Bab 236: Chapter 237 Iron Man: Musk Dares to Compete with Me for First in Space?
"How did you repair the damaged nerves?" The Ancient One asked. "How did you push the dislocated spine back into place?"
"Diligent practice, day after day, year after year," Stephen Strange said.
"Well, you know the secret then," the Ancient One smiled.
"I thought there might be more advanced secrets," Stephen Strange said.
"No, Stephen, there's nothing more advanced than diligence," the Ancient One stood up and said. "We've covered enough theory for today. Take some time to digest it. You can try the 'practical lesson' first."
Stephen Strange's first "practical lesson" wasn't taught by the Ancient One, but rather by the currently enthusiastic, later-to-turn-dark, Mordo.
The content he taught was quite basic: the use of Sling Rings.
"Proficient use of Sling Rings is crucial in magic." Mordo put on a Sling Ring and wore it on his finger. "It allows us to freely traverse different universes. You need to concentrate your mind and visualize it."
As Mordo spoke, the other sorcerers nodded along, each putting on a Sling Ring.
"Damn, what are they nodding about? Did they actually understand?" Stephen Strange put on a Sling Ring too, but Mordo's words were like gibberish to him, completely confusing and incomprehensible.
"So, that's the key to using the Sling Ring. Did everyone remember?" Finally, Mordo asked.
"We remember!"
"We remember!"
They all responded in unison.
Stephen Strange's response was also "I remember."
He wasn't lying; he really did remember. As an elite doctor with high education and qualifications, his memory was quite good.
But remembering and comprehending were two different things. He simply didn't understand those words.
"Alright, now everyone start to open a portal. I'll demonstrate first, and then you can follow along." Mordo extended both his hands, two fingers from each hand extended, the left hand remained still, and the right hand slowly drew a circle.
A golden space portal slowly appeared.
"Did everyone see it clearly?" Mordo asked.
"We saw it clearly!"
"We saw it clearly!"
Again, they responded in unison.
"Alright, now everyone start!" Mordo said.
Everyone followed Mordo's movements, extending both hands, the left hand remained still, and the right hand drew a circle.
"Imagine your destination in your mind, don't limit yourself to the current world, imagine every detail." Mordo walked slowly, pacing among the sorcerers, explaining, "The clearer the image in your mind, the faster the portal will appear."
Everyone else successfully conjured golden circles, but Stephen Strange, after a long while, had conjured nothing.
"Are you being modest?" Mordo stopped beside Stephen Strange. "Or can you really not do it?"
"It's coming soon, just wait a bit." Stephen Strange glanced at Mordo and accelerated the frequency of his right hand.
"Can you actually conjure it?" Mordo looked at him, crossing his arms.
"It's coming." Stephen Strange accelerated the frequency again.
"It still won't appear. Do you want me to help you?" Mordo asked.
"No need, I'll do it myself." Stephen Strange sighed, put down his hand. "It's because of my hand, my hand is injured and can't be as agile as theirs."
"It has nothing to do with your hand." Mordo shook his head.
"How could it have nothing to do with my hand?" Stephen Strange was very dissatisfied. "Drawing that circle involves using both hands. How can you say it has nothing to do with my hands?"
"Magister Hamir." The Ancient One called someone over.
Magister Hamir was a short man wearing glasses. He walked up to Stephen Strange and rolled up his sleeve. Stephen Strange was startled; this man had no left hand at all!
I don't know what accident occurred, but his left hand was broken at the wrist!
"He, can he really conjure it?" Stephen Strange asked incredulously.
"Let's wait and see," the Ancient One smiled.
Without saying a word, Magister Hamir extended both his hands, and a golden straight line appeared. Then he drew a circle with his hands, and the line transformed into a circle, then changed into other more complex patterns.
Stephen Strange was left speechless. Even with one hand missing, this man was still so skillful.
And him?
He might have an injured hand that made him less agile, but compared to Magister Hamir in front of him, he was much stronger.
If others could succeed, why was he making excuses about his hand not being able to do it?
Embarrassing!
"Thank you, Magister Hamir," the Ancient One dismissed him.
"How did he do it?" Stephen Strange couldn't help but ask.
"Draw water from the well while it's still flowing. You need to learn to use the force that comes naturally, as if it originates from within you," the Ancient One explained the key point.
"But how can I control it while using the force that comes naturally?" Stephen Strange was even more confused now. "It just doesn't work."
"All things in the world have their own truths," the Ancient One said. "You achieved success through your intelligence and wit, but that's all."
"How can I understand?" Stephen Strange was nearly at his breaking point. He was supposed to be the future Sorcerer Supreme, yet he didn't know anything!
Looking at himself, how would he be able to repel Dormammu's invasion when it happened in the future?
"Understand, Stephen. Let go of your ego, and your power will become stronger." The Ancient One demonstrated personally, extending her hands and seemingly casually drawing a circle, causing rings to appear.
"Follow me," the Ancient One walked into the portal.
Stephen Strange followed and found himself on the other side of the portal in a snowy landscape.
"Wait, what is this?" Stephen Strange was immediately frozen, the biting cold cutting into his skin like a knife.
"Mount Everest," the Ancient One said. "It's very beautiful."
"Indeed, it's beautiful." Stephen Strange shivered in the snow. "The only downside is that it's too cold. Maybe next time we appreciate this snow scene, we should wear thicker clothes in advance."
"At this temperature, if a person stays for more than 30 minutes, their organs, including their life, are at risk." The Ancient One said calmly.
"That's great." Stephen Strange said.
"You probably won't last two minutes before you faint." The Ancient One said.
"What?" Stephen Strange was shocked. What did that mean?
Could it be...
He quickly turned his head and indeed saw the Ancient One stepping back into the portal.
"No!" Stephen Strange rushed towards the portal, but he was too late. The portal disappeared just before he reached it.
Stephen Strange ended up in the snow, his mouth full of snow as his neck, arms, and other exposed skin came into direct contact with the snow, causing a tingling sensation.
"Oh, it!" Stephen Strange couldn't help but curse.
Although the Ancient One's method made Stephen Strange resentful, it was effective. The circles he previously couldn't draw were now successfully conjured.
As the saying goes, the beginning is always the hardest. When the circles weren't drawn, Stephen Strange felt that magic was incredibly difficult. But once he successfully drew the circles and took that first step, the subsequent learning became effortless, without any difficulty.
He felt like he was back in his college days, like a dry sponge, avidly absorbing knowledge.
However, as he learned more and more, he started to feel more confused about some of the lessons in Kamar-Taj.
Of course, not all the lessons; only some of them that he felt were completely unnecessary.
And there were some lessons where he found Mordo and the Ancient One's teaching methods absurdly clumsy. He believed there were simpler ways to achieve the same results.
This might be a common trait of good students - they have strong opinions of their own.
"Learning from them is a waste of time. Thanos is coming, and I don't have much time to spare!" One day, Stephen Strange made a decision: to learn on his own!
What should he learn first?
After careful consideration, Stephen Strange decided to learn astral projection.
This way, he could continue studying while his body rested, thus saving time.
Stephen Strange was a man of action; he didn't procrastinate. As soon as he had an idea, he immediately headed to the library.
There, he saw a familiar figure.
Actually, he hadn't met this person in real life, but he knew this person would be a solid partner in the future.
That person was Wong.
"No wonder I've never seen him before. Turns out he's in the library," Stephen Strange thought to himself.
To be honest, he was quite curious about Wong. Ever since he arrived at Kamar-Taj, he had been wondering when he would get a chance to meet him. After all, their relationship seemed significant from the videos. However, it had been quite a while, and he hadn't crossed paths with Wong even once. Now he knew the reason why – Wong was always in the library.
"Stephen." Wong saw Stephen Strange and greeted him casually. Although they hadn't met before, he still knew about the newcomer.
"Wong, I want books about astral projection," Stephen Strange said.
"You're not ready yet," Wong rejected him outright.
"Let me give it a try, Beyoncé," Stephen Strange said.
He had initially intended to make a joke, but Wong's expression turned serious, as if he didn't understand.
"Are you kidding? You haven't heard of Beyoncé? She's a superstar," Stephen Strange said in disbelief.
"Should I have heard of her?" Wong asked in response.
"There's really no need." Stephen Strange said, "But just because there's no need doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. People don't need to sleep too much, but many still sleep longer than pigs."
"Pigs?" Wong's cold expression changed slightly. "Why did you look at me when you said 'pigs'?"
"Huh?" Stephen Strange was taken aback.
"Are you mocking me for being fat?" Wong asked.
"What? Absolutely not!" Stephen Strange hurriedly denied. He genuinely didn't mean that.
"Since you're not, why did you look at me when you said 'pigs'?" Wong asked again.
"Come on, I'm talking to you, so of course, I'm looking at you." Stephen Strange shrugged, "Should I be looking at the ground?"
"You can't even tell when I'm joking, yet you're trying to imitate me?" Wong said.
"..." Stephen Strange nearly choked. Wong didn't act like this in the videos!
"Lend me the book," Stephen Strange said after a pause.
"No," Wong still refused.
...
While Stephen Strange was busy learning spells at Kamar-Taj, Tony Stark's house received a visitor from space.
Although this space visitor was interstellar, he was actually a human from Earth.
He was none other than Peter Quill, also known as Star-Lord, who considered himself quite famous but was still relatively unknown.
"This is a remote-controlled bomb I specifically made to kill Ego for you." Tony Stark handed over a seemingly ordinary bomb with extremely advanced technology to Peter Quill. "Just in case. You should also take Scott's Ant-Man suit. If you can't remotely detonate the bomb, you can shrink yourself and enter his body to place the bomb."
"Thanks." Peter Quill wasn't overly polite and accepted the bomb and the suit. "Wait for my good news."
"With the Guardians of the Galaxy not formed yet, you don't have any teammates. Going alone might result in mistakes. How about I accompany you? It could also provide some backup," Tony Stark suggested.
"Is your suit equipped for space combat?" Peter Quill asked.
"In the past, no, but since I realized we might need to fight in space against Thanos, I've added space combat capabilities," Tony Stark said. "Perfect timing, I've never been on a space trip."
"I can't miss out on this kind of thing." A voice chimed in. Steve Rogers, led by Pepper Potts, walked over. "I've never traveled to space either."
"Going to space?" Pepper Potts sounded concerned. "Tony, why do you want to go to space? What are you planning to do in space?"
"Just trying to outdo Musk." Tony Stark shrugged. "Even he's taking his car to space; how can I fall behind?"
"Tony, what exactly are you planning to do in space?" Pepper Potts asked. "Don't just play it off casually. If you don't explain clearly, I won't let you go."
"It's not a big deal, just blowing up a planet," Tony Stark was straightforward, telling the truth. "That planet is bound to consume Earth one day."
"Is it dangerous?" Pepper Potts worriedly asked.
"If I say it's not dangerous at all, you won't believe me. There's a slight risk, but I can handle it," Tony Stark said.
"Don't worry, Miss Potts. This mission isn't as dangerous," Steve Rogers added. "I promise you, I'll make sure Tony returns safely, without a hair out of place."
"If you don't trust me, then you should at least trust Captain America, right?" Tony Stark said.
And so, Peter Quill, Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, and Scott Lang headed to space together. Originally, they had only planned to bring Ant-Man's suit, but when Scott Lang saw Captain America and Iron Man joining, he changed his mind and decided to go to space as well.
Peter Quill had known the coordinates to Ego's planet for a while, so after leaving Earth, they headed straight for Ego's planet.
"Is this really space?" Scott Lang sat in the spaceship, looking at the vast and deep universe, feeling incredibly amazed.
"Even if we end up fighting against Thanos in the future, with battles extending from Earth to space, I still haven't been to space." Steve Rogers turned to look outside. "It's beautiful."
"Captain, you're just complimenting its beauty. Aren't you going to do anything?" Tony Stark asked.
"What should I do?" Steve Rogers raised an eyebrow.
"Take some photos for social media," Tony Stark suggested. "It's trendy now. They take photos for everything. Even eating a meal or getting out of bed is an opportunity for a picture. Can you believe it? You can see everything in someone's social media feed."
"I don't have a social media account," Steve Rogers said.
"Oh, I forgot. I'm dealing with a dinosaur here, how would he understand social media accounts?" Tony Stark remarked.
"Captain, if you want, I can help you create one," Scott Lang offered.
"I think I'll pass," Steve Rogers replied.
"To be honest, Captain, you should get one. If you had a social media account, your fanbase would outshine those celebrity singers. You'd be the hottest star in America! Your popularity would skyrocket!" Scott Lang suggested.
"No, not the hottest, the second hottest," Tony Stark chimed in from the side. "The hottest one is me."
"Tony, after you've snapped your fingers, maybe you could compare with the Captain. But for now, you're still far behind," Scott Lang said.
"Guys?" Peter Quill interjected, exasperated. "Did you come to space just to argue about this? You could have settled this on Earth!"
"That makes sense. Let me take one last space photo and send it privately to Musk. I don't want to see him cluttering my feed with trending topics every day. Then, let's get to business," Tony Stark snapped a picture and then sent a few round objects of unknown nature towards Ego's planet. Afterward, he patted his chest, signaling he was ready.
"The scan results are in, no one's there," Tony Stark announced.
"No one?" Scott Lang was taken aback. "So, all we have to do is plant the bomb, it goes boom, and it's done? We're lucky!"
"It's not luck." Peter Quill said, "I spread false information about Ego's descendants being away, so now he's off looking for his son."
"Nice to be able to resolve things directly. I like that," Tony Stark said.
Since Ego wasn't home, this task was easily accomplished. Scott Lang, Tony Stark, and Steve Rogers teamed up and arrived on Ego's planet.
They left Peter Quill on the spaceship because he was the only one who knew how to operate it. Just in case of an emergency, he could quickly evacuate everyone.
Of course, even though Tony Stark and his companions were on Ego's planet, the "work" was quite straightforward. All they had to do was search separately for Ego's brain.
To avoid alerting Ego, they didn't touch the ground, they flew.
Tony Stark had his armor, so he could fly. Steve Rogers and Scott Lang were wearing the space suits provided by Peter Quill.
"Found it!" It didn't take long for Tony Stark to locate Ego's brain.
"Who would've thought, I'm personally placing the bomb." Tony Stark released a remote-controlled bomb, sending it towards Ego's brain.
"Captain, Scott, the bomb is in place. Retreat immediately!" Tony Stark instructed Scott Lang and Steve Rogers to retreat.
Once they were at a safe distance, Tony Stark detonated the bomb.
Boom! Ego turned into a cosmic firework, releasing a brilliant light and heat.
"Yes!" Inside the spaceship, Peter Quill saw the scene and clenched his fist in excitement.
"Captain, drinks are on me when we're back on Earth," Tony Stark said to Steve Rogers. "Although Ego was an easy kill, it's still a universal-level crisis. We've saved Earth once again."
"You're right, a drink is a must," Steve Rogers agreed happily.
"If only it were this easy to kill Thanos," Scott Lang said.
"You'll have to ask your Lord for that, whether he's willing to engage in a verbal battle with Thanos," Tony Stark remarked.
"Me? No, that's T'Challa," Peter Quill quickly denied.
"Both you and T'Challa," Tony Stark said. "Two mouths would definitely make it more enjoyable for Thanos."
"What's making Thanos more enjoyable?" Peter Quill questioned. "Instead of fantasizing about these unrealistic things, it's better to put hope in Momma Fracker. Let her scold Thanos more often; who knows, maybe she'll scold him to death one day."
"Scold away. Fury's cursing Thanos every day – morning, noon, and night, right on schedule," Tony Stark said.
As they were talking, a beeping sound came from the spaceship. Peter Quill tapped a virtual panel, and Yondu's blue head appeared.
"Quill, Ego's dead. Your plan worked!" Yondu exclaimed.
"That's fantastic news." Peter Quill said. "Oh, Yondu, let me introduce you to my friends. This one is a playboy from Earth, with countless girlfriends. You can call him Tony Stark. This one is the strongest soldier on Earth, Captain America, Steve Rogers. And this one..."
Scott Lang immediately straightened his posture, awaiting Peter Quill's introduction.
"This one, well, there's not much to say, so let's skip that," Peter Quill said.
"..." Scott Lang's expression froze.
"Haha, just kidding. This one is also from Earth, Scott Lang. He can shrink and grow." Peter Quill explained.
"Hey, everyone. I'm Yondu Udonta. I am..." Yondu Udonta's words were cut off as Peter Quill interjected, "I am his father."
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[END OF CHAPTER]
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