Thanos didn't know whether the sudden breakthrough was the work of Death or if the technology itself was simply that easy to reverse engineer.
Either way, after only a short period of study, his scientists successfully replicated both the quantum teleportation device and the Pym Particles required to power it.
The entire process had gone suspiciously smoothly.
When Thanos personally questioned the researchers about how they had achieved it so quickly, every single one of them looked confused. Their expressions were almost identical, as though they themselves couldn't fully explain it.
"It just… worked," one scientist answered awkwardly.
Another nodded repeatedly in agreement.
"We suddenly understood the theory."
That answer only deepened Thanos' suspicion.
Still, the technology itself was real. More importantly, it worked.
After obtaining the completed device, Thanos immediately ordered his men to search for coordinates linked to other universes. To his surprise, the search team quickly located one.
Just one.
However, Thanos had no intention of entering an unknown universe recklessly. Instead, he ordered the researchers to continue searching for additional coordinates.
But no matter how hard they tried, they failed to discover a second one.
Not even a trace.
After several repeated failures, Thanos gradually realized something.
Someone wanted him to enter the plotline of Avengers 4.
The entire situation felt unnaturally guided, almost like invisible hands were pushing events in a predetermined direction.
Still, he immediately ruled out one possibility.
It wasn't Death.
If Death truly wanted him involved, she would've told him directly. There would've been no need for these indirect manipulations and suspicious coincidences.
Since it wasn't Death, his interest in the matter immediately dropped.
Thanos had always been clear about his goals.
Become stronger.
Maintain balance.
Guide the universe toward stability.
That was all.
Although the Avengers possessed the Infinity Stones, he had no interest in becoming someone else's pawn for the sake of obtaining them.
After thinking it through carefully, he decided against entering the connected universe for now. Instead, he ordered his men to continue searching for more coordinates while he returned to his normal plans.
Seeing that the situation was temporarily stable, Thanos traveled back to the Panlong Galaxy to continue distributing Divine Grace among the Black Order.
The moment he returned, he felt a faint sense of familiarity.
The atmosphere.
The energy.
The empire he had personally built.
Compared to the endless schemes surrounding the quantum technology, this place felt far more real.
Unfortunately, he barely managed to stay for a single day before receiving another report from Deep Blue.
Nebula had been rescued.
Temple Two had suffered major damage.
The instant he heard the news, Thanos activated the Space Stone and returned directly to the massive temple ship.
As soon as he arrived, he saw thick black smoke still rising from several damaged engine sections.
The sight instantly ignited fury inside him.
A terrifying pressure spread briefly throughout the surrounding area, causing nearby warriors to tremble in fear.
But only a moment later, Thanos suppressed his anger completely.
Rage solved nothing.
Calmly, he ordered Deep Blue to display the surveillance footage.
Soon, a holographic screen appeared before him.
Three figures emerged within the recording.
Thor.
Tony Stark.
Steve Rogers.
Thor looked noticeably different from before. His body had become heavier, and his beard was messy, but the aura around him remained powerful. Stormbreaker rested in one hand while Mjolnir spun in the other.
Tony Stark wore his newest generation nanotech armor.
Steve Rogers carried his shield as always.
The three Avengers rampaged through Temple Two like a storm, slaughtering numerous Dark Order warriors before finally rescuing Nebula.
And before leaving, they planted explosives throughout the ship.
Several engines and multiple warehouses were destroyed in the resulting chain explosions.
Thanos watched the footage silently, but his eyes gradually narrowed when he noticed something else.
Quantum teleportation devices.
Several of them.
If he remembered correctly, the original movie timeline had specifically stated there weren't enough Pym Particles. Each person was only supposed to have enough for a single round trip.
So where had all these extra particles suddenly come from?
Thanos immediately understood.
Someone had interfered again.
Probably the same beings manipulating everything behind the scenes.
Even if he knew that, there was nothing he could currently do about it.
At his present level, he was still no match for entities like the Celestials.
Since he couldn't retaliate against those hidden manipulators, his thoughts briefly drifted toward taking revenge on the Avengers instead.
But the idea vanished almost as quickly as it appeared.
He slowly shook his head.
Revenge wasn't his goal.
Strength was.
Besides, the Infinity Stones in the Avengers' possession wouldn't significantly increase his current power anyway.
More importantly, he refused to let himself be influenced by unknown forces hiding in the shadows.
With that thought, he immediately ordered the repair teams to begin restoring Temple Two while he himself returned to absorbing stellar energy.
At present, Deep Blue installations across multiple planets were still undergoing accelerated formatting procedures. Meanwhile, the large-scale virtual gaming project remained under refinement as well.
Everything still required time.
And until the "annihilation plan" mentioned by Death officially began, there was little else he needed to do.
…
Universe E.
Inside the Avengers facility, a quantum tunnel suddenly activated as several figures rapidly expanded back to normal size while flying outward.
Thor landed heavily first.
Then Steve Rogers.
Finally, Tony Stark and Nebula emerged together.
The nanotech armor around Tony's body slowly retracted, revealing a face filled with grief and exhaustion.
Rhodes was dead.
For Tony, that pain hit harder than most people could imagine.
James Rhodes wasn't merely a teammate.
He was one of Tony's oldest and closest friends.
That was precisely why Tony had trusted him with armor technology he had never been willing to sell publicly.
Rhodes had survived countless battles.
He had survived alien invasions.
He had even survived the Snap.
Yet in the end, he died at the hands of another universe's Thanos.
As the group staggered out of the tunnel, Bruce Banner, Scott Lang, Clint Barton, and Rocket quickly approached them.
Hulk immediately noticed something was wrong.
"Where's Rhodes?" he asked. "Why didn't he come back with you?"
Tony remained silent.
The guilt in his eyes was overwhelming.
Seeing that Tony couldn't speak, Steve stepped forward instead.
"There was a malfunction in the quantum teleportation data," he explained quietly. "We got sent to Thanos' ship in another universe. Rhodes… he didn't make it."
As he finished speaking, Steve slowly shook his head.
The meaning was obvious.
The atmosphere instantly became heavy.
Scott Lang frowned deeply, disbelief filling his face.
"That's impossible," he said immediately. "The quantum teleportation system passed every test. We never had any major issues before."
Then his gaze shifted toward Nebula.
A trace of suspicion appeared in his eyes.
Nebula already blamed herself for Rhodes' death. Feeling Scott's suspicion only made her expression grow more painful.
Seeing that, Tony immediately stepped forward.
"No," he said hoarsely. "It's my fault. I miscalculated the coordinates. I'm the one who killed him."
Bruce and Rocket quickly moved forward to calm the situation.
"It wasn't your fault," Hulk said seriously. "The Quantum Realm still follows unstable temporal disorder rules. Errors are possible."
Rocket crossed his arms and nodded.
"Yeah. Blaming ourselves won't help. We still need the Power Stone."
At the mention of the Power Stone, Nebula immediately shook her head.
"We can't go back there," she said firmly. "That version of my father… something's wrong with him. He's far too powerful."
At this point, most of them still believed they had simply traveled to another point in the past timeline.
Only Bruce already understood the truth.
Because the Ancient One from another universe had already explained it to him.
"That wasn't our past," Hulk said seriously. "It was a parallel universe. And after we use the Infinity Stones, we have to return them immediately."
Otherwise, universes stripped of their Infinity Stones could collapse into chaos and destruction.
Hearing this, everyone immediately began asking questions.
Bruce then carefully explained his encounter with the Ancient One and everything she had told him.
The more they listened, the heavier the atmosphere became.
Their mission suddenly carried even more responsibility than before.
But strangely enough, none of them stopped to question one obvious issue.
Their own universe no longer possessed the Infinity Stones either.
Yet reality itself hadn't collapsed.
At that moment, Clint Barton slowly stepped forward while holding the Soul Stone tightly in his hand.
"We get the Power Stone," he said quietly. "We save everyone. Then we return the Stones."
He forced himself to smile as he spoke.
But seeing that smile only made the others feel worse.
Natasha Romanoff had already sacrificed herself to obtain the Soul Stone.
Now Rhodes was dead too.
Two people gone already.
How many more sacrifices would this mission demand?
Just then, colorful cosmic energy suddenly flashed in the distance.
A figure streaked across the sky before landing nearby.
Captain Marvel.
Her short blonde hair fluttered slightly as cosmic light faded from around her body.
"Guys," she asked while looking around at everyone's expressions, "why does everybody look miserable? What happened?"
The moment Nebula saw her, she finally seemed to find an emotional anchor.
Without hesitation, she began explaining everything that had happened.
.....
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