Mike had awakened the memories of his two previous lives at the age of eighteen.
It was now 2013, and he was twenty-one years old.
The Battle of New York had taken place the previous year, which meant he had already awakened his memories before the battle.
As one of the major events that set the stage for the Marvel Universe, there was no way Mike could forget such an important event.
He remembered the Battle of New York clearly, so he had been keeping an eye on the related news.
When the battle finally began, he had already taken his adoptive father, Nick, and adoptive mother, Meni, across the Hudson River to Jersey City.
Mike had neither transmigrated into someone else’s body nor brought his own body from another world.
His memories had simply been sealed, and he did not regain the memories of his two previous lives until he turned eighteen.
That was why he had genuine feelings for his adoptive parents.
After all, he had been an orphan in both of his previous lives.
To him, family had always been something that existed only in his imagination.
Moreover, his adoptive father Nick, his adoptive mother Meni, and even his stepsister Heidi had treated him as a true member of their family.
So naturally, when Mike fled the city, he was not going to leave his adoptive parents behind.
Of course, he could not exactly tell them that he could predict the future.
As it happened, the Battle of New York occurred right around the time he was graduating from college and preparing for his graduation ceremony.
Mike had attended New Jersey City University, located in Jersey City, just across the Hudson River from Manhattan.
New Jersey City University was not an Ivy League school, but it was one of the universities willing to accept Mike and offer him a scholarship.
So why wouldn’t he go?
That was why, when the Battle of New York was about to happen, Mike used his graduation ceremony as an excuse to bring his adoptive parents to Jersey City a day early.
As for his stepsister Heidi, there was no need to worry about her.
The Battle of New York, as the name suggested, took place in New York City, while Heidi was all the way in Washington, D.C.
She was perfectly safe.
Originally, Mike thought this would be enough to keep everyone out of danger.
But…
Once the Chitauri appeared, they did indeed wreak havoc throughout New York City.
Hardly any Chitauri soldiers crossed the river into the skies above Jersey City.
But just because there were no Chitauri soldiers did not mean there was no danger.
For example, there was the mastermind behind the Battle of New York…
Loki!
Mike’s adoptive parents did not die in the Chitauri invasion.
They died at Loki’s hands.
Mike remembered the events of that day very clearly.
On the day of the Battle of New York, New Jersey City University was holding its annual graduation ceremony for its graduating students.
Mike had been selected as an outstanding graduate and was giving a speech on stage.
His adoptive father Nick and adoptive mother Meni were sitting in the front row.
Both wore bright smiles as they held up their phones, recording every moment of Mike’s time on stage as he received the honor of outstanding graduate.
Then, an explosion suddenly came from the skies over Manhattan across the river.
The next moment, Loki came spinning through the air and crashed straight into the graduation ceremony being held on the university’s outdoor lawn.
Hulk had smashed the Chitauri vehicle beneath Loki, sending him flying across the Hudson River like a projectile before he crashed into the graduation ceremony.
Naturally, Loki was in a terrible mood.
Especially when he got back on his feet and saw the crowd screaming and fleeing from him as though he were a demon rather than a god.
That only made him even more furious.
And then…
Mike’s adoptive parents, along with his classmates and some of the other parents who had come to attend the graduation ceremony, were crushed to death by Loki as casually as if they were insignificant insects.
Afterward, Loki simply left on another Chitauri vehicle without even looking back.
Screams.
Crying.
Mike stood on the graduation stage, staring at the scene below without blinking.
His adoptive parents, who should have been sitting there proudly watching him, now lay motionless in a pool of blood on the lawn.
Those who give you life can be repaid even with your own life.
Those who raise you deserve the same.
And when you have been both born and raised by someone, there is no way to repay such a debt.
As Mike watched Loki’s retreating figure, his eyes gradually turned red.
There was only one thought in his mind.
He swore that Loki would pay for what he had done.
But…
Loki was a god.
Although he was only at the level of a dimensional god, a dimensional god was still a god.
He was far beyond what an ordinary human like Mike could ever hope to kill.
And Loki also had an older brother.
Thor, the God of Thunder.
The kind of older brother who was allowed to bully Loki himself, but would never allow anyone else to bully him.
Otherwise, after committing such atrocities during the Battle of New York, Loki should have been tried by humanity instead of being taken back to Asgard and merely locked up for a while.
But!
The hatred of losing one’s parents could never be forgiven.
On the day his adoptive parents were buried, Mike stood before their graves.
As he looked at the photograph of the two of them smiling at him from the gravestone, he once again remembered the Saint cultivation methods he had learned during his second life in the Sanctuary.
He had no system or cheat in this life.
The only thing that could give him the confidence to make Loki pay was the complete Saint cultivation method he had learned in his second life and still remembered.
But Mike had already tried.
No matter how hard he trained, the Cosmo that genuinely existed within his body simply refused to awaken.
There was an invisible barrier called reality itself, firmly preventing Mike from bringing the power of the Saints into the Marvel Universe.
Finally!
Mike thought of something.
Something that could break through the barrier of reality and allow him to bring the power he had learned in his second life into the Marvel Universe.
The Infinity Stones— The Reality Stone!
As one of the six Infinity Stones in the Marvel Universe, the Reality Stone could turn the user’s thoughts and illusions into actual reality.
The Reality Stone could ignore the laws of reality, the laws of nature, and even the laws of science.
Of course, that was based on having all six Infinity Stones.
Only when combined with the other Infinity Stones could the Reality Stone completely and permanently alter reality.
Just like Thanos later did.
Only after collecting all the Infinity Stones was he able to use the Reality Stone to erase half of all life in the universe with a snap of his fingers, making the change permanent.
Because a single Reality Stone was not nearly that powerful.
At the very least, the Reality Stone alone could perhaps alter reality temporarily, but it could not permanently rewrite it.
Again, Thanos was the perfect example.
In Knowhere, Thanos used the Reality Stone to tear Drax apart into countless small cubes scattered across the ground and twisted Mantis into something resembling a tangled ribbon.
But after Thanos left, Drax and Mantis returned to normal.
But that was enough.
As long as Mike could obtain the Reality Stone, he could rewrite his own reality, awaken his Cosmo, and begin walking the path of a Saint in the Marvel Universe.
And that…
was the reason Mike had traveled from New York City to London.
Because right now, the Reality Stone was here.