"Strictly speaking, I'm not very familiar with him. We've just fought together." Dr. Banner, in soul state, floated in the air and said to Strange.
"Okay, how did you get here? Why do you want to steal the Eye of Agamotto?" Strange asked with some interest.
"We used the time machine to return to the time of the Chitauri invasion. As for the Eye of Agamotto? We want the Time Stone contained within." Dr. Banner said sincerely, "This is also Strange's, that is, your instructions."
"Then you've taken the wrong path." Strange shrugged.
"Wrong way?" Dr. Banner looked at Strange in surprise.
"It's been at least six years since the Chitauri invasion." Strange looked at the surprise on Dr. Banner's face and reminded him softly.
"So, we're in the wrong time period?" Banner was stunned. It suddenly occurred to him that if something happened to their time period, then Stark and the others who were in other time periods would also have something unexpected happen to them. The thought of this made Banner feel a chill run down his spine.
"I'm afraid it's not just a matter of coming to the wrong time period." Strange's voice caught Banner's attention. Under his horrified gaze, Strange said, "I'm afraid you have somehow opened the door to the multiverse and arrived in another parallel universe."
"That's impossible." Dr. Banner shook his head frantically. "The principle of our technology is simply to reverse time and go back to the past."
"Nothing is impossible in this world. Can I ask, what exactly happened there that made you use the method of reversing time?" Strange asked curiously.
"Our universe suffered a great disaster. A madman named Thanos gathered six Infinity Stones, snapped his fingers, wiped out half of all life in the universe, and set a threshold for the cycle of life."
"Wait, Thanos?" Strange raised his hand to interrupt Dr. Banner and asked with a frown.
"Yes, it seems you haven't faced him yet. He is powerful and tyrannical, with countless legions and powerful subordinates. We have used all means, but still failed to stop him." Dr. Banner's tone was a little depressed. Even if he just recalled those tragic scenes in his mind, he would be depressed for a long time.
"Of course I know Thanos. I saw the name in a notebook somewhere and know he's the last remaining wisp of an extinct race in this universe. What I want to ask is, if the Sorcerer Supreme, the Ancient One, had already passed away, and I wasn't a match for Thanos, then what about Odin, the God-King of Asgard? And Luke, Luke Field! Didn't they stop Thanos?" Strange asked, frowning. He believed that with any of them around, Thanos wouldn't have been able to achieve his goal.
"The God King Odin died a long time ago in our world, and the new king of Asgard is Thor. As for Luke, I'm sorry, I've never heard of this name." Dr. Banner answered very honestly.
"You haven't heard of this name?" Strange narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Yes, I'm sure I haven't heard of this name. Is he famous? In your universe?" Dr. Banner asked tentatively.
"Famous." Strange stuffed Dr. Banner's soul into the Hulk's body lying on the ground next to him. The Hulk, who seemed to be asleep, suddenly sat up from the ground, and Dr. Banner felt the powerful power surging from his body again.
"Can we make a deal? Let us borrow the Infinity Stones from your universe?" Dr. Banner asked, looking longingly at the Eye of Agamotto adorning Strange's chest. This time, he didn't take action. Strange had proven that brute force alone wouldn't be enough to snatch the Time Stone from him. He could only rely on his friendship with the Strange from another world to negotiate with the Strange from this one.
"I'm afraid not." Strange shook his head. "The Infinity Stone is the embodiment of the laws of the universe, a key to those laws. The duty of the Sorcerer Supreme is to protect this stone and use it to fight against invading dimensional demons. Without him, our barrier protection here may be in jeopardy."
"We promise to return it to you immediately after borrowing it," Dr. Banner promised.
"I still can't agree to this. I need to be responsible for the stability of my universe." Strange still shook his head. "Besides, even if I lend you the Time Stone, what about the other Infinity Stones?"
"We know where they are, we can..." Dr. Banner was suddenly stuck, and he suddenly realized a very serious problem.
"See, you've realized the problem." Strange stepped forward and patted Dr. Banner on the shoulder and elbow. "This isn't your universe. Perhaps most of what happened here has also happened in your universe, but if there are even slight differences, your experience and memories may become unreliable here."
"You know where the Infinity Stones on this planet are, right?" Dr. Banner was silent for a moment, looking at Strange expectantly, trying to get some information out of him.
"I do know, and I also know someone who may know more about the whereabouts of the stone than I do. But believe me, if you plan to attack him, that is wishful thinking. I suggest you stay away from him." Strange replied.
"Is it someone from Hydra?" Dr. Banner raised a possibility as if to check.
"It's Luke Field, the master of Heberon. He has at least two Infinity Stones in his hands." Strange deduced based on his understanding of Luke and the information he got from Nick.
It's precisely for this reason that Strange doesn't believe Thanos can collect all six Infinity Stones. Luke wouldn't let anyone take advantage of him. If he did, it would be because he had ulterior motives. Either he'd recruit someone or find someone to take the blame.
Eliminate about half of all life in the universe?
Strange thought Luke would leap up and fight Thanos to the death. This was directly destroying his leeks' fields! As the beneficiaries of this new energy, Asgard and the Sorcerer Supreme were not to be mentioned. The other two dimensional demons, Mephisto and Nightmare, would probably be furious under Luke's instigation.
"Hei Bolun? Sorry, is he from outside the planet?" Dr. Banner asked to confirm.
"A native of this planet, an inventor like Tony Stark. Of course, compared to Tony's focus on science, Luke's scope of interest is somewhat broader. He is the best at combining magic, energy, technology, etc. If you have any trouble, you can always go to him, provided that you can give him what he needs." Strange thought about Luke's usual style and grinned.
"The Space Stone and the Mind Stone are in his hands?" Dr. Banner thought about it and believed that the two Infinity Stones, except for the Time Stone, should have fallen into the hands of Luke. In his universe, these two Space Stones fell into the hands of Asgard and Hydra respectively.
"He used the Mind Gem as a living mind receiver and stuffed it into the data dimension. As for the Space Gem, well, how should I put it, it was influenced by his power and became his daughter." Strange shuddered when he thought of Becky's cute chubby little face, and quickly shook her out of his mind.
"Daughter?" Banner didn't expect to hear such confusing and bewildered news from Strange.
"Yes, I was surprised too. But the fact is so unexpected. The Space Gem turned from a dead object into a life, and it became a baby. That's why I said, even if I agreed to lend you the Time Stone, it would be impossible for you to collect all the gems here. Because Luke would never lend his daughter to you, and it would be even more impossible for little Becky to turn into the Space Gem again." Strange pointed out the key point.
If Banner and the others didn't give up, they would inevitably clash with Luke. Even if they managed to temporarily hold Luke back, Becky Jr. would have enough protection around him. And Strange couldn't figure out how Banner and the others could hold Luke back. After all, even Thanos couldn't stand up to their combined might.
"Is there really no way?" Even though Dr. Banner felt there was little hope, he still asked without giving up before leaving with his companions.
"Perhaps you could take your companions to see Luke. He might be able to provide you with the help you need." Strange thought for a moment, thinking that Luke might not refuse to meet these alien visitors. Perhaps he could gain something from them?
…
"I didn't know you were so popular during this time! And you even became president!"
Natasha and Captain Rogers desperately dodged the crowd. Rogers had been signing autographs for a while, but the crowds kept growing, forcing them to break away from the crowd and weave their way through the city to a secluded, less crowded area. Seeing the crowd hadn't followed them, Natasha, panting slightly, jokingly said to the Captain beside her.
"We've come to the wrong place. There's something wrong with Stark's technology," Rogers frowned. If he had only had doubts when he first arrived, now he was convinced.
"Oh, I want to know, what's wrong with my technology?" A frivolous male voice sounded from high in the sky. As Rogers and Natasha looked up, a golden and red mecha descended from the sky. When it was about to land, it turned nimbly, knelt on one knee, and spread out a mechanical palm to support the ground. It slowly stood up under the gaze of the two.
The visor opened, floating away like particles, revealing the familiar face of Tony Stark underneath the visor.
"Tony?" Rogers and Natasha asked tentatively, looking at the Iron Man suit, which resembled a nano-suit in technology but looked a bit different from the Mark suit they remembered. They were familiar with Tony Stark's face, but his aura was different from the Tony they remembered.
"Of course it's me, but why are you disguising yourself as Steve and Natasha? Is it some kind of magic? Or is it another of Loki's tricks?" Tony snorted, and two devices flashing with electric current separated from the battle suit behind him, floating behind him, and the caliber where the electric current converged was faintly facing Rogers and the other man.
After hearing Tony's words, Rogers and Natasha were instantly certain that the Tony in front of them was not the Tony they knew, but the Tony of this world.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm the real Steve Rogers. You can ask some secrets that only we know and see if I can answer them. Of course, you can ask Natasha too." Rogers raised his hand, trying to steady Tony's response.
"Come on, only Loki would go for these retro styles. You said you are Captain and Natasha, so where are your rings?" Tony sneered, feeling that the two people in front of him were fooling his IQ.
"Ring? What ring?" Rogers and Natasha looked at each other, wondering in their hearts. They found that they didn't quite understand what Tony was saying.
"See, that's what happens when you don't do your homework. You don't even know what a ring is," Tony shrugged. In fact, the captain had called him before arriving and asked him to come and take a look. So Tony was certain these two were imposters. Seeing they didn't even know what a ring was, his initial certainty turned into conviction.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh.
Several SHIELD agents wrapped in energy suits appeared one after another in the surroundings according to the location given by Tony. Then, under the gaze of Rogers and his two devilish eyes, they floated in the air one foot above the ground, dissipated the energy, and landed on the ground.
"The Director wants to talk to them." Phil Coulson said to Tony.
"It's up to you." Tony closed his helmet, quickly rose into the air under the blazing tail flame, turned into a black dot and disappeared in front of everyone.
Seeing Tony disappear, Agent Phil put on his signature smile and said to Captain Rogers and the other two, "You two, I hope we won't do anything."
"Is the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. still Nick Fury?" Natasha suddenly asked.
"The Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. has always been Commander Fury." Agent Phil gave Natasha a strange look, confused as to why she'd asked. From his perspective, the two men before him felt very familiar, like Captain America and Natasha. If they were somewhere else, he might not be able to tell them apart after just one or two encounters.
"We have urgent matters to attend to." The captain picked up the shield behind him and held it in his palm.
"It seems that we failed to reach an agreement. Be gentle and don't hurt them. They should have information that the commander is interested in." Seeing the two captains in a fighting stance, Phil took a few steps back and instructed the elite agent who came with him.