A few minutes earlier—
In a seemingly ordinary farmhouse in South Dakota, a Native American woman welcomed two guests; a scruffy, unshaven middle-aged man and a younger, handsome man.
Of course, this was just a façade.
If Josh were here, he would recognize the scruffy man as Randolph—the same person who, two years ago in Austria, sold him four dogs and his family's old estate.
The seemingly ordinary Native American woman and the young man hosting Randolph were none other than Ajak, the leader of the Eternals, and Ikaris, the strongest among them.
At that moment, the three of them were enjoying Ajak's afternoon tea in a peaceful atmosphere.
Suddenly, a psychic wave—one they were all too familiar with—swept past the farm.
The moment they sensed it, Ajak and Ikaris's expressions changed as they exchanged glances.
Has Druig lost his mind?
They had thought he had given up on his plan to control all of humanity, yet he still went through with it.
"Do you need help?" Randolph asked, noticing their reactions and realizing something was wrong.
"No... no need. Ikaris, you should go. Whatever he's planning, stop him," Ajak said grimly.
"Got it." Ikaris nodded at Ajak and headed for the door.
But just as he reached the entrance, the overwhelming psychic wave suddenly disappeared.
A chilling sense of dread gripped Ajak and Ikaris.
"No! Druig is in danger, Ikaris!" Ajak's expression changed dramatically as she shouted at him.
She finally understood—Druig's psychic wave wasn't an attempt to impose his unrealistic vision of a world "without conflict." It was his final cry before death.
Without hesitation, Ikaris shot into the sky, racing toward South America at full speed.
Meanwhile, inside the Eternal ship Domo, hidden within the ruins of ancient Babylon in Iraq, Makkari, who had been asleep, suddenly felt a tear slip down her cheek before she jolted awake.
The next second, she vanished from her spot.
Ikaris wasn't as fast as Superman, but he was still incredibly quick—far beyond any human-made aircraft.
In just a few minutes, he was in the Amazon, at the village where Druig was hiding.
But something strange had happened.
The entire village was completely intact.
Only the people were gone—every single one of them.
Just moments after Ikaris arrived, Makkari appeared as well.
Of course, that didn't mean Makkari was slower than Ikaris.
In fact, apart from not being able to fly, Makkari was much faster than him.
The only reason she arrived seconds later was the distance—South Dakota, where Ikaris had been, was just over 6,000 kilometers away, while Iraq was nearly 12,000 kilometers from the Amazon.
The fact that she was only a few seconds behind spoke volumes about her terrifying speed.
"What happened here? Where's Druig?" Makkari used sign languague frantically at Ikaris, her hands moving rapidly.
Perhaps to make Eternals more relatable to humans—or to create divisions—the Celestials had always given some members defects.
For example, there was Sprite, who never grew older, and Makkari, who was mute.
"I sensed Druig's psychic energy surge and came here. I arrived just a few seconds before you, so I have no idea what happened either," Ikaris said, shaking his head with a solemn expression.
Hearing this, Makkari grew even more anxious.
Without hesitation, she activated her power, launching a high-speed search across the entire planet.
Ikaris merely shook his head slightly as he watched her go, then began carefully searching the village himself.
About ten minutes later, Makkari reappeared in the village, her expression somber—clearly, she had found nothing.
Ikaris, who had been searching the village, had no luck either.
The whole village was too untouched.
There were no signs of destruction, no traces of battle, not even footprints suggesting a large-scale evacuation.
It was as if the entire population had vanished into thin air.
"Did you find anything?" Ikaris asked, though he could already guess the answer from Makkari's expression.
Makkari shook her head, obviously frustrated.
"I haven't found any useful clues either. Let's go see Ajak—maybe she has some insights," Ikaris sighed.
Makkari didn't hesitate and nodded immediately.
Even after centuries of separation, the Eternals—aside from Druig—still deeply trusted Ajak as their leader.
In moments like this, only she could provide them with direction.
Having reached an agreement, Ikaris took off, heading back to South Dakota, while Makkari disappeared in a blur of motion.
Not long after they left, a barely perceptible magical fluctuation swept across the village.
A moment later, the Ancient One appeared.
Another wave of distortion rippled beneath the Amazon's rushing waters, revealing a fleet of massive submarines, forming a colossal underwater convoy.
It was the rainy season in the Amazon, and the river was at its peak, with an average depth of over forty meters—enough to accommodate large submarines.
Normally, navigating such waters with submarines would be nearly impossible due to the river's violent currents and unpredictable dangers.
But for robots with micrometer-level control, it was a manageable challenge.
Josh had gambled that neither Makkari's super-speed nor Ikaris's enhanced vision would detect the deep, turbulent waters of the Amazon.
If they had, Josh's only option would have been to sacrifice the entire fleet—dozens of submarines, a hundred thousand robots, thousands of people, and even Peggy Carter—just to ensure no evidence remained while dealing a devastating blow to Makkari and Ikaris.
That's right—those submarines were all carrying high-yield nuclear warheads.
But Josh's worries turned out to be unnecessary.
The Ancient One had already handled everything.
Using the Time Stone, she reversed time for everything in the village—except for the missing people—erasing all traces of battle.
For the future Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Strange, such precise manipulation of time would be incredibly difficult.
But for the Ancient One, the true Supreme Sorcerer, it was a simple task.
She then cast massive cloaking spells, completely obscuring the presence of the submarines and the Margaret fleet.
That was the real reason why Makkari and Ikaris had found nothing.
"That was close... I almost got caught."
Glancing in the direction Ikaris had left, the Ancient One wiped nonexistent sweat from her forehead and muttered, "I swear, next time, I'm charging Josh extra for this. I'm not cleaning up after him for free again."
Meanwhile, aboard the Margaret, Josh remained blissfully unaware that he had just racked up a massive debt.
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