The newly formed New Fantastic Four had no intention of "inheriting" the will of Reed Richards. The man likely wasn't even dead yet, so how could they inherit anything?
Instead, they needed to establish a target to allow their own combat strength to grow stronger, while simultaneously figuring out a way to rescue everyone.
"If Kang intended from the start to ensure the Fantastic Four could never return, then he would definitely need a very specific location—one that ensures Reed has no means of using technology to return to 2013."
Peter briefly explained his viewpoint, and Logan, after a moment of thought, provided a conclusion: "The prehistoric era?"
"The prehistoric era alone isn't enough, Mr. Howlett," a youthful voice rang out. Franklin drifted over sitting in his small-scale flying car. "The key is time. I'm certain that as long as my dad has enough time, he can create a new time machine. After all, he didn't exactly go there empty-handed; there are four of them, and they have a high-tech flying car with them."
So, as long as Reed's IQ hadn't taken a significant dip, if given enough time, he could hand-craft these things.
Unless...
"Unless Kang sent them to an inescapable location where they can't stop a terrifying disaster from occurring, and that disaster is imminent..." Peter thought it over carefully but found nothing that perfectly fit the criteria. "The most likely possibility is the famous Late Cretaceous mass extinction. But unfortunately, as long as they find a suitable shelter, life can theoretically survive."
"Or perhaps in the future, at the moment of Earth's destruction. But in that case, the foundational technology would be very advanced, and they wouldn't need a massive amount of time for basic research."
The dialogue between Franklin and Peter left the others utterly confused. Johnny couldn't help but ask the Hulk beside him, "Can you understand them, big guy?"
"Yes. They are looking for a time node capable of killing everyone, such that the Fantastic Four have no way to return."
Good heavens, you actually understood.
Not only did he understand, but after only a slight pause, the Hulk provided an answer: "Kang doesn't need the mass extinction to kill them completely. He only needs the disaster to keep Grimm and the others too busy to act."
The two of them turned to look at the Hulk again.
"Isn't Kang constantly sending armies to various time periods?"
"An army... an army meant to deal with the Fantastic Four, with orders not to provide them with any extra technology... Let me guess. Kang probably has an army of primitives. He became a chief in some primitive tribe and then guided that tribe to attack the Fantastic Four..."
Peter was almost amused by his own thought, but then again, it was exactly the kind of thing Kang would do. Just look at Apocalypse—originally someone who resisted Kang, only to be captured and turned into a slave.
Wait, Apocalypse?
"Speaking of which, I think I might know where the mutants were sent." Peter looked over. "Even if Illyana was sent to the past, she could definitely travel to other multiverses through Limbo. Therefore, the X-Men should always be able to find a world safe enough and with enough technology to return. Conversely, since the X-Men haven't returned, it means they can't—someone is stopping them from doing so."
Logan looked at Peter. "Who?"
"Apocalypse. He once served as Kang's slave for a period in Ancient Egypt."
According to what Logan knew, one of Kang's expeditionary targets was an Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh. This Pharaoh was said to have ruled Egypt for centuries through immortality, and Kang was unable to defeat him. Following that logic, Kang likely sent the X-Men to the era where Apocalypse was still his slave, as that would be the only way to restrict Magik's teleportation abilities.
As for the Fantastic Four, the distant past was still too vast, and they had no leads for the moment. After thinking it over, Peter came up with a "dumb" method.
"I thought of a method often used in movies: carving words onto stones or even fossils. Then, after tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of years pass, someone digs those fossils up and conveys the information to the people of the past."
"That method is too stupid. Over hundreds of millions of years, the world changes too much. There's no way to guarantee the information you need would be preserved."
Franklin complained dissatisfactorily; Peter's idea was far too unreliable. Johnny looked between them and asked, "Then couldn't it be a piece of information they're certain we can receive? Like something in the Fantastic Four's fossil collection?"
Peter looked at Franklin, but Franklin shook his head. Reed Richards was a man who pursued the future; he wasn't the type to collect dinosaur fossils.
"Alright, we'll check museums and such. The only problem now is, even if we find them, how do we get there? Kang's scrutiny of time travel is extremely strict. Any illegal time travel will be hunted down. More troublesome is that the moment they return, they will definitely be attacked by Kang using the Cosmic Cube."
Peter helplessly stated the most difficult point: as long as Kang remained in this era holding the Cosmic Cube, any resistance was futile. Even bringing in more combat power wouldn't change anything.
"Then why don't we attack Kang in the future?"
Logan's single sentence served as a reminder to Peter.
"The future?"
"Right. Isn't he a man from the 31st century? His fleet and his soldiers all come from the 31st century. Since that's the case, let's just not come back. We go straight to the 31st century and blow up his home base. Wouldn't that settle everything once and for all?"
Logan shrugged. "What, it won't work?"
"It might. But who goes? We still need someone to bring the X-Men and my family to the future, right?"
Franklin began to list candidates suitable for the task: "He has to be familiar with time or space travel, be able to complete the mission alone, not be afraid of being hunted by Kang's army, and most importantly, he has to live a long time. If necessary, he might have to spend decades or even centuries in the past searching for my parents."
Logan and Peter locked eyes. They actually did have a candidate in mind.
"That guy... currently, he hasn't had cancer yet, so he's still a normal person, right?"
Peter wasn't sure about Deadpool's current situation and asked Logan. Logan shook his head. "No, that guy Wade is currently locked up in SHIELD. He doesn't have the slightest desire for his current life to change."
"He only asked for the face of that goddamn superstar, Ryan Reynolds."