SUP Chapter 104: Tony's Truth! Batman Returns! (Part One)

Kamar-Taj Library.

Dust drifted slowly through the beams of light.

"This book..."

Stephen Strange wiped away the thick dust from the desktop with his sleeve, revealing the ancient runic carvings underneath, as he carefully placed the glowing golden tome in the center.

Faint light illuminated the furrowed brow of this medical doctor.

Ian's Book of Magic

The title flickered with a subtle glow in the dim light, as if breathing with life.

"Ian... Ian's Book of Magic... this can't possibly be a coincidence." Doctor Strange murmured quietly, his fingertips lightly tracing across the cover. A book glowing was something he had never encountered before.

This book had been sealed away for many years.

It had existed in the library since the birth of Kamar-Taj.

Until today, it had never emitted such golden radiance. When one coincidence appears alongside another coincidence, Doctor Strange, well-versed in various mystery novels, believed this absolutely couldn't be mere chance.

"According to my irresponsible bastard teacher, this book's origins are untraceable, but it's at least two thousand years old, discovered alongside our Kamar-Taj's inherited artifacts."

Doctor Strange loosened his collar and pulled out an ancient pendant, a small metal disc embedded with an emerald gem, its surface etched with runes identical to those on the book's title page. The Time Stone was sealed within a container, currently being held in Doctor Strange's hand, with barely visible green light flickering within.

"Because of this book, it's called the Eye of Ian. Legend has it that it's an artifact of an ancient higher-dimensional being." Over the years, Doctor Strange had read through nearly all of Kamar-Taj's collection more than once. This was precisely why, when reflecting on the name Ian, familiar memories began to surge.

"Ian, Ian's Book of Magic, Ian's artifact the Eye."

He began murmuring again.

The Time Stone flickered slightly within its container, reflecting Doctor Strange's contemplative face. At this moment, he felt as if Sherlock Holmes had possessed him, his mind racing as he began connecting the clues.

1. That boy knew of the Sorcerer Supreme's existence, yet was ignorant of modern magical systems.

2. That boy mentioned dimensional demons, as well as Dormammu and Cyttorak, names unknown to anyone.

3. His opponent's powerful magical talent, which even made the Sanctum Sanctorum submit.

...

At this moment, Doctor Strange's pupils suddenly contracted, feeling he might have truly understood.

"He's an ancient being awakening from slumber!" Doctor Strange's pupils shook violently, as if he'd developed retinal disease, his fingers unconsciously tapping the desktop.

"Yes, perhaps that's it, which is why he seemed so contradictory, clearly knowing about sorcerer knowledge yet making me feel his ignorance about the magical world."

"In reality, the ignorant one might be me. What he's been telling me might belong to ancient secrets, real history that has been buried in the river of time!"

"What dimensional demons, demon lords... he was subtly expressing his own identity, and testing me, testing this generation's only Sorcerer Supreme who could potentially threaten him!"

Thinking of this, Doctor Strange was greatly shaken.

His tapping rhythm on the desktop grew faster and faster. The library's temperature seemed to drop several degrees suddenly. Doctor Strange's breath condensed into white mist in the cold air.

Or perhaps Doctor Strange's heart was disturbed.

After all, based on such speculation, reviewing and reflecting, Stephen Strange, this top figure in the medical field, with his superhuman intelligence, realized he might have already leaked information that shouldn't be leaked.

"My answer was equivalent to telling him that this world no longer has demons or dimensional gods, that he has become the only surviving demon god after some shocking catastrophe!"

Doctor Strange felt he had connected all the clues. Indeed, all those years of reading mystery novels hadn't been in vain. He even connected Ian's final act of pushing him down "arrogantly" and leaving, wasn't this showing that a mere Sorcerer Supreme without backing was no longer in his eyes?

That act of taking away the delivery girl!

It was completely demonstrating his arrogant ability to do whatever he pleased!

"This is astounding!"

Doctor Strange was shocked by his own deduction. Could there really have been such a legendary period in the past? Was there truly a glorious era when sorcerers didn't need to work hard to obtain magical power?

"Now is not the time for me to envy those sorcerers. If demons and gods truly existed in this world, does this mean that boy..."

Doctor Strange's fingertips began trembling, his Adam's apple rolled.

"That boy is the legendary evil villain who only exists in stories?" What an unfamiliar term, yet it made Doctor Strange feel his spine chill as he drew a sharp breath.

Never mind him.

Even his teacher, the Ancient One, probably had never encountered such a situation. The Sorcerer Supreme was already the pinnacle of cultivation. A life of eating and sleeping, sleeping and eating, had continued for who knows how many generations.

Saying nice things on the street to scam some living expenses, this was the Sorcerer Supreme's daily routine... Yet now, an actual living ancient threat had appeared?

"Will I be the only one who can stop the disaster?"

An unprecedented emotion rose in Doctor Strange's heart. Unease and excitement intertwined in his veins. He felt his empty life might have finally found its deserved meaning.

"Will I become... a hero?"

Doctor Strange felt his pores gradually relaxing. He wasn't someone who particularly liked self-sacrifice, but his boring life had finally rippled with a precious wave.

How could he not seize this?

"He said he was going to Stark Tower!"

At this moment, the passionate Doctor Strange felt his thinking was unprecedentedly active. One evil plan after another that could utilize Stark Group began to be predicted by him.

He knew what he should do now.

The Cloak of Levitation automatically flew over, draping itself on the shoulders of this man burdened with responsibility. He grabbed the Time Stone pendant and hung it on his chest, standing up and running toward the door.

However, more than ten seconds later, Doctor Strange returned.

"Thank you. No wonder my bastard teacher said I'm the smartest among all generations of Sorcerer Supremes."

He kissed that copy of The Complete Sherlock Holmes. Without reading this book, he felt he wouldn't have possessed Holmes-like logical thinking.

"Now, you are my Watson."

Doctor Strange patted the cloak behind him and once again ran toward the door, his figure disappeared outside. Due to his overactive thinking, he even forgot to close the library door.

A breeze passed, the door shaft turned silently, slowly closing.

"Snap."

An aged hand gently pressed against the door panel, completely sealing the gap.

"Sigh~"

A deep sigh followed.

"This is simply being... too clever." A somewhat hunched old man stood in the quiet library, the sleeves of his yellow robe hanging down. He was the bastard teacher from Doctor Strange's memory who had already passed away.

The previous Sorcerer Supreme.

The Ancient One.

"People who haven't been beaten up always need to experience some setbacks." The Ancient One's bald head gleamed with gentle luster in the candlelight, a helpless smile hanging at the corner of his mouth.

In the library, dust settled again, as if time flowed particularly slowly in this place. He walked slowly toward the center of the room, his gaze locking onto Ian's Book of Magic.

"Studied it for eight hundred years, not a single spell inside. After all this time, it turns out the book's owner simply doesn't know magic yet." The Ancient One placed the golden book back on the shelf.

"Our Sorcerer Supreme will help me figure out what's really going on."

"However, I need to be cautious. He better not actually believe the nonsense I told him about being able to roam heaven and earth after death, becoming a free astral wanderer."

The Ancient One mumbled as he walked to a hanging hemp rope, raising his hand to retie the death knot into a slip knot, tugging it twice to confirm it wouldn't hang anyone to death before feeling slightly relieved.

"Tonight I still need to appear in his dreams, telling him that without finding a successor, even dying heroically doesn't count." The Ancient One muttered to himself, his figure gradually disappearing in this empty, silent room.

"Still thinking about borrowing others' power, heh. Sorcerers must rely on themselves... even great beings like Eternity can't be relied upon." The Ancient One's remaining muttering slowly disappeared from the room.

He was solid.

He had just left the old place.

...

New York, above Manhattan.

Ian shot through the buildings like a human cannonball.

Of course, people witnessed his actions.

"Ahhhh, look, there's a person bouncing in the sky! Is he Rabbit Man?" Exclamations rose one after another from the streets below.

"Oh my God, he must be delivering food."

A girl pointed at the sky, her tone amazed.

"This is really amazing. If I had abilities like his, I can't even imagine how much tip money I could make in a day." The girl's boyfriend sighed with envy.

He was probably also a delivery guy.

"Could you be a little more ambitious? With abilities like that, why would you still deliver food! You should go to Mexico to transport local specialties, the avocados there are so expensive here."

The girl sternly scolded her boyfriend's short-sightedness.

Her boyfriend showed a shameful expression.

"You're right. I could actually go to Cuba to transport cigars."

The boyfriend actually started fantasizing.

"Trafficking tobacco? Wouldn't that be a bit too bad?"

The girl also began worrying about her boyfriend's character issues.

No wonder they say birds of a feather flock together.

Both of them were quite good at fantasizing.

Fortunately, no one called the police, New York citizens in this world seemed to default that "bouncing perverts in tight clothing" were part of the city's infrastructure.

Perhaps it was because excessive evil had never sprouted in this world?

While leaping, Ian had already moved far from the Sanctum Sanctorum.

"Don't move, your movement makes my shoulder uncomfortable." On Ian's shoulder, Gwen Stacy was like an angry cat, tightly gripping Ian's collar with a face full of speechless expression.

She was being carried like a bag of cement, head down.

When she opened her eyes, she could only see Ian's well-developed rear end.

"My dad is a police officer! He's a great shot! Let me down quickly!" Gwen gritted her teeth and shouted, her voice torn apart by the oncoming wind.

"I'm handling serious business, but you're the ones who asked me to help you." Ian very considerately made a turn in mid-air, so the bird droppings that should have gone into Gwen's mouth only stuck to her cheek instead. He didn't need Gwen to say thank you, since he was somewhat at fault this time.

If it weren't for the fact that the return time was really approaching, Ian wouldn't have used such a direct method.

"My dad will really put you in jail!" Gwen took the tissue Ian handed her to wipe her cheek while still persistently pressuring Ian.

"Don't make a fuss. Comparing dads is meaningless. I've grown up a few more hours now and am past the age of comparing dads. I won't brag to you about how great a superhero my dad is anymore."

Ian seriously pinched the back of Gwen's neck with his other hand.

Gwen immediately shrank her neck.

"No, wait, why do I feel like this scene is familiar?" Gwen, who instinctively reacted, was very confused about this indescribable feeling.

Hearing her words, Ian's golden pupils flickered slightly.

"That's because even though the bond between us has been broken, I'm still providing you guidance." Ian was indeed intentionally testing how to trigger Gwen's soul memories.

"Look, I guarantee Spider-Man can't do this."

He suddenly bent his knees and exerted force.

His whole body jumped up another large section from a height of more than ten stories, catching the bird that had just defecated, then stuffed it to Gwen on his shoulder as his body fell.

"Isn't this thoughtful enough? Do you regret not choosing me as the new Spider-Man?" Ian landed on top of a high tower again, privately looking around for Stark Tower's location.

"..."

Gwen didn't feel Ian's self-proclaimed warmth. She directly let go and released the culprit of her attack. "You little lunatic! Didn't you just say I was the one asking you to be the new Spider-Man?"

Her blurted question carried suspicion and confusion. For some unknown reason, besides the anxiety of being "kidnapped," Gwen seemed completely unafraid of the high-altitude environment and extremely calm.

"Tsk tsk." Ian directly rolled his eyes upon hearing this.

"Normal people should continue questioning why I'm committing kidnapping, but you're concerned about who's asking whom to be Spider-Man. With this mental state, no wonder you can sit at the same table as Tony."

His words left Gwen speechless.

Although slightly confused, Gwen was still being Gwen.

"I've already questioned you dozens of times!" She emphasized loudly. Ian turned a deaf ear, only using his super vision to scan distant buildings.

In the city, there were several tallest buildings but none were related to Stark Tower.

"That's strange!"

Ian remembered Stark Tower should be very prominent.

"Where is Stark Tower?" He asked local Gwen.

"Why would you think that after kidnapping me, I'd still provide you help?" Gwen tightly hugged Ian's neck, eyes tightly closed with a cold smile.

Ian nodded, acknowledging Gwen's words, but this didn't mean he had no countermeasures. "Not talking about bonds, you also wouldn't want me to ask for directions everywhere because I'm lost, right?"

"Maybe eventually we'll run through every corner of this entire city." He knew Gwen was an excellent student who understood how to calculate the probability of running into acquaintances in her mind.

"How despicable did you learn to be like this?"

Gwen was indeed greatly shocked. This threat was obviously very effective.

"From my Uncle Batman." Ian lowered his voice.

"He's definitely not a good person!"

Gwen didn't know who Ian was referring to, but this didn't affect her confident tone. "Damn it, playing psychological warfare with me... Stark Group is over there!"

Gwen finally gave in.

She pointed the way for Ian.

She didn't know why her heart increasingly felt this kind of frustration was incredibly familiar, but she knew she shouldn't have left home today, otherwise she wouldn't have encountered this damn nemesis again!

Hmm?

Why did I use the word "again"?

Gwen was greatly confused.

Having gotten the specific direction, Ian immediately leaped up. The airflow blew away Gwen's rabbit-ear knit hat, but fortunately she was quick-eyed and fast-handed, reaching up to grab her hat back.

"Of course I know some psychology, after all, I'm experienced." Ian got a mouthful of hair, so his reply was somewhat delayed. He frantically spit out Gwen's hair, feeling quite frustrated.

"You definitely didn't wash your hair today!" His voice was deafening.

Gwen's silence was also resounding.

She stopped shouting about kidnapping and fell into an embarrassed mood. Just like this, Ian got a moment of quiet, bouncing and leaping continuously between buildings.

Several minutes later.

The two drew a perfect parabola.

Finally landing with a crash in the plaza in front of Stark Tower. This wasn't particularly spacious, and the building was just normal building height, which was why Ian had difficulty distinguishing it.

"Boom~"

Ian's high-altitude landing lacked the proper family tradition.

The floor tiles under his feet cracked in a radiating pattern.

The moment they landed, Gwen only felt slight bumps. The comfort level on Ian's shoulder made Gwen feel like Ian's body contained a luxury shock absorption system, dissolving even the landing impact perfectly, this might be attributed to Ian's absolute control over muscles and strength in his permanently proven state.

"We're here."

Ian put Gwen down.

Gwen, who was trying to attribute the "shock absorption" credit to the fat in her chest, was back on solid ground.

She was still somewhat dazed.

"What are you doing?"

Gwen looked at Ian, who had squatted on the ground, with complete confusion.

"Although based on the merit I've accumulated, I could completely avoid any compensation, but who told me to be so well-mannered." Ian put three hundred dollars under the cracked floor tiles.

Along with a note saying whoever finds it is responsible for repairing these tiles.

Three hundred dollars, as long as it doesn't encounter Officer Smith, even included labor costs. Having a conscience was just like this. As for whether others had conscience, that had nothing to do with Ian's conscience.

"Hmm? You're compensating for damaging public property? I don't believe you have this kind of awareness." Gwen seemed very surprised, looking Ian up and down as he stood back up.

"Can't help it, who told me this is the world I created. It deserves to have me display my quality." Ian dusted off his hands and turned toward Stark Tower's entrance.

"Already progressed to the stage where you're God and believing in you grants eternal life? Next are you planning to erect a giant statue of yourself in the city center?"

Seeing Ian walk toward the door, Gwen immediately hurried to follow.

After all, having come this far.

She also wanted to know what this familiarity with Ian was about. It was like something had been forgotten by her. If she didn't figure out this strange feeling, she probably wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.

"A bit taller than the Statue of Liberty would be nice, thank you." Ian walked quickly. Stark Tower's glass doors automatically slid open silently upon sensing their approach.

There were no security guards, no security checks, not even a reception robot. There were two pretty girls at the front desk, but they only glanced at Ian and the guilty-looking Gwen.

No reaction whatsoever.

Ian walked directly toward the elevator.

Gwen followed closely behind.

"Are you a Stark Group shareholder?"

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