Another year passed in a flash.
Beneath the surface, currents surged at the top of the Multiverse, and many Cosmic Beings were filled with apprehension.
The lower layers were also affected by the Infinite Ultron incident, with countless dimensional beings fleeing in all directions, invading the reality for various reasons.
For a time, most of the Marvel world was in turmoil, as if a towering edifice was about to collapse.
But this had little impact on Lucas.
As usual, Lucas stayed at his bookstore, reading various novels, and every day he would set aside some time to remove the foreign energy from the Elder Gods brought by the Creator.
Of course, this excluded Saturdays, Sundays, Thanksgiving, Spring Break, Summer Break, Winter Break, and other holidays.
The Creator had also devised a strategy for this, he would bring more Elder Gods before the holidays.
From time to time, Lucas would communicate with Chthon, chatting about everyday matters and inviting him to gatherings.
Chthon, of course, flatly refused, and in every communication, he would paint grand visions for Lucas, trying to entice him to cooperate in finding opportunities to hunt other cosmic entities.
For example, the children of Eternity.
After learning that Eternity was imprisoned and even needed to seek help from Galactus, Chthon's mind stirred. He wanted to ambush and devour an abstract entity's avatar, replacing the rule it represented in the Marvel world.
"Chthon, aren't you worried that Eternity will come after you once he's free? Or are you convinced that Eternity will fail this time, and the Multiverse will begin a new cycle?" Lucas couldn't help but ask.
Chthon chuckled. "Sorcerer Lucas, it's hard to conquer an empire, but even harder to defend it. However, one must first conquer the empire to be qualified to consider how to defend it."
After a pause, Chthon cackled and added, "Besides, by then, the die will be cast, and it's not like I can't be Eternity's son."
Lucas gave a thumbs-up and said, "That's a brilliant idea."
"How about it, Sorcerer Lucas, want to cooperate with me?" Chthon seized the opportunity to tempt him again.
Lucas shrugged and spread his hands in one smooth motion, "Forget it, I don't want to be Eternity's son."
Chthon suddenly asked, "What if it's replacing Eternity?"
Lucas paused, his eyes narrowing slightly as he looked at Chthon's projection. "Chthon, do you know what you're saying?"
Chthon nodded. "If I can go a step further, I don't mind being your son."
"Heh, if. But I don't want a son like you." Lucas's words changed mid-sentence.
He had originally intended to say, 'If you want to be my son, you can call me daddy now.'
But before the words left his mouth, he remembered that a shameless Archdemon like Chthon might just seize the opportunity to kneel and acknowledge him as his father.
Lucas didn't want to adopt someone who would dare to plot against Eternity's son based on a mere rumor.
"Sorcerer Lucas, consider it? Perhaps I can tell you another piece of information for free."
"What information?"
"Just in the last few years, the Multiverse rebooted once. Note, it was a reboot, not a reincarnation. Because of that reboot, almost all cosmic entity avatars fell into a state of weakness."
"So, this opportunity for us is not once in a millennium. It won't even appear a second time in billions of years. This is a unique opportunity."
Lucas frowned.
The Multiverse rebooted? How did he not know?
Chthon smiled confidently.
He had originally thought Lucas knew this information, so he had never considered using it as a bargaining chip.
Until he came to Earth-404 to live in seclusion, and by chance discovered something that stunned him.
Chthon could sense from Lucas's life aura that he was very young, but Lucas's youthfulness still exceeded his imagination.
Of course, that wasn't the point. The point was the time when Lucas first displayed extraordinary power—late October 2010 on Earth-404.
That was about four months after the Multiverse rebooted.
This gave Chthon a guess—Lucas only grew up after the Multiverse rebooted, and he was unaware of the Multiverse reboot.
Now, this guess was confirmed.
Chthon added, "If converted to your reality, Sorcerer Lucas, the time of the Multiverse reboot should be around July 2010."
July 2010, Lucas would not forget this time. It was probably when he arrived in Marvel. This would explain why he didn't know about the Multiverse reboot.
Because when he came to Marvel, the Multiverse had already completed its reboot.
Is this timing just too coincidental?
Lucas vaguely had several guesses in his mind, and his frown gradually smoothed out.
He looked at Chthon and nodded perfunctorily. "Okay, I'll think about it again."
After speaking, Lucas ended the communication and put away the darkhold.
On the other end of the darkhold, Chthon, whose call had been disconnected, was not annoyed. Instead, he cackled strangely.
He knew that from this moment on, he and Lucas officially had a basis for cooperation.
He, Chthon, had latched onto this powerful ally.
After interrupting communication with Chthon, Lucas sat in the bookstore's lounge for a long time, lost in thought.
Chaos is a ladder.
Perhaps this was why he came to Marvel only after the Multiverse rebooted.
Only during the weak period of the various cosmic entities after the reboot could he have enough time and space to develop.
But cooperate with Chthon?
Lucas shook his head.
He didn't think highly of Chthon, nor did he need to cooperate with Chthon to replace a cosmic entity.
Their paths were different.
Chthon's fervent desire to become one of the cosmic entities was more detrimental than beneficial to Lucas at this time.
If Lucas wished, he could now embed himself in the Marvel world and add a rule called evolution to this Universe.
The benefit would be to gain a part of the Marvel world's authority, completely extending his power throughout the entire Multiverse, escaping the current situation of having ample power but insufficient influence.
The cost would be that he would be completely exposed to all cosmic-level beings, and the stable development environment he had before would no longer exist.
When Lucas's strength further increased, he wouldn't mind making some contributions to the Marvel world, but not now.
Ring...
A phone rang suddenly, awakening Lucas from his contemplation.
He answered the phone, and Strange's voice came from the other end. "By my reckoning, it should be soon. Want to go take a look together?"
"Okay."
Lucas looked up at the sky outside the window. It was already nightfall, with streetlights beginning to glow.
He raised his hand, took an umbrella, and with a flash of sparks, a portal appeared.
Stepping through, Lucas arrived at the summit of a winding mountain road.
Beside him, Strange was already waiting.
"Strange, why aren't you using an umbrella? Master said not to rely too much on magic in daily life."
Lucas walked towards Strange, holding his umbrella.
Seeing this, Strange deactivated his protective charm against the rain.
However, what Strange didn't expect was that Lucas stopped a body length away from him.
Cold, icy rain slapped his face indiscriminately, and Strange silently reactivated his protective charm.
Under Lucas's and Strange's gaze, a rather handsome, successful middle-aged man drove a supercar with one hand along the winding mountain road below.
From time to time, he would look down at his phone, seemingly checking some information.
Strange saw this middle-aged man, who looked remarkably similar to him, was alone, and various complex emotions flashed in his eyes.
He suddenly said, "I envy him."
As Strange's voice sounded, a car accident occurred.
The supercar, traveling at high speed, accidentally scraped an adjacent car while overtaking.
The supercar immediately lost control, crashed into the guardrail, and plunged off the cliff.
The middle-aged man in the supercar was injured and fell unconscious after multiple impacts.
"Strange, it should be entirely your fault, right?" Lucas teased.
"No." Strange shook his head.
"It's entirely his fault. We are both Stephen Strange, but not the same person."
The middle-aged man involved in the car accident was indeed Stephen Strange of the 404 Universe.
"How is Kamar-Taj doing now?" Lucas asked, withdrawing his gaze from the unconscious Strange below.
Strange said without looking back, "Everything is already on track. With Mephisto guarding the outside and Asgard's aid internally, the magic array defenses have regained their past stability."
"For the specifics, you'll need to ask Mordo. I handed over the affairs of the Kamar-Taj defense line to him more than half a year ago."
"Mm." Lucas nodded, then asked, "What about your opportunity to reshape the Universe? Any progress?"
"Yes, but not much."
More than a year later, speaking of reshaping the Universe again, Strange was no longer as visibly sad as he had been, but his tone remained low.
Perhaps it was seeing the familiar sight that brought back memories, Strange's eyes gradually became vacant, and his thoughts seemed to return to the night his car accident occurred.
"Strange, if you have time, you can go see Tony. Perhaps his research will be helpful to you."
"Tony?"
"Yes, he's currently researching a spaceship that can fly out of the entire Multiverse and beyond all things. In a sense, that spaceship is a small Universe."
"Thank you."
After a moment of silence, Strange said.
With that, Strange turned and stepped out, disappearing with golden sparks.
Lucas leisurely took out his phone and opened the Ultron assistant. "Ultron."
"At your service, Mr. Lucas, how may I assist you?"
"Help me call an ambulance for Stephen Strange."
"Yes, sir."
After speaking, Lucas stepped out and vanished from his spot.
The next day, Lucas took a bill from his mailbox and fell silent.