Split Up and Act Separately

"Zhang, you’re not really going to let them walk into their deaths, are you?"

After the two groups went their separate ways, Pietro could not help but ask.

Old Barton had suffered enough already. Zemo, who had kept him under surveillance for so long, could not possibly wait idly for Barton to come knocking. Without even thinking about it, Pietro knew that what awaited Hawkeye and the other two at the end of the road was likely a hellish ordeal.

In response to Pietro’s words, Zhang Ye merely smiled and shook his head. "Of course I’m not sending them to their deaths. That’s why you two need to follow them, but try not to let them notice you."

Zhang Ye knew what Pietro was thinking. After fighting the Villain Alliance formed by Osborn, Pietro and Kara had likely realized that the supernatural powers in this world were steadily declining.

If the battle forty-five years ago was considered a turning point, then everything before it had been flourishing, with countless schools of thought contending. Whether it was magic, theology, or technology, all of it had been developing vigorously and advancing toward a more advanced era.

But after that battle, the development of the entire world seemed to have suffered a break. Once those wondrous Magic Dimensions were exiled to places beyond observation, this world had entered the so-called Age of Declining Magic.

Endless warfare and conflicts among rulers sent the world’s progress into a sharp decline. When people could not even satisfy their most basic needs for food and warmth, who would have the time to think about building civilization?

This was not merely the decline of magic and witchcraft, but the regression of science and technology as well. The greedy Lords plundered all resources, then locked the knowledge that had once belonged to everyone tightly within their castles.

Gradually, children deprived of basic education lost their humanity and morality in this environment. In this world, no one told them what was right or wrong. The only thing they learned was how to survive.

In such a world, even those supervillains who had once been immensely powerful were continuously weakening. These villains, immersed in the victories of the past, had grown old through years of muddled stagnation.

Their minds had become sluggish, their muscles had begun to atrophy, and even their immensely powerful abilities had become less threatening beneath bodies that were steadily growing sick and frail.

Everyone had seen these changes, but Zhang Ye did not want Pietro and Kara to make the wrong judgment because of them.

"Follow them? Wait, us?"

Pietro froze for a moment, then suddenly widened his eyes.

"What about you? Aren’t you coming with us?"

"I still have things I must do. The Wasteland Universe is vast, and there are quite a few beings hidden beyond ordinary people’s sight. They can help me replenish my energy and improve my combat strength." Zhang Ye smiled faintly.

"You’re going to hunt those bizarre monsters again, then use that ‘magic’ from before to absorb them all into your body?" Kara frowned slightly, looking at Zhang Ye with concern.

"Yes and no." Zhang Ye understood what Kara meant, so he did not avoid her gaze.

"Devouring magic is primordial magic derived from the Ancient Gods. But I still can’t do what true Ancient Gods can. If I want to perfect this method, I’ll need some help."

At this point, Zhang Ye could only devour enemies in a simple manner. Reaching Doctor Strange’s level was still somewhat beyond him.

After all, Doctor Strange had learned bit by bit through copied manuscripts of the Darkhold, while Zhang Ye had merely figured things out on his own. There was still a difference between the two.

"Looks like you already have a target." Kara raised her head.

"Within Doctor Doom’s territory, there is a strange little town hidden by magic. I should be able to get what I need there."

Zhang Ye nodded and did not hide his travel plans. At this point in the Wasteland Universe, Doctor Strange’s senior disciple-brother and archrival, Baron Mordo, had not yet been killed by Doom.

After Baron Mordo helped Red Skull win that battle against the superheroes and used magic to drive away the Dimension Lords who had tried to incorporate Earth into their domains, he decided to devote himself to researching more profound magic.

To that end, before Red Skull burned all magical artifacts, he secretly took the Darkhold from within Hydra. Then he found a secluded place and used magic to pull the entire town into an inner world.

Not only that, after mastering the Darkhold’s spells and obtaining tremendous power, Baron Mordo had even used magic to "kidnap" Agatha.

Agatha was one of Earth’s foremost witches. Though she was not skilled in combat, her attainments in magic and witchcraft were not inferior to those of any sorcerer on Earth.

Agatha excelled at using spells to control the magical energy around her. Her greatest witchcraft was controlling and manipulating the minds of living beings. Yet Baron Mordo had managed to enslave Agatha in turn, despite her mastery of mental manipulation. That made Baron Mordo’s true strength highly questionable.

If there was any remaining item related to magic left in this world, the Darkhold in Baron Mordo’s hands was undoubtedly the most important of them all. It was also something Zhang Ye desperately needed at the moment.

But facing Baron Mordo, a master of magic, would not be easy. This was someone who had repeatedly dueled Doctor Strange in magic and held the upper hand more often than not. He was not comparable to a villain like Osborn, the Green Goblin.

If Enchantress Lorelei could barely use magic by drawing upon the remnants of Asgard’s divine power, then Baron Mordo was someone who had embraced the god of darkness, seeking to establish contact with Chthon through the Darkhold and obtain a supreme inheritance of Black Magic.

Both were sorcerers, but they could not be mentioned in the same breath. Judging from their current states alone, Baron Mordo was undoubtedly far more dangerous than Lorelei.

And that was why Zhang Ye chose to go alone.

In the fields of magic and witchcraft, Pietro and Kara could offer almost no help.

If Kara had been at her peak, she could have relied on her Kryptonian genes to confront him head-on. But the current Kara, affected by the Wasteland sun, was nearly like those inferior Hulks. Even if Zhang Ye brought them along, they would not serve much purpose.

More likely, Zhang Ye would only be forced to hold back because of them. Since that was the case, it was better to divide the work reasonably. Kara and Pietro would help Hawkeye and the others deal with Zemo, cutting off one of Hydra’s heads.

As for Zhang Ye, he would confront the wondrous powers remaining in this world and devour and transform them one by one. That would also speed up the Time Twister’s recording of this universe’s time.