Chapter 151: Alter the Script

A soft snap echoed as Lin Yu snapped his fingers amid the tense, hopeful gazes of the crowd.

An invisible ripple spread outward in a spherical wave, centered on the Infinity Gauntlet embedded with six gems.

To the naked eye, the world seemed unchanged, but Lin Yu sensed a colossal force warping reality and altering the universe at a speed surpassing cosmic expansion.

“...Did it work?”

The Avengers watched Lin Yu with tense, anxious eyes.

But Lin Yu said nothing, only lowered his head and gazed thoughtfully at the six Infinity Gems in his hand.

“Ding-dong~”

The next second, a shrill phone ring echoed from the adjacent break room.

The Avengers turned in unison toward the source of the sound.

Through the lab window, they saw Hawkeye Barton standing beside a table, silently staring at the phone ringing on its surface—or rather, at the contact labeled “Darling (Laura)” on the screen.

He couldn’t help turning back to meet the eyes of his teammates through the glass.

The Avengers smiled, offering him encouraging glances.

Barton took a deep breath, finally reached out, trembling, and picked up the phone to answer it.

“Darling, is that you?”

“It’s me, Clint, I...”

The familiar voice came through the phone; Barton’s eyes instantly reddened, his voice thick with tears.

Seeing this, the Avengers in the lab could no longer contain their excitement and burst into cheers.

“It worked!”

“We did it!”

“We brought everyone back!”

Overcome with emotion, the Avengers thanked Lin Yu profusely before sprinting out of the lab to contact their loved ones who had died five years ago in Thanos’s snap.

Watching their excited backs, Lin Lie was swept up in their joy, a genuine smile spreading across his face.

If this were true, then the version of him in this universe must have been revived too!

The thought of meeting his parallel self soon made Lin Lie feel a little nervous...

“Crack—”

At that moment, a crisp shattering sound came from nearby.

Lin Lie froze, then turned to see a crack forming on Lin Yu’s Infinity Gauntlet—then spreading rapidly across the entire nanotech glove until it turned to ash and vanished completely.

The six Infinity Gems detached from the glove and floated above Lin Yu’s palm.

Lin Lie stared in shock and asked, “What happened?”

In the plot of Avengers: Endgame, the snap that revived half the universe’s population only destroyed the Hulk’s right arm—the gauntlet itself suffered no serious damage.

What exactly had Lin Yu done to cause such catastrophic failure in the nanotech gauntlet?

Hearing Lin Lie’s question, Lin Yu glanced at him, turned with the six gems cradled in his palm, and smiled faintly:

“You’ll find out soon!”

Indeed, not long after, the Avengers rushed back into the lab, staring at Lin Yu with shock or confusion:

“Lord Lin Yu, what’s going on?!”

“Why has the outside world reverted to five years ago?!”

What?!

Time had reversed by five years?

Lin Lie stared at him in equal shock.

Lin Yu’s expression remained calm as he spoke slowly: “Indeed, bringing everyone back benefits you all—but have you considered how much chaos would erupt on Earth if half the dead suddenly returned?”

“...”

The Avengers fell silent, stunned.

Lin Yu continued: “Five years is a long time for humans—long enough for grieving families, friends, and lovers to move past their sorrow, let go of the past, and begin new lives.”

“Now, if those long-dead relatives, friends, or loved ones suddenly reappear and intrude into those new lives, what legal and moral conflicts would arise?”

“Surely you didn’t overlook all these issues before acting?”

The Avengers exchanged uneasy glances, shame and awkwardness flickering across their faces.

Lin Yu went on: “Don’t think this is the end—moral and ethical concerns are minor.”

“Far more serious are the massive wealth transfers, five years of technological advancement, post-war reconstruction, and nations swallowed by collapsed governments.”

“If mishandled, legal disputes would be the least of your worries—this could even spark World War III.”

Hearing this, Lin Lie and the Avengers grew solemn, fully grasping the gravity of the situation.

Indeed, over these five years, some small nations had collapsed after the snap, while major powers, severely weakened, desperately needed population and resources to recover.

Combined, this had drastically reshaped the world map.

Now, if every human who died in the snap suddenly returned, countless unspoken conflicts would erupt.

As they pondered this, everyone felt a chill crawl up their spines, dread settling in their hearts.

Steve pondered a moment, then said gravely: “Your words make sense—we admit we didn’t think enough ahead. But reversing time by five years won’t cause problems either?”

“For example, children born in these five years—if they vanish due to the reversal, isn’t that the same as killing them?”

“That is indeed a problem,” Lin Yu nodded, then added calmly, “But do you think I didn’t foresee this?”

He turned his gaze toward Tony Stark, who had remained silent beside him.

Steve blinked, then realized—he turned to Tony and asked:

“How’s Morgan?”

Morgan was the daughter Tony and Pepper had conceived in these five years.

If she had vanished due to the time reversal, Tony wouldn’t be this calm.

“Same as always.”

Tony looked at Lin Yu without expression: “The only change is her birth date was moved up by five years.”

She didn’t disappear?!

Steve understood at once, exclaiming in shock: “You didn’t just reverse time—you altered reality?”

“Only a portion of reality,” Lin Yu explained. “Children with little connection to the snap’s causality were preserved. The rest were erased by the reversed time, but their souls still exist in this universe.”

“As long as their mothers still intend to bear children, they’ll have another chance to be born—just with a different father...”

Here, Lin Yu paused, gazing regretfully at the gems cradled in his palm: “These operations were too precise, requiring immense gem power—exceeding the gauntlet’s limits. That’s why it was destroyed.”

So that’s why!

Lin Lie finally understood what Lin Yu had done.

“In short, I’ve minimized the snap’s impact—but nothing is perfect. Even I cannot fix the remaining regrets.”

“It’s enough!”

Steve, solemn and grave, bowed deeply alongside the other Avengers.

At that moment, Lin Yu turned his gaze outward from the Avengers base—suddenly, golden sparks burst into the air, forming massive portals.

“They’ve arrived!”

Lin Yu smiled, waved his hand, and transported everyone outside.

He had reversed time and erased memories only for ordinary humans on Earth—participants of the war five years ago retained their memories.

The Asgardians and Wakandans were no exception!

Before their astonished eyes, the combined Asgardian and Wakandan armies poured out of the portals.

At the forefront of all portals stood a galaxy-spanning gateway—beyond it lay the wreckage of alien warships and unmistakably alien stars.

Star-Lord, Mantis, and Drax leapt from the portal.

A strand of webbing followed, sticking to the ground before Lin Yu and the others.

Instantly, the young Spider-Man in his nanotech suit swung out and landed before Tony Stark.

“Mr. Stark, you won’t believe what happened—remember when we were on Titan? I must’ve passed out. When I woke up, you were gone, but Doctor Strange told us five years had passed. Come on, they need us, then he started drawing that bright yellow circle...”

Peter Parker removed his mask, babbling nonstop while gesturing wildly to mimic Doctor Strange’s motions.

Seeing this familiar yet youthful face, Tony said nothing—just opened his arms and pulled the boy into a hug, patting his back with guilt and heartfelt emotion.

For Stark’s sudden outburst of emotion, Spider-Man was utterly bewildered.

But once he recovered, he found it deeply comforting.

By contrast, the architect of all this—Doctor Strange—was left utterly stunned.

He had arrived at the battlefield with his hard-won Avengers army, expecting to face Thanos from 2014—only to find Tony and Steve unharmed, and a brand-new base with no trace of war.

Only when he saw the towering figure before him, cradling six Infinity Gems, did Strange’s pupils contract, his scalp prickling—he finally understood what had happened.

The next instant, his world snapped forward—he was instantly teleported right before Lin Yu.

Lin Yu, holding the six gems, smiled warmly at him: “Afternoon, Strange!”

“If I’m not mistaken, this isn’t our first meeting, is it?”

(End of Chapter)