"My physical condition is very good. If I haven't woken up yet, it's probably just mental fatigue. I should come around soon."
After examining Di Wan, Tony's private physician reported the situation to Karl. He had checked her thoroughly and found nothing abnormal. Her body was in excellent condition, though she seemed somewhat mentally drained.
Karl already knew as much, but he didn't fully understand human physiology. To be safe, he had asked Tony's doctor to confirm it once more.
"Thank you, Dr. Thomas."
"No need to thank me, Mr. Superman. You saved New York—this is nothing."
Thomas smiled and waved his hand before leaving the room, deliberately giving Karl and Di Wan some privacy.
With the room suddenly quiet, Karl sat beside Di Wan's bed, replaying everything that had happened that day in his mind.
A thunderstorm had brought him and Di Wu into this world. When he focused and "looked" at it, he found it remarkably similar to Di Wu's original world. Yet there were things even he could not "see"—events that had never occurred in her world.
In less than three days, Karl had crossed into two different worlds in succession. This time, he had even brought someone with him. And this world appeared far more dangerous than Di Wu's.
Especially today's war, which had been started by someone claiming to be from the Realm of the Gods. That person had already been beaten badly by the green giant. Earlier, while waiting for Tony's doctor, Karl had encountered this so-called god.
When Loki saw Karl, his face filled with terror. He could not imagine that Midgard possessed someone so powerful. Loki sensed no divinity in Karl and was certain he was not a god. Yet what Karl had done beneath the portal that day was beyond belief. Even his father, Odin, could not have so effortlessly destroyed an entire space fleet.
Terrified, Loki had been escorted to the top floor of Stark Tower. In the presence of someone who could annihilate him with ease, he dared not play tricks or speak recklessly. For the first time, he truly felt his own insignificance.
"Mm…"
Di Wan gradually woke up. She opened her eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling. Turning her head, she saw Karl sitting beside her, still dressed in that indigo suit.
"Where is this?" she asked, frowning.
The last thing she remembered was being carried out of the airplane cabin. The sky had been filled with thunder and lightning; the blinding light had forced her eyes shut, and then she had lost consciousness. Now she found herself in a strange room. Still, seeing Karl there eased her anxiety a little.
"This is New York."
"New York? Weren't we flying to Addis Ababa?! Why are we here?!"
She clearly remembered their flight plan—first to Addis Ababa, then to the Seychelles. They had already been in the air for five hours. Their route crossed the Indian Ocean; there was no way they would pass over the United States. None of it made sense.
"This isn't the world you're familiar with anymore."
After careful thought, Karl decided to tell the truth. He wouldn't be able to hide it for long. If he waited, it might be too late.
She got out of bed and walked to the window. The city below was in ruins—scarred by war, high-rises shattered, many reduced to rubble. She turned back to Karl, disbelief written all over her face.
Karl knew how hard this would be to accept. He stepped beside her, looking at their reflections in the glass.
"This world is very similar to yours," he said apologetically. "But it's more dangerous."
"When I pulled you out of the cabin, the energy in the sky was too strong. It tore open a spatial rift. To protect you, I had no choice but to bring you through it."
Di Wan stared at him, her eyes widening. Tears streamed down her face. After a long pause, she forced a strained smile.
"You're joking, right? You're afraid I'll be scared, so you're joking… right? This is just a set, isn't it? Right?!"
Her emotions surged uncontrollably, and she shouted. How could she believe this? How could she possibly accept it?
An ordinary girl meets someone extraordinary, experiences something bizarre, and is then told she has arrived in another world. It was too much.
Knock, knock.
Someone knocked at the door, but Di Wan ignored it, staring at Karl as if willing him to reveal the lie.
Karl went to open the door. A bald, one-eyed Black man stood there, wearing a black leather coat, his expression stern.
"Hello, Mr. Superman. I'm Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D."
As Fury spoke, he walked into the room, scanning it. His gaze landed on Di Wan, who stood crying by the window.
"And this is…?"
"Di Wu. My employer," Karl replied calmly.
Fury looked surprised. "Then I'll need to speak with this lady. I need to understand your views about Earth. To ordinary people, you're extremely dangerous."
Though he addressed Di Wan, his eyes remained fixed on Karl. What he had seen on satellite footage earlier left him no choice but to stay cautious.
"We have no ill intentions. I just want to protect her," Karl answered evenly.
He didn't care about suspicion. To him, there was little that posed a threat. But Di Wu—whom he had brought here—filled him with guilt. If not for him, how would an ordinary girl have ended up facing crises that even he had to take seriously?
Fury nodded, then turned to Di Wan.
"Miss Di, what are your thoughts on Earth?"
Only then did she truly notice him—and she froze.
The shape was too distinctive. The bald head, the eyepatch, the black leather coat. Instantly, she remembered the movie she had watched in theaters five years ago.
Fury frowned slightly. "Miss Di?"
She gave an awkward smile. "I don't have any particular thoughts. I'm just an ordinary person. I only think about how to live my own life. I've never thought about Earth."
Fury observed them carefully. Karl had shown no reaction to his intrusion. Di Wan seemed detached from everything except Karl—until she saw Fury. That reaction was different. Recognition?
"Miss Di, you seem to know me. There's no record of you in our database. Would you mind introducing yourself?"
After a pause to steady herself, she smiled.
"You wouldn't know us. We're from another parallel universe. It's normal that you can't find any information."
"Parallel universes…" Fury murmured. "It seems Earth is attracting more and more visitors. So, what do you intend to do here?"
"If possible, we won't disrupt society. We just want to live as ordinary people, the same as before."
She truly had the makings of an actress. If Karl hadn't seen her earlier breakdown, he might have believed her completely.
Fury asked a few more questions—probing but avoiding anything too direct. In the end, he seemed satisfied. At least they weren't extremists like Loki.
After he left, Di Wan turned back to Karl.
"Did you see a man in iron armor today? And someone holding a hammer with a red cape? And a green giant?"
She needed confirmation. If this was just another parallel world, she might try to adapt. But if this was the Marvel universe… she desperately wanted to go home. She had only seen the first movie, but even that had shown apocalyptic-scale battles. In a world like this, she didn't know if she could survive.
"Yes. I met all of them," Karl said.
Her body went slack. Karl instantly appeared beside her and caught her as she turned pale.
In just three days, everything had spiraled out of control. Her once lively personality had grown withdrawn. She had never adapted easily to change, and these three days had forced her to accept too much. At one point, after hearing Karl's confirmation, she had even felt the urge to die.
Karl felt a pang in his chest. He didn't know how to return to her world. He barely understood this one.
"I'll always be by your side. I won't let anyone hurt you."
It was the only promise he could make.
"Can we go back? I just want to go home. I'm just an ordinary person—I shouldn't be experiencing this. I still have work to do. My parents are waiting for me. If I don't call them, they'll worry…"
In his arms, her eyes were empty, tears falling endlessly. She had cried more in these three days than in her entire acting career.
Karl gently wiped her tears away, unable to answer. They stood by the window in silence, outside nothing but ruins.
She remembered something from childhood. An old man had once told her that the tear mole beneath her eye was strangely placed—not good, not bad. He had said her life would be full of hardship, but in the end, she would find happiness.
She hadn't believed him then. Compared to most, her life had only been slightly bumpy. But now? These three days were something few people would ever experience.
And if happiness was truly waiting at the end of hardship… then she was destined to go back.
With her eccentric temperament, she clung to such unrealistic thoughts—because it was the only way to soothe her fragile heart.
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