Chapter 1392: Call of the Stars (Complete) (Patreon)

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On the first floor of the coffee shop, a small pot on the fire was simmering a fragrant vegetable soup, with tomatoes already dissolved, releasing a sweet and sour aroma that permeated the fibers of the other vegetables. Shang-Chi had served a plate of stir-fried noodles, Reilly was still heating up his half-cooked pizza, and Wanda had already sat down at the table, ready to eat.

"I'm really sorry, I'm not good at cooking," Miss Witch said, shrugging her shoulders, and then felt a pair of hands wrap around her neck, tying a napkin around her.

"Thank you, JARVIS," she said.

"No need to apologize, miss. Everyone's life experiences are different, and I'm afraid you didn't have much leisure time to study cooking, did you?" JARVIS said with a smile.

Wanda leaned on the desktop with one hand, propping up her face, and said, "Yes, I have an impression of my childhood, either moving from place to place or on the road, with very little stable time, and rarely having fresh ingredients to make a meal. That's really a luxury."

"Although it's hard to believe, I have to mention this point. I always feel that Erik brought me and Pietro along with him out of a sense of compensation, even though it made us all suffer."

The few people had arranged their dishes, and Shang-Chi's gentle voice echoed in Wanda's mind: "Didn't you try talking to him?"

Wanda was startled, then regained her composure and said, "I'm still not used to your ability, and I always think Professor X has arrived."

Shang-Chi shrugged and said in everyone's minds, "But I'm sorry to say that I can only transmit sound, and I won't read minds. You all have special abilities, don't you?"

"I still don't know if this is good or bad," Reilly said, walking to the innermost seat at the table, pushing the chair forward, and placing his hands on the desktop. "My Spider-Sense is too sensitive, and I tried to use it to control the fire when cooking, with pretty good results."

"To be honest, Xu," Reilly looked at Shang-Chi and said, "I thought your voice was only audible to me, and I thought it was my special ability. When JARVIS said he could hear it too, I was really shocked."

Shang-Chi laughed and said, "Thanks to the 'thousand miles sound transmission' ability, I won't be scared to death if I really could read minds."

Wanda used her fork to pick up some stir-fried noodles and put them on her plate, saying, "I really don't know how Professor Charles could tolerate reading Erik's thoughts. Wouldn't he be driven mad?"

"To be honest, we should discuss that previous topic again," Reilly said, sucking on a noodle.

"Which one, dreams or evolution?"

"Dreams we can't research for now. We just tried, didn't we? Lying in bed, covering ourselves with a quilt, even listening to lullabies, but who can sleep in this state? Of course, our superhuman abilities make us not need to sleep as frequently, and we're used to it."

"Then it's evolution," JARVIS said, serving soup to everyone. "Creating wounds and then creating new abilities at the wound site, which can only be called a broad sense of evolution, a very broad sense."

Wanda frowned tightly, and JARVIS turned to look at her, asking, "What's wrong?"

"I have reservations. I don't like calling it evolution because it sounds like a good thing, but in reality..." Miss Witch put down her utensils, spread out her hands, and said, "Did anyone ask for my consent? Can't I like my original eyes?"

"Okay, okay, I used the ability I acquired later to defeat Chthon, but do you know what it reminds me of? Erik!"

"Correct, that violent, uncontrollable control freak. Every time, he would definitely be there to coldly mock me, saying I couldn't do this or that, and I would completely collapse and ask, 'Then what do you think I should do?'"

"What do you think he said?" Wanda leaned forward, her hands on the table edge, and the others also showed curiosity.

"He said, 'You should just stay here and finish what you have at hand!' Correct, it was what he made me do, like going to bomb a factory today and tease FBI agents tomorrow!"

"What makes me even angrier is that he claimed it was to train my abilities, saying that frequent fighting would deepen my connection with the Chaos power. But was that what I wanted? Of course not!"

"I like children and pet dogs, and I hope we can live in an independent house with a yard where we can exercise, and not be judged by our neighbors. I think having all this doesn't require me to be good at fighting."

"But he would definitely use a knife to stab my heart, create wounds, and then use the opportunities he gave me to fight and vent my anger, and thus train my magic abilities. Even if I chose to be a kindergarten teacher, I would never use chaotic magic in my life!"

The other three people felt suffocated, and in fact, this kind of uncommunicative, self-righteous person appearing in anyone's life at any time would be suffocating enough.

But Wanda suddenly changed the subject, saying:

"Actually, I know what he meant. 'If you want to go to college, then go to high school first.' 'If you want to find a boyfriend, then change your temper.' 'If you want children, at least buy a house and a car first.'"

"Yes, he's that kind of person, never speaking nicely, but I and Lorna can sometimes subtly understand him, perhaps because we're really similar, and sometimes with Professor Charles, because he can read minds."

"Our relationship wasn't that good, but it wasn't as bad as you think. I'd rather describe his overly controlling behavior as a 'distorted paternal love.' He wants me to become what he wants me to be, to master the skills he thinks are useful, because he benefited from it."

"He didn't live well, but he thinks his life experience can help his children, although that's not the case."

Wanda sighed lightly and continued, "And regarding this Space topic, it's back to the starting point. I didn't feel like I was being attacked, and neither did Reilly. This control is more like a distorted love."

"Something thinks that if we become like this, we'll live better, so it changes us, and ordinary people might not be able to become better due to physical and mental limitations, but perhaps it just sees this as a negligible sacrifice in the natural evolution process."

"It's twisted, cold, and grand, yet terrifying and magnificent, like another level of Nature."

JARVIS stared straight at Wanda, as if mesmerized by her, despite Miss Witch's eyes being two black holes with dry bloodstains on her eyelashes. JARVIS couldn't move his gaze away from Wanda's wisdom, spirituality, and beauty.

"If we compare this power to Nature, then I think we have a reason to be angry," Shang-Chi said, pursing his lips. "Who would thank an earthquake?"

"The tectonic movement doesn't intend to harm us, and neither does this power, but what's most infuriating is that it highlights human weakness."

"Humans become crazy when they feel their weakness, and our ancestors were like that, step by step, overcoming the terrible natural disasters, making human survival possible until now."

"Humans are indeed a very strange species," Reilly shook his head and said. "We all crave power, crave becoming stronger, but now power is like a pie that's been dropped on our heads, and we're complaining about it."

"Because the most precious thing about humans is the potential for free development, not unfree strength," JARVIS objectively pointed out. "The body is limited, so we develop our brains; efficiency is insufficient, so we upgrade our tools. Human evolution is a path of continuous 'abandonment,' not randomly selecting lucky winners to receive an ability."

"Oh!" Wanda exclaimed, "I knew something was weird Why did it have to evolve my eyes? This ability can only let me defeat Chthon, what else can it do? Do kindergarten teachers need to face Space truth?"

Reilly let out a soft sigh and said, "My Spider-Sense is indeed my strongest asset, but I'm not interested in predicting the future. And to be honest, if someone wants to surprise me at a party, I'd have to fake my excitement. I hate that!"

"Don't look at me," Shang-Chi said with a shrug. "I have no reason to talk to people in their minds. I'm well aware of my limitations, and my eloquence is no match for physical persuasion."

Then he sighed again and said, "If only I had the ability to fly, I'd love to go see the monkeys!"

The group fell silent for a moment, and then Wanda spoke up with a mix of laughter and tears, "You guys are saying that if that mysterious entity heard us, wouldn't it think we're all crazy? We have abilities that we don't want, and we're still complaining?"

"Abilities aren't free, and don't you think our hardships count as payment?" Shang-Chi emphasized. "But we've suffered and didn't get what we wanted, so aren't we still at a loss?"

Wanda and Reilly were taken aback, as they had already grown accustomed to their hardships. Shang-Chi spread his hands and said, "Fine, you can say I'm spoiled, but that entity's attack was brutal, and it's not fair to give us abilities that don't suit us. Are you guys really okay with that?"

Originally, Wanda and Reilly weren't too angry, but Shang-Chi's words struck a chord. As the saying goes, "The more you endure, the angrier you get." They felt that they had been wronged, and it was unbearable to think that someone was whispering in their ears, "You deserve better."

Wanda puffed out her cheeks and said, "You're right, Shang-Chi. Why did it take away our original abilities and give us new ones that we don't want? If I find out who did it, I'll make them pay!"

"Just to clarify," JARVIS interrupted, pulling them back from their emotional outburst. "Wanda, your point earlier was interesting. It's possible that the mysterious entity thinks it's doing us a favor by giving us these abilities."

"Let's assume that's true," JARVIS continued. "If this power doesn't intend to harm humans and thinks we'll be better off with these abilities, then why does it think that?"

"Why do we need special abilities to adapt to this world? What's wrong with this world?"

Just as JARVIS finished speaking, a loud crash was heard from outside the coffee shop, accompanied by the sound of space shattering. A man holding a little girl and with a raccoon on his shoulder came running towards them.

"Quill?!" JARVIS exclaimed in surprise.

But Quill didn't have time to answer any questions. He just kept running and shouting, "Run Go to Central Park Find Ancient One!"

The group stood at the coffee shop window, watching as a terrifying dark vortex rolled in from the New York skyline, shattering space like coffee beans in a grinder. The world was slowly disintegrating.

The group quickly ran out of the coffee shop, with JARVIS asking, "What's going on, Quill?"

"What do you mean? This world?"

"Both!"

"I touched the truth, and the world is being destroyed!"

"What's going on?" Wanda yelled angrily.

"This world is a dream!"

"A dream?"

As they arrived at the edge of Central Park, they saw a massive temple illusion, with Ancient One waiting for them. A huge portal stood above her.

"Go ahead," Ancient One said, her face illuminated by magical light. "I'm not seeking death, but I must face the master of this dream. It's the responsibility and fate of the Sorcerer Supreme."

Just as Quill was about to enter the portal with Jennifer, Ancient One looked at them and said, "Thank you for revealing the truth of this world... Forgive me for not being able to do so. I must conserve my power to face more truths."

As Jennifer's face disappeared into the portal's magical light, Ancient One saw the little girl mouth "thank you" to her.

A powerful magical energy erupted from Ancient One's eyes, and the group was pushed into the portal.

As they entered the portal, Ancient One looked at them and said, "Let's see who's controlling fate in this dream!"

Ancient One's robes fluttered, and her eyes gazed up at the stars. But just as she was about to touch the truth, a furious roar came from the edge of the portal.

"You're blinding me You think I'll just roll over and die? You're dreaming!"

Humans couldn't gaze directly at the truth of space, but an angry woman could.

Scarlet Witch's body erupted with intense red light, illuminating the entire starry sky. Her red gaze was like a fire that burned through everything, and her roar echoed throughout space.

"Chthon I command you to respond!"

Chthon's voice came through, hesitant and uncertain.

"What is it?"

"Behind me!"

Chthon began to feel fear.

"Wanda, you can't..."

"Trash!"

Chthon felt its infinite Chaos power being stirred up, and it began to flee in terror.

"Wanda, stop You'll destroy everything!"

As the infinite Chaos power and the power of Eternity exploded simultaneously, the world was completely shattered.

Wanda and Ancient One saw a magnificent, indescribable scene behind the chaotic vortex.

As the world was about to collapse, Wanda felt an ultimate anger and pride in her heart, which became a fierce fire.

And so, the Scarlet Witch, who didn't know the meaning of surrender, ignited all her Chaos power with a hatred and desire for revenge that contained the worst of humanity.

The infinite fire burned through the countless dream spaces, like a wildfire that left nothing behind.

Finally, the solitary, crimson figure stood in space, facing the stars, and called out her true name without hesitation.

"Azathoth..."

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

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Next Chapter ->Chapter 1393 The Return of the Old Ones (Part 1)