American comics: Starting with Luke the Maker

"How long do we have to wait?" Nick Fury quietly asked the sorcerer Wang, watching the two in front of him who had finished their work and started drinking tea. Twenty-one minutes had passed since that mind-shattering scene, meaning he had been standing here for twenty-one minutes!

He wanted to go up and say hello to the Ancient One and get to know her, but strangely, no matter how he walked, he couldn't get any closer. Even though she seemed to be only a dozen meters away.

Nick even called out Luke's name a few times, but was stopped by the sorcerer behind him.

"Don't waste your energy. They can't hear you right now, and you can't get any closer," Wang said.

"Why?" Nick asked, his one eye fixed on Wang. "As partners, shouldn't we get to know each other? Besides, these documents we've drafted, shouldn't the Ancient One take a look at them?"

Nick said, shaking a thick file folder in his hand.

"It's dangerous up ahead," Wang said, looking towards the well.

"That big monster?" Nick also saw the creature that had fallen from the void, resembling a giant squid, with an unsettling appearance. But clearly, it looked like a dead thing.

"You weren't affected because the Ancient One put up a shield here. But if you get too close, you won't be able to handle it," Wang kindly explained.

"Specifically? It looks like just a corpse," Nick said, looking at the metal wellhead.

"Yes, it has become a corpse. But you have to understand that many monsters don't stop being a threat when they die. In fact, many monsters are more troublesome after death.

As a partner, a friendly reminder: don't use human concepts to judge these dimensional beings. That will cause you and your subordinates to suffer greatly.

Like this monster, if I'm not mistaken, it's a very troublesome monster that wanders the edges and cracks of the dimensional world. Without protection, the first time you see it, you'll be affected and controlled by its mental power."

Wang considered that he might have to deal with Nick a lot in the future, so he said a little more.

"What happens when you're affected? Besides magic, what should you do if you encounter this kind of monster? How can you avoid being affected and controlled by its mental power? Is a strong will enough?" Nick wanted to know the consequences and how to defend against and solve the problem.

Since Wang was willing to say more, Nick would of course take the opportunity to ask more questions. Even if the information was just casually revealed, it was something they had rarely been able to access and collect in the past.

"My suggestion is to run as far as you can," Wang said solemnly, glancing at Nick. "A strong will can indeed resist for a while, but I don't think the result will change."

Seeing the worried look on Nick's face, Wang noticed his concern and comforted him, "But you don't need to worry about them appearing on this planet. If they appear here, it must be because someone used some kind of power to bypass the Ancient One's barrier and summon them here."

"Someone can bypass the Ancient One's barrier?" Nick's mind immediately sounded an alarm.

"Any protection has loopholes, or perhaps not loopholes, just a set of operating rules that can be used as a breakthrough. The only fortunate thing is that as long as the barrier is still in operation, it will be difficult for those dimensional gods to enter. As for those summons and followers, that's what we sorcerers need to deal with," Wang said.

Nick nodded.

Time passed, minute by minute. One hour, three hours, five hours.

Normally, wasting five hours waiting for someone would be unimaginable for a busy person like Nick Fury. He could guess that in those five hours, a large pile of important classified documents and so on that needed his attention had accumulated on his desk.

But at this moment, Nick patiently stayed in place and waited. Of course, he wasn't just waiting, but was communicating with Wang, trying to extract the information he wanted to know from him. Wang had noticed this from the beginning, but didn't show a secretive attitude of not knowing anything in response to Nick's questions.

Wang didn't hide much of the superficial information, and answered almost every question. But when Nick wanted to delve deeper into the topic, he would change the subject and be vague. After a few times, Nick figured out Wang's bottom line.

Now, as soon as he noticed that Wang was showing signs of being unwilling to speak about a certain issue, he would immediately and proactively change the topic to continue the conversation. The two had reached a tacit understanding.

Nick wanted to know more information about magic and the dimensional world, and Wang, as a partner, was willing to popularize some non-secret information for Nick.

...

"Can you feel it?" The Ancient One suddenly stopped the hand that was bringing the cup to her mouth, and looked at the metal wellhead with joy. "The energy concentration is increasing. It seems your verification was successful."

"Yes, that guarantees the follow-up plan," Luke also said with joy. If the verification failed, he would need to readjust the plan and modify the technology. The time and energy wasted would be hard to estimate.

"You've also done us a great favor. The Ancient One's lineage has had many troublesome opponents since ancient times, and even if they are resolved, there will be a lot of follow-up trouble. So often, the biggest trouble for us sorcerers is not solving a powerful enemy, but the series of troubles that arise during or as a result of the solution.

Your technology at least helps us solve one of the troubles we need to face, and even turns it into a good thing." Gu Yi felt the new energy surrounding this mirrored world, opened her hand, and colorful, rainbow-like energy floated out of the air, turning into strands of silk that wrapped around her fingertips.

"It's truly wonderful. After being filtered, it's like a pool of colorless water. Whatever color you add to it, it can become that color. Strictly speaking, it can accommodate any characteristic of energy I know, in other words, other characteristics of energy will not reject it.

It's really suitable for the sorcerers of the Ancient One's lineage. By the same token, it can be suitable for anyone else." Gu Yi analyzed the energy in her hand bit by bit. This is an advantage.

"Then the follow-up plan can be launched. According to what we discussed, I need the Ancient One to provide some materials and manpower," Luke stood up.

"Build a fortress?" Gu Yi also stood up. Since Luke had done what he promised her, she would of course not refuse him. This new energy does need some protection in the early stages.

"I prefer to say a city," Luke said.