Chapter 1388: Call of the Stars (23) (Patreon)

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Several people were nervous, turning their heads to look at Wanda, but Wanda didn't show any abnormal signs. She just shook her head and said, "My connection with Chthon has been restored. He just called me, wait a minute."

Wanda stood still, lost in her own mental landscape. She felt the distant connection of Chaos power and responded to Chthon's call as usual.

"Wanda, what's wrong with you? Why didn't you answer the phone?" Grand Demon Shadow asked bluntly, without any human courtesy.

"You're the one..."

Wanda was about to retort, but the Chthon in her mental landscape stunned her. It was not the Chthon she had seen before - a swirling black fog with a pair of shining eyes.

She saw the infinite power of Chaos and how it constituted a great being. She saw how Chaos established an entire space within him.

Wanda saw a part of the truth about Space, the entire truth about Chaos.

It was beyond human comprehension.

"Ahhhhh!"

Wanda let out a blood-curdling scream.

Blood oozed out of her empty eye sockets, and JARVIS rushed forward to hold her, but Wanda didn't respond. She was still immersed in her own inner world.

"Don't look directly at me!" Chthon's angry voice came.

With a "whoosh" sound, Wanda snapped back to reality, as if Chthon had chased her out. Her eyes were filled with dazzling light, and the complex knowledge was like being brutally stuffed into her brain, making her almost lose her sense of self.

"Chthon, Chthon, are you there?"

There was no response.

Wanda took a deep breath, bit her lip, and said angrily, "You think you can just unilaterally spy on me? I command you to respond, Chthon!"

Wanda's pronunciation of Chthon's name was not in English, but she didn't realize it at the moment. However, in an instant, Chthon's voice came again.

"Who allowed you to call my true name?"

"You're the one who's been calling my true name all along!" Wanda retorted.

"I was protecting you. Humans can't directly face the truth of Space, or they'll go crazy!"

"I don't care!"

Chthon was taken aback.

Humans might not be able to face the truth of Space, but an angry human woman certainly could.

Wanda didn't heed the warning and forced herself to connect with Chthon, then compelled herself to look directly at the connection of Chaos power. In an instant, she was submerged in an endless sea of knowledge.

"Leave, Wanda!"

Chthon had never spoken to anyone in such a tone before. As the representative of Space's Chaos, he was the cancer of Eternity, and he recognized Wanda as his proxy, the only human who could directly communicate with Chaos power.

Her connection with Chaos was even closer than Chthon's, but from start to finish, Chthon's life level was certainly higher than Wanda's. He was part of the rules of Space, just like Eternity.

Like Eternity, although he didn't have human emotions, he had wisdom and feelings, but he clearly didn't know how to deal with a furious woman.

In the end, it was JARVIS who stopped Wanda's suicidal behavior. Wanda was still very angry and shouted at JARVIS, "I just discovered that damn Chthon has been observing my perspective, can see my Soul clearly, but I know nothing about him. This is totally unfair!"

JARVIS opened his mouth, but the behavioral module implanted by Stark warned him that if he said "seeking fairness from demon gods is extremely foolish" at this moment, the angry Wanda would definitely make him suffer.

"He made me his proxy, but I don't need him to use Chaos power. What is he doing? I signed a contract with him, and the purpose was to let him analyze me unilaterally? He's dreaming!"

"Chthon, Chthon, Chthon!"

Wanda continued to call out Chthon's true name without stopping, even though her eye sockets were overflowing with blood. She didn't care at all.

Chthon was about to go crazy.

With a "pop" sound, the connection between the two was unilaterally cut off by Chthon. He must have paid a price to do so, because Wanda heard a painful cry - from Shuma-Gorath.

Wanda let out a cold snort, unaware of the blood all over her face and body. Instead, she said with a mocking tone, "Just wait, this is just a small price to pay."

She should have a lot in common with the Ancient One. Shang-Chi didn't know how to evaluate, but could only think silently that he had previously joked with his classmates about the Marvel movie, saying that the Ancient One was too extravagant and had gone offline early. However, he also learned from his classmates about the Ancient One's glorious history of beating up demon gods in the comics.

"Wanda, has anyone told you that you're very similar to your father?" JARVIS asked cautiously but boldly, having grasped Wanda's pulse.

Indeed, Wanda was stunned, touching the blood on her face and saying, "What did you say... Oh my god What have I done? Why did I threaten Grand Demon Shadow? Am I really inheriting Erik's temper?"

The others looked at her silently, their facial expressions clearly writing "yes" as an answer.

Wanda, who had calmed down, felt embarrassed and tried to make excuses for her previous irrational behavior: "I just... I just suddenly saw some truth, and those so-called Gods were too rude, I was just defending myself..."

"So, what did you see exactly?"

Wanda showed a complex expression and said, "I saw some rules, the rules of Space, and I also saw the rules of life. In just a few seconds, I even saw myself from Chthon's perspective."

"Was it like being naked?" JARVIS asked without any intention of being rude.

Wanda rolled her eyes but still let out a sigh and said, "It was far more than that. It was like a completely different way of observing humans, not like how we usually do it. With just one glance, I could see my past, present, and future, and in their eyes, our souls were like compressed information packets."

"With just one glance, I could see everything that had happened in my life, how I was born, how I grew up, and even what I was thinking every second of my life. This information was all being observed at the same time, not like how we understand it, following a linear timeline."

"No wonder you overreacted," Reilly said in a low voice. "If I knew that, I would be too ashamed to show my face, even if it was just because I cursed my boss's car for breaking down."

Wanda pouted and said, "It's not about those small things, and I don't care if someone can see through my thoughts. Besides, Professor X could do that too, and every mutant is used to it."

"What makes me angry is that this understanding and observation is one-sided, and Chthon never told me what he really is!"

"I thought he was just an ordinary demon god, but it turns out he's part of the chaotic rules of Space. That scoundrel I'll go to the Sanctum Sanctorum to complain about his contract fraud when I get back!"

Wanda stomped her foot to show that Miss Witch was not happy, but soon everyone's attention turned back to the strange events of the night.

"Reilly gained the ability to predict the future with Spider-Sense, and Wanda not only contacted Chthon but also saw through him in an instant. Do you think this has something to do with the attack tonight?" JARVIS asked, looking around at everyone.

"I still think it wasn't an attack," Reilly said, covering his head in pain. "I didn't feel any aggression from them, really."

Wanda also hesitated and said, "I only felt like they wanted to descend, descend upon me, but I couldn't determine if that behavior counted as an attack or not, maybe it was in our eyes."

Shang-Chi slightly froze, then picked up a tree branch and wrote on the sand, "Do you guys still remember the analogy the Ancient One told us before we left?"

Everyone thought back, and JARVIS repeated, "You mean the one about how, in plant grafting, hurting the plant can stimulate its vitality?"

"Correct," Shang-Chi nodded and wrote.

"Your point is, we're like those plants?" Reilly's tone was incredulous. "We lost organs and got injured, but it was actually to stimulate our vitality?"

"That's absurd!" Wanda raised her voice.

"But you guys did gain abilities, which is a fact," JARVIS said calmly. "The first day was an attack, the second day was an attack, so I have every reason to include the third day in the category of attacks, at least the possibility of an attack is higher."

"So, if you didn't encounter an attack on the third day, that would be abnormal. If it's just that you didn't encounter an attack, I can assume that maybe the attacks are periodic, but you guys gained abilities in the same order, so I have to link the attacks to gaining abilities."

Then JARVIS turned his head to look at Shang-Chi and said, "We still need to wait until tomorrow night to observe your situation and confirm whether our inference is correct."

"So, we're just going to wait here?"

"Because we can't determine if the attack will come again, it's better to wait quietly here. If we're careless and launch an attack, and the attack really comes, that would be terrible."

JARVIS's analysis left everyone speechless, and the remaining three people didn't understand behavioral science or how to conduct logical analysis, so they could only listen to JARVIS.

They sat quietly on the second floor of the coffee shop all night without encountering an attack, and when the sun came up, everyone let out a sigh of relief.

"The connection between the attack and gaining abilities has been strengthened, but I think we should still follow the original plan." JARVIS stood up first and said, "I saw some ingredients in the storage room downstairs when I was boiling water earlier. I'll go make breakfast for you guys, and you can take a short nap."

Shang-Chi pulled JARVIS back and made a hand gesture, indicating that he wanted to go with him and help with cooking. So, the two of them went down to the cold storage room on the first floor.

This wasn't a chain coffee shop, and it didn't have professional equipment, but it did have a cold storage room for storing ingredients. The cold storage room looked new, and the refrigeration efficiency was quite good, so they found some edible ingredients.

Although the electric stove and gas stove couldn't be used due to the lack of energy, using a pot over an open flame wasn't too bad. JARVIS took a few packets of vegetables, and Shang-Chi took a basket of eggs. The two of them returned to the central hall on the first floor.

Just as JARVIS was washing the vegetables at the water sink behind the coffee shop counter, he turned his head and saw Shang-Chi waving at him.

JARVIS put down the vegetables and walked over, seeing Shang-Chi holding a crumpled newspaper that had been used as a pad under the egg basket. But JARVIS's eyes immediately fell on a familiar face on the front page - it was the Ancient One.

What shocked both of them was the bold, black headline: "Four-legged monster kidnaps children, entire city's police force gathering at Central Park!"

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

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Next Chapter ->Chapter 1389: Call of the Stars (24)