I have added this story to my Patreon. You can support me and read the 40 latest and advanced chapters there. It also fed and motivate me to write more chapters!
Link: Patreon.com/Heroicverse
—------------------—
As she spoke, Gwen even rubbed her face against Ryan's chin like a little kitten~
Fortunately, Ryan wasn't some domineering CEO, otherwise his sharply chiseled, handsome face would probably have scratched Gwen's pretty little face by now~
However, Gwen's actions did indeed soothe the slight dissatisfaction in Ryan's heart very well.
Ryan swept his gaze over everyone, letting the atmosphere in the conference room freeze for two seconds before slowly saying:
"Forget it, just don't let it happen again. Remember next time, until another Universe truly becomes our 'ally', our own Universe is the most important!"
"So no matter how bad or urgent the situation in another Universe is, it's not as important as the safety of our own Universe, understand?"
Facing the 'parent' who had returned from a business trip giving them a talking-to, all the 'children' who had been holding down the fort at home nodded obediently, taking the 'head of the household's' words to heart!
Seeing no one refute him, Ryan's expression softened, and he looked towards the two Tonys and the two Stranges who had been arguing just before he appeared, saying:
"Alright, continue with the topic you were just discussing. Regarding this unknown monster that appeared last night, have you figured out its origins, its biological structure, and its specific abilities?"
The young Tony, holding little Morgan, pointed at the monster's holographic projection on the table and said confidently:
"The old guy and I agree that these things are definitely not native lifeforms of Earth, and their physiological structure is completely different from carbon-based life!"
"In terms of structure and ability, they should be a new species similar to neutrinos, interacting with physical matter through the weak interaction and gravity. That's why they can pull the residual human consciousness from within the zombie's physical body!"
"They themselves belong to a type of highly penetrative microparticle, which is why ordinary scientific defenses and attack methods are ineffective against them!"
The nano-armored older Tony nodded, expressing agreement with the other self's explanation, and incidentally snatched his daughter back from the other Tony's arms!
If you want a daughter, go have one yourself!
This immediately made the young Tony's gaze turn resentful.
But the two Doctor Stranges held a different opinion from the two Tonys.
First, the normal Strange stepped forward, vetoing: "No, this matter is definitely not as simple as Stark says!"
"These monsters carry a strong aura of darkness and cannot be explained by conventional scientific theories at all. They are absolutely a type of magical lifeform more complex than neutrinos!"
Hearing this, the semi-darkened Strange also stepped forward, wearing an unnaturally evil smile:
"Heh heh, that's right. In fact, these things even give me a very familiar feeling, like the description of an evil ancient god I read about in the books collected by the Ancient One!"
"They belong to darkness, feed on souls, and grow stronger quickly by devouring them. But similarly, they are also great nourishment for souls!"
"So I think we could actually hunt them in reverse, use them to enhance our own soul power, thereby allowing my magical prowess to improve quickly, so I can rescue Christine from Dormammu sooner!"
Hearing the increasingly morbid talk from the smoky-eyed Strange, who even wanted to 'eat' the monster in reverse, not to mention the others, even Ryan couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
Holy crap, this Strange seems to have darkened a bit too much!
And upon hearing the last sentence from the Darkened Strange, the normal Strange who had been standing beside him was suddenly shocked:
"What? What happened to the Christine in your Universe? Why was she captured by Dormammu? That didn't happen in my Universe. And why have you never told me about this before?"
The Darkened Strange glanced at the normal Strange, his tone dripping with disdain:
"She's my Christine, not yours. You, who lost the Christine in your own Universe and let her marry another man, what right do you have to interfere with the Christine in my Universe?!"
Hearing this, the normal Strange was instantly and precisely broken through his defenses by the black one's words!
His eyes widened, his face instantly turning angry, and two golden Circles of Gagaldor appeared in his hands as he shouted furiously at the Darkened Strange:
"You think I wanted that? At the time, I looked at over fourteen million possible futures; that was the only future timeline where we could win!"
"If I didn't make that choice, Christine would die. I had no choice at all!"
The Darkened Strange was not to be outdone. Two black-red Circles of Gagaldor also appeared in his hands as he continued to mock the normal Strange:
"Oh? Is that so? Then, our great prophet, did the future of your Universe proceed exactly as the only successful one out of the fourteen million you foresaw?"
"Don't forget, the reason your Universe could have everyone survive and bring back the lost half of all life was thanks to the help from our Universe. You didn't save anything at all, and because of your foolish choice, you lost Christine!!!"
Doctor Strange was so angry he almost had a heart attack: "You bastard who understands nothing, you have no idea what I went through!"
The Darkened Strange was also utterly disappointed with the other self: "You're the cowardly idiot who doesn't understand what I went through!"
Watching everyone in the conference room start arguing and even about to come to blows over a disagreement, Ryan helplessly rubbed his temples.
The meetings among his team members were as 'lively' as ever...
However, as the leader, while Ryan didn't mind the members bickering amongst themselves, he certainly couldn't let the two Doctor Stranges keep arguing like this, or even start fighting.
"Enough!!!"
So he shouted, and the Ten Rings on his right hand flew out, splitting into two groups of five, each enveloping one of the two Doctor Stranges under the Ten Rings radiating golden light.
And that golden light was precisely the power of the Mind Stone that Ryan had infused into the Ten Rings.
Under the mind-calming power emanating from the Ten Rings, the two Doctor Stranges quickly calmed down and regained their composure.
The Mind Stone could incite anger in others' hearts, and naturally, it could also pacify the anger in others' hearts.
Ryan stood up with a cold face, sweeping a dissatisfied glance over the two Doctor Stranges, and said coldly:
"Look at what you've become. It's just a woman, isn't it? What's there to argue about? Here, have her back!"
With that, Ryan focused his mind, and a blue spatial wormhole appeared before the two Doctor Stranges.
On the other side of the spatial wormhole was a blue ice and snow palace.
Inside the palace, a woman wearing a down jacket was bored, counting ice grapes on a table and spacing out.
And that woman was someone the two Doctor Stranges were all too familiar with.
It was the Christine they had been longing for day and night!
The Darkened Strange looked at this scene with disbelief, muttering:
"This... this can't be. Wasn't Christine captured by Dormammu?"
"I saw it with my own eyes. How... how could..."
The Darkened Doctor Strange's mutterings were also heard by Christine on the other side of the spatial wormhole.
She turned her head sharply, then looked with surprise at Strange in the spatial wormhole behind her.
"OMG! Stephen!!"
Having been stuck in the frost realm of Jotunheim for who knows how long, even thinking she had been forgotten by the author, Christine, upon seeing her lover, immediately rushed through the spatial wormhole without a second thought!
But just as Christine was about to throw herself into the arms of the Darkened Strange, she was shocked to discover that next to this Strange, there was actually another Strange!
This, in turn, completely confused Christine. She looked at the normal Strange on the left, then at the gothic-style Strange on the right, momentarily seeming at a loss.
And just at that moment, the two Doctor Stranges called out in unison: "Christine!"
Hearing the two identical, familiar voices, the already confused Christine became even more bewildered, her steps halting on the spot.
Seeing this, the Darkened Strange, who had finally seen his Christine again, immediately roared angrily at the normal Strange:
"You impostor, I told you, you have no right to call her name. Get out of here!"
Hearing this, the normal Strange's rebellious spirit was instantly ignited. The more you want me to leave, the more I won't!
So he deliberately stretched out his hand towards Christine with a gentle expression, saying:
"No, Christine, I'm not an impostor. I am Stephen Strange. We even co-authored a medical textbook named after both of us. Do you remember?"
Hearing the words from the two Stranges, one after the other, Christine instead calmed down, carefully examining the two of them.
Judging from first impressions and the words they each spoke...
Whether in terms of image or the reasons given, the normal Strange was clearly more convincing.
But...
After hesitating for only two seconds, under the stunned gaze of the normal Strange, Christine resolutely rushed towards the Darkened Strange, who didn't look like a good person, and threw herself into his arms.
This made even the Darkened Strange's face show a look of disbelief, followed by an even more moved expression as he tightly hugged Christine in his arms:
"Christine, how did you know I was the real me?"
Christine looked up, gently wiping the tears from the corner of the Darkened Strange's eyes with her hand, and said softly:
"Because I know my Strange would search for me at any cost. So... you must have suffered a lot for this, Stephen!"
Hearing this, the Darkened Strange's expression resembled that of a pitiful little wolf, his lips trembling as he said:
"That's right, I missed you so much, Christine. You're back, it's wonderful, you're really back!"