My family runs an adventurer's guild.

However, compared to the relatively small-scale Harry Potter world, the Marvel universe carries a much higher level of risk.

What's more troublesome is that you can't just find a remote corner to hide and develop your strength when you go to the Marvel world; you have to meet the guardians of Earth right from the start!

The Church of Hypnos now uses a method of time travel that mimics the Holy Grail War's "Summoning of Heroic Spirits," directly extracting magical energy from the target world to create a clone for the transmigrating individual. Therefore, they can only travel to worlds with magical energy, and their landing location must be a "spiritual land" with abundant spiritual veins and sufficient magical energy, similar to Fuyuki City in the Type-Moon universe.

In the Marvel universe, there are only three such sacred sites on Earth: Hong Kong, London, and New York. Moreover, at key junctures in each sacred site, the Kamar-Taj Order of Sorcerers has already constructed three shrines: the New York Shrine, the London Shrine, and the Hong Kong Shrine.

For Phil and his friends, the Marvel universe's Earth may seem vast, but there are only three portals available for entry.

Last time, Phil and his friends' "Seven Cats Invade Marvel" incident, landing at the New York Sanctum, actually took advantage of humans' "blind spots" regarding cats, managing to sneak in. However, if they want to send "player students" there long-term, the Sorcerer's Guild in Kamar-Taj is an unavoidable hurdle.

It might be easy to find a loophole once in a while, but it's impossible to do it every time!

"...There's no other way. Let me go over there and think of a solution! Even if the negotiations fall apart and I mess things up, I should still be able to retreat in time. Logging into the Marvel universe is difficult, but logging off is relatively easy, meow."

Phil spread his paws and said, "...I hope the Ancient One is as easy to talk to as she seems on the surface, meow..."

(End of this volume)

Volume 5, Return to the Marvel Universe

Chapter 207, The Turmoil in the Marvel World

Marvel Universe, Nepal, the headquarters of the Sorcerer's Guild, Kamar-Taj at the foot of the Himalayas

Accompanied by a series of unified shouts, dozens of "magic apprentices" dressed like novice monks of the Lamaist sect gathered in the temple's stone-paved playground, intently raising their hands adorned with [Spirit Rings], practicing the "circling" gesture over and over again...

The so-called "suspension ring" is the standard spellcasting tool of the Kamar-Taj Sorcerer's Guild. It looks like a flat brass knuckle without spikes, or two rings welded together side by side. Its main function is to open a portal, and the way to open the portal is to "draw circles" with the correct posture.

In terms of functionality and versatility, this kind of "suspension ring" can basically be compared to a wand in the world of Harry Potter.

However, unlike the wizards in the Harry Potter world who can use a wand to set off fireworks, play torture games, and use all sorts of magic at will, the Sling Rings in Kamar-Taj have relatively limited functions. Besides "drawing circles" (creating portals) and "dancing in the square" (drawing magic circles), they can only perform a few other tricks such as "spreading pancakes" (magic shields) and "pulling noodles" (magic whips).

In short, they are basically a group of melee mages who can teleport instantly.

Or, to put it another way, a group of enhanced lay disciples of Shaolin Temple who can teleport across the entire map (limited to Earth).

Moreover, unlike the magic in the Harry Potter world, which seems to be used as casually as electricity, magic in the Marvel Universe comes with enormous dangers and terrible costs. Therefore, those who can truly master magic are all exceptionally talented, and some spellcasters can even rewrite reality!

Unfortunately, it seems that the group of people practicing drawing circles on the playground right now are not among these "people who can truly control magic".

However, they clearly didn't understand this, so they still practiced with great focus and effort...

A woman's figure emerged gracefully from among the pillars at the edge of the playground. She stood with her hands behind her back, wearing a signature golden robe. Although her bald head looked somewhat unusual, it exuded the "lofty and grand" aura of a grandmaster.

She is the leader of the Kamar-Taj Sorcerer's Guild, the guardian of the magical side of Earth in the Marvel universe, the Ancient One, the Sorcerer Supreme!

As usual, the Ancient One first walked around the playground to make sure everyone was practicing seriously, and then gave them a few words of encouragement—although the spatial portals these newbies drew in circles could only be opened by a cat, they were still sparkling portals.

However, no matter how hard they practice, they can never become true powerhouses; at most, they can only become melee mages!

This is simply a cruel joke of fate.

Looking at these energetic disciples, Master Gu Yi couldn't help but smile wryly to himself.

I know that you all look up to me as your role model and goal. But none of you can reach my level at all!

Don't even mention catching up with or surpassing me; you can't even come close to my level of magic!

This isn't because I'm keeping it to myself, but because... there's only one Eye of Agamotto (the Time Stone)!

—As the Sorcerer Supreme, the Ancient One guarded Earth for many years and was renowned for her power. Even Thanos and Odin were quite wary of her.

But what exactly is it about her that makes her stand out from the crowd and dominate the universe?

First, there is the Eye of Agamotto, the Time Stone that symbolizes the Sorcerer Supreme, and second, there is her immense and vast magical power.

However, neither of these can be replicated by other sorcerers on Earth—there is only one Time Stone in the entire Marvel universe. And the Ancient One's immense magical power also originated from illegitimate sources: it came from the dark forces of the Void!

In other words, while resisting Dormammu's encroachment on Earth, the Ancient One was also drawing power from the Dark Dimension to sustain herself. This is somewhat similar to Murong Fu's "using their own methods against them" in "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils," or using war to sustain war.

Such an incredibly difficult maneuver, comparable to dancing on three eggs, is clearly beyond the capabilities of ordinary people. In fact, without exception, everyone who came into contact with the power of the Dark Dimension heard Dormammu's whispers, gradually lost their sanity, and thus submitted to him, becoming Dormammu's minions and a scourge to Earth. Only the Ancient One was able to persevere, successfully resisting the corruption of the darkness and turning this power into her own.

But in reality, as time goes by, the aftereffects of the darkness's corruption continue to worsen, and now she is nearing her limit...

—Magic in the Marvel universe isn't as safe and harmless as magic in the Harry Potter universe. Those insignificant weaklings are one thing, but all the truly powerful magicians' spells have various side effects. It's somewhat similar to a weakened version of the Cthulhu mythos world.

As for the Ancient One's spellcasting skills... due to the changes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's setting, the Kamar-Taj Sorcerer's Guild only has a few hundred years of history, so its foundation is really insufficient. Moreover, it all relied on the Ancient One's own closed-door development, so in the eyes of the magical masters of other worlds, it's probably only at the level of an elementary school student.

The problem is, her magical power is so immense that she managed to crush a bunch of big shots with her elementary-level spellcasting skills—as the saying goes, if the engine is powerful enough, even a brick can fly! Or, as the saying goes, if you stand in the right place at the right time, even a pig can fly!

In short, the Ancient One's tactics were to use brute force to overcome skill and crush opponents, but she lacked sophisticated and elegant techniques and could only rely on close-quarters combat.

However, there is only one Ancient One in the world, and her extremely risky method of extracting magic is simply impossible to replicate.

Compared to the unscrupulous sorcerers of Forgotten Realms in the D&D universe who loved to ruin their apprentices, the Ancient One of Kamar-Taj was undoubtedly an excellent teacher. Aside from concealing the top-secret method of drawing power from the Dark Dimension to avoid harming her disciples, she had almost no secrets. All the spellcasting techniques she had developed over the years, including how to create mirror dimensions, were compiled into a book and placed in the library for anyone to consult. If anyone encountered anything they didn't understand and asked her, she would patiently explain it to them.

However, her spellcasting skills were mediocre to begin with, and even if her disciples all learned them, they wouldn't amount to much. Therefore, the so-called masters of Kamar-Taj were basically a bunch of weaklings. Even if you gave them the Eye of Agamotto (the Time Stone), they would at best only be able to upgrade to a goose.

However, just as a child carrying gold in a bustling market cannot protect the Eye of Agamotto, a single goose clearly cannot.

Therefore, the Ancient One, the Sorcerer Supreme, has had a very difficult time over the years, even to the point of exhaustion. On one hand, she has to secretly use the power of the Dark Dimension, which is intolerable to the world, to strengthen herself, thereby sweeping away demons, deterring enemies, and achieving the prestigious title of the strongest spellcaster in this world.

On the other hand, on the surface, the Ancient One also had to establish an organization, discover talent, build a sanctuary, preach and teach, and impart the idea of ​​"protecting the Earth and being irreconcilably opposed to the Dark Dimension" to her disciples, thus supporting the outwardly strong but inwardly weak group of Kamar-Taj.

What's more troublesome is that when faced with a powerful enemy that her weaklings can't handle, for the sake of Kamar-Taj's reputation, the Ancient One can't always eliminate the strong foe beforehand. Instead, she often has to personally engage and severely damage the enemy, leaving them with only a sliver of health, before letting her disciples finish them off. This is to avoid revealing that Kamar-Taj is actually a max-level character leading a bunch of noob alts...

The most painful thing is that these newbie accounts don't even know that they are actually weaklings... and the Ancient One has to hide the truth about how she drew power from the Dark Dimension from them, otherwise the entire organization risks collapsing and its ideology being shaken.

As for what will happen after the collapse of the established framework and the disintegration of the ideology, we can roughly refer to the dramatic changes in Eastern Europe and the disintegration of the Soviet Union...

In short, the difficulties and dilemmas faced by the Ancient One were truly indescribable.

Moreover, even with all this effort, the Ancient One only provided a protective shield for Earth's magical side. As for the technological alien invasion, she simply couldn't afford to worry about it—therefore, in the recent Battle of New York in *The Avengers*, facing the Chitauri alien soldiers, the Kamar-Taj sorcerer order was essentially powerless and could only place their hopes on S.H.I.E.L.D. and official human government organizations…

The result was very disappointing to her. Faced with an unprecedented large-scale alien invasion, human society was still focused on infighting and backstabbing, and even launched a nuclear bomb at Manhattan... If it weren't for Iron Man Tony's selfless act, New York would have been engulfed in a mushroom cloud like Hiroshima and Nagasaki!

Moreover, they were all mushrooms grown by Americans...

Oh well, it's all in the past now. I wasn't even involved, so why dwell on it so much?

As Master Gu Yi pondered this, he slowly walked back to his office, and then heard a cell phone ringing from his pocket.

Yes, it's still the lively and bustling sound of Indian songs, dances, and wind chimes.

Unlike Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which is conservative, hostile to modern technology, and prohibits the use of electrical appliances, Kamar-Taj not only has electric lights, telephones, computers, cell phones, and televisions, but also Wi-Fi, with the password "Shangri-La"...

In short, the Ancient One calmly took out her phone, pressed the answer button, and held it to her ear... but then, she could no longer remain calm.

"...What?! A dragon suddenly appeared on the roof of the New York Temple?!"

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Washington, D.C., S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters

Lately, Nick Fury, the one-eyed, black-haired director of S.H.I.E.L.D., also known as "Black Egg," has been feeling quite irritable.

The fierce Battle of New York, though it lasted less than a day and ended with the complete annihilation of the Chitauri invaders, left Nick Fury feeling even more worried and exhausted than during the war itself, with all sorts of messy and complicated follow-up matters.

First, because the fighting took place in densely populated Manhattan, the world's financial center, the number of dead and injured was in the tens of thousands. The value of the collapsed buildings and lost property was incalculable, and it also led to the bankruptcy and liquidation of a large number of financial institutions.

—With Wall Street becoming a battlefield, all kinds of futures indices, stock market trends, and foreign exchange trading have become chaotic.

Some banks, due to inadequate data backups, had their computers destroyed during the conflict, resulting in the loss of their entire accounts. This naturally followed a massive economic crisis and a wave of bankruptcies, closures, and unemployment.

Those unfortunate citizens who lost their homes, jobs, loved ones, and everything in the war of alien invasion tried to claim compensation from insurance companies. However, the shrewd insurance companies presented their exclusion clauses and resolutely refused to pay. As a result, the two sides argued endlessly about whether the war exclusion clause applied to alien invasion, and even came to blows.

This matter doesn't seem to have a direct connection to S.H.I.E.L.D., but that doesn't stop the news media from criticizing S.H.I.E.L.D. for dereliction of duty every time they report on it.

After all, all supernatural events on Earth are theoretically under the jurisdiction of S.H.I.E.L.D., including those involving extraterrestrials.

The result was that S.H.I.E.L.D. turned into the Battle of New York. There was no timely warning beforehand, and there was no time to evacuate the crowd. Who else should we blame but them?

Secondly, towards the end of the Battle of New York, the World Security Council bypassed S.H.I.E.L.D. and launched a nuclear missile at the superheroes fighting in Manhattan, attempting to kill them along with the alien invaders, and incidentally, take the citizens of New York with them.

Although Iron Man Tony Stark's desperate gamble managed to drop a nuclear bomb through the portal, destroying a Chitauri mothership and averting a major catastrophe for the citizens of New York, the rift between government agencies and superheroes was irreparable.

Faced with such an official institution that abandons its support before even crossing the river, no, it abandons its support before even crossing the river, which hero would dare to cooperate with it with confidence?

Not to mention that the World Security Council denied everything afterward and even tried to pin the blame on Nick Fury!

Third, after the Battle of New York, a large number of Chitauri corpses, firearms, man-portable aircraft, and landing craft lay scattered haphazardly in the most bustling areas of New York City. But New Yorkers could not let them lie there forever; they had to clean up and rebuild.

As a result, in order to compete for these alien artifacts and the alien technology they may contain, spies from major American corporations, the military and intelligence agencies, as well as from other countries and underground forces on Earth, engaged in fierce competition in New York, staging a series of espionage dramas.

Finally, S.H.I.E.L.D. itself suffered heavy losses in the Battle of New York, with a large number of agents killed and weapons destroyed.

Nick Fury is still struggling to sort out all these troubles and messes, and is feeling extremely frustrated.

But just at this critical juncture, something unexpected happened again in New York.

—A dragon has somehow appeared in Manhattan, the heart of New York City, which has just experienced an invasion by the Chitauri alien army.

Chapter 208, The Undercurrents of New York City

Looking at the giant, shimmering silver dragon soaring and circling above New York on the computer screen, along with the throngs of onlookers on the streets, the reporters with their cameras and microphones, and the police officers struggling to maintain order, Nick Fury, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., turned as black as charcoal.

Okay, as a Black man, or rather, an "African American," this is his natural skin color...

"...Another... third-kind encounter? Aliens have been coming a lot more often lately, haven't they? Or is it some hidden force on Earth? Sigh, New York has been chaotic enough lately, why do these non-humans keep coming to New York?"

Sitting in his Washington office, Nick Fury frowned and muttered to himself, but his tone was very calm. He had been through so much lately that he was used to everything.

—From Thor to the Tesseract, to the massive Chitauri invasion, and the nuclear crisis in New York… Nick Fury has witnessed all these earth-shattering and mind-blowing events, and it's hard to imagine anything in the world that could still frighten him.

Those generals who commanded thousands of troops and fought bloody battles during World War II probably weren't as good at playing the thrill game as he was.

Let alone a dragon, even if God suddenly descended to earth, his first reaction would be to investigate first...

"...Since it's already been featured in the news media, there's no way to control it directly. We can only try to make contact and communicate with it first..."

As Nick Fury, the one-eyed, charcoal-haired director of S.H.I.E.L.D., silently pondered this, he reached for the phone on his desk. "...Have Coulson, no, have Natasha come to my office! There's a new mission!"

— As the “negotiation expert” of S.H.I.E.L.D. in countless American comic book fan works, Phil Coulson, with his kind-hearted face, has always been the signature diplomat of S.H.I.E.L.D. in peace negotiations with foreign countries. There is even an exaggerated saying that “superheroes come and go, but Coulson is always there.”

For most renowned superheroes, Coulson was their contact person when they first came into contact with S.H.I.E.L.D.

However, during the great battle in which the Chitauri invaded New York, Coulson was unfortunately "killed in action".

Previously, S.H.I.E.L.D., which had long been responsible for combating various supernatural crises, began to feel overwhelmed by the constant stream of enemies and increasingly frequent supernatural events. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s supreme commander, the one-eyed black man Nick Fury, decided to create the "strongest alliance in history," gathering superheroes from all sides to work together to save the world from its dire straits and resist the invasion of various dark forces.

So he devised a plan to create an "Avengers" team that initially consisted of six superheroes: Iron Man Tony Stark, Captain America Steve Rogers, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow Natasha, and Hawkeye Barton.

According to Nick Fury's plan, these superheroes will unite to fight evil and promote good, and fight for world peace.

The problem is that most superheroes are strong-willed, rebellious individuals who are inherently averse to authority, lack trust in government organizations, and are particularly suspicious of S.H.I.E.L.D. Furthermore, there are serious ideological differences and personality clashes among the superheroes themselves.

Just as the Avengers were falling apart, Loki, the evil god who had already wreaked havoc in New Mexico (Thor 1 plot), returned to Earth with the help of the Tesseract. Relying on the Mind Stone embedded in his scepter—given to him by Thanos—he traveled all over the world, constantly hypnotizing and controlling people, and causing one massacre and riot after another.

S.H.I.E.L.D. once captured Loki and imprisoned him on their airship, but a lapse in concentration allowed Loki to escape. During his escape, he used the Mind Stone and trickery to induce the Hulk to transform and engage in a civil war with S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, severely damaging the airship and nearly shooting it down. Furthermore, he killed the well-known S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson, who had good relationships with many superheroes, during the chaos.

So, in order to avenge Phil Coulson, the good-natured superheroes finally put aside their grudges and fears of the authorities, and truly formed a powerful team called the "Avengers." In the Battle of New York, they defeated the evil god Loki and the dark forces behind him... Unfortunately, the superheroes' unity and selflessness were rewarded with a nuclear betrayal by the World Security Council.

On the other hand, Coulson, who appeared to have died on the airship, wasn't actually dead. He was secretly transported to a clandestine base in a dying state and, through a process that's hard to define as either mystical or scientific, was "resurrected"... He then took charge of leading a secret team to continue handling various supernatural events. Even after S.H.I.E.L.D. disbanded, Coulson gathered the remaining forces of S.H.I.E.L.D., plotting a comeback.

However, while Coulson is a good person at building relationships, when it comes to making money, he's clearly miles behind Nick Fury. Under his "brilliant leadership," S.H.I.E.L.D.'s size plummeted from bureau-level to department-level, then section-level, and finally reduced to a s.H.I.E.L.D. team in just five years. From traveling by plane and car, wearing suits and ties, to carrying their own food and weapons, even resorting to stealing cars... a group of die-hard S.H.I.E.L.D. loyalists fought and bled for him every day, only to end up like this—it's truly speechless...

In short, at least on the surface, it is absolutely inappropriate for Coulson, who is "already dead," to make any more public appearances during this period.

So, Nick Fury thought about it and decided to send "Black Widow" Natasha in a Quinjet to negotiate with Dragon. Although she appeared less frequently than Coulson, compared to other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, Black Widow Natasha had carried out a relatively large number of negotiation and bribery missions.

More importantly, in traditional Western fantasy stories, dragons seem to have a great fondness for treasure and beautiful women. And carrying out "seduction" missions is a basic skill for most female spies, with the alluring Black Widow Natasha being a master of this art.

Since Coulson is unavailable right now, let's send Natasha over to give him a try!

Unfortunately, due to the vast physiological differences between humans and dragons, even Nick Fury, the one-eyed, dark-skinned director of S.H.I.E.L.D. who prides himself on his keen eyesight, failed to recognize that the silver dragon appearing on the computer screen was actually a female dragon...

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

Rewind the clock half an hour, to Blake Street in downtown New York City.

As usual, a massive demonstration was taking place on the streets of New York. Thousands of disheveled, emaciated, and disheveled protesters held aloft banners bearing various slogans, shouting themselves hoarse to vent their anger:

"...The insurance company should give me back the money that saved my life!"

"...Down with Wall Street! Crush the vampires!"

"...We demand debt forgiveness! We demand compensation!"

"...Go to hell with mortgages and car loans! Why aren't war liability exemption clauses applicable to mortgages and car loans?"

—The Chitauri invasion of New York, though lasting less than a day, caused exceptionally severe damage to the city. At least tens of thousands of buildings collapsed or were destroyed, all in prime locations with extremely high property prices. Even the Charging Bull on Wall Street was melted by lasers.

As a result, after the war ended, not only did tens of thousands of New Yorkers die in the war, but a large number of middle-class New York companies, homes, and shops were reduced to ruins, causing many poor people to lose their families, homes, and jobs at the same time—if the companies were gone, where would the jobs be?