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While Kevin was stunned, Loki was also stunned.
Originally, he and Sylvie had successfully found the Time Keepers, and then, rescued by the re-defected B-15 and Mobius, they fought the Time Keepers.
Actually, it was a fight against the Time Keepers' guards.
During the fight, Sylvie seized the opportunity to chop off the head of one of the three Time Keepers.
However, only when the head fell off did they discover that the Time Keepers were robots!
They weren't real people! They were just puppets pushed to the front by someone!
The true controller of the TVA was someone else!
When they first learned this news, Loki and Sylvie were shocked.
But before Loki and Sylvie could leave the TVA to continue investigating the truth, Loki was ambushed from behind by Ravonna Renslayer, who pruned him to the Void.
Upon arriving at the Void, Loki realized that being pruned didn't mean death; if one could find a way to survive, living to old age in the Void was not a problem.
This was his self-understanding gained through the four Lokis he encountered after his arrival.
And Loki never expected there to be so many versions of himself here.
There was Kid Loki, Old Man Loki, Boastful Loki, Alligator Loki…
This combination of just four people gathered all the old, young, teenage, and even non-human variants!
Loki himself had never imagined he had so many variants!
However, thanks to the rescue by these four, he wasn't eaten by Alioth, the monster floating in the sky.
After chatting with the four and discussing their respective pasts, Loki began to resolve to find a way to leave this place.
He hadn't forgotten that he still needed to help Sylvie overthrow the TVA's rule.
And to help Sylvie, the prerequisite was to find a way to escape this TVA junkyard.
However, what Loki didn't expect was that shortly after he left the base of those four—three people and one alligator—he was caught red-handed.
And it wasn't those Lokis who caught him.
It was the 'Kevins'!
That mysterious TVA agent!!
How could he have so many variants here too!?
Loki, tied up to a pillar, felt like crying.
He felt that ever since he came to this TVA, nothing had ever gone smoothly for him! First, he was almost pruned, then he fought with a female version of himself.
Although the experience with Sylvie, looking back now, was a good memory, and Loki had fallen in love with Sylvie.
But that was probably the only part that could be called a good memory.
Later, he was interrogated, locked in a special cell, repeatedly reliving the things he least wanted to face, then fought with TVA personnel and was pruned to the junkyard.
Finally, he was caught by the 'Kevins' and brought here.
He felt like he was constantly repeating the act of 'being caught.'
Caught by the Avengers, caught by the TVA, caught by the Lokis, caught by the Kevins…
What kind of 'born to be caught' sacred body is this? Is he some Disney princess??
If Loki were Kevin, he would definitely complain like that, but unfortunately, he wasn't, so Loki was currently trying to escape from the Kevins in front of him.
"I say, gentlemen…"
"Don't talk."
Hydro-Man, who was guarding Loki, glanced at Loki and said, "We understand you better than you think, and we know what you want to do, so we won't listen to anything you say. Just stay here obediently, and when the time comes, we will let you go."
"So you don't intend to kill me?"
"That's hard to say."
Another Kevin walked over. He was wearing loose clothing and looked gentle and refined. He said to Loki, "If he refuses to exchange with you, then you will be useless to us."
"He? Who?"
"Me."
Hydro-Man interjected, seeing Loki's confused expression, and added, "Me, as a TVA agent."
"…I see."
Loki was also a smart person. He quickly analyzed that the reason this group of people had captured him was not to do something to him, but to do something to that mysterious TVA agent.
Moreover, from Sorcerer Supreme Wen Yi's behavior, and the TVA agent's initial conversation with him, it could be proven that this TVA agent was a special individual.
Even among all his variants, he was the most special one.
Because of his uniqueness, these other variants would want to find him and do something to him.
His eyes flickered slightly. His intuition told Loki that Kevin's agent variant was not only special but probably knew even more.
If Sylvie wanted to overthrow the TVA's rule, she might still need his help.
Therefore, he couldn't just watch Agent Kevin be captured by this group; he had to find a way to escape.
Loki looked at the Kevin-version Avengers members in front of him, thought for a moment, and then suddenly asked, "How are you so sure Kevin will exchange with me? We're not even friends, it seems. What if he refuses to exchange with me?"
"Don't ask so many questions. Just stay put."
Hearing Loki's question, Hydro-Man said rather irritably.
Although Loki was a plot character in their eyes, they never underestimated him.
At least they were very clear about Loki's cunning and his intelligence.
So they also knew what to say and what not to say.
For example, regarding the question Loki asked, if they answered carelessly, he would guess something. Rather than that, it was better to say nothing at all.
Seeing Loki still wanting to inquire, Hydro-Man said impatiently, "Do you want to be thrown around like a rag doll by Hulk again?"
As soon as Hydro-Man finished speaking, the gentle and refined Kevin with glasses beside him smiled:
"If I can, I don't mind."
"I mind!!" Loki almost instinctively shouted, then he turned his head to examine the Kevin with glasses: "Wait, you're Hulk??"
"Something like that. Although I'm not Banner, I'm a member of the Hulk Gang and have the ability to turn into the Hulk… So, if you want to experience being an aerialist again, I can help you for free."
The Kevin with glasses showed a benevolent smile.
But seeing his smile, Loki instinctively trembled.
Being thrown around like a toy by the Hulk in Stark Tower was a nightmare Loki couldn't shake off.
The Hulk had also become a psychological shadow he couldn't erase.
Therefore, now knowing there was a Hulk here, Loki immediately shut his mouth and dared not speak.
He was truly afraid that this Hulk here would give him a classic re-enactment.
Loki dared not speak, and the Kevins also ignored him, engrossed in their research.
It seemed they truly didn't care about Loki as a person.
Although ignored, Loki wasn't too bothered. He was currently pondering how he could escape from here.
These people had used some method to prevent Loki from using his magic, so escaping with magic seemed unlikely.
Instead, the possibility of Kid Loki and his group coming to rescue him was higher.
And just as Loki was at his wit's end, suddenly, a clear voice came from his ear:
"Hey, Loki!"
"!?"
Loki was slightly startled. He glanced out of the corner of his eye at his shoulder and saw an ant-sized little person hanging on his shoulder, poking his head out and saying to him, "Don't panic yet, I'm here to save you. We'll attack this place soon, and someone will come to take you away. Once you leave here, you don't need to worry about anything else, just run directly towards Alioth! Understand? Nod if you understand!"
"…."
Loki looked at the few people gathered not far away, and gently nodded to the ant-sized little person.
The ant-sized little person then climbed down from Loki's body and disappeared.
Although the ant-sized little person didn't introduce himself, based on the time variants surviving here, being either Loki or Kevin, Loki could guess that this was probably one of Kevin's variants.
Thinking of this, Loki became even more curious about who Kevin was.
Take Loki's variants, for example: no matter what Loki turned into, his abilities were generally the same.
Illusions, magic, or close combat with a small dagger.
Even if there were differences in power systems, the differences wouldn't be too great.
But look at Kevin's variants.
There was Iron Man, Hulk, and even a Sorcerer Supreme!
Now, even a variant that could shrink had appeared. The power systems were completely different, making it impossible to tell what Kevin originally did or what his identity was.
It was as if… he could be anything.
Loki even suspected that this Kevin might have variants of their Asgardian people.
However, having many variants and many power systems was also a good thing.
At least his variants could save him.
Loki selectively forgot that he had been captured by a Kevin variant, and patiently waited for the attack time that the little variant had just mentioned.
Loki didn't have to wait long.
Not long after the little one left, the little one who had spoken to Loki earlier appeared in front of several Kevins.
The little one's appearance made everyone pause.
But before they could do anything, Ant-Man Cassie's body rapidly grew, completely tearing open the hidden location of Iron Man and the others!
"Damn it! Cassie!"
The glasses-wearing Hulk, seeing his home being torn down, roared at the giant Cassie.
It seemed they knew each other.
Cassie let out a burst of bell-like laughter, continuing to expand the space where Iron Man and the others were hiding.
Iron Man, seeing this, wasn't as angry as Hulk; instead, he said to Hydro-Man beside him:
"Go keep an eye on Loki!"
"Okay... Crap! He's gone!"
Hydro-Man turned his head and found that Loki had disappeared from his original spot at some unknown time.
Iron Man cursed under his breath and immediately looked at the buffer that prohibited magic and superpowers.
Sure enough, the anti-magic device located there had been destroyed at some unknown time, and judging by the marks on it, this must have been Cassie's doing.
Cassie had found and infiltrated this place at some point, not only destroying the anti-magic device but also letting Loki escape.
"Let Captain America chase him! We'll deal with Cassie first!"
Although Loki escaped, Iron Man wasn't flustered at all; he quickly made arrangements, sending the other Kevins to chase Loki.
He, along with Hydro-Man, tried to suppress Cassie, making her stop her giant baby-like destructive behavior.
Cassie seemed to be addicted to it; she wildly destroyed everything here, laughing heartily as she did so, which was very irritating to hear.
Iron Man analyzed the key nodes on Cassie's battle suit, thinking of destroying them to make Cassie shrink back, but before he could act, he saw something even larger coming from above.
It was a large pincer.
A large pincer bigger than a small mountain!
It was Kevin; he had summoned the sea monster Karathen to this world!
"Oh... my God..."
Hydro-Man stared up at the sky with wide eyes, and Cassie also saw the large pincer.
When she saw something larger than herself in the distance, Cassie also opened her mouth in shock.
"What is that?!"
"Sea monster Karathen, my gain from the DC Universe."
Kevin's voice came through the earpiece, and he said with a smile:
"Alright, Cassie, you go back; next... it's my turn to perform."
Cassie had destroyed the buffer that prohibited magic and superpowers; there was nothing to restrain Kevin, and he was invincible here!
Even just Karathen alone was enough to crush everyone below except Hulk!
Staring blankly as the sea monster Karathen wreaked havoc, Cassie quickly returned to her original size and soon shrank into Ant-Man and left.
But as she left, she also saw the monster Alioth attracted from a distance, and she couldn't help but yell at Kevin:
"Hey! You've attracted Alioth!"
"That's good; it saves Loki a trip."
"But we haven't found Sylvie yet!"
The original plan was for Sylvie and Loki to follow the method from the original work, connecting with Alioth through Sylvie's magic to reach the Time Castle, which no one had ever entered.
But now, they hadn't even seen Sylvie, so even if they attracted Alioth, they couldn't proceed with the next step of the plan.
"It's alright."
As Cassie worried, Kevin's light chuckle came through the earpiece:
"At worst, we'll just detain Alioth as well."
He said so, with absolute confidence in his words.
...
Standing on the head of the giant sea monster Karathen, Kevin's gaze did not fall on the Kevins below.
His sight landed on the distant purple thundercloud.
That purple thundercloud was Alioth, the monster that devoured clipped things in this Void.
Alioth's true form was a cosmic cloud capable of devouring temporal and spatial matter.
Kang controlled it and used it to end the 'Kang Wars' of the multiverse.
From this perspective, this thing was definitely very strong, because it could devour almost any substance, whether temporal, spatial, or other things created by Kang.
But it also had its weaknesses.
Otherwise, it would not have been controlled by Kang.
And since Kang could control it, Kevin felt that he might also be able to control it.
With magic patterns.
Because he couldn't return for the time being, Kevin used all his recent gains and previously acquired skill points, leaving only a few for backup, and investing the rest into the [Lord's Magic Reasoning] skill.
This skill enhanced Kevin's understanding of magic and mana, and combined with the magical knowledge he had seen at Kamar Taj, it allowed Kevin to create more magic patterns.
Magic patterns could be combined with each other and activated with mana to create Kevin's own unique magic system.
In this system, Kevin also vaguely understood the principle of his ability to communicate with marine creatures.
[Aquatic Animal Affinity], this skill had never been upgraded by Kevin.
Even now, it was only at level four, and that was only to summon Karathen that he had raised it to this level.
Otherwise, Kevin probably wouldn't have continued to upgrade this skill.
After all, the potential of this skill seemed very limited; Kevin could already communicate with aquatic creatures, attract them to him, and make them serve him.
This was already enough for Kevin; there was no need to further increase the skill level.
The main reason was that this thing was a basic skill, requiring too many skill points, and before achieving skill point freedom, it was a dispensable skill, so there was no need to raise it too high.
But having understood the magic pattern system and vaguely comprehended the essence of his skill tree, Kevin also began to realize that this skill was not as simple as he had imagined.
First, the conclusion.
If this thing was upgraded to a high level, it should be able to increase all creatures' affinity for Kevin, bringing all creatures into Kevin's summoning system.
However, because such a thing could only be achieved at a high level, Kevin currently seemed to have no use for the [Aquatic Animal Affinity] skill.
But now, Kevin's [Lord's Magic Reasoning] was at level five.
Through his understanding of magic, he could now dissect the essence of skills and temporarily enhance a certain aspect of his abilities.
So...
If Kevin could withstand Alioth's erosion of his body now, he could do what Sylvie did, connect with Alioth, and thus control it.
This made Kevin have some ideas.
If this monster could also be summoned by Kevin like Karathen...
Then Kevin's trip to Loki's world this time would truly be a huge gain!
"My King... that green one is a bit difficult to deal with."
Kevin was considering how to turn Alioth into his summoned creature.
Karathen's plea for help came from his ear.
He looked down and indeed saw that stubborn green Big jumping on Karathen's large pincer.
It was thick-skinned and powerful, but compared to Karathen's massive body, its body was as small as an ant.
Because of this, Karathen currently had no way to deal with him.
Cassie was holding back Iron Man, Hydro-Man was chasing Loki, and there was a guy dressed as Captain America with a shield, fighting Spider-Man below; only Hulk was running along Karathen's large pincer.
It seemed his target was Kevin.
"Hmm, then according to what we agreed earlier... I'll deal with him first before anything else."
According to the previous division of labor, Kevin jumped from Karathen's head and flew straight towards Hulk below.
"Roar!!!"
Seeing Kevin descend, Hulk roared and swung his fist at Kevin, a large fist the size of two human heads heading straight for Kevin's head.
But Kevin did not confront Hulk head-on.
As their figures intertwined, he deftly dodged Hulk's fist, placing his right hand on Hulk's forehead.
In that instant of intertwining, Hulk's soul was flung out of his body!
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