"The situation is a bit complicated," Su Zhan said gently, holding Claire's face in his hands and looking into her eyes. "To put it simply, I brought you here so you could regain your ability. As for the details, I'll explain everything the next time we meet. For now, I'm going to send you back, and I'll let you keep your memories of this place. Do you trust me?"
Claire nodded with complete seriousness. "I believe you."
A smile touched Su Zhan's lips. "Good. Next time, I'll show you a new world." He leaned down and kissed Claire softly, then, with a final look, let her leave the fighting field. As she faded away, Su Zhan followed, exiting the space himself.
"System, send me out of the copy."
The world around him shifted, and in the blink of an eye, Su Zhan found himself back in his hotel room—the same room he had left before entering the copy world. The arrangement of the furniture told him someone had been here in his absence, but he had only booked the room for seven days, so it was not surprising that someone else had come in after his time was up.
He did not rush to leave. Instead, Su Zhan tested his positioning ability. Instantly, the locations of Skye, Blink, and the others flashed through his mind. This power was truly remarkable; with it, he could find anyone, anywhere, in an instant.
A faint smile played at the corner of his mouth. Without a sound, Su Zhan vanished from the hotel room.
The next moment, he appeared in Skye's room. Skye had just finished changing clothes and was about to relax when she suddenly saw Su Zhan materialize before her. She jumped, startled, but quickly recognized him and let out a sigh of relief.
"You scared me! When did you come in? I didn't even hear you," Skye said, her hand over her heart.
Su Zhan walked over and wrapped his arms around her waist, apologetic but affectionate. "I just got here. Sorry, love. I promised I'd stay with you during this time, but I ended up disappearing for so long."
Skye shook her head, a small smile on her lips. "It's alright. I know you have things to do. But… did you know? Simmons has superpowers now. I keep thinking, if I had powers too, maybe I could help you more. Maybe I could always be by your side."
Su Zhan heard the longing in her voice and looked at her with gentle seriousness. "Trust me. You will have your own abilities."
He kissed her forehead softly. "I'll come back to you soon and tell you everything. For now, there are still some things I need to take care of."
Skye nodded, though she looked a little disappointed. Before she could respond, Su Zhan disappeared again, leaving her alone and puzzled. She reached out, her fingers brushing the empty air where he had been, wondering how he always managed to vanish without a trace.
Seven months earlier, during the Battle of New York, Coulson had been stabbed by Loki. His heart had ruptured, and he had been rushed to a secret facility known as the Guest House for treatment. The key to his survival was a mysterious medicine called GH325, derived from the body of an alien.
This was Su Zhan's next goal: the GH325 serum.
He was determined to go back in time, find Coulson during his treatment, and discover the location of the Guest House. If possible, he wanted to obtain the serum—and ideally, the alien body itself.
After leaving Skye, Su Zhan appeared in New York. But as he checked the date, he realized something was off. He had arrived six months earlier, not seven. The time jump was not as precise as he had hoped, but it was close enough. He knew that Coulson would be receiving treatment at the Guest House around this time.
He used his positioning ability to locate Coulson, and in the next instant, he appeared in a small-town restaurant next door to where Coulson was eating. Coulson looked perfectly healthy, with no sign of injury.
Su Zhan frowned, puzzled. "What's going on? Shouldn't Coulson be recovering from his wound right now?"
He glanced around and spotted a man reading a newspaper. Su Zhan paused time, walked over, and took the paper from his hands. The headline was about the Battle of New York, but the date was two months after the event. The timeline was not as accurate as he had hoped.
Determined to get it right, Su Zhan activated his power again, this time ensuring he landed at the correct moment. He checked the time, confirmed the details, then located Coulson once more and appeared beside him.
This time, he found himself in a dimly lit, sterile operating room. Coulson lay on the bed, his hands and feet restrained, his scalp cut open, and his brain exposed. Machines hummed quietly, stimulating his nerves. Two doctors stood nearby, monitoring his condition.
Su Zhan appeared suddenly, startling the doctors. "Who are you? How did you get in here?" one of them demanded.
Su Zhan calmly froze time, then walked over and placed his hands on their heads, erasing their memories of his appearance. When he vanished and time resumed, neither doctor had any recollection of what had happened.
He returned to the room, but this time, Coulson and the doctors were gone. Su Zhan was back in the normal timeline.
He quickly searched the facility and soon found the GH325 serum. With a wave of his hand, he stored it safely in his system space. Following the pipes and machinery, he located the storage area for the alien corpse. When he opened the chamber, he found the upper body of a blue-skinned alien, tubes running in and out of it.
"A Kree," Su Zhan murmured. "They say the Kree created the Inhumans, so this serum has no side effects for people like Skye. Coulson, though… he'll probably suffer from the side effects soon. Maybe even lose his mind."
He placed the Kree corpse and the storage unit into his system space, then teleported away, returning to the dark elf's spaceship and his own room.
With a long sigh, Su Zhan collapsed onto the bed. The repeated jumps through time and space had drained him. His body, usually brimming with energy, now felt hollow and weak.
He closed his eyes, reflecting on the experience. "Watching Nakamura Hiro use his powers on TV, it always looked so easy. I never realized how much energy it actually takes. Still, my body is different from Nakamura's. My recovery is faster, my stamina greater. I'll be back to full strength soon."
After a brief rest, Su Zhan sat up, feeling his strength slowly return. The journey through time and space had been exhausting, but the rewards were worth it. With the GH325 serum and the Kree body in his possession, he was one step closer to his goal.
And somewhere in the city, his friends and allies waited for his return, ready to face whatever the future would bring—together.