The dark, dreadful Forbidden Forest twisted and faded like an old painting weathered by time, warping and blurring—only to be replaced by a street full of screaming and chaos.
After crossing worlds several times, Harry had already adapted to switching rapidly between two completely different realities.
This time, he realized he wasn't in any familiar room, and that didn't surprise him at all.
In fact, after multiple trips, he had gradually grasped part of the pattern:
When he traveled from the multiverse back to the wizarding world, he returned to the exact place he had been in the wizarding world. But when he went from the wizarding world to the multiverse, it was completely different—he always appeared right in the center of some sudden incident.
Harry still remembered his first trip into the multiverse, when a vicious local thug had targeted him—and it was after that experience that Uncle Ben and Aunt May adopted him.
On his second trip, he had appeared in a remote cave in Afghanistan and saved Tony Stark.
On his third trip, because he had already used a portal to get close to Abomination and was already at the heart of trouble, he crossed in place and didn't end up somewhere else.
And now, on his fourth trip, the moment he opened his eyes, he saw people fleeing and screaming all over the street, while lizard-men crawled out of the sewers and tore through everything in sight without restraint—he had arrived at the scene of lizard-men slaughtering humans!
Time and time again, he was forced into the epicenter of disaster.
As if every crossing was fate's cruel joke, shoving him onto the most dangerous knife-edge, again and again.
Maybe this was the heavy price one had to pay for traveling between worlds.
Still, Harry wasn't worried about the situation in front of him. Up to now, every incident he'd been dragged into was something he could handle easily.
However, he also knew that if one day he crossed straight into the core of an interstellar war, or stumbled into the battlefield of a Skyfather-level powerhouse, then with his current strength, he wouldn't stand a chance.
So when that happened… he'd have no choice but to turn on the cheats.
He would unhesitatingly release every last restraint on his chaos magic—and completely tear everything around him to shreds!
Back in reality, to avoid having his face remembered too clearly and being harassed in daily life, he immediately shrouded his features in gray mist and transformed his clothes into Kamar-Taj sorcerer robes.
Next, Harry swiftly pulled his staff from his pocket dimension.
With the staff in hand, he swung it through the air. Several sigils glowing with eerie light rapidly formed in midair—and then, crackling sounds burst through the air as streams of electricity coiled around his body like living snakes, jumping and flashing nonstop.
Harry drew a deep breath and thrust both hands into the sigils. In a flare of dazzling light, he pulled out the Sacred Sword of the Vishanti.
The blade radiated holy brilliance, interweaving with the surging electricity around him into a breathtaking spectacle.
With electricity reinforcement, a lightning armor, and magical enhancement stacked together, Harry's physical stats were boosted massively for the moment—strength, speed, endurance, and more soaring to over ten times Captain America's level.
Feeling that surging power roaring through him, a thrill he couldn't suppress rose on Harry's face.
He gripped the sword with both hands, lightly kicked off the ground, and shot forward like a bolt of lightning ripping across the night—charging straight at those vicious, green-skinned monsters.
Ahead, a lizard-man's claws tore through the air with a howl, about to shred a young woman into pieces.
In a flash, Harry appeared in front of her. Cold light flickered—his blade traced an almost perfect arc through the air, fast as thunder, and cleanly severed the lizard-man's claw!
After making sure the woman was safe, Harry dashed toward the others, cutting down the nearby lizard-men in rapid succession.
Then—behind him—he suddenly heard a familiar shout of warning:
"Mr. Potter, look out!"
Harry had already sensed the whistle of something tearing through the air behind him. He spun around instantly, using the twist of his body for momentum, and slammed out a vicious spinning kick—sending the lizard-man that had been hiding flying straight back, embedding it into the wall behind him.
After decapitating the final lizard-man with one clean strike, Harry finally saw who had warned him.
It was none other than S.H.I.E.L.D.'s current rising star—the bald powerhouse, Coulson!
Staring at the lizard-men that kept crawling out of the sewers and attacking pedestrians, Harry frowned in confusion.
"What's going on here? Why are there suddenly so many lizard-men?"
Coulson held the Shield of the Seraphim with both hands, using it for both offense and defense. At the same time, he reinforced his body with fixed enhancement magic, single-handedly suppressing several lizard-men at once.
His talent for magic really was impressive—he had already grasped Kamar-Taj's combat essence.
While fighting, Coulson answered quickly:
"We investigated, traced it back, and found the original lizard-man. His name is Curt Connors—a world-famous herpetologist.
"He accidentally discovered a mutant lizard. By studying its DNA, he developed a serum that could heal severed limbs, and he injected it into himself.
"But the serum failed. It didn't restore his missing arm without side effects like he hoped. Instead, it eroded his mind, turning him violent and deranged, wreaking havoc everywhere.
"And all these lizard-men were created by him—normal people transformed into lizard-men. They have no intelligence and are controlled by him."
Hearing that name, Harry froze slightly and repeated instinctively, "Curt Connors?"
Coulson effortlessly blocked another attack, then nodded hard and shouted, "That's right—Empire State University's biology professor."
Connors had once given a lecture at Midtown School of Science and Technology. In Harry's memory, he had been a gentle, knowledgeable scholar.
But who would've thought that because of an accident, that gentle scholar would become the terrifying Lizard—and cause destruction on this scale?
Sure enough, in this world, any disaster with horrific consequences and massive impact usually had an obsessive scientist or an evil sorcerer behind it.
Thinking of that, a thread of worry rose in Harry's chest. He could only hope Tony wouldn't end up like the Lizard—trying to do good, yet accidentally creating something capable of destroying the world.
Harry's brows knitted tightly.
"Why is he making so many lizards and constantly capturing humans? What's his goal?"
Coulson wasn't fully sure. "He keeps capturing people to create more lizard-men, but we still haven't confirmed his true objective."
Just then, Coulson's earpiece crackled with urgent static, and Black Widow's tense voice came through clearly:
"Coulson, it's critical! Get to the Catskill watershed immediately! We've confirmed the Lizard is planning to inject the lizard serum into the reservoir.
"If he succeeds, New York's entire water system will be contaminated. Then everyone will become mindless, bloodthirsty lizard monsters!"
"What the fuck?" Coulson blurted out in shock.
——————
A short while later, Harry, Peter, Tony, and several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents—fully geared up—arrived at the Catskill watershed in the northwest outskirts of New York.
The Catskill watershed was the most important source of water supply for New York—around ninety percent of the city's drinking water came from here.
If the Lizard truly meant to poison New York's water, then from a feasibility and efficiency standpoint, this place was unquestionably his best choice.
Other reservoirs were scattered, and the underground pipelines were dense and complicated—bad for large-scale contamination.
But the Catskill watershed was vast and relatively concentrated. Once the lizard serum was injected here, it could spread rapidly through the water supply system and contaminate all of New York with ease.
At that moment, a low rumble rolled across the sky. Everyone looked up to see Tony descending in his signature Iron Man armor.
After landing, Tony swept his gaze around, raised an eyebrow, and joked, "Looks like this special party is about to start. Our guests still not here yet?"
Before Tony's words even faded, Nick Fury's voice came through the earpiece, crisp and heavy:
"Tony, focus. The difficulty of this mission is far beyond what you're imagining. What we're facing may be a powerful army made of super soldiers. No mistakes."
Tony shrugged. "Fine, fine. I get it. Then let me go meet those green-skinned freaks. Besides, my Magic Mark III suit could use a stretch—let's see what it can really do in live combat!"
Right then, green lizards began emerging one after another—some from sewers, some from the shadows of buildings, some from roadside bushes—forming a rolling green tide that surged in from the distance.
They were huge. Each one was at least two meters tall, covered in hard scales, muscles bulging, radiating a savage, primitive sense of power.
And beyond their shocking physical strength, they possessed jaw-dropping regeneration. Even after suffering heavy damage, their wounds could heal rapidly.
They couldn't compare to the Lizard himself—but in pure hand-to-hand combat, nearly every single one of them was enough to match Captain America bare-handed.
Seeing them, Tony's relaxed expression finally turned serious. There were nearly a hundred of these green-skinned monsters—one glance, and all he saw was a sea of dark green bodies rolling forward.
"Oh, damn it," Tony muttered, irritation and resignation thick in his voice. "That's a lot. Now we really are in trouble."
Black Widow smiled calmly. "Relax. We've got a very high chance of winning."
Tony lifted an eyebrow. "Oh? You're that confident?"
Three cold, gleaming daggers—like nimble black ghosts—floated silently beside Black Widow.
Under Tony's stunned gaze, Black Widow's figure shot upward, charging straight into the oncoming tide of green-skinned monsters.
"It's not just you who's one of Harry's borrowers!" Her slightly mocking voice rode the rushing wind, reaching Tony clearly.
Only then did Tony notice how strange the agents around him looked—
Crossbones, wrapped in dense electric currents.
Little Spider, covered in spiritual light, his physique clearly strengthened.
Hawkeye, whose arrows were wreathed in lightning.
And Coulson, in a suit, surrounded by one sigil after another.
Tony clicked his tongue, silently amazed. He knew Harry had been developing borrowers—but he hadn't expected that the agents nearby were all part of Harry's borrower network.
Sensing their strength, Tony's eyes flashed with surprise and excitement.
Now… they really could face the green-skinned army head-on.
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