The majority of the demon gods in the universe do not communicate by speaking, as they are not carbon-based lifeforms and do not have the organ to speak. Instead, they use a type of frequency that humans cannot understand, and likewise, human language is perceived by them as a special frequency.
The mages of Kamar-Taj can perceive the sounds of the cosmos through meditation, which enables them to hear and understand the frequencies used by the demon gods. This allows them to engage in successful communications with these cosmic sorcerers. However, some very introverted demon gods rarely participate in such cosmic chats. They use certain frequencies that mages find hard to understand, akin to an 'rural accent' to humans.
Still, at least these 'rural' frequencies were communication, in some form. Yet, for some reason, the deities in Africa mostly didn't seem to speak at all.
Initially, Strange did not understand what the mage meant by 'not speaking'. When he first began his training, he didn't understand the frequencies of these cosmic sorcerers either and could only communicate by slowly forcing out one symbol at a time, with complex sentences requiring translation.
After all this time operating the Sanctum, Strange had hardly been idle. Now, he could basically understand the frequencies used by demon gods from various regions, and when he had nothing else to do, he could participate in these cosmic conversations.
But when he heard a roaring lion on the other end of the call that was loud enough to deafen, he truly understood the meaning of the phrase 'in the vast universe, nothing is impossible'.
This Lion God really didn't speak – all it did was roar. Roar loudly and incomprehensibly.
Strange held his forehead. He called Shiller and asked, "..... Are you sure this matter is critical? We've encountered a small problem here…"
"Didn't I explain? A king has been kidnapped…"
"Okay, in that case, I'll need to request some technical support."
"Technical support? What's going on? Can't you get through to the Panther God? To my knowledge, he's meant to be a powerful deity."
"It's not that."
"Ok, then what support do you need?"
"Can you find me a lion?"
A few minutes later, Shiller appeared in the Sanctum. He too heard the roaring on the other end of the call and fell silent. He said, ".... How about we just have Stark fly instead."
"No way! He will definitely ridicule magic! Perhaps he would also deduct our spaceship fees. I understand that jerk. He will definitely critique our techniques from beginning to end and provide examples to show that if it were in the science realm, this situation would not have happened…" Strange gritted his teeth and said.
Shiller reasoned with him, "Even if you could find a lion, and understand what the lion on the other side is roaring about, how would you get the lion to translate it into human language for you?"
"Damn it. Is there no one who understands the language of beasts?" asked Strange.
"I think… Maybe there is. We can try." Shiller suggested, stroking his chin.
A few minutes later, Connors and Peter appeared at the Sanctum. Connors looked confused, "So you want me to turn into a lizard and listen to what this guy is roaring about?"
Connors took a deep breath, "Shiller, do you know? If it were anybody else who suggested this, I would have punched him right then."
"Why don't you punch him then?" Strange egged him on. "Having you turn into a lizard to understand the lion roar is too ridiculous!"
"Of course, it's because I can't beat him." Connors asserted confidently.
Shiller looked at Peter. "What about you? Weren't you bitten by a spider? That should place you within the realm of beasts, right?"
Peter wore an extremely troubled expression. Apparently, the absurdity of this association had surpassed his understanding. He said: "Even if spiders and lions are both animals, Spider-Man and the Lion God aren't exactly closely related, are they?"
"Plus, lions are mammals, and spiders are arthropods. Lions communicate by roaring, spiders don't even have vocal cords. Even from a structural point of view they are…"
"Alright, let me think. Who else is related to animals?" Shiller interrupted his long explanation. "Oh, right! How could I forget about him?"
A while later, Eddie appeared in the Sanctum. Shiller patted him on the shoulder and suddenly, Venom appeared. Strange eyed this black monster and inquired, "What relation does he have with lions?"
"Bats and lions should both be mammals, right?"
Venom raised his hand and declared, "I'll do it!"
Strange handed him the phone. The Lion was still roaring on the other end. After listening for a while, Venom stated, "He's swearing."
Strange widened his eyes, "You can actually understand it?? What's the logic?"
"Because I am a bat… I mean, the Venom!"
Just as Strange was about to drill in with more questions, Shiller promptly covered his mouth. "Once he says something like that, just don't ask why anymore."
Just then, Stark blasted in through the window in his mecha suit, a look of urgent concern on his face. "How far have we gone? Is the demon god on the other side really tough? Is the lion roaring?"
"Indeed, the lion is roaring…"
Before Shiller could finish his sentence, Stark immediately activated the weapons on his Mecha and asked, "Which dimension does he live in? Maybe we could feature him as next season's membership gift..."
At that moment, the lion's roar coming from the phone got quieter and quieter, and then, with a "whoosh," the phone flew into mid-air, and soon a phantom outline of a lion emerged from it.
The phone had originally been in Venom's hand. After the phone flew into the air, the phantom lion appeared directly in front of Venom.
As Venom stared at the lion, the lion stared back at him. The white compound eye on Venom's face squinted, revealing a classic expression of doubt.
Just then, the phantom lion opened its tooth-filled mouth and roared, "ROAR!!!"
After a second of hesitation, Eddie frantically said in his mind, "No! Don't..."
But it was too late. In an instant, the Symbiotic Factor erupted, and an even more massive black creature appeared in front of the phantom lion, opening its tooth-filled mouth even wider to roar back, "ROAR!!!"
This time, it was the lion's turn to be taken aback. It swished its long tail across the floor and then took a few steps backward.
"Alright, Venom, come and translate. Hello, Mr...Lion? We're here on official business. Do you know a panther? One who's just like you..."
After Venom exchanged a few grunts with the lion, the lion began to roar continuously. Venom explained, "He's just cursing. He's swearing at that panther called Bast, accusing him of encroaching on his territory and stealing his food..."
"This is too strange. How in the world do you understand him?" Strange was still baffled by this problem.
Shiller stopped Strange and said to Venom, "Ask him to help us get in touch with Bast."
After Venom exchanged a few more grunts with the lion, he explained, "This cunning lion is asking if we have any reward for him. He has heard of the Holy Sanctuary, so..."
Upon hearing this, Strange couldn't hold back anymore. He rolled up his sleeves, walked forward, extended his hand, and formed a "1" gesture to the lion. The lion shook its head vigorously, its mane flying wildly.
Seeing the dissatisfaction, Strange gave a helpless expression, and then made a "2" gesture to the lion. The lion was still disgruntled. With an angry expression, Strange crossed his arms to gesture a big "X".
The lion extended its paw, and with a "shwick" sound, extended the claws hidden in its flesh pads. Strange called over a deep red ribbon with a wave of his hand, pulled on the ribbon, and tugged it with a forceful "bang bang".
The lion gave a resigned growl, then waved its tail upwards three times. Shaking his head, Strange made a slicing motion downwards with his hand.
Connors and Shiller, arms crossed, stood aside watching this. Connors said, "And he dared to ask Venom how he communicates with the lion?"
After their exchange, the lion, seemingly unwilling, scratched the carpet with its paw, leaving a point of light before disappearing.
Strange picked up the light, paused for a moment, as if sensing the information contained within, and said, "...Got it. Found it!"
Looking at Stark, Strange said, "The dimension where Panther God Bast resides has been located, but since he doesn't have a cell phone and has never made contact with the Holy Sanctuary, I'm afraid we'll still need to send someone over..."
"I'll go," Stark volunteered and started to walk, but Strange chased after him, sighing, "You alone won't be able to enter that hidden dimension..."
Just then, the phone they used to call the lion "whooshed" up into the air again. But this time, because Strange had moved forward a few steps chasing after Stark, the phone took off from behind him.
Suddenly, a circular portal appeared on the phone, and a huge lion's paw stretched out, slapping harshly at Strange's back.
With a "thud," Strange was sent flying, even knocking down Stark in front.
"Oh! You goddamned lion! What are you doing?!"
The massive paw "whooshed" back into the portal, and the phone "plopped" down onto the floor. Holding his forehead, Strange got up, looking dizzy while Shiller commented, "You should have seen this coming the moment you pissed off a feline…"
"Oh wait, he gave some additional information..." After shaking his head, Strange said, "He says that only black beings can enter Panther God Bast's realm. What kind of strange rule is that?"
"Probably because he's a black panther."
Stark pulled out his phone and said, "I know that T'Challa is dating a mutant. His girlfriend is a teacher at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, and she's also Black. She should be able to get in..."
As he was about to dial Charles's number, Shiller came forward to stop him, saying, "Don't you think there's another Black person who's closer to us?"
Stark looked at Shiller, his gaze becoming odd, he said, "…That panther surely hasn't offended this much?"
"There's more to it." Shiller dragged Eddie over and said, "We also have a black brother here. A black symbiote is also black, right, Venom?"
In an instant, Venom covered Eddie's body again, and licked its sharp fangs with its long tongue. Shiller added, "Just in case the Panther God also doesn't speak human language, he can also act as the translator..."
Once again, Venom squinted his eyes and made that classic expression. For some reason, everyone felt a chill in their hearts upon seeing his expression...