Those time travelers that year

"So worried that you sent a little tail to follow me from the very beginning?" Loki laughed sarcastically. "Or is it that, Wizard Gretel... you never trusted me, your friend, from the very start?"

"Or rather, coveting... the scepter and the Cosmic Cube in my hands."

“If I were after the Cosmic Cube, I would have stolen it long ago…” Charles said calmly. “There’s no need to wait for you to come here and play a silly alien invasion game.”

“Hehe…” Loki chuckled and said, “Yeah! But everyone has their own secrets… Never mind, I’m not the kind of archaeologist who likes to pry into secrets…”

"So when do you plan to start your boring invasion war?"

“It will take a little more time, my ‘ally’!” Loki said. “When the time comes, I will open a door in the sky above a major city in Midgar. Once enough time has passed and a stage play has captivated enough audiences, I will let you know…”

"Here to announce the end of the stage play..."

213. The Prelude to the Battle of New York (Part 1)

Within the United States lies a city affectionately known as the "Big Apple," a world-renowned metropolis. It symbolizes wealth (Wall Street is here) and freedom (the Statue of Liberty is here), a city brimming with unique charm. Its fame within the US far surpasses that of Washington, D.C., the US capital.

However, this is also a city rife with misfortune. In the normal Earth timeline, this place was visited by a seasoned driver, who, without a driver's license or even a pilot's license, brazenly piloted a plane and violently assaulted a pair of twin towers (the Twin Towers). Uncle Deng proved to the world with his actions that the US's rear end can indeed be blown up. And in this Marvel universe, the US's rear end isn't safe either; even with a coded iron girdle, it's useless.

Every year, people here live a wonderful and happy life. Well, it should be said that over the years, the citizens of New York have become accustomed to one thing in their daily lives.

Those were supervillains who seemed to spring out of nowhere, and equally mysterious figures swinging around in red bodysuits and other bodysuit-clad perverts in various colors. Especially after the red bodysuit pervert appeared, there was also the inexplicably appearing… a muscular, sunglasses-wearing scientist, a bio-engineered humanoid lizard, who seemed to have developed unusual emotions towards the eight electronic claws on his back. The former envisioned creating an artificial sun to wreak havoc on New York City, while the latter wanted to use a sudden, intense… downpour to color all of New York City green.

There have been many other messy incidents over the years, so much so that a book called "The New York Emergency Escape Guide" has begun circulating in New York City.

What a peaceful world!

However, for some reason, it seems like there have been fewer supervillains lately. At least after a huge green guy demolished an entire street, it seems like there have been far fewer of those hilariously bizarre crime dramas featuring criminals in tight suits.

So, bewildered New Yorkers, while going to get off work their usual routines, kept marveling at the changes in reality. Small groups began speculating whether some evil organization had gathered its forces, planning a major news story to grab headlines and, incidentally, dethrone that guy across the ocean from that rabbit family—the one always trying to steal the spotlight. Meanwhile, on New York's social media, all sorts of speculative posts proliferated. Some young people even confidently suggested stocking up on two weeks' worth of food in their basements or underground parking lots, along with oxygen tanks… so that if things escalated, the government officials wouldn't be able to get there in time, and the tight-fitting perverts wouldn't have enough manpower to survive.

While some New Yorkers were denouncing these absurd remarks and secretly preparing food and self-rescue supplies, enjoying their hard-won peace and quiet, a group of unfriendly-looking individuals infiltrated the Stark Tower, Tony Stark's expensively renovated iconic building in New York.

Along the way, these guys managed to get all the security personnel through various means... Because this is Tony Stark's hideout in New York, generally no one would be foolish enough to come here, so the security here is quite lax. The reason for this is more likely that the criminals trying to make their presence felt in New York know that in America's home, the last thing you should mess with is the wealthy. So, petty thieves are more likely to target some poor guy in a red bodysuit who spews out a sticky white liquid that he uses to swing on, rather than bothering someone with the same color and style but who's rich.

In this light, the lax attitude of the Stark Tower security guards is understandable. However, given the obvious big news happening now, their laxity is ultimately irrelevant. After all, a significant portion of these intruders are S.H.I.E.L.D. special forces, and with the advanced technology they've unearthed from research facilities, the intruders have stormed the building and begun setting up an unknown device. Based on past experience, building such a device to create a big news story is bound to be something truly eye-catching, not some minor incident like robbing a bank and killing a few people.

So, while a slightly overweight, white-haired old man was diligently working on the project, and others were helping him move various parts and pull wires, on the other side, well, somewhere in the sky, a unique prelude to a stage was unfolding.

Perhaps on Earth, the sleuth organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D. never imagined that one day their home would be invaded by an outsider. However, the dark-skinned Wu Ke, who took this for granted, was immediately proven wrong. Only then did he suddenly realize that this wasn't a small-scale terrorist attack, nor was it an evil organization trying to make its presence felt, nor was there a super-tight-fitting psychopath who suddenly appeared. Because the more famous psychopath was right here.

So, Loki, humming a lullaby inside a glass cage, waited with a smile for the drama to unfold. Actually, when he first deliberately came in, Loki was quite surprised and couldn't understand why that bald, dark-skinned man would be so naive as to think that a glass cage could hold him. There were no energy suppression devices, no spatial interference instruments, no communication interception… why would these naive Earthlings… what's the word again… so naturally clueless… think that as long as the cage was sturdy, it could keep him inside?

The most important thing isn't that. His brother, the famous Thor, who came all the way from Asgard, actually thought, just like these Midgardians, that he could live in peace by trapping himself in a dome.

Alright! He'd gotten used to his brother's brute-force thinking after thousands of years. These mortals, completely ignorant of magic, were actually staring blankly at the scepter he'd brought… Didn't they know there was another expert on Midgard? Or rather, were they afraid of that expert as much as they were of him? Thinking this, Loki chuckled softly. These mortals, as utterly foolish as ever!

In a country called Germany, a performance had already captured everyone's attention, and now, everyone's eyes were fixed on him, completely ignoring everything else. His group swaggered to their designated location, where these ordinary people and his equally brainless brother were loudly discussing and arguing about a highly dangerous weapon, all over some inexplicable issue concerning its development.

Through his connection with the scepter, Loki subtly manipulated its power, causing the argument to escalate. Similarly, Loki also planted a small gift for the easily out-of-control individual.

"The real show is about to begin!"

It's past midnight.

214. The Prelude to the Battle of New York (Part 2)

boom!!!!

A violent explosion rang out outside, and the entire hovering space carrier tilted and began to shake. Loki, clinging to the glass dome, felt the swaying space and began to laugh loudly. If this wasn't a staged performance, these guys, lacking any sense of unity and unprepared, would have been doomed if he had really wanted to wage an invasion.

"How utterly foolish!" Loki muttered to himself. "If I could, I'd really like to just wipe out all these mortals... It's incredibly foolish, beyond my wildest expectations!" They brazenly brought this dangerous individual to the base, locked him in a barely sturdy, transparent cage, and didn't implement any restraint measures. Before even understanding the potential danger of the items he possessed, they brought him here as well, and even had two mortals from completely unrelated fields study the information on them.

Even more naive than his 'older brother,' Thor still acts without thinking, just like always. It seems that what happened recently only slightly altered his thought process! When it comes to making foolish decisions, this muscle-bound guy is still exactly the same.

"No mind-blocking devices, no means to cut off mental communication... Where did they get the confidence that locking people up would prevent any accidents?" Shaking his head, Loki banished the sudden idea of ​​ruling all of Midgard from his mind. This unrealistic idea was simply impossible, at least not now. As for the future, he'd consider it when he was freed from being cannon fodder for that tyrant.

So far, the plan has been going smoothly, and the original intention was to throw a curveball at the right time, letting the Superboys off the hook so they wouldn't be completely hopeless. However, with another guy joining him in this farce for another reason, Loki is no longer going to go easy on them; at least he has to pretend.

roar!!!!!!!!

Just as Loki was pondering, a furious roar interrupted his thoughts. Through his senses, Loki clearly knew that a green beast had been released from within the space carrier. This was practically a death sentence for the ship flying in the sky. If no one could stop the beast, the spaceship would be nothing more than an iron coffin.

"Perhaps I should add a little something extra to these mortals." With a light laugh, Loki narrowed his eyes. Relying on his connection with the Mind Scepter, and with the psychological suggestion left by Banner's unconscious influence when he came into contact with the scepter, the next moment an even more furious voice reached Loki's ears, making his smile even more delightful.

Admittedly, Midgard's current situation surprised and puzzled him, but that didn't stop him from using it. Like that big guy, he certainly had the ability to endlessly and irrationally increase his own power, but his fragile mind and easily manipulated thoughts made him just a slightly larger toy in the face of Loki, who was good at playing with such things.

"I hope the people here will like this little gift..."

……

Would anyone like a Hulk in a rage? The answer is no. The out-of-control Hulk wreaks havoc on the spaceship, steel as brittle as clay in his hands. The rampaging Hulk relentlessly demolishes wall after wall and facility after facility, smashing everything in his path. And the unfortunate Black Widow, at this moment, finds her charms completely ineffective against the enraged Hulk. In fact, facing the Hulk's pursuit, she's running at her absolute limit. If it weren't for her familiarity with the terrain, she would have been smashed into a pulp by the Hulk long ago.

However, this journey has come to an end.

The mere swipe of her arm grazed the surface, creating turbulence in the narrow space that sent Black Widow flying, crashing into a wall. Even with her modified body, far surpassing that of an ordinary person, the impact left her sprawled on the ground, injured and unable to rise for a while. At that moment, the Hulk was already in front of her, his thick green arm slamming down towards Black Widow. If it hit, Black Widow's alluring beauty would be reduced to a deformed corpse.

Fortunately, at that moment, the steel wall on one side was smashed open. Thor from Asgard finally proved reliable and sent the Hulk flying. If there was any superhero on the spaceship at that moment who could rival the Hulk, it would only be Thor.

However, even Thor would find it difficult to fight freely in this confined space. Outside, Thor would have many ways to deal with the crazed Hulk. For example, he could use his flight advantage to gradually restrict the Hulk's movements, or unleash the power of "Authority" to summon endless lightning strikes against the Hulk. Even if he could increase his power without limit through rage, there would still be a limit to his anger. Thor is fully capable of stalling until Bruce Banner regains control of his body.

However, this was inside an iron coffin, restricting Thor's movements and forcing him into a brutal, hand-to-hand combat with the Hulk. Having fought giants before, Thor wasn't new to battling massive enemies. And as a god with an indestructible body, Thor easily smashed his hammer into the Hulk's head, then absorbed the Hulk's retaliatory punch. The two clashed fiercely inside the carrier; steel was utterly useless against these two non-human beings, each possessing the physical strength to shatter steel. Finally, Thor, with the Hulk's weight on him, crashed through the carrier's hull, and both fell to the ground. But as they fell, they had essentially punched through a fifth of the carrier.

Falling alongside the Hulk, Thor remained unfazed, for he could fly. The key was to break free and hold onto the Hulk tightly. In mid-air, the two wrestled as they plummeted. Now free from the carrier and no longer worried about harming innocent bystanders, Thor unleashed his full power. He spun Mjolnir with a sudden burst of energy, quickly enveloping the two in a swirling cloud. The next moment, endless lightning crackled and roared within the cloud. Bolts as thick as buckets rained down on the Hulk from all directions. Even the thick-skinned Hulk, facing dozens of lightning strikes in quick succession, suffered cuts and bruises, letting out painful roars.

Taking this opportunity, Thor raised Mjolnir and smashed it into the Hulk's face, breaking free from the entanglement and throwing him off.

Watching the Hulk roar angrily as he plummeted downwards, Thor muttered, "Good luck, big guy!" Then, without looking back, he flew back towards the space carrier. Having done some research, Thor knew that falling from such a height wouldn't kill the green monster; it might even calm him down.

Loki, left on the mothership, infuriated Thor even more. It would be strange if he still couldn't figure out who had orchestrated all of this. So, Thor accelerated, soaring through the sky at supersonic speed, returning to the mothership. Then, he hurriedly stepped back onto the carrier from where he had landed and rushed towards where Loki was being held.

Coincidentally, just as Thor found the place where Loki was being held, the door of the cage where Loki was imprisoned was opening to the right, and Loki slumped out with a relaxed expression.

"Ah! Isn't this the valiant Thor?" Loki said with a sneer as he looked at Thor who appeared before him. "My brother, how was the performance?"

"Loki!" Thor roared and lunged at Loki, only to miss. In a flash, Loki vanished, and Thor found himself in the very place where Loki had been imprisoned.

“This level of provocation…” The cage door closed, and Loki, hands behind his back, looked at Thor, who had turned around in surprise, and said, “It really works on you every time, brother!”

In response to Loki, Thor struck the cage with his hammer. However, it was clear that this cage was not simple; the casually struck cage only created a large crack and failed to shatter it immediately. Thor was momentarily stunned by this. Loki, on the other hand, did not hesitate and immediately turned around and pressed his hand on a red button.

"Earthlings think we're immortal gods, want to give it a try!?" With a smile, Loki pressed the red button, and the metal frame holding the special cage suddenly released its grip. At the same time, the closed gate below opened, and Thor, who was already trapped inside the cage, fell out.

What goes around comes around. Thor threw the Hulk down first, and now it's his turn.

"Good luck, my brother!" Loki glanced at the cage disappearing into the clouds, shrugged, and slammed the Mind Scepter, which had somehow returned to his hand, onto the floor.

A blue light flashed from the jewel on the scepter, and a little trick devised after arriving on Earth was activated. Along with this trick, far away in New York, a beam of blue light shot into the sky.

After doing all this, Loki felt the constant sense of surveillance he had felt since arriving in Midgard disappear, and shrugged.

Then he turned around and disappeared into a golden light.

Fourth watch!

215. The Battle of New York (Part 1)

Today was a good day. There were no red-suited perverts swinging on the swings, no lizardmen trying to spray everyone with [beep] green potions, and no random mutated villains or delusional superpowered individuals. Similarly, miraculously, there weren't even any bank robberies in New York City. The citizens of New York City leisurely spent most of the day, enjoying this peaceful time undisturbed by any strange oddities.

Well, aside from a few worried young people who find the quiet days unbelievable while simultaneously rummaging through supermarkets and dragging their stubborn girlfriends back home, who insist on going on a picnic and having some fun, everything is peaceful and serene, without any trouble.

Aside from… that inexplicably shooting blue beam of light, but in the spirit of enthusiastic onlookers, New York City residents pulled out their phones to take pictures of the beam and tweet them, while casually chatting that those oddballs were finally making headlines. Those closer by, however, quickly began to scatter. At this point, aside from bored journalists, nobody was going to run in any particular direction.

Among the reporters, their eyes gleaming with excitement as they raced towards the pillar of light, a slightly thin young man helplessly followed the crowd. He wanted to stop his colleagues, but had no excuse to dissuade them from their eagerness for a big scoop and a pay raise. However, the closer they got, the stronger the danger signals from his heightened senses became, almost making him want to turn and run…

In New York, others shared the same anxieties as this young man, who appeared to be a poor loser with a hidden, perverse desire to do parkour in a tight-fitting suit. In a certain area of ​​New York City, inside a house that had never been noticed or seen before, a group of people of different skin colors, dressed in hooded robes, rushed out of the house. Strangely, these cosplay-like figures attracted no attention from passersby.

These strange figures, all dressed in identical hooded robes, unanimously turned their gaze to the blue pillar of light shooting into the sky in the distance. These were arguably the last remaining mages on Earth to possess magical knowledge; their eyes, hidden beneath their hoods, widened in disbelief as they stared at the straight, sky-piercing blue pillar of light.

These mages, intimately connected to the invisible space of Vishanti that enveloped the entire Earth, were terrified by the immense energy emanating from the pillar that shot straight into the sky and its influence enough to make them jump. The barrier that had maintained the Earth's outer latitudinal dimensions was beginning to vanish under the influence of that blue pillar of light. It wasn't like the first time, when a gaping hole was forcibly torn open in the Middle East, or like a hole appearing on the Rainbow Bridge of Asgard. Instead, it was a direct and forceful annihilation of Vishanti. On this day, a thousand years later, for the first time, Earth's coordinates and latitudes were laid bare before the entire universe.

Not only Earth, but other dimensions of the extradimensional world also received Earth's coordinates immediately and sensed the waning of the 'Vishanti' power that had shrouded Earth for millennia. Whether it was an evil god from another dimension or a demon lord from the hellish realm of evil spirits, at this moment, they all clearly felt that Earth, which previously required a great deal of effort to reach with even a slight possibility, could now be reached with almost no effort at all.

"How is this possible? How is this possible? What is that...?"

“The power of ‘Vishanti’ has faded, the barrier has been opened, it’s over.”

"Can anyone tell me what happened?"

"All the portals here have just malfunctioned, connecting to unknown places... One of them is the Hell of Evil Spirits. Mages are currently trying to seal that portal, but a powerful demon is interfering, seemingly trying to enter the mortal world through it..."

"Why would such an accident happen when the Three Sanctuaries are so secure? What exactly happened over there?"

"Immediately contact His Holiness the High Priest and notify the sanctuaries in Hong Kong and London..."

"The portal has malfunctioned and cannot be connected to Kamar-Taj. Furthermore, the spatial anomaly in New York makes it impossible to manually open the portal remotely."

"How many times do I have to tell you, idiot, call them!~"

"But international calls..."

"Now's the time to try and save money? Get lost! Call now!"

……

New York City descended into chaos. Whether it was the criminals looking for an opportunity to cause trouble for the bodysuit wearers, or the bodysuit perverts lurking in the shadows, all of them sensed impending doom when they saw the beam of light shooting into the sky.

But unlike the bodysuit-clad perverts and criminals who constantly fight and have a clear sense of danger, New Yorkers surprisingly and naively gathered around the beam of light. They even had time to discuss it, especially on social media, where posts and comments flooded in like a frenzy.

If ordinary people experience a strange, inexplicable excitement, and the bodysuit-clad perverts and criminals feel an urgent, burning sense of urgency, then for Charles, sitting in a high-altitude, revolving mobile restaurant, it's simply a state of utter indifference. Even though, in his perception, under the influence of that blue light, the spatial structure of New York City began to reverse 180 degrees, with various emerging and supplementing folded spaces constantly distorting the city's dimensional space, essentially rendering most spatial teleportation spells or abilities useless.

Of course, for Charles, forcibly using Apparition under the influence of spatial turbulence was not a problem... Besides, he had already prepared for what was about to happen.

So, at this moment, Charles leisurely filled his teacup with black tea while gazing at the distant scenery.

"The mini-game is over?" Taking a sip of his black tea, Charles, while lamenting the lack of a maid in his mind, asked the man who had somehow appeared and unceremoniously sat down opposite him. "How was it?"

"It's like playing house!" Loki, with a wicked smile, leaned against the table with his Mind Staff, wearing a dark green coat, and reclined in his chair. "Too bad, this time I don't have any intention of conquering all of Midgard!"

"Come on!" Charles rolled his eyes and said, "Don't tell me you didn't notice those two mental consciousnesses that just rushed into New York from somewhere else!"

“Charles, Professor X… Sorcerer Supreme, the Ancient One…” Loki shrugged and spread his hands, saying, “To be honest, Midgard really surprised me! Just relying on mental power, without the aid of the scepter, I’m afraid I might not have been able to deal with those two at the same time.”

"Are you kidding? Even if the Ancient One didn't say it, if that bald professor lets go of your inner burdens and limitations, and unleashes his full power, unless you directly block out the mental world, you won't be able to handle him even with the Mind Control Scepter!" Ciel glanced at Loki and said, "But was that portal you were going to open also part of your calculations?"

"What did you say?" Loki asked with a smile.

"Although the power of the Cosmic Cube obliterated the Vishanti's spatial barrier above New York, the power of the Vishanti has not yet subsided in two other locations on Earth," Charles said, pointing to the sky. "The spatial barrier protecting Earth has only been breached so far, creating a nearly permanent hole, and this hole is probably not very large. At least those large war machines of the clowns you brought probably can't get in!"

"That has nothing to do with me!" Loki said innocently. "In the contract, I only opened the portals. How many I could open and whether they could protect them was not my concern!"

“For example, it might have been closed by those Superboys… or perhaps the portal was restricted or affected by some force, preventing it from opening wide enough…” Loki said meaningfully, “…That has nothing to do with me!”