Chapter 192: Journalling in Marvel - Chapter 187
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"Got it! Completely understood!"
Tony finally understood everything. He had been puzzled and curious about how the Hulk managed to steal the Infinity Stone from the Ancient One, given the vast difference in their powers. Despite his doubts, Tony didn't believe that even all the Avengers combined could defeat the Ancient One. The Ancient One was undeniably powerful to the point of suffocation.
As it turned out, the Hulk didn't defeat the Ancient One in a battle but rather talked his way into getting the stone! Tony had never expected this turn of events. The Hulk, with his exaggerated muscles and tendency to smash everything with brute force, relying on wisdom?
Of course, Tony couldn't know exactly what Hulk said to the Ancient One to make her willingly hand over the Infinity Stone. However, it seemed like the Hulk mentioned Doctor Strange.
Could Doctor Strange have asked the other Avengers to relay a message to the Ancient One before they traveled through time? Did the Ancient One trust Doctor Strange that much based on his message? The diary seemed to suggest so. And even if it wasn't the exact scenario, Tony deemed it an unimportant detail and didn't dwell on it.
Instead, he focused on another critical piece of information.
Future Doctor Strange had observed over 14 million possible futures to foresee the outcomes of their battle against Thanos. Out of these myriad possibilities, only one resulted in their victory.
Even considering there were more than 14 million possible outcomes, the fact that only one led to victory was alarming. This minuscule probability of success made Tony's face grow visibly graver.
Tony always knew Thanos was a formidable enemy—one of the strongest in the universe with his vast interstellar fleet, and later, the complete set of Infinity Stones. The diary's insights and various spoilers indicated future Avengers would face dire struggles, potentially suffering heavy casualties.
Nevertheless, Tony had only considered Thanos as a challenging, albeit defeatable enemy. After all, the Avengers themselves were powerful, some with ludicrous strength. Moreover, didn't the Endgame conclude with the Avengers' victory?
Tony had never fathomed Thanos's sheer overwhelming might, almost to the point of near-zero chance of success. The future seemed far more severe than he had imagined.
"So that's what Doctor Strange's single finger meant," Tony suddenly realized why Doctor Strange showed him one finger during the Endgame and why he followed Doctor Strange's guidance.
Doctor Strange indicated the one way they could defeat Thanos, which was to gather the Infinity Stones and snap them. Once again, the focus was on the Infinity Stones. Tony's determination to secure the stones grew immensely stronger.
The Infinity Stones were crucial both for solving future threats and for defeating Thanos. These stones essentially determined Earth's, and possibly the universe's, fate. Tony resolved to protect the Infinity Stones at all costs.
"But there's one thing I still don't understand."
"The battle on Titan… Doctor Strange witnessed over 14 million possibilities and identified the sole outcome where they won."
"But how did he know that solitary victorious outcome would actually occur?"
"The probability was one in 14 million—a nearly nonexistent chance. How did Doctor Strange willingly hand over the Time Stone to Thanos?"
"How did he know that after his death, Ant-Man would discover the time rules in the quantum realm, propose the theory of time travel, and Stark would then make a time machine?"
"The likelihood of these events happening is virtually zero!"
"Just because Thanos threatened Stark?"
"When Doctor Strange was resurrected after the fight on Titan, he immediately knew five years had passed, knew about the Endgame, and immediately brought Spider-Man to join the battle."
"Clearly, seeing the future was the reason he gave up the stone, not Stark."
"It's the same question: how did he know that the one-in-14-million chance would come true?"
Tony was left speechless, deeply puzzled. He had always assumed that the Avengers might have managed to steal the Time Stone during the battle on Titan.
Now, it seemed his assumption was partly correct; Thanos indeed got the Time Stone on Titan. However, according to the diary, Doctor Strange had deliberately handed over the Time Stone because he had seen the future.
The sole method of defeating Thanos involved giving him the Infinity Stones, then sending the Avengers back in time to collect them and triumph in the Endgame. While Tony had reservations about this approach, he couldn't ignore Zhou Cheng's concerns in the diary, shared by Tony himself.
How could Doctor Strange be so sure that the nearly impossible one-in-14-million chance would indeed happen? What if it didn't? Wouldn't Thanos win by default, permanently obliterating half of all life in the universe?
Statistically, that grim outcome seemed almost inevitable.
Doctor Strange was making a huge gamble here.
Speechless.
Utterly speechless.
Tony really didn't know what to say. After much consideration, he could only make this guess: Did Doctor Strange actually know that these events would definitely happen?
Unless that's the case, there's really no way to explain it.
But in the end, whether Doctor Strange truly knew or was just gambling, it didn't matter to Tony right now.
What mattered was that he had obtained extremely crucial information, learning the only way Doctor Strange saw to defeat Thanos!
And this method held great reference value for everyone.
After memorizing this method, Tony refocused on the diary.
A slightly smug smile curled at the corner of his mouth.
The time machine was made by him, Tony Stark?
Of course, only the great Tony Stark could create something like that.
Tony Stark, as always, remained exceptional!
The fact that the Avengers could turn the tide after their crushing defeat in the Infinity War and collect the Infinity Stones from the past was all because of the great Tony!
Tony Stark was the key to defeating Thanos!
This was so obvious that Tony felt no surprise—only a sense of inevitability.
There was one thing Tony hadn't expected: the key to creating the time machine was actually the Quantum Realm?
The Quantum Realm was not Tony's area of expertise.
According to the diary's spoilers, that was Ant-Man's field of expertise. Ant-Man had even entered the Quantum Realm.
The diary clearly stated that Ant-Man discovered the time rules within the Quantum Realm and proposed the theory of time travel.
So, what exactly were the time rules within the Quantum Realm? Why could someone travel through time according to these rules?
Tony was very, very curious about this.
Unfortunately, Tony had not conducted much research into the Quantum Realm—his knowledge was only superficial.
It was impossible to draw any corresponding conclusions.
"Looks like Ant-Man proposed the theory of time travel around that time," Tony speculated with a certain tone.
The diary had previously mentioned that after the Infinity War, the Avengers gave up and indulged in venting their frustrations. Tony had also returned to his family at that time.
Only Black Widow persisted, and eventually, she was rewarded by the arrival of Ant-Man, who brought the method to save half of the universe's population. At the time, Tony didn't know what that method was, but now it was clear: it was undoubtedly time travel.
[And then there's this.]
[I wonder if, in the more than fourteen million possible futures Doctor Strange saw, did any of them involve the Book of Vishanti?]
[The Trinity of Vishanti, the rulers of the magical dimension and the source of all white magic!]
[Marvel's magical system is quite interesting— all magic is borrowed, none of it is innate.]
[The Ancient One's strength largely came from borrowing more magic than anyone else.]
[One significant reason she was eager to die was probably because she couldn't bear the debt anymore and had to lean on Eternity.]
[Of course, let's not mention the power borrowed from Dormammu, which was just to sustain the Ancient One's long lifespan.]
[The Ancient One's main power source was actually Vishanti.]
[If the Ancient One, using only a fraction of the magical dimension's power, was already so powerful, imagine the power of Vishanti itself.]
[Though not as strong as the five abstract entities, Vishanti is undoubtedly a multiverse-level entity.]
[The Book of Vishanti should be their greatest legacy, containing the most powerful magic and energies.]
[I recall that in the 838 universe, Doctor Strange defeated Thanos using the Book of Vishanti.]
"Vishanti!" Tony's eyes slightly narrowed, immediately captivated by the name.
Though Iron Man heard it for the first time, Vishanti was apparently the ruler of the magical dimension?
That the magical dimension even existed was surprising enough. But this translated to Vishanti being a dimension deity? Similar to Dormammu, ruler of the Dark Dimension?
Okay, apparently Vishanti was not a villain and couldn't be called a demon god but was undoubtedly on the same level as Dormammu.
As for this other dimension besides the Dark Dimension, the magical dimension.
According to the diary, it was filled with magical energies.
The so-called magicians merely borrowed power from this dimension, nothing more!
"So that's what a magician is?" Tony shook his head in disbelief.
He had never expected this. In Tony's eyes, those mysterious magicians immediately seemed far less impressive.
Even the Ancient One's secrets were more shocking.
So, this big shot, on par with Odin, borrowed not only Vishanti's power but also Dormammu's?
Quite the borrower!
Additionally, the diary mentioned that Vishanti controlled white magic, so if white magic existed, was there also black magic?
Magic borrowed from Dormammu's Dark Dimension would undoubtedly be black magic, right?
So, the Ancient One borrowed both white and black magic?
That's quite elaborate.
But the question stood: if it was "borrowed," it eventually had to be paid back, right?
Though Tony didn't know what specifically would need to be paid, there must be a price. Otherwise, how could it be called a "loan"?
Otherwise, why would the Ancient One need to cling to Eternity, escaping her debts? Clearly, she didn't plan to repay!
Unbelievable.
Tony felt utterly at a loss for words.
An entity on the same level as Odin was a debtor? Unbelievable!
This world truly was crazy.
However, Vishanti's strength was undeniable, as was the strength of the Book of Vishanti.
And there was a living example from another universe.
Doctor Strange in the 838 universe used the Book of Vishanti to defeat Thanos.
Though whether Doctor Strange saw a future involving the Book of Vishanti remained unknown, for Tony, knowing about its use in the 838 universe was enough.
The Book of Vishanti should be considered seriously, potentially becoming one of the options to counter Thanos.
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