TL/N: Sorry, I had a viral infection the last few days, so I couldn't upload.
What kind of person could silently grab a massive sword right in front of a group of highly trained super-soldiers?
No, this was no theft. This was daylight robbery.
"A speedster... Heh, I don't know if you're still here, but my things aren't that easy to take," Josh said coldly, scanning the surroundings.
Silence.
Heh... So it really was that guy.
Josh thought to himself.
Back in his previous life, when people talked about speedsters in American comics, the first names that came to mind were Marvel's Quicksilver or DC's Flash, Reverse-Flash and the like.
But in this world, which was based on Marvel, DC comics did exist, but he had never heard of any actual DC-related figures appearing.
So that pretty much ruled out any DC speedsters...
Of course, given that this world was already a chaotic mix, with various movie and TV characters showing up, it wasn't entirely impossible for the Flash to cross the multiverse barrier and end up in Marvel.
But seriously, why would the Flash bother stealing the Broken Steel Sword in the first place?
Barry Allen isn't the type to take things without asking.
As for villains like Reverse-Flash? If it were him, he wouldn't just steal the sword—he'd probably kill everyone here just for fun.
So the vast number of DC speedsters could still be ruled out.
That left only the recorded speedsters of the Marvel universe.
First suspect? Quicksilver.
But that was almost impossible, the kid hadn't even been born in this timeline.
Unless the mutant universe Quicksilver had somehow crossed over.
But again, why would Quicksilver steal the Broken Steel Sword? There was no logical reason.
Other powerful beings like Captain Marvel could also fly at the speed of light, but she wasn't even born yet. And even if an alternate timeline version showed up, she wasn't the type to sneak around.
With each suspect eliminated, Josh quickly narrowed it down to a speedster he knew.
This speedster couldn't talk, had an obsession with hoarding, and loved sneaky little thefts.
Makkari.
An Eternal who had come to Earth thousands of years ago and had been hiding among the humans ever since.
Great. Just great.
I didn't go looking for trouble with you people, but you came after me first.
A cold smile flickered across Josh's face.
If it was Centuries ago he might have hesitated to take on the Eternals.
After all, as creations of the Celestials, these guys were strong—each possessing unique abilities.
Especially their most powerful member, Ikaris—basically a weaker version of Superman.
If they were all together, even the full Avengers lineup would have trouble taking them down.
But if Josh remembered correctly, by the 16th century, most of them had already gone their separate ways, believing they had successfully wiped out their target—the Deviants.
Only their leader, Ajak, and their strongest warrior, Ikaris, knew the truth.
Their true mission wasn't just to hunt the Deviants—it was to ensure the birth of Tiamut, the Celestial growing in the Earth's core.
So right now, the Eternals were probably scattered and isolated from each other.
This meant that Josh had a chance to deal with them.
Of course, he still had to carefully plan his next steps.
And dealing with the Eternals brought up another problem—if he took them out, how would the Celestials react? And what about Tiamut?
Tiamut...
The thought of that Celestial made Josh pause for a moment.
In his past life, a lot of people who saw the Eternals movie thought it was ridiculous that a few of them could stop a Celestial from being born.
And honestly, it was ridiculous—because Tiamut didn't die because of them.
They didn't have the power to kill a Celestial.
The real reason Tiamut died?
When the Eternals physically connected with him, he willingly gave them his power—so they could end his own life.
Those who were truly affected by humanity were not those useless Eternals, but Tiamut.
Tiamut truly saw humans as his children, and he didn't want to destroy them by being born. That's why she lent her power to the Eternals and allowed them to end her life.
The name Tiamut itself means "Mother of Life".
But just because Tiamut chose to die doesn't mean that the Eternals were useless.
Before she fully awakened, Tiamut could not end herself. But if she had fully awakened, Earth would have been destroyed.
It was a deadlock.
That's why the Eternals were a crucial part of Tiamut's self-destruction.
So if Josh was going to deal with the Eternals, he had to figure out how to deal with the Tiamut problem in the future.
In fact, if there was a way to let Tiamut be born while keeping human civilization safe, maybe that wouldn't be such a bad idea...
But no matter what, Josh would not forget this grudge against the Eternals!
Wait? What if it turns out that Makkari, the Eternal speedster, wasn't the one who took the sword?
…Makkari has stolen countless treasures from humanity. Josh is just helping to get them back—nothing wrong with that, right?
(TL/N: Bro just wants their treasure)
"Boss, I..." Just as Josh was thinking about how to deal with the Eternals, Vito came out of the hall, looking embarrassed.
"Say no more. This isn't your fault. Let's go. There's nothing more to do here." Josh waved his hand and walked out of the ruins without looking back.
"Damn, the boss is really mad this time!" Seeing Josh like that, Vito sighed helplessly.
"Relax, Vito. The boss isn't mad at you, he's mad at that damn thief who stole the sword," one of the others reassured him, explaining Josh's thoughts.
"A speedster, huh? Good. Perfect."
At first, Vito thought Josh was angry with him, but now he understood the real reason. Based on his years of following Josh, he knew that Josh's guess was probably right.
So, without hesitation, Vito added the mysterious speedster to his hit list.
With his last lead in the underground ruins cut off and his treasure stolen, Josh lost interest in investigating further. Instead, he ordered the robots to seal off the ruins and concentrated on building his base.
Well, to be honest, Josh didn't have to worry about construction—his robots handled everything. So for the next few days, he spent most of his time fishing and planning how to deal with the Eternals.
In less than a week, the entire island had been transformed.
At one point, Josh spent an entire day pulling a massive amount of weapons and equipment out of his system storage and having the robots put them in the right places.
A week later, when the first Boeing 707 landed with over 300 soldiers, they saw a fully equipped military base on the island.
Normally, a Boeing 707 could only hold about 200 passengers, but this wasn't a civilian flight—it was a military transport. Comfort wasn't a concern.
For this mission, Josh had mobilized all of Continental Airlines' planes, shutting down normal business and taking a financial hit.
But compared to the benefits he was about to gain in Java, this loss was nothing.
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