American Comics: Trading Tom Cat

The Ancient One shook her head decisively: "It's impossible. Titans are creations of miracles, beings that can only be born from the combination of countless miracles. Once any one of those miracles is affected, they will never be born again."

"Right now, this is just a special energy body that any living being can consume without any rejection."

Locke also fell silent.

After a moment, he said, "In that case, this thing should be of no use to you, Master."

The Ancient One did not refute: "I don't need it, but Kamar-Taj is not just for me."

Locke understood.

Suddenly, he laughed: "Then we should discuss the price of the deal."

Opportunities to take a good cut from the Sorcerer Supreme are rare.

However, before Locke could speak, the Ancient One instantly produced an item.

Locke's eyelids twitched wildly as he looked at the familiar 'glowing object' in front of him.

"I knew it! I knew it! That's why I couldn't find this thing anywhere. Turns out you hid it!"

The Rubik's Cube before them was none other than the Cosmic Cube. Locke had tried looking for it at Baldy's place before, but he couldn't find it anywhere.

Chapter Thirty-Four: Combat Power Detector

A Tesseract containing Infinity Stones is naturally more valuable than a high-purity crystal, but Locke is very unhappy about it right now!

It could have been easily obtained from Eddie Redmayne, but the Ancient One went through a long and complicated process to use it for a trade.

If you're unhappy, you'll naturally show it.

"Not enough! Far from enough!"

The Ancient One showed no surprise, and without even haggling, spoke again.

"You can go to Kamar-Taj and choose three items that satisfy you, including various extraordinary materials or magical artifacts."

This time, Locke remained silent; the Ancient One's gesture was undeniably generous.

"How much do you want?"

"A fist-sized piece is enough."

A strange look appeared in Locke's eyes.

With a flick of his finger, he cut a piece from the high-purity crystal, about the size of an adult's fist.

"Thank you!" Gu Yi put away the fist-sized crystal, turned around, and disappeared into the teleportation array.

Watching the Ancient One's departing figure, Locke pondered for a long time.

"Something's wrong, something's very wrong!"

Locke, who possesses most of the Marvel storyline memories, knows one thing very well: the Ancient One, or rather Kamar-Taj, actually has no need for such high-purity crystals.

Each Sorcerer Supreme inherits the Eye of Agamotto. With the power of the Time Stone within, the Sorcerer Supreme can rapidly grow through several special time training sessions. Therefore, the Sorcerer Supreme lineage does not require this high-purity crystal.

As for those ordinary sorcerers, it's only because the Ancient One is ill that she deliberately helps a certain sorcerer become stronger. It's not that she's worried about scarcity but about inequality, and the Ancient One is not unaware of this principle.

So the question is, why did the Ancient One make this deal? Why would she trade the Tesseract and three other materials for such a huge sum, just to get a tiny bit of high-purity crystal? That small piece could at most create a top-tier expert on Earth. Would the Ancient One really care about that level?

Locke's brow furrowed even more: "I have a feeling she's deliberately trying to give me benefits. Did she see something through the Time Stone?"

Can't figure it out!

Fortunately, Locke wasn't the type to dwell on things. If he couldn't figure it out, he simply stopped thinking about it. He shifted his attention back to the high-purity energy crystal, and his breathing became slightly hot.

Having clearly understood the origin and value of this item, Locke could no longer wait. He flicked his finger again, cutting off a piece the size of a fist. Locke then released the power of chaos and began to absorb it through the power of chaos.

Time began to flow slowly.

In the blink of an eye, a day has passed.

In the dead of night, Locke, who had been motionless, suddenly opened his eyes. In an instant, a scarlet light flashed by, followed by a terrifying surge of chaotic power that formed tangible energy tides around him.

"After absorbing just one piece, the chaotic power within my body has undergone tremendous changes. This crystal is indeed a good thing."

In the blink of an eye, a screen of light appeared out of thin air.

Formation: Locke Payne

Talent: Dimensional Trade (Cooled Down)

Abilities: Firearms Proficiency, Kung Fu Master, Modification Master

Extraordinary Abilities: Chaos Power, Knight's Breathing Technique (Apprentice), Forbidden Meditation (Beginner)

Evaluation: Top-tier on the ground - Strong

Locke frowned as he looked at the newly emerged top-tier rating on the surface.

In the Marvel universe, only after reaching the level of the Celestial Father will there be a clear barrier, similar to a boundary. Reaching this level is either true or it is not true, with clear differences in levels.

Before this, there was no clear dividing line between levels. Even the so-called "top-tier on the surface - strong" could only be understood as a relatively strong existence among the top-tier on the surface.

Locke wasn't dissatisfied with this level, after all, he had only absorbed one piece. According to Locke's estimate, once he absorbed another twenty or thirty pieces, he would be able to reach the level of a sub-father and become a true overlord.

Locke frowned because the overly vague hierarchy made him feel somewhat uncomfortable.

Locke suddenly stroked his chin: "Speaking of which, since there aren't any very clear-cut level boundaries, could I create one?"

Reclassifying the hierarchy is naturally impossible. The Marvel universe has too many elements, including mutants, Inhumans, enhanced humans, sorcerers, demons, etc., and they are not even in the same system. It is impossible to create an absolutely fair and detailed classification.

However, we can try a different approach.

"If it were Tom, he could probably come up with something like a combat capability detector."

Thinking of this, Locke suddenly became interested. In his previous life, when he watched the world of Dragon Ball, he found the power level detector very interesting. If he could make a real one and play with it, it would be quite an interesting thing.

Without hesitation, Locke transformed into a streak of crimson light and vanished from his spot in an instant.

In no time, Tom was found in a large room. This was Tom's private room, which was over 100 square meters and filled with all kinds of snacks. Tom was lounging on the sofa, holding a bag of potato chips, eating them while watching a movie. He was very relaxed and enjoying himself.

The door opened, and upon seeing Locke's arrival, Tom excitedly pounced on him.

Locke has been quite busy lately and hasn't played with Tom much for a while, which Tom misses very much.

He casually picked Tom up and held him in his arms, gently stroking Tom's soft fur.

"Tom, take a look at this. Can you make it?"

As he spoke, Locke took out a comic book called "Dragon Ball". That's right, there is Dragon Ball in the Marvel universe. Not only Dragon Ball, but many comics and anime exist in this world, and there are even DC comics.

Locke opened the comic book, flipped directly to the chapter where the combat power detector appeared, and pointed to it.

Tom grabbed the comic book with one hand, staring at the fighter jet detector in the picture. His big eyes darted around, and he casually pulled out the familiar, mysterious drawing board from behind him.

'It seems like it can work.'

Locke's eyes lit up: "Then can we improve it further?"

The fighter detector in Dragon Ball is flawed; the principle behind it is unknown, but it seems to only detect surface combat power.

"The standard for detecting combat effectiveness has been improved into a comprehensive evaluation of physical strength, internal energy, life magnetic field, mental strength, and so on."

After thinking for a while, Tom readily nodded.

Chapter Thirty-Five: Apocalyptic Disaster

Several days passed in the blink of an eye. Deep inside the Hydra base, in Locke's private room.

The White Queen's fiery body leaned against Locke's chest, while Locke played with her golden hair with one hand and stared at the screen in front of him.

"Is this the famous playboy?"

Locke nodded.

"Are you very interested in this playboy?"

"No, I'm just curious about something."

"whats the matter?"

Locke remained silent, simply watching the screen.

Finally, a classic line came out of Tony Stark's mouth.

"I am Iron Man!"

At that moment, Locke's expression suddenly changed, and he abruptly raised his head, staring at the sky.

“People used to say that Tony becoming Iron Man was the beginning of everything, the arrival of a new era. I thought it was just a joke…”

In retrospect, it was more than just a meme.

Just like the ten-year destiny of the overlord in the novel "Storm Riders," when the time comes, everything will be different.

As soon as Tony Stark uttered that line, it was as if a switch had been flipped, and the world actually began to change.

Every world has the concept of supernatural restraint. Perhaps the world itself is wary of the supernatural being too powerful, or perhaps the world does not want the supernatural to rise like a runaway horse, becoming uncontrollable, and so on.

Changes in the supernatural suppressive force can also lead to various other changes. For example, if the supernatural suppressive force becomes stronger, it may lead to the end of the Dharma era. If the supernatural suppressive force becomes weaker, it may lead to the revival of spiritual energy, the revival of strange phenomena, and so on.

The Marvel universe wouldn't experience those changes, but just a moment ago, the supernatural restraint completely vanished!

This means that we will be entering an unprecedented period of extraordinary activity!

Previously, there were extraordinary drugs that even a country couldn't produce, but now any company might be able to make them, leading to a massive explosion of mutants, Inhumans, and so on!

If this is merely the surface, then the real trouble lies in the fact that some ancient entity, dormant for countless years, is gradually beginning to revive.

"No wonder, according to the timeline, the number of supernatural beings was negligible before Iron Man, but exploded after his appearance!"

After a moment's thought, Locke casually patted the White Queen's rounded breasts.

"Go and find those guys."

The White Queen nodded obediently, and her mental power spread rapidly, covering most of the base in the blink of an eye.

In no time at all, several people appeared in Locke's room.

The two mutants, the Ratman and the Pigman, along with Frank the Punisher and the White Queen who are present, are the key members of Locke's team.

Locke glanced at everyone casually and nodded. It was clear that the strength of the people present had improved considerably.

"What do you want with us?"

Locke held up two fingers: "Two things."

“The first item is this little thing.” A wisp of scarlet chaotic power flashed from his hand and disappeared, and then something resembling glasses appeared on the table around which everyone was gathered.

"What is this?" This time, it was the White Queen who asked the question.

Locke didn't answer, but instead asked, "Have you read the Dragon Ball manga?"

The skinny, frail rat-man was the first to raise his hand: "I, sir, I've seen it!"

"Wait a minute!" The ratman felt that the thing in front of him looked strangely familiar, and then he thought of Dragon Ball. Suddenly, a bold idea popped into the ratman's mind.

"Gulp, sir, could this be a fighter jet detector from Dragon Ball?!"

"Not bad, very quick reaction." Locke nodded slightly.

"A combat capability detector?" Frank's interest was immediately piqued. "How do you use this thing?"

"You can wear them on your eyes."

Frank fiddled with it for a bit and found it wasn't complicated. He quickly put it on his glasses and first looked at the ratman next to him.

Combat power: 9

Rating: Third-rate on the surface

"Is their combat power really that low?"

Then he turned to look at the pig-man.

Combat power: 10

Rating: Third-rate on the surface

"How is this defined, and how is it categorized?"

"Based on a comprehensive evaluation of physical body, energy intensity, mental strength, life magnetic field, etc., a normal adult who trains himself to the limit has a standard combat power of 1. Picking up a pistol will boost his combat power to 5. The combat power of a third-rate person on the surface is between 1 and 10. In other words, although a third-rate person on the surface is nominally extraordinary, the difference between him and an ordinary person is not that great."