After coming out of the portal, stepping through the dimensional gateway back to his own universe, a familiar scent entered Elric's nose. The air, the atmosphere, the subtle energy signature of his home reality—it all reminded him of this god-forsaken place he'd left just hours ago.
He really hadn't thought that he would miss this place so much. But after spending time in other universes, dealing with apocalyptic scenarios and cosmic entities, there was something comforting about returning home.
He took out his watch from his pocket and wore it on his wrist, the device settling into place with a soft click.
After almost immediately sensing his presence, detecting his unique energy signature, the watch lit up with a soft blue glow.
"Yo, Aline, are you there, buddy?" Elric asked casually, speaking to his AI assistant.
"Yes, as per your command, boss," Aline's synthesized voice responded promptly, professional as always.
"What time is it? How long have I been gone?"
"It is November 25th, 10:41 AM," Aline reported with precision. "It has been very exactly 3 hours and 42 minutes since you left Earth, boss."
"Did you change your mind about the mission, boss?" Aline asked, a note of curiosity in the AI's voice. "Or is your mission already complete? That was remarkably fast if so."
"No, although I did not complete the original mission I set out to do," Elric admitted, shaking his head. "But there's no need for that now. We will change our plan once again. Significant changes."
Although he felt a little embarrassed that he would be changing the plan again after only two days, after barely starting the previous strategy, it couldn't be helped. It really couldn't.
His plans really couldn't keep up with his leveling-up speed, with how rapidly his power was growing. Every time he thought he had a stable strategy, something happened that made him exponentially stronger and forced a complete reassessment.
His first plan had been relatively simple: pretend to be a hero, saving the world from various threats while subtly preventing the Avengers from forming as an independent organization. Then slowly, carefully, take over the world through influence and soft power.
But after he got power from the Overlord world, after absorbing Momonga's abilities and becoming vastly stronger, his plan had changed once again. He'd still thought he would play the hero role on the world stage, maintaining that public image. But Sokovia would also start their overt actions, becoming more aggressive in their expansion and influence.
All of the trouble, all of the caution and careful planning, was mainly because he had been weak before. Relatively weak, at least compared to the cosmic-level threats in this universe.
Think about it: How powerful was Isshiki Ōtsutsuki? Incredibly strong, capable of destroying planets. But before the Sorcerer Supreme who possessed the Time Stone, he was just a weak chicken, barely worth noticing. And he might not even be able to escape if she seriously wanted to deal with him, if she decided he was a threat worth eliminating.
And there was also Odin, who was the ruler of the Nine Realms, which also included Earth in its domain. The All-Father had the authority and power to interfere in Earth's affairs if he chose to.
Although there was relatively low chance of either of them interfering in his matters, as long as he didn't directly intend to destroy the Earth or threaten the cosmic balance, they probably wouldn't care about his political ambitions. They had bigger concerns.
But there was always a chance, always a possibility that they might decide to act. And before, he'd had to plan around that possibility.
After getting Momonga's power, when he was certain he could at least escape if the Sorcerer Supreme and Odin decided to attack him together, he'd directly decided to be a little more aggressive in his approach. To take more risks, to move faster.
But now, after getting the Phoenix Force and fully absorbing its cosmic power? His plan had to change once again. Completely.
Now, let alone the question of whether the Sorcerer Supreme and Odin wanted to deal with him or not—it was now a question of whether he wanted to deal with them or not. The power dynamic had completely reversed.
So he naturally wouldn't follow the previous cautious plan anymore. There was no need for such restraint.
But he wouldn't directly declare war either, wouldn't just start attacking people and taking over by force. Killing so many innocent people just for his own selfish desires, for his ambition alone? That was absolutely unacceptable to him. He still had moral lines he wouldn't cross.
"Oh, yeah," Elric said, an idea forming. "There will be many mutants arriving soon, refugees from another universe. If the world suddenly found out that there are so many people with supernatural powers appearing out of nowhere, will they be able to sit still? Will they just accept it?"
Of course not. Fear and paranoia would take over. Governments would panic.
And after they attacked the mutants, after they inevitably lashed out in fear, he could directly launch a righteous counterattack in defense of innocent people. Perfect justification.
"Aline, call Anastasia," Elric commanded. "I need to talk to her urgently. It's important."
After two rings, she picked up the phone.
Before he could even speak, before he could explain anything, Anastasia's hurried voice sounded through the connection, worried and eager.
"Lord, are you already back?" she asked rapidly. "Did your mission complete already? Did you succeed in what you set out to do?"
"Okay, okay, calm down," Elric said with a slight smile at her enthusiasm. "I will tell you everything later, in detail."
"While I was traveling between universes," he continued, getting to the important part, "I picked up some people whose planet was about to be destroyed. So I decided to take them here, to give them refuge in our world."
"Lord..." Anastasia's voice carried concern and questions.
Almost knowing what Anie's question would be, what she was worried about, he continued quickly to reassure her. "Don't worry too much about them being dangerous or incompatible. They look exactly like humans, completely indistinguishable. Even their biology is the same as ours—same DNA structure, same cellular makeup. The only difference is that some of them possess some supernatural powers. Mutations, basically."
"Anyway, after I bring them here, we can talk in more detail then," Elric said. "But for now, just prepare some land for approximately 1,000 people. And prepare to construct houses quickly, and gather food and all the essential supplies they'll need. Water, medicine, clothing, everything."
After explaining the situation to Anie, giving her the basic instructions, he directly activated the device that had been given to him by Vison. The dimensional gateway device hummed to life, sending out the signal across space and time.
And within moments, a large portal opened up in the sky above Sokovia, crackling with energy and light.
S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters - Director's Office
"Nick Fury, you fucking bastard! This is what you do?! You..."
From the other side of the phone, after the initial cursing, heavy breathing sounded through the speaker. The person on the other end was clearly furious, barely able to speak through their rage.
Before Nick could respond, before he could defend himself, with a sharp tut of disgust, the other side hung up abruptly.
Almost like he had become very accustomed to the current scene, after hearing similar curses for almost an hour straight from different people, Nick Fury's face didn't change at all. His expression remained stoic, unmoved.
He sighed deeply and leaned back in his chair, the leather creaking under his weight.
Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to calm down, to push away the anger and frustration that threatened to overwhelm him.
And then he picked up the phone again and made another call. "Hello, send Natasha to my office. I need her for an assignment."
....
"So, is there anything new on Stark?" he asked, his single eye fixed on her.
"Boss, as I said before in my reports, there's nothing I can do now," Natasha replied with a slight shrug of frustration. "Almost like he knew exactly what would happen, like he predicted our response. After that press conference where he released the Arc Reactor technology, he directly went to Brazil for a vacation. Just packed up and left."
"There's no way to contact him at all," she continued. "He's off the grid, not answering any calls, not responding to any messages."
"How about the official response? Government pressure?" Natasha asked.
Nick sighed heavily, rubbing his temples where a headache was forming. "There is no negative effect at all. None whatsoever."
"Not only have many countries given him their full support, praised him as a visionary and humanitarian," Nick said bitterly, "but now they're even talking about creating a brand new award just for him. They want to call it the 'Light Bringer' award."
"Light Bringer," Nick let out a mocking laugh, the sound harsh and cynical. "It's really ironic..."
He didn't finish his words, but the implication was clear.
He also couldn't blame anyone but his own greed, his own overreach. This was his fault, ultimately.
Although Tony Stark's father, Howard Stark, had been one of the founding members of S.H.I.E.L.D., a key figure in its creation, his son Tony had nothing to do with the organization. No formal ties, no obligations.
But when Tony invented that Iron Man suit, when he created that revolutionary technology, many organizations had jumped at the opportunity to acquire it. Every intelligence agency, every military force had wanted it.
But they were suppressed by S.H.I.E.L.D., blocked from making any moves. Not because of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s good will or anything noble like that—they just wanted to get the technology for themselves, to monopolize it.
So S.H.I.E.L.D. had also promised the World Security Council that in the premise of successfully acquiring the Iron Man technology, they would share it with the member nations. And also that the technology would not be leaked to unauthorized parties, would be kept secure and controlled.
Look what happened now. Look at this disaster.
That mad bastard Tony Stark, because of mounting pressure from the top, from people demanding he share his innovations, had directly released the Arc Reactor technology to the entire world. Made it public, open-source, available to anyone.
But because the World Security Council also knew that the big reason for Tony's decision was their own pressure, their own demands and threats, besides scolding Nick Fury and shifting all the blame onto him, no actual punitive action was taken against himself.
Although Nick didn't particularly care about being cursed at every day, about being the scapegoat, he had thick skin from years in this job. But as the self-proclaimed governor of Earth, as the man responsible for planetary security, he was deeply worried.
Suddenly, when everyone would get access to a power source that could mass-produce Iron Man suits like Tony Stark's, when any nation or organization could build an army of armored soldiers...
He couldn't even begin to imagine what the chaos would look like. The power balance of the entire world would shift overnight.
But before he could continue that dark train of thought, before he could spiral further into pessimism, suddenly the door to his office was flung open violently.
A young agent hurried in, clearly panicked, not even bothering to knock.
"Sir!" the agent said urgently, breathing hard. "A huge energy signature has been detected in Asia! Sokovia region!"
Nick Fury's eye widened.
What now?
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