I have finished translating this fanfic, IMUC (I Am In Marvel With Unlimited Cards) and have posted all the advanced chapters on Patreon (Last Chapter -- 706). (https://www.patreon.com/c/marvel6395). You can read all the advanced chapters there.
The scenery before Kyle's eyes blurred and shifted. In a moment of distraction, the Vision he was holding disappeared, and he found himself back in the dueling arena, surrounded by spectators.
"Kyle, Kyle? Are you okay?" Lucy asked, placing her hand in front of him and shaking it back and forth.
Kyle snapped out of the starry map he had been lost in and looked up blankly. He saw Lucy, Raina, and Wanda standing in front of him, all looking at him with slight concern.
Only those who were familiar with Kyle knew that during the previous battle, he had lost his usual composure and balance.
"It's nothing," Kyle shook his head and muttered, "I'll be back later." After giving a silent command to the God system, his body disappeared from the dueling arena.
This scene puzzled both the audience and the other competitors, but the second round of the match had already started.
"The second match: Agent Venom versus Doctor Strange!"
The audience's attention shifted to the doctor wearing a magical cloak and Eddie, who now looked like a human again.
A hint of confusion crossed Eddie's face. He didn't want to be up next so soon because, after fighting Hellfire, he had completely severed his connection with Venom.
...
On top of the Watchtower, in the main hall.
Seeing Kyle return, Logan immediately extinguished his cigarette and stood up from the couch, asking in confusion, "Master, what exactly happened just now?"
"Don't ask, I'm not sure either. But I'll find out!" Kyle took a deep breath and responded with certainty.
He thought for a moment, then turned toward the central control console and snapped his fingers. "God, when I was battling Vision earlier in the virtual space with Odin's palace, did you alter the base code?"
"No," The God system quickly replied. "The virtual space scenes are either created by real-time scanning or derived by the system based on fundamental logic. There has been no secondary modification."
Kyle pondered for a moment and then asked, "Then, during my battle, was the virtual space modified by someone?"
This time, the God system did not immediately respond. The control console's screen flashed with rapid code calculations, and after a moment, it replied, "There was no external system intrusion, but there is a possibility that someone altered the code within the virtual space."
"Just as I thought. Vision has the ability to modify system codes," Kyle murmured as he stroked his chin. He had already figured out that much of this was Vision's doing.
This included the crown and seven infinity stones depicted on the hidden wall painting, as well as the strange engraving.
But why did Vision know these things?
Could it be that, at some point, he inadvertently mentioned the term "Marvel" to his personal AI, Vis, when referring to the world he was currently in?
What was even more intriguing were the starry maps shown to him by the Mind Stone and the two temporal coordinates. What was their true meaning?
"If the Mind Stone controlled Vision, then who controlled the Mind Stone?" Kyle furrowed his brow, suddenly realizing that the more he learned, the more the fog of truth seemed to deepen.
It was as if there was a hidden hand, orchestrating everything, using the Mind Stone through Vision to ultimately reveal the wall painting and give him two temporal coordinates, whose meaning was still unclear.
Was this an act of goodwill or malice?
Kyle calmed his mind, recalling the individuals who had come into contact with the Mind Stone.
At the very beginning...
The Mind Stone was originally possessed by Thanos and his group. Later, it was used as the magic staff that was given to Loki. After Loki was defeated in the battle in New York, the magic staff fell into the hands of the Avengers.
At that time, the Superman's avatar, Caesar, who was still on Earth, swallowed the Mind Stone. It was then seemingly lent to someone from the future. During this process, Superman's avatar disappeared.
Later, the Mind Stone was likely brought back by people from the future and given to Raina, who kept it in her possession. Eventually, it was used as material to create Vision.
"So many people have handled it," Kyle chuckled bitterly. "The Mind Stone is like the Space Stone, it's been passed around so many times in just a few years."
However, if he had to find the most likely person to have tampered with the Mind Stone, it would probably be someone from the future.
After all, Thanos was a straightforward person, focused solely on his plan to limit the universe's population, and wouldn't be involved in such extra actions. Loki, the so-called god of mischief, was actually a rather clueless man and unlikely to carry out such complex tasks.
Kyle could also infer that heroes from the future had traveled back and borrowed the Infinity Stones, something he had deduced after watching the script of 'Avengers: Endgame'.
"Could it be me? In the future, did I leave something on the Mind Stone to warn my present self?" With few clues, Kyle could only think this for now.
However, no matter how much he thought about it, he still couldn't figure out the meaning of the two temporal coordinates. Even if he understood their meaning, he had no machine to traverse time and space.
It would still be a futile effort.
Kyle sat down on the couch with slight frustration, deciding to just record the two temporal coordinates for now.
Perhaps these messages weren't meant to be used yet.
Kyle's gaze shifted back to the virtual screen, where the match between Agent Venom and Doctor Strange had already concluded…
"So soon?" Kyle blinked in surprise, and when he saw that Doctor Strange had won, he was left speechless.
When did Doctor Strange become so powerful? He had defeated Agent Venom without much effort.
Seeing Kyle's confusion, Logan chuckled bitterly and said, "Master, you didn't see it, did you? Agent Venom... Eddie couldn't even enter his symbiote combat form. He yelled 'Venom' for a while in the virtual battlefield, and then Doctor Strange knocked him out with one whip."
"Is that so?" Kyle's serious expression relaxed, thanks to this unexpected development.
There certainly had been a lot of surprises today…
In the dueling arena.
Doctor Strange returned to the stage, looking dazed. He had originally come to just accompany the Ancient One, not expecting to win by default in the team mode and then face an opponent who couldn't even transform. Somehow, he ended up in the top eight.
The surrounding audience exchanged puzzled glances, as it had truly been a 'crushing' battle. They had watched Eddie talking to himself in a cringe-worthy manner, only to be knocked out by Doctor Strange's magic whip.
Mordo scoffed, "I don't know what happened to the parasitic lifeform inside the opponent, but it was really just luck that Doctor Strange won."
The Ancient One gave Mordo a glance, then turned to Doctor Strange and said softly, "Luck is also a form of strength."
The next round of the superpower competition began, deciding the remaining top eight, though some people's thoughts were already far from the match.
The uncertain future had, today, suddenly provided a clue.
'(End of Chapter)'