An elderly bald man with a disproportionately large head, dressed in ancient Greek-style robes, was rapidly jotting something down in his notebook.
While taking notes, he muttered to himself, "Another dimensional traveler I've never seen before in the entire multiverse. This newly born universe has given me so many surprises!"
"Uatu, what exactly did you discover?"
A voice rang out in the pitch-black vacuum environment.
The old man with the oversized head—known as Uatu—didn't turn around and continued writing, occasionally looking up toward Earth.
"You old fool..."
The speaker approached Uatu. He was a powerfully built man wearing a black bodysuit and hood. Without opening his mouth, a voice emanated from him. "Your Observer race has constantly watched the multiverse across seven iterations, witnessing birth and death. What haven't you seen? Why, then, have you been this excited from time to time over the past year?"
The term "iteration" referred to the cycle from the birth to the destruction of the multiverse.
Every cycle from birth to destruction was an iteration—named such because the origin of the multiverse came from the death of the First Firmament.
Since then, every time the multiverse was destroyed and restarted, it became a new iteration.
Currently, they were in the Seventh Iteration.
The Observer race was a powerful species that had existed since the First Firmament.
However, their philosophy was non-interference—not to meddle with anything or any race, but to silently record the various events that occurred throughout the multiverse.
And Uatu was the Observer assigned to this universe.
"It is precisely because I have seen so much over the eons that I feel excitement when I encounter something genuinely new!"
Uatu's tone was somewhat impatient, as if answering the man's question would interfere with his recording of the exciting events unfolding.
This piqued the visitor's curiosity.
In the multiverse, infinite universes were constantly replicating and expanding, and new things were born every moment. Naturally, the Observers couldn't record every trivial matter.
Therefore, anything new that excited them had to be truly significant.
The man couldn't help but ask out of curiosity, "What exactly happened?"
"Many dimensional travelers have come to this universe."
"Dimensional travelers?"
The man paused, then narrowed his eyes. "From which universe?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know!?"
The man was stunned, but then he realized—these dimensional travelers were the new phenomena Uatu had mentioned.
"Yes, I genuinely don't know!"
Uatu scribbled down what he saw in his notebook, replying impatiently, "Throughout the entire multiverse, and even the Omniverse, our race has never encountered dimensional travelers like these. They come from different worlds, possess different characteristics, carry different power systems, and have made connections with Fury and Iron Man."
After saying that, he seemed to remember something. He turned back to glance at the man and frowned. "What, do you want to deal with those individuals?"
"...I'm not sure."
The man seemed troubled. "These dimensional travelers are unstable factors and might pose a threat to Earth."
"What does that have to do with you, you brooding bat?"
Uatu scoffed dismissively, turning back to gaze at Earth. "Don't forget—you are the king of the Inhumans on the Moon. If you rashly interfere in Earth's affairs, be careful not to provoke a war between Earth and the Lunar Inhumans. I've seen plenty of examples like that in other universes."
That's precisely why I'm hesitating.
"Alright, stop worrying. The Ancient One hasn't even made a move. What are you worried about?"
Whether he wanted to continue observing the subsequent lives of these dimensional travelers or was genuinely being helpful, Uatu kept reassuring him. "Besides, with so many dimensional travelers arriving, do you think Eternity and Death wouldn't be aware?"
"Earth is the heart of the universe.
If these individuals really posed a threat to Earth, they would have already intervened."
"Stop with the nonsense!"
Black Bolt saw through Uatu's reasoning and said coldly, "As beings existing as conceptual embodiments of the universe, they don't care about the birth and death of a mere Earth. Even if the universe is destroyed, they won't care—it's simply part of the natural order."
Eternity, Oblivion, Infinity, Death, and Galactus—the first four were conceptual embodiments of the universe, while the latter was the life herald that initiated each restart after universal destruction. For every new universe, one of their avatars was born.
However, these avatars couldn't affect their true forms at all, so no matter what happened to the universe itself, they wouldn't interfere.
Unless something truly interesting emerged.
"You're wrong about that..." Uatu said. "Their true forms aren't interested in these matters, but that doesn't mean their avatars aren't interested either."
"You're correct. Even if this universe is destroyed, their true forms won't be affected. But their avatars will return to their true forms and lose their independent consciousness. Therefore, the five cosmic entities of each universe are very concerned about the birth and death of their universe."
"If these dimensional travelers truly posed a threat to Earth, they would definitely take action.
They may not act personally, but their heralds or chosen ones would certainly come to eliminate threats and protect the righteous."
"Then how do you know I'm not that chosen one?"
Black Bolt retorted, unconvinced.
"The universal laws aren't aligned with you, so you're not the chosen one..."
As he spoke, Uatu's eyes darted around. He seemed to remember something, then laughed excitedly. "Speaking of which, I overlooked the changes these individuals have brought to this universe because they seemed too weak initially. Now that I think about it, Eternity and the others are probably ecstatic."
"Huh?"
Black Bolt was somewhat bewildered.
What do you mean Eternity and the others are ecstatic?
As gods of the multiverse—or even the Omniverse—would these five cosmic entities be ecstatic because of these seemingly weak dimensional travelers?
"Although their power is weak, their inherent power systems and knowledge will enrich the universal laws, making them more diverse and powerful. And according to the law of multiversal self-replication, these laws will soon spread throughout the entire multiverse. As embodiments of this universe, they will also benefit tremendously—they may even be able to transcend the multiverse and enter the Megaverse or even the Omniverse."
At this point, Uatu sneered at Black Bolt, who seemed shocked at finally grasping the situation. "It seems you understand now. That's right—the five cosmic entities will not only refrain from harming these dimensional travelers, but will also eliminate anyone who tries to interfere with their lives."
After all, dimensional travelers had been arriving steadily over the past year.
If anyone interfered and prevented the arrival of more travelers with new systems, their wrath would be borne by the entire multiverse.
Back on Earth
Just as I thought!
Quinn's words confirmed their worst fears, and both Coulson and Fury looked rather grim.
They knew very little about dimensional travelers.
Although they'd learned some information from the Vongola Family, they couldn't verify its authenticity, and the information itself was extremely limited. They needed to capture a dimensional traveler and interrogate them using lie detection before they could feel secure.
However, the Vongola Family wasn't to be trifled with, and demons were creatures that lurked in shadows and were difficult to approach. Judging from the information they had so far, demons were extremely powerful beings whose lives and deaths were controlled by the Demon King. It would be impossible to capture and interrogate one alive.
Since neither of these two major groups of dimensional travelers could provide a breakthrough, the only option was to turn their attention to those travelers who were alone and isolated.
But now, these individual dimensional travelers seemed to have been connected together—no longer isolated and alone.
"Coulson, Fury, are either of you familiar with divination or predicting the future?"
After asking the question, Quinn took out another cigarette, lit it, and slowly took a drag.
Fury and Coulson frowned upon hearing the question.
They were trying to figure out why Quinn had asked that.
After thinking for a long time and still unable to figure it out, Fury directly asked, "Why are you asking this? Are you trying to say you possess such an ability?"
"More or less!"
Quinn took a deep drag on his cigarette, then exhaled a thick cloud of smoke that obscured his face. "I came into this world for unknown reasons. I originally intended to live an ordinary life, but this ability to glimpse the future made me realize this world is full of dangers and that people's hearts can be treacherous.
If I didn't do something, I'd encounter all sorts of tragic fates because of my dimensional traveler identity.
For example, yesterday... If I'd just been an ordinary person with no combat abilities when I arrived, I would either have been killed by that armed squad or captured by you, imprisoned for life, and used as a tool for S.H.I.E.L.D. to gather intelligence."
"..."
Fury and Coulson were speechless.
"Therefore, I had to acquire the power to protect myself..."
Quinn continued, "Using abilities similar to foreseeing the future, I found many ways to make myself stronger. I also found other dimensional travelers and gained their friendship by helping them. This led to the formation of an alliance where we could help each other if we were persecuted because of our traveler status."
"But I also understand that too much power can cause unnecessary panic, so I ignored your surveillance and even provided you with a list of dimensional travelers so you'd know we're just law-abiding citizens and feel reassured."
At this point, the smoke had dissipated, and Quinn's face returned to view.
But all they saw was an unusually indifferent expression, and the disregard in his eyes was even more frightening.
"But unfortunately, you didn't understand my intention!"
Quinn said with mock regret. "Whether it's S.H.I.E.L.D. or the organization that attacked me, you still intended to use force to make us submit and do things we don't want to do. So, I also took measures."
"Fury, you should know what I'm referring to, right?
If your secrets are exposed, everything S.H.I.E.L.D. has done and everything you've accomplished over the past decades will be for naught. It could even trigger World War III."
Character Notes:
Uatu the Watcher - From: Marvel Comics - Member of the ancient Observer/Watcher race. Has a disproportionately large head and wears Greek-style robes. Sworn to observe and record events across the multiverse without interfering. Assigned to watch Earth's universe.
Black Bolt (Blackagar Boltagon) - From: Marvel Comics/Inhumans - King of the Inhumans who live on the Moon. Wears a black bodysuit and hood. His voice is so powerful it can level cities, so he rarely speaks. Concerned about threats to Earth despite living on the Moon.
Cosmic Entities (Eternity, Oblivion, Infinity, Death, Galactus) - From: Marvel Comics - The five fundamental cosmic beings that embody universal concepts. Each universe has avatars of these entities. They rarely interfere unless something significantly affects the cosmic order.