Multiverse

"Your parents both died in a car accident in 1991. Do you really think that was the truth?"

As someone who loved stirring up trouble, Chen Mu had entertained this idea ever since he learned that Captain America had awakened: make the Avengers’ civil war erupt ahead of schedule.

Captain America’s best friend, Bucky, had killed Tony Stark’s parents.

Even though Bucky had been controlled and had possessed no awareness at all, the fact remained. In Chen Mu’s view, there was absolutely nothing wrong with Tony seeking revenge. Captain America, on the other hand, had tried every possible way to stop him simply because Bucky was his friend. That was truly contemptible.

"Could it be…?"

Tony took a deep breath and looked at Chen Mu with an investigative expression.

"They didn’t die in a car accident. They died at someone’s hands. Come to think of it, your father knew him quite well—Bucky Barnes."

Captain America’s exploits were widely known throughout America, and the Howling Commandos associated with him were naturally famous as well.

So, the moment Tony heard that name, he knew who it was.

"Do you have any evidence?"

Tony felt a fire burning in his chest, but he forcibly suppressed his anger and asked in a low voice.

"I don’t have any evidence here. But I can give you a hint. Street surveillance cameras recorded what happened back then. As for where that footage is now, you’ll have to find it yourself."

In truth, Hydra was hidden beneath S.H.I.E.L.D. If Tony followed this lead, he would easily discover that all the evidence pointed toward S.H.I.E.L.D.

Tony had long had friction with S.H.I.E.L.D. Chen Mu’s provocation would certainly make things very interesting.

"Goodbye. I have some matters to deal with."

This was Father-killing revenge. Although Chen Mu had no evidence, Tony trusted him deeply. All he needed to do now was return and find proof to verify it.

With so much on his mind, Tony had even thrown the matter of cooperation to the back of his mind.

"So much for the so-called timeline!"

Watching Tony’s departing figure, Chen Mu smiled. The world’s so-called timeline had already been thrown into complete chaos by him. As far as Chen Mu was concerned, the more chaotic things became, the better. Only through greater chaos could China develop amid the turmoil!

After Tony left, he continued investigating the matter. Meanwhile, everything on the international stage seemed to have settled down, and the whole world appeared to have returned to peace.

Time, space, and reality were not a one-way road that moved ever forward, but a prism displaying countless possibilities. A simple choice could give rise to innumerable realities…

While working in his laboratory, Chen Mu suddenly heard a faint, indistinct whisper. He could not help putting down his work and scanning his surroundings with a frown.

"Who is it?"

After using the Tablet of Life to transform himself into an enhanced Eternal like Nezha—what he defined as an immortal god—Chen Mu had never displayed his true strength. Yet there was no denying that his power had become unimaginably great. Though he could not compare to beings such as the Celestials, he had still surpassed the Eternals by a considerable margin.

At his current level, only a handful of people on Earth could suppress him.

The possibility of someone with his current strength experiencing hallucinations was practically nonexistent. Therefore, that whisper he had just heard had absolutely been real!

"Time, space, reality?"

"Was it talking about the Infinity Stones?"

Unable to locate the source of the voice, Chen Mu could only search for clues in the words he had heard.

The words had clearly formed a complete sentence, which further confirmed that this was definitely not a hallucination.

"And there’s this faint feeling of being watched…"

A trace of displeasure flashed through Chen Mu’s heart, and he prepared to seek Ancient One’s help.

On Earth, Ancient One was the only person who could help Chen Mu.

Opening a portal, Chen Mu headed directly to the mages’ headquarters, Kamar-Taj. In this world, Kamar-Taj was located in Kathmandu, Nepal, at the Himalayan Foothills. Of course, it did not exist in the real world, but in the void. Like the Magic School China had established, it used the power of the Mirror Dimension to open up an independent space. It was a sacred place where mages studied magic.

Although Chen Mu had never been there, Ancient One had long since told him its location, so he could travel there directly.

"I wonder what brings Mr. Chen Mu to see me?"

When Chen Mu arrived at Kamar-Taj, Ancient One seemed to have anticipated his arrival long ago. She had already brewed a steaming cup of tea in the reception room and looked at him with a smile.

"I just poured it. Please, have a seat."

As she spoke, Ancient One gestured for Chen Mu to sit opposite her.

"Ancient One, is there anyone on Earth more powerful than you?"

Chen Mu sat down and got straight to the point. He suspected that the voice he had heard had come from someone on Earth, but that puzzled him. If this were a comic-book world, there would certainly be plenty of bizarre characters with strange power levels, and quite a few people stronger than him. But Chen Mu had long confirmed that he was in a world similar to the movie universe, where there were no such strange figures.

So, he had come to seek Ancient One’s help only to find out whether there was someone on Earth powerful enough to leave him unable to resist.

"There isn’t."

Ancient One smiled and shook her head.

"Then, Ancient One, I just heard a whisper. Do you know whose voice it was?"

Chen Mu frowned and asked, "And I can feel an inexplicable sense of being watched."

Chen Mu’s body was now not much weaker than Nezha’s. Perhaps he was only inferior to Nezha in combat awareness, and the fighting strength he could wield was not as great as Nezha’s. But without question, Chen Mu’s power was already among the strongest on Earth.

If it was a sense of being watched, perhaps Heimdall’s gift could allow him to monitor Chen Mu. But Chen Mu would definitely sense it as well. Furthermore, their relationship with Asgard was fairly good now, so Heimdall would not spy on Chen Mu and create unnecessary trouble between the two nations.

"A sense of being watched, as well as hearing some kind of voice?"

Ancient One wore a thoughtful expression. Then she looked at Chen Mu with a smile and continued, "I think I know what’s going on."

"What is it?"

Chen Mu hurriedly asked.

"Do you know of the existence of the multiverse?" Ancient One took a sip of tea and looked at Chen Mu with a smile.

"You mean this surveillance is coming from the multiverse?"

Chen Mu raised an eyebrow, a surprised expression appearing on his face.

PS: The original plan was to write about the multiverse in Avengers 1, where the Avengers who traveled back from Avengers 4 in the original world would appear and officially open the multiverse. But after thinking about it, I realized I had read several novels that did the same thing, so I changed it. I’ll start directly with the What If…? series and make contact with the What If…? worlds, beginning with Captain Carter’s world. That world is in 1943, which is perfect. The system exists to help all Chinese people, and World War II is happening over there, so…