"Hmph, what's wrong? Flustered? Confused?""Not so omniscient and omnipotent anymore, huh?"
Seeing Zhou Cheng's bewildered tone in the diary, Tony Stark couldn't help curling his lips into a proud, thoroughly satisfied grin.
Watching the all-knowing diary owner stumble for once had become one of the few pleasures left in Tony's life.
—Wait a second.
The smug curve on his lips froze almost instantly. A sudden realization struck the playboy genius like a bolt of lightning.
How could Zhou Cheng already know what had just happened?
Didn't he realize where they were?
This wasn't some busy city center.Nick Fury had deliberately chosen this remote, uninhabited location precisely to face the arrival of the Destroyer.
Apart from the Avengers and a few S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, there wasn't a soul within ten kilometers.
And yet, that Zhou Cheng somehow knew about their battle with the Destroyer immediately?
Tony exhaled softly, shaking his head in awe.As expected of the diary's mysterious owner—he truly wasn't ordinary.
Clearly, Zhou Cheng's abilities went far beyond what he had shown during his fight with the Hulk. There had to be other, hidden powers—something no one else yet understood.
That thought unsettled Tony, but it also deepened his curiosity. In his mind, Zhou Cheng's image grew even more enigmatic and unfathomable.
After a brief sigh, he pushed away those distracting thoughts and refocused on the diary—only for his brows to knit tightly once again.
Captain America hid the truth about the Winter Soldier killing my parents?
What was that supposed to mean?
That assassination had been one of Hydra's most flawlessly executed covert operations—without a single loose end, buried under decades of secrecy.
How could Captain America possibly know about it?
Without the diary's spoilers, Tony would've gone his entire life without uncovering that truth.
Even if Steve Rogers did somehow know… he actually chose to protect a Hydra assassin?
So that's his true face?The American icon worshiped for generations—Captain America himself?
"Tsk, tsk…" Tony shook his head, his admiration fading into disdain.
Of course, the diary's version of events hadn't actually occurred here—after all, Tony had already taken out the Winter Soldier ahead of time.
Maybe that was why Rogers' moral record remained spotless… and why he could lift Thor's hammer.
"So the key to lifting Mjolnir really is morality and virtue, huh?" Tony murmured.
Across another copy of the diary, Nick Fury's single eye narrowed slightly.
"If that's true," he thought grimly, "then this isn't good news."
Where on earth would he find someone completely free of moral flaws?Especially in this day and age—true paragons like Captain America were rarer than diamonds.
And morality wasn't exactly measurable. You couldn't just plug it into a database and filter out the worthy candidates.
After all, you can know a man's face but never his heart.
Even with all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s surveillance, they could only observe behavior, never the color of a person's soul.
And if hiding the truth about Tony's parents was enough to count as a "moral blemish," then the hammer's standards were absurdly high—unrealistically so.
Fury seriously doubted that anyone other than Rogers could possibly meet such a requirement.
But wait… why could that other Natasha from another universe lift Mjolnir too?
Had she really reached that level of moral purity—completely flawless?That didn't sound right at all. The Black Widow was a spy—one with a flexible moral bottom line who had done plenty of dirty work.
The idea of judging a spy by "moral standards" almost made Fury laugh out loud.Still, he couldn't rule out the possibility that the Natasha from another reality was somehow different.
He certainly knew his own Natasha—and if anything, that only made him more certain she could never lift the hammer.
Clearly, the hammer issue needed more time and investigation.
With that thought settled, Fury turned back to the diary—only to freeze again, shock written all over his face.
Captain America traveled back through time!?
Captain America… time-traveled?
Fury had already learned from previous entries that Doctor Strange could manipulate time, likely thanks to the Time Stone.
But Steve Rogers? He was just a soldier—enhanced, yes, but still just a man injected with serum.
How could he possibly pull off something like that?Did someone help him? Or had he stumbled onto some unknown power?
Lacking any concrete clues, Fury couldn't draw conclusions. Still, one question nagged at him—
What was Rogers' purpose in going back?
Could it really be just to reunite with Peggy Carter?
As S.H.I.E.L.D.'s director, Fury knew that "missed dance" story all too well. It was Rogers' deepest regret.
If the man had found a way to fix that regret… Fury supposed it made sense.
So, in this universe, aside from the main Steve Rogers, there was also a future Captain America? A man who had stayed behind with Peggy, living in secret until the Battle of New York?
That guy could really keep a low profile.
But now that Fury knew… it felt wasteful to let such a person live quietly as a househusband.
No, wait—Captain America stayed in the past on a whim, after recalling Tony Stark's advice: "Go live your own life."So he did it for Peggy Carter.And if he'd interfered with major past events, the Time Variance Authority would've stopped him, right?Messing with history would break the "Sacred Timeline."So the current Captain America isn't from the future—he's this universe's own Rogers!
"'Stood everyone up'…?"
Tony immediately understood the idiom as it appeared on the diary's translated pages. His brows furrowed once more.
That phrasing implied it hadn't been just his decision. The time-travel mission must've been a group plan.
Who else could "everyone" refer to, if not the Avengers?
No doubt, it was supposed to be a temporary trip—he was meant to come back.But instead, Steve took Tony's advice… and stayed.
Tony blinked. "Wait, does that mean… in the future, Steve and I actually become that close?"
That realization startled him—but then he chuckled softly. It made sense.According to the diary, all this happened after the Endgame battle. They must've fought side by side many times by then, earning each other's trust and forgiveness.
Maybe that was why, by that point, Steve had no more moral stain—and could lift the hammer.
Had he done something that finally earned Tony's forgiveness?
Tony didn't dwell on it. His attention was immediately caught—and rattled—by another revelation.
The Time Variance Authority.
What the hell kind of organization was that?
Judging by the name, it sounded like a bureaucratic agency responsible for… managing time.
"Managing time?" Tony muttered. "You've got to be kidding me."
Time—one of the fundamental laws of the universe—had an administrative department?
Even after everything he'd learned from the diary, after all the mind-bending revelations, this one still shook him to his core.
The universe was far, far larger than he had ever imagined.
"The 'Sacred Timeline'… what the hell is that?"
He could guess what a "timeline" was—basically the flow of events along a chronological path.
But "sacred"? That was new.
From the diary's tone, if Captain America messed with the past, it would "damage the Sacred Timeline" and draw the TVA's attention.
So, the Sacred Timeline must be this universe's original course of history—the version without interference.
And the TVA existed to prevent anyone from altering it.
But why?What did the TVA have to do with their universe's natural development?Who gave them the authority to interfere?
Tony's mind buzzed with disbelief. He was so agitated he could barely sit still.If he could meet someone from that so-called TVA face-to-face, he'd have a few choice words for them.
Of course, that was wishful thinking.
But if that's the case, the deviation between this universe and Earth-199999's timeline is way too big!Thor never lifted his hammer, never returned to Asgard after defeating the Destroyer!Without that, he and Loki wouldn't have fought, Loki wouldn't have fallen into the cosmic abyss, and he'd never have been manipulated by the purple potato freak into invading New York!The first major Marvel event—the Battle of New York—would never even happen!What the hell! The whole Marvel timeline would be unrecognizable!
So that was the truth behind the Battle of New York?
The real cause of it all?
Tony's eyes gleamed sharply as he stared down at the diary.
The diary had foreshadowed the New York Battle for ages—everyone knew Loki started it, and that Thanos was the true mastermind.
But not why.
Until now.
Finally, the pieces fit together.
He realized that the New Mexico conflict hadn't led into the Battle of New York—it had simply triggered it.
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