Chapter 1397 The Return of the Old Ones (Part Five) (Patreon)

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"An obvious fact is that the owner of this notebook - the person who has been narrating the entire event in the first person, does not seem to have the cultural and intellectual level to write such words."

Strange did not bother with the cold tea, but instead took a bottle of wine, two glasses, and an ice bucket from the shelf, conjured some ice cubes, put the wine in, and looked at Stark, saying:

"What makes you say that?" Stark asked.

"Come on, Tony, since I have been open and honest with you, why would you... Okay, I know, you are a typical scientist, not so interested in literature and art, at least not in literature."

"But you can't deny that I've read a lot of books."

"Mostly theoretical knowledge in the science field, isn't it?"

Stark fell silent, not denying it, as he really had nothing to deny. He had always been more inclined towards technical books, rarely reading works with strong narratives. He preferred to explore the truth rather than immerse himself in imagination.

In fact, the events recorded in this black notebook were the longest story he had read in years, and he was surprised that he could read through such a long part in one go, perhaps also because of the little people Strange conjured, which made it more intuitive.

"Forget it, the literary descriptions just give me a headache." Stark waved his hand somewhat rudely and said: "'Roughly', 'overall', 'exquisite', 'magnificent', 'rough', 'simple' - these literary people never give a definite value to anything, they must be vague in their descriptions, claiming to leave room for imagination, which doesn't give me any sense of security, I like precise things."

"I can imagine that." Strange took the wine out of the ice bucket, poured a glass for himself and Stark, and said: "Then let me tell you that people's behavior can always be reflected in their literary talent."

"If a person's writing is passionate, then his inner heart must be burning with fire. If a person's writing is indifferent, then perhaps he is as calm, rational, and objective as you."

"Although the notebook owner is always narrating everything in a cold tone, his real reactions when encountering each event are contrary to that."

"From the choices he makes in the face of various situations, he is a rather reckless person, emotionally rich, bold and a bit reckless. That kind of cold, gloomy writing is not something he could have written."

"Have I said that before? You should really consider getting a psychology license."

"You've said it several times, unless you have a bad memory." Strange picked up the wine glass but didn't drink, just lightly touching the rim with his lips, and said, "This means that someone wants to tell us something through it."

"Or it could also be that he is explaining something, right?"

Strange frowned and looked into Stark's eyes, saying, "You're really getting more and more tactful in your speech, Tony, that's not like you."

"If you're still unhappy with my attitude when I came to you after my father's incident, then I can only say that Schiller was right, you're really petty."

"He even has the nerve to accuse others of being petty." Stark pouted, quite dissatisfied, but shook his head and said, "I'm just taking it literally, the story in this notebook is intentionally left for us to explain, or it may be left for me to explain."

"What does he need to explain to you?"

"Something that has already happened, that I discovered but haven't had a chance to investigate yet."

"What is it?"

"I kidnapped the symbiote god Knull and hid him away. Me, Doom, and another friend, we fought together, with Doom attracting the attention of others, while we directly dragged the Klyntar away."

"I've heard about that." Strange nodded. If the Sorcerer Supreme had control over all kinds of events on Earth, then the Sanctum Sanctorum provided an even wider channel of information.

The disappearance of a species' homeworld is not a big deal, but the symbiotes are a fairly typical species with some fame in space. The disappearance of Klyntar even occupied a small section on the front page of the well-known interstellar newspaper "Ring Star Region Weekly", and there were also three episodes of tracking reports on the interstellar traveler radio station.

"Was this your doing? Why did you do this?"

Strange felt somewhat surprised, he couldn't understand the meaning of snatching a planet from those Rotten Mud, and Knull shouldn't be that valuable.

"I wanted to understand something." Stark replied.

"What?"

"God."

Stark stood up from the armchair, holding the wine glass and pacing in front of the bookshelf. He said, "I want to know what God really is, not the kind of trading partner or something like that in your mind. Do you know why I suddenly became interested in this?"

"Perhaps I told you before that I'm conducting experiments related to the fusion of Vibranium and Molten Steel materials, which is an extremely difficult task for me. Even the smallest breakthrough in materials science could lead to a huge revolution in science and technology, but it remains difficult to achieve."

Stark frowned, appearing much more serious than usual. Strange had hardly ever heard the word "difficult" from Stark's mouth, but when he said it, it meant the matter was likely not just difficult, but as hard as climbing to the heavens.

"Finding a material suitable for humans is more like a game of chance than a scientific experiment," Stark frankly acknowledged that materials science is like playing a game of chance: "A material may have all the properties you want, but it's missing one condition. A material may have one particularly outstanding property, but the rest are trash."

"Peter often mutters that it's a bit like crafting equipment in a game, but reality is much harder than games. This is not something that can be solved by exhaustive enumeration, one can only hope for the grace of the god of luck."

"One day, while staring at the instruments in the laboratory, I felt a sense of despair, a feeling of utter powerlessness that I had never experienced before," Stark paused, slowly closing his eyes and lifting his head to recall his emotions at the time, then said, "And then came the anger and resentment."

"Why can't it give me the results I want? Why, after doing everything, am I still unable to control the outcome? Why am I so helpless? What makes me feel so weak?"

Strange could clearly hear Stark's voice trembling at the end, the anger almost flowing out.

"It's this Space," Stark gave the answer, finally speaking in a neurotic tone like a mad scientist: "It's the damn eternal and unchanging rules of this universe."

"It makes 1+1=2, it makes ice melt into water, it makes drugs change color, it makes plants yearn for the sun..."

Strange felt his heart pounding, realizing what Stark was talking about - the truth that generations of Sorcerer Supremes dared not peek into.

"Why?"

Stark asked a soul-searching question, then added, "Why can't I make 1+1=3?"

Strange opened his mouth, but his dry throat prevented him from uttering a single word. After a few seconds of silence, he commented, "Don't be too greedy, Tony."

"We are all greedy. You showed me your greed, and naturally I also showed you mine. Rather, magic has always been greedy, while science has been hesitant to move forward."

"Do you really know what you're doing?" Strange swallowed.

"Of course I do," Stark nodded and said, "You may think I'm crazy, but I'm very clear-headed. I want to... change the constants."

As these words fell, Strange felt as if his head had been hit by a sledgehammer, his mind filled with a buzzing sound, because to sorcerers, it was basically equivalent to saying "I want to destroy Space."

"It's not impossible," Stark had already begun to expound on his thoughts: "The reason you think it's impossible is that you've overlooked a key issue."

"What?"

"This world has gods."

Strange was stunned.

"God is, or claims to be, the incarnation of the rules of Space. If the operation of Space is not to my liking, shouldn't they also bear some responsibility?"

Strange swallowed again, finding it difficult to describe Stark's logic of Pride, Greed, and ferocity. If he had to find an adjective, it would be... too 'human'.

"Psychology and behavioral science have taught me not only to fathom the motives behind others' psychology and behavior," Stark sat back in his chair, looking into Strange's eyes and saying, "But also not to blame myself, to find reasons from others when something goes wrong, to keep wisdom for myself, and to leave pain and confusion to others."

"If the god of luck always refuses to descend into my laboratory, preventing the development of human materials science, then I will dissect it and see if it can add the attributes I want to the new materials in my instruments."

Facing Stark's cold tone, Strange shuddered. These groups of The Scientist Monsters, once they entered a state, always had a terrifying uncanny valley effect, as if they were inhuman monsters who could dissect anything for experimental data.

Even the pure-hearted Spider-Man Peter had a cold, indifferent eye contact, as if everyone was a lab rat, when he first walked out of the biology laboratory, not to mention the somewhat neurotic Tony Stark.

And Stark indeed planned to dissect Space. He even kidnapped a god for this purpose. Thinking about this, Strange couldn't help but worry and ask, "How's Knull doing?"

"He was fine when he was with me," Stark sighed softly. Strange caught the implication in his words and frowned, asking, "So he's not with you now?"

Stark's gaze fell on the black notebook beside him and said, "This is what the one who really wrote this story wants to explain to us."

Strange looked at him.

"About two weeks ago, Knull went missing, along with his cage. He disappeared from the secret prison I had prepared for him. Someone took him away."

"Someone rescued Knull from your hands?"

"I don't think the act can be called a 'rescue'. I think Knull's condition may not improve, or even get worse. Before coming to you, I went to check the condition of that secret place, and the other party's methods were quite brutal. Knull won't be feeling well."

"So why do you think he did this?"

Stark quickly recalled the scene he had seen at the site and looked at Strange's face.

"He may want to eat Knull... In fact, he's already eaten a part of him."

Stark added in his heart.

"... Or all of him."

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

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Next Chapter ->Chapter 1398 The Return of the Old Ones (Six)