Chapter 1387: Call of the Stars (22) (Patreon)

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In the Zen Room of Kamar-Taj, the light was always dim, but when the sun set, the golden glow on the Himalayas was reflected into the circular window, making it even brighter.

The two people sitting by the window seemed a bit silent, and after a while, Stark spoke up, "Do you think the owner of the notebook was right about 'the beauty of absurdity'?"

Strange furrowed his brow, looking at Stark's eyes with a serious gaze, and said, "I may not have the answer you want. In the eyes of sorcerers, neither the fragile body nor the weak soul can be considered good, and can even be a burden."

"You're like a perfect Dark Sorcerer."

"I am."

"You know, Stephen, you've changed a lot." Stark tilted his head, looking at Strange as if trying to apply pressure, but Strange shook his head and said, "You don't have to play this game with me; it's not like you haven't changed."

"We're all exploring the path of humanity's future, so we've had many thoughts that outsiders wouldn't understand. Of course, I've thought about how to make human souls stronger, and you haven't thought about treating their bodies in the same way."

"You used the word 'they'." Stark slightly opened his eyes, seemingly dissatisfied with the word, but Strange shook his head straightforwardly, "You and I both know that it's impossible for you to remain the same as ordinary people on the ground, Tony."

"Whether physically or psychologically, what we see, hear, think, and do, we can no longer completely identify with ordinary people because we have to walk ahead of them, explore the path for them, and drive them forward."

"If we pursue a simple way to stand with ordinary people, it will only lead to narrow-mindedness and mess everything up. We're not those young people who can't afford to pay for our mistakes and humanity's wrong direction."

"So why do you feel ashamed of your high and mighty perspective and the possibly evil thoughts in your mind?" Stephen stared at Stark and said, "You didn't really take them away for experiments, and neither did I."

Stark seemed silent, as if experiencing a thought transformation, and then closed his eyes in pain, saying, "Even if I think human wisdom is the most precious, can this monster-like appearance be accepted?"

"Or should I say, I've always had a shallow sense of belonging and affection for human appearance, and can't accept that a group of monsters with human wisdom should also enjoy the same civilization and society as us, rather than being destroyed?"

"I'm not a psychologist." Stephen shook his head and said, "But I can guess that when you saw the truth revealed by the owner of the notebook, you didn't feel sympathy for those destroyed monsters, and didn't blame those who destroyed them. This contradicts your previous theory of wisdom and rationality."

"That's right." Tony revealed a bitter smile, saying, "You should get a psychologist's license."

"Don't be ridiculous; I don't have a Bachelor of Science." Stephen shrugged and poured Tony another cup of tea. Tony took a sip and said, "My rationality tells me that humans transforming into monsters is just an evolutionary process; they might just be taking a different path."

"Like I used to think, can ordinary people take the path of mechanization? And now I think, what's the difference between connecting circuits and growing tentacles in the human body?"

"Of course, there is. You'll get their consent."

Tony was taken aback, while Strange leaned back in the single-person sofa, raised his chin, and said with an extremely proud attitude, "Humans will never accept any predetermined fate."

This was like a loud bell ringing in Stark's heart, shaking him out of his trivial and complicated philosophical thoughts.

"Perhaps humans abandoning part of their bodies to grow tentacles and mucus is a choice in the evolution of the body, but abandoning the existing civilization and destroying it in an instant, without even realizing the transformation, is that evolution? No, it's a large-scale kidnapping and illegal transformation that affects all humanity."

"Tony, you're always very proud, but not proud enough." Strange crossed his legs and said, "Humans decide which direction to evolve; humans only recognize human saviors, not vague gods."

"No matter how beneficial this evolution is to humans, no matter how great it is, it can't be done without the consent of the evolving subjects. If they do it, and even think of it as a blessing, then think about your old profession – how humans used the Industrial Revolution to kill the gods who protected the wind and rain."

Tony revealed a smile, looking at Stephen, and said, "You should really get a psychologist's license."

After finishing, he took another sip of tea, lowered his eyelids, and said, "I think you're right; human wisdom and rationality indeed give them the right to choose and take responsibility for their choices. We're intelligent beings that can choose and be responsible for our choices, not lambs waiting to be slaughtered."

Strange leaned against the armrest on the other side and said, "I and Schiller hold the view that the dark side of human nature is the driving force behind civilization's development."

"I think that if God personally descended and declared that humans must do as he said, and his command truly touched the interests of some people, they would definitely dare to take up guns and kill the Grim Reaper."

"What's lacking is what's praised; humans are Judas, so they fantasize about Jesus."

Strange also took a sip of tea, speaking in a tone that was slightly cold and ruthless, "I'm sorry for the human experience in this world, but since they didn't even realize the disaster that was coming, didn't have a chance to resist, and didn't succeed in resisting, then the outcome of being destroyed is what they deserve."

"Don't talk about maintaining a normal social order; lambs think they own the entire grassland before being slaughtered. If the entire civilization doesn't have a chance to fight for autonomy, it's better to sleep eternally."

"No freedom, no life?"

"No freedom, no life."

"How do you feel?" JARVIS put a blanket he found downstairs on Wanda and asked.

As the night's atmosphere grew thicker, everyone began to feel frightened and panicked. The experiences of the past two nights had given them a huge blow.

Young people were never lacking in courage; even if they failed briefly, they wouldn't be too disappointed and could quickly adjust and re-enter the battle. But what made them feel powerless and panicked was that they didn't know who the enemy was or how they were attacked, and they had already failed.

The so-called scars on their backs were a warrior's shame; these frightened little lambs didn't even know where their backs were, and they had already been slashed with a knife. If they were slashed again, the slaughterhouse might not even want them.

The night finally fell.

A few people shrank back, trapping themselves on the sofa, waiting for the unknown judgment to come. JARVIS had brewed some coffee for everyone, which he had found downstairs, but no one had the heart to drink it, and everyone's face was pale and their expressions were dull.

Before long, an hour had passed, and nothing had happened. The eerie silence was the only thing in the room.

Another hour had passed, and the night had already darkened to the point where you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. If JARVIS wasn't mistaken, it was around this time that Reilly had lost control on the first night.

"Reilly, how do you feel?" JARVIS asked.

Reilly was clearly startled, almost jumping off the sofa, and then shook his head and said, "I don't feel anything."

"Is your ear okay?"

"I..." Reilly paused, then looked at JARVIS with some difficulty and said, "I know you're trying to make us feel better, but you don't have to be so loud."

In an instant, everyone's eyes widened as they stared at Reilly. Reilly blinked, not understanding why they were doing this, and soon everyone gathered around him again. Wanda raised her voice and asked, "Can you hear us?"

"Of course not..."

Reilly suddenly froze, then touched his ear with his hand, shook his head vigorously, and then nodded, looking panicked as he stood up from the sofa and said, "I can hear your voices, but not with my ears."

"My ear is still hurting, my eardrum is broken, and I might have damaged my auditory nerve from using too much force. Before, I couldn't hear anything, and the world was as silent as death."

"But just now, JARVIS's voice appeared in my mind, and I didn't hear it with my ears."

So JARVIS turned around to hide his lip movements from Reilly and lowered his voice to say, "Can you hear me now? Do you want a cup of coffee?"

"Of course I can hear, and I'm not too fond of coffee." Reilly replied instinctively.

He stood there in shock, incredulous, looking down at himself, while JARVIS gestured for him to sit down and began to ask him questions.

"Is the sound directly appearing in your mind?"

"Yes, it's like when I'm talking to myself in my head, and I hear my own voice. The tone and attitude of your voices are all imagined by me."

"What about the song you mentioned?" Wanda asked as she approached.

"I'm not sure if it's still echoing." Reilly frowned and said, "There are too many voices in my head, and my Spider-Sense is back online, but it's a bit different. I don't know how to describe it."

Suddenly, Reilly paused and looked at JARVIS, saying, "JARVIS, your water is boiling."

JARVIS was stunned, not understanding why Reilly suddenly said this. A few seconds later, the sound of boiling water came from downstairs, and JARVIS had indeed boiled a pot of water.

The few of them walked downstairs together, and JARVIS asked, "Did you hear the sound of the water boiling before it happened?"

"Maybe, but it's a bit different from what you think."

JARVIS stopped in his tracks, while Reilly explained enthusiastically, "I saw a picture - a silver coffee pot hanging from a makeshift rack, with a fire burning below, and its lid jumping up and down from the boiling water, and then falling to the right side of the floor."

Wanda rushed down the stairs, then turned her head to look at JARVIS, silently asking if the scene was as Reilly had described. When JARVIS grasped her hand, Wanda understood that everything Reilly said was true.

"Incredible." JARVIS evaluated. "Is this a manifestation of Spider-Sense? Predicting the future?"

"I don't know." Reilly shook his head and said, "I can only tell you that I heard all of this, and the things I heard in my mind formed a picture, which I described."

The few of them tested it several more times and discovered that Reilly's lost hearing and his Spider-Sense seemed to have merged into one, allowing him to hear everything around him, even the future of all things a few seconds later, which was simply incredible.

"Ah!"

Wanda suddenly let out a cry of surprise.

[Read at www.patreon.com/shanefreak, and thanks for the invaluable support!]

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Next Chapter ->Chapter 1388: Call of the Stars (23)