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Kevin guessed correctly.
After this encounter with Loki, it might have been out of helplessness towards Kevin's 'persistence', or perhaps to repay Kevin for saving Loki.
In any case, Mobius agreed to let him participate in the pursuit of Sylvie.
"Listen, in principle, I don't agree with this; it's very dangerous."
During their private discussion, Mobius said to Kevin helplessly.
Kevin shrugged:
"I know it's dangerous, but which Variant isn't dangerous? Especially a Variant like this who actively attacks the TVA; I'm already prepared."
Mobius looked at Kevin, and Kevin was also looking at him.
After a long stare, Mobius sighed:
"Alright, then I have a job for you next."
"Just say it."
"Go teach Loki some common knowledge about the TVA, just like I taught you back then."
Mobius said, looking at Loki, who had just walked out of the changing room.
His prisoner uniform had been replaced with a well-fitting shirt and dress pants.
With a tie, he really did look somewhat like an office worker.
Noticing their gazes, Loki looked up and asked:
"What? Why are you looking at me like that? Did I wear the wrong clothes?"
"…He's all yours. I'm going to Ravonna to make a report."
Mobius patted Kevin's shoulder and turned to leave.
After seeing him off, Kevin looked at Loki and smiled at him:
"Ready for special training, Loki?"
Looking at Kevin's smile, Loki instantly had a very ominous premonition.
…
Swish, swish, swish—
Beside Kevin's desk, Loki sat on a temporarily arranged chair, hunched over the desk, writing furiously.
While writing, he also looked up and complained to Kevin:
"I'm sure this is absolutely not a proper 'training' method!"
"Why not?"
Kevin organized the key information from the TVA manual, handed it to Loki, and showed a foxy smile:
"As the saying goes, a bad memory is better than a good pen. Rote memorization is useless; writing while memorizing leaves a deeper impression."
"But why do I feel like you're trying to get revenge on me?"
Loki glared at Kevin; he had reason to suspect that Kevin was taking personal revenge for some reason.
Although he didn't know what that reason was.
Kevin smiled even more happily at his words.
Loki guessed correctly; he was indeed taking personal revenge.
Who told the future Loki to unreasonably send him here, and then refuse to talk to him face-to-face!
One must know that during this period at the TVA, Kevin was so bored he was almost going crazy.
His magic was sealed, so he couldn't study magic, and because he hadn't officially participated in the plot yet, his skill points were also increasing slowly.
It was only that day when he met Sylvie that he gained a small amount of skill points; besides that, there was almost no movement at all.
No games, no movies, although he could play chess and bowl with colleagues, Kevin was really not interested in these things.
He was incredibly bored!
And all of this was Loki's fault!
So now that he finally encountered Loki's past self, wouldn't it be a huge loss if Kevin didn't properly 'tease' him?
But Kevin certainly wouldn't tell Loki the truth; he refused to admit it, instead saying to Loki very seriously:
"You've misunderstood me, Loki. I just want you to remember these things more deeply, lest you touch some taboo again and get pruned by B-15."
Loki looked at Kevin with suspicion.
In fact, he didn't believe a single word of Kevin's, but there was nothing he could do; he was dependent on others now.
His magic couldn't be used, and there were things all over the TVA that could break his defenses; the physical prowess that the Asgardian gods were proud of was useless here.
What else could Loki do?
For the sake of his life, of course, he could only obey!
However, speaking of staying here, Loki suddenly thought of something.
He put down his pen, looked around, and when he confirmed that no one was paying attention to them, he quietly asked Kevin:
"What did you mean by those words you said to me earlier?"
"Hmm? What words? I don't understand."
"Don't play dumb! You told me, you said you were brought here by me! Do you know me? Or… do you know the me who escaped? Are you mistaking me for him?"
Mobius had already told Loki the reason he kept Loki was to help him catch another Loki.
The Time Criminal Loki.
However, Mobius didn't tell him that the escaped Time Criminal was a female Loki, so now Loki still thought the other him was also a male like him.
A male even more cunning than him.
But Loki would certainly not admit that any parallel universe individual was 'smarter' than him, so after saying this, he quickly added:
"I don't care what he promised you; he abandoned you by leaving you here, but I can help you! As long as you…"
"Loki, I don't think you know, but there's also an AI inside the TVA."
Kevin pointed to the all-in-one computer with a big head and a screen only a dozen inches wide on the desk, and patted it:
"Whatever you're saying right now, she can hear it."
"Oh? Are you talking about me?"
As soon as Kevin finished speaking, Miss Minutes popped out of the computer, jumped onto the computer, and smiled at the two of them.
Loki immediately shut his mouth at the sight, and Kevin also smiled, saying to Miss Minutes:
"Yes, please help me keep an eye on him. I'm going to the restroom."
"No problem, Agent Kevin."
Miss Minutes readily agreed to Kevin's request.
Kevin then said to Loki:
"Write well. I'll check it when I get back."
Loki didn't respond; his gaze moved between Miss Minutes and Kevin, and finally, he lowered his head without a word and continued writing furiously.
Kevin, of course, didn't believe that Loki would continue writing as he requested after he left.
But it didn't matter; it didn't matter whether Loki wrote or not. He just wanted an opportunity to get a little revenge on the other party.
Besides, if nothing unexpected happened, Mobius would definitely take him and Loki to investigate the attack on the Hunter Team next.
Sylvie's attack on Kevin that day was just an insignificant beginning.
During this period, Sylvie's attacks became more and more frequent.
Perhaps she had more and more TemPads on hand and didn't have to worry about power issues, so she began creating time branch events in various parallel universes to lure the Hunter Teams over.
Then she would attack them and steal their Time Restraint Devices.
In just a few days, there had already been two similar attacks.
It was believed there would be more to come.
And by then, Kevin and Loki could make their appearance.
…
In the TVA, the least important thing is time.
Therefore, Kevin didn't have to wait long at all, and he didn't know how long he waited, before the TVA encountered another attack.
And this time, unlike before, Sylvie took away a Hunter, named C-20.
And this also meant that Sylvie was getting closer to her goal.
Even with Loki there, this investigation still yielded nothing; in fact, they were even slightly deceived by Loki.
But these things were just a small interlude.
What was truly important was that through this incident, Loki finally understood that he could no longer rely on his petty tricks to deceive the TVA.
At the same time, he also realized how 'powerful' his other self, who could make the TVA so busy, truly was.
He genuinely began to wholeheartedly help Mobius investigate his other self.
Trying to pull his other self out of the long Sacred Timeline.
From this point, the plot officially entered the right track. Kevin didn't make too many changes to this part of the plot, because if he changed too much, and Loki didn't become the Story God, then he would truly have something to cry about.
So Kevin did nothing; he watched Loki discover the time point where Sylvie was hiding, watched him and Mobius test his hypothesis.
Then he watched Mobius finally find Sylvie's exact hiding place, and finally, everyone gathered several TVA Hunter Teams to try and apprehend Sylvie.
Actually, there's not much to say about Sylvie's hiding place.
Changing the timeline and someone's fate will cause a time branch, thus attracting the attention of the TVA.
But this is not absolute.
If no matter how fate is changed or the timeline is disturbed, it doesn't cause a time branch, then naturally it won't attract the attention of the TVA.
This might sound difficult, but Sylvie found a way.
She found those timelines and planets where 'Apocalypse' and 'natural disasters' would occur within the long timeline.
In an impending 'Apocalypse disaster,' no matter how someone's fate is changed, their ultimate end will be death, and it won't trigger more chain reactions.
Naturally, this would not allow the Authority to detect fluctuations in their fate.
Sylvie relied on this trick to evade the Authority's pursuit.
Loki, through investigating various archives, found clues in the archives of Asgard's destruction.
It's just that there are so many 'apocalypses'… that is, various world-ending disasters, that finding them one by one would take forever. They had to pinpoint Sylvie's location more precisely.
So Loki then used the candy wrapper left at the previous attack scene to determine Sylvie's exact hiding place.
It must be said that from this point of view, Loki indeed has great potential as a detective.
And then Loki, Mobius, B-15, and a slacking Kevin went together to the 'apocalypse' where Sylvie was hiding and found Sylvie.
Immediately after, Sylvie and Loki reached an agreement and disappeared from the apocalypse.
Sylvie ambushed the Hunter Team and activated her pre-set mechanism, using the Time Restraint Devices she had previously collected, causing multiple time branches to appear on the Sacred Timeline.
To deal with the time branches, large numbers of Authority teams were dispatched, leading to a hollowed-out Authority interior.
Sylvie and Loki then took the opportunity to return to the Authority, attempting to find the Time Keepers.
However, they were finally stopped by Ravonna Renslayer, and at a crucial moment, the two opened a portal and disappeared to who knows where.
During the events that transpired, Kevin was truly like a spectator, merely watching, occasionally offering small suggestions to Loki to make his presence known.
Other than that, he did nothing.
After all, what he needed to ensure now was that Loki would eventually become the Story God, and he would also definitely obtain the Time Restraint Device during this period.
As long as these two points could be guaranteed, Kevin wouldn't need to drastically change the plot; he could just be an observer.
Originally, Kevin thought so.
But...
It wasn't until Loki and Sylvie had been missing for about two days that Kevin finally felt something was wrong.
In the original plot... were they missing for this long?
...
What was the original plot like?
Sylvie and Loki hid on a planet during an apocalypse, and due to their mutual distrust and fighting, their TemPad was damaged.
Unable to use the TemPad for travel, they had no choice but to find a way to escape the planet, which was about to be destroyed by a planetary collision.
However, due to various accidents, the two were completely trapped on that doomed planet by a twist of fate.
Finally, as the countdown to the planet's destruction began, they developed feelings for each other, which caused an unprecedented time divergence point on the Sacred Timeline, leading the TVA to find and arrest them.
Although they were arrested, at least they avoided becoming corpses under the planetary impact.
But now, the situation had become a bit different.
Although they had fallen for each other, they hadn't been observed by the TVA.
The reason was...
Someone had saved them.
"Alright, don't be so curious. Just sit down for now. I'll explain everything to you later."
The Mage, who wore a red cloak and Mage robes, with a hood covering his face, said this to Loki and Sylvie, whom he had just saved.
"You... you are from Earth..."
Loki, who had escaped death, had suspicion in his eyes.
He squinted, scrutinizing the Mage shrouded in a cloak, identifying his identity.
He also identified their current location.
Earth, Kamar Taj, New York Sanctum.
This person, without a doubt, should be the Sorcerer Supreme of this world.
And this person indeed admitted his identity:
"Yes, I am the current Sorcerer Supreme. You can call me..."
The Sorcerer Supreme was silent for a moment, then uttered a name:
"Wen Yi, just call me that."
He introduced himself this way.
Wen Yi, this name sounded a bit strange to Loki and Sylvie.
But the name wasn't the issue; Loki was now curious why the other party had saved him.
"Did you save us?"
"Evidently. However, you'd best not leave here, at least not now. Otherwise, the Sacred Timeline will have a considerably long branching point, and the TVA will find you immediately."
"Wait, you know about the TVA?"
Sylvie was startled by the words and quickly asked.
People normally on the Sacred Timeline shouldn't know about the existence of the TVA; they would only act according to their predetermined trajectory on the timeline and never deviate from the path.
Since they wouldn't deviate from the path, they naturally wouldn't be taken away by the TVA, nor would they discover the TVA.
And even if someone saw the TVA, under the time resetter, no one would remember the TVA's existence.
Including those Mages who could use magic.
But this Sorcerer Supreme, who called himself Wen Yi, seemed to know a lot about the TVA.
Wen Yi smiled at her words.
"Of course, who do you think I am?"
As he spoke, he crossed his hands over his chest, and the Eye of Agamotto he wore there immediately opened, revealing the green Time Stone before them.
"I am the Sorcerer Supreme. I have seen countless timelines and couldn't be more familiar with the TVA."
Listening to Wen Yi, Loki and Sylvie exchanged glances.
Then, the two sat down, facing Wen Yi.
There was no other way; the entire New York Sanctum was now enveloped by this person's Mirror Dimension magic, and Loki and Sylvie's magic was a bit inferior compared to his.
Plus, this Sorcerer Supreme had just saved their lives. Besides sitting down and talking with him, they seemed to have no other choice.
Unable to defeat him, unable to outrun him, of course, they could only talk.
"Why did you save us?"
After sitting down, Sylvie asked this crucial question.
There was no inexplicable love in this world, and she and Loki were not worth a Sorcerer Supreme they had never met, crossing so many star systems, to save them from that doomed planet.
This person definitely had a purpose.
They just didn't know what his specific purpose was.
Sylvie's years of hiding had made her distrustful of everyone.
Loki was the same in this regard, so even though the other party had saved them, they still showed extreme wariness and suspicion.
"From the perspective of the Sorcerer Supreme, it is to prevent you from causing too many changes to the Reality universe, which would lead to a chaotic multiverse."
"And from a personal perspective, I just wanted to simply get to know the two of you."
Wen Yi waved his hand, and drinks appeared on their table. He also held a glass of cola at some point and chatted with them while drinking.
Wait...
Why cola?
Loki looked at the dark, bubbling liquid Wen Yi held in his hand, his expression slightly odd.
As a Sorcerer Supreme, drinking tea, coffee, or even openly drinking alcohol seemed perfectly fine.
But... drinking cola while discussing such matters...
Wasn't it a bit informal?
Loki's thoughts drifted, but Sylvie didn't care about any of that. She said coldly:
"I don't want to get to know someone who hides their face."
"Even if I help you overthrow the TVA's rule?"
"!?"
Sylvie, who had been aloof and unwilling to talk to Kevin, suddenly widened her eyes.
Loki was the same; he stared at the Sorcerer Supreme in astonishment and asked:
"Wait, not only do you know about the TVA, but you also know who is ruling the TVA??"
"Of course, I know. Not only do I know, but I also know you're heading in the wrong direction."
"What do you mean?"
Wen Yi's words made Sylvie instantly unable to sit still; she immediately stood up and asked.
Her posture suggested she would fight if Wen Yi didn't explain himself clearly.
"Calm down, don't rush. Aren't we talking? Take your time, I'll tell you everything, well, mostly."
Wen Yi said, taking another sip of cola.
He was very relaxed.
Loki turned to comfort Sylvie:
"Sylvie, don't get excited yet. Let's hear what he has to say first."
"Oh, I didn't expect you to be so calm. You've really grown, Loki."
"Don't talk to me in that tone, as if you know me well!"
"In fact, I do know you well, or rather, I know the 'you' of this universe very well. We could even call ourselves... friends."
"Friends?"
Hearing this word, Loki was instantly stunned.
He looked at Wen Yi with disbelief and asked:
"We're friends? A Mage who protects Earth, being friends with me, a God of Mischief who invaded Earth?"
"Anything is possible, and in this universe, you're not too bad either."
"Wait..."
Hearing the Sorcerer Supreme say this, Loki suddenly thought of something:
...You said in this universe...? Aren't all universes the same? My destiny on the Sacred Timeline..."
"Who said there's only one Sacred Timeline?"
"?"
"The Sacred Timeline is a timeline formed by the fusion of hundreds... even thousands of parallel universes. These are the universes that the Time Keepers have screened out as the least prone to change."
"Otherwise, how do you think the Avengers traveled through time?"
"Nonsense!" As soon as Wen Yi finished speaking, Sylvie immediately retorted, "I was taken away by the TVA precisely because I was born a girl! If there are really many Sacred Timelines, then why couldn't a 'girl Loki' be allowed to exist?"
Loki nodded.
He had heard Sylvie say why she was taken away by the TVA.
But Sylvie, still a child, was taken away by Ravonna Renslayer just like that, without even a chance to plead her case!
"Were you taken away at birth?"
Wen Yi's rhetorical question made Loki and Sylvie ponder again.
Seeing them deep in thought, the Sorcerer Supreme continued:
"See? Girl Loki is allowed to exist. It's just that at that time, you did something that would cause a time branch, which is why you were taken away."
"...I still don't believe you... If you want to communicate, at least let us see your face. That would show sincerity, wouldn't it?"
Sylvie thought for a moment, then gave up on discussing the timeline with Wen Yi and instead brought the topic back to the issue of honesty.
No matter what, and no matter if Wen Yi was going to help them or not.
Constantly hiding one's face was not something a collaborator should do.
"Alright, actually, I wanted to wait until we were more familiar before letting you see my face, but since you're asking... then I'll show you. Anyway, it's not a big deal."
Wen Yi said helplessly, seemingly giving up on continuing to hide.
As he spoke, he removed the hood from his head with his hand, revealing his appearance to Loki and Sylvie.
When the hood came off, the first thing they saw was a shiny bald head under the light.
Following that was a slightly thin face.
The face was very thin, with somewhat sunken cheeks, looking as if he hadn't eaten well in a long time.
But when Loki saw this person's appearance, he widened his eyes:
"...Agent Kevin!!?"
That's right, although this person was bald and so thin he was unrecognizable, Loki could still make out the general appearance from the facial features.
This person was that TVA agent he had always found inexplicable, Kevin... or rather, a variant of Kevin!
He never expected that in this universe, his variant would actually be the Sorcerer Supreme!?
Loki was full of shock, but when Wen Yi heard the name Loki blurted out, he smiled.
"As expected, you've already met me."
He said so, his eyes shining with excitement.
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