Tell Me This Isn’t Real

After Bruce Banner led him around the artificial forest in a daze for several laps, Tony’s mind was still filled with what Bruce Banner had just said.

This was magic!

Although Chen Mu had told Tony this before, Tony had always thought he was joking and had never taken it seriously.

Moreover, during this time, Tony had been searching for clues about his father’s death. Now, he finally knew who had killed his parents.

But so what?

The murderer of his parents was nowhere to be found. Even after Tony mobilized all his resources, he had failed to uncover the slightest trace.

So, he had gradually pushed the matter to the back of his mind.

However, Tony was now extremely displeased with Barnes, and Captain America Rogers by association.

But those people had long since vanished into the river of history, leaving him with no choice but to accept it.

Tony had always believed that Chen Mu had mastered some kind of Space Teleportation Technology. Now Bruce Banner was telling him it was magic, and the impact on Tony was enormous.

Bruce Banner had several doctoral degrees and was someone Tony greatly respected, so Bruce Banner’s words carried considerable weight.

"Chen Mu, you’re here. Come on, let’s go to S.H.I.E.L.D. together."

After wandering around for half the day, Chen Mu appeared before the two of them. Bruce Banner greeted him enthusiastically.

"Long time no see, Tony."

Chen Mu smiled and greeted Tony. Although they were more than ten years apart in age, they had similar mindsets and shared similar habits and interests, so they got along quite well. More importantly, they had one of life’s three great bonds…

"Chen Mu, tell me that isn’t real?"

When Tony saw Chen Mu, and personally witnessed a portal appear before him with Chen Mu stepping out of it, he took a step forward and asked hopefully.

If this really was magic, it would deal a devastating blow to Tony’s worldview!

"What isn’t real?"

Chen Mu looked utterly baffled.

"Magic!"

Tony looked serious as he continued, "Tell me this is some kind of Space Teleportation Technology, not magic!"

"Uh, unfortunately, this is magic."

Chen Mu rubbed his nose and said with a faintly amused smile, "Didn’t I tell you before? What, you didn’t believe me?"

Chen Mu did not know whether to laugh or cry. "If you want to learn, I can recommend you to a Magic School."

By now, Magic Schools had begun to be established on a large scale throughout China. Every province in the country basically had one or two such schools. Hidden within the Mirror Dimension, their existence was unknown to outsiders except for the students themselves and their families.

Modern Chinese people already possessed the innate ability to control lightning. More importantly, they all had extremely strong magical talent, even greater than Thor and Loki’s.

Controlling lightning was an innate ability, while all types of magic could be learned at school. Apart from the exclusive magic of Ancient One’s Sanctum Mages, these magical apprentices had mastered all kinds of different spells.

Elemental magic, arcane magic, even Dark Magic—along with the witchcraft that had originally existed on Earth—could all be learned there.

Of course, things like Dark Magic and witchcraft still had to be registered with the authorities…

Nearly three years had passed, and the first batch of magical apprentices was about to graduate. These mages were even stronger than the mages of Kamar-Taj!

As the honorary principal of the Magic Schools, it was naturally no problem for Chen Mu to recommend a foreigner to study magic.

Chen Mu’s accomplishments in magic were no less impressive than his accomplishments in technology.

The essence of magic was actually the construction of magic formations, or magical circuits. As long as magic power flowed through specific pathways, a spell could be cast.

Of course, this was no simple matter. A mage needed powerful control and sufficient magic power. Otherwise, the only result would be a failed spell and backlash.

This was also the future Doctor Strange’s advantage. As a top surgeon, his control was beyond question. On top of that, he had learned Ancient One’s "borrow-now-pay-later mage" approach. With his powerful control over magic power and the ability to borrow power from other dimensions, he could naturally unleash unimaginable strength.

That was Strange’s advantage!

Of course, in Chen Mu’s opinion, perhaps Tony possessed the same potential?

As a genius, Tony’s practical skills were extremely strong. He had been able to build a crude reactor using simple tools. That alone proved that his control was rock-solid. As for magic power?

Well, couldn’t he just learn from Doctor Strange and borrow it directly?

As for paying it back? He had agreed to pay it back after death, but that required him to die first. If he could live for a thousand or ten thousand years, the God of White Magic Vishanti would have nothing to say, right?

"Let’s talk about that later."

Tony smiled awkwardly. Looking at Chen Mu, he continued, "We can discuss magic later. Right now, we have a problem. S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Tesseract was stolen. That thing is extremely important. We have to get it back."

"S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Tesseract?"

A disdainful smile appeared on Chen Mu’s lips as he said contemptuously, "S.H.I.E.L.D. really has some nerve saying that."

The Tesseract was the Space Stone among the Infinity Stones. It had always been in Odin’s possession, though no one knew why old Odin had tossed it onto Earth. Hydra found it and developed energy weapons far beyond their time during World War II.

During World War II, Captain America Rogers seized it from Hydra. Later, S.H.I.E.L.D. found it, and they simply claimed it as their own.

Whoever held it owned it? That truly was America’s traditional specialty—the logic of bandits.

They had no idea what consequences such actions might bring, yet they still dared to make such grand claims. Who knew where Nick Fury got his courage? Was it really Liang Jingru?

"According to mythological records, the Tesseract has always belonged to Odin. S.H.I.E.L.D. has claimed it as their own. Aren’t they afraid Odin will come looking for trouble?"

"Odin?"

Tony looked solemn. In the past, he would have merely smiled indifferently. He had not believed in these myths. But when Thor had appeared and even fought someone in armor in America, causing the deaths of thousands, Tony had no choice but to believe Odin existed.

"Does the Odin from mythology really exist?"

Even so, Tony could not help asking.