Kamar-Taj!
The moment Darian landed, he rushed toward the Ancient One's residence, only to find the door unlocked.
Could it be that the Ancient One has already returned?
Darian's eyes lit up instantly. He stepped forward and knocked on the door.
"Master Ancient One, I know you're home. Open up!"
Soon, faint footsteps came from inside, and the wooden door was slowly pulled open from within.
"Hehe, Master Ancient One, you're finally ba... Wait, who are you?"
Darian froze. The person before him wasn't the familiar bald woman, but a white-bearded old man with a face full of wrinkles.
Huh?
A wrinkled face, a white-bearded old man...
When these two keywords were combined, why was there a Strange sense of familiarity?
After a moment of thought, Darian remembered that when he first met the Ancient One, she had warned him to stay away from anyone with these characteristics.
He couldn't help but glance at the other party's personal information.
[NPC: Ancient One (Yao)]
[Code Name: Sorcerer Supreme]
[Favorability: ?]
[Comment: An Ancient One from a parallel Universe, one of the strongest mages in the Marvel Universe, a multiversal wanderer, and a lackey of the Great God Eternity]
[Status: Waiting for retirement]
Darian: "???"
A long string of question marks instantly floated through his mind.
This wretched old geezer is actually the Ancient One from a parallel World!?
But why are both Ancient Ones in a status of 'waiting for retirement'? Do these Ancient Ones really want to retire that badly?
The old man Ancient One seemed very satisfied with Darian's bewildered expression. Stroking his long, snow-white beard, he said with a smile, "It seems I don't need to introduce myself. You must already know who I am."
Darian raised an eyebrow.
"Where is Master Ancient One? I mean, the Master Ancient One of our World."
"She ran away early... ahem, I mean, she has some urgent matters to handle and can't return for the time being."
The old man Ancient One seemed to realize he had let something slip and quickly coughed twice to cover it up. However, his acting was so exaggerated that even Darian could tell it was intentional.
But what did 'ran away early' mean? Was the bald Ancient One really avoiding him?
Darian suppressed the doubts in his heart, sized up the old man Ancient One, and asked, "Then why are you here...?"
The old man Ancient One waved his hand.
"Don't mind me. I just ate a bit too much for dinner, so I'm just wandering through a few adjacent space-times to help with digestion."
Wandering through space-times on a whim—I give this flex a perfect score.
Darian's mouth twitched slightly.
"Fine, then wander slowly. I won't disturb you."
With that, he turned around, ready to slip away. Staying with a big shot who loved to flex and whom he couldn't beat made him feel completely uneasy.
The old man Ancient One's eyes narrowed into two thin slits.
"No rush. Since you're already here, why not come in for a cup of tea before you go? It just so happens I found some excellent tea leaves here. I don't know which kind soul left them, but it would be a pity not to taste them."
This is the bald Ancient One's meditation room; who else could that 'kind soul' be?
Darian was somewhat speechless.
Why did it feel like this parallel Universe old man Ancient One was even more improper than the bald Ancient One he knew?
But after hesitating for a moment, he still followed the old man Ancient One into the room.
He saw a tea set already laid out on a low tea table in the center of the room. Wisps of white steam were rising from it; clearly, the tea had just been brewed.
"Don't be formal, please sit."
The old man Ancient One sat down naturally in the host's seat and gestured toward the opposite side. His familiar and relaxed manner made it seem as if he were the true Master of this meditation room.
"You weren't waiting specifically for me to come, were you?"
Darian sat down and looked at the tea in front of him, which was clearly prepared in advance, and couldn't help but be suspicious.
"What? I didn't expect you to see through that. Impressive, truly impressive!"
Upon hearing this, the old man Ancient One's eyes widened, and his face was instantly covered in an exaggerated expression of shock, mixed with a hint of appreciation as if seeing a formidable youth.
"It seems you indeed have great potential and are full of spirituality. You are a one-in-a-million genius. Why don't you come to my World? I'll promote you to be the next Sorcerer Supreme. How about it?"
Darian: "...."
Wait, is the way you Ancient Ones pick a successor for the Sorcerer Supreme always this much of a joke?
The bald Ancient One of this server had asked Darian if he was interested in being the next Sorcerer Supreme within less than a day of their first meeting.
He didn't expect the old man Ancient One before him to be even more ridiculous. They had met for less than a few minutes and spoken fewer than ten sentences, and he directly asked him to be the next Sorcerer Supreme—even more casual than the bald Ancient One.
Was this position a hot potato or something? Did every single one of them want to get rid of it immediately?
Darian was very surprised but did not respond.
If hundreds of mages were competing for this identity, he might have a bit of interest.
But this identity came so easily—it wasn't even as difficult as a job recruitment on the street. There was no sense of achievement at all.
He decisively skipped the topic and asked curiously, "You can actually take people across other Worlds?"
"No."
The old man Ancient One shook his head.
Darian was a bit disappointed. He thought he had found another bug-level humanoid cross-server device like Wade that could take him to other servers.
But on second thought, even if the other party couldn't take people, it would be good if he could learn this method of independently traveling through different Universes.
Thinking of this, Darian immediately followed up, "Then how did you come here?"
"I naturally have my methods, but my methods are not applicable to you."
The old man Ancient One slowly took a sip of tea, as if he had seen through Darian's little scheme.
"Why?"
"Because you're not as awesome as me."
Darian: "..."
Have you ever been punched before?
Darian suddenly felt that the bald Ancient One's evaluation of the old man Ancient One before him was still too polite and one-sided. At the very least, the two prominent characteristics of being shameless and wretched were clearly not included.
He said irritably, "Since I can't cross over, how am I supposed to serve as the Sorcerer Supreme of your World?"
"There is no need to worry about that. When the time comes, you will naturally come to my World in the future."
A profound and mysterious expression appeared on the old man Ancient One's face.
Darian was startled. "You can even predict the future?"
The old man Ancient One said calmly, "More or less. Most Ancient Ones can do it to some extent. For example, the Ancient One of your World can observe the future through the Time Stone, seeing thousands, even billions of possible time branches. It is also by relying on its power that the other 'me' can effectively resist those Dimensional Demon Gods attempting to erode the real World."
The Time Stone, one of the Infinity Stones, possessed the powerful ability to directly interfere with the flow of time.
Darian had already learned about the abilities of all the Infinity Stones from Deadpool Wade's fragmented and erratic spoilers.
He also knew that the 'Purple Potato Essence' named Thanos was meticulously gathering them. His ultimate goal was actually to snap his fingers and randomly eliminate half of the life in the Universe to achieve the balance in his heart and prevent the Universe from being destroyed due to resource depletion.
It turned out that Purple Potato Essence was actually a Director of the Universal Family Planning Commission. He was worried sick about the Universe's family planning, not hesitating to become the ultimate villain to fight against many 'evil' superheroes.
However, Darian hadn't expected the Time Stone to be kept by the Ancient One.
No wonder she had vanished after he obtained the Disco Light Ball. It turned out she had known his plan in advance and was intentionally avoiding him.
It seemed he wouldn't be able to record the scene of the bald Ancient One dancing awkwardly.
Darian's eyes darted around, and his gaze slowly shifted to the old man Ancient One in front of him, who was leisurely sipping tea.
Isn't there a ready-made Ancient One right here?
The old man Ancient One noticed Darian's gaze and said with a kind smile, "If you like dancing, we can dance together. However, these old bones of mine can only dance for a little while. I see that you are young and strong; dancing continuously for a few months shouldn't be a problem."
Confirmed by that look: he was someone not to be messed with.
Darian didn't doubt for a second that once he made a move, the other party would definitely use magic to make him dance awkwardly for months. This old man Ancient One was clearly much more sinister than the bald one.
"No thanks, I'm not a fan of awkward dancing."
Darian laughed it off and changed the subject. "So, you also have a Time Stone and can predict the future?"
"No."
The old man Ancient One shook his head nonchalantly.
"I don't need that kind of thing."
Darian was instantly filled with respect.
Those words... were truly an invisible flex.
The implication was that he didn't need the assistance of the Time Stone and could deal with the intrusion of Dimensional Demon Gods solely through his own Power. The weight behind that was self-evident; he was likely more than just a level above the bald Ancient One.
In an instant, the old man Ancient One's image in Darian's mind shot up, shrouded in the aura of an unfathomable, otherworldly Master.
"Pah, pah, pah!"
In the next second, the old man Ancient One frowned and spat out the tea dregs he had accidentally drunk. He even subconsciously stuck out two fingers, trying to pick at a stubborn piece of debris stuck to the tip of his tongue. The aura of a Master instantly shattered into pieces.
Darian: "...."
Fine, he's just a wretched old geezer.
Darian suppressed the urge to complain and brought the topic back to the right track, asking curiously, "Since you can foresee the future, can you reveal a little bit?"
"No."
The old man Ancient One shook his head again and explained, "If I were to tell you a certain fixed direction of the future right now, then you, knowing this, would become a massive variable yourself. Every subsequent choice you make could shift because of it, triggering a chain reaction that completely alters the original time trajectory."
"You should know the principle of the Butterfly Effect. Moreover, you're no longer just a butterfly; you're a Siberian Husky. A tiny change could turn the entire World upside down and make it unrecognizable."
Darian: "Nice..."
Are you praising me or insulting me?
"I'm praising you."
The old man Ancient One seemed to be able to read minds, and his expression became a bit more serious.
"Darian, my previous words weren't entirely a joke. You indeed have great potential. If you become the Sorcerer Supreme, perhaps you will be the most outstanding among us."
Hearing such praise from a top-tier big shot, Darian couldn't help but feel a surge of secret satisfaction, and the corners of his mouth tended to turn upward.
He waved his hand and said dismissively, "No, no, I'm still far behind you."
"That's true."
The old man Ancient One nodded without hesitation, and as if it were only natural.
Darian: "..."
He was already powerless to complain.
Darian was very curious if all Ancient Ones were in this style, or if all Sorcerers Supreme were in this style.
If it were the latter, he felt that as someone thin-skinned, introverted, and not good with words, it would be truly difficult for him to hold this position.
"If we're filtering by those criteria, then I'm afraid no one is more suitable than you," the old man Ancient One suddenly chimed in again.
Darian's mouth twitched, and he finally couldn't help but ask, "I've been wanting to ask, why do you always know what I'm thinking? You couldn't be reading my mind, could you?"
The old man Ancient One didn't show the slightest embarrassment at being exposed, calmly stroking his beard.
"Rest assured, I can't read your mind. There's a mental barrier in your head that's very well protected. Unless I forcibly puncture it, I can't directly read your thoughts."
"The reason I know your thoughts is simply because I've observed 'a billion' other timelines."
He raised his hand and used his index finger and thumb to make a gesture that would make certain men see red.
Fine, you're awesome.
Darian felt that talking to this man was more mentally exhausting than dealing with ten Deadpools.
At least he could beat Wade, but the person before him could neither be out-talked nor out-fought; he was being crushed in every aspect.
Darian said helplessly, "Can't you Ancient Ones find someone else to inherit the Sorcerer Supreme title? For example... that Doctor Strange named Stephen Strange."
He had heard this name from Peter B.
According to the normal game plot progression, Strange would become the Ancient One's disciple and also the successor to the next Sorcerer Supreme.
The old man Ancient One wasn't surprised at all that Darian knew the name Strange, still smiling kindly.
"You mean Strange? There's still some time before the day of his car accident, and my time is running out. This gap needs someone to guard the Reality Dimension, and you are the best candidate in my opinion."
Time is running out... You're probably just in a hurry to retire and have fun.
Darian muttered in his heart, and since he didn't want to beat around the bush, he asked directly, "Then if I serve as the Sorcerer Supreme, what are the benefits?"
The old man Ancient One chuckled.
"There are many benefits. After becoming the Sorcerer Supreme, all the mages of Kamar-Taj will obey your orders, all the resources of Kamar-Taj will be at your disposal, and similarly, all the magic in the Library will be fully open to you."
"Not only that, but there's also a steady stream of magical creatures from various dimensions. They can help you improve your own strength."
The first few points indeed sounded tempting, but could the last one even be considered a benefit?
Just as Darian was about to complain, a system prompt sounded in his mind.
[NPC Ancient One has issued a new quest to you]
[Quest: Guard the Reality Dimension]
[Objective: Expel or repel threats from other dimensions]
[Reward: Based on the strength and quantity of the expelled magical creatures. Rewards will be automatically settled at the end of each event]
[This quest is a permanent daily quest; players can complete it multiple times]