Return

A purple portal opened, and Zhang Ye and John stepped through one after the other, returning home in Brooklyn, in the All-New, All-Different Universe.

"You’re back so soon?" Pietro turned around at the sound behind him, looking utterly astonished. "I haven’t even finished this dungeon run yet!"

Zhang Ye had not told the two of them what he was going to do, so to Pietro and Kara, Zhang Ye and John had only been gone for a few minutes.

"You’re running a dungeon one-handed, and you’re playing a priest. Aren’t you worried your healing won’t keep up and you’ll drag your teammates down?" Zhang Ye said with a smile. After seventeen years without contact with human civilization, seeing Pietro playing a computer game suddenly filled him with a sense of ease.

"Hehe, you underestimate me. Don’t forget, I’m a speedster. Forget controlling a mouse and keyboard with one hand—I used to play ping-pong against myself." Pietro swayed slightly and chuckled.

"True, I nearly forgot that something this small wouldn’t trouble you. But you’ve reminded me—when I have the time, I’ll get you a mechanical prosthetic. It just feels strange seeing you missing an arm." Zhang Ye slowly walked over to Pietro and patted his good arm.

"Really?!" Pietro instantly became excited, his eyes full of curiosity. "The technology in this universe is really that advanced? They can even make mechanical prosthetics?"

"Of course. Whether it’s the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, or even S.H.I.E.L.D. and Wakanda, those superheroes and organizations all possess this kind of advanced technology. And besides them, supervillains like Hydra also have more than enough resources to complete your harem," Zhang Ye explained.

"My harem? What does that mean?" Pietro froze for a moment, not understanding.

"It’s true." At that moment, Kara emerged from her bedroom. She had noticed the instant Zhang Ye and the others returned. "There’s someone in this world called the Winter Soldier. His arm is made of metal, and it would suit you very well."

Zhang Ye glanced at Kara and nodded seriously, acknowledging her words while also greeting her.

"You’re back. Wait, you two…" As Kara spoke, she suddenly noticed something strange. She carefully looked Zhang Ye and John over from head to toe before asking uncertainly, "How long were you gone?"

As expected of a Kryptonian—her powers of observation were truly top-notch. Zhang Ye and John had deliberately freshened themselves up, changed into the new clothes they had prepared long ago, and even taken a bath in the other world before returning. He had not expected her to notice the difference anyway.

"More than six thousand days," Zhang Ye said calmly.

"Six?!" Pietro’s mouth fell open at the number. He stared at Zhang Ye in disbelief, then turned to John in shock, seemingly asking with his eyes whether Zhang Ye was telling the truth. John slowly nodded.

Unlike Pietro’s dramatic reaction, Kara’s eyes were also filled with shock, but she quickly composed herself. She stepped forward, straightened Zhang Ye’s collar, and said, "Long time no see. Welcome back."

Zhang Ye did not resist Kara’s gesture. On the contrary, he rather enjoyed the atmosphere of the moment. Seventeen years—after enduring for so long, Zhang Ye had come to crave friendship even more. "Thank you."

"You’re welcome. But next time, at least let us know before you leave," Kara said with a smile.

"Wait, wait! Zhang, where did you go? How could you have been gone for so long? You only disappeared for a few minutes!" Pietro still could not make sense of it as he stood up.

"The flow of time differs between universes. I’m guessing Zhang Ye went to another universe, but as for what he did there…" Kara turned to Zhang Ye as well, waiting for his explanation.

"That?" Zhang Ye’s lips curled upward. He raised a hand, and in the next instant, every piece of furniture in the room floated into the air under an invisible force.

Pietro’s eyes widened even further at the sight. "My god!"

"As you can see, I found a relatively quiet place to practice some magic. It was to improve my ability to protect myself. With Mr. John’s help, I made considerable progress during that time. I can be considered capable of fighting now." With that, Zhang Ye turned his hand over, and all the furniture returned to its original place.

"It was all thanks to your talent. Compared to you, my little bit of magical ability is nothing worth mentioning." John lowered his head deeply.

Seeing how obedient John was now, Pietro and Kara exchanged a glance and smiled.

Those six thousand days had clearly not been wasted. It was obvious from John’s condition that he had been completely won over by Zhang Ye. However, Pietro and Kara were not surprised, because to them, it was perfectly normal for Zhang Ye to accomplish something like this.

"No need to be modest. Your magical ability is quite good, and your teaching skills are even better. I believe that in this respect, you are no less capable than those sorcerers of Kamar-Taj," Zhang Ye said with feeling.

"You flatter me too much." John smiled awkwardly. Back when he had been dragged onto that planet, his life had been entirely in Zhang Ye’s hands. John believed that if he failed to teach Zhang Ye properly, he would be buried alive in that other world the next second.

Under the threat to his life, John could hardly avoid giving his all to teaching Zhang Ye magic. By the end of the first year, John had been constantly racking his brain, trying to think of anything else he could teach Zhang Ye.

"So, Zhang, that means you’re a sorcerer now too, right?" Pietro asked eagerly.

"Yes, but unlike ordinary sorcerers, I can control a little more energy," Zhang Ye said casually. Upon hearing that, John nearly choked on his saliva.

What a joke. With the energy of an entire parallel universe as his reserve, how could an ordinary sorcerer possess such terrifying power? This was not merely a little more. If John had that much energy, why would he still be a Scavenger? He would have already been preparing to gather the vampires and invade other dimensions directly.

John was not wrong about that. Zhang Ye, who controlled the Ruined Universe, was much like Dimension Lords such as Dormammu and the Eye Tyrant. They could all draw upon another world to unleash powerful magic. The difference was that they used themselves to connect the two worlds, while Zhang Ye used the Time Twister.

What John did not know was that, unlike dimensional worlds like the Hell Dimension and the Dark Dimension, which naturally possessed inexhaustible magical energy, the Ruined Universe controlled by Zhang Ye did not possess any supernatural energy known as "magic" at all.

Furthermore, Zhang Ye was unwilling to do anything that would damage the Ruined Universe’s timeline. Therefore, the energy he could draw upon was merely the material energy released by naturally exploding stars in the Ruined Universe, which he then converted into magic through his own body.

Though it sounded troublesome, it was sufficient for Zhang Ye at present. At the very least, charging the Time Twister was completely within his capabilities.

"Then, Zhang, can you teach me? I want to become a sorcerer too. Magic is just too cool!" Pietro hurried over to Zhang Ye and asked excitedly.

"We can give it a try, but…" Zhang Ye tilted his head toward the computer screen. "Your teammates have been wiped out."

Pietro blinked.

"I forgot! Aaaaah!!!"