Under everyone's expectant gazes, Ryan said calmly:
"The ending was that after that Strange devoured countless dark magical creatures and traversed through countless time loops, he and Christine did indeed end up together..."
But just as everyone began to smile, Ryan revealed the cruelest truth:
"But... the two were only reunited for less than an hour..."
"Then, because of that Strange's constant time-traveling, he caused a temporal imbalance in that Universe. By bringing Christine back, he broke an Absolute Point in Time. That Universe couldn't bear the burden and eventually entered a countdown to destruction, with the entire Universe collapsing and being destroyed in the end..."
"And his Palmer ultimately died in his arms once again, while he himself was trapped forever in a temporal prison..."
Everyone: ...
Hearing this, the smiles that had appeared on everyone's faces during the first half of the story instantly froze.
They had originally thought the ending would be a fairy tale where the prince defeats the dragon and saves the princess.
But they didn't expect it to be a dark fairy tale where the prince saves the princess but destroys the entire kingdom!
Christine, being the person involved, was especially stunned. She murmured, "Would Stephen really... destroy the entire Universe for me?"
Ryan nodded slightly and said indifferently, "That's right. You should know very well that he definitely would, wouldn't he?"
"Never mind the Strange of that Universe; even the one in this Universe, if I hadn't brought you back just now, was already planning to devour those monsters outside to become stronger just to save you..."
Hearing this, the others in the conference room couldn't help but breathe a long sigh of relief.
Thank goodness Ryan brought her back in time, otherwise the consequences would have been unthinkable!
They certainly didn't want this Universe to be driven to collapse and destruction by a Dark Strange!
Ryan glanced at the people in the room who felt like they had just survived a disaster and 'consoled' them:
"Don't worry, those events only happened in that extreme Universe. In this Universe, there is no such thing as an Absolute Point in Time for Doctor Palmer's death, and Strange is far from being able to destroy the Universe..."
Hearing this, everyone became curious again: "Does that mean not every Universe has those so-called unbreakable Absolute Points in Time?"
"Then what is the Absolute Point in Time for our Universe? Or rather, who is it?"
"And why could the Strange from the other Universe destroy his own Universe after turning dark, while our Strange cannot?"
Looking at the people from both Universes who were like a group of curious babies asking one question after another.
Ryan shook his head and decided to explain a bit to them:
"First, I'll answer the first and second questions together. The concept of an Absolute Point in Time is actually different in every Universe. Before it happens, it's hard to predict exactly which event is your Universe's Absolute Point in Time..."
"It could happen to any one of us, or to someone around us!"
"However, it usually happens to the most important person in that Universe, or someone close to them. I like to call that person the 'protagonist' of the World, or in TVA's official terminology, the 'Anchor Being'."
"And the event that happens to the 'Anchor Being' is often a tragedy—a tragedy that the 'Anchor Being' of that Universe desperately wants to undo, just like the Strange I just described who lost Christine..."
Hearing Ryan's explanation, everyone gained a slight understanding of Absolute Points in Time, but new doubts immediately followed!
That is... what the hell is an Anchor Being? And what is the TVA?
God! They seemed to have learned something extraordinary!
However, just as everyone was about to ask these two questions, strangely enough, their hearts suddenly became completely uncurious about the matter.
It was as if what Ryan had just said wasn't about organizations or people concerning the fate of the Universe, but something as trivial as the white-bearded Grandpa from KFC.
Only Ryan himself seemed to sense something and fixed his gaze on the Loki of this Universe, who was also attending the meeting.
And 'Loki' gave him a helpless look, putting an index finger to his lips in a shushing gesture.
Seeing this, Ryan raised an eyebrow.
Oh, so the God of Stories himself is here?
'Loki' said leisurely:
"Mr. Spider Monarch, I think we are all still quite curious about the second question. Why do you think the Strange of this Universe cannot destroy the entire Universe?"
Hearing this, everyone instantly forgot Ryan's previous words about 'Anchor Beings' and the 'TVA', and turned all their attention to this question.
Looking at 'Loki' who had clumsily changed the subject, Ryan shook his head in amusement, but he didn't go against 'Loki' by exposing more about the TVA.
Instead, he followed Loki's lead into the next topic, the calm smile on his face gradually turning sharp and cold:
"Because this is my Universe, and I will crush anyone who tries to destroy its balance, whether that person is Strange or anyone else!"
"If anyone were able to destroy this Universe under my nose, there would only be one person capable of it, and that is... me!"
Ryan's gaze swept over everyone except for the two Gwens beside him, making the hair on everyone's necks stand up involuntarily.
Danger! Danger! Danger!
After intimidating everyone present, Ryan reined in his aura and conveniently offered a carrot:
"But... as long as you don't act recklessly, don't create divisions among yourselves, and don't do anything stupid behind my back, believe me, you will live more safely and happily in this Universe than in any other!"
Hearing this, everyone thought about it carefully and realized it really was the case!
Whether it was the members of the Spider Family of this Universe or the Avengers from the other Universe.
Since Ryan appeared and linked them together into one big family, the tragedies around them had indeed become fewer and fewer, and life had more and more to look forward to!
Even with major events like the Skrull invasion, the zombie crisis, and unknown monsters happening one after another, they were able to handle them with ease and zero casualties because Ryan was there!
If Ryan hadn't been there, even if they could have successfully resolved these crises, it would have been absolutely impossible to achieve zero casualties for the team!
Under Ryan's stick-and-carrot approach, the sense of belonging to this big family grew stronger for both Universes!
Glancing at the 'all green' emotional perception in the conference room, Ryan nodded with satisfaction.
Full trust and full conviction from everyone—in the entire U.S. comic superhero Universe, those who could achieve this were few and far between!
And he, Ryan Parker, had done it!
"Alright, enough with the digressions. Now, let's get down to business..."
Halfway through his sentence, Ryan suddenly paused and frowned as he looked toward the door.
At that moment, the door to the temporary conference room was pushed open.
General Okoye, who was in charge of commanding the Wakandan army, walked in quickly. She first gave T'Challa and Ryan the highest Wakandan salute with crossed arms before saying rapidly:
"Your Majesty, Mr. Spider Monarch, the unknown monsters inside the magical barrier created by Miss Maximoff and the others are moving again. They have started attacking the barrier once more!"
Hearing this, everyone stood up from their seats and looked at Ryan.
Ryan was in no hurry to go out and instead ordered: "Except for the two Thors, everyone else get on the transport planes and evacuate to a hundred kilometers away."
"Thor, come with me. Let's go take a look."
Hearing this, no one made any sentimental objections or insisted on following Ryan.
Because they knew that in the face of monsters that could ignore physical attacks and absorb souls, physical-based superhumans and ordinary armies would only get in the way!
So, while Ryan took the two excited Thors and soared into the sky, everyone else began directing the ordinary troops surrounding the Golden City to board transport planes and evacuate.
When Ryan brought the two Thors to the two Wandas, who were currently increasing their output of Chaos Magic, the situation inside the magical barrier had become even worse than what Okoye had described!
Attacking the magical barrier now, besides the ordinary monsters Ultron had shown him, was a giant monster whose upper half alone was dozens of meters long. With a mouth full of hideous black fangs, it was struggling to squeeze itself out of the ground, which looked as if it had been corroded by lava!
At the same time, the Ten Rings on Ryan's right hand seemed to be drawn by some kind of attraction and lit up involuntarily!
Following the guidance of the Ten Rings, Ryan narrowed his eyes and focused his gaze.
Only then did he notice that on the hideous head of this giant monster, a figure dressed in black was actually standing!
And on that person's hands, they were wearing the exact same Ten Rings as the ones on his right hand!
Seeing this, Ryan finally remembered where the monster below looked familiar, and he also knew who the black-clad figure wearing the Ten Rings was...
Facing the giant monster below and the imposing figure in black, there was no trace of panic in Ryan's eyes as if facing a formidable foe; there was only excitement, like looking at prey:
"Xu Wenwu of the Ten Rings Organization? Has he actually taken the initiative to deliver this Universe's Ten Rings to me? This truly is a double blessing!"
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