Kamar-Taj’s “Enlightenment” (Part 1)

The biting wind high above the Himalayan Mountains never dispersed year-round. Snowflakes swept up by the wind flashed like pure white blades as they darted through the lonely, boundless valleys.

The wind wailed like the earth itself, drowning out the horn blown by a traveler at the edge of the horizon. He turned to look back, and beyond layer upon layer of mountain peaks, thin wisps of cooking smoke rose like incense trails.

When the last stick of incense in the burner burned down, its flame went out, and the straight thread of ash crumbled away. In the very instant the smoke dispersed, the crisp clack of a stone touching the board echoed through the quiet room.

A fair, slender hand held a stone between its fingers and gently set it on the board. The Sorcerer Supreme’s hand bore no trace of age, yet it carried the rough texture left behind by years of farming. Those lines spread across the back of her hand, while The Ancient One’s gaze remained calm as she looked at the board.

She turned her head slightly, glanced at the incense that had burned out, and said, "Let’s stop here for today."

Strange, who had made the final move, looked at the board. The game had not been especially fierce; clearly, both players had been somewhat distracted.

The Ancient One lightly brushed her robe, sending tiny specks of dust drifting around her. She rose and slowly walked over to the incense table, where she lit another stick. Strange could smell that the incense had grown fainter.

Wong entered carrying a tray. Strange put away the stones and board from the table, storing them beneath it, while Wong took out tea and pastries from the tray.

Strange thought that Kamar-Taj had earned its reputation as a sacred place for a reason. The feeling here was completely unlike living in New York.

He looked around the room. It was not large, with very little furniture. The floor was covered in somewhat rough felt carpeting. The entire wall opposite him was lined with wooden display shelves, while an incense table stood in front of it. Hanging paintings draped down from the walls on both sides, with two bonsai placed between them.

A low table sat in the center of the room, and the board and stones were usually stored beneath it. After practicing magic, Strange would play a game here with The Ancient One.

Strange had not known how to play Go before, but after practicing for a few days, he had become fairly adept at it.

His games with The Ancient One did not count wins or losses, only time. Once a stick of incense had burned out, they would put away the board, drink tea, and chat. It was during those moments that Strange learned from The Ancient One about the mysteries of the universe.

The atmosphere here was nothing like what Strange had imagined before arriving.

In Western mythology, the idea of a sacred place was often grand and resplendent. Its buildings had to be majestic, and its atmosphere had to be profound and mysterious.

But Kamar-Taj was not like that. Though having such a structure hidden deep within the Himalayan Mountains was already a miracle in itself, its character was more rustic and natural than sacred.

Still, Strange had to admit that this atmosphere gave him a long-lost sense of peace and relaxation. His mind, which had nearly been blinded by money, gradually calmed down.

Yet at the same time, in such an atmosphere, Strange felt it would be difficult to say what he needed to say next.

He looked around the room again. Though its furnishings were simple, every piece was perfectly placed, and each bore the marks of time.

Everyone here, whether the Sorcerer Supreme or a novice apprentice, carried an easygoing yet lively air. By comparison, Strange always seemed terribly out of place.

And what he was about to say might make him seem even more out of place.

"I can see that you’ve been distracted." The Ancient One sat back down, blew on her tea, and spoke to Strange.

"I’m sorry, Master."

"I can tell that there are things you want to say. You need not hold back. There is nothing here that cannot be spoken."

The Ancient One’s tone always carried a tranquil strength that made people instinctively believe her. Strange first drew a deep breath, then let out a long sigh. "All right, but this is really hard to say."

He watched the tea leaves swirl in his cup and tried his best to imagine this place as Wall Street’s financial center. Then he said, "Here’s the situation. We have a plan…"

The moment he said that, Strange regretted it. He had the feeling that before long, he would be thrown out of this place.

So he paused, pressed a hand to his brow, and forced himself to continue.

"After hearing what Master told me about how to deal with Dimensional Demon Gods, I found it quite enlightening. So I discussed it with several friends, and they unanimously agreed that Earth’s current prosperity could not exist without the Sorcerer Supreme’s unwavering faith…"

To keep himself from looking too undignified when he was thrown out, Strange decided to lay some groundwork first.

"But humanity has never been a race that waits helplessly for death. We do not wish to entrust our safety entirely to someone else’s protection, so…"

Strange sighed again. "Sorry, but considering that what comes next may be rather shocking, you’d better not drink any tea."

Hearing this, The Ancient One put down her cup. But Wong had already drifted off when Strange began speaking, and he continued drinking at an unhurried pace. He blew on the scalding tea and had just taken a loud slurp when Strange said, "…we devised a financial fraud plan targeting Dimensional Demon Gods."

Pfft!

Wong sprayed tea all over the table.

Strange quickly pulled out a cloth and wiped the table. Helplessly, he said, "I warned you. What came next might be shocking…"

"But this is too shocking! Cough, cough!" Wong said, choking on his tea.

The Ancient One, however, remained calm and even seemed rather interested. She asked Strange, "A financial fraud plan? Tell me the details."

Strange took a small projection device from his pocket and placed it on the table.

As all three of them focused on it, a projection suddenly appeared. It showed Strange’s face again. He waved at the camera and said, "Hello, I’m Strange, and I’ll be explaining this plan…"

Wong looked at the projection, then at Strange sitting beside him. Confused, he asked, "Can’t you just explain it to us while you’re sitting here? Why make a projection?"

Strange pointed at the projection, signaling Wong to keep watching.

At that moment, the projected camera paused. Just as Wong and The Ancient One thought the explanation was about to begin, the camera suddenly pulled back to reveal an entire conference room, with people in suits seated on both sides of a long table.

Then, the contents of the projected video thoroughly, clearly, and concisely explained to The Ancient One and Wong what the Cosmic Demon financial fraud plan was.

The proposal discussed in the S.H.I.E.L.D. conference room had only been a rough framework. In truth, any scheme like this involved extremely complicated numerical calculations. For instance, how should promotion requirements be set? What should the ratio between initial investment and later returns be? How should the timeline for each stage be arranged?

Since none of the four people involved in the discussion had any background in finance, S.H.I.E.L.D. brought in several highly capable finance professionals to help them refine the plan after the initial framework was complete.

Most of those people had been pulled out of prison. Their moral boundaries had already been thoroughly tested, and quite a few had hands-on experience, so the plan was quickly perfected.

They explained, in the most rigorous yet understandable way possible, exactly how the scheme would operate.

A Ponzi scheme, otherwise known as a pyramid scheme, was the most classic financial fraud tactic and one of the oldest. Yet among all financial scams, it could be called enduring and inexhaustible—every generation ran it, and every generation fell for it.

Moreover, as the tactic evolved, its victims had shifted from poorly educated nouveaux riches who knew nothing of economics or finance to knowledgeable, capable, well-educated young people.

Many even knew perfectly well that it was a Ponzi scheme and could explain its history and principles in great detail, yet they still fell for it in the end.

The reason was that the scam precisely targeted the weaknesses in the thinking of intelligent beings: the desire for profit and the gambler’s mentality.

Low investment, high returns—intelligent beings would always pursue profit. Even though many people knew that this High Tower would collapse someday, they still believed that they would be the ones to take the money and run.

After these finance professionals explained it, the logic behind it became easier to understand, and the plan itself became more feasible.

They gave several examples that had happened in the past, along with various variations built upon the same foundation. Even Wong, who had no interest whatsoever in finance or economics, listened with great interest.

As he listened, he occasionally glanced sideways at the Sorcerer Supreme. He noticed that The Ancient One’s eyes were growing brighter and brighter. Wong instinctively shifted away to the other side, only to discover that Strange—the man who had proposed the plan, and the future Sorcerer Supreme—was there.

A remarkably synchronized wavelength suddenly formed between these two generations of Sorcerer Supreme, one old and one young. Wong had only one thought—Cosmic Demons were in danger.

After the projection ended, The Ancient One first calmed her emotions, then said, "I never expected you to surprise me so much, Stephen."

"Uh, I know this plan is pretty unethical, but… wait, surprise???" Strange looked at The Ancient One in confusion and found that her gaze truly held admiration and surprise.

The Ancient One lifted her teacup, took a sip, and said with satisfaction, "It seems the stories I told you before were not told in vain. I truly did not expect you to identify the crux of the current situation from those scattered stories."

"Uh…" Strange choked on his words. He really wanted to ask what exactly the crux was, but The Ancient One clearly had more to say.

The Ancient One sighed and said, "The stories I told before already mentioned that Demon Gods exist in this world—and that there are many of them."

"Just like humans, they possess intelligence, can communicate, have their own interests and positions, and each has a different personality and disposition."

"They are born powerful, possessing might that humans cannot comprehend. Most of them also have their own domains, scattered throughout every corner of the universe."

"And to explain exactly who they are, we must first discuss what the universe truly is."

Then, through the Sorcerer Supreme The Ancient One’s account, Strange came to understand The Truth of the entire world.