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*****
Port of New York, the largest seaport in the United States and one of the largest in the world.
"Gwen, is this the final search area?"
Harry took off his glasses, surveyed the surroundings, and asked Gwen, who was looking at a map on her phone.
Gwen nodded and put her phone away.
"This is the place, but the area is still a bit too large."
"Today is Sunday, so we have plenty of time to find the target," Luke said calmly. He looked around curiously, then glanced at the map in Gwen's hand. "Part of it is underwater?"
"Yeah, that further reduces the area we have to search, which is good news for us." Peter pushed up his glasses and speculated, "If she's still alive, why hasn't she gone home? Is she being held captive?"
"That's the most likely scenario, but there are other possibilities." Gwen mused, "If she isn't being held captive, she might have left traces here."
Mary Jane suggested, "We can look through the surveillance footage."
"But she definitely looks different now than she did ten years ago," Peter pointed out.
"We can use the facial recognition program I provided earlier to search for people with features similar to hers when she was ten, and then we can screen them again," Harry said, pausing before adding helplessly, "It's going to waste a lot of our time, but there's no other way."
"Leave that to me," Mary Jane accepted the task.
"Then Luke and I will operate the drones to scan this area and see if there are any basements holding people or other suspicious places."
Harry looked at Luke, and Luke nodded.
Peter said, "I'll check the residents living here to see if anyone is named Sally."
"Then let's get moving!" Gwen announced, and the youngsters quickly sprang into action.
Watching the four of them get to work, Gwen also began to wander around the port.
Ever since obtaining a portion of Mephisto's power, her strength after transforming had greatly increased.
She closed her eyes briefly, and two burning flames appeared in her pupils.
She didn't transform, but she could still use a portion of the Spirit of Vengeance's power.
Like right now—she was sensing the surrounding sins.
Someone who could kidnap Sally and keep her imprisoned for ten years was definitely not a good person.
...
Kamar-Taj.
On the training grounds, the Ancient One was watching the sorcerers practice their spells.
Magical defense, magical attacks, portals...
Watching the interactions between the sorcerers, the Ancient One's expression was serene, the corners of her mouth lifted in an imperceptible arc.
Protecting the Earth had never been her achievement alone.
Suddenly, she saw Stephen Strange mixed in with the crowd, and her brow furrowed.
She had been keeping an eye on him.
He was a man of immense talent, but he was too constrained by his previous understanding of the world.
As long as he was awakened and made to understand the difference between being a sorcerer and being a doctor, he would quickly grasp the key and become a true sorcerer.
Thinking of this, the Ancient One waited quietly. After the sorcerers finished their daily practice, she walked quickly toward Strange.
"Strange."
The Ancient One called out to him.
Strange stopped and looked at the Ancient One, nodding to her.
"You are very impatient right now," the Ancient One said with a smile.
Strange remained silent, looking at the smile on the Ancient One's face. The agitation in his heart gradually began to show.
"Yes, I am very impatient because I can't fucking learn these damn spells! Fuck! Fuck!"
The Ancient One kept the smile on her face and asked slowly, "Why can't you learn them?"
"Why?" Strange laughed in anger. "Heh, because of these damn hands!"
He held up his powerless hands.
Even when doing nothing, his hands trembled incessantly.
How could a pair of hands like these cast spells?
"You still don't understand."
The Ancient One spoke calmly. Seeing Strange looking at her in confusion, she continued slowly, "Whether you can use magic has absolutely nothing to do with your hands."
Before Strange could object, she called out to the side, "Master Qin, come over here and demonstrate for him."
A bearded sorcerer walked over. When Strange saw the man's hands, his pupils constricted.
That man had no hands.
In the next second, Master Qin used his bare wrists to demonstrate a spell right in front of Strange, showing him a simple truth.
Using magic had nothing to do with whether one had hands or not.
Strange stared blankly at the sorcerer, feeling like an idiot.
This was knowledge he had never learned before, yet he was still trying to use what he had learned in the past to explain these things that had nothing to do with science...
To learn magic, he had to abandon his previous cognition and start anew.
With an apologetic look on his face, he said to the Ancient One, "I was short-sighted."
The corners of the Ancient One's mouth raised almost imperceptibly. She casually opened a portal and said to Strange, "Follow me."
Watching the white snow drifting in from the portal, Strange was stunned for a moment, but he strode through, immediately shivering from the cold.
"Where is this?"
"You don't need to worry about where this is. What you need to do is leave this place."
"What do you mean?"
"Open a portal before you freeze to death."
With a smile, the Ancient One spoke words that terrified Strange. After stepping back through the portal, she waved her hand and dismissed it under Strange's despairing gaze.
Returning to the training ground, the Ancient One fanned herself with her small fan, humming a happy tune as she walked toward her room.
Brewing a pot of tea, the Ancient One sat on a cushion on the floor and waited quietly, as if expecting something.
A moment later, a portal opened quietly, and Mike walked out carrying a bag of groceries.
The Ancient One's eye twitched.
What does this bastard mean by this?
Stopping by my place on the way to buy groceries?
I am the Sorcerer Supreme!
Can you not be so casual?
The Ancient One looked at Mike in silence. Mike scratched his head, chuckled, and said, "I almost forgot you called me here. Luckily, when I was buying groceries, I saw some radishes..."
Radishes?
What does that have to do with me...
Suddenly, the corner of the Ancient One's mouth twitched, and she said to Mike leisurely, "Tea?"
"Sure!"
Mike placed the vegetables by his feet and sat opposite the Ancient One.
The Ancient One's hand swept over the table in front of Mike, and a steaming cup of tea appeared before him.
"So convenient!"
Mike praised, picking up the tea and taking a sip...
"What kind of tea is this? Why doesn't it have any taste?"
Hearing this, a hint of laughter flashed in the Ancient One's eyes. In her unique, cool voice, she slowly said, "Cheap tea!"
"?"
"Different people get different tea."
Mike: "..."
Just then, space tore open, and Odin, dressed in traditional Asgardian robes, appeared before them.
He nodded to Mike, then looked at the Ancient One. "You summoned us here. Is something wrong?"
"Please, sit."
The Ancient One pointed to the cushion next to Mike for Odin. After Odin sat down, she poured him a cup of fragrant tea.
Mike pursed his lips.
"What is this?"
Odin noticed the bag placed between him and Mike and asked curiously.
"Cheap white radishes!"
Mike said, glancing at the Ancient One.
The Ancient One: "..."
"Radishes? You're inviting us for a meal? That's very kind of you! I love radishes," Odin said cheerfully.
He remembered that Mike used to run a restaurant and his cooking was delicious.
Most importantly, he often heard Thor rambling about how good Mike's food was. He wanted to see for himself just how good it was this time.
Since he had put it that way, he didn't believe Mike wouldn't invite them to eat.
He was simply too witty.
"Hahaha!"
Mike laughed so hard he slapped the table, while the Ancient One's face darkened.
"What's wrong? Was what I said that funny?" Odin was completely baffled.
"No, you're right. Radishes are delicious. I'll treat you to some later!" Mike said to Odin, his shoulders shaking.
"That's wonderful!" Odin nodded.
The corner of the Ancient One's mouth twitched frantically. "Enough! Let's talk business!"
At her words, Mike's laughter stopped instantly, and Odin looked at the Ancient One seriously.
The Ancient One mused for a moment, then suddenly said, "I'm going to die."
"?"
Mike and Odin were stunned.
This statement came out of nowhere.
Why would she die all of a sudden when she was perfectly fine?
"What do you mean? Is there a powerful enemy?"
Odin's tone became extremely serious, terrifying energy seemingly flickering in his single eye.
"That's not wrong, either." The Ancient One smiled faintly and said in an understated tone, "In the near future, Dormammu will invade Earth."
Dormammu?
Odin was startled, while Mike's eyes flickered as he pondered the Ancient One's words.
"Wait, that's not right. You've defended against Dormammu and other magical threats for centuries. Even if he could defeat you, he couldn't kill you. Besides, we are here now."
Odin analyzed rationally, his eyes gleaming. "Is it because there's an even stronger enemy?"
"No." The Ancient One shook her head, her voice tired. "I'm tired."
"For so many years, to extend my life and defend against threats from other dimensions, I have been absorbing energy from the Dark Dimension."
"Although this extends my lifespan, I am constantly resisting the corruption of dark energy."
"I'm tired. I'm a bit fed up."
Mike lifted his eyelids and said helplessly, "So you just want to quit."
"Heh!" The Ancient One chuckled. "You could say that."
"But how can you have such thoughts? If you quit, who will be the Sorcerer Supreme?" Odin asked with concern.
"I already have a candidate," the Ancient One said calmly. "Dormammu's invasion this time will be his test."
"I called you here to tell you in advance so you can coordinate with me."
She was afraid that if she didn't give them a heads-up, these two might start fighting Dormammu when he invaded Earth, ruining her test for the future Sorcerer Supreme.
Mike and Odin nodded, but Odin asked curiously, "Who is your successor?"
"An apprentice who recently arrived at Kamar-Taj."
She tapped her fan lightly, and an image appeared before them.
In the image, Stephen Strange was shivering in the wind and snow. He wore a Sling Ring on one hand and was constantly drawing circles with the other, trying to open a portal.
Seeing this scene, Odin fell silent for a moment. "Are you sure you're not joking?"
A person who couldn't even open a portal could become the Sorcerer Supreme?
"I look forward to his growth," the Ancient One said with a smile.
Just then, they saw Strange in the image, hands trembling, finally open a portal.
Although the portal was crooked and flickering like a loose light bulb that might go out at any moment, he had succeeded.
Strange moved his frozen, stiff legs and stepped through the portal in front of him.
The Ancient One smiled with satisfaction and dispersed the magical screen in front of her.
"One more question." Mike looked at the Ancient One seriously. "Is this death for real?"
Odin also understood and waited for the Ancient One's answer.
The Ancient One smiled faintly.
"Depends on the mood."
Depends on the mood? What kind of answer is that...
Mike and Odin were speechless.
"Alright!"
The Ancient One fanned herself with her small fan and said to Mike, "Didn't you say you were going to treat us to a meal? Come to think of it, our team hasn't had a meal together yet. This is a rare occasion."
Odin nodded. "Agreed!"
Mike lifted his radishes. "Piece of cake. Just wait for me to prepare. Tonight, I'll let you experience what a feast for the taste buds really is!"
Hearing Mike say this, the two of them actually started looking forward to it.
...
On the other side, Gwen and her friends were still searching for Sally.
Gwen sighed helplessly, took out the water she carried with her, and took two sips.
They had been searching all morning but hadn't found anything.
Originally, she was quite confident in her ability, but after she started using it to sense the sins in the vicinity, she was startled.
She thought using this ability would be like a multiple-choice question, but it turned out to be reading comprehension.
Looking around, although the severity varied, the sheer number of people carrying sins shocked her.
This made finding Sally much more difficult.
Gurgle!
Gwen frowned and turned back toward the RV they had arrived in.
This vehicle was sponsored by Harry and was equipped with their computers and other equipment. Although none of them were old enough to drive, they had high technology on their side...
After Gwen took the driver's seat, they used a holographic projection to overlay a lifelike image onto her. To anyone outside the vehicle, the driver looked like a bearded middle-aged man, so the police wouldn't stop them.
"Everyone, head back for now. Let's rest a bit before continuing!"
Gwen spoke into the communicator in her ear. After receiving responses from the others, her pace unconsciously quickened.
When she returned to the vehicle, she looked at Mary Jane, who was rubbing her eyes, and said, "Thanks for your hard work, Mary."
"It's the same for everyone."
Mary Jane said, taking out the lunch they had prepared before leaving in the morning and handing it to Gwen.
"I'm exhausted!"
While they were talking, Luke and the other two opened the door and walked in, pouncing on their lunch at the smell of the food.
After quickly finishing their lunch, while the group was resting, Peter, who had been busy the whole time, suddenly said, "I think I found it!"
(End of this chapter)