"You're…"
Happy was just about to recall Jessica's face when he saw a man walking behind her. "Oh... You really brought up Tony at the worst time..."
"Stark?"
Hearing Jessica mention the name, Eric immediately walked over.
Noticing the silver glint peeking between Happy's fingers, he sneered and reached out his hand. "That's not yours. Hand it over!"
Happy had no intention of giving it up and threw a punch instead—
Boom!
Eric took the punch head-on.
The metallic object in Happy's hand even left a small cut on Eric's face...
Crack~
But Eric just casually moved his jaw, and under the skin, an orange glow started to rise…
"Oh..."
Now Jessica also realized something was wrong...
…..
Kamar-Taj.
"How is it?"
The Ancient One lightly tapped the back of the young girl's hand in front of her and softly asked, "Can you feel it?"
"Mmm... I can feel it..."
Wanda's beautiful eyes suddenly widened, and a scarlet glow flashed through her amber pupils—
—She opened her slender hand, and strands of crimson Chaos Magic energy floated and flickered within her palm...
"Red... What kind of magic is this?"
The Ancient One: "Chaos Magic."
"Chaos Magic?"
Wanda murmured, developing a special connection to the crimson energy in her palm.
The energy extended onto the tea table, lifting a porcelain teacup.
Wanda was fascinated, continuously playing with the teacup using her chaos magic, "So this is the power of Chaos Magic? Like telekinesis?"
"Compared to the true power of Chaos Magic, this is not even a speck of dust."
The Ancient One warned, "It is far more powerful than you imagine. You must learn to control it."
Wanda nodded, half-understanding. "Then your Chaos Magic must be very powerful, right?"
The Ancient One shook her head, "I can't use it."
"Huh? You can't? Then how are you teaching me?"
"It is something you were born with."
…..
"Why don't we play another round of cards?"
Seeing that Wanda had been inside for a long time, Tony suggested another thrilling round of card duels.
Strange clasped his fingers together, staring at the curtain expectantly. "I'm too excited right now to play cards."
Clatter.
The bead curtain swayed lightly.
Wanda walked out with a complicated expression and said to Stark, "You can go in now..."
Then, she turned her gaze to her brother—since she was born with Chaos Magic, then Pietro...
"Still not my turn?"
Strange asked Ye Li in confusion, "Wasn't Master Mordo supposed to come pick me up?"
Ye Li shrugged and raised his eyebrows, expressing—
— "You can never guess a woman's thoughts."
He figured…
The Ancient One probably just wanted to make Strange wait a bit.
Strange didn't even believe in magic or souls when he first arrived at Kamar-Taj—until the Sorcerer Supreme gave him a demonstration.
But now, under Ye Li's influence, Strange already believed in magic. There was no need to worry about him losing patience and leaving.
"Buddy, relax. Your turn will come sooner or later."
Tony patted Strange's shoulder in comfort, then strode toward the inner hall proudly. "I'll go scout ahead for you, haha~"
Strange: "..." (You might as well just write 'smug' all over your face...)
…..
Inner Hall.
"Oh~ Hello, esteemed Ancient One."
Tony sat down casually, "Your tea is really excellent. Compared to this, that famous Japanese teahouse I visited is nothing."
"Your talent is no less than Strange's, Stark."
The Ancient One had no interest in idle chat and went straight to the point. "But your mind is not at peace right now."
"Oh, thanks for the complim— huh, what?"
Tony paused mid-narcissism and asked, "You can tell I have anxiety?"
The Ancient One smiled kindly and nodded. "You are anxious about power… You believe that without your Iron Man suit, you are just an ordinary man, powerless against gods and extraterrestrial threats. You fear you cannot protect those important to you and the people, correct?"
Tony dumbfoundedly gave a thumbs-up. "Master, you're really spot on. Ever considered becoming a therapist?"
The Ancient One nodded again. "I have an internationally registered psychological counseling certificate."
"..."
Tony was impressed… thoroughly.
"So, do you know how to cure my anxiety?"
"Very simple..."
The Ancient One tapped a folding fan against the magic book on the table and slid it toward Stark. "Learn magic."
She wasn't lying. Spell meditation could calm the mind and cure his anxiety.
"Exactly!"
Tony suddenly had an epiphany. "Master, I get it now!"
The Ancient One smiled in satisfaction—truly a promising student.
Tony said joyfully, "Once I learn magic! Even without my suit, I can still show off!"
The Ancient One: ?
…..
Bang!!
Eric Savin grabbed one of Happy's arms and threw him far away in a back suplex, smashing a glass panel.
"Ah—!" Screams erupted around as pedestrians fled in panic.
Tap tap.
He walked toward Happy, ready to strike again.
Suddenly—
Jessica stepped forward, blocking his path. "Stop!"
"Oh, it's you, beautiful."
Crack crack...
Savin clenched his fists. "I don't go easy on women~"
Boom!——
Jessica kicked the glowing man and sent him flying, then turned to check on Happy.
Matilda tugged at her at that moment. "Jessica, look over there! That guy looks like he's about to explode!"
"Explode?"
Jessica's gaze swept through the fleeing crowd. She saw Taggart, just like Savin, with an orange glow spreading rapidly beneath his skin—as if he were about to explode...
[Explosion?]
With her extensive superhero experience, the knightly Jessica immediately sensed something was wrong...
Sensing danger, Jessica stepped forward, a silver glow flashing beneath her feet as she swiftly glided just inches above the ground.
As she reached Taggart, she grabbed his collar and shot into the air, instinctively throwing him upward———
———Boom!!!
Taggart exploded into a fireball…
Matilda was stunned, "People really do explode..."
Happy, now back on his feet, scanned the now-empty theater and noticed that Savin had already disappeared. "...I need to inform Tony about this. Maybe you should also contact your brother..."
He recalled the silver light from earlier and finally remembered who Jessica was—the Knightress, Mr. Ye's sister.
"What the hell was that..."
Jessica had thought things would settle down after the New York battle, but now another mess had emerged...
But the young woman chose not to contact Ye Li—she knew her brother wouldn't bother dealing with this kind of thing.
…..
Sanctum Sanctorum.
Strange finally got his turn to enter the inner chamber and be introduced to the world of magic.
Meanwhile, in the central hall...
Ye Li was carefully studying a book on weaving magic analysis and quickly gained some insights.
With just a flick of his hand—
Threads extended from Pietro and Tony's clothing and began intertwining…
"What?"
Stark sensed something was wrong, turned around, and found that his clothes were now connected to the white-haired kid's!
"What the hell?"
Pietro noticed too and tried to pull away from Stark, "Hey! Gross! Stay away from me!"
"You stay away from me!"
Tony tried to take off his jacket, but all the layers were stuck together, "Is this magic? Or a curse?"
"Pfft~"
Wanda couldn't hold back her laughter. She had seen Ye Li's subtle hand motion and knew he was the one behind this trick.
Tony gave her a suspicious look. "Did you do this? Undo it now."
Pietro was confused. "Sis, was this you?"
"It wasn't me, I swear. Don't blame me."
The girl quickly shook her head and pointed toward Ye Li.
Seeing that Wanda had ratted him out, Ye Li waved his hand again, restoring their clothes to normal.
A fun little trick, though not particularly useful.
"Li, what the hell kind of weird magic is this…"
"Yeah, this is totally just prank magic..."
The two of them naturally started complaining.
Ye Li grinned mischievously, "I just saw you two always bickering, figured you could use some bonding time."
Pietro's eyes widened, "Who wants to bond with him?!"
Snap~
Ye Li snapped his fingers.
Strands of white spider silk materialized around Pietro and wrapped him up like a dumpling.
This was his second experiment with 'Weaving Magic,' allowing him to create silk threads out of thin air within a certain range.
Compared to Cindy's generated webbing or Gwen's chemical webs, these threads were significantly more durable.