Thinking of this, Ancient One's evaluation of Homelander was elevated to another level once again.
"The darkhold is extremely dangerous, Anthony." Although Ancient One felt relieved, she still reminded him.
"Its very existence is a threat to reality. Now that Wanda has safely returned, that book must be destroyed immediately."
"I quite agree with your view, Teacher." Homelander helplessly spread his hands, "Unfortunately, that book was in Strange's hands at the time. When he fell into the Portal, the book disappeared with him into the multiverse."
Ancient One fell silent.
Sighing silently.
Stephen Strange.
That was the next Sorcerer Supreme she personally selected after observing countless futures through the Time Stone.
He originally had an irreplaceable mission.
But now, with the appearance of Homelander, and various events beyond her cognition occurring one after another, the development of this World had long deviated from its established track.
Since the future had already become chaotic, clinging to past arrangements was of no avail.
Ancient One had a broad mind and quickly accepted this reality.
"This is Stephen's tribulation, and also his destiny." Ancient One said calmly. "However, casually crossing the barriers of the multiverse, or even using dark magic to forcibly intervene in other Universes, will bring very serious consequences."
Ancient One looked at America lying on the ground.
"Once the barriers of the two Universes are excessively weakened, it will trigger an incursion event. The result is that both Universes head toward destruction simultaneously, with none spared."
Homelander also frowned inwardly.
Incursion event?
It sounded like a doomsday script again, and a doomsday script for two Universes at that.
But this kind of uncontrollable doomsday was not what Homelander liked.
"Then what does Teacher think should be done?" Homelander asked.
Ancient One pondered for a moment and put forward her own suggestion: "The power within this girl's body is too massive and uncontrolled. If she is left to wander outside, she herself will become a mobile disaster source. When she wakes up, ask her if she is willing to go to Kamar-Taj. I will personally teach her how to use and control this power correctly."
"I will seek her opinion." Homelander nodded solemnly.
Handing America over to Ancient One was indeed a good choice.
Keeping her by his side was of little use and easily caused trouble instead.
Kamar-Taj had a complete magical defense system and could just serve as a nursery.
...
Meanwhile.
In the unknown multiverse.
"Bang!"
Strange fell out of the star-shaped Portal.
Smashing heavily onto the hard concrete ground.
Strange let out a painful muffled groan, clutching his lower back and struggling to crawl up from the ground.
He steadied his mind, struggling to refocus his vision.
He found himself standing in the middle of a wide street.
"Beep——Beep beep!"
Sharp car horn sounds exploded in his ears one after another.
Strange was startled and hurriedly walked onto the sidewalk by the side of the road.
A peculiarly styled car sped past right against his back.
Holding onto the nearby streetlight pole, he began to look at the surrounding environment.
This look left him completely stunned.
He was too familiar with this place.
This was New York.
He had lived in New York since graduating from high school, and could recognize the street layouts and building outlines here with his eyes closed.
However, this New York exuded a sense of incongruity everywhere.
The green belts on both sides of the street were blooming with all kinds of flowers.
The exterior walls of the buildings were covered with creeping plants, and even the streetlight poles were hung with meticulously pruned potted plants.
This concrete jungle was adorned like a garden city.
There was no scent mixed with car exhaust and sewage unique to New York in the air, but instead it was permeated with a refreshing floral fragrance.
Strange frowned and walked forward along the street.
He walked to the intersection and looked at the traffic signal light ahead.
The red light lit up.
Instead of slowing down, all the vehicles stepped on the accelerator and roared across the intersection.
Immediately afterwards, the signal light turned green.
The cars stepped on the brakes in unison, stopping steadily in front of the crosswalk.
And the pedestrians by the roadside started crossing the road out of habit when the green light lit up.
Walk on red, stop on green.
Strange finally became convinced that he was no longer in the original Universe.
That damned magic out of control had really thrown him into New York in another multiverse.
Since he had come, he would make the best of it.
As a mature sorcerer, Strange quickly calmed down.
He now needed to figure out the basic situation of this World before he could figure out a way back.
Following the route in his memory, he walked in the direction of Greenwich Village.
If this World also had the inheritance of Kamar-Taj, then the New York Sanctum must still be in that familiar location.
Passing through several flower-filled streets, Strange arrived at 177A Bleecker Street.
That familiar Victorian-style building was indeed standing there.
But what made Strange stop his footsteps was not the Sanctum itself.
It was that he discovered in front of the main entrance of the Sanctum, a huge bronze statue was actually erected.
The statue carved a man wearing robes and draped in a cloak.
He slightly raised his left hand, gazing resolutely into the distance.
Strange raised his head and blankly stared at that statue.
Because the face of that statue was clearly none other than himself!
He walked under the statue and saw clearly a line of text inscribed on the base:
[Stephen Strange. He gave his life in the campaign against Thanos. We express our eternal gratitude to Earth's greatest hero.]
Strange stared at that line of text and read it repeatedly several times, his heart shaking.
Himself in this Universe was not only the Sorcerer Supreme, but also a great hero who saved the World?
And even had a statue erected for people to look up to and admire?
In his own Universe, he was a rebellious sorcerer who fell into dark magic, a stray dog scared out of his wits by Homelander.
Yet here, he was a revered savior.
"Why... being the same me, is the gap so huge?" This strong contrast made Strange's heart filled with mixed feelings.
Just as he was staring blankly at the statue.
A voice suddenly came from behind him.
"Stephen?"
The voice was very soft, yet it made Strange's whole body stiffen.
This voice.
This voice he haunted in his dreams, unable to forget even in his deepest nightmares.
Strange's heart pounded wildly, slowly turning around.
Sunlight passed through the gaps in the leaves, spilling onto the street.
A woman wearing white professional attire stood there.
Brown shoulder-length hair, exquisite facial features, and those eyes he was incomparably familiar with.
Christine Palmer.
Strange's eye sockets instantly turned red.
In the original Universe, she died in that car accident, which also became the root of Strange's obsession to desperately contact dark magic.
And now, she was standing alive right in front of him.
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