Among the countless timelines, there are infinite possibilities, and one of them is the early appearance of the Green Doctor. Though rare, she had indeed seen such a future.
In other words, she had witnessed the Green Doctor's form—though it was the Hulk in that form she had seen previously while using the Time Stone.
However, the Green Doctor, Bruce Banner, recognized this person. The information Tony Stark had shared about this specific point in time included details about Doctor Strange's master being the Sorcerer Supreme, Gu Yi, complete with photographs.
Immediately, he said, "I'm here to see Doctor Strange!"
"But you're five years early," the Ancient One replied with a faint smile. "He isn't a sorcerer yet. Did you come here looking for a doctor?"
"We're early?" Dr. Bruce Banner was shocked.
Clearly, this was beyond his preparations.
More accurately, he didn't yet realize that the situation was not as he had imagined.
So, they had come too early.
He didn't realize that Doctor Strange hadn't always been the Sorcerer Supreme, nor had he always been a sorcerer.
"According to the original timeline, he should be performing surgery twenty blocks away right now!" the Ancient One explained, her tone suggesting that the concept of time travel was as familiar to her as breathing.
He was familiar with it too, after all—a being who viewed timelines like watching TV shows.
"Why are you looking for him?" the Ancient One asked, raising the Eye of Agamotto hanging at her chest. "Is it for this?"
Clearly, the only things that could have brought these future travelers back to this era to find Doctor Strange were the Eye of Agamotto or the Time Stone.
"That's right, it's this!" Hulk Bruce Banner nodded immediately.
"Ah, I'm afraid that's not possible!" the Ancient One narrowed her eyes and shook her head, refusing.
"That's fine, I wasn't planning on negotiating anyway!" Hulk Bruce Banner stepped forward, intending to take it by force.
For him, since he was essentially returning the item in the next second on this timeline, being a bit rough was fine.
But facing such a forceful attempt at theft, the Ancient One simply smiled faintly and said, "You will regret this."
She didn't take the Hulk seriously at all. While everyone else was helpless against the Hulk's overwhelming defensive capabilities—even Thanos had to rely on overwhelming force to subdue him—the Ancient One was different.
As a Celestial-tier powerhouse and a sorceress, she naturally operated on a different level.
"You're right, I might regret it!" Dr. Bruce Banner said with a smile. "But I need that Time Stone, and I don't have time to argue with you!"
But before he could step forward to seize it, the Ancient One struck him with a palm strike. Before he could even process what had happened, his soul was ripped from his body.
Only then did the Ancient One smile and say, "Let's start from the beginning, shall we?"
Bruce Banner was utterly shocked. He never imagined he would one day have his soul ripped from his body.
The sight was deeply unsettling, clearly beyond his comprehension.
*So this is magic?*
This was his first real encounter with the magical side of existence. Well, technically, the civilization of Thor and his kind was also magical, but their magic was nothing like the sorcery of Kamar-Taj—it lacked this overwhelming power.
"Please, help us! Our timeline needs this Time Stone! We need it to defeat the evil Thanos and bring back half the life in the universe!" Bruce Banner's soul pleaded urgently.
"I'm sorry, Bruce, but I can't help you," the Ancient One replied calmly, unmoved. "If I give you the Time Stone to save your reality, our own reality will be in grave danger."
She was well aware of Thanos's threat and his immense power, but that was in another timeline. If she intervened and something went wrong with the Time Stone, their own timeline could face catastrophic consequences.
"But if I may be blunt, from a scientific perspective, it shouldn't be like this," Bruce Banner said, trying to reason with the sorcerer from a scientific standpoint.
The Ancient One couldn't help but smile. She wasn't mocking science, but she knew that in the face of magic, science often proved powerless.
This man was still too young. Science had only developed for a few thousand years, while magic had been evolving for eons. If you counted from the Dimensional Demon Gods, some had existed for billions of years, others for hundreds of millions.
Trying to explain science to her? How absurd!
Still, the Ancient One remained patient. She conjured a Temporal River with magic and said, "The Infinity Stones created the flow of time you perceive, but if one is missing, it creates a Time Branch. This might be beneficial for your reality, but not for mine!"
"In this new Time Branch, we would lose our primary weapon against the Dark Forces!" the Ancient One declared. "Our world would teeter on the brink of destruction, and humanity would face annihilation!"
"We might not even survive until Thanos invades. Do you understand what I'm saying?" the Ancient One explained. "Do you think Thanos's invasion is the only crisis facing this world?"
For her, the only timeline worth protecting was the present one. Other timelines held no significance to her; she couldn't concern herself with them.
She had always used the Time Stone to combat the Dimensional Demon Gods. Without it, she would have been nothing more than a mortal. Even at the Celestial-tier, she would have struggled against those entities.
Among the Dimensional Demon Gods, even newcomers like Dormammu had reached the Celestial-tier.
Moreover, Dormammu drew power from his own dimension, making him an insurmountable opponent for her. Only through the Time Stone's power could she stand against those terrifying Dimensional Demon Gods.
Without the Time Stone, Earth wouldn't have lasted until Thanos's arrival. Though the risk was only a possibility, she refused to accept such a gamble.
"So tell me, Dr. Banner, can your scientific theories stop all this?" the Ancient One asked, looking at Bruce Banner in his soul state.
Bruce Banner replied, "No, but we can undo it all. Once we've used the Infinity Stones, we'll return them to their original time and place. From a temporal perspective, in the original reality, these stones will never have left!"
As he spoke, he acted, returning the Infinity Stones and actively erasing the newly created Temporal River, restoring the original timeline to its proper course.
But the Ancient One remained unmoved. "Well said," she replied, "but you've overlooked the most crucial question: to return them, you must survive. Can you truly defeat Thanos?"
"You know Thanos?" Bruce Banner asked in shock. So, even from such a distant past, someone had already known about Thanos and his impending invasion.
"Of course I know," the Ancient One nodded. "How else would I know you're here for Stephen?" "At this point, he's still a surgeon. You should have come a few years later. By the time he's grown, everything will be in place."
In her understanding, even if Doctor Strange could help, it would be years from now, not now. He was just a surgeon at the moment.
She was perfectly aware of who Thanos truly feared: herself.
Hulk Bruce Banner was even more dumbfounded. This timeline felt eerily off, filled with inexplicable people and an epic strengthening of the Avengers' power.
Now they'd even encountered Doctor Strange's master, who apparently knew about Thanos's future invasion. Clearly, there were far too many secrets they didn't understand.
Moreover, she seemed unfazed by his claim of being from the future, even knowing about the concept of timelines. Could this be the power of a Time Stone wielder?
As Tony Stark had once said, Doctor Strange had seen over 14 million futures. This Ancient One, she suspected, could likely see the future through the Time Stone as well.
The Time Stone is truly miraculous—even Thanos used it to reverse time and retrieve the Mind Stone that Wanda had destroyed from Vision.
"Could this be what you see when using the Time Stone?" Hulk Bruce Banner said, stunned.
The Ancient One smiled faintly in response. "This is the natural way the Time Stone works. I've seen countless futures, each with its own possibilities. One of those possibilities is your form as Hulk Bruce Banner."
"Of course, these are just a few of the many potential futures that could arise from the present—one of countless quantum superposition states. Ultimately, only one outcome will collapse into reality. But we haven't reached that point yet." The Ancient One smiled. "You understand the nature of time, don't you?"
"Well... of course I know! It's related to quantum mechanics!" Bruce Banner replied. He found it strange that he was discussing such a scientific topic with a sorceress, a situation he found both absurd and somewhat amusing.
-----------------------
Completed English PDF of this fan-fic on my Patreon shop if you want to support and own the full fan-fic in one go. Just grab the PDF and binge the entire story from start to finish!
Guys, I've uploaded some High Quality english translated fanfic on my Patreon shop! Feel free to check it out-if you're interested, you can grab a copy and support me there.
Here are a few titles of recently uploaded fanfics:
New Addition
" Marvel: Awakening Abstract Abilities at the Beginning "
" Marvel: Fused with Broly at the Start "
" Marvel: Starting as the God of Destruction "
" Superman in Marvel—Will I Get a Copyright Warning? "
" Marvel: Starting by Loading the Homelander Template "
" Marvel: Becoming an Emperor Through Lottery Draws "
" Marvel: Awakening the Power of a Million Stars at the Start "
" Marvel: I Am the Leader of the Mutant Race "
many more are available 140+
Your support means a lot-thanks in advance, legends!
patreon.com/SuperTL
(End of Chapter)