Watching Linen walk toward Hill, Tony Stark immediately asked Wanda,
"How did you find Linen? You know, in the spoiler—"
Before he could finish, Tony suddenly felt a sharp jolt in his chest.
No matter what, he could not say anything about the spoiler system.
It felt as if forcing himself to speak about it would strip him of his qualification to have it at all.
Wanda stared at Tony, confused, as he suddenly began panting heavily, sweat dripping down his forehead.
Could it be… something is physically wrong with this universe's Tony Stark? she wondered.
Steve Rogers, also confused, looked over at Tony.
Seeing Tony stop mid-sentence and nearly collapse from exhaustion, Steve stepped forward, concerned.
"Tony, are you okay?"
"I'm fine…"
Tony took a deep breath and shook his head.
Wanda frowned, then walked toward Linen and Hill.
After all, she knew Linen before the Wanda of this universe had any contact with him.
And she wasn't going to let anyone hurt him.
Seeing Wanda leave, Tony gave Steve a meaningful look.
"Hm?"
Steve blinked, not understanding the expression.
"She's not the Wanda we know!!!"
Seeing Steve's confusion, Tony whispered,
"She doesn't have the spoiler system. I tried asking her about it just now, and I almost lost my qualification to have the system."
"It was the exact same feeling as when I almost spilled something in front of Pepper!"
Steve's expression darkened as he stared at Wanda's back.
In the video he watched in the theater, during the Snap that killed billions, Linen said Wanda was allowed to enter the theater.
Being allowed in meant Wanda had a spoiler system.
And Wanda was one of the people who had one.
But now, the Wanda following Linen, calling herself his girlfriend… had no spoiler system?
Did that mean the woman in front of them was an imposter?
Who was she?
Why pretend to be Wanda?
Why approach Linen?
Conspiracy theories filled Steve's mind instantly.
For example — this "fake Wanda" was sent by Nemesis, the Goddess of Vengeance.
She knew that Wanda was Linen's future wife, and Linen's repeated "resistance" angered her… so she sent a fake Wanda to break Linen's will?
Steve and Tony exchanged a look.
They both understood what the other was thinking.
At the very least, this Wanda's intentions were definitely not simple.
And now the problem was — How do they warn Linen?
Linen didn't have a spoiler system.
They couldn't just walk up to him and say:
"Hey, your girlfriend is fake. Dump her."
If they said that, Linen would probably think they were insane.
Just as the two were agonizing, they heard Linen frown and say:
"You're saying… the one S.H.I.E.L.D. captured in Europe, the one who paid mercenaries a deposit to attack us — was a blood slave?"
"That's right."
Hill nodded. "According to our interrogation, that's exactly the case."
"It should be because you, Natasha, and Tony stopped the demon-summoning ritual and killed the blood slave named Kenneth Becky."
"You angered the vampire controlling Kenneth, so he retaliated this way."
Tony, who had recovered by now, stepped in.
"So this whole thing was instigated by the vampire behind Kenneth Becky?"
"Doesn't that vampire know that Kenneth hosted the demon descent ritual because he wanted to escape his control?"
"He probably didn't know," Linen replied.
"The ritual was secretly arranged by Kenneth. For the first sacrifices, he never appeared at the scene."
"After the sixth sacrifice, he gained some demonic power and hid himself from the perception and control of the vampire behind him."
"So in that vampire's eyes, we killed his blood slave."
Steve frowned.
"I remember Fury telling me that although vampires do exist, S.H.I.E.L.D. already drove them out of the United States."
"With S.H.I.E.L.D. watching, they wouldn't dare act recklessly."
"So why would a vampire send assassins after you and Tony, and even attack Natasha and kidnap her? That doesn't make sense."
Hill replied,
"If it were a normal vampire, maybe they really wouldn't."
"But Kenneth Becky had secretly helped his master build an enormous underground power network in New York."
"After you three killed Kenneth, S.H.I.E.L.D. followed the clues and captured a large number of people trying to obtain eternal life."
"Among them were many wealthy and political elites… even a member of Congress."
Steve and Tony stared in shock.
Hill shrugged.
"The vampire took a massive hit.
Dozens of years of planning — gone because of you three."
"In that case, it makes perfect sense he lashed out in rage."
Tony's expression turned grim.
He hadn't expected the truth to be this messy.
"The top priority is to get the vampire's location from the blood slave."
"We need to rescue Natasha. If this drags on, she'll be in real danger."
"Jarvis, activate the anti-vampire armor I built earlier."
"Right away, sir."
As Jarvis prepared the armor, Wanda — who had been sitting quietly next to Linen — suddenly turned her head, sensing something.
Tony and Steve immediately stared at her.
They wanted to see what this "fake Wanda" was up to.
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