Upon hearing Valeria's inquiry, Doom touched his mask; this was one of his secret bases, the Doomsday Fortress located beneath the territory of Latovinia.
It appeared to be a massive library, where magical and technological artifacts were commonplace. However, the young girl lacked magical talent; her toys were only supercomputers.
"You're imagining things, child. Doom is never afraid."
"Then why are you heading to the future, Uncle Doom? The present matters are already overwhelming for us." The little girl curiously watched Doom as he led a group out of the Time Machine.
Could this be a rescue method from the End of Time? But even then, it can't prevent the collapse of the All-Powerful Universe. Is it possible to carve a one-week closed loop in time, forming a time cycle to indirectly use infinite time to resolve the current crisis?
In just a fleeting moment, the little girl conjured up a multitude of reasons, knowing that Doom wouldn't randomly bring people here.
Doom approached the enormous computer, making the girl seem like a tiny doll on a chair, under the tall armored man's shadow.
"I head to the future merely to gather courage, and I've witnessed— the future is trampled like dust by a group of insane Gods, whom I must eliminate..."
The little girl scratched her fluffy blonde hair, her cheeks puffing like a squirrel, confirming Doom's preference for his favorite approach— confronting the Transcendent Divine Race directly.
"Alright, I'll help you, but who have you brought?"
"Some old relics, individuals forever hidden in the shadows of the world, who also count as Reed's enemies... Reed views you as a child, never acknowledging his embarrassing history— like his avid exploration of the mysterious unknown, only to be butchered by its Guardians..."
Doom didn't laugh, yet his pleasure was palpable through the mask, resembling a pile of rubber blocks placed before him.
"Wait, you teach a child this? Is hatred education rampant in Latovinia?"
Su Ming objected to Doom's educational approach, although he was eager to learn who in the future had defeated Reed, but being scrutinized by the little girl wasn't ideal.
"No matter, Val possesses rational thought, capable of discerning right from wrong; what I'm imparting is merely the truth." Doom calmly observed the monitor's readings, the reflected digits constantly shifting on his mask: "Matters of the Magic Realm are not what Reed's curiosity should delve into; employing scientific instruments to control Ancient Gods is an act of childish folly, treating the entire world as a trivial fairy tale."
The little girl sat on the chair swinging her legs, contemplating for a moment before nodding: "Since my parents aren't in harm's way, it indicates this gentleman exercises restraint. Infringing upon others' domains is akin to home invasion; it's normal for the homeowner to retaliate. On the contrary, I should be the one to feel ashamed. So, are you Warlocks?"
Su Ming's mouth twitched beneath his mask; he glanced at Ciri, then at the Secret Guest.
Ciri was curiously looking around; Doom's place housed many intriguing items, like the technology projector of the All-Powerful Universe or the Magic Ears tapping into additional dimension information.
Her focus was entirely on these novelties, seemingly oblivious to the ongoing conversation.
Meanwhile, the Secret Guest stood behind Su Ming, her smile radiating perfection, her gaze fixed on the little girl's golden hair, perhaps intending to touch it, yet restraining her impulse.
Su Ming sighed, "Why are others' children so rational while ours are driven by emotion?"
"Not Warlocks, Warriors."
He drew the Great Sword from behind, showing it to the little girl.
Valeria nodded, her small hands supporting her chin, leaning against the armrest of the chair, asking no further questions. Her big eyes simply observed Doom, watching his ensuing actions.
Doom extended his hand, inputting strings of commands on the control panel, beginning to calibrate his instruments, attaching various strange devices onto the Space-Time Gate platform.
"Regarding time, space, reality, and everything else, everything is ready at this moment. Shall we begin?"
"You have ready plans against Loki." Su Ming removed his helmet; the air here was better than the End of Time earlier, albeit only by a week.
Doom glanced at him briefly but swiftly resumed work, his green cloak fluttering from his quick strides: "Isn't that exactly why you sought me specifically?"
Indeed, it was precisely this reason; Doom, who had cooperated with Loki numerous times and had split points numerous times, undoubtedly possessed a myriad of contingencies against Loki.
Many indeed could counter the God of Story; generally, anyone with time abilities held potential, but it was Doom, nearing the End of Time, who was unquestionably most prepared.
Su Ming himself could draft a plan against Loki, but Doom had a plan prepared for over a decade, specifically tailored to counter Loki, and it could be utilized immediately.
Certain individuals' plans were unreliable, like Wade's or Iron Man's plans often ran into issues.
But Doctor Destruction's plans were almost always excellent; those that failed typically did so due to overly arrogant personality, faltering in execution details.
In this regard, as long as Su Ming remained vigilant, the entire plan would be flawless.
In Marvel, aside from the invincible comedic characters, the dynamics of victory and defeat among other characters resemble the game of rock-paper-scissors, often forming a chain of restraint or being restrained.
For instance, Scarlet Witch's magic restrains Illusionary Vision, Illusionary Vision's physical immunity restrains Captain America, while Captain America's rhetoric restrains Scarlet Witch, forming a minimal closed loop.
There are also larger loops, where complex restraining networks form among different groups such as Superpower Users, Mutants, Aliens, Inhumans, and Warlocks.
Of course, there are simpler relationships, for instance, Steve and Baki restrain each other, as do Deadpool and Wolverine.
Doom is no exception.
As things currently stand, Mephisto restrains Doom due to holding Doom's mother's soul; Doom, with the combination of science and magic, restrains Loki; and Loki, with superior deceit, restrains Mephisto.
The three form a loop. To prevent Loki from finding Mephisto to counter Doom, Su Ming had long prepared a Secret Guest, another Lord of Hell, to deal with the potential appearance of Mephisto.
In any case, when Su Ming and Doom confront Loki, if Mephisto dares intervene, the Secret Guest will initiate a Hell invasion, using the Hell Border to devour Mephisto's Hell, forcing him to compromise.
If Mephisto seeks out a Warlock to deal with the Secret Guest, Su Ming has Hamill to counter, with the Guardian Race representing the Supreme Mage - who dares to provoke Kama Taiji?
If Loki intends to seek other Time Ability Users, our side has Ciri to restrain them, intercepting and responding the fastest on the timeline. Ciri's crossing speed is the fastest, with preparation time shorter than anyone else, and her Flash Ability is perfect for assassination.
This is a planned jigsaw puzzle, where Deathstroke makes up for the details Doom overlooked.
As a result, Loki's path is essentially blocked, leaving him with no option but to write a new 'story' to change his predicament.
But did Su Ming not anticipate this? Why leave one of three sides unguarded during a siege?
It's one of the eight principles of warfare enumerated by Sun Wu in "The Art of War", where 'breach' implies a gap, emphasizing leaving an apparent gap when surrounding an enemy.
Enclosing the enemy on all sides might spur them into a desperate fight-to-the-death decision, but deliberately leaving a gap can cause them to waver between fleeing or fighting.
More importantly, the apparent breach cannot be ignored; ambushes must be preset along the enemy's escape route, trapping them during their hasty retreat...
Su Ming came to the End of Time for two people: one is Doom, the other is not Valeria but her brother, Franklin.
Franklin is a Mutant beyond Omega Level, possessing extremely strong reality-altering abilities and psychic superpowers, including manipulating matter and energy, energy projection, mind control, telepathy, astral projection, future sight, traversing time and space, immortality, and creating parallel universes.
His abilities can cover a universe, capable of altering the molecular structure of matter and energy, and in the created universe, he can replicate Cosmic-level Gods like Planet Devourer, Eternal, and Infinite.
In his younger days, unable to control his abilities caused numerous issues, such as turning The Four Wonders into ordinary people just to have his parents play with him and his sister.
Apart from Doom, who thoroughly enjoyed defeating The Four Wonders at the time, others were less pleased.
Reed, upon returning home, scolded Franklin, pointing out that if the enemy had been Doctor Destruction instead of a Destruction Robot, all four might have perished there.
Even after finally resolving the situation, Thunderbolt Fire suffered serious injuries from a high-altitude fall.
The result was a very aggrieved Franklin, who with a mere thought, turned Reed into a large doll named 'Daddy', so he would no longer nag...
Eventually, Susan comforted him and turned Reed back to normal.
As he grew older, Franklin recognized the danger of his powers and sealed most of them, retaining only the ability to shape a Monistic Universe.
Since he found this ability entertaining, akin to other children playing with building blocks, he could create worlds for himself.
And at the current timeline of Doom, at the tail end of the Secret War, Franklin should have unsealed most of his powers. He would be persuaded by his sister and Doom to help shape the 'Battle Realm', and in the future, would create a 'Brand New and Different' universe.
What Su Ming needs is the current Franklin, to take him back in time, using his ability to create and alter the world to counter Loki's 'storytelling' ability.
Loki can use magic to prevent others from changing him, but cannot stop others from changing the world.
This is the ultimate trap, and Loki is bound to fall into it, because the God of Story is caught between change and constancy, causing his stories to end poorly due to this conflict.
Why are there so many doodles and gibberish in the storybook? Because Loki doesn't know how to proceed, unsure of which path to take.
Don't know which choice to make?
No problem, Su Ming has arranged a path for him...