Elric had exactly two options when it came to dealing with Wanda's situation.
The first option was to somehow find a way to permanently stop her from ever awakening her power—no matter what it took, no matter the cost or methods required.
Just shut it down completely before it ever manifested.
The second option was to simply accept the inevitable.
Accept that it was going to happen eventually, one way or another, and prepare accordingly.
Stopping a power that already existed within someone was never easy. In fact, once a dormant ability reached a certain threshold, suppression often caused more damage than awakening it. Wanda's power was already there, buried deep inside her. Trying to erase it now would be far harder than guiding it.
It was like trying to stop a seed from growing after it had already sprouted roots.
And Wanda's power? That power was already there, buried deep inside her soul. Waiting. Growing slowly.
So after careful consideration, after running through countless scenarios in his head, Elric made his decision.
If it was going to awaken anyway, then it would awaken under controlled conditions—where he could at least influence the outcome.
As for using the Mind Stone to trigger it like in the original timeline…
Yeah, that was completely out of the question.
Elric neither had the energy nor the patience to deal with Thanos right now. Sure, he might actually be able to fight the Mad Titan if it came down to it. Might even be strong enough to take the Mind Stone from him by force.
But first, he would need to somehow find Thanos's exact location in the vastness of space. Then he'd need to build or acquire a functional spaceship capable of deep space travel. Then he'd need to actually travel into deep space, potentially for months or years.
That entire process alone could easily take several years minimum.
And besides—
In just a few more years, Thanos would conveniently deliver the Mind Stone directly to Earth himself.
Right to their doorstep.
There was no need to rush or take unnecessary risks.
The Time Stone was another theoretical possibility. There was still a decent chance that the Ancient One might temporarily lend it to him if he asked nicel—but that was uncertain.
She might say yes.
She might say no.
She might do something completely unpredictable.
The Space Stone, however…
Now that one was genuinely tempting.
Elric knew its exact location right now. He knew precisely where S.H.I.E.L.D. had it stored in their secure facility. He could literally teleport in and take it right this moment if he really wanted to.
Just go grab it.
But here was the problem: infinity stones were not toys to play around with.
They were phenomenally powerful, reality-warping artifacts that could kill you if you didn't know exactly what you were doing.
Even with his unique meta-knowledge of how they functioned, even with Ishiki Otsutsuki's immense power backing him up, one single mistake during the awakening process could be completely fatal. If something went wrong—if the energy feedback was too strong, even her chaos magic might not be enough to save her life.
She could just… die.
So after weighing all the options carefully, Elric discarded that possibility as well.
Too risky.
Not worth it.
For now, at least for this initial stage—
Chakra was definitely the safest, most reliable choice available.
Compared to the overwhelming power of infinity stones, chakra was honestly pretty weak. Almost harmless.
It posed absolutely no threat to Wanda's life whatsoever.
And more importantly—Elric had already conducted extensive experiments over the past month.
He'd tested chakra implantation repeatedly on various subjects, carefully documenting every result.
From a purely physical and biological standpoint, the survival probability was nearly zero for normal organisms. Every single test subject should have died from the foreign energy integration.
Every rabbit he'd tested on did die, in fact.
Violent rejection. System failure. Death within minutes.
Except for one.
That particular rabbit had been staying with Wanda for about a week before the experiment, kept in her room as a sort of pet.
And when Elric had implanted chakra into it?
Its body still rejected the foreign energy violently—all the same physical symptoms appeared—but somehow, impossibly, it survived anyway.
Against all biological logic.
Elric knew exactly why, of course.
Wanda had wanted it to live.
She'd grown attached to the little creature.
And so, through sheer unconscious probability manipulation, it did live.
Chaos magic truly was absolutely absurd when you thought about it.
Which meant one extremely important thing for this situation—
Even if Wanda's body initially rejected the chakra integration, even if her physical form tried to shut down, she would not die.
Her own subconscious power would prevent it.
The same protective principle applied to Pietro.
As long as Wanda existed, as long as she was alive and cared about her brother, both of them were fundamentally safe from any life-threatening complications, until a more powerful force intervenes.
Giving them chakra carried an effective 100% survival rate.
That much, Elric was absolutely certain of.
Still casually holding his cup of rapidly cooling hot chocolate in one hand, Elric stepped outside the cabin into the cool evening air.
Wanda and Pietro were already waiting for him there, both dressed in simple, comfortable sportswear. They stood side by side, close together, quiet but visibly tense.
He could see the nervous energy radiating off Pietro especially.
"Sit down," Elric said casually, gesturing vaguely at the ground.
Pietro blinked, clearly confused.
"…Here?" he asked, looking around at the dirt and grass. "Right here on the ground?"
"Yes."
"…You mean here here?" Pietro asked again, still processing. "We're seriously doing this outside? Just… out in the open?"
Elric took another slow sip of his drink, completely unbothered.
"Obviously. What, did you expect some kind of palace or sacred temple or something? Maybe some dramatic ritual chamber with candles?"
His tone was lazy. Almost bored, really.
"I mean… I at least thought we'd do it in your lab," Pietro muttered, glancing back at the cabin. "With equipment. Medical monitoring. That kind of thing."
"Don't worry about it," Elric replied calmly, waving off his concerns. "This procedure will succeed. I'm confident, beacuse I am the best equipment."
Pietro hesitated visibly, his expression conflicted.
"Boss…" he said slowly, carefully. "You don't have to lie to us to make us feel better."
He swallowed hard.
"We saw what happened to the rabbit. We… we ate it afterward, actually, once you said it was fine."
His voice dropped quieter now, more serious.
"It doesn't matter how dangerous this is. It really doesn't. Even if there's only the smallest chance—like one percent, half a percent—that I can somehow get even a fraction of power like yours… I'm completely willing to take that risk."
After that day—
After standing there completely helpless, watching death approach them without being able to do a single damn thing to stop it—
Pietro never, ever wanted to feel that way again.
That crushing powerlessness.
If there was even a one-percent chance to change that fate, to gain real power, he would grab it with both hands and never let go.
Elric's gaze shifted to Wanda, studying her face carefully.
He could see it clearly in her eyes too.
The same desperate determination.
She felt exactly the same way as her brother.
Slap.
The sound of Elric's palm hitting the back of Pietro's head echoed sharply through the quiet evening.
Pietro nearly lost his balance from the unexpected impact, stumbling forward slightly.
"Ow! What the—"
"Are you seriously calling me a liar, you little bastard?" Elric said flatly, his expression completely deadpan.
Pietro opened his mouth to respond—then wisely closed it again.
I'm literally older than you though…
The thought stayed very firmly locked inside his head where it was safe.
"I was specifically trying to recreate Leo's exact mutation with those experiments," Elric continued, his voice taking on a slightly more explanatory tone. "That's precisely why those earlier attempts failed so badly. That was expected."
His voice softened just slightly.
"This method is safe."
Wanda's ability was probability manipulation at its core.
If she genuinely believed that the chance of success was one hundred percent…
Then that probability itself might actually shift to match her belief.
Reality bending to accommodate her expectations.
Elric honestly didn't know for certain if it would work exactly like that.
But there was absolutely no harm in trying the theory out.
Worst case? It just didn't affect anything and they succeeded anyway.
Best case? It guaranteed success.
He carefully placed his now-empty cup down on a nearby flat stone.
"Now then," Elric said calmly, his tone shifting to something more focused and serious, "let's begin the procedure."
Before you snap out of existence, at least leave a few Power Stones and a review, from your truly, (ಠ_ಠ)🫰.
You guys can check out my patreon with 15 advance chapter, and want to support this story.
patreon.com/LMStar666