Stark, in his black outfit, rambled on for a while, most of which was cursing at Strange, which was perplexing for Stark.
Could it be that the Supreme Magician of this universe is the enemy? Why else would this Iron Man clone seethe with anger at the mere mention of this name?
Stark was not quite sure as it conflicted with what Doctor Schiller from the sanitarium had told him. If Strange was asking for him to return to the Holy Sanctuary, then the Supreme Magician shouldn't be his enemy, but rather his ally.
Now, there seemed to be a disagreement between the two opinions, but Stark was more inclined to trust Doctor Schiller's version. After all, it wasn't impossible that the alien with cloning ability was a spy, sowing discord; Stark didn't trust aliens to begin with.
With that thought in mind, Stark tried to reassure the clone in front of him and after sending him away, he hesitated for a moment before saying, "Jarvis, prepare the car for me, I need to visit the Holy Sanctuary."
Now, Stark had developed a special kind of emotion for this world. If it was indeed the headquarters of Spider-Man, then he felt the need to take some actions to prevent the recurrence of tragedies, even if it was just for those Spider-Men.
Determined, Stark rose from his chair, took a deep breath, stretched a bit in the empty area of the lab, and asked Jarvis, "What do you think I should wear?"
"You want to wear a battlesuit?"
Stark was confused by Jarvis' counter-question. Suddenly, he felt a little guilty. Could it be that the Iron Man of this universe didn't like wearing battle suits?
But that couldn't be ruled out. He was generous enough to let an alien move in and out of his own base freely, so there was nothing he couldn't do.
Stark thought to himself, this universe's Iron Man really had some nerves. Not only did he not remove the huge bomb on his chest, his phone interface was a mess and he let aliens move freely around him. Just how much mental strength did it require to tolerate so much insecurity around oneself?
Soon, the shuttle landed on the embarkation platform on the rooftop of the Stark Building. Under Jarvis' guidance, Stark once again stepped into the shuttle.
While waiting for the shuttle to reach its destination, Stark, out of boredom, opened his phone again to see what those chaotic apps were. To his surprise, he found not only the Spider App but also Octopus and Lizard apps, among many other bizarre ones.
Stark paused, saying in low voice, "Well, I'm not old-fashioned at all, I wouldn't make a load of mess for others to clean up."
Soon, the shuttle arrived at the station, Stark stepped out of the cabin and froze on the streets of New York.
He looked back at the shuttle that had flown away, then turned to look at the somewhat familiar streetscape, and said blankly, "Did we go to the wrong place? Isn't this Wall Street?"
"Sir, turn right in 200 meters. The Holy Sanctuary has been informed and their staff will meet you at the door."
Why on earth is the Holy Sanctuary on Wall Street?!!
Stark felt like yelling again. He composed himself on the spot for a while before he followed Jarvis' instructions to move forward.
After roughly 200 meters, he saw a staff member, dressed in a suit and tie, looking like an insurance salesman, standing at the entrance of a building that looked like a bank, greeting him warmly.
"Mr. Stark, Hello. The Supreme Magician has been waiting for you for a long time now."
As Stark followed him inside, he noticed his crisp and tidy suit, and glanced again at the façade of the building that strongly resembled a Wall Street bank. Meanwhile, the term "Supreme Magician" lingered in his mind, giving him an ominous feeling.
As soon as he stepped into the lobby, the setting felt even more familiar to Stark. To his right was a counter, to his left were windows, and the entire building was filled with the refinement and arrogance of modern finance. In simple words, this place was a bank?!!
The staff member led Stark to register at the counter, then they walked up the central staircase. As soon as he set foot on the second floor, Stark realised he had misjudged them— this wasn't a bank, it was an insurance company.
Just as he approached the stairs to the second floor, Stark heard a hum, followed by a wave of sound that was so enormous it made him take a step back. Words like rates, taxes, dividends, loans, etc. were resounding around him.
Stark had to cover his ears with his hands just to make him barely able to climb to the second floor. He thought to himself, the Supreme Magician's disguise to live in the human world was indeed necessary, but wasn't his choice of place too noisy? Was this what they called hiding in plain sight?
But before he could think any further, his assumption was immediately debunked, as there walked out of the office, Strange, dressed in an impeccably tailored expensive suit. He walked up to everyone, clapped his hands loudly and exclaimed enthusiastically, "Gentlemen! Our sales for this quarter-- a new record high!!"
"Wow!"
"Oh yeah!"
"This is so awesome!!"
"Whoo —"
The cheers almost made Stark stumble again. At this point, Strange reached out a hand, made a halting gesture in mid-air, and once more pointed a finger, saying, "The number of magical innovation achievements has once again - reached a new high!!!"
With a loud "Boom," another wave of cheering broke out. Stark felt like he couldn't stand it anymore, the Supreme Magician of this world must have gone mad!
Just as he was about to turn to leave, suddenly, Strange pointed a finger at him and said: "Look, is this not our world's greatest genius Tony Stark? Let's hear how many scientific research innovation achievements he has this quarter? How long has he been unable to come up with new results?"
Stark stopped turning to walk away. He straightened his suit and turned around again, striding quickly to stand before Strange.
Then Stark noticed the smug smile on Strange's face. He had done this on purpose.
Stark took a deep breath, but Strange seemed unsatisfied as he said, "I admit that the tech side has indeed made quite a lot of achievements in the past, but that's history. The future of humanity lies in magic."
"Yes, yes, I know what you're going to say." Strange cut Stark off before he could speak: "Magic can't be systematically taught, it all depends on innate talent. My God, those are old thoughts, aren't they?"
"Look at this." Strange drew a magic wand from his suit jacket pocket and continued, "That's right, a magic wand, just as I've introduced to you many times. This little stick, which you call an extremely crude wooden stick, allows ordinary people like you to cast magic at will."
"Indeed, the systematic education of the tech side is impressive." Strange held up his head and then shook it, "But how long does it take for one to earn a PhD? Even learning to drive takes a few months at the very least."
"But the essence of magic is to have your wishes come true. With this little wooden stick, you can cast any spell that only a magician can, regardless of talent, and even without studying. It's foolproof. Even the hamster my neighbor has can learn it."
Just as Stark was about to retort, Strange raised a hand to stop him and said, "You're going to ask where the energy comes from, aren't you? I'm sorry, but we have already made preliminary progress in solid magic energy recovery technology. Simply put, the array you cast only consumes a bit of energy when it is running, and the magic array itself can be recovered for reuse."
"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 make better use of the magic wand, then you can choose to donate your soul energy after you die. The institutions that govern death absorb it and give it back to the cosmos."
"Don't say it's some kind of demon pact. We are much more advanced than demons. This world originally does not have reincarnation. After ordinary people die, their souls just loiter in the spirit world and then dissipate. Although they ultimately return to the cosmic origin, the process is very slow. We can fully accelerate this process so that our use of magic energy does not harm the cosmic source."
"We've made a deal with the Demon Gods. They extract cosmic origin for us to use. A human life is very short. Because the body is too frail, it can't use too much powerful magic, so it won't consume much energy."
"We then hand over the souls of humans who use the cosmic origin's energy to them for refinement and return the corresponding proportion to the cosmic origin. This forms a complete and healthy system."
"Asgard has also recognized our behavior. Divine King Thor is considering, after we have basically stabilized this system in the laboratory, Asgard will gradually repay the World Tree's debt. But they owe a lot of energy, so they might need a little help from the demon gods in other universes."
"So what do you think, Tony? How is your Solar System Energy Extraction Technology progressing? Are you still using those few hundred pathetic little planes to capture solar energy?"
"Don't be too sad. This is just a deeper level of energy use. As for solar energy, it might become a legend like fire-making by drilling wood."
Stark took another deep breath, but Strange stepped forward to stop him, laying a hand on his shoulder and saying as he walked, "Don't be too discouraged, old chap. We've had a bit of a row before, but I've let it go. After all, you still have Stark Industries, which is much richer than me."
"By the way, what does Miss Pepper think about your lack of any research outcomes for such a long time? I hope she won't associate it with more sensitive aspects?"
"Of course, don't be too heartbroken. It was the same with your father back then. When hover cars didn't work out, he established Stark Industries. So you may be able to switch lanes too."
"However, you do have a daughter now, you should learn to be more mature. You can't always have your way. This matter requires long-term planning…"
Strange looked at Stark with a full-faced smile, but Stark suddenly stopped in his tracks. Then, echoing throughout the hall on the second floor of The Sanctum, came a furious roar.
"Jarvis!! Arm up!!!!"