Strange found the Loki of the past.
More precisely, it was a Loki who hadn't yet interacted with Earth's superheroes, the invisible annoyance within Thor's team.
During this period, Loki was quite awkward. When he and Thor were younger, neither of them did anything serious, fighting and fooling around all day. People only remarked that the children were energetic and didn't pay much attention to their pranks.
But as they grew older and left their adolescence to approach adulthood, the disparity in their physiques became increasingly pronounced, especially after undergoing the royal Asgardian training. Most of the instructors just shook their heads and sighed when it came to Loki.
Thor, on the other hand, began to shine during this period, earning unanimous praise from everyone. He quickly secured a place within the Asgardian army and even formed his own little group shortly thereafter.
Being brothers, Thor naturally included Loki, but Loki was not much use on the frontline at that time and was even accused of holding others back. His surly personality and poisonous tongue did not fit the traditional Asgardian aesthetic, and he didn't get along with the other members of the team.
As the battles kept expanding, Thor became busier, and that also marked Loki's loneliest times. Sometimes when Thor was too occupied to pay him any attention, Loki would go to great lengths to make his presence felt in front of Thor. Sometimes he even caused a lot of trouble for Thor, which made others increasingly dislike him.
Strange went to find him, actually as a way to lay a trap for Shiller in advance. Loki was one of Shiller's earlier patients, into whom Shiller had put a lot of effort, not hesitating to treat both Thor and Odin as well.
In Strange's view, it was better to have as many people as possible occupying Shiller's attention, cultivating a more greedy kidnapper. His relationships with the superheroes would become more stable.
After all that he had been through, Strange had discovered a truth that Stark had not—Shiller shaped himself.
Shiller didn't become what he is today because of any hardship. It was more that he wanted to change, so he did.
Instead of looking for the reasons in the past that made him that way, it was better to spend more time planning for the future. If he wanted to be a doctor, then find him more patients. At least he could find a sense of presence during the healing process.
Strange didn't have Stark's firm sense of justice; it could even be said that some of his moral views were distorted.
It's still the same saying: either I'm crazy or the world is crazy. As long as you stick to one, people can be happy. It's only those who should be crazy but aren't who suffer.
If being morbid is the essence and can never be cured, and the sicker you get the happier you become, then why not spend the time you would on finding a cure on playing a game of patient and doctor? At least in this process, everyone is happy.
And it's hard to say who the patient is and who the doctor is. In the original timeline, only Shiller held the initiative. He was the ultimate doctor, feeding on their emotions yet stingy in paying for the feast, just greedily taking more and more.
But this time might not be the same, Strange thought. He wanted everyone to know that in the future, they would meet a greedy kidnapper whose habit would be to demand ransom from his hostages.
And once the kidnapper develops a dependence, the hostages are not entirely without bargaining power—that's what they deserve.
A back-and-forth game like this is more likely to be intoxicating, allowing people to invest more fully and find more joy. Why not?
Loki and Natasha were intelligent, so Strange didn't need to disguise anything. That would have been too easily seen through. He just needed to show up and tell them the truth. When they met Shiller, they would naturally know what to do.
From Strange's memory, Natasha had done almost perfectly. She was the only one who had killed Shiller. The fact that Shiller would give her this opportunity proved that she had a special place in his heart.
So Loki... Strange thought, Loki was very important because he could be considered Shiller's most perfect creation.
Undoubtedly, among all of Shiller's patients, Loki had changed the most. He had been led by Shiller step by step to become what he is today, while his past had been almost forgotten.
It was only the arrival of other Lokis that reminded everyone that Asgard once had an overlooked Little Prince, who was not the high-ranking Prince Loki of today, virtually second in command of Asgard.
The original process wasn't bad either, but there was always a vibe of impartial justice between Shiller and Loki, as though seeing them hugged and dancing together at a party would only make people suspect they were discussing where to throw their malicious schemes.
Therefore, Strange decided to make early contact with Loki. Now that he himself was also the Supreme Magician, Dormammu had given him a message, and he just followed the coordinates there.
This was an extremely chaotic region, clearly the aftermath of a locust swarm, which, in this case, referred to the Asgard fleet. The celestial debris scattered across the sky was evidence of a heart-pounding skirmish that had just taken place, and Odin had thrown more than a few punches.
Strange had no concept of Asgard's war history and didn't know why they had brought the battle here, but that didn't stop him from using his experience to deduce where Thor would likely be — the very front of the front lines.
These brutes shared one brain among them, and Asgard's style of warfare involved shouting "Father of All Gods above!" before charging into the fray with a wild barrage of punches, forcing even the earthworms to be dug out and split in two.
Indeed, following the trail of shattered celestial bodies, Strange spotted a figure wielding a hammer in the midst of the chaotic energy fluctuations. He was in pursuit of a group of blue giants, who appeared to be the victims of this occasion.
Merely finding Thor was not enough, Strange needed to locate Thor's squad. He guessed it wouldn't be far, as Thor would never allow his team to stay far behind the front lines.
When Strange flew over Thor's head, he deliberately concealed his presence, carefully not to emit any energy fluctuations, but the other still instinctively glanced in Strange's direction—a testament to the terrifying battle instincts of the warriors.
About a light-year away, on an intact asteroid, Strange found his squad, consisting of about seven or eight people, including three of the Four brave men of Xiangong and Sif, but Loki was nowhere to be seen.
After circling the area seven or eight times without finding Loki, Strange began to doubt his own hypothesis. It was when he landed on the surface of a desolate planet nearby that he suddenly saw a flash of Magic Light.
Turning around, Strange saw a handsome young man with his arms folded watching him.
"Caught you, you damned spy."
With a swish, a Magic Light brushed past Strange's scalp, and he abruptly soared into the air, his hands shining with golden rings.
What was Loki's deal, attacking so soon like his brother? Was he once a brute too?
What Strange didn't know was that Loki's way of getting physical was quite mild in comparison. If Thor had been there, dozens of lightning bolts would have already struck before he even made an appearance.
Strange fought Loki in a frenzy. The Doctor was no longer the Novice Magician he had once been, and though he still was no match for his teacher, The Ancient One, there were few in the cosmos who could. With only a third of The Ancient One's essence, Strange could already overwhelm Loki.
Strange's Path of Magic was characterized by going all out in a grand manner. In addition to the teachings from his teacher, his approach had been extravagant since his debut, never knowing what energy conservation was, simply hammering away with energy could bury anyone deep into the ground, irretrievable.
Magical brilliance flashed in Strange's eyes, and once again numerous gigantic arms appeared behind him, each clutching a different kind of energy, and he unleashed a relentless bombardment on Loki.
Loki didn't know where this madman had come from. Now, on his own without a Divine Artifact, he just wanted to flee since he couldn't win.
But Strange wouldn't give him the chance. Mimicking his teacher's tactic of "luring the tiger out of the mountain," he purposefully opened a gap in the dense web of energy, hinting at a path of escape, only for it to disappear immediately, followed by a second and a third.
Loki, naturally deceitful, knew this could be a trap and hesitated to escape. While he was seeking the true opening, Strange abruptly dropped an energy shield, pinning Loki in place.
Loki glared angrily at Strange because of the dishonorable move. Strange sized him up and realized that, although Loki's appearance had not changed much, he now appeared much younger.
Strange thought the difference might be in his attire. In his memory, Loki was vain, whether in male or female form, almost desperate to drape himself in various jewels, like a peacock spreading its feathers, needing to dazzle everyone's eyes to be satisfied.
But this Loki was dressed in a plain, dark green robe, now slightly dirty from the recent scuffle, with no adornments on his head, his black hair falling loose, and even the Magic Wand he held had only two gemstones—utterly shabby.
Strange felt using "inexperienced" was an understatement; "disheveled and destitute" was more like it. How had Loki fallen so low?
No wonder Strange found it strange. In the original timeline, when he first encountered Loki, the latter had already been inflated nearly to bursting point with pride by Odin, ordained as a chief deity, and while Thor had been exiled to Earth, Loki had been riding high, his attire several times more lavish. He certainly wasn't like the pitiable, disliked Second Prince of the current state.
Seeing him like this, Strange couldn't bear to continue, and after some hesitation, he withdrew the protective shield and said, "First of all, I'm not a spy. Secondly, Asgard has only two Princes. Would it kill them to treat you a bit better?"