"Pietro!"

Wanda stepped out of the bathroom, her damp hair clinging to her cheeks, droplets sliding down her neck. When she saw her brother standing in the living room alive and well, her face lit up with uncontainable relief.

From the look of him, he had truly recovered.

Her thoughts immediately turned back to the mysterious vial Rowan had used. The Water of Life. She remembered what he had said earlier, that its value was in the hundreds of billions. She had not believed it then, but now, watching her brother breathe, speak, and stand before her, she realized it might not have been an exaggeration at all.

Wanda's gaze flickered secretly toward Rowan, who sat calmly on the sofa. The small knot of grievance in her heart everything that had happened between them seemed to melt away without her realizing it.

But Pietro's expression was the complete opposite. His joy at being alive curdled into a storm of anger the moment his eyes fell on Wanda. Seeing her emerge with wet hair, her cheeks faintly pink, he understood what must have happened while he was unconscious. His heart twisted painfully. His sister, the one person he swore to protect, had fallen into the hands of this man.

Yet reality was cruel. Against Rowan's overwhelming strength, Pietro had no choice but to submit.

Not long after, Turke arrived. Rowan ordered him to take Pietro away, and at the same time instructed the two of them to work with the Avengers for the time being, with the goal of rooting out Hydra once and for all.

When Pietro and Turke left, Rowan turned back to Wanda. He crooked his finger at her, silently beckoning.

"I… I still feel a little sore…" Wanda whispered, lowering her head as her cheeks flushed scarlet. Just recalling what had happened in the training room earlier sent her heart racing uncontrollably.

"Down," Rowan commanded, spreading his legs slightly as he sat back against the sofa. His tone left no room for hesitation.

Wanda froze, but she understood. She was no longer as innocent as she had been. Rowan had guided her earlier, and now she knew exactly what he wanted. She bit her lip, glanced nervously around the villa to make sure Pietro was gone, and only after confirming that no one else was present did she obey, trembling slightly as she knelt before him.

The hours that followed blurred into silence.

When it was over, Wanda leaned back against the armrest, her breathing unsteady. Rowan, however, was focused on something else entirely.

"Tell me about Strucker's experiments," he asked calmly.

Wanda blinked, her lashes wet, and after steadying her breath, she began to explain. "Strucker's experiments killed so many people… perhaps thousands. By the end, only six of us survived, including Pietro and me."

Rowan's eyes narrowed. Six survivors? In the original timeline he remembered, there had been only two Wanda and Pietro. For four more to emerge alive meant something had changed.

"How were these experiments conducted?" he pressed.

"They… they injected us with some kind of blue energy," Wanda said softly, her voice trembling at the memory.

Rowan stilled. Blue energy.

"Could it be the energy Red Skull and Arnim Zola extracted from the Tesseract during the war?" he murmured.

It made sense. Decades ago, Hydra had armed itself with weapons forged from the Tesseract's power. Though those weapons had supposedly been destroyed when Captain America crashed the Valkyrie, perhaps not all of that energy had been lost.

If Strucker had gotten his hands on it, the results were obvious.

Rowan's mind turned cold. "So Hydra has united their resources after all…"

His hand absently stroked Wanda's damp hair, though his eyes gleamed with ice. In the original timeline, this was the point when Hydra's infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D. had reached its climax, pushing Fury toward initiating the Insight Program. That program's exposure had torn Hydra's presence into the light and shattered S.H.I.E.L.D. in one stroke.

But here and now, the Insight Program had not yet happened. Hydra's spies still thrived within S.H.I.E.L.D., moving freely in the shadows. Fury still sat at the top as Director.

Because of his interference, the timeline had shifted completely.

"Very well," Rowan thought grimly. "If you will not expose yourselves, then I will drag you into the light myself."

He despised insects who thought they could scheme against him. If Hydra dared, then Hydra would pay.

"Friday," Rowan spoke aloud, his voice sharp, "encrypt Hydra's agent records within S.H.I.E.L.D. and deliver them to both the Avengers and the Security Council."

"Yes, sir," replied the soft, precise voice of the AI.

This Friday was not Tony Stark's creation but a rebuilt version, recoded by Shuri using Stark's schematics after Rowan had brought the damaged system from another world. He had grown used to the name, so the new AI retained it.

Wanda looked around in astonishment at the disembodied voice.

"It is the villa's AI caretaker," Rowan explained, brushing her cheek. "From now on, if you need anything or don't understand something, you may call upon it directly."

Wanda's green eyes widened slightly. "An artificial intelligence butler…?" She nodded shyly. "That's… incredible."

Rowan smiled faintly, then set down a few rules for her to follow. Only once he was satisfied did he let her retreat to rest. He did not yet pass her the cultivation method of Five Hearts Toward the Sky. Until he was certain Wanda's loyalty was absolute, he would never entrust her with true power.

When Wanda finally withdrew, Rowan stepped into his training room. Closing the door behind him, he activated his dual-crossing rings and shifted back into the world of Swallowed Star.

No sooner had he arrived than his phone lit up with a message from Luo Feng.

"Rowan, my punching force and speed have both reached the quasi-warrior standard!"

Rowan arched a brow, genuinely surprised. "So quickly?"

By his memory, there were still months left before Luo Feng's high school graduation, and yet he had already broken through? Clearly, the ripple effects of Rowan's presence in this world were beginning to show.

He typed back: "Congratulations. Come to Mingyue Community for the official test tomorrow. Afterward, you can meet me I live there now."

"OK!" came Luo Feng's cheerful reply, punctuated by an emoji.

Smiling faintly, Rowan tucked the phone away. He cultivated for a while longer until a sudden knock on the door interrupted him.

When he answered, several men in military uniforms stood straight at attention outside.

"General Rowan, sir!" they chorused respectfully, snapping into a salute.

Rowan nodded slightly. "What brings you here?"

"Orders from above, sir. We were tasked to deliver this to you."

One of the soldiers stepped forward, holding out a deep blue alloy case forged from Kro-Alloy, both hands extended reverently. Rowan took it, his mind flicking back to Jia Yi's promise of a Spirit of Plants treasure.

"Good work. You may return."

"Yes, General Rowan!" the men replied crisply before turning on their heels and marching away.

Alone again, Rowan carried the case back into the training chamber. After pressing his fingerprint, the locks clicked open with a hiss. Cold mist spilled into the air, followed by the delicate fragrance of a flower so pure it seemed unearthly.

Inside the case rested a pristine white lotus.

Its scent spread instantly, filling his lungs with a refreshing clarity. Rowan lifted it carefully, marveling at its beauty. The fragrance intensified as he held it, sharpening his focus, enlivening his spirit.

"Even just the scent has this effect," he murmured in wonder. "No wonder Jia Yi said this Spirit of Plants would aid a Spiritual Force User."

His thoughts sharpened further. He had been stuck at the peak of advanced War God for some time. This lotus might be the key to breaking through.

His first impulse was to consume it immediately, but after a pause, he shook his head. "No… better to return to the Marvel world. With the Mind Stone near, its effect may be amplified."

With that decision, Rowan closed the case once more. The path to his next evolution lay before him, luminous as the lotus in his hands.

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