25. As You Wish.

It didn't take long—just five or six minutes—before the castle's door slowly opened with a 'click,' revealing an entrance for the two of them.

"See, I told you it wouldn't be hard," Pietro said excitedly, waving his hand and then looking back at Alex for approval.

"Well done. Now, let's get out of here. It won't be long before the war reaches us," Alex nodded slightly, expressing his approval of Pietro, then stepped inside.

The interior of the castle was almost exactly as Alex had imagined. Apart from minor details, it was similar to the castles seen in films from his previous life. Almost all European castles had the same style of decor.

However, Alex didn't know much about the differences in interior design styles and the specific cultural influences of castles from different countries. He hadn't studied that, so he could only softly marvel at the luxurious interior—impressive!

The castle seemed to have been neglected for a long time. It was filled with dirt, and many things were misplaced. The counters, which once held plants, now had only withered specimens covered in dust. The old paintings on the walls were draped in cobwebs. It seemed even President X hadn't returned here in a long time.

"Where are the items hidden?" Alex surveyed the surroundings. Giant vases lined the corridor, acting more as bottle-shaped ornaments, each more than a person high.

"Everything is hidden at the bottom of the castle. It used to be a wine cellar but was converted into a large storage room by President X. The good news is that there are almost no obstacles down there. Maybe President X was too confident; he didn't set up any defenses around the collection. Of course, that was my experience back then. I'm not sure about now," Pietro explained.

"We'll find out soon enough," Alex said. The two of them moved quickly, not pausing on the way. Pietro led the way as they navigated the corridors.

Alex felt a mix of emotions—excitement at the prospect of soon leaving this cursed world and worry that the time controller might not work or be broken. If that were the case, he might be trapped here forever.

With these thoughts in mind, Alex had no interest in admiring the castle's interior. Under different circumstances, he would have explored thoroughly and taken a few valuable items.

Walking through the dark, cold passage, they quickly arrived at an elevator inside the castle. Pietro, familiar with the controls, pressed the switch, and the elevator doors slowly opened.

"Let's hope there are no traps," Alex said, readying himself. With his Iron Man suit destroyed by President X, Alex could only rely on the pistol he carried.

"There shouldn't be, but if there are, I'll protect you with my life," Pietro said, giving Alex a thumbs-up, though his current state made it hard for Alex to rely on him.

The elevator moved, and they descended to the bottom floor, both tense and alert.

Ding! The elevator's signal light turned green, and the doors opened, revealing a long corridor.

As they stepped out, lights gradually illuminated the corridor section by section, from near to far, until the entire passage was lit.

Alex and Pietro exchanged a glance, neither speaking. They stayed alert, ready for any situation, and moved forward. The corridor was made of smooth metal, a material Alex couldn't identify. It looked out of place for this era, resembling a bank vault.

"Impressive, right? I was shocked when I first came here. I thought I had entered an alien spaceship," Pietro said, moving his wheelchair forward.

"It's okay," Alex replied dismissively. Having seen many movies, he wasn't too surprised. The setting reminded him of the mutant base from the X-Men movies.

Turning a corner in the corridor, they soon saw a metal door like a bank vault, with a large 'X' symbol on it.

"This is it," Pietro said, stopping by the door and pointing to an intelligent lock that could be opened with a password, palm print, or retina scan.

This time, Pietro took even less time. In just ten seconds, the metal door emitted a harsh grinding sound and began to open.

Indeed, this was the X-Men's base. In this world, however, it had been transformed by the insane President X into his private chamber, filled with various trophies. Each item could fetch a high price on the black market.

Aside from useless items like the Darkhold and the Book of the Vishanti, Alex saw Captain America's shield with a hexagram, Iron Man's helmet, Hawkeye's bow and arrows, an unfinished Ant-Man suit by Hank Pym, and even Thor's hammer.

In this world, there were two self-proclaimed Thors. One had joined the Avengers, wielding an indestructible hammer and claiming to be the real Thor, but he died in a Patriot missile strike. His hammer wasn't as legendary as told; the fact that it was kept here as a trophy proved it was a fake anyone could lift.

The other Thor had founded the Thor Cult, but he was executed publicly by law enforcement cracking down on cults.

In this world, those who claimed to use 'magic,' 'sorcery,' or 'divine power' rarely met a good end.

"Here, Alex, what you're looking for is here," Pietro called from a nearby cabinet as Alex was absorbed in observing the items.

Hearing this, Alex immediately stopped pondering these items and walked over to Pietro. Following Pietro's direction, Alex saw a device about the size of a tablet with an orange clock engraved on the back, identical to Miss Minutes from his memory.

"This is it!" Alex's eyes gleamed as he quickly picked up the time controller and started tapping on it.

As his fingers touched it, the device lit up, and the screen displayed an image of Miss Minutes, the animated character. However, unlike the Miss Minutes from the Loki series in his memory, this one slowly opened her eyes, and her pupils turned towards Alex, her gaze cold and eerie, sending a shiver down his spine.

"&…%& Failure ((&( Error%#…" Miss Minutes' mouth moved, emitting a series of strange, unintelligible noises like an old radio's static, a language from another planet, or a phrase played backward.

"Miss Minutes, take us away from here," Alex said, feeling a tightness in his chest.

If this thing was really broken, all his previous efforts would have been in vain.

After he spoke, the chaotic noises from Miss Minutes abruptly stopped. Her eyes seemed to show a hint of human emotion. How Alex and Pietro could sense emotion in an animated character's eyes was beyond them.

"Do. You. Know. Me?" Miss Minutes finally spoke a coherent sentence.

It wasn't any particular language but a sound like bioelectric waves that any intelligent creature could understand.

"Yes, I know you. Take me away from here," Alex said seriously, holding the time controller.

Miss Minutes stared blankly at Alex as if trying to comprehend his words or perhaps processing information too slowly.

Seeing this, Alex urged again, "I know you can open the time portal. Quickly, take us away from this world."

Alex frowned deeply. He had never encountered such a situation before, and Pietro remained silent, not daring to interrupt, though he wanted to.

After an indeterminate amount of time, Miss Minutes reacted. She pulled a stiff smile—if it could be called that. Suddenly, a purple barrier rapidly expanded from under Alex and Pietro's feet.

"As you wish."

...

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26. New World. 

27. Another Universe.

28. Twins.

29. The Sword Hanging Overhead.

30. Heading Towards Destruction.