Ethan returned to the residence and quickly noticed that the two women were still asleep in bed. Seeing them lying there completely exhausted made him chuckle softly as he shook his head. His current physical condition was simply ridiculous. In fact, he even had the faint feeling that with the strength his body possessed now, he could probably go toe-to-toe with the Hulk without much trouble. Under those circumstances, it wasn't surprising that the two women simply couldn't keep up with him.
There was nothing he could really do about that. Ethan wasn't someone who rushed through things or chased pleasure blindly. Even though the Phoenix Force had heightened certain instincts and made him more interested in women, he still had standards. For him, only those he truly found worthy would ever share his bed.
At the moment, however, he had nothing particularly important to deal with.
Most of the major arrangements had already been handed over to Svija. The artificial intelligence was responsible for executing the large-scale plans and managing operations behind the scenes. Ethan's role now was simply to maintain overall control and step in whenever the American government attempted a serious counterattack.
Beyond that, his schedule was surprisingly empty.
He had just taken a step toward the terrace when he suddenly stopped.
A ripple spread through the space around him.
The air seemed to distort slightly, like invisible waves flowing through the world itself. The surrounding space felt as though someone were quietly adjusting its properties.
"Professor X?"
Ethan frowned slightly.
"No… that's impossible."
Professor X didn't possess abilities like this. At most, the telepath could attempt to control Ethan's mind or plant illusions within his consciousness. But Ethan had already sealed off the psychic channels within his mind. Telepathy could no longer reach him.
Which meant…
Ethan suddenly lifted his head.
A smile slowly appeared on his face.
Several magical runes materialized around him. Each rune glowed with a different color, faint lines connecting them together as they floated through the air. Gradually, the runes formed a circular magic array.
Stars and flickering flames burst within the formation.
A pale red light surged out of Ethan's body, weaving together with the runes to create an intricate pattern of power.
Ethan raised his hands slightly and made a slow turning motion.
The circular magic array rotated in response to his movements.
"This isn't a change in space," he murmured thoughtfully. "The structure of space-time itself has been altered. Someone is trying to modify the time that belongs exclusively to me."
His smile deepened.
"Now that's interesting. Who could it be?"
As Ethan calmly scanned the surroundings, the spatial distortions grew even more intense.
The scenery around him began shifting rapidly.
Day and night alternated at incredible speed, flashing back and forth as if time itself had lost its stability.
Even the decorative plants along the terrace were changing. One moment they were lush and vibrant, and the next they withered away into dry husks. Strangely, they would then revert to seedlings before instantly growing back into full plants again.
Time was jumping wildly along its own axis.
"You're not planning to stay hidden forever, are you?"
Ethan spoke casually, his voice carrying a faint hint of amusement.
The environmental chaos around him was the result of time becoming disordered. The structure of space-time in this world was relatively simple, at least from his current perspective. Although the Phoenix Force he possessed was only operating at the third level of its potential, it was already more than enough to disturb both time and space.
What Ethan was doing now was combining the power of the Phoenix with magical manipulation.
The two forces together could easily interfere with the natural flow of space-time.
Everything happening around him—the shifting scenery, the unstable plants, the rapidly alternating day and night—was the visible result of timelines being disrupted and overlapping.
And the reason for it was simple.
Someone had tampered with Ethan's personal time.
Whoever that person was remained hidden within the shadows, unwilling to reveal themselves.
Ethan suddenly brought his hands together.
Phoenix energy burst from both palms, intertwining with glowing magical runes. The symbols linked together rapidly, forming two separate magic arrays—one floating above each hand.
With a sharp gesture, Ethan forced the arrays outward.
Space and time were immediately divided and stabilized by his power.
"Hm."
The chaotic changes in the environment abruptly stopped.
Ethan casually slapped the air beside him.
The space rippled violently.
A figure was suddenly forced out of the distortion, squeezed into the open world as though expelled by the fabric of reality itself.
"Master Ancient One."
Ethan looked at the figure and smiled faintly.
"Shouldn't you be staying in your sanctuary? What brings you all the way here to see me?"
The visitor stood calmly before him.
She wore a pale yellow robe styled somewhat like a warrior's outfit. Her bald head reflected the light faintly, giving her an austere appearance. The overall look was somewhat unusual—she was clearly a white woman, yet carried an Eastern name and wore clothing inspired by Eastern martial traditions.
She was obviously a mage, yet her clothing resembled that of a warrior. And despite not being a monk, she maintained a shaved head like one.
Looking at her, Ethan could only silently attribute the strange combination of aesthetics to the eccentric imagination of the world's creators.
The Ancient One clearly hadn't expected Ethan to detect her so quickly.
A trace of surprise appeared in her expression.
"How did you find me?" she asked calmly.
"Find you?"
Ethan laughed lightly.
"It was very simple. The moment you began altering the space-time structure around me, I noticed."
He gestured lightly toward the surrounding space.
"You should understand something. The way I perceive space and time is very similar to the way you do. It isn't a single point or surface. It's more like countless interconnected threads. When any one of those threads moves even slightly, both of us can detect it."
His eyes locked onto hers.
"You made such an obvious adjustment to the timeline. I'm not blind. Of course I noticed."
Ethan tilted his head slightly, studying her with curiosity.
"Let me guess why you came."
"When you disturbed the structure of space-time just now, you were clearly trying to locate the primary timeline that belongs to me. Once you found it, you planned to go to the source and erase my timeline entirely."
The Ancient One said nothing.
She neither confirmed nor denied his words.
She simply waited.
Seeing her reaction, Ethan chuckled.
"Did you discover something interesting?"
He continued calmly.
"My timeline doesn't quite align with this world, does it? It's connected to the world, yet it also exists independently. If you try to delete my timeline, it would essentially be the same as deleting the entire world."
He spread his hands slightly.
"That leaves you with a bit of a problem."
The smile on Ethan's face grew brighter as he looked at the silent sorcerer.
"So you hid yourself in the gap between time and space to observe my reaction instead. You wanted to see whether I would notice."
He shrugged lightly.
"Unfortunately for you, that plan didn't work very well."
Then his expression sharpened slightly.
"To tell you the truth, you can't erase my timeline. Even if you possess the Time Stone, it still won't work."
His voice carried absolute certainty.
"My existence is already written into the foundational information of this macro-universe. Unless you can erase the entire world itself, there's no way to remove my timeline."
The Ancient One remained silent for a moment.
Finally, she frowned slightly.
"What exactly are you?" she asked.
Ethan smiled calmly.
"I'm simply myself. Just a person with a few special abilities who happens to be closely connected to this world."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"Let me explain it another way. You can perceive countless timelines and observe many parallel universes. But the situation with me is different."
"There are countless versions of you across countless parallel worlds."
He raised a finger.
"But across all those parallel universes… there is only one of me."
His eyes met hers.
"Do you understand now?"
What Ethan said was true.
The Phoenix Force he controlled originated from the deepest informational layer of the universe—the cosmic boundary beyond reality itself.
His arrival in this world and his fusion with the Phoenix Force had created something entirely unique.
Across the endless parallel universes of the Marvel multiverse…
There was only one Ethan Cole.
.....
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