Kamar-Taj.
A bald woman dressed in an orange mage robe sat cross-legged on the ground, eyes tightly closed, hands placed in front of her chest, performing a gesture that no one else could understand.
In front of the bald woman's chest, a pendant embedded with a gem flickered with a faint green light.
It radiated an eerie feeling.
After a moment, the green glow on the gem began to fade, and the components on the pendant started rotating and closing, sealing the gem inside.
The bald woman then opened her eyes, showing a trace of surprise and a hint of confusion.
"Captain America has been discovered. This event should happen two years from now," the bald woman said slowly, her face thoughtful. "Why is it happening so much earlier?"
"Has someone interfered with the timeline, Master Ancient One?" asked a black man in a mage robe, his expression grave as he stared at the bald woman.
His face was extremely serious.
Interference with the timeline was an extremely serious matter.
— Yes, that bald woman was none other than Master Ancient One, the supreme sorceress who shook the entire universe and single-handedly held back the dimensional god Dormammu.
Master Ancient One had just been using the Eye of Agamotto, borrowing the power of the Time Stone, to observe the timeline.
But she found that Captain America, who was supposed to be discovered two years later, had been discovered prematurely.
The black mage was Baron Mordo, a disciple of Master Ancient One.
Standing beside Baron Mordo was a chubby Asian-faced mage — none other than Wong, the Sorcerer King.
"Someone—or some existence—has interfered with the timeline, but I can't find any clue," said Master Ancient One with the utmost seriousness.
"Even you, Master Ancient One…"Baron Mordo and Wong both looked shocked.
Someone could completely block Master Ancient One's observation and interfere with the timeline?
How could that even happen!?
"Who exactly is messing with this? What's their purpose?"
After pondering for a moment, Master Ancient One again formed a gesture with her hands, and a magical seal appeared.
The Eye of Agamotto on her chest glowed again, then automatically unscrewed.
She immediately began using the Eye of Agamotto to observe the future.
But soon, Master Ancient One was stunned to discover that certain futures had already started to become blurry.
She could no longer observe the futures of Captain America, Iron Man, Nick Fury, and others.
"How could this be?"
Master Ancient One furrowed her brows tightly. She had protected Earth for so long and knew many powerful beings in the universe well.
But after thinking deeply, she simply couldn't figure out who could possess such an unbelievable power.
Could it be...
An unknown, terrifying enemy even she couldn't observe?
Master Ancient One showed deep concern.
Captain America and Iron Man were important figures in this world. What would someone want by interfering with their futures?
"Master Ancient One, what did you see?"
Wong noticed Master Ancient One's grim expression and asked quietly.
"The problem is... I don't see anything!"Master Ancient One murmured.
…
In the next few months, Iron Man fell into an unprecedentedly busy state.
On one hand, he had to invest great effort in synthesizing the new element called zirconium, hoping to solve the palladium poisoning crisis.
— Indeed, upon learning that his parallel universe self solved the palladium poisoning problem by synthesizing a new element, Iron Man decisively gave up experiments with existing elements.
He skipped that step and proceeded directly to synthesizing the new element.
Since the other self chose to synthesize a new element, it meant other existing elements were unusable.
But synthesizing a new element was no easy feat.
Iron Man barely made any progress.
Besides that, Iron Man also reached an agreement with Nick Fury to help design the new security system for the Dark Energy Joint Base whenever he could spare time.
That was no small project either.
Poor Tony Stark, so busy he didn't even have time to drink water—despite having delegated all Stark Group matters to Pepper Potts.
"Tony, cake-seller, you didn't sleep all night again?"
Iron Man, who was analyzing elements, was interrupted by Pepper Potts' surprised voice. She quickly walked to his side with a worried expression.
Iron Man looked awful: sallow complexion, messy hair, and bloodshot eyes.
Two dark circles proudly framed his eyes, turning them into panda eyes.
"Tony, what's wrong with you lately? You're working day and night. What are you so busy with?"Pepper called out, both worried and confused. "You need rest!"
"No, what I need is time,"Iron Man said meaningfully.
With a glance, he noticed behind Pepper a blonde-haired, extremely hot woman.
"Pepper, who's she?"Iron Man turned to ask.
"Oh, right. She's an enforcer from the police department,"Pepper just remembered and hurriedly introduced her.
"An enforcer?"Iron Man looked at Pepper with a questioning gaze, then couldn't help but look over the female cop a few times. Are police these days really this hot?
"Mr. Stark, I'm here to serve you a subpoena," the woman said as she stepped forward and handed over a subpoena.
But Iron Man shrugged, "Sorry, I have a weird habit—I don't like others handing me things."
"Just give it to me,"Pepper quickly took the subpoena.
"Mr. Stark, you're ordered to appear before the Senate Military Committee tomorrow at 9 a.m.," the female cop said, then left Stark Tower.
"Tony," after the cop left, Pepper handed the subpoena to Iron Man.
Iron Man usually wouldn't take things handed to him, but what Pepper gave was an exception. He glanced at it and casually put it on the table.
"What a waste of my time. Can I skip it?"Iron Man said unwillingly.
"Tony, you know you have to go,"Pepper told him. "Go rest, take a shower, change your clothes. You can't keep going like this."
Under Pepper's insistence, Iron Man finally put down his work. After working nonstop for so many days, he really needed a break.
(End of Chapter)