"Since you can see so many futures, can you see if we can defeat Thanos?" Bruce Banner asked urgently.
Since she could see so many futures, he dropped all pretense and blurted out the question.
"There are countless possibilities in the future, but only one will ultimately come to pass," the Ancient One replied. "That answer must be found by yourselves. Not all futures will manifest. You must seek it yourselves!"
She wasn't being deliberately cryptic; she was telling the truth. Who knew which future would ultimately prevail? Especially when it involved a future diverging from her own timeline—who knew how it would turn out?
Besides, she would already be dead by then. Her current predictions were too far removed from the future, with too many unpredictable variables.
Every choice would create countless possibilities. Even if she knew what would happen in another timeline, she couldn't casually reveal anything.
Especially since this matter involved her disciple from that other timeline—the most gifted sorcerer in Kamar-Taj's history—the situation was even more complex.
He didn't want to get involved in these complicated matters at all. Let Strange in that timeline handle it.
"We'll survive, I will, I promise!" Bruce Banner said quickly.
"But I can't risk everything on that promise alone," the Ancient One said, shaking her head. "The Sorcerer Supreme's duty is to protect the Time Stone."
There was no room for negotiation on this matter. When they became Sorcerers Supreme, they swore to protect the Time Stone with their lives. The existence of this stone was crucial to the safety of their universe.
"Then why did Strange give it away?" Bruce Banner asked.
He was utterly confused. If such a sacred oath existed, why would Doctor Strange, also a Sorcerer Supreme, choose to surrender the Time Stone?
*Does that even make sense?*
"What did you say?" the Ancient One asked, shocked.
This news stunned her as well. She had no idea her disciple had made such a choice.
"Strange gave the Time Stone away!" Bruce Banner paused, then answered. "He gave it to Thanos!"
"Voluntarily?" the Ancient One pressed immediately.
She was also a bit confused about what was happening.
She couldn't see the future with absolute certainty, and her visions had limitations, especially when it came to the future after her death, which remained largely hazy.
"Why?" the Ancient One asked.
"I don't know. Maybe he was wrong!"
Bruce Banner shrugged, completely baffled by the situation.
There were too many inconsistencies, and he felt his brain was about to overheat.
Perhaps, as the Ancient One had suggested, they had come to the wrong time. They should have gone to 2017, to the time after Stephen Strange had become Doctor Strange.
But when she heard this, the Ancient One's reaction was completely different. "Then perhaps it's not *he* who was wrong, but *I* was," she said.
With that, she summoned the Hulk's body and merged it with Bruce Banner's soul. Then, she plucked the Time Stone from its housing within the Eye of Agamotto and handed it to the Hulk. "Strange is the most exceptional among us sorcerers," she declared. "He may be the most powerful Sorcerer Supreme in history!"
"So he must have had a reason for doing this?"
The Hulk, Bruce Banner, pondered for a moment before immediately understanding the Ancient One's meaning.
If Doctor Strange could see the future, he must have known that surrendering the Time Stone would ultimately lead to Thanos's victory. Yet he still made that choice, suggesting it was the only way they could ultimately win.
She had experienced countless such situations over the years. Sometimes, failure wasn't truly failure, but merely a stepping stone toward a greater victory.
"I'm afraid you're right!" the Ancient One nodded. She then handed the Time Stone to Hulk, saying, "It all depends on you now, Banner. We're all counting on you, Banner!"
"Don't worry, I've got this!" Hulk replied.
"The rest is up to you!" the Ancient One said.
After Hulk left, a thoughtful expression crossed the Ancient One's face. *This world is starting to get interesting.*
At some point, the timeline had become chaotic, even beyond her sight.
In truth, even if she pushed the Time Stone to its absolute limits, she couldn't guarantee complete control over everything.
The future remained full of uncertainties, but that was what made time so fascinating.
The timeline had changed, and perhaps... she didn't have to die at that specific moment after all.
***
Meanwhile, the Avengers were still engaged in fierce combat. Tony Stark, patrolling the skies while fighting, kept a close eye on Loki. Though this Loki seemed incredibly weak—perhaps the weakest god he'd ever encountered—
At least among the gods he knew, he was likely the weakest.
But even the weakest god is still a god. In the Sacred Timeline, Hulk had beaten him so badly, yet just a few hours later, by the time the Avengers finished off the Chitauri, Loki was already 7788 (seven thousand seven hundred eighty eight) recovered and able to stand.
How could such a recovery rate not be godlike?
Compared to him, even Captain Rogers, enhanced by the Super Soldier Serum, or the soldiers injected with the Extremis Virus—whose physical prowess seemed superhuman to ordinary humans—were nothing.
Yet this very Loki had met his match in Lin Feng. Though the details of their confrontation were unseen, Loki's battered state spoke volumes.
Other beings far surpassing Loki in power, like Thor and Hulk—both non-human entities—remained. Tony knew he couldn't let his guard down. He had to find a way to develop even more powerful armor to stand a chance against such foes in the future.
He flew to the rooftop of Stark Tower, where Wonder Woman Diana was still standing guard.
"Should we cut the power supply first?" Tony Stark asked.
"No!" Diana shook her head urgently. "If we cut the power now, he won't be able to come back."
"Didn't he say he could return on his own?" Tony couldn't help but retort.
"I think it's best not to for now. Just in case. Besides, the Chitauri soldiers aren't invading anymore."
Captain Rogers' voice came through the comms: "I don't think he's even close to his limit. The whole point of forming the Avengers was to show the universe our strength, wasn't it? After this battle, I bet they'll be trembling at the mere mention of Earthlings."
He had just cleared the surrounding Chitauri soldiers and was now watching the feed Tony Stark had shared. Lin Feng looked like a super-powered killing machine, single-handedly blowing up several Chitauri motherships.
These were the same ships that had required nuclear bombs to defeat in the past, yet Lin Feng had accomplished it alone. *What else could he be but a monster?*
Even Thor, a genuine god, couldn't achieve such terrifying feats.
Hearing Captain Rogers' words, the Avengers burst into laughter.
Unlike the Avengers in the original timeline, who were nearly pushed to the brink of defeat, they had now completely stabilized their position. Especially after Lin Feng charged into space and blew up several Chitauri motherships, many Leviathan ships and Chitauri soldiers instantly lost their command and collapsed.
*Just a bunch of drones after all.*
Thanks to Lin Feng's decisive actions, their challenge was far simpler than what their counterparts in the Sacred Timeline had faced.
He had single-handedly turned the tide of the battle.
At that moment, Tony Stark finally understood why magical civilizations could deter the entire universe with a single Celestial Father-level being. Against such a power, sheer numbers were utterly meaningless.
Without Lin Feng, the Earth would have struggled to defeat the Chitauri Civilization even with its full might. But after Lin Feng intervened, he crushed the Chitauri in the blink of an eye.
They not only minimized their losses but even counterattacked, destroying several Chitauri motherships—not ordinary ones, but vessels capable of interstellar conquest.
For the Chitauri, this was clearly no small loss; it was a devastating blow.
"If Lin Feng's power doesn't even qualify as Celestial Father-level, just how terrifying must the true strength of a Celestial Father be?" Hawkeye Barton's voice crackled over their comms.
Everyone suddenly realized the truth of his words. Lin Feng, not even a Celestial Father, had single-handedly destroyed the Chitauri fleet. If a true Celestial Father were to unleash their full power, how utterly devastating would that be?
"Thor, your father, God-King Odin, is a Celestial Father. What's your take?" Tony Stark asked.
"I don't know. I've never actually seen him unleash his full power!" Thor shook his head. He wanted to know, but he'd never witnessed his father's full might.
Before obtaining Lin Feng's diary, he hadn't even known what a Celestial Father was. The concept was completely foreign to him.
Especially after he came of age, most of Odin's combat duties fell to him, making his father's interventions even rarer.
-----------------------
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