All the heavens, starting as the ruler of the universe

When Lin Yan walked out of the apartment building, the Sokovia sun was blazing.

Wanda was still unconscious, and Pietro dutifully stayed by her bedside.

Lin Yan closed the door and went down the stairs.

He didn't go through the main entrance.

Starlight shone from beneath my feet, and I felt like a drop of water sinking into the surface, silently dissipating into the air.

The next instant, Lin Yan's figure appeared from the starlight in the Hydra base.

Before him, the Mind Stone floated on a magnetically confined platform.

Lin Yan stood in front of the gemstone.

The researchers around them remained in the same position as a second ago, like wax figures.

Some people were clutching data tablets, some were holding coffee, and some were opening their mouths to speak, but their voices were frozen in the air.

Time stands still.

Lin Yan walked straight to the Mind Gem, where starlight surged, and began to analyze it.

A moment later, Lin Yan turned and left.

After Lin Yan left, the entire base returned to normal, and no one noticed anything amiss.

When I got back to the apartment, dusk was creeping in through the window.

He pushed open the door, and Wanda stood in the hallway. Her gray-green eyes lit up for a moment, and she stretched out her hand, a faint red light emanating from her fingertips.

"Look."

"Take it."

Wanda was stunned for a moment, then frantically tried to take the ball of light back.

Light leaked through her fingers, growing brighter as she tried to cover them with her other hand. The light spilled out again, turning her fingers a translucent red.

"Don't use your hands," Lin Yan said. "Use your brain."

Wanda stopped what she was doing, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes.

The ball of light bounced in her palm, slowly dimmed, and finally retreated back to her fingertips like a thread being pulled.

"Again."

She stretched out her hand again. It lit up, then she withdrew it. It lit up again, then she withdrew it again. After seven or eight times, the red light could now flicker on and off at will in her palm.

Lin Yan sat down by the window.

"The ability you possess is called Chaos Magic, an extremely powerful force," Lin Yan said, looking at Wanda who was listening attentively. "Its essence is the alteration of reality."

Wanda looked at him.

Lin Yan did not explain further. He stretched out his hand, palm up.

A red light shone from his palm. Unlike the trembling light at Wanda's fingertips earlier—this light was quiet and stable, like a breathing heart. The light reflected on their faces, bathing the entire room in a very pale red hue.

"Look."

A red light, just like Wanda's, rose from his palm and hung in mid-air.

Then it began to transform, first stretching into a line, then bending, folding, and weaving. In a few breaths, the shape of a bird emerged in the air.

Next came the filling of internal organs, blood, and bones, and finally the feathers.

In just a few seconds, a live little bird appeared in front of Wanda.

It flapped its wings gently, circled Wanda once, and landed on her shoulder.

"Chaos magic alters reality," Lin Yan said. "It's not an illusion. That bird on your shoulder is real."

The bird flew off her shoulder and landed back in Lin Yan's palm.

The red light surged again, and the bird's shape dissipated, transforming into a flower.

The petals are layered, each one so thin it's translucent.

"You need to learn to control it, to make the chaos magic follow your own ideas, and not be influenced by it." Lin Yan handed over the flowers, which Wanda accepted thoughtfully.

"Of course, the power of chaos magic is not just about altering reality. Once you learn to control it, its power will naturally be under your control."

Wanda placed the flowers on the windowsill, next to the withered plant.

What else can chaos magic do?

"It can do whatever you want it to do." The red light in Lin Yan's palm surged again. "But there's a prerequisite: you must first understand what you want to modify. Chaos magic can't change what you can't understand."

Wanda looked at him.

"For example, if you want a stone to fly, you don't need to understand the composition of the stone or the formula for gravity. You just need to understand that as long as there is enough force, a stone can fly."

Wanda remained silent for a moment.

"So, what do I need to understand if I want to change my parents back?"

"Life and death."

"I don't understand."

"No one is born understanding," Lin Yan said. "Once you've experienced enough people and events, and witnessed enough life and death, you will understand."

Wanda looked down at her palm.

My palm was empty, but the sensation of the flower from before was still there.

"So what can I do now?"

Lin Yan pointed to the withered plant on the windowsill.

"Bring it back to life."

Wanda walked to the windowsill and looked down at the withered plant.

The withered stems drooped over the edge of the flowerpot, and the curled leaves crumbled at the slightest touch.

She stretched out her hand, her palm hovering above the plant.

A red light shone from her fingertips and fell on the withered leaves. The leaves trembled, but remained unchanged.

"Don't think about 'bringing it back to life'," Lin Yan said. "Think about what it would be like if it were alive."

Wanda closed her eyes, thinking of that green expanse. The red light in her palm slowly seeped into the soil.

However, the moment the chaotic magic touched the plant, the entire withered plant instantly turned to ashes.

"..." Wanda looked at Lin Yan with an embarrassed expression, as if she had done something wrong.

Lin Yan stretched out his hand, and crimson chaotic magic surged from his palm, causing the plant that had turned to ashes to reappear before the two of them.

"Destruction is always easier than creation." Lin Yan withdrew his hand. "You were thinking too much just now. Your emotions were faster than your will. Anger, impatience, resentment—chaos magic will catch these things first."

Wanda lowered her head.

"When you restore it, that's when you can say you've got it under control."

"understood."

Lin Yan stood up and walked out of the room.

In the corridor, Pietro was leaning against the wall, his silver-gray hair covering half of his face.

"How is she?"

Go see for yourself.

Pietro peeked into the room and saw Wanda standing on the windowsill, her palm hovering above the plant, red light seeping into the soil from her fingertips.

The leaf trembled, a faint hint of green appearing at its edge, before shattering into dust with a "pop".

Wanda didn't turn around. She dusted off her hands and then reached out her hand again.

Pietro pulled his head back.

"...I'll go make coffee."

Lin Yan returned to his room and sat down by the window.

Dusk had completely fallen, and the lights of the grocery store were on across the street, a small, dim yellow glow.

Something deep within my consciousness trembled slightly.

The chat group's screen lit up at the edge of the field of vision. A notification was flashing.

"New universe search complete, connection established."

"Three more new universes?" Lin Yan clicked to search, and three familiar fluctuations emanated from the chat group. This time, Lin Yan also sent out three thoughts to follow them.