Chapter 189 — The Child I Was

Chapter 189: Chapter 189 — The Child I Was

Hearing Jack’s question, Alice replied, "Hmm. Didn’t we have a rule to take care of children who had lost their parents? Most of those second-generation members came under that rule. Since they were the children of our comrades and friends, the officers at the top took extra care of them. Most of them became good Plumbers after they grew up, but some bad ones also got in. Since they didn’t openly violate any rules, they were allowed to stay."

"Hmm, the same problem that happens in old organizations," Gwen said. As the daughter of a police captain, she had heard many stories like this from her father.

Jack decided to make some arrangements to prevent spoiled brats from getting important positions just because of their family connections or the influence of their parents and friends. For the rest of the day, Jack and Gwen rested while carefully learning about everything the Plumbers had done over the years. Jack also went through the details of the Plumbers’ members and made notes about them so that, as the leader, he could understand the organization properly.

Only the next day did Jack decide to have a meeting with the Plumbers’ council. The original five-member council had grown to eight members, with only three of the original council members still alive. The other five were new members who had never met Jack, their leader, before. So when the meeting started under the name of the leader, every member of the council was surprised and shocked to finally meet him.

"Hello, everyone. It’s good to finally meet you all. I am the leader of the Plumbers," Jack said as he started the meeting.

The eight council members appeared on the holographic screen. Jack also saw the new members for the first time. They came from different planets and species, showing just how much the organization had grown over the years.

"It is good to meet you again, Leader," Zeyara said. She looked a little older than the young woman Jack remembered, but he wasn’t surprised. The Plumbers had many medicines that could keep people young, as well as treatments that increased their longevity.

Since Alice had already given Jack a detailed report about everything that had happened, he didn’t need the council to explain their history again. Instead, he spent the day discussing the current state of the organization with them and going over the problems he had noticed in the rules.

As the Plumbers had grown, some of the original rules had become outdated and created loopholes. Jack made several adjustments to the council’s authority, recruitment, and how important positions were given to members. He also made it clear that family connections or friendships should not be enough to give someone a high position.

The council accepted the changes, though some of the newer members were clearly surprised by how directly Jack handled things. After all, they had only heard about their leader from the older generation. Now they were finally meeting the person who had created the organization.

After the meeting ended, Jack stayed behind to talk with Zeyara. She was the only council member he personally knew well, so he asked her about Kalen and Lisa and how things were going on the Zehoberei planet.

Thanos still hadn’t attacked it, but Jack didn’t know exactly which year the attack would happen or whether it would happen at all. Zeyara gave him an update, telling him about how Kalen and Lisa had changed over the years and how they were handling the planet. Hearing about them made Jack feel the effects of time travel again. The people he remembered as young were now adults with families of their own, and some even had children. For Jack, it felt strange to hear about their lives after what had only seemed like a short amount of time to him.

After finishing everything else, Jack suddenly remembered something.

"Did I forget something?" Jack thought for a second.

Then his eyes widened.

"I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT HOWARD!" Jack shouted, finally remembering the reason he had come to this era.

"I thought you completely forgot about him, but don’t worry. I already found the information you wanted," Gwen said, watching Jack’s face before sending him a file containing Howard’s current status.

"How did you guys find this information? Isn’t everything in S.H.I.E.L.D. supposed to be top secret?" Jack asked Alice, who was nearby, with some doubt after reading a few pieces of information.

"We have our people there."

Hearing that, Jack suddenly remembered something. He had once given Nick Fury a hint about Hydra, which had made Fury start wondering whether the Plumbers had people inside S.H.I.E.L.D. Now, that lie might actually have become true.

A small smile appeared on Jack’s face.

"Why are you smiling?" Gwen asked when she noticed the smile forming on his face.

Jack told her what he had remembered.

"A lie you told has become true," Gwen teased him.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. is already filled with snakes. Now it has some new members—the Plumbers," Jack joked.

Jack then read through Howard’s file carefully. From the information, he came to the conclusion that Howard’s accident was getting close. There had already been rumors that Howard had succeeded in creating the Super Soldier Serum using blood samples from Steve Rogers.

"What about Peter’s parents? When did something happen to them?" Gwen asked, remembering that Jack wanted to save both Howard and Peter’s parents.

"That was in the late ’90s, so Alice will deal with them then."

"Wait a minute. It’s 1991. That means..." Gwen suddenly looked excited as she realized something.

Jack looked at her, confused by her reaction. For some reason, he suddenly had a bad feeling.

December 15, 1991 — New York

It was already night in New York.

Christmas was only a few days away, and the streets outside the orphanage were decorated with Christmas lights. A few small decorations could be seen through the windows, and the cold December air had made the children stay inside.

Inside one of the rooms, Gwen was sitting on a chair while holding a one-year-old baby in her arms.

The baby was wearing a small Christmas outfit, with a little red hat on his head. His cheeks were slightly red from the cold, and he looked completely comfortable in Gwen’s arms. He didn’t seem to understand what was happening around him and simply looked at Gwen with curious eyes.

Gwen couldn’t stop smiling as she looked at him.

"You were so cute as a baby, Jack."

Jack stood beside her, staring at his one-year-old self.

For a moment, he didn’t know what to say.

He had seen pictures of himself as a child before, but this was completely different. This was actually him, right in front of him.

Gwen gently touched the baby’s little cheek with her finger.

"He’s so small," she said with a smile. "I can’t believe this is you."

Jack looked at the baby for a few more seconds before his expression slowly changed.

"I didn’t expect even the orphanage I grew up in to be under our organization," Jack said, still looking at the baby. "But I didn’t order anything like this, right? Then why...?"

"I felt it would be safer to have you under our organization," Alice replied.

Jack looked back at the baby in Gwen’s arms and then slowly looked around the orphanage where he had grown up. Before his past-life memories had awakened, he had also longed for someone to adopt him. He had even thought about finding out who his parents were and why they had abandoned him, but before he could actually do anything about it, his past-life memories had awakened and those thoughts were pushed to the back of his mind.

Now, seeing his younger self in front of him and standing in the same orphanage again, those old thoughts started coming back. For the first time in years, Jack found himself curious about the parents he had never known.

He looked at Alice.

"So... do you know who my parents are?"His voice was quieter this time.

Gwen’s smile faded as she heard the question. She looked at Jack and then at the baby in her arms.

Jack waited for Alice’s answer. After a moment, she looked at him.

"Hmm... I know."

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