Aside from the fact that the Ancient One was still on King George Island trying to convince some Eternals to clean up Josh's mess.
After Josh emptied the place, he stored everything, along with Ophelia and the others, in his system inventory—officially revealing his "space" ability to his subordinates.
He then used a teleportation rune to return to the Falklands. Compared to the timespace belt, this mage-made item was much more reliable. While it still caused mild dizziness, the side effects were a lot milder-although, unfortunately, it was a one-time use item.
Back on the Falklands, he wasted no time. After releasing his people, he immediately ordered the VTOL to take off and leave.
At that moment, he felt like someone who had just committed a crime—thrilled by the excitement but also deeply anxious.
Even though he had used his stealth cloak throughout the operation, completely covering his tracks—which was a major reason why even the Ancient One and Odin hadn't noticed his actions—he wasn't entirely sure he could truly fool those two powerhouses. Naturally, he wanted to put as much distance between himself and the scene of the crime as possible.
But instead of heading straight back to Europe, he went to India first, hiding out in Chennai, which was occupied by the U.S. military.
Over the past month, following Josh's earlier chaos in New Delhi, Britain, the U.S., and the Soviet Union had taken control of different parts of India, claiming to be victims and acting through the United Nations.
The British controlled several states along the west coast, while the U.S. occupied the east coast. The Soviets, on the other hand, had taken over the northern states.
It was clear that the Soviets had been tricked once again by the Anglo-American alliance. They weren't even given a single point of access to the coast. With Afghanistan and Pakistan between them and India, their previous ability to reach the region had only been possible because of temporary diplomatic arrangements made by the U.S. and Britain.
The moment those two decided otherwise, Afghanistan and Pakistan would immediately cut off Soviet access to India. At this time, both countries were still firmly aligned with the Western powers. Afghanistan, in particular, was ruled by King Zahir Shah and his predecessor Nadir Shah—both staunch allies of Britain and the U.S., making the situation vastly different from what it would become later in history.
For the Soviets, their control over northern India was essentially an isolated enclave.
Still, they weren't sitting idly by. They were actively involved in Bangladesh, which had emerged during the turmoil in India. If they succeeded in bringing Bangladesh into the Communist bloc, it would be Britain and the U.S. who'd have a headache.
This made the Bengal region particularly volatile in recent times.
But none of this bothered Josh.
Once in Chennai, he locked himself in a mansion his organization had secured in advance. After setting magical traps around his room, he began to consider what to do with the stolen goods.
The easier items to handle were those taken from the Domo—including the Broken Steel Sword and the countless treasures Makari had collected over thousands of years.
A preliminary magical scan revealed that only a handful of these items, including the Broken Steel Sword, had traces of supernatural energy. The rest were merely ordinary artifacts, relics from various human civilizations.
Although they were valuable, they weren't particularly remarkable. He could simply let experts examine them later.
The real challenges, however, were in the Tama itself, the five Inhumans and their ship, and the unidentified ship he had dug up from the glacier.
No doubt, studying or even using those three ships was far beyond his own abilities.
Among all his potential trading partners, only Yuri had the skills to handle this.
The Tama and the Inhumans' ship weren't too much of a concern. One was based on Eternal—or rather, Celestial—technology, while the other was of Kree origin. At least there were some clues to follow, and theoretically there wouldn't be too much risk.
But the last ship, the one dug out of the Antarctic glacier, made Josh uneasy.
First, there was that initial energy storm.
Then, there was the question of why Odin, the Ancient One, and the Eternals had all shown up—and were even fighting.
Since Josh had been watching from a distance, he couldn't determine their allegiances.
But one thing was certain: their fight was most likely because of this ship.
Therefore, even though he had managed to take possession of it, he hesitated to bring it out. Who knew what kind of trouble might be lurking inside?
After some thought, Josh decided to contact Yuri.
"You don't have to worry too much. Thanks to the vibranium you provided, I have finally perfected the Reverse Iron Curtain device. This is going to be a great test run. Even if something comes out of that ship, I'll have more than enough time to react," Yuri said casually after hearing Josh's concerns.
The so-called Reverse Iron Curtain wasn't an anti-Iron Curtain device. Instead, it was an inward-facing containment system.
The original Iron Curtain was designed for external defense.
But this Reverse Iron Curtain was built for internal security.
In other words, it was a high-tech prison.
Yuri had come up with this idea for a simple reason—over the years, Josh had sent him far too many strange and dangerous items. The number of dangerous experiments Yuri had conducted with these materials had only increased.
Ordinary containment labs built with conventional materials and technology were no longer adequate.
More than once, test subjects had nearly escaped.
Recently, Yuri had even used genetic engineering to create a daughter, only to discover that her psychic abilities far surpassed his own.
Though he was thrilled, he couldn't ignore the lingering sense of caution in his mind.
It was then that he decided to create a powerful containment system based on Iron Curtain technology.
Until now, he hadn't been able to complete the project due to material limitations.
But after Josh smuggled large quantities of hidden vibranium from the remnants of Wakanda and traded an initial batch to Yuri, the Iron Curtain prison was finally complete.
"You've got something like that? Can you make one for me?" Josh's eyes lit up.
Given the nature of the Marvel world, Josh knew he would eventually have to deal with all sorts of supernatural entities—many of which would be difficult or inconvenient to kill, but too dangerous to leave unchecked.
A secure prison like this would be invaluable.
Even if he didn't use it for that purpose, building a high-security laboratory—just like Yuri's—would be just as practical. It would certainly be more reliable than simply relying on vibranium walls.
"Of course! All the specs are in here. As for the necessary industrial equipment, you should have everything on your side. Overall, it's not too difficult to build—just resource intensive, but that shouldn't be a problem for you!" Yuri didn't hesitate and immediately handed Josh a data disk.
Although this internal defense system was extremely valuable and had taken considerable effort to develop, Yuri was far more eager to get his hands on the three alien ships Josh had mentioned.
He was even willing to postpone his plan to activate the time machine and return to his original era.
After all, despite his vast collection of advanced technology and military might, Yuri's reach was still limited to Earth. At most, he had managed to establish a few experimental bio-domes on the Moon. True interstellar travel was still beyond his reach.
But with these three ships, everything would change.
Even if he could only completely reverse-engineer the Inhuman ship designed by Kree, it would greatly advance his space warfare program.
Not to mention the genetic potential of the Inhumans themselves.
The deal was quickly struck.
Afterwards, Josh began sorting through Makkari's collection.
Naturally, the entire process took place within his system inventory.
He still vividly remembered how quickly Makkari had snatched back the Broken Steel Sword the last time he had retrieved it. Until he had completely eliminated that problem—and dealt with the remaining Eternals—he wasn't about to take anything out of storage again.
Thinking about it, he felt a bit regretful.
If Odin and the Ancient One hadn't shown up on King George Island, he wouldn't have left so abruptly. He would have at least dropped a few Ivan bombs to see if he could wipe out those pesky Eternals.
What Josh didn't know was that while he was sorting through his collection, the Ancient One had actually paid him a visit.
After dealing with the Eternals—sending them back to the U.S. through a portal—and seeing off Odin, she decided to check in on Josh.
She even considered quietly teaching him a lesson.
However, she almost triggered the magical traps Josh had placed around his estate.
But the Sorcerer Supreme was still the Sorcerer Supreme. Though the magical systems of their worlds were vastly different, she noticed the traps just before she stepped into them.
As she marveled at the intricacy and ingenuity of these enchantments, she was once again reminded of how many secrets Josh kept.
Even with the Time Stone, she could only see the tip of the iceberg.
Ultimately, she resisted the urge to punish him—or dismantle a few of the traps for research—and slipped away as quietly as she had arrived.
Meanwhile, Josh remained oblivious, concentrating entirely on studying Makkari's collection.
It had to be said—Makkari had gathered some truly impressive treasures.
Aside from a few weapons that emitted unusual energy signatures, what caught Josh's attention the most was an emerald tablet.
It was also Makkari's most prized possession.
This artifact was none other than the legendary Emerald Tablet of Ancient Egypt.
In Earth's ancient mythology, alchemy was believed to have originated in Egypt.
The Egyptian Pharaoh Hermes, his mythical father, the god Thoth, and his eldest son, the high priest Tat, were later merged into a single figure in legend—Hermes Trismegistus, the "Threefold Hermes".
Together they condensed the knowledge of alchemy into thirteen statements inscribed on an emerald tablet.
This was the Emerald Tablet.
In other words, the Emerald Tablet represented both the origin and pinnacle of alchemy.
The powerful, mysterious energy emanating from the tablet suggested that the legend surrounding it might not be just a myth.
After all, this was the Marvel Universe—a place filled with gods and divine beings.
In his previous life, Josh had dismissed beings like the Asgardians as nothing more than powerful aliens.
But he couldn't deny that many of them possessed abilities traditionally associated with gods.
The problem was, he couldn't read the ancient Egyptian writing on the tablet. And he certainly wasn't going to take it out and give it to someone to translate. Who knew if Makkari had tampered with it?
But just because he couldn't get it out didn't mean others couldn't help him.
Alchemy felt too mystical to be connected with technology, so instead of contacting Yuri, Josh reached out to someone from The Mummy universe—Cailin, who shared a cultural background with his own world.
But before he even had the chance to call her, Yuri contacted him again—just hours after their last conversation.
"Did something go wrong with the ship?" Josh asked immediately, feeling a little tense.
"Hahaha, relax. There is a small problem, but nothing serious. Allow me to introduce three guests from your world—Resilience, Patience and Courage!" Yuri chuckled and gestured to the table in front of him.
Only then did Josh notice what lay on the table—three blobs, each a different color: red, blue, and white.
They trembled slightly, like... jelly? Slime?
"What are they?" Josh was momentarily stunned, not realizing that these creatures were actually symbiotes, similar to Venom.
And that was because, unlike the menacing and sinister appearance of Venom, Carnage, or other symbiotes he had seen in the movies of his past life, these three exuded a bright and even endearing aura.
This was the key difference between Primal symbiotes—those that leaned toward evil—and Purified symbiotes, which had been influenced by kindness.
"They call themselves symbiotes," Yuri explained. "Apparently, they give their hosts extraordinary abilities. But there were supposed to be four of them—one golden, named Light, which woke up early due to the ship's automated defense system."
"What?! Those are symbiotes?" Josh was stunned.
How could he not know about symbiotes?
But he had never seen symbiotes that looked so... good?
Weren't symbiotes supposed to be like Venom—oozing with sinister energy?
Still, everything Yuri had described fit the characteristics of symbiotes perfectly.
And considering that Josh had never mentioned symbiotes to him before, Yuri had no reason to make something like this up.
Which meant... they were indeed symbiotes.
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