I sparked a mysterious resurgence in Marvel.

Chapter 170 The Magician

Do not!

It's not that the power of those terrifying ramblings has diminished.

This time, the murmured babbling was even more frantic than before.

To be precise.

It was because Erin's mind was now far stronger than when he had advanced last time. This increased mental strength made Erin more resistant to those insane ravings.

It is precisely because of this change.

This gave Erin the illusion that his delirious ramblings had weakened during this advancement.

The ethereal and illusory murmurs, carrying both immense fear and allure, echoed once again in Erin's ears and mind.

As one "firework" after another exploded, Erin's head began to expand and contract repeatedly.

In the cycle of reincarnation.

Erin's thoughts were gradually coming together.

Unconsciously, Erin slowly entered a meditative state, constantly restraining his rapidly increasing spirituality.

I don't know how much time has passed.

When Erin opened his eyes again, he had gradually withdrawn most of his power.

The stimulation to the body from advancing in the sequence gradually subsided.

The itching all over his body slowly subsided, and even his arms, which had been flickering between light and shadow and constantly shifting between transparent and semi-transparent states, returned to their normal appearance.

········

A few minutes later.

After completely suppressing the last trace of restless spirituality within him, Erin slowly rose from the sofa.

Once that slender figure had fully stood up, a mysterious and captivating aura emanated from Erin.

From this moment on, Erin truly stepped into the threshold of the middle sequence and became an extraordinary "magician".

········

Just as Erin was successfully promoted.

The scales of fate, hidden above the river of destiny, trembled once more.

Under that vibration, which was like breathing.

More black spots, along with the air currents, were shaken off by the scales of fate and fell into the boundless, unpredictable river of destiny.

As the river of fate rolls on.

These wisps of black light continuously merged into the silvery drops of water in the river of fate.

Every drop of water in the river of fate is, in fact, the fate of a life.

Those wisps of black light, as they merge into the drops of river water, are also constantly polluting and altering the original fate of each and every life.

As for those living beings, and even objects, that were already contaminated by those black specks of light.

These black specks of light that descended once again were like a powerful tonic to them, rapidly driving them to mutate again, transforming them into something even more terrifying.

··········

After successfully advancing to the mid-tier [Magician], Erin stretched his body and began to quickly sense the differences between [Magician] and [Clown].

First of all.

Erin's movements seemed to have become much more agile, and even his hands had become more nimble.

Aside from the slight vibrations to the body.

The magical abilities provided by the potion were also infused into Erin's mind through a mysterious and unknown means, imprinted in his spirit, or rather, engraved on Erin's genes.

The Magician is considered one of the most powerful sequences.

They possess numerous and diverse extraordinary abilities. Unlike mages who need to chant spells in seconds, the Magician has the skill to cast spells quickly. Erin's abilities do not require chanting or infusing spiritual energy; they can even cast corresponding spells or spell-like abilities with just a simple action.

Erin briefly organized the mysterious knowledge in his mind, except for some minor tricks that weren't very practical.

The main abilities of the [Magician] stage are divided into nine types.

One is "drawing paper into soldiers," a spell-like ability he possessed during his Joker phase. After advancing to Sequence Seven, this ability was further enhanced. Now, this spell-like ability can not only transform paper into sharp objects, but also briefly mold it into sticks, bricks, and other weapons.

Apart from this ability.

The other abilities in the [Magician] stage are "Damage Transfer", "Flame Leap", "Air Bullet", "Paper Doll Substitute", "Flame Manipulation", "Illusion Creation", "Underwater Breathing", and "Bone Softening".

"Damage Transfer" allows you to transfer a wound from one part of the body to another through contact, turning what would have been a fatal injury into a superficial wound. This is a very useful life-saving ability, but unfortunately, it can only be used once in a short period of time and cannot be used continuously.

In critical moments, the "Paper Doll Substitute" allows the magician to briefly transform the paper doll they carry into themselves and swap positions with it. In addition to shielding themselves from a fatal blow, the "Paper Doll Substitute" can also effectively reduce the damage from curses.

These two survival abilities significantly boosted Erin's survivability.

Besides these two abilities.

They can temporarily soften parts of their bones to break free from restraints through "bone softening," and they can create a five-meter-long air tube underwater for breathing through "underwater breathing."

There is also the ability to teleport within a 30-meter range by flashing between the flames left behind or between existing flames, similar to teleportation, called "Flame Jump".

All of these greatly enriched Erin's escape methods.

Although they had reached the middle stage where qualitative changes were beginning, the Gou family was still the Gou family.

Even the most powerful magicians focus most of their core abilities on escape and survival.

but·······

I like.

Apart from those abilities primarily used for survival.

Erin also possesses the magical ability to "manipulate fire," which allows him to manipulate flames within a 30-meter radius through a simple action, turning them into streams of fire that incinerate people or objects within that area.

Once he fully digests the [Magician] potion or advances to a higher sequence, this "manipulating fire" spell ability can summon flames out of thin air.

At that time, whether it's using the "Flame Leap" ability to escape or attacking with the summoned flame streams, it will be a very useful ability.

In addition to "manipulating flames", the Magician can also create "air bullets" with power and speed comparable to a pistol by snapping his fingers and simulating sounds. Furthermore, the effect of this ability will increase as Erin's own sequence level improves.

After Erin reaches the high sequence.

The "air bullets" will also be transformed into "air cannons" with power comparable to artillery shells.

Of course, in addition to these abilities.

Erin also highly values ​​"creating illusions," which is almost a magician's signature skill.

This ability can influence the surrounding environment to create near-realistic illusions with colors, sounds, and smells, using such deceptive effects to confuse the perception of humans or all intelligent beings.

This ability, combined with Erin's mental cultivation and hypnotic techniques, further enhances his abilities.

It will become a nightmare for those who oppose Erin.

············

Feeling the many abilities that had suddenly "awakened" within him, Erin smiled and said, "Looks like tonight will be another sleepless night."

Having awakened so many strange and extraordinary abilities at once, how could Erin resist testing them out?

Moreover, Erin, who has awakened the ability of "paper doll substitutes", must hurry up and make a batch of paper dolls to save his life!

···········

Just as Erin was testing his newly awakened abilities after his advancement.

Inside a heavily guarded building.

Secretly, he is the leader of Hydra, but publicly, as the Minister of the World Security Council, Alexander Pierce is fulfilling his responsibilities as Minister of the World Security Council.

That means getting scolded!

According to incomplete statistics.

The number of people who died in the catastrophe in Harlem tonight is as high as a thousand, and the number of those who are missing or injured is even more countless.

In New York, a world-class megacity, such a catastrophic loss of life has occurred.

As a minister of the World Security Council, Alexander Pierce is largely to blame.

Therefore, faced with accountability from countries around the world, and a high-ranking federal defense official who had completely abandoned his former composure and was verbally abusing him, Alexander Pierce could only stand at attention and take the beating.

Finally, the meeting ended.

Alexander Pierce turned off the video conference connection and then exhaled a breath of stale air.

He picked up a glass of bourbon next to him, took a sip, and then said to a cell phone that was constantly on a call, "Frey, you heard it too. This incident in Harlem has had a huge impact and is extremely serious."

"I need to give an explanation to the Federation and to all the countries in the world, and you..."

"You need to give me an explanation!"

After a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, Nick Fury's voice came through: "I'll give you an explanation, Pierce."

Looking at the phone on the table that showed the call had ended.

Pierce chuckled and then placed the phone into a specially designed drawer.

After doing all this.

Pierce, holding a wine glass, slowly walked through the brightly lit conference room and into another dimly lit room next door.

The moment Pierce entered the room, his aura changed completely.

It seemed that in that instant of shifting light and darkness, the righteous and solemn Minister of the World Security Council transformed into the Hydra leader hidden behind the scenes.

In this dimly lit room, there was no one else besides Pierce's long-haired, black-haired secretary.

However, the laptops in the room were slowly emitting a dim blue light.

"My lord, the Baron and his wife are ready and can begin communication at any time."

After settling back on the leather sofa with a wine glass in hand, Pierce said, "Let's begin!"

The female secretary with long, straight black hair nodded upon hearing this, and then tapped the table.

The next second, a figure hidden in the darkness appeared on each of the three laptops.

"Pierce, you're late again!"

As soon as the video call connected, a dissatisfied voice came from the laptop on the left.

Before Pierce could answer, a hoarse female voice came from the laptop on the left.

"Alright, enough chit-chat, let's get straight to the point. You've all seen those terrifying guys who appeared in Harlem, haven't you? Pierce, New York is your territory, have you figured out what those monsters are all about?"

Pierce, who was lying on the sofa with his head up, heard Lady Viper's voice and said, "The Abomination and the Hulk that appeared first can now be confirmed as experimental products of General Ross of the military."

"The Federation military is already capable of creating monsters this powerful?" Baron Strucker's voice deepened upon hearing this, "It seems I need to accelerate my experiments."

"No." Pierce shook his head. "According to my intelligence, the appearance of both the Abomination and the Hulk was an accident. General Ross cannot control those two monsters; otherwise, the battle between them wouldn't have happened on the streets of New York in the first place. Of course, we can't rule out the possibility that Ross might be refining his experiments and creating controllable monsters..."

After Pierce finished speaking, the hoarse female voice also spoke up: "The Federal military? I understand. My people will infiltrate General Ross's inner circle and try to steal his experimental data."

"But besides that, what about the demon and angel that appeared later? Are creatures from mythology starting to appear too?"

Upon hearing this, Pierce rubbed his throbbing temples and said, "I don't know. To date, I haven't obtained any information about that demon and the six-winged angel. However, Nick Fury seems to have some intelligence, and I'll try to get it..."

The meeting between the leaders of the major branches of Hydra did not last long.

After exchanging various intelligence information.

The meeting is about to end.

After the meeting, the computers representing Baron Strucker and Lady Viper went offline.

Just as the third laptop, filled with garbled text, was about to shut down.

Pierce suddenly spoke up: "Dr. Zola, I will be accelerating the implementation of Project Insight, and I need your help."

"Can!"

The last laptop screen, which was filled with gibberish, displayed the English word "okay" before quickly going dark.

Pierce breathed a sigh of relief upon receiving Dr. Zola's reply.

After all the laptop screens have turned off.

Pierce's long, straight black-haired secretary handed him several photos taken by military satellites.

"Sect Secretary, based on satellite imagery and news that Tony Stark acquired a funeral home a few hours ago, it appears the Joker, who previously opposed us, has died in the final counterattack of that mysterious demon. Should we cancel any missions involving him?"

Looking at the footage of the Joker turning to ashes captured by military satellites, Pierce said calmly, "Since he's dead, let's cancel it! We don't need to waste too much energy on a dead man."

"But dying like this is too easy for him!"

(End of this chapter)