Chapter 21: The Ancient One's Shock

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Nick Fury believed he was acting in secrecy, but little did he know that someone had been observing him all along. Every person he sent out and every order he gave was under scrutiny.

"The SHIELD is already making contact with Strange? That's way too early," the Ancient One, Kamataji, said with surprise. She held a cup of tea in her hand, already brought to her lips, but she hadn't taken a sip.

"This future has never happened before. It's a new kind of future..." The Ancient One took a sip of tea and continued, "Someone has tampered with the timeline!"

"It wasn't until now that I realized whoever manipulated the timeline did so with great skill." The Ancient One placed the cup down after taking a sip and began examining the past of Nick Fury and his team.

"At the Stark Expo, Nick Fury, Natasha Romanoff, and Tony Stark disappeared." After finishing her investigation, the Ancient One stood up. "Based on their conversations, I can deduce that during their disappearance, they must have gone to that answering space."

That was the problem. The Ancient One could detect that Nick Fury and the others had disappeared, even though their disappearance and reappearance were simultaneous, equivalent to never disappearing at all. Yet, she could still perceive it.

However, the Ancient One couldn't locate this answering space!

It was as if the answering space didn't exist at all, as if it had never existed.

"What kind of method is this? Is it the work of the TVA?" The Ancient One thought of an organization that seemed to be the only one capable of manipulating time without her noticing.

But isn't the purpose of that organization to maintain the sacred timeline? How could they engage in activities that would disrupt the timeline?

"Forget it, I'll go and see for myself." Unable to figure it out after pondering for a while, the Ancient One simply traveled back to the past and appeared at the Stark Expo.

The expo was crowded with people, shoulder to shoulder, but as the Ancient One made her way towards Nick Fury and Natasha Romanoff, she didn't bump into a single person.

All the people around seemed like intangible shadows, and the Ancient One easily passed through their bodies.

"There's one more thing. I'm considering recruiting him into the Avengers. During his undercover period, evaluate whether he's suitable." Nick Fury said to Natasha Romanoff, completely unaware of the bald woman who had suddenly appeared and was staring at him.

"No evaluation is needed. I can tell you right now that he's definitely not suitable." Natasha Romanoff responded immediately.

"Why do you say that? Just because you can't stand the number of women around him?"

"It's not just that. Barton and I can rely on each other's backs. I know Barton would take care of me even if it meant sacrificing his own life. But Tony? He only sees himself, and the whole world revolves around him. He's absolutely incapable of sacrificing himself for others."

The conversation between Nick Fury and Natasha Romanoff was exactly the same as what the Ancient One had witnessed before.

But in the next moment, the tone of the conversation changed.

"Romanoff, it felt like I just had an incredibly realistic dream..."

"Fury, this isn't a dream."

These two sentences were seamlessly connected to the previous conversation, without any pause in between.

If someone who was unaware listened in, they would certainly be quite confused by this dialogue because these last two sentences were extremely abrupt and seemed to have no relation to the previous conversation.

But the Ancient One knew that the reason for this abruptness was because the two individuals in front of her had just been to that answering space.

"There's no trace at all, as if they never left." The Ancient One furrowed her brow. "Who is this questioner? Where do they come from?"

She had come to the scene herself, yet she still couldn't find the answering space!

However, she hadn't come away empty-handed. At least she was certain of one thing: the other party didn't achieve all this with magic.

The Ancient One wasn't a master of science, but she could tell that it wasn't technology either.

"Not magic, not technology. So what form of energy is this..." The Ancient One chuckled. "Interesting."

She laughed because she thought of the TVA, those people who considered themselves guardians of time, trimming anyone they deemed as disrupting or threatening the sacred timeline. So, could this questioner challenge the TVA?

On instinct, the Ancient One felt that the questioner could take on the TVA.

Seeing those self-righteous folks at the TVA being put in their place always brought joy, didn't it?

"This thing has some merit, but it's still far inferior to what Tony Stark can create." Finally, the Ancient One looked at Nick Fury's green magic skateboard and disappeared from the expo.

"If I can't find it in the past, I wonder if you'll reveal your flaws in the future." Just back from the past, the Ancient One immediately began examining the future.

However, even after examining a million possible futures, she still couldn't find the answering space!

She could see that multiple rounds of answering would occur in the future, and even Doctor Strange, Stephen Strange, would go to this answering space to answer questions, but she still couldn't find where the answering space was!

As for that mysterious questioner, their presence couldn't even be seen.

"In these one million possible futures, the TVA has never appeared, not even once..." The Ancient One's eyes revealed an undeniable shock.

In one million possible futures, not a single one showed the TVA appearing. This almost indicated that the TVA had no knowledge of this answering space.

Of course, one million futures may not be absolute. Perhaps if she looked a few more times, she would see a future where the questioner was pruned by the TVA. But the Ancient One wasn't a masochist. After seeing the future so many times, wouldn't it become tiresome?

Thinking about how Stephen Strange had examined over 14 million possible futures before the battle with Thanos, the Ancient One couldn't help but shiver with goosebumps.

How much patience did it take to see so many futures?

It could only be said that Stephen Strange was truly worthy of being her chosen successor, excelling in all aspects and having the potential to become the greatest sorcerer.

"Since I can't find the questioner, let's see how their appearance affects Stephen Strange's future." So, the Ancient One began examining Stephen Strange's future once again.

After seeing some of it, the Ancient One chuckled once more because in every future she observed involving the answering space, it was invariably beneficial for Stephen Strange.

"Questioner, I didn't expect such an existence in this world, one that neither I nor the TVA can find." The Ancient One resumed drinking her tea.

Since the questioner wouldn't have any adverse effects on Stephen Strange taking her place or disrupt her "retirement," she couldn't be bothered to intervene.

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-Sailing with Whitebeard: Starting with a Question (Currently on 68th chapter )

-The day of studying in Hogwarts (Currently on 80th chapter )

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(End of this chapter)