"These things don't seem like they appeared just recently." Wanda said incredulously, holding the documents in her hand, "This isn't something that could be investigated in a year or two. You..."
Wanda slowly turned around to look at Reed behind her. He sat in the shadow of the light, like a sculpture of a thinker. And the documents in his hands were all about cosmic rules, especially the results of fate-related investigations.
"I won't speak without evidence," Reed said, "Even if it's just speculation, there must be evidence. What I told you about fate is not just some shallow speculation lingering in my mind. Or, rather, these superficial speculations have been around much earlier than you might think, ma'am."
Wanda turned her gaze back to the documents: "Since you have the evidence, why not publish it?"
"Why do you think it needs to be published?" Reed asked.
"There are many people being suffocated by fate." Wanda's face was unprecedentedly serious, "Like me in this world, you said you saw her, she looks like she went mad, but she was driven mad by her fate."
"She tried so many times, yet she couldn't protect the ones she wanted to protect, couldn't get the life she desired. There are many like her, struggling in the darkness. At least... at least..." Wanda was already in tears, "At least tell them it's not their fault, right?"
"We wish we could do that." Surprisingly, Reed didn't deny it. The lighting where he was sitting was too dim, but whether it was his bright eyes or they shimmered with tears, his eyes always sparkled with a gleam, "We've tried, but ultimately we realized we can't."
"You? Who else?"
Reed didn't answer directly. He just said, "You know, the fate of the Fantastic Four has actually been quite stable. We're like supporting characters in a story, peripheral characters in a movie, there might've been thrilling moments, but nowadays, we're not the protagonists — now, who steps up first in times of disaster?"
"The Avengers?" Wanda seemed to have a realization.
"I hope you believe that many people have made great efforts, even sacrifices, to save you and people like you in this world..."
Wanda was certain she heard a hint of choking in Reed's tone. This man, always calm like a machine, nearly cold, finally showing a hint of vulnerability.
Wanda already had the answer in her mind, but she suddenly remembered another person. Shiller surely knew too, but he never mentioned it to anyone. Even when he turned the cosmos upside down, he never mentioned what he was fighting against.
Now, that enormous entity was standing clearly before Wanda, letting her understand why Shiller acted like a madman, why he always used those crazy tactics, why it seemed like he was vast yet indifferent like nature.
Because what stood before him was something even more indescribably immense, perhaps without form or substance, unseen, unspeakable, its existence uncertain. To battle such an adversary, whether Shiller, Reed, or Batman, they all had to be mad.
When you think someone is crazy, it's only because what they face is terrifying beyond your imagination — there is never madness without roots in this world.
Wanda's hand slowly clenched the edge of the paper.
Many images flashed through her mind, finally settling on her child's first appearance at the Battle Realm Base.
They called her "mother," and everyone turned to look. Countless identical faces, countless identical gazes, not of affection or emotion, but the fear and disbelief of waking from a nightmare.
"You don't need to feel too pressured," Reed reverted to his original demeanor, "The good news is, smart people are always in sync, and we have plenty of smart people in our universe."
"Is everything now within your expectations?" Wanda asked.
"If each person predicting a part counts, then it's almost covered everything." Reed's words were somewhat ambiguous, "As I said, our consciousness of doing certain things started much earlier than you might think."
Wanda understood. Shiller had begun to change their universe over a decade ago, just shortly after he arrived. And how long did it take Reed from birth to gain the wisdom to see through these things? Six, seven years old, or even earlier?
If they became aware of something at that age, spent time learning and accumulating, then by their teenage years, they would already have the means to investigate.
Now, so much time has passed since their teenage years. After experiencing so many events, gaining skills and knowledge, what they can see and achieve must exceed anyone's expectations.
Wanda was slightly relieved, yet still anxious: "I feel we still need to do something, should I go back to help with the wedding?"
Reed shook his head: "You just stay here."
Wanda was a bit perplexed but chose to trust Reed. She continued to look at the documents in her hand, most of which were handwritten. Wanda could clearly see several different handwriting styles, without knowing which were Reed's and which were others'. She only knew that the number of people with early mutual understanding might be more than she imagined.
Among them was handwriting that was hard to discern, almost like mad cursive. Already hard to understand technical terms were made worse by the handwriting. Wanda frowned for a long time, unable to decipher a single word.
"This..." Wanda didn't want to seem picky, so she said tactfully, "You can tell they're very angry, who wrote this?"
Reed glanced over. Wanda, unconsciously focused on his expressions, caught a change in his expression for a brief moment upon seeing that manuscript. Reed's expression became a bit complicated.
"Who else could it be? Tony Stark."
Wanda immediately sensed something was amiss. She was very skilled at perceiving emotions, and Reed's tone carried a hint of resentment. But it wasn't about mocking Tony for his bad handwriting or complaining that he wrote too messily; this resentment was directed at a person, not a thing.
Wanda just wanted to say something when she suddenly realized. The Iron Man here wasn't the Iron Man from before. So who was Reed complaining about?
Wanda was very sharp about these things, so she tentatively asked, "Since you've been here, has Iron Man come to see you?"
"Of course." Reed's answer was still very indifferent. "He came to chat with me."
"You let him in?"
"Why wouldn't I?"
Wanda scratched her head. "Don't you think he replaced your friend?"
Wanda's thought process was this: the fact that Reed had Iron Man's manuscript here suggested that their relationship was good; at least they were friends and had studied destiny's matters together, which counted as kindred spirits. Now with the righteous Iron Man gone and replaced by this evil Iron Man, anyone would be angry, right? One's friend being replaced on the one hand, and replaced by such a thing on the other hand — how could Reed still chat with him calmly?
"Replace?" Reed suddenly sneered. "Who can replace Tony Stark?"
Wanda didn't know what to say. She knew something was up here, but she was also afraid Reed would lose control — this guy had a record, and Wanda didn't dare provoke him, so she could only say, "What did you chat about with him?"
"He's always the one complaining." Reed withdrew his emotions again, flipping faces faster than flipping a book. "The Rebirth Alliance chased him, no one likes him, the plans didn't succeed, and no money was earned…"
"You don't seem like the type who enjoys listening to people complain," Wanda said delicately. "I thought you'd talk about technical issues."
"I'd rather hear him complain," Reed said.
Wanda sharply sensed something again, saying, "Does this Iron Man have any technical problems? Do you dislike his style?"
Reed sneered again but said no more.
Wanda didn't feel he was impatient; she just mulled things over silently. Wanda was the kind who could rely solely on emotional perception to deduce things without logic — the kind of Master of States in Werewolf, pinpointing who's out of sorts in an instant.
Reed certainly disliked this later version of Iron Man, but it wasn't a complete dislike; otherwise, he wouldn't let him in to hear him complain. But letting in was letting in, listening was listening; he still didn't like him.
Such feelings seem awkward, but a very common universal explanation exists: the previous Iron Man must have upset Reed.
Whatever the previous Iron Man did angered Reed, and now there's a new one; Reed, to retaliate against that previous Iron Man, befriends this new Iron Man, yet internally, feels a bit dismissive of him, displaying a twisted state.
Wanda felt she'd seen this story somewhere before — where was it?
Finally, Wanda dug deep into her memory and pulled out an already forgotten gossip pack, where the names of the two male protagonists were Lucifer and Anatoli.
Wanda briefly summarized the story: Anatoli insisted on saving Gotham and died, which provoked Lucifer. Yet he pretended nothing happened and got along with the later Shiller; it's exactly the same, truly nothing new under the Sun.
Wanda was puzzled, though. Anatoli died, but later revived; at the time, Lucifer truly thought he was dead. What about Tony Stark? He shouldn't have died, right?
Wanda wanted to ask but was afraid of asking; what if he really was dead? Wouldn't Reed go mad again if she asked?
But upon further thought, she felt it was impossible. Based on Reed's attitude, if Iron Man were dead, wouldn't he rather destroy the cosmos to bring him back? Back then, when Shiller died, the Iron Man in their universe went to Death's domain to retrieve him.
If he's not dead, things get interesting. But in fact, Anatoli didn't die either — or rather, he died then revived, yet Lucifer remained angry, meaning life or death was just the outcome. The crux was the motive: they were angered by their friend's disregard for advice and courting death.
It seems, Tony Stark pulled a dangerous stunt, maybe not as bold as Anatoli bombing Gotham, but still…
In that instant, a flash of insight burst in Wanda's mind.
This universe is no longer the Prime Universe; it has been cut from the Great World, traveled elsewhere, and transformed into the Fusion Universe. Does this mean people here can escape their original fate?
The scattered jigsaw fragments were linked by this sudden brilliance, forming a complete picture.
The people from the Prime Universe have not been idle; their path of resistance began much earlier than anyone imagined.
Abandoning their Prime Universe identity—breaking away from the original Great World—was the first step; it all started back then.
And the missing original Iron Man must have played an unimaginably crucial role in this plan. Wanda dared to assert this because the first one silenced by destiny's grip must have resisted most fiercely.