Previously, Shiller had transformed into a mysterious existence known as the Black Sun deep amongst the stars and listened to the Ancient One's feelings about that dreamworld. He compiled everything he knew about the Old Day Dominator into a book, which he gave to the Ancient One.
The title of this book was a nod to a fictional book written by the mad poet Abdulah in the Cthulhu Mythos, the Book of the Dead.
The Book of the Dead does not actually exist in reality. However, in the Cthulhu Mythos, it is described as containing all knowledge related to the old gods. Any investigator can find the forbidden knowledge they seek within it.
The Book of the Dead that Shiller had written was not as miraculous, but it did contain all the knowledge he knew about the Cthulhu Mythos.
The Marvel Universe does have Cthulhu Mythos settings, though not in the most orthodox sense. It's more akin to the background of a superhero villain, but it still involves a group of blindly obsessed mystical entities waiting to return from the depths of the cosmos.
When Shiller gave the book to the Ancient One, his actual intention was to help this Supreme Magician understand the power system her old nemesis, Eye Demon, was part of, to prevent her from being undermined.
However, embarrassingly enough, Eternity later restarted the cosmos and the Ancient One lost this part of her memory. Because Eternity did not dare to restart anything related to Shiller, the book was left behind. The Ancient One is probably wondering about this book that suddenly appeared on her person.
At the moment though, Strange is even more baffled than the Ancient One. His teacher has been secretly studying a seemingly dangerous book behind his back, and other entities from different universes have caught her in the act. Doesn't this make his previous descriptions of their universe, which emphasized more fists and less thinking, seem like a joke?
The Ancient One has been a brawler her whole life, but why has she turned to strategizing all of a sudden?
Strange is currently itching to jump into the screen and look inside the book, but the arrogance of a Supreme Magician impedes him from leaving the room. Especially since he has just recounted the glorious battle history of the Ancient One to the mages of this universe, he cannot simply run off, or it would look like he was running away after being caught in a lie.
"Have you read it?" Harley asked.
Helen shook her head gently, looking into Harley's eyes, "I am naturally curious, but I'm not foolish. Just because the Supreme Magician can bear to read it, doesn't mean I can."
"Then why take it?"
"To stop the Supreme Magician from continuing to read it."
Harley paused for a moment, lowering her gaze to the book that looked extremely uncanny. She pursed her lips, asking, "Are you sure it's harmful?"
"I can feel vitality from it… there is a sort of vitality exuding from the book. It isn't life as we understand it, but it isn't an ordinary inanimate object either. I can't be sure if I will be controlled by it or even if the Ancient One has already been controlled by it."
Right now, Strange has no time to worry about whether reality contradicts what he has said. He realizes the gravity of the situation, so he turns around and focuses intently on the screen.
Meanwhile, Shiller is communicating with the Gray Mist inside his mind.
"Did you do this?"
"Greed made me leave a thread of consciousness on that book, intending to prevent the Ancient One from being misled by the old gods."
"Will that be effective?"
"Of course, you can only be a follower amidst the stars. If the Ancient One keeps this book with her, no other Old Day Dominator can drive her insane."
"Because you are superior to them?"
"No, because they understand that the fragile minds of the human race can only bear one type of madness. Anything more would be meaningless, so they rarely meddle with each other's followers."
"So, greed has marked the Ancient One as your follower with this book to protect her from the scheming of other old gods?"
"You could say that." The Gray Mist paused briefly, but continued, "Greed is extremely concerned about his favorite character falling into tragic scenarios due to the plot, so he tried his best to ensure as much protection as possible, including for the Ancient One."
"Normally, he wouldn't need to be so meticulously careful, but a brief glimpse of Azathoth's dream suggested that the existence deep in the cosmos might be even more dangerous and mysterious than previously thought. Since the Ancient One is important to the human race, more protection cannot be excessive."
Arrogant conveyed a feeling of affirmation in his heart. He had discussed this experience with Greed before, concluding that Azathoth, the leader amongst the gods in the Cthulhu Mythos, should rank just under the OAA in the Marvel Universe. After all, one of his dreams had ensnared the Scarlet Witch, proving his immense power.
But due to the setting of Azathoth as the Eternal Sleeper and the World Builder, he has seldom any subjective initiative and can completely be viewed as a background element.
However, the gods who call and dance around his dream are not the same. The threat they pose is real.
The Ancient One died by the hand of the Eye Demon in the comics. And the setting of the Eye Demon derives from Conan the Barbarian's author's other novel, The Curse of the Golden Skull, which is also related to the Cthulhu Mythos. Therefore, setting up defense against this area is necessary.
The Gray Mist was capable of splitting a part of itself quite early on, distinct from other symbiotes who produce independent offspring. After realizing its true identity, every thread of its consciousness resonates with the call from the depths of the cosmos. This inevitably appears uncanny and terrifying to humans.
"Can you still operate this book now? Even if it's through another world?" Shiller asked the Gray Mist.
"Yes, as long as I look at it."
Shiller suspected that this might be an example of the observer effect that Bruce had mentioned. When he stared at that universe from this end, the distance between the two universes and their position weren't that important anymore. What mattered more was their understanding brought about by observation.
"Make sure it doesn't hurt the students."
"I will."
At this moment, Harley, who was sitting at the desk, began to speculate about the origin of this book with her naturally suspicious mentality from Gotham.
"If, as you say, the Ancient One was studying this book before you arrived, it means there must be something in it that she wants. This is the only clue we have that can uncover her actions without opening the book. What does the most powerful Supreme Magician, the Ancient One, in your eyes want?"
Helen frowned, also lost in thought. She felt that some parts of her thinking were gradually being developed. She never had such a conspiracy theory before, but now she could gradually grasp some clues. Perhaps this was another mental evolution brought about by the incredible learning and evolutionary ability of Doomsday.
"Master Ancient One is not a person who blindly seeks power. You might not believe me, but she never instigates problems. The Demon Gods came to her to lend her power, and the Ancient One had to retaliate only to keep things square."
"She doesn't thirst for knowledge either. Many years ago, she achieved a perfect state of mind, asking for nothing else, and she would no longer be obsessed with the answers to some problems. She has already found the solutions to all the questions about herself and the universe."
"So what's going on?"
Harley and Helen's eyes both landed on the cover of the book. They had to admit, the thought of opening the book was incredibly tempting, and neither of them were seasoned Zen masters, after all, they were relatively inexperienced young girls.
"If I were you, I would go back right now to stop them." Constantine frowned with a serious expression, "We all understand that accidents are always happening, and nothing is more worthy of your protection than the situation you've carefully crafted."
Constantine was actually reminding Strange that there was no need to jeopardize his own universe just for the sake of face. But strangely enough, Strange seemed to understand something. His previously frowned eyebrows relaxed, and he bypassed the coffee table and sat back on the sofa, even leisurely picking up a cup of wine and taking a sip.
Bruce, Constantine, and Zatanna all turned their heads to look at him. At this moment, Strange shook his head and said, "If the Ancient One was really bewitched by this book or trying to explore some secrets in it, why would she choose the study room of Kamar-Taj College?"
The room fell silent. Strange sighed softly and said, "If her desire for mystical knowledge had consumed her, she wouldn't have chosen to study such knowledge in a school's study room. Here, it is neither conducive to research, nor quiet enough. This book was intentionally left behind by her."
"For this little girl to get it?" Zatanna said with some disbelief: "I certainly don't mean to question your teacher's ability, but isn't this kind of... I mean, isn't it a bit reckless?"
"Helen Stark is special." Shiller's voice echoed as everyone turned to look at him. Shiller's fingers lightly stroked his wine glass as if he were multitasking, his voice was slender and ethereal, "She isn't a native of that universe, and she has a very unusual background."
"As unusual as yours?" Strange asked.
Shiller did not respond, but Bruce suddenly fixed his gaze intently on Strange.
The two girls in the dormitory eventually did not make a rash decision. They agreed to go to the college library to search for information on the Book of the Dead after class tomorrow, at least to figure out what they might be facing before taking action.
The lights in the two dormitories dimmed quickly, but the room where Little Bruce and Barry were staying was still brightly lit. The reason being that this dormitory they were using was not brand new; the former host had left some Chinese books on the shelf. Little Bruce was planning to learn this ancient and complex language by teaching himself from a few available books.
"You're not serious, are you?" Barry seemed a bit overwhelmed and said, "Before this, you didn't even recognize a single Chinese character, but now you plan to learn a language just by reading books? Isn't this a bit absurd?"
"I'm not completely unfamiliar with Chinese." Little Bruce rolled his eyes ever so slightly. Even though he was sitting cross-legged on the cushion, his back was still perfectly straight. He was concentrating on the content of the book and said, "If you consider this as deciphering a password, it would become simple and interesting."
"Never."
"Bang, bang, bang," the door was knocked.
Little Bruce and Barry both looked up. Barry glanced at the dark sky outside the window and said somewhat doubtfully, "Who would come at this late hour?"
"Maybe it's Harley." Little Bruce gave Barry a look, and Barry could only stand up from the bed to open the door.
Standing outside was a little girl about their age with golden hair and brown eyes. She wasn't particularly beautiful, but she had a kind of cute childishness. She stared up at Barry, who was slightly taller than her, and said, "My roommate Sheryl asked me to bring you something."
After saying that, she took out a magic wand and pointed it towards the empty place in the room. Trash cans, trash bags, kettles, toilet paper, tea sets, and other small daily necessities appeared on the floor.
"Oh, thank you, are you a first-year student too? My name is Barry Allen, this is Bruce Wayne, what's your name?"
"Jennifer Maw, you can call me Jennifer."