Marvel: Little Genius - Chapter: 419 (Patreon)

"Layla!" Even though there was some distance between them, and the volume of the voice wasn't very loud, Hawkeye immediately recognized it as the voice of his daughter, Layla.

For the past five years, this voice had repeatedly appeared in his dreams. Countless nights, he had pursued the excitement brought by this voice, only to wake up with the disappointment of shattered hope, resulting in sleepless nights.

But in this moment, everything felt so real. He was so close to everything he had longed for; it was within his reach.

As it turned out, the traversal point Mark had set for Hawkeye was right next to the safe house where his family lived.

Hawkeye ran towards the direction of the voice, eager to catch even a glimpse of his wife and children. He longed to see them one more time.

However, just as he was about to reach the door of the safe house, the time-space traversal positioning navigator on his hand started beeping, indicating that it was time for him to return. The positioning navigator was about to take him back to his original timeline.

"No—Layla!" Hawkeye desperately lunged towards the door, trying to fulfill his last wish before the time ran out. But before his hand could grasp the doorknob, the powerful gravitational force of the quantum time-space tunnel had already acted on his body.

Whoosh! In an instant, just like when he arrived, Hawkeye disappeared from this timeline without leaving a trace.

Bang! Back on the traversal platform within the Avengers base, Hawkeye tumbled to the ground due to the dizziness caused by time-space traversal.

"Barton, are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?" Natasha, who was closest to Hawkeye, rushed over to check on him, concerned about his condition.

"I'm fine, just a little dizzy," Hawkeye replied, his excitement evident.

The reason for his excitement was that he had successfully returned. Although he hadn't been able to see his longed-for family, the fact that this test was successful meant that Mark's Time Heist plan was viable.

Hawkeye believed that in the not-so-distant future, he could reunite his family through his efforts. That's why he felt so excited. After responding to Natasha's concern, Hawkeye went straight to Mark and delivered the news that filled everyone with exhilaration: "The test was a success!"

Boom! After Hawkeye announced the successful test result, the atmosphere in the entire testing area instantly reached its peak, and the cheers of the few present created the illusion of a bustling crowd.

Once everyone had calmed down, Mark gathered everyone in the conference room to discuss the detailed execution plan for the next phase of the Time Heist Plan.

The first to speak was Captain America: "Now that the method has been successful, the next question is about the time and place. Almost every one of us has had contact with one of the six Infinity Stones."

"Or you can put it this way, we were almost killed by those darn Infinity Stones," Tony chimed in with a resentful tone, clearly not having a good impression of the Infinity Stones.

Seeing Tony going off-topic, Dr. Banner quickly took the lead and redirected the focus of the meeting.

"Regardless, even though we have an ample supply of Pym Particles that allow us to traverse back and forth in time to get the Infinity Stones, we need to create the most precise action plan due to our respect for the lives in other timelines and the potential risks of time travel."

"So, let's start with the Aether. Thor, Mark, what do you know about it?"

Among the group, Thor and Mark were the ones who had experience with the Aether, so Captain America directed his question to them.

Following Captain's gaze, the others also turned their attention to the two. Thor had certainly transformed since a few days ago.

With the watchful eyes of his teammates and the assistance of Mark's advanced technology, Thor was now starting to regain some of his former godly appearance. Although he still had a hefty build and hadn't fully shed the excess weight.

"Where should I begin? Firstly, the Aether isn't a gem; it's more like a puddle of goo..."

"...Let me correct that, Thor. The Aether is, in fact, a dispersed dark matter composed of countless quark-level tiny particles."

"Alright, I don't understand what you're saying, but anyway, my grandfather once defeated the Dark Elves and sealed the Aether. But due to the Nine Realms convergence, my ex-girlfriend, Jane, accidentally came into contact with the Aether, and it entered her body."

"Wait a minute! You broke up? Why haven't I heard you mention this before?" Tony interjected once again.

However, this time, even Dr. Banner couldn't resist wearing a gossipy expression as he looked at Thor.

"..." At this moment, the atmosphere in the conference room plummeted to freezing levels. Thor stood there stiffly, overcome with embarrassment, not knowing how to respond.

"Well, maybe we should continue discussing the Infinity Stones. Let's pretend we didn't hear about Thor's love life..."

What caught everyone off guard was that Mark's attempt to defuse the situation caused Thor to break down like a child, sitting on the floor and sobbing uncontrollably.

Watching Thor's emotional breakdown, Mark innocently remarked, "Did I say something wrong...?"