long, the two spotted Lorien sitting at a window-side table.
"There!"
Lorien leaned back in his chair, one hand resting on the armrest, the other holding a book. With his legs crossed, he was calmly reading a medical text on PTSD and psychological trauma.
The two exchanged a glance.
"What now? Should we approach him? Make contact?"
"If we interact with him now, will it affect the version of him five years from now?"
Agent Mobius shook his head.
"What's already happened won't change. Even if you killed him here, his future self would only feel the impact—it wouldn't erase him.
Time reversal is one thing, but history is another. We're moving through history, not rewinding it."
The Outsider Loki nodded in understanding. If anything, that only made him bolder.
Together, they headed toward Lorien, who was still absorbed in his book.
But as they drew closer, both noticed something strange. The Lorien sitting there five years ago looked no different from the one five years later.
He hadn't changed at all!
"?"
Mobius was starting to feel uneasy. But Loki had already pulled out the chair across from Lorien and sat down.
Mobius had no choice but to follow.
At the same time...
A silent figure followed close behind.
Amidst the crowd, Sylvie saw the two moving toward Lorien. The Outsider Loki had already pulled out the chair opposite Lorien and sat down.
"No."
Seeing this, Sylvie quickly pushed her way through the people, heading straight for them. She couldn't let the Time Variance Authority make contact with Lorien now. If anything went wrong, all her hope would be gone!
"Ignore them!" Sylvie shouted as she forced her way forward.
In front of Lorien, Loki had just sat down. He adjusted his suit, not yet speaking. Agent Mobius had also pulled out a chair but hadn't taken his seat.
At Sylvie's words, both men turned at the same time, fixing their eyes on her.
"!!"
Joy instantly flashed across their faces. Their ultimate target was right before them! What could be better than this? They had found their quarry, and now the mission could be completed.
All they needed was to capture Sylvie. Once they repaired this universe, they could return and collect their reward.
As for Lorien five years from now forbidding them from interfering with this universe? Who cared about him? What could he possibly do in the present? They would repair the universe here and now, and five years later he wouldn't even know what had happened. It would all be done without leaving a trace.
That was the power of the Time Variance Authority. Even gods couldn't escape them—the TVA could use time itself against you.
"Seize her!" Agent Mobius shouted.
Loki pushed off the table and rose to his feet. Magic surged over him, and the black suit he wore shimmered into a green sorcerer's robe.
"We've had quite the hunt for you, Lady Loki."
Both drew their weapons, ready to arrest Sylvie.
But even now, Sylvie didn't forget to cry out toward Lorien.
"I have to run, but listen to me—never trust the Time Variance Authority!"
"You'll see them again in five years!"
"You absolutely, absolutely must not trust them!"
"For the sake of timeline stability, they will erase anything that could cause a branch!"
"Remember this!"
With those words, Sylvie turned to flee. She knew she couldn't win. The TVA's gear was simply too advanced, and she had nothing on her that could stand a chance against them.
It was impossible to defeat agents of the TVA.
All she could do was leave Lorien with this warning—to remember five years later, at that crucial moment.
The TVA had already ignored all warnings and were now probing for flaws in history's nodes. For the sake of their so-called stability, they were not to be trusted. Not in the slightest.
"Catch her! Don't let her escape again!" Mobius barked, pulling out his time pistol.
He immediately set it to 1/64 time deceleration. With that, a single shot would slow Sylvie's entire being sixty-fourfold.
Mobius pulled the trigger.
"Bang!"
A bullet engraved with "64/1" burst from the barrel, flying straight at Sylvie.
Her eyes widened. She had been too close to Lorien while shouting her warning. At less than ten meters, the pistol's accuracy and speed gave her no chance to dodge.
She could only watch helplessly as the bullet closed in.
But at that very moment, they all seemed to forget why they'd even come into the library. Who had they been looking for again?
"Snap~"
A sharp snap of fingers rang out.
The bustling crowd froze mid-step. The bullet hung motionless in the air. Loki's hand, poised to unleash magic, stopped. Mobius's gun arm froze in place.
Only Sylvie could still move.
And the one who had snapped his fingers—Lorien.
"Clack~"
Closing the medical book on PTSD, Lorien let out a sigh. His eyes carried disappointment as he looked at their frozen figures.
"Honestly, I do admire your audacity."
"!!"
The moment those words left his mouth, Agent Mobius, the Outsider Loki, and Sylvie all widened their eyes in shock.