Chapter 1312: Interstellar Grand Stage (36)

Stark, dressed in black, went on and on, mostly cursing Strange, which left Stark feeling completely bewildered.

Could the Sorcerer Supreme of this universe be an enemy? Otherwise, why would this Iron Man clone gnash his teeth every time the name was mentioned?

Stark wasn't quite sure, because Dr. Shiler from the sanitarium had told him that Strange was looking for him and wanted him to visit the Sanctum Sanctorum. This suggested that the Sorcerer Supreme wasn't an enemy, but an ally.

Now, the two sides' accounts conflicted, but Stark was more inclined to believe Dr. Shiler. After all, it wasn't impossible for an alien with cloning abilities to act as a spy and sow discord; Stark didn't trust aliens at all.

Thinking of this, Stark offered some words to soothe the clone opposite him. After sending him away, Stark hesitated for a moment, then said, "Jarvis, help me prepare the shuttle. I'm going to the Sanctum Sanctorum."

Right now, Stark felt a special attachment to this world. If this world really was the headquarters for Spider-Men, then even for the sake of these Spider-Men, he needed to do something to prevent tragedies from happening over and over again.

Stark stood up decisively from his chair. He took a deep breath, stretched his body in the open space of the laboratory, and said to Jarvis, "Which suit do you think is appropriate for me to wear?"

"You want to wear a suit, sir?"

Stark was left scratching his head by Jarvis's counter-question. Suddenly, he felt a bit guilty—did the Iron Man of this universe not like wearing his suit?

Then again, it was hard to say. If he could be generous enough to let an alien come and go freely in his base, there was nothing he wouldn't do.

Stark thought, the Iron Man of this universe really had nerves of steel. Not only did he not remove the big bomb from his chest, but he also left his phone interface in a chaotic mess and allowed aliens to operate here. What kind of psychological fortitude did one need to endure so many unsafe conditions surrounding oneself?

Soon, the shuttle stopped at the boarding platform on the roof of Stark Tower. Under Jarvis's guidance, Stark stepped into the shuttle once again.

While waiting for the shuttle to reach its destination, Stark, bored, opened his phone again, intending to see what those messy apps were. As a result, he discovered that not only was there a Spider-App, but also an Octopus-App, a Lizard-App, and all sorts of strange software.

Stark's hand paused. He whispered, "Fine, I'm no country bumpkin who doesn't know the rules. I wouldn't create a pile of trouble just to have others wipe my ass."

Soon, the shuttle reached the station. Stark stepped out of the cabin and stood on the streets of New York, stunned.

He looked back at the shuttle that had already flown away, then turned his head to look at the somewhat familiar street scene, and said blankly, "Did this go to the wrong place? Isn't this Huaerjie?"

"Sir, turn right 200 meters ahead. I have notified the Sanctum Sanctorum staff to meet you at the entrance."

Why would the Sanctum Sanctorum be on Huaerjie?!!

Stark wanted to roar again. He spent a long time calming his emotions on the spot before following Jarvis's instructions to walk forward.

After walking about 200 meters, he saw an employee wearing a suit and tie, looking just like an insurance salesman, standing at the entrance of a building that looked like a bank, watching him with a face full of smiles.

"Mr. Stark, hello. The Sorcerer Supreme has been waiting for you for a long time."

As Stark followed him forward, he looked at his crisp, neat suit, then looked up at the building's exterior, which resembled a Huaerjie bank, and then tasted the term "Sorcerer Supreme" in his mouth. He had a bad premonition.

Just walking into the lobby, Stark felt even more familiar. On the right was a counter, on the left were windows. The entire interior of the building was filled with the sophistication and arrogance of modern finance. Simply put, isn't this just a bank?!

The usher led Stark to the counter to register, then walked up the central staircase. As soon as he went upstairs, Stark knew he had wronged them—this wasn't a bank; it was an insurance company.

Just as he stepped onto the second-floor stairs, Stark heard a "hum," and a huge wave of sound rushed toward him. Stark was shocked into taking a step back, and then he heard terms like interest rates, tax rates, dividends, loans, and so on, swirling around his ears.

Stark had to cover his ears with his hands to barely make it to the second floor. He thought, the Sorcerer Supreme indeed needs to disguise himself while living in the human world, but isn't this location for his disguise a bit too noisy? Is this what they call "the greatest hermit hides in the city"?

And not two seconds later, his speculation was overturned, because Strange, wearing a crisp, high-end custom suit, walked out of his office, stood in front of everyone, clapped his hands hard, and said loudly, "Guys! Our revenue for this quarter—has hit a new high!!!"

"Wow!"

"Oh yeah!"

"That's awesome!!"

"Woo-hoo—"

The wave of cheers almost knocked Stark over. At this moment, Strange extended a hand, made a conductor's stop gesture, extended a finger again, and said, "The number of innovative achievements in magic subjects is still—hitting a new high!!!"

With a "boom," there was another round of enthusiastic cheers. Stark felt he really couldn't stay any longer; the Sorcerer Supreme of this world was probably crazy!

Just as he turned to leave, suddenly, Strange pointed a finger and said, "Look! Isn't this our world's greatest genius, Tony Stark? Let's hear it, what is the number of his scientific research innovations this quarter? How long has it been since he's been able to come up with a new result?"

Stark's turning footsteps stopped. He straightened his suit, turned back around, walked quickly to Strange, and paused.

Then Stark discovered that Strange indeed had a smug smile on his face. He was doing it on purpose.

Stark took a deep breath, but Strange, as if unsatisfied, said, "I admit, the tech side did achieve many results before, but that is already history. The future of humanity lies in magic."

"Yes, yes, yes, I know what you want to say," Strange said before Stark could speak. "Magic cannot be taught systematically and relies entirely on talent. Good heavens, what ancient history is that?"

"Look at this." Strange pulled a wand from the inner pocket of his suit and said, "That's right, a wand. Just as I have introduced to you several times, this little wooden stick, which you describe as very crude, allows ordinary people like you to cast magic at will."

"Indeed, the systematic education on the tech side is very powerful." Strange tilted his head and shook it, saying, "But how long does it take for a person to get a PhD? Even learning to drive takes at least a few months."

"But the essence of magic is getting what you wish for. With this little stick, you can cast magic that only mages can cast as you please. No talent needed, no learning required. It's idiot-proof; even the hamster my neighbor keeps could learn it."

Stark was just about to speak, but Strange extended a hand to stop him and said, "You're going to ask, where does the energy come from? Sorry, we have already initially realized solid-state magic energy recovery technology. Simply put, the magic circle you cast only consumes a bit of energy during the operation process, and the circle itself can be recovered and reused."

"At the same time, we are actively cooperating with Hell, the Underworld, and the Netherworld to build a cosmic energy feedback system. If you want to use the wand better, then choose to donate your soul energy after you die, to be absorbed by these agencies in charge of death and fed back to the universe."

"Don't call this some demon contract; we are much more advanced than demons. This world didn't have any concept of reincarnation to begin with. After ordinary people die, their souls can only wander in the spirit world and then dissipate. Although it eventually returns to the cosmic origin, the process is too slow. We can completely accelerate this process, so that when we use magic energy, we won't damage the cosmic origin."

"We reached a deal with the demon gods; they extract cosmic origin for us to use. A human life is very short, and because the body is too fragile, it can't use any powerful magic, so it doesn't consume much energy."

"And we then hand over the souls of humans who used cosmic origin to them for refining, returning to the cosmic origin in proportion. This way, we can form a complete and healthy system."

"Asgard has also recognized our behavior. King Thor is considering that after we make this system's laboratory basically stable, Asgard will also gradually repay the World Tree's debts. However, they owe a bit too much energy, so perhaps they will need demon gods from other universes to provide a little help."

"How about it, Tony? How is your solar system energy extraction technology developing? Are you still using those hundreds of pathetic little planes to extract solar energy?"

"Don't be too sad. This is just a deeper application of energy. And solar energy, perhaps it will become a legend like drilling wood for fire, who knows?"

Stark took another deep breath, but Strange walked up and blocked his shoulder, walking forward while saying, "Don't be too discouraged, buddy. We had a little conflict before, but I've let it go. Think about it, after all, you still have a Stark Group, which is much richer than me."

"By the way, what does Ms. Pepper think about you not producing research results for so long? Won't it make her think of some more sensitive aspects?"

"Of course, you don't have to be too sad. Your father was the same back then. The road for flying cars didn't work out, so he established Stark Industries. So presumably, you can also change to a different track."

"However, you are a person with a daughter after all, you have to learn to be mature. You can't just think of one thing and do another. This matter still needs long-term planning..."

Strange looked at Stark with a face full of smiles, and Stark's footsteps suddenly stopped. Immediately following, a roar echoed through the second-floor lobby of the Sanctum Sanctorum.

"JARVIS!! ARMOR UP!!!!" ===== CHAPTER 1313 =====