Halfway through the surgery, Jonah realized something was off. This situation was beyond his capability, but like a true gambler, he was convinced he could still turn things around— right up until he lost his shirt.
By the time Strange appeared, Jonah's misjudgment had reached ridiculous proportions. He believed that with just another half-hour, the surgery would undoubtedly be a success. It was precisely because Strange knew this that he persuaded the agent to steal Jonah's glory.
In the operating room, Strange roamed like a lion surveying his territory. He slowly moved behind Jonah without showing any intention of taking over the lead surgeon's position.
But Jonah felt like a rookie doctor again, performing a surgery so simple it couldn't be any simpler, and he felt just as flustered as he had been back then.
He tried hard to analyze the unique neural pathways and structures, completely forgetting the model he had conceived during the consultation. He started the analysis from scratch and prepared to gamble.
"Aren't you going to try?"
Strange heard a voice whisper in his ear. At first, he thought it was his imagination. But then he heard the same call again, so he turned to look in the direction of the voice.
In that instant, Strange's pupils contracted sharply, for he saw a black-haired, blue-eyed young man standing in the corner of the surgery room, smiling at him.
It was Bruce Wayne.
Or rather, it was Bruce Wayne's soul, intense in a way that didn't resemble an ordinary soul at all. There was even a hazy light around the edges.
"Aren't you going to try and save me?"
The moment Bruce's voice appeared in Strange's mind, alarm bells rang out. He demanded, "Who are you? Why did you bring me here?"
"I'm sorry for inviting you this way, but I want to negotiate terms with you."
"I don't negotiate with anyone," Strange responded firmly. He shook his head slightly and told Bruce, "Especially not with strange creatures like you. You can't fool me."
"You must have met Constantine. You must be curious about where his messy but effective escape methods come from."
Bruce changed the topic and began to explain: "I have to tell you about the magical system of that Earth you're not familiar with. Though it may sound absurd, the source of magic and the way it's utilized in your universe are not the worst."
Rationality told Strange not to listen to this stranger, but he had to admit, the man was compelling. Strange wanted to know how the magic system of this other world worked and couldn't imagine a system worse than his current one.
Strange could hardly be considered a competent Supreme Mage. Under his leadership, the Earth's magic defense system had deteriorated year after year. He had to constantly patch up leaks and put out fires just to maintain it. This situation had been going on for some time now.
Could there be anything worse?
What Bruce said next was eye-opening.
Bruce briefly described the magic system of the DC Universe, particularly how magicians had reacted to the previous vampire invasion, including how the Grand Mages had betrayed humanity. He told of how cunning demons and angels harvested humans, and how the inheritance of magic had lost its autonomy.
Strange, after all, was the Supreme Magician. The passing influence of the Supreme Magician was still present, and the vast majority of Demon Gods who came to attack Earth were just going through the motions. They expressed their intentions like, "Since you won't let me tear the roof off, let me meddle a little for some small benefits. You can't stop that, right?"
He couldn't imagine how human magicians could grovel before angels and demons, even willingly become their puppets, and unconditionally sacrificing themselves and their fellow humans.
Anyone from a former colony would get infuriated hearing such things, mainly hating those damn traitors.
Of course, if the situation were far away, Strange might just feel anger and scorn. But if the two Earths merged, he would genuinely panic.
Only one Earth from Marvel 616 had come over, and the Demon Gods of the universe hadn't followed, so Strange had long realized he couldn't contact Emperor Mount Wey. But then again, he could only contact these Demon Gods rarely when they chose to reach out to him.
Strange thought Emperor Mount Wey was just busy and not picking up, but after hearing Bruce's story, he realized the Demon Gods in this universe had been replaced. They were not Demon Gods anymore, but Hell's angels and heavens.
And humans had to bow down and negotiate contracts with them to obtain a tiny bit of pitiful magic power.
When he was chasing Constantine before, Strange noticed that his methods were flashy but essentially impoverished.
If bowing down could truly yield wealth, it might be considered worth it. But since they couldn't even make money from groveling, then what was the point of kneeling? Especially when Kamar-Taj's style had always been to make money standing.
Strange's heart felt heavy, but he remained silent, watching Bruce intently. Bruce continued to speak.
"But this isn't a hopeless situation. That man you saw, Constantine, could be considered a beneficiary of this system to some extent."
Strange furrowed his brow, somewhat confused about what Bruce meant. Bruce leaned against the table of his own operating room and said, "He is a black box. For some reasons, neither angels nor demons can see how much power he has stored inside him."
"And according to the rules of the magical system of this universe, the biggest creditor before death will gain the soul and the remaining power of the mage after he dies. In other words, all angels and demons can only blindly make investments in Constantine, hoping that they will turn out to be the biggest creditor. The winner takes all."
Strange was starting to catch on, but there were still some things he had not made sense of. He squinted at Bruce, who nodded and said," In the vast cosmos, the fusion of two tiny Earths obviously can't be made public. Both heaven and hell haven't registered your names, as you are outsiders."
"As for the higher level computer administrator, though we temporarily don't know who that is, he obviously doesn't have the authority to enter your names into the base system. You don't belong here."
There were evidently many implicit messages in Bruce's statements. Strange didn't understand, but he got the literal meaning — The mages of Kamar-Taj are black boxes too.
Their black box status might even exceed that of Constantine because they don't have counterparts in these universes. They are all new faces. The first time they appear, angels and demons will probably mistake them for novice Mages and be deceived on that aspect alone, letting them garner significant amounts of energy.
Strange immediately realized what the other party wanted to do, and also understood this was the real reason Bruce tricked him into coming here.
"Is Nick collaborating with you?" Strange also realized that Bruce Wayne, the mystery man, probably approached Nick first. After Nick agreed to his plan, they set up this play together, using the excuse that Bruce Wayne needed treatment to summon him here.
This was an excellent place for negotiations as he was completely free from the attribute of magic. Even if Strange was put in by the agents, others who were watching Wayne would only think that Nick wanted to dip his hand into the power struggle of Gotham and that it had nothing to do with magic.
Strange felt a bit shaken, not because of Bruce, but precisely because of Nick Fury.
He had long felt something was off about Nick. It's not that he's become worse, but on the contrary, he has become a bit too forceful.
Recently, the assertiveness of S.H.I.E.L.D. has made everyone glance sidewise. First, they beat Kingpin, who couldn't resist, and then chased Owl Faction around. They've made their presence felt on both Earths and Nick Fury has become synonymous with the Hawk Faction.
What a coincidence! Strange is also in the Hawk Faction.
He did not do well as the Supreme Magician, not because he wasn't tough enough, rather he was too tough, or you could say obsessive and extreme. But he didn't have the fighting prowess of The Ancient One ended up leaving himself open on all sides and being restricted everywhere.
People always admire and trust those who have the same style and mindset as them more. If Nick also agrees with this person called Wayne's ideas, maybe there's some merit to them.
Thinking back on the issues with the current magical system in the universe Bruce previously mentioned, Strange hesitated even more.
He absolutely could not accept mages becoming the bootlickers of angels and demons, let alone be manipulated, becoming the chief of a bunch of traitors.
But the original Demon God no longer exists. If one wants power, they can only get it from angels and demons. Just relying on people from Kamar-Taj, overthrowing heaven and hell is obviously unrealistic.
Even overthrowing the systems they have established on Earth is as impossible as reaching for the sky. Because they still have to deal with traditional mages from the DC universe and those longtime traitors can't stand back up just by saying so.
You can't do anything if your fist isn't big enough. Strange had personal experience with this.
At this moment, Bruce took it a step further and said, "The magic system here is worse, but it also means the creditors here have no bottom line at all. As long as you can pay the price, they dare to do anything."
"There aren't any rules, laws, inhibitions, taboos. They don't care about predestined fate or unchangeable results more than anyone else. This means, if you want, all regrets can be made up for."
Strange tensed up.
Bruce made a finger-gun gesture, "I forgot to introduce myself. The reason why I could do what you saw before you, that is, have my body lie in bed while my soul safely floats here and converses with you, is because I am actually an Angel."
Strange widened his eyes, his face showing a "are you messing with me" expression.
"To verify what I have said, we can sign a simple contract. This would at least let you understand the process of signing contracts in this world. This is what I was talking about when I said we could discuss conditions."
Strange's heart was thumping for what Bruce had said before. He knew exactly who all his obsession and extremism had been for. He once gave up, but that was once.
"What conditions?" he asked, his mouth dry.
Bruce's gaze fell on Strange's hand. He said, "I can heal your arm, without any after-effects, allowing you to be the hand of God once again."
"Then, what's the price?"
"As the hand of God, tell everyone that you can save me. Then perform a surgery for at least 20 hours to provide an alibi for me."