American comic book: My Father is Superman, am I just an NPC?

Chapter 113 Sin Runs Rampant, What Makes a Hero? [14k]

The breathing in the hall was heavy.

"Are you alright? Do you need me to call an ambulance for you?" Ian thought Doctor Strange's physical condition wasn't good; who could say for sure if this guy had secretly given himself drugs when he was a doctor?

Actually, he didn't add anything excessive to the contract. He simply removed the benefit of being able to learn magic from him for free. Is it really that excessive to have to pay magic power as tuition to learn magic?

New believers and believers who have betrayed their faith.

Of course, there needs to be a slight difference.

Ian didn't even ask Doctor Strange to help him support the other believers.

He has always been kind.

"All I want to do right now is hang myself and start over."

Doctor Strange, Stephen Strange, slumped in his armchair, a faint wisp of magical energy flickering between his fingers, like an oil lamp about to go out.

This is a lament for the magic that has passed away.

"You've had an amazing start to the game. Trust me, if you follow the Evil God, your future is limitless. Who knows, you might even become a Dimensional Demon God someday."

"No, it should be that if you stomp your foot, all the other dimensional demons will have to kneel down and call you Lord Strange. After all, you are my follower, and you are my face when I'm out in public." Ian's magic power has increased dramatically, and he has begun to enjoy the future. However, his joy and Doctor Strange's sorrow may not be the same.

"Your promise reminds me of Louis XVI's promise." Doctor Strange looked up, his eyes filled with distrust, and he even secretly wanted to vent his frustration with slang.

However, Ian didn't care about the curses from his followers.

He is the evil god of the new era.

"An empty promise? Don't worry, even if someone cuts off the head of the Evil God, the Evil God can grow a new corpse... no, a new body."

Ian promptly corrected his overly personal remarks.

This wave is all Madison's fault for his performance style.

"No, you, as a newly awakened evil god, can even understand this kind of riddle in a second?" Doctor Strange's expression was very astonished. He was probing whether Ian's origin was the same as his guess.

"Super Brain"

Ian did not deny it.

He just silently poked his temple.

The air was quiet for a second.

No one applauded for him.

Doctor Strange sighed, looking down at his hands, which were beginning to tremble again: "No matter how beautifully you describe it, I think it's just a false promise from an evil god."

"Look at me now, I have less than 50% of my magic power left, and I can barely maintain my body." The origin story of why he started learning magic seems to still exist, which may be why Ian has encountered several superheroes, but only Doctor Strange's situation is somewhat normal.

Despite saying he didn't love him, Tony Stark, who was in charge of entering the information, seemed to really like the man, and even didn't let Doctor Strange lose all his fingers.

"As the saying goes, the more you lose, the more I gain, and the more I gain, the stronger your backing becomes. So, rounding it off, it's actually the same as you not getting weaker."

“We are a whole, and we obey the law of conservation of energy.” Ian looked at Doctor Strange’s trembling hands and brought up his personal panel, preparing to give Doctor Strange a shocking experience.

"Is this how you understand the conservation of energy?"

Doctor Strange was visibly taken aback.

Then, he stared at Ian with a strange look in his eyes, "I've heard this kind of talk before. That's how the fungi fooled people when they were stationed in other countries."

It can only be said that America may have truly walked all the paths that were taken.

"Looks like I'm also a true American flag member from old New York?" Ian said with a sigh. He felt that the mold had acted as a time assassin, stealing his development ideas from the past timeline.

There is an extraordinary world.

Who can say for sure?

It's hard to say, but that's the evil god, Master.

“I shouldn’t have been so smart. Why did I go back to Kamar-Taj? If I hadn’t gone back to Kamar-Taj, I wouldn’t have accidentally entered into this contract with you.”

"If I hadn't signed this contract, I wouldn't have lost my magic. And if I hadn't lost my magic, I wouldn't be here listening to you make empty promises."

Doctor Strange held his forehead with trembling hands.

His tone was wistful and melancholic.

"What empty promises? Quickly look at the ability your god shared with you." Ian figured out the new skill, so he directly used the [Share] ability to lend a skill to Doctor Strange.

[Self-Healing Frenzy]

He was even worried that Doctor Strange wouldn't understand how to use it, so he thoughtfully helped Doctor Strange activate his ability—anyone who has been an evil god knows that the ability to control the bodies of believers is a basic operation.

"Sigh~"

It was only for a fleeting moment that I was controlled.

Doctor Strange then felt his body begin to change. His body was emitting a green light, which wriggled like a living thing, traveling through every corner of his body.

"This... is not magic."

Doctor Strange's pupils contracted sharply. His magic flowed through his body, but he could not resist this unfamiliar healing power, which was acting like a special rule.

"I'm regaining my health?!"

Doctor Strange, realizing what had happened, stared wide-eyed as he felt his hands, which even magic could not heal, performing a miracle from an evil god.

The reconnection of nerves was so rapid. He subconsciously looked down at his hands—the hands that had suffered nerve damage and muscle atrophy due to a car accident, making them almost unable to perform any fine motor skills. Now, they seemed to have returned to their peak condition, as light as if they had never been injured.

"Damn the Ancient One, didn't he say that my hand could never be healed, that it was my absolute destiny in life?" Doctor Strange could even feel that his fatty liver was gone.

"Goo~"

He suddenly felt that believing in an evil god wasn't so bad after all, since he used to be a doctor who had no feelings and only knew how to make money, and his profession was probably a perfect match for him.

"Is this the grace of the evil god?"

Doctor Strange felt completely corrupted. Well, what could he do? His initial motivation for learning magic was simply to heal his hands.

I should have known that believing in evil gods could cure me.

He will definitely dig out the sleeping evil god as soon as possible.

“Not only that, I can also make you fly.” Ian was also testing his [Sharing] skill. In the next moment, Doctor Strange flew to the ceiling.

"I have a cloak! I don't need to fly!"

Doctor Strange was startled and waved his hands in the air. Of course, after getting used to it, Doctor Strange also started jumping up and down and began to have a lot of fun.

The "it smells so good" principle may be the only constant melody in all the worlds.

Does your cloak have a biofield? No!

Ian asked and answered his own question.

He didn't care whether Doctor Strange could understand what a biofield was. While observing Doctor Strange, he was also organizing information and discovered that although he had shared the ability to fly with Doctor Strange...

however.

He didn't lose or weaken the skill's effect as a result. The so-called "borrowing" simply meant that Ian would suffer double the stamina consumption when using the skill.

This also meant that Ian could not share his abilities with every believer for the long term.

"It's just that I'm too weak right now. If I could have six or even seven figures in panel data, this little bit of cost would be almost negligible."

Ian seemed to be deep in thought.

I felt my stomach grow even hungrier.

He quickly revoked the sharing of all abilities.

"Paji~"

Doctor Strange fell straight down from the sky, landing face down on the ground in a starfish shape. He didn't cry out in pain or yell; he just lay there, feeling his hands, which had been given a new lease on life.

After a long time.

"My magic... why is it a little less again?" Doctor Strange slowly raised his head, his tone and expression very strange, and he looked at the evil god not far away.

"Read the contract carefully, Doctor, read it carefully! This is a power rental fee, charged according to the usage time. It's fair and honest, unlike those demon gods who lend power for free." Ian emphasized his conscience. Anyone who has played games knows the difference between pay-per-play games and free-to-play games.

"..."

Doctor Strange felt like he was being completely drained.

He felt a sense of disorientation.

Am I really a mage?

This is clearly a magic-producing machine of an evil god!

"I'm completely drained, completely drained. I'm almost out of magic." Doctor Strange said dejectedly. After Ian kicked him a few times, he finally remembered that he should get up from the ground.

"Actually, I also offer magic loans, calculated annually, with nine out of ten loans and thirteen out of ten." Ian's mind was full of magic, but he had nowhere to use it, so he decided to put his capitalist spirit to use.

The evil god had already added most of his abilities to the shared list. Doctor Strange sensed this, but he dared not borrow these abilities.

"Do you think I can repay this kind of loan? Cultivating magic is much harder than making money." Doctor Strange then threw himself back into the comfortable rocking chair.

Hear the words.

Ian smiled gently.

He was prepared.

"Don't rush me! Once I develop the [Devour] ability, I'll share it with you, and then you can go out and find monsters to eat!" Ian wasn't the kind of traditional demon god loan shark.

He will offer believers a win-win opportunity.

True victory is when everyone wins together.

"You even know what abilities you can develop? Or do you think you can develop whatever abilities you want?" Doctor Strange couldn't help but swallow hard after hearing this.

This is far more terrifying than the fake evil gods mentioned in fairy tales and TV movies.

"This is a complicated matter, related to self-discipline. You wouldn't understand even if I explained it to you." Ian took the opportunity to give his system a nudge, hoping that the system he was clinging to wouldn't let him down.

Some boys, when they're starving, will even bite the system a few times—Ian silently threatened the system in his mind, finding himself becoming more and more adept at threatening others.

【9: 17】

The countdown did not speed up as a result.

However, the system probably already has a good idea of ​​what's going on.

"You just said... to contribute your abilities to you... which means that besides me, do you have other followers on Earth?" Doctor Strange suddenly realized this at this moment.

Ian smiled.

“Actually, there is another god who is also my follower. Now you know how lucky you are to be able to sit at the same table with a god.” Ian was using an honorific title to praise Thor.

Isn't this also a way of elevating oneself?

"So, I'm not one of your top leaders?" Doctor Strange adapted to his role very quickly; he had already begun to consider his own interests.

See this.

"It's alright, you'll also have your chance to become a big boss."

Ian quickly offered encouragement, demonstrating true democracy and freedom: "Whoever contributes the most automatically becomes the leader; there is no rigid hierarchy in the evil god's church."

I can tell.

The young evil god truly valued his own dimensional path to becoming a demon god.

"..."

Doctor Strange had no idea how to evaluate it. He felt that it was more serious than many of the legitimate churches he knew, and it even gave him a strong urge to fight and strive.

"The second-in-command is actually not bad either."

Doctor Strange muttered to himself, trying to reassure himself.

And right now.

Ding dong.

Doorbell rang.

Doctor Strange was taken aback.

"I didn't order takeout."

He stared blankly at the doorway.

“Liar! You just don’t want to share with your god.” Ian got up to open the door. He might have really misunderstood Doctor Strange. The visitor outside wasn’t holding a pizza delivery—it was a tall woman with cascading black hair, wearing gold-rimmed glasses without lenses, with a cold face and sharp eyes.

The doors of the New York Sanctuary were wide open, and a cold wind swirled a few withered leaves into the hall.

"Who are you looking for?"

Ian was the first to ask a question.

The woman frowned.

"Ultimate and invincible ruler of the universe, the final judge, the emperor of all laws, Ian God?" Her voice was also cold, like the wind in the dead of winter, as she looked Ian up and down.

"it's me."

Ian stood in the doorway.

blinked.

My mind is spinning rapidly.

“My father gave me a divine decree, instructing me to come and become your apprentice.” The woman seemed quite distrustful of Ian’s teenage appearance, and she pulled a stack of manuscripts from her bosom and handed them to Ian.

oracle.

To become an apprentice.

These are the two waves of keywords.

He instantly helped Ian understand everything.

"Your father is Odin?" Ian's expression showed a hint of surprise, but he still took the manuscript. He would immediately become very energetic whenever he talked to the other party about creation.

"Ah."

The woman nodded.

Cherish words like gold.

She is Hela, the goddess of death in Asgard.

“But your brother Thor says he’s Odin’s only child.” Ian flipped through the manuscript, which still held a trace of warmth, and was greatly shocked. The other party was actually creating a super-restricted comic.

On the manuscript.

The content that comes to mind.

It was all the surging of the sea.

"My comics are bestsellers across the Nine Realms. It's not hard to understand why that old pedantic man is unwilling to acknowledge that I am his child, fearing that I will corrupt his new heir."

Hela's tone carried a hint of sarcasm towards the family.

A familiar story.

A different kernel.

Ian was once again awestruck by the new Marvel. Of course, other people's affairs were none of his concern; he simply quietly began reading Hela's manuscript.

"You two are equally bad, eldest sister, don't talk about second brother."

Ian offered his sharp commentary.

Hear the words.

Hela wasn't angry, but she frowned, her eyes filled with distrust of Ian. "Can someone your age understand my art?"

Her words were practically a challenge to Ian.

"You can question my abilities, or even question whether I'm still developing, which is of course not true. But you cannot question my all-around talent in literary creation."

Ian's passion for literary creation is so profound that he is even willing to sacrifice his reputation in other areas, which shows that he is definitely a writer who truly loves writing.

"Your basic skills are good, with smooth lines and rich details, which shows that you have a certain ability. However, this style of drawing big steamed buns right from the start is too straightforward."

"Hmm, it's too realistic." Ian had already made his judgment after reading through the entire manuscript. "That's why your imagination is being constrained."

"Go out and explore more, and you'll discover that a big steamed bun isn't just a big steamed bun; it can also be a big basketball, or even several big basketballs."

"The universe is so vast that nothing is impossible."

"Also, you must remember that art is not just about displaying power and violence; it also needs to have elements about emotions, growth, and self-discovery."

"Don't always throw the ball so directly at the reader. If you throw too many balls, the reader will get confused. You should only throw the ball when it's appropriate. Sometimes a little subtlety can evoke more resonance."

"The best R-rated comics should be like the uniform you're wearing right now—it looks perfectly fitted, but all the viewers will imagine it being torn apart."

Ian didn't care whether he offended Hela; he was just using Hela's words as a metaphor, saying, "Playing hard to get is the most alluring state."

"Of course, we can also limit ourselves to people. I heard that Thor's hammer used to be your toy? You should add that in; that's what will truly amaze readers."

Ian earnestly explained to Hela how to draw adult comics, especially his final guidance, which made Hela's usually cold eyes flicker violently.

I can tell.

She truly felt the awe emanating from the master artist.

"You're a good teacher."

Hela remained silent for a long time before finally acknowledging Ian, her tone even carrying a hint of respect. As soon as she finished speaking, Ian's system immediately provided another round of feedback.

You have gained a wealth of leadership experience.

[The leadership role has been upgraded]

[The leadership role has been upgraded]

……

[Leader LV7 [43/640]]

A new round of upgrades.

Naturally, this meant the addition of yet another believer. Hela seemed to sense something as well; she closed her eyes, feeling the contents of the contract, her expression subtly changing.

only.

"I see."

Unlike her brother, the eldest daughter of Asgard did not yell or scream.

They have excellent emotional management skills.

"You'll see my new work soon." Hela seemed to understand something, looked up at the sky, and then gave Ian a deep look.

"Just pray to me when the time comes."

As if afraid others wouldn't know he also had his own prayer, Ian reminded Hela, who nodded and turned to disappear into the bustling crowd on the street.

“I’ve never seen the Guanyin who grants children, but Odin who grants children… well, I haven’t seen that either.” Ian, feeling quite pleased with his find, turned and walked back to the Sanctuary Hall.

He shook his head for a moment.

Because the signing fee project wasn't added in time, Ian's total magic power remained the same as the amount from those few dozen wells, but its natural growth rate far exceeded the previous rate.

"Among the Asgardians, women actually get more fragrant with age," Ian remarked, grabbing Doctor Strange, who had been eavesdropping from behind a pillar.

"The Odin you're talking about... is it the Odin I know?" Doctor Strange was genuinely shocked. He hadn't expected that Ian's claim about having followers of the gods was actually true.

There's more than one.

Another god-king even sent another one!
what is this?
Proton?

In an instant, Doctor Strange's "Sherlock Holmes" mind went through a lot of reasoning, and he couldn't help but suspect that this was proof that even the god-king Odin was no match for the evil god in front of him.

"Yes, it was him. I think I understand why now." Ian was truly clear-headed, but he didn't tell Doctor Strange the truth that most Asgardians didn't die of old age, but were overwhelmed by divine power. He was afraid that Doctor Strange, whose magic had dropped to a very low level, would feel inferior because of it.

Lord Ian was very concerned about the mental health of his followers.

He also has his own gentleness.

However, Doctor Strange didn't seem to sense anything.

"So, I'm now the third-in-command? Me, the Sorcerer Supreme, reduced to being the third-in-command of an evil god?" Doctor Strange really is quite used to his current identity.

He even had a premonition that he might soon be relegated to the fourth position.

"If you don't improve your emotional intelligence, you'll have to clean toilets—I'll build ten thousand toilets for you to clean." Ian was quite frustrated at not receiving any praise.

"Can I pull out magic from the toilet of an evil god?" Goodness, Doctor Strange's thought process is really peculiar. It's clear that he really cares about the magic he has lost.

"..."

Ian rarely fell silent, and he suspected that if he simply nodded, Doctor Strange would actually go and clean his toilet, trying to extract the magic from his excrement.

"Go out more. I suspect you have a deeper level of repression than my second brother, Xuan," Ian advised kindly, but was met with a suspicious look from Doctor Strange, as if he had just remembered something.

"Speaking of the outside world, what exactly did you do?" Doctor Strange's sudden question caught Ian off guard. Did this guy discover that Ian had played the role of "creator"?

"I haven't even started anything yet."

Ian gave an honest answer, though he was being slightly probing.

"Ah."

Doctor Strange gave him an expression that said he knew everything.

“You can’t believe a single punctuation mark from the words of an evil god. That’s what you taught me.” With that, he rushed to a cabinet and pulled out a pile of newspapers, leaving Ian looking on in confusion.

"According to my investigation, the crime rate in New York has risen abnormally in the past two days. And it's not just New York; extremely serious crimes are occurring in major cities around the world."

“Robbery, theft, even murder…doesn’t this have anything to do with your resurrection? I don’t believe it!” Doctor Strange handed a stack of newspapers to Ian.

He asked and answered himself with certainty.

"No? I've become the scapegoat? Every time something goes wrong, you throw the blame on me? This has nothing to do with me, don't pin every crime on me."

Ian suddenly felt a sense of empathy for DC Lucifer.

Doctor Strange still looked unconvinced.

“You should take your words the opposite way—so, it really is related to you.” He had his own opinion about Ian, but he hadn’t yet figured out the pattern that Ian usually told about 20% of the truth.

"That's slander."

Ian rolled his eyes in a beginner's version where you couldn't even see his pupils.

"You call it slander, but if you listen to it the other way around, it's actually praising me..." Before Doctor Strange could finish his confident words, Ian kicked him directly under the table.

"You've gone against the heavens! How dare you speak to your god like that?" Ian thought Doctor Strange should be sent to the Minotaur for further training. One kick wasn't enough, so he followed up with two more, three more... fifty or sixty kicks. Doctor Strange, his backside covered in shoe prints, ran around the room in a sorry state, pursued by the evil god.

"I surrender!"

He still loves to admit defeat.

It lacks the resilience that the Supreme Master should possess.

"Where did you get this data? With your crazy brain, you shouldn't be able to find these details, right?" Ian asked Doctor Strange with a suspicious look as he polished his shoes.

Even Doctor Strange, who had a shoe print on his face, puffed out his chest proudly upon hearing this, "Do you think I bought all these mystery novels for nothing?"

“Don’t underestimate my talent; I’ve always had the potential to be a detective.” He tried to correct Ian’s mistaken impression of him, but his pride didn’t last long.

"Wow~"

There was a sound of something being activated. Before Doctor Strange could rush over, a flash of blue light appeared, and a holographic image of the intelligent life form Tony Stark appeared on the desk.

"Doctor, another bank robbery has occurred in the city, and we might need your help." Holographic Tony looked at Doctor Strange, who had rushed in front of him.

this moment.

Doctor Strange was embarrassed.

Ian, of course, also understood where Doctor Strange obtained the data from.

"Looks like you've learned this skill from me," Ian remarked sincerely. Indeed, this is an era where everyone seeks out an external brain.

"I also offered help!"

Doctor Strange turned around, attempting to argue his way out of the situation.

however.

The only response he received was Ian's incessant chuckles—the little boy pulled out his broken phone and played a three-hour recording of his earlier chuckle-filled lecture to Madison.

"..."

Doctor Strange was extremely embarrassed and annoyed.

"It's you! You're definitely trying to sabotage me on purpose, just because I'm a magician and you're a technological creation, and you can't stand me." He attempted to accuse Holographic Tony.

"This place is full of your surveillance cameras! Damn it, why did I agree to let you install them!" Doctor Strange looked annoyed, and his accusation seemed to have some merit.

Holographic Tony did not refute him.

Good afternoon, Ian.

The intelligent life form, which had never truly lived, looked at the boy in the hall.

“Good afternoon, new Tony. Look, I brought you a gift.” Ian picked up the box of grilled octopus and brought it close to the holographic Tony device.

Holographic Tony has not yet responded.

Doctor Strange decided to quit for now.

"Didn't you say this was a gift for me?" He was actually quite hungry, after all, Ian's "evil god power" had used up a lot of his stored fat while repairing his body.

"Tsk tsk, you should probably get your brain replaced."

Ian saw this.

He immediately pulled Doctor Strange aside.

"My foolish believer, the new Tony is obviously a robot. He can't actually eat. Once he refuses, won't this box of octopus still be yours in the end?"

Ian lowered his voice as much as possible and spoke softly. He was trying to teach Doctor Strange how to maximize the use of resources.

"Huh? You can do that?"

Doctor Strange was once again shocked by the evil god and began to humbly seek his guidance.

not far away.

The new hairstylist, Tony, looked utterly speechless.

“Kid, just a friendly reminder, there are thirty-four radios in this house, each worth fifty thousand.” He waved to Ian and Doctor Strange as a warning.

They also took the opportunity to showcase their broadcasting equipment, which was also quite valuable.

Ian pretended not to hear.

He is still teaching his followers.

It was just thirty-four eavesdropping devices.

He's still a bit inferior to his Uncle Bruce.

I have no idea what the new hairstylist is showing off.

"It's not that I'm urging you, but if you continue discussing unplugging my power, the bank robbers might already be depositing the money into another bank."

The new teacher Tony's shouts finally caught Ian's attention.

"Do these robbers have some kind of serious illness?" Ian had heard of many ways to rob banks and then sell the stolen goods, but at this moment, he still felt a sense of astonishment, as if his eyes had been opened.

In the Great Sanctuary.

A faint scent of sandalwood and the lingering warmth of magic filled the air.

The new teacher, Tony, turned to look at Ian.

"Yes, it's as if these robbers have no idea how to plan a crime. In fact, in the last two days, there had never been such heinous crimes in all of New York."

"It's the same all over the world."

His perfectly rational voice spoke softly, “I have noticed some causal contradictions regarding evil. Historically, you should have a wealth of experience in committing crimes.”

"However, all crime seemed to stop a few days ago. After that, people seemed to have undergone some kind of cognitive modification, and most people seemed to have lived a crime-free life for many years."

“Nobody knows how to commit a crime, and nobody wants to commit one, it’s like a machine that’s been reset to factory settings.” The new Tony teacher’s gaze remained fixed on Ian.

He could calculate that all of this was related to Ian.

"That's because this world has only been around for a few days. The past is just its background; the present is its reality." Ian had no intention of hiding this fact.

"What do you mean?"

Doctor Strange was completely dumbfounded upon hearing this.

"Are you saying my life over the past few decades has been a lie? What a joke!" He clearly didn't believe Ian's statement, after all, the memories in his mind seemed so real to him.

In this regard.

Ian hesitated for a moment.

They quickly sorted things out.

“Your memories are not false. I’m starting to understand now. There was never a starting over. That snap of the fingers probably just created a new future.”

“You are still you, but at some point, your souls were actually sealed away for a long time, until now they have been stuffed into new bodies.”

Ian had already figured out what was wrong from the information from the new Tony teacher. He realized that his snap had probably only restarted the rules and operation of this world.

As for time.

It does indeed regress to a much earlier era.

however.

People living in this era have not truly experienced the development of this world; their memories all come from a past before it suffered annihilation.

of course.

That past.

In fact, it completely overlaps with the current era, so no one can find any clues in their own memories, because Teacher Tony has replicated an identical world for them.

It's like taking a group of puppets out of their original sandbox and putting them into another sandbox. The puppets, whose power was cut off along the way, naturally wouldn't notice anything amiss.

A flawless plan.

but.

There's clearly a problem that's causing the contradictions and divisions that the new Tony noticed—the problem lies in the fact that when Tony unsealed the "entangled souls" from different parallel universes, the separated souls were far too pure. Even if their memories hadn't changed, their souls were exceptionally clean.

The good and evil one has witnessed, the good and bad one has experienced, the pain and joy one has endured, would have left an imprint on the depths of a person's soul and shaped their choices, beliefs, and moral boundaries.

however.

In this new world.

All such traces have been erased from the souls that have been relocated. This is the new world, and why many people seem naive and innocent, and even superheroes have lost their way—their souls bear no lingering warmth of sin, nor the scars of struggle.

They were "washed" too clean!

in other words.

They lost the most crucial "source of pollution" in their growth process!
"As expected of me!"

Ian didn't know if this was Tony's deliberate act or an inevitable result of separating those entangled souls; he only knew that his superhuman intelligence helped him understand everything.

However, some people clearly do not possess super intelligence.

"I still don't understand what you're saying. Does this mean that all the evil in the world exists because of your resurrection? Are you evil itself or something?"

Doctor Strange was completely bewildered.

He still insists on his unwavering belief in the evil god.

"Here's some food, go over there and spew shit." Ian shoved the grilled octopus into Doctor Strange's hands. He looked at Holographic Tony, and sure enough, the new Tony could understand him.

"An interesting hypothesis. If it is true, it proves that my findings were not wrong. Now, perhaps it is just that the evil genes hidden in the human soul are beginning to grow again."

Tony seemed to be deep in thought.

"It's also possible that those things that brought evil to humanity were not erased by the Tony teacher I knew, so they gradually awakened and began to affect humanity again?"

Ian made a bold guess.

This was also the idea that Doctor Strange's ramblings had given him.

He is not that kind of evil god.

This doesn't mean that Marvel doesn't have such evil gods.

"I haven't gathered all the information I need about the mystical side yet. Perhaps I can tell you the answer later," said the new Tony, giving a rather conservative answer.

"By the way, help me analyze how I can bring those superhumans back to the right path. After all, if my guess is correct, they still have the souls of heroes."

Ian glanced back at Doctor Strange, who was eating like an animal rooting for food. This was considered one of the more normal characters among today's superheroes.

"I've eaten and drunk my fill! Now I should go rescue them... and then collect protection money from them! If I save their lives, they'll definitely come to me for fortune-telling every month for the rest of their lives!"

"I'm going to work hard for my luxurious coffin!"

Doctor Strange threw away the lunchbox and stood up.

His money-grubbing appearance might not be entirely normal.

but.

He seemed more salvageable than the other superheroes. Just as Ian was trying to exonerate his followers, Doctor Strange suddenly put his hand into his pocket.

He rummaged in his pocket and pulled out something soft and flimsy.

"?????"

Ian stared wide-eyed at the bloody appendix in Doctor Strange's hand. "I know you're a doctor, but did you really need to cut out your appendix?"

He had witnessed the hypocrisy of adults. Doctor Strange claimed to be irreconcilably opposed to evil, but he turned out to be a hypocrite who said one thing and did another.

"You can't expect me to cut open my own stomach every time I store something, can you?" Doctor Strange thought the demon in front of him probably enjoyed watching his followers suffer.

however.

"Is it possible that my magic isn't used this way?" Ian's expression was very strange. He gestured with his hand, as if he were about to draw an anatomical diagram of the human body for Doctor Strange out of thin air.

“The appendix is ​​connected to the intestines, the intestines are connected to the stomach, the stomach is connected to the esophagus, and the esophagus is connected to the mouth,” Ian explained patiently, suspecting that Doctor Strange’s medical degree was largely unfounded.

of course.

Doctor Strange also suspected that there was something wrong with his brain.

"You're telling me to eat things and then vomit them up when I'm storing them?" Doctor Strange thought it would be better to have his appendix removed. He realized he wasn't really suited to being with an evil god.

"It's obvious you haven't learned enough magic."

Ian sighed heavily.

He really didn't want to bother with the madman swaying around with his appendix.

"My limited magical skills don't prevent me from going out and saving the suffering masses. I'm going to be a hero now." With that, Doctor Strange turned to look at Holographic Tony.

"Where are the criminal's coordinates?"

He put on a very professional demeanor.

“I haven’t been urging you guys because a bunch of rookie cops have already taken care of the trouble.” Tony snapped his fingers, and the old-fashioned television in the Sanctuary lit up.

I saw.

Five robbers wearing stockings and hoods crowded in front of the bank counter.

They want to save money.

Each of them was carrying several large bags of cash. However, because they forgot to remove their hoods, this group of clumsy robbers were discovered, and the police quickly surrounded them.

"Not wearing pantyhose, that's how it is."

Ian offered a sharp critique.

The scene continues.

"Don't move! NYPD!"

The sound of twenty sidearms being cocked simultaneously silenced the entire bank lobby. A group of poorly trained police officers were seen, some entering through the main entrance and others climbing through the windows.

They all looked extremely tense and pointed their guns at the robbers.

The robbers became even more nervous.

Looking left and right.

The excellent matchmaking system failed to provide the rookie robbers with enough hostages. Four robbers captured hostages, and during their three-minute chase, the police never considered shooting them.

Both sides were somewhat flustered.

finally.

Four robbers had taken the hostages, and the unfortunate last robber could only point a gun at his own temple, trying to make the police wary of him by using himself as a hostage.

"Bang~"

At this moment.

However, a police officer suddenly opened fire.

The robber fell to the ground immediately.

Seeing that the other robbers were all terrified and had given up struggling, kneeling down and begging for mercy, the policeman who fired the shot seemed to realize something, as if he didn't understand why he had fired the shot.

of course.

The police themselves didn't understand.

Some people understand.

"See that?! The robber who was killed was a thug named Blackie! He was even planning to commit suicide. This double buff directly triggered a skill that was once ingrained in the soul of this rookie veteran cop in New York!"

Ian's explanation was intended to corroborate his previous speculation about soul reincarnation.

only.

He still couldn't get Doctor Strange to figure anything out.

"So, the matter is over?"

Doctor Strange removed his appendix, and just now, the way he pulled out several guns from it truly made it hard to tell whether he was a sorcerer or not.

"This is not the end of the story. The rate at which evil is spreading is far beyond my expectations—the first superhuman crime has already occurred." Holographic Tony switched the camera video again.

The television screen then switched to the perspective of a roadside surveillance camera.

The police car in front of the camera was overturned by some enormous impact, and a shrill, metallic whistling sound pierced the air. In the thick smoke, a deformed figure slowly straightened up—the thing had Spider-Man's iconic inverted triangle eye mask, but the mask was torn in half, revealing a distorted half of a human face underneath.

"Spider-Man?"

Ian was taken aback at first.

"No! It's a spider monster! No wonder he went to do striptease!"

He then suddenly woke up with a start.

"Goo~"

Doctor Strange had never seen such a terrifying creature in his life.

He swallowed hard.

The spider monster was hunched over.

Eight gleaming spider legs burst forth from the spine, each tip dripping a viscous liquid, making it look truly terrifying.

Its movements were both spider-like and human-like, twisted in a nauseating way. Suddenly, it pounced on a woman who had fallen, its black spider legs piercing her shoulders like forks and lifting her into the air.

"Help! Someone help me!"

The woman's voice abruptly stopped.

"Give birth, give birth, you have to give me lots and lots of children, hahahahaha." The monster's split jaw suddenly expanded to an unbelievable width, revealing layers upon layers of serrated sharp teeth. It lowered its head and bit the woman's head, the sound of skull shattering mixed with chewing sounds coming from the monitor speaker.

"Where did this monster come from?"

"What should we do? I don't want to attack it! A pistol definitely won't kill it!"

Behind the burning wreckage of the taxi, several police officers slumped to the ground. One of the young officers had his service pistol lying between his legs, and dark stains of wet water had seeped into his police trousers.

It wasn't just the general public who were trembling with fear.

These New York police officers were also trembling with fear.

Just when everyone was at a loss.

A black and white figure suddenly swam into the frame from the edge.

"what is that?"

Some people gasped in surprise.

"A superhuman who's not afraid of death? Is he... or is she trying to be a hero?"

The police officers also looked up.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone.

With her black and white Spider-Man performing a graceful aerial somersault, she attempts to launch an attack, hoping to stop the disaster, her webs striking the monster's face with pinpoint accuracy as she darts across its body.

However, the damage from this attack was actually minimal; instead, it thoroughly enraged the spider monster.

"Humans! How dare you blaspheme the great gods?" The spider monster let out a sharp bang, and its metallic spider legs shot out at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.

"Bang~"

Unable to dodge in time, the black-and-white Spider-Man was swung around like a baseball, crashing into a convenience store on the street corner. Amidst the crashing of the collapsing shelves, a lock of long hair peeked out from under the shattered white mask.

"Delivery girl?"

Doctor Strange's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"I knew it! I knew from the beginning that Gwen was suspicious!" Ian slapped Doctor Strange's thigh, thought for a moment, then turned and ran toward the gates of the Sanctum Sanctorum.

"You're going to rescue someone?"

Doctor Strange didn't dare to follow.

"I'm going to save you."

Ian's response quickly disappeared.

He soared into the sky in the street, as countless people stared in disbelief.

……

The streets of Queens are burning.

On the broken asphalt road, the car wreckage was twisted into a charred skeleton, and gasoline leaking from the fuel tank meandered through the cracks like burning red venomous snakes.

Thick smoke billowed and licked the sky.

The afternoon sunlight was filtered into a sickly, dim yellow. The shards of glass crackled faintly in the heat, as if the entire street were groaning in pain.

"Damn it! How could I be so bad at fighting? I was so good in my dreams." Gwen Stacy lay on her back in the ruins of the convenience store, her white battle suit stained a dirty grayish-pink with blood and dust. She tried to prop herself up, but a piercing pain shot through her left arm—it had suffered a very serious fracture.

"Ok?"

Gwen was quite surprised that she could make such a precise judgment.

But she had no time to be stunned. Not far away, the monster that called itself a "god" was slowly approaching, its eight spider legs digging into the ground alternately, making a teeth-grinding grinding sound.

"No one can save you." The monster's voice sounded like fingernails scratching a blackboard, with a nervous tremor. "Look at those people, they only have awe and fear for me!"

The spider monster seemed to be enjoying this feeling.

Upon hearing this, Gwen recoiled sharply, turning her head with difficulty. The fire escape staircases on both sides of the street were crowded with onlookers, their cell phone cameras flashing in the smoke, but no one pressed the 911 button. Closer by, several police officers huddled behind an overturned police car, burying their heads in their arms like startled ostriches.

“You should be like them.” The monster bent down, revealing half of Peter Parker’s face beneath the torn mask. “Submit to me, this great god!”

He spoke to Gwen.

"no way!"

Gwen was terrified, but her attitude remained resolute.

"Why don't you?!" The spider-like monster was enraged again, its spider legs suddenly lashing out, sending Gwen flying like a rag doll, crashing heavily beside the wreckage of the police car. The young policeman hiding behind the car screamed and scrambled away, his badge falling beside Gwen—stained with fresh blood.

"Shoot!"

Gwen coughed up blood and grabbed the badge, throwing it at the Spider-Man.

Twenty meters away.

The monster was piercing another policeman's chest with its spider legs as easily as a child tearing open a candy wrapper, but the other policemen hesitated to act due to fear and apprehension.

They only dared to hide in another place.

"Their behavior is justified, after all, that's the law of nature." The monster sucked the blood from the spider's leg, its voice suddenly becoming unusually clear, "Food should all have their own awareness. Facing a god at the top of the food chain like me, you should wash your necks clean and wait to be eaten by me!"

The spider-man approached Gwen again.

And at this time.

boom!
Gunshots tore through the thick smoke.

The monster staggered.

Its furious compound eyes turned toward the direction from which the bullet had come.

Gwen's pupils suddenly contracted.

"dad?!"

She gasped in surprise.

I saw.

not far away.

Sheriff George Stacy stood beside the burning newsstand, his police revolver puffing smoke in the thick smoke.

His police uniform was soaked in blood on the right shoulder, yet he held his gun steadily with his injured arm. However, no matter how much he called for help from his colleagues, neither passersby nor police officers dared to attack the monster.

Their souls.

After the snap of the fingers.

It's not just about reducing crime.

Something else is missing.

"This is truly tragic."

The monster let out a laugh like a baby crying, and crawled toward Gwen with a greedy look in his eyes. "Your superhuman genes are quite good. You and your daughter can have my babies together!"

"The laws of nature dictate survival of the fittest, and my race will inevitably be the future of Earth..." Before he could finish his boastful words, his mutated forelimbs reached out towards Gwen.

The sky suddenly darkened.

It wasn't a dark cloud—it was a human-shaped shadow rapidly expanding.

“I know the laws of nature: insects eat grass, chicks eat insects, and people eat chickens—anyway, spiders don’t eat people.” Ian slammed into the monster’s head like a meteorite.

Caught off guard by the spider monster.

He was slammed into the ground by Ian's legs—a leg strike that came from the sky, the huge shockwave exploding in a ring, causing all the asphalt roads within a ten-meter radius to crack and sink.

"Damn it! Let me go!"

The spider monster's shattered head emitted painful screams.

There was also a furious roar.

Its vocal cords are completely different from those of humans.

"You are weak, but they dare not attack you. Why is that?"

Ian stood on the spider monster's head, looking around. The burning street resembled discarded scraps of paper, its charred edges curled, sparks flickering between the cracks.

The boy's gaze swept over every onlooker.

Captain America, with his model-like physique, stood on the billboard, his flawless uniform spotless. Yet, at this moment, he seemed as unmoved as a plastic mannequin he had been for a long time.

Very stiff.

A sense of bewilderment and hesitation filled the air. Not far away, Thor held his hammer, lightning flashing and extinguishing between his knuckles, as if deeply insecure about his own power. He was the thunder god of Asgard, yet now it seemed he had never truly wielded his hammer, only standing hesitantly and trembling on the edge of the storm.

further away.

Countless faces were crowded behind the broken shop window.

They hid their figures, their pupils darting with fear, dread, horror, and tension. Everyone seemed to lack something—something not weapons, not power, not miracles, but the most precious thing that humanity had accumulated over countless years of development.

It is ancient gold.

"It shouldn't be erased."

I clearly perceive this.

then.

Ian bent down.

They grabbed the roaring spider monster.

The monster's roar seemed to come from the depths of hell, filled with savagery and ferocity. But Ian's eyes remained calm, as if he had already seen through the true nature of this chaos.

"What are you doing?"

Gwen tried to sit up, but failed. Her white hood slipped down, and her long golden hair was stained with blood and ash, making her look disheveled.

“If evil can be reawakened, then so can other things—I’m telling them what courage is.” Ian threw the spider monster high into the air.

It was as if darkness itself had been thrown onto the judgment seat of light.

“If you can’t find your own meaning, then now… look at me, I’ll show you how.” He turned to the silent heroes among the onlookers and spoke.

The monster spiraled upwards into the sky.

At its highest point, its eight compound eyes simultaneously reflected the horrific scene of the streets below—burning police cars, kneeling crowds, and superhumans hiding behind perfectly uniformed figures.

"No!"

The golden light suddenly engulfed his world.

The streets were covered in stains.

That was the sun's radiance.

It shattered the arrogant evil.

Simultaneously.

It also ignited something within people that was hotter and more ancient than the sun.

No one knows how the superhero genre will revive in this new, absurd world. Perhaps a catastrophe or an alien invasion will suffice.

Or perhaps the threat of world destruction will strike again.

We can never have a conclusion about things that haven't happened yet.

but.

Change your perspective.

The real answer.

It's not impossible that when a child clenched his fist, his inner sigh turned into a thunderclap—a sound so loud that the entire universe had to bow its head to listen.

(End of this chapter)