The Divide-and-Conquer Plan

The waves came crashing down like mountains, blotting out the sky as they slammed between the buildings.

Manhattan had become a vast flooded expanse. Seawater was everywhere. Countless civilians clung to the tops of buildings, reaching out for help, while even more bobbed up and down in the water, clinging to anything that could float to stay alive.

Lightning flashed and thunder boomed on the distant horizon. That was the radiance produced by Current Drive.

The tsunami surging over was caused by energy leaking from the aftermath of the battle.

It was still the same familiar environment, though he could see it even more clearly now.

Tony stood in his own "dream," carefully scanning his surroundings.

Ever since entering the Current Drive Realm, he had not dreamed this dream for a long time. Revisiting it today, he no longer felt the same fear as before. Instead, he even felt a little nostalgic.

His perspective had changed with his realm, so naturally, he could see different things now.

Although he was only standing on a rooftop, he could clearly see the battle taking place in the distance.

The person using the Current Drive Realm was an unfamiliar Chinese woman. Her realm was rising step by step, soon reaching Five Hundred Thousand Volts. Her next step would be Magnetic Field Rotation.

And the man facing her—wasn’t he his own otherworlder master?

But his master seemed a little strange now. Oh, he was missing an eye from his forehead.

This was what had happened before Time Reversal. So who was this woman? Why had he never seen her before?

Could it be that his senior apprentice-brother was going to have a Senior Apprentice-Sister appear on his head too?

He watched for a long time but never saw the woman evolve into the Magnetic Field Rotation Realm. Then he saw his master strike to kill, and understood. The woman had failed to break through into Magnetic Field Rotation, so his master had abandoned her.

Then he saw a woman fly in from beyond the heavens. She had an amazing figure, though her face was a little square. And she was far too violent.

He watched with a grin as his master was beaten senseless by that woman, secretly cheering on the woman who might be Captain Marvel.

Then he saw Zhan Liu advance from Magnetic Field Rotation Nine Heavens all the way to Fifteen Heavens, only to be seized by the neck and dragged into space by that woman.

He could no longer make out the battle after that. He only saw Zhan Liu fly back to New York, skimming wildly over the water, and Captain Marvel being forced to stop and rescue people.

Then the two flew away, one after the other, and he had no idea where they went.

He was enjoying this movie well enough, but being unable to participate was so boring.

He was pondering how to escape from this dream when he suddenly felt the earth begin to shake violently.

Tony looked down and saw the ground suddenly split apart. The skyscraper beneath his feet tilted to one side, and his body fell with it.

He instinctively tried to jump to another building, but found that he could not control his body at all in the dream.

All he could do was uselessly claw at the air, hanging there in midair.

But soon, from beneath the earth, which had become like an abyss, large amounts of fiery red liquid surged upward. It shot up like a fountain, instantly vaporizing the seawater falling into it and turning it into scalding steam that rushed straight upward.

He only felt the steam scald his entire body, and then he was cooked.

"Ah…" He screamed again and woke from the dream.

This time, the pain was countless times more intense than the shock he had felt when he saw Zhan Liu’s eyes.

He gasped violently, but fortunately, his physical abilities were no longer those of an ordinary person. After a few breaths, his heartbeat had settled down.

"What’s wrong, darling?" His several female companions had all been woken by his shouting and came over to check on him.

"Oh, I dreamed about fighting that sea monster again. It really was a thrilling battle of life and death…" Tony rambled on while his hands wandered over them, launching another battle.

The next day, he returned to the martial arts academy. He wanted to figure out how the ground had ended up splitting open and magma had burst out.

He had always believed that the Sorcerer Supreme had used Time Reversal to restore New York after it was flooded and revive the civilians who had died in the tsunami.

But only now did he realize that what had happened back then might have been far more serious than that. After all, when the Sea King attacked some time ago and more than a hundred thousand people died, he had not seen the Sorcerer Supreme come and turn back time.

Moreover, the scene of the earth splitting open like an abyss, with underground magma erupting like a fountain, was truly terrifying. It gave him an ominous feeling.

After arriving at the martial arts academy, Tony discovered that all the faces here were strangely unfamiliar.

However, the academy’s disciples had their own jobs and studies. People often failed to show up, so he did not pay much attention.

He only looked around for the model junior apprentice-sisters he usually played with. When he saw that they had not come today, he lost interest in everyone else.

Still, he also noticed that these new disciples were honest to an excessive degree. They even seemed a little… afraid.

"Did you hear that some newcomers had arrived and come over to see if there were any pretty junior apprentice-sisters to bother?" Zhan Liu looked at Tony teasingly.

Tony coughed twice and said without the slightest embarrassment, "As the senior apprentice-brother, of course I have to pay attention to the growth and development of the junior apprentice-sisters. But don’t worry, Master. I absolutely won’t touch anyone underage. I’ll let them grow a little longer… I mean, leave them for Junior Apprentice-Brother Peter."

"You lecher. You definitely wouldn’t come here for no reason. What are you trying to do this time?" Zhan Liu said irritably.

"Master, can I ask about the outcome of your battle with Captain Marvel last time? Who won?"

"We both suffered heavy injuries. Neither of us won, and neither of us lost. But after fighting her, I successfully reached the power of Magnetic Field Rotation Twenty-Five Heavens, and my Complete State improved significantly as well, while she made no progress at all. So if we fight again, I’ll definitely win."

"Then why did the Sorcerer Supreme use Time Reversal? Were you two about to die?"

"Oh, mainly because Earth exploded." Zhan Liu replied casually, as if it were nothing important.

"Earth… exploded?"

The result was far beyond Tony’s expectations. Although he had already realized how absurdly powerful Magnetic Field Rotation was, he was still stunned by this outcome. Stammering, he asked,

"My Chinese isn’t very good. Is this ‘explosion’ a figurative expression? Or is it the kind of explosion I’m thinking of?"

"That’s right. It’s exactly the kind you’re thinking of. Explosion as in exploding. Earth exploded. It’s that simple."

"WTF!" Tony cursed. "Magnetic Field Rotation Twenty-Five Heavens is that powerful? It can even shatter a planet?"

"Oh, not exactly. The Space Stone was detonated at the time."

"The Space Stone? What the hell is that? Why have I encountered more and more unfamiliar terms since becoming your disciple?"

Zhan Liu gave Tony a crash course on the Infinity Stones, then threw the guy out.

Tony had suddenly received a huge amount of information, so he needed time to digest it. He left in a daze.

After he left, Sharon found an opportunity to slip out of the martial arts academy and called Nick Fury.

"Plan B failed too. Tony wasn’t moved at all. Boss, I think your judgment was wrong. A capitalist like Tony simply won’t care about the lives of ordinary people. I suggest we start with Peter."

"From what angle?"

"I discovered that there are people from the Rising Tide organization inside the martial arts academy. We just need to change the target of Plan A to Peter."

"…No. The Rising Tide organization is uncontrollable. They’ll spread the footage everywhere. Once the target is provoked, the consequences will be unthinkable. Our goal is to sow division between them and find someone capable of restraining the target. But you’re headed in the right direction. I’ll look for a suitable candidate. Don’t use Plan A. Continue using Plan B."