CHAPTER 102:Bucky Appears Again

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After witnessing the brutal execution of her parents at the hands of the false gods during the Attilan Insurrection, Alyssa finally understood a painful truth—only overwhelming strength can offer true protection.

For years, she believed she was exceptional, a rare Divine Mecha Synchronizer—someone born to master the newer generation of God-Eater units. She looked down on the older God-Machines, their pilots, and even their creators like they were relics of a flawed past.

But that arrogance had just been shattered.

God-Eaters weren't the pinnacle. Not even close.

Alyssa sprinted toward Shen He and his companions, driven by desperation and a burning desire to evolve—to reach that transcendent level of power.

Yet Shen He gave her only a calm, unreadable glance.

Then, without any warning or flash, everyone in his group vanished—Shen He, Jeanne, Qi Mu Nanxiong, and even the combat-torn bodies of the Inhuman defectors and rogue Celestials began dissolving into ether, like echoes of a forgotten battle.

Only silence remained.

"…Let's go back," Amemiya Gentian said quietly, watching Alyssa's wide-eyed disbelief. "They'll return when the time is right."

Elsewhere—

Shen He and his companions reappeared on Earth, returning from the dimensional gate to the Marvel World. Within moments, he stood once again inside the high-gravity training chamber under Chaldea HQ.

His thoughts drifted back to Alyssa—he sensed her conflicted aura before they left. She had tried to say something. So had he. But the breach to Earth had begun collapsing too fast.

Still, there was one bright spot—Qi Mu Nanxiong had successfully unlocked the 20th Gate of Reality Perception. That alone was reason to be satisfied.

"Now, if only I could train a proper endgame boss…"

"Master…" a soft voice pulled him from his thoughts.

Jeanne stood nearby, arms crossed, but her flushed face betrayed her irritation.

"Still thinking about that silver-haired girl?" she said, voice sharp but trembling. "Don't tell me you're the type who likes abs. Or… or cleavage?"

"I still prefer your kind of Jeanne d'Arc," Shen He responded without hesitation. "You're warm. Like cotton. It's comforting."

"Cotton…? W-Warm?" Jeanne stammered, her face turning redder. She tightened her grip on Rhongomyniad.

"Don't think compliments will make me go easy on you next training match! Even if it was a nice thing to say…"

"Of course."

Shen He smiled and summoned the evil-infused dagger he'd recovered from the last dimensional incursion—once wielded by an alternate-universe version of the Ebony Blade's bearer. It pulsed with unnatural energy, still needing purification and calibration.

But just as he prepared to begin, a knock sounded on the reinforced alloy door.

Standing there was Steve Rogers—Captain America—his figure tall and solid, a pair of old-school boxing wraps slung over one shoulder.

"Steve." Shen He set the dagger down. "Something up?"

Despite the shared Chaldea training compound, most members had their own facilities. Shen He's environment—heavy on psychic flux chambers and mecha interfaces—differed vastly from, say, the spiritual blade room of Violet or the dual-reality chamber of Ryougi Shiki.

Steve's serious face didn't bode well.

"I just…" he hesitated, tightening the wraps in his hands, "have you seen Coleson's latest report?"

"I've been focused on stabilizing the dimensional breach to Attilan's ruins," Shen He admitted, "Did something happen with the Earthbound Inhuman enclaves?"

Steve nodded. "The newly awakened Inhuman leader we were monitoring… he disappeared. Took a small group and bolted in the dead of night. Set fire to their compound."

He paused.

"I gave chase. But I saw someone—someone I wasn't expecting."

Shen He's eyes narrowed, intuition catching the gravity behind Steve's words.

"You're wondering if it was Bucky Barnes."

Steve froze.

"…You do know."

"I do." Shen He nodded. "He didn't die after falling from the train. He lost an arm, and Hydra found him. They erased his identity, implanted commands, performed neural restructuring. Turned him into the assassin history remembers as the Winter Soldier."

Silence followed.

Steve leaned against the steel wall, lost in old memories—of Bucky jumping from that train, of wartime days when the world was clearer and friendship was everything.

"Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky," Steve said softly.

Bucky had always shielded him, even before the serum. And after, Steve protected him in return—but it had always been them against the world.

"It's not your fault," Shen He said, laying a hand on Steve's shoulder. "What happened to him… it's a tragedy Hydra orchestrated. But the bond you had with Bucky? It ran deeper than most."

"I need to find him," Steve said, his voice low and firm. "I need to."

"I wouldn't recommend it. Not now." Shen He shook his head. "From what we've observed, in every future possibility, Jia Ying never aligns with Hydra. But someone is forcing timelines into convergence. And Joan of Arc won't be able to locate Bucky. She only finds those you want to find. And right now, Steve…"

He paused.

"…I don't think you're ready to face him."

Steve clenched his fists. "Why?"

"Do you know how many innocent people he's killed under Hydra's programming?" Shen He's tone was neither angry nor accusing—just calm and factual. "You know it wasn't his choice. But imagine explaining that to a victim's child. Imagine lifting your shield against people you once vowed to protect… to shield the one who took their families."

Steve opened his mouth, but Shen He raised a hand.

"I know what you're going to say: that Bucky is a victim. And he is. But hatred doesn't listen to logic. To most people, a killer is a killer. Not everyone cares about the why."

"But that hatred is misdirected," Steve argued. "Just like with Jia Ying. She let hatred twist her—she targeted all humans, not the ones truly responsible. It's the ones who controlled Bucky… they're the villains. Shouldn't they pay?"

Shen He turned away slightly, walking back toward Jeanne, who looked on quietly.

"Maybe," he said. "But I can't prioritize Bucky right now. I'm still stabilizing the gateway between dimensions. And I'm not ready to bring him back into the chaos."

He looked over his shoulder. "If you must find him, wait until this world is secure. When the crisis ends, I'll help you. You and Tony."

Because Shen He already foresaw the problem: Tony Stark's parents were murdered by the Winter Soldier during one of Hydra's black ops.

And the best path forward—the only path where the Avengers didn't fracture—was if Steve led Bucky to them voluntarily.

If Bucky came to atone.

If the truth came out not as a weapon, but as a plea for understanding. And if Shen He and Qi Mu Nanxiong were there to anchor Tony's anger with reason.

If, after all that, Tony still chose vengeance—then perhaps the bond was never real.

But Shen He was hopeful.

Because from his position as a dimensional observer, he had seen the moment Tony chose to not strike the killing blow. That fragile possibility still existed.

And if it did, they'd face it—together.

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