Shiller looked at Strange with a somewhat resigned amusement and asked, "So what does Doom intend to do? Can't Mephisto let him meet his mother?"
"Mephisto isn't that petty." Strange sighed and after taking a sip of tea replied, "He brought Doom's mother's soul to the Holy Sanctuary. They were allowed to meet and Doom hoped that his mother could be resurrected and return to his side."
"But she is a strong and independent woman, a model worker in her day. She strongly refuses to quit her job to let her son support her."
"Even if her job involves accounting in Hell?"
"Even if it involves accounting in Hell." Strange also revealed a strained smile and said, "Doom's mother scolded him, told him to go back and work if he had nothing else to do, and not to worry about her. She assured him that a good worker could support herself anywhere."
Strange touched his cheek and said, "Doom didn't want to give up and insisted on taking his mother with him. But his mother also has a fiery temper and won't allow her son to behave recklessly. They started arguing right in the Holy Sanctuary."
"Doom got emotional, losing all restraint. His mother slapped him in front of everyone. When Mephisto disingenuously tried to intervene, he got a slap as well. Even the nearby Lion God, who was late to react, received a slap."
Strange covered his eyes and said, "The lady had all the demons and devils spinning like tops from her slaps. Initially, I felt a bit sorry for Doom. Then Mephisto told me that Doom slapped one of his demon subordinates who dared to talk back. Like mother, like son."
Shiller chuckled helplessly and said, "Why did they feel the need to provoke a Soviet female worker?"
Then Shiller sighed and said, "Just from his mother's performance, you can probably see that his Majesty King Doom won't be an easy character to deal with. Does he have any opinions about the position of Latvia in the Solar System development plan?"
Strange gently shook his head and said, "At present, Doom doesn't directly control Latvia. He has created a robot to serve as a figurehead there while he conducts experiments in the East Asia region."
"Experiments? What is his main area of research?"
"Who knows?" Strange furrowed his brows, casually putting the tea cup aside, and after some thought said, "Doom got his first exposure to the magic realm through his mother. However, his mother had the innate gift of a witch, capable of using the divination and curse abilities of the Gypsy witches. These abilities mainly originate from the demon god contracted by the Gypsy lineage."
"But this ability is only passed down through females, Doom himself is unable to use magic. Yet, he has unbelievably developed a method to use machines to channel magic energy. I suspect he is deeply researching this method."
"However, his research is not far from the Himalayas. You know, that place is considered remote to any country, control over there isn't strong. Consequently, there are indeed many suspicious individuals hiding there, including some Black Magicians who had previously betrayed Kamar-Taj and of course the Mandarin."
"I have advised the mages of Kamar-Taj to avoid going there. Our appearance would cause great upheaval, given our agreement with a major Eastern country to maintain stability there. If the characters in that gray area feel threatened, they might cause disturbances among ordinary humans, which we really don't need."
Strange's expression turned difficult. Obviously, he realized that Shiller was curious about Doom, and since Doom was researching magic, Strange, as the Supreme Magician, should know what he's up to.
However, in reality, while the Supreme Magician is famous outside, his control over Earth's magic realm has always been limited.
The main reason lies in the fact that The Ancient One was not really interested in this area before, preferring to let things take their natural course. Strange, having assumed the position only a few years ago, has been busy modernizing Kamar-Taj's magic technology and had no time to clean up the magic realm.
As a result, characters like Mandarin have been able to survive, weaving in and out between society and the magic realm. Even Doom's research at the foot of the Himalayas is unclear to Strange. He doesn't really know what Doom is researching.
Compared to Stark's impeccable control and deep knowledge of various projects and personnel, Strange seems a bit behind in this respect. However, the magic realm has just emerged from primitive times a few years ago, so there is still a long way to go to establish a modern management system.
Shiller was well aware of this, so he didn't push Strange further, but instead asked from another perspective, "So, what do you think Doom's objective is in researching this technology? Is it just to bring back his mother?"
"That might have been the case previously, but now it's more about self-protection. He has conflicts with the Egyptian pantheon and now the major Eastern country finally has time to address the gray areas in the magic realm."
"Just about two weeks ago, Kamar-Taj received a letter from SWORD. They said that SWORD's cultural exchange program with the Indian pantheon had officially begun. Their delegation may pass by the Himalayas and might cause some energy disturbances. So, we should not panic."
"But I know, they definitely want to take action against the people there." Strange leaned on the armrest, propped his head on his hand and said, "Over the years, those monsters from there have caused them a lot of trouble. I expect the reckoning is about to commence soon."