Marvel: Starting with the Glint-Glint Fruit.

In the distance, snow-capped mountains stretch across the horizon, and sunlight shines on the classical architectural complex. The stone walls and eaves appear exceptionally serene and solemn against the backdrop of white snow.

Inside the classical hall.

A bald woman in a white robe stood by the window, holding a folding fan, listening to her disciple Casillas's report. After a long while, she nodded slightly.

"I see."

"Venerable One."

Kaecilius frowned slightly as he looked at the back of the Sorcerer Supreme, who was also his teacher, the Ancient One, his mind racing with conflicting thoughts.

The secret he had once glimpsed surfaced in his mind, and his tone was somewhat low: "You once told us that the path we walk is not about pursuing power, but about protecting."

"Light is never the only salvation, nor is darkness entirely evil. What we are protecting is not pure light, but the balance between light and darkness. Our responsibility is to avoid being swallowed up by either side."

Gu Yi did not turn around in response to his disciple's words. He understood the underlying meaning in his disciple's words and gave a slightly meaningful reply.

"responsibility?"

"What's needed for protection is judgment, not rigidity."

"Judgment, or compromise?" Casillas pressed gently. "We have spent our lives closing the gates to other dimensions, sealing away the powers that could destroy the world. We have been taught that touching them will result in our being devoured."

He paused, letting the weight of the silence fall between them: "But I'm starting to wonder if the very barrier we're so desperately trying to maintain, what's supporting it, is precisely the very forces we claim to fear."

This time, Gu Yi turned to look at him, her gaze calm and unwavering: "You think the price of protection is too high?"

"I think we've been blinded by lies." Kaecilius looked directly into the Ancient One's eyes: "Darkness may not be evil, and light may not be entirely righteous."

"I need it, but it can't give me what I want."

What Casillas pursued was never the so-called protection or justice.

Having witnessed the deaths of his lover and child, he gained a profound understanding of the fragility of life. He embarked on the path of magic without hesitation, all for the sake of eternity.

This mindset persisted from beginning to end, even turning into obsession and fanaticism.

But as he delved deeper, Casillas discovered some secrets, secrets about white magic.

He discovered that magic could indeed grant long life, but it was not eternal; one would still die.

After his death, all his life's learning would vanish into thin air, returning to the magical dimension of Vishanti, something Kaecilius could not tolerate.

However, when he glimpsed that this supreme sorcerer who protected humanity had also dabbled in darkness, he began to question the responsibility and protection taught by the Ancient One.

Gu Yi did not reply.

She knew Casillas didn't need to answer.

Casillas didn't press the matter further, because he already had the answer in his heart, his own answer.

Kaecilius left, and the Ancient One watched the back of her most outstanding disciple. As the Sorcerer Supreme who wielded the Time Stone and could see into the future, she knew perfectly well what the future held.

In the past, the Ancient One would not have caused the slightest ripple.

Because the time is fixed and cannot be changed.

But things are different now.

She's now surprisingly developing a desire to change things.

Everything started seven months ago.

The Ancient One never imagined that the sacred timeline would be completely altered because of an anomaly.

Furthermore, the timeline was altered, and the future became chaotic. She could no longer see the future clearly because there were countless possibilities. Even the Ancient One herself was unsure which future was the real one.

The sacred timeline has been altered, but the universe continues to function normally.

This violates the original logic of how the universe works.

What is the Sacred Timeline?

There is an unchangeable timeline, and the universe must follow this timeline. If it is altered, the universe may face destruction.

Therefore, the Ancient One, the Sorcerer Supreme, protected not only the dimension of Earth, but also this timeline.

Many anomalies have occurred, but she has silently eliminated or corrected them all.

This time, an anomaly named Matthew appeared, but she did not choose to correct it.

She could sense that if she chose to make a change, the consequences would be unpredictable.

The other sorcerers revered the Ancient One, but the Ancient One herself understood that someone who could manipulate time would ultimately be cursed by time.

She saw a future that was unchangeable, so the Ancient One became numb.

She was so numb that she had to follow the established history and wait for the next Supreme Master to appear so that she could retire gracefully.

But things are different now.

The timeline has been disrupted, and the future has become uncontrollable. Changing history does not seem to lead to a worse situation.

In other words, everyone's fate can be changed.

This gave the Ancient One a long-lost sense of excitement.

Just like when I first stepped onto the path of magic and came into contact with wondrous magic.

"Is your appearance a good thing or a bad thing?"

Gu Yi turned her head to look out the window, and through the snow-capped mountains, she seemed to see the young boy on a plane bound for St. Petersburg.

An ordinary child, whose life was originally full of hardships, suddenly gained the power to control light.

As time progressed, the rapid improvement in physical abilities and the ability to materialize willpower as a weapon were novel even to the Ancient One.

Even that child took firm steps onto a clear path.

The Ancient One also used the Time Stone to try to see the boy's future.

But she failed. The power of time seemed unable to capture the boy's future, or rather, the boy was no longer just an anchor point in this universe.

It is still an anchor point that is not affected by time.

Where does this change come from?

Is it the universe's choice? Or the masterpiece of a greater deity that she cannot fathom or capture?

Interesting.

A light shone in Gu Yi's otherwise weary eyes, a light born of intense curiosity about the mysterious and unknown.

Perhaps it's time to go see that child.

.........

Above the thick clouds, a transport plane is flying at high speed.

Inside the cabin, Matthew heard Kara's voice through his earphones.

"The results of Nydy's physical examination have come back, and there are significant discrepancies with her medical examination data. Her DNA molecular sequence is different from that of ordinary people. Her DNA sequence is abnormal, with abnormal fragments of unknown factors that have been rewritten in the nucleotide arrangement. It is not a random gene mutation."

As they spoke, Matthew could also hear the beeping of instruments in the background.

"Compared to her previous medical test data, these abnormalities appeared recently and are concentrated in gene loci related to physical fitness, self-healing, and neurological responses, which is why her body has become stronger."