Levi and Wanda stepped out of the Time Door onto a metallic platform beneath their feet.
The platform floated in the vacuum of space, surrounded by countless planets. The nearest one glowed with a faint blue light, and within its atmosphere, dense streams of flying crafts zipped back and forth.
This was TVA-8264 Universe.
Levi opened the spacetime GPS. The screen displayed the coordinates of Kang-31 Base. He looked toward the direction of the third star systemâthere should have been a massive metallic fortress there.
But there was nothing.
"Something's wrong," Levi said.
Wanda sensed it too. Chaos Magic flickered at her fingertips, as if probing the surroundings. "The base isn't here."
Levi pulled up the tablet and checked the files provided by B-15. According to the data, Kang-31's base was located in this system, with coordinates precise to six decimal places. Yet now, there was nothing thereânot even a trace of energy fluctuation.
He tapped his communicator.
"B-15, we've arrived. But the target isn't here."
B-15's voice came through, laced with confusion. "That's impossible. Three hours ago, we could still track Kang-31's temporal signal."
"And now?"
"It's gone," B-15 said. "Completely vanishedâlike it's been erased from all timelines."
Levi frowned. Erased? Impossible. Kang-31 wouldn't die that easily.
There was only one explanationâhe had hidden somewhere beyond the TVA's detection.
"He's outside the flow of time," Levi said. "Like TVA headquartersâexisting beyond all timelines."
There was a brief silence.
"Does a place like that exist?" B-15 asked.
A thought flashed through Levi's mind.
"The Quantum Realm."
A microscopic world smaller than atoms, where the rules of time and space were entirely different.
In the Quantum Realm, time was chaoticâthe past, present, and future could coexist. More importantly, it didn't belong to any timeline. It existed independently of the entire multiverse.
"I know where he is," Levi said. "The Quantum Realm."
"What?" B-15's voice rose. "How could Kang-31 enter the Quantum Realm?"
"He's Kang the Conqueror," Levi replied. "He's destroyed seven universes. Technology capable of reaching the Quantum Realm isn't out of the question for him."
Silence again.
"You're going in?" B-15 asked.
"That's extremely dangerous. Time in the Quantum Realm is chaoticâyou could get lost. And the TVA can't track coordinates there. If something happens, we won't even know where you are."
Levi glanced at Wanda. She nodded, indicating she would follow him.
"We're going in," Levi said into the communicator. "The Quantum Realm isn't a dangerous placeâfor me."
"âŠUnderstood."
The line went dead.
A minute later, the metallic platform beneath them began to glow. Countless runes gathered from the edges toward the center, forming a circular array around them.
The array activated.
Levi felt space twistingânot a normal teleportation, but a dimensional contraction. His body was shrinkingâcells, atoms, everything. The surrounding starfield blurred; planets became towering mountains, mountains became endless walls.
They were crossing scalesâ
âfrom the macroscopic world into the microscopic.
Wanda reached out and grabbed Levi's arm. She could feel her Chaos Magic fluctuating violentlyâthe chaotic time flow of the Quantum Realm was interfering with her power.
"Hold on to me," Levi said.
He expanded his Law Domain, using spatial laws to stabilize the area around them. But the Quantum Realm's rules were too strangeâhis domain trembled constantly, on the verge of collapse.
Suddenly, a massive force slammed into them from the side.
A quantum current.
Fragments of countless timelines collided chaotically within the Quantum Realm, each fragment carrying energy from different points in time.
Levi tightened his grip on Wandaâbut the current was too strong.
He felt her hand slipping.
"Levi!" Wanda shouted.
He mobilized all his spatial laws, trying to stabilize themâbut the chaotic time flow distorted his perception. He couldn't tell which direction was forward or backward.
Another current surged in.
Stronger this time.
Their hands were torn apart.
Wanda's figure was dragged by the current, as if seized by invisible hands and pulled in another direction.
Levi erupted with the Law of Strength, his right arm swelling as he lunged toward where she vanishedâbut his hand grasped only empty space. In the Quantum Realm, space wasn't continuousâit was fragmented. One second she was three meters away; the next, she could be three light-years awayâor three nanometers.
"Damn it," Levi growled.
He activated the Law of Time, trying to rewind the moment. Golden timelines spread around him, flowing backward. But time in the Quantum Realm wasn't linearâit was a web. He saw countless versions of that moment, each leading to a different past.
He didn't know which one held Wanda.
Levi stopped.
Continuing would only drain more energyâand risk losing himself in the temporal chaos.
He needed another method.
Closing his eyes, Levi activated the Law of Mind. There was a mental link between him and Wanda, formed after the Battle of Sokovia. It was faint, imperceptible most of the timeâbut now, it might save them.
Mental waves spread outward like sonar.
He felt it.
Faintâbut real.
Somewhere aheadâno, direction meant nothing hereâbut the connection existed, like a thin thread linking him to Wanda.
Levi opened his eyes and flew toward it.
The scenery warped constantly. Massive atomic nuclei floated nearby; electron clouds spun like galaxies; countless microscopic fissures flickered in and out of existence.
He didn't stop. Following the mental link, he accelerated. His Kryptonian physiology absorbed surrounding energy particles, replenishing his drained Law power.
Then suddenlyâ
A massive barrier appeared ahead.
An energy wall, stretching beyond sight in all directions. Its surface shimmered with purple light, radiating powerful technological fluctuations.
Levi recognized it immediately.
Kang's technology.
He had found Kang-31's base.
But Wanda's mental signal wasn't hereâshe had been swept elsewhere by the current.
In the Quantum Realm, time was chaotic. Spending an hour searching for her might mean a secondâor a yearâfor her.
Better to secure a teleportation device first, then locate her through technology.
Besides, Wanda wasn't weak. Her Chaos Magic could warp realityâand in a place where rules were unstable, it might even be more effective.
Levi activated spatial laws, slicing a crack into the energy wall.
But it sealed instantly. The purple glow intensified.
"Adaptive defense system."
He used the Law of Reality to erase the barrierâbut it held for only three seconds.
The wall reformed, now layered with additional protection specifically targeting reality manipulation.
"Interesting," Levi murmured.
Kang-31's technology was stronger than he'd expected. The system could analyze attacks in real time and generate countermeasures.
Levi took a deep breath. Nine Laws surged within himâSpace, Strength, Time, Reality, Life, Death, Mind, Soulâcombined with his Kryptonian physique. All that power converged at the tip of the Dark Trident.
Black flames erupted, expanding from ten centimeters to three meters high. Each flicker carried the power to tear space apart.
Levi raised the tridentâand thrust.
The moment it struck the barrier, the purple light surged violently. The defense system scrambled to analyze the attackâbut nine Laws acting simultaneously overwhelmed it.
The wall began collapsing from the point of impact. Cracks spread outward; the purple glow extinguished inch by inch.
Three seconds laterâ
The entire barrier exploded.
Fragments scattered into the quantum currents and quickly vanished.
Beyond it lay a colossal metallic fortress, suspended within distorted space. Hundreds of defense turrets surrounded it, along with dense swarms of flying drones on patrol.
Alarms blared.
All turrets turned toward Levi, energy gathering at their muzzles. The drones abandoned patrol and swarmed toward him.
Levi didn't dodge.
He expanded his Law Domainâa golden sphere a hundred meters wide. All incoming attacks were deflected by spatial laws, redirected elsewhere.
The drones that entered the domain were instantly crushed into fragments by the Law of Strength.
Protected by his domain, Levi flew straight toward the fortress's core. He could sense a powerful energy source thereâthat had to be Kang-31.
But when he was still a kilometer awayâ
Space ahead suddenly warped.
A figure stepped out from the distortion.
A man clad in purple armor, wearing a half-face helmet that revealed only his lower face. His eyes were pitch blackâno whites, like twin voids.
Kang the Conqueror.
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