Even though he verbally insisted it was impossible, a potential demonic incursion was serious business. Handling such crises was exactly what Kamar-Taj was built for.
So, Wong decided to step in and help Luca verify his claims.
But first, Luca had to repeatedly confirm that the Sanctum's defenses were sufficient and that the shielding barriers were operational.
He needed assurance that even if he cursed Mephisto's name or carried an item linked to him, the demon wouldn't be able to sense it.
Only then did Luca carefully extract the energy cube containing the "sealed" apple from Haro's mouth.
Yes, Luca was so freaked out by the thing that he had decided to use the [Dehydration Gun] to seal it into an energy cube for safekeeping.
First, it prevented the Core Component—which was, after all, a perishable apple—from rotting.
More importantly, it minimized the unnecessary risk of direct contact.
However, the moment Luca pulled out the energy cube, the way Wong looked at him suddenly became very strange.
"What's wrong?"
Noticing the look, Luca didn't rush to hydrate the cube. Instead, he asked directly.
The next moment, a crystalline blue energy flared in Wong's hand.
This faint energy bore a striking, thirty-percent resemblance to the energy produced by the [Dehydration Gun]—or rather, the [Hex Core].
"Don't tell me you're that idio... cough, that beautiful, kind-hearted, and generous new Dimensional Demon God??"
"..."
Hearing Wong's slip of the tongue, black lines virtually appeared over Luca's head.
You definitely said 'idiot' just now, didn't you?! Moron? Imbecile??!
Damn that old bastard Ancient One! She takes my stuff and then talks smack about me behind my back?!
But remembering he needed Wong's help, Luca swallowed the insults on the tip of his tongue. The corner of his mouth twitched as he forced a stiff smile and spat out two words.
"I'm not!"
Surprisingly, upon hearing Luca's denial, Wong actually looked relieved, muttering under his breath.
"Good, good. I was gonna say... no matter how weak a Dimensional Demon God is, they shouldn't be this weak when they come to Earth."
"..."
"Master Wong, can we proceed with the inspection now?"
With a face turning slightly green, Luca poured a few drops of water from a nearby cup onto the energy cube.
A blue light flashed, and the energy cube on the table instantly reverted into the ordinary-looking apple.
"Eh? Never seen magic like that before. A very exquisite application of dimensional energy."
"...If you say so."
Luca didn't have the energy to retort to the chubby sorcerer anymore.
Fortunately, while Wong seemed to have inherited the Ancient One's lineage of unreliability, his actual skills were legitimate.
With a turn of his palm, several circular golden mandalas appeared instantly.
Complex runes flowed rapidly around the apple, performing what looked like an extremely high-level deep scan.
Despite claiming he didn't believe it and having immense confidence in the Sanctum's defenses, when it actually came to testing the apple, Wong's expression was dead serious. He looked ready to face a formidable enemy.
However...
A long while later, the two men in the Sanctum stared at each other across the apple, eyes wide. Both saw confusion and mistrust in the other's gaze.
Seriously? You brought a normal apple here just to prank me??
Bro, you put on this huge, flashy show and couldn't find jack squat??
Although neither spoke, their facial expressions communicated their thoughts loud and clear.
"Master..."
"Hold on!"
Wong raised a hand to cut Luca off. Then, another barrage of colorful, flashy lights erupted.
This time, Luca could even hear the incantations the sorcerer was muttering.
It was all stuff like "Eye of Agamotto," "Detect Evil Intent," and other such spells.
At one point, when blue light flashed in Wong's hands, Luca vaguely heard him say something like "Aurantius's Evil Resonance."
What the hell is 'Evil Resonance'?! How am I evil? And how is it resonating?! If the Ancient One wanted to use Hextech energy, fine, but if she didn't know the name, she could have just asked me! What kind of bullshit name is that?
However, half an hour passed.
Wong was now sweating profusely, but his face was set with determination. He looked at Luca with absolute finality.
"This is just a normal apple!"
As he said this, a pained look crossed Wong's face.
In the heat of the moment, he had fired off a barrage of spells in a muddled frenzy.
While most of these detection spells had low costs—some virtually none—the sheer quantity added up to a decent burden.
The main issue was that failing to detect anything once or twice was fine, but seeing how certain Luca was, Wong had started to doubt his own abilities, leading him to spam detection spells.
Only after exhausting every trick in the book did he reaffirm his conviction.
However.
When Luca mentioned Gina, Wong—though reluctant to leave the New York Sanctum—opened a portal to her hospital room to act as a temporary doctor.
And just like that, his newly reaffirmed conviction was shattered.
"That's not right. It shouldn't be like this. How is this possible?"
Wong paced back and forth, looking as if his entire worldview had taken a massive hit.
Under his examination, Gina showed no abnormalities or traces of demonic taint. Instead, she was too pure.
It was as if her soul was a blank sheet of paper. All the desires and malice inherent to a human being had been wiped clean, yet the soul itself showed no signs of being cut or damaged.
This situation completely defied his understanding.
It doesn't make sense. If she has memories, how can she have no desires? If she can perceive the world, how can there be no accompanying malice?
Finally, sensing that the situation might be dire, Wong gritted his teeth. He pulled a pile of amulets and artifacts from his room and shoved them into Luca's arms.
"Take these for now. This one detects evil, this one senses demonic energy, and this is..."
After rattling off instructions, Wong continued.
"Wait for me. I need to go back and check the archives. There has to be a record of this kind of situation in the books at Kamar-Taj!"
"Leave me your phone number. Once I figure it out, or if I hear from Master Ancient One, I'll contact you immediately!"
With that, ignoring the dumbfounded look on Luca's face, Wong opened a portal with a whoosh, preparing to head back to the Kamar-Taj library.
But just before stepping through, Wong paused. He scratched his bald head awkwardly and whispered:
"Um, hey, could you restore the Sanctum's internet?"
"Uh... don't worry. Until this is sorted out, I definitely won't use the net for anything else."
Hearing this, Luca nodded speechlessly.
"Haro!"
The next moment.
The scene flashed, and Luca found himself back on the street outside the Sanctum Sanctorum.
"..."
"Truly an unreliable master leading a bunch of unreliable students!"
"I guess I'll have to figure this out myself!"