Chapter 138

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However, there's one thing.

The diary had mentioned that Loki was coerced into working for the TVA to capture the female Loki, right? 

But then it turns around and says Loki and the female Loki joined forces and saw through the Time-Keepers' facade?

Although Iron Man is in the dark about the specifics, one could guess the gist of it.

It must have been that Loki plotted something secretly with the female Loki during her capture!

Then they started to play along with the TVA while collaborating on their hidden agenda.

And they succeeded too!

It's like a dangerous mission straight out of Mission: Impossible—playing with both intelligence and adrenaline.

It seems the moniker 'God of Mischief' truly suits Loki.

But…

The facade of the Time-Keepers?

The real Time-Keepers?

Even with this brief description, Tony Stark is unable to piece together the full story.

But it looks like the waters run deep within the TVA!

Even the role of the Time-Keepers seems to have a true and false version.

Did Loki "unmask" the Time-Keepers, suggesting that the accepted guardian within the TVA is actually a fake?

The full "story" behind this, however, remains unknown to Iron Man.

The same goes for breaking free from the control of the Time Variance Authority.

Without any clues from the diary, Tony Stark can only speculate so much.

But consider Loki, a prisoner captured by the TVA and forced to work for them, who strategizes at every step and ultimately turns the tables—it's easy to imagine the difficulty of such a feat.

It just confirms that Loki, as the God of Mischief, truly has some tricks up his sleeve.

[Of course, Loki nowadays is unlikely to be captured by the TVA again.]

[After all, Thor is still peacefully on Earth, and the Battle of New York might not even happen.]

[Even if future Avengers travel through time again, they surely won't encounter Loki, right?]

[No, that's not right; if the Battle of New York doesn't happen, future Avengers will travel to a different timeline.]

[That's also incorrect; who says the Battle of New York won't occur just because Thor and Loki don't have their big fight?]

[The big fight between the Thor brothers wasn't the fundamental cause of the Battle of New York.]

[The fundamental cause of the Battle of New York was due to SHIELD secretly studying the Tesseract, resulting in its signal being sent into space.]

[Which was interpreted by other cosmic forces as Earth being ready for advanced warfare!]

[That's what drew Thanos' attention, right?]

[Otherwise, how would Thanos know the Tesseract was on Earth?]

So, Loki's capture by the TVA is related to the Battle of New York!

The diary makes it clear; if the Battle of New York doesn't happen, Loki won't be taken by the TVA.

And as everyone knows, Loki was precisely the instigator of the Battle of New York!

Thinking back to Loki's "escape" when captured by the TVA, does this suggest that during the Battle of New York, he was actually caught by the Avengers?

Previous diary entries even revealed that Black Widow closed the portal, ending the Battle of New York.

The government also launched a nuclear missile, and regardless of the circumstances of its launch, New York's Chitauri army was likely annihilated.

Considering all these factors, Earth must have triumphed in the Battle of New York!

Albeit at a grave cost, as New York was probably devastated by the nuclear strike.

But such is the cruelty and danger of interstellar warfare.

Remember, Earth was up against an alien force in the Battle of New York!

Moreover.

The diary had just revealed that Loki took advantage of the future Avengers traveling through time to make his escape.

Thus, another logical conclusion is drawn:

The future Avengers traveled to the time of the Battle of New York!

This was also confirmed in the recent diary spoilers.

However, this group of Avengers likely does not include Captain America.

After all, everyone else's purpose remains unknown, but Captain America's aim was to be with Peggy Carter.

So Captain America must have traveled to a more distant past.

And stayed there quietly with Peggy, only appearing during the Battle of New York.

The other Avengers also traveled to the Battle of New York, so obviously, Captain America must have joined them there.

It's just unclear what purpose the Avengers had in traveling to the Battle of New York.

They weren't there to change history!

Further connecting the pieces, the Avengers arrived from the time of the Endgame, took care of business, and returned one after another.

Only Captain America didn't— he "stood them up."

Because Captain America followed Iron Man's advice and lived the life he desired.

So, that's probably the gist of the Avengers' time travel, right?

Iron Man certainly couldn't know his analysis was way off the mark.

After all, without a god's-eye view, how could he know that the diary's spoiler on time travel actually involved not one, but two separate instances?

After slightly clearing the thoughts in his mind, Tony Stark once again turned his attention back to the diary.

His face immediately turned sour.

The root cause of the Battle of New York was not the big fight between Thor and Loki?

It was Nick Fury's research on the Tesseract!

Damn it!

Iron Man's mouth twitched slightly— this was certainly not good news for him.

It even felt like a slap in the face.

Iron Man had been secretly relieved that this time the Battle of New York could be avoided, based on the diary spoilers.

And just as he was beginning to celebrate, he was slapped in the face with the truth.

The Battle of New York triggered by SHIELD?

Those who cause more problems than they solve!

If they lacked the skill, they shouldn't have meddled with the Tesseract; now they've brought such a calamity to Earth!

For a moment, Tony Stark felt an urge to rush over to stop and warn Nick Fury.

To plead with him not to mess with the Tesseract.

But that thought had barely crossed his mind before Iron Man dismissed it.

Because Iron Man knew it was already too late.

Nick Fury must have been well into this for a long time, even I don't know how long he's been conducting secret studies!

Damn it.

This is really messed up!

"Thanos noticed Earth like this?"

Nick Fury, sitting in front of another diary, was caught off guard by this spoiler.

Fury has always been troubled by the Battle of New York as described in the diary, exhausting his strategies to prepare for the impending battle.

Organizing specialized squads like the Whiplash Task Force, forming and synergizing the Avengers in advance, and other tactics—considerable efforts were made.

At the same time, Fury was actively collecting intel, hoping to prevent the battle from occurring at its root.

He was exhilarated when he learned that the battle could finally be avoided.

Only to realize later that the trigger for the Battle of New York was, in fact, SHIELD?

Was it the commands he had issued for the research of the Tesseract?

Yes, Tony Stark's guess was correct.

SHIELD had indeed been conducting secret research on the Tesseract.

Though unable to enlist Tony Stark and, for the moment, not finding a capable scientist like Dr. Selvig, Fury's efforts did not falter.

The research on the Tesseract never stopped, even without significant progress.

Especially after learning of such a cruel future from the diary, Nick Fury's efforts in researching the Tesseract intensified.

Who would have thought it would backfire?

Even someone like Nick Fury began to twitch at the corners of his mouth, feeling an immense sense of frustration.

So, should he stop researching the Tesseract?

The decision was critical and significant, necessitating thorough deliberation.

[Thanos has always been committed to assembling the Infinity Stones. Knowing the Tesseract is on Earth, how could he remain indifferent?]

[He certainly would do anything to get his hands on the Tesseract! After all, it contains the Space Stone.]

[Even if Loki hadn't fallen into the cosmic abyss and met Thanos, he would have found other ways to invade Earth.]

[And with Earth being under Odin's jurisdiction and protected by the Sorcerer Supreme, Thanos would not dare wage a direct war against Earth.]

[He's likely to find other pawns to probe Earth's defenses.]

[With that in mind, can the Battle of New York really be prevented?]

It's definitive!

Tony Stark's eyes narrowed.

He had previously analyzed that the Stones in Thanos's possession were accumulating, indicating the possibility of collecting Infinity Stones. The diary provided a definite answer: his speculation was correct.

Thanos was indeed collecting Infinity Stones.

So the question arises:

What was Thanos's purpose in collecting these Infinity Stones?

With all of them, he would possess power rivaling Odin and the Sorcerer Supreme.

What does he plan to do with that power?

Rule the universe?

Or something else?

Regardless of the purpose, Thanos caused endless wars, bringing suffering across the universe.

The Avengers also pursued the Infinity Stones, with Black Widow even sacrificing herself.

Tony Stark could sense something was tied to Thanos.

"What!"

"The Tesseract contains the Space Stone?"

Tony Stark was extremely surprised when he saw this spoiler.

Despite knowing the Infinity Stones' extraordinary power, they seemed unattainable to the current team.

Both Tony Stark and Nick Fury were aware of their limits.

But Tony Stark never imagined that an Infinity Stone was so close, right within SHIELD's possession!

The Tesseract was indeed an Infinity Stone!

Iron Man knew the Tesseract was extraordinary, but he never thought it was an Infinity Stone, particularly the "Space Stone."

This revelation, along with the previously exposed Power and Time Stones, meant that the diary had unveiled three Infinity Stones.

Moreover, there existed another Stone on the planet Vormir, its identity still unknown.

Wait a minute!

Space Stone?

Portals?

Iron Man, piecing things together, sensed something:

The "Space Stone" was self-explanatory, suggesting its ability for spatial transportation.

And by sheer coincidence, a portal appeared in the Battle of New York!

Analysis indicated that the portal was for transporting the Chitauri army, undoubtedly opened by Loki and his cohort.

And where was Loki before this?

He happened to have stolen the Tesseract from SHIELD!

The puzzle pieces clicked together so tightly that Tony Stark made a natural guess:

Could Loki have used the Tesseract to open the portal and transport the Chitauri army?

It seemed highly likely!

If that were the case, even if Nick Fury's Tesseract study had attracted Thanos's attention and the Battle of New York was destined to occur again, there might be a way to remedy it.

Under no circumstances could Loki be allowed to steal the Tesseract!

This would ensure that even if Loki reached Earth, he couldn't transport the Chitauri army.

This was the most advantageous scenario for them all!

So, if Loki couldn't obtain the Tesseract, would the Chitauri launch a direct invasion with their starfleet?

Based on various clues from the diary, Iron Man thought the likelihood was small.

At this time, Earth was under the protection of Odin and the Sorcerer Supreme.

If Thanos was so bold, he would've sent the fleet directly, without tricking Loki.

On reflection, using spatial transportation was likely to avoid alerting Odin.

Thus, there could still be room for maneuver regarding the Battle of New York!