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Nolan floated in the air, ignoring Jenny's worried expression, and flew toward the source of the psychic disturbance he had sensed.
Ahead of him rose a sprawling, futuristic city gleaming with impossible technology.
There was no doubt: this was Kang the Conqueror's domain.
Janet had damaged Kang's temporal device, but the Conqueror had adapted.
Drawing on the scientific knowledge of the 31st century, Kang rebuilt in the Quantum Realm, transforming his prison into an empire a base from which he planned to strike back at the Council of Kangs that had once exiled him.
To Nolan, it was obvious Kang was chasing something more than survival. He was reaching for multiversal ascendancy, even if he didn't fully realize it yet.
Every Kang variant that destroyed another wasn't just erasing competition it was consolidating will, carving the path toward a "Kang Collective Consciousness."
Just like the Council glimpsed at the end of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
The Ancient One had once explained that the road to becoming a multiversal entity took many forms, but all hinged on one principle: singularity.
To be the only self. The only power. The only will.
But in a constantly branching multiverse, true singularity was nearly impossible. Every choice, every divergence created new realities. Entire universes could split apart from the smallest decision.
Kang himself had once waged war across all his variants a conflict involving countless Kangs. In the end, one emerged dominant, imposing the "Sacred Timeline." From that moment, divergent universes were forced to obey its flow.
Small details may shift. The grand design does not.
Nolan couldn't help but wonder if Kang had studied myths of higher beings. But compared to true multiversal titans like the Scarlet Witch or the Ancient One, Kang still fell short of a man with multiversal traits, but not yet multiversal status.
Soon, the city loomed before him: towering spires of light and alloy, more advanced than even Xandar's most dazzling architecture.
Earth's science had always been paradoxically primitive in many ways, "the backwater of the cosmos," and yet occasionally capable of innovations that stunned even the multiverse.
Of course, Kang's brilliance was no accident. Descended from Reed Richards, the intellect was in his bloodline.
Considering that some variants of Reed had once conversed directly with the One-Above-All, it wasn't entirely surprising.
Still, Nolan's arrival triggered an immediate response. He hadn't cloaked his presence, and his very act of flying unaided marked him as an extraordinary being.
A sleek, alien-looking warship detached from the city and drifted toward him. From within stepped a figure clad in high-tech armor Kang the Conqueror.
"Kang," Nolan said calmly. "Or perhaps I should be precise: the Conqueror."
He recognized this variant instantly.
In Loki, when the trickster escaped using the Tesseract, he stumbled into the TVA an institution founded by "He Who Remains."
But by the end, that TVA had fallen, and Kang's shadow had risen in its place. Every Kang adopted a title, a name to set himself apart. This was the Conqueror.
Kang tilted his head, studying him. "And who are you? Sorcerer Supreme? The Hulk? Scarlet Witch? Perhaps a descendant of my ancestor Reed? Or that arrogant Tony Stark? Maybe the web-slinger? Odin the All-Father? Apocalypse himself?"
His words tumbled in half-mad fragments, but Nolan understood. Kang was cycling through the most powerful beings he'd encountered across timelines.
"You may call me Sorcerer Supreme," Nolan answered evenly.
Kang smirked. "The Ancient One? Strange? No… Strange is usually the one to bear that title. Wanda is female. You don't fit the pattern."
"The Ancient One was my teacher," Nolan corrected. "Doctor Strange is my disciple. Wanda is my beloved."
For the first time, Kang looked genuinely intrigued. "Interesting. I've never encountered a Nolan before. A new variable in the equation."
Nolan's eyes narrowed. "I'm here because I'm very interested in your multiversal traversal technology."
That finally broke Kang's composure. His face tightened, the Conqueror's cold arrogance giving way to a flicker of shock.
"How could you possibly know about that?"
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