Chapter 4: Situation and Arrangements
Lance Ryder stood in the warm bathroom.
Even though it was already summer, he turned the hot water all the way up.
Streams of steaming water poured down over his body. Instead of feeling uncomfortable, he found it incredibly relaxing.
After all, he hadn't taken a proper hot bath in decades.
Bathing in a place like Jotunheim?
With what—ice?
On that frozen world, where the highest temperature rarely rose above negative fifty or sixty degrees, any water that appeared instantly froze solid.
Of course, Lance was a mage. He had some ability to keep himself clean.
If he had been an ordinary person, he would probably have spent the last few decades covered in dirt and grime.
Still, living in Jotunheim had hardened his body in ways few people could imagine.
Over the years, an immense amount of frost energy had accumulated within him.
That cold power had ultimately helped him break through into the realm of a legendary mage.
But those things were all in the past.
What Lance was thinking about now was the information he had just learned from Betty Ross.
He had already roughly determined what time period he was in.
About half a year ago, Tony Stark had been kidnapped in Afghanistan.
A month or two later, Stark escaped from the terrorists and built his first suit of powered armor.
After returning to the United States, Stark defeated Obadiah Stane and took complete control of Stark Industries.
Not long ago, Tony Stark had publicly announced that he would restart the Stark Industries Expo, and preparations were currently underway.
Nothing unexpected had happened yet.
Based on all this information, Lance had a rough understanding of where he stood in the timeline of the Marvel universe.
Back when he was in Jotunheim, Thor and his companions had not yet invaded the realm for battle.
Thor's exile to Earth was still a few years away.
But Lance knew very well that when that time came, he would almost certainly become involved.
Even if he wanted to avoid it, that might not be possible.
As long as he remained on Earth—or anywhere within the Nine Realms—he probably couldn't escape Heimdall's sight.
From the Rainbow Bridge, Heimdall would notice him immediately.
That was a troublesome thought.
"Damn Odin," Lance muttered under his breath.
If Odin wanted to temper his son, there was no need to use people like him as a training target.
Facing Thor, the God of Thunder, Lance knew he was far from qualified.
Even in Jotunheim, he had barely broken through into the realm of a legendary mage by drawing power from the planet's endless frost.
Now that he had returned to Earth, his magical realm remained intact, but the power he could actually display had fallen dramatically.
At best, he could perform at the peak level of an ordinary mage.
Perhaps he could fight someone like Logan, the Wolverine, head-on.
But against figures like Professor Charles Xavier or Magneto—individuals powerful enough to threaten the entire world—Lance could not guarantee his own survival.
Still, there was a small advantage.
Earth's magical energy was extremely inert.
That limitation affected Lance—but it would also affect Thor and others.
That was why Thor's power on Earth didn't appear overwhelmingly greater than that of Magneto or Professor Xavier.
Even Mjolnir, powerful as it was, relied partly on the surrounding magical energy.
With Earth's magic being so sluggish, the hammer's full power was difficult to unleash.
This limitation applied not only to Thor, but also to Loki—and even to someone like Thanos.
For Lance himself, the key problem was obvious.
He needed to break through his limitations again and reopen the path to legendary-level magic.
He couldn't accept being restricted by Earth's weak magical environment.
He had to find another way.
The most obvious solution was the Cosmic Cube.
But accessing that artifact wouldn't be easy.
Throughout the timeline he remembered, the Cube had always been under Asgard's watch.
Even if Lance managed to approach it, keeping it for himself would be nearly impossible.
He would have to find alternatives.
For example—
The scepter Loki would later bring to Earth.
The Reality Stone, still sealed within dimensional fractures.
Or, if he became powerful enough, he might even travel into deep space to seize the Power Stone.
As for the Time Stone, already held by the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj…
That would be the hardest target of all.
Still, if the opportunity appeared, Lance would consider it.
There were also other possibilities.
The light-speed engine that once created Captain Marvel.
Or the arc reactor technology Tony Stark developed while studying the Cosmic Cube.
Both could potentially serve as substitutes.
Even now, Lance might be able to obtain the blueprints for those technologies.
The secret databases of S.H.I.E.L.D.…
Tony Stark's office…
All of them were possible targets.
And with the Stark Expo approaching, opportunities might arise.
But before any of that, Lance had another problem to deal with.
Betty Ross.
She truly was Betty Ross.
On her desk sat a photograph of her standing beside General Ross, wearing his military uniform.
Lance didn't even need confirmation.
The uniform alone told him everything.
She was indeed General Ross's daughter.
And she had once been Bruce Banner's girlfriend.
Yet now—
She had completely forgotten Bruce Banner.
Something complicated must have happened.
Perhaps General Ross had arranged for someone to seal away her memories of Banner.
Others might not notice such things.
But Lance was a powerful mage, and mental perception was one of his strengths.
Even without close inspection, his mental senses could easily detect abnormalities within Betty's mind.
Bruce Banner had disappeared several years ago.
At least within the United States.
Back then, Betty would certainly have been under military surveillance because of her relationship with him.
But now, she had forgotten Banner entirely.
Her father no longer needed to monitor her.
Where Banner himself was now remained uncertain.
Lance remembered that when S.H.I.E.L.D. eventually found him, Banner had been somewhere in India or Nepal.
But whether that was his location at this point in time was impossible to know.
Still, those matters weren't Lance's immediate concern.
The most urgent task was restoring his identity—and reclaiming the assets he had left behind on Earth.
Drying his hair with a towel, Lance stepped out of the bathroom.
On the table in the living room, Betty had laid out a shirt and shorts for him.
Men's clothes.
"They belonged to my ex-boyfriend," Betty said, her expression complicated as she looked at the tall, broad-shouldered man in front of her.
Years of survival in Jotunheim had forged Lance's body like steel.
After trimming his beard and long hair, his appearance had changed considerably.
He wasn't overwhelmingly handsome, but his face carried a rugged charm.
Certainly no less attractive than Betty's previous boyfriend.
In fact, Betty Ross had never been known for choosing unattractive men.
Although she felt a slight stir of curiosity toward him, she was also filled with regret.
She could hardly believe she had brought a complete stranger back to her apartment.
Normally, she would never have done something like that.
"No problem," Lance said calmly. "But I need to make a phone call first."
"Alright."
Betty stepped aside so he could reach the phone.
"Can I ask you something?" she said.
"Go ahead."
Lance didn't mind.
One of the reasons Betty had tolerated him so far was probably because she had witnessed him using magic.
Perhaps—even though she had forgotten Bruce Banner—some part of her still retained the instinct to understand the impossible.
Betty asked eagerly,
"Are you really a magician? And that man earlier—was he a magician too?"
She leaned forward slightly.
"Can I learn magic from you?"
"You're too old," Lance replied casually.
He picked up the phone and glanced at her.
"Your phone can make international calls, right?"
"No problem," Betty said, though she glared at him.
No woman liked being told she was "too old."
The fantasy she had briefly imagined shattered instantly.
Then she asked in irritation,
"How old are you, then?"
"Don't bother guessing," Lance said with a faint chuckle. "Much older than you."
He turned his attention back to the phone.
After dialing the final number, the line began to ring.
Before he was sent to Jotunheim, Lance had accumulated significant wealth in the United States.
Because he preferred to remain behind the scenes, he had hired agents to manage those assets for him.
But he hadn't contacted them in decades.
Who knew what had happened to them by now?
Besides that, he also had another hidden operation on an uninhabited island in the Arctic Ocean.
Someone had been maintaining it as well.
Both groups knew of each other's existence.
But after Lance disappeared for so long, who could say how things had changed?
The number he was calling now belonged to his third contingency plan.
The one he trusted most.
Not because they were especially loyal.
But because Lance had carefully blocked every path they might use to betray him.
They understood his strength.
They understood the secrets he possessed.
And they had very little power of their own.
Still, with Lance's support, they could secretly infiltrate and eventually take control of the other two networks.
This had been Lance's final insurance policy.
During the last days of World War II, he had feared that something might happen to him.
Perhaps he would end up frozen like Captain America.
Or sent to another planet like the Red Skull.
So he had prepared everything in advance.
Ironically, he survived the war itself—
Only to be exiled to Jotunheim by Heimdall afterward.
The phone continued ringing.
But no one answered.
Lance wasn't surprised.
After decades of silence, it was already fortunate that the line still existed.
No one could be expected to guard a phone forever.
He would have to try again later.
Lance set the receiver down.
Only then did he notice that Betty had disappeared.
From the bathroom came the sound of running water.
She must have gone to take a shower after being soaked by the rain earlier.
Lance stood there for a moment.
After all…
He was a man.
And a man who hadn't seen a woman in decades.
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