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Chapter 5025 - Chapter 4081: MU: Super Body Major Incident (124)

Shiller didn't even raise an eyebrow. You could say it was the Prime Universe Constantine being his usual self. Besides, if this guy managed to hook up with the black market boss by selling himself, it would actually be more beneficial for their survival. After all, even superheroes from Earth have to mind their impact and can't interfere with other people's legitimate businesses. With the black market boss's help, the two of them could at least have a reliable hiding spot.

However, Shiller wasn't in a rush to head over; he first finished the barely edible gruel prepared by the boss at the bar with Constantine, and then, under the cover of night, took Constantine to the adjacent black market.

He'd been here before and remembered there was a place selling weapons, but it only opened at night because everything they sold was contraband weapons, mostly good stuff left behind on battlefields by the two major mechanical empires.

The Kree Empire and Skrull Empire both have very strict regulations on the recovery of weaponry, and generally speaking, they don't drop equipment. But the cosmos is vast, and anything can happen. Some lost weapons end up circulating in the black market.

A while back, a battle had occurred between Earth in the Central Universe and the Three Great Empires. Although the nine kingdoms were completely taken, there was also a skirmish near the Capital Planet of the Shi'ar Empire. Although JARVIS had locked down the news about it online, Shiller had once held a post at the Time Management Bureau and saw the rough process of the war from the timeline. He knew that in that battle, the Three Great Empires most likely dropped quite a bit of good gear, and it was about time for them to be circulating in the black market.

Sure enough, when the two entered the weapon market, they saw quite a few novel gadgets. However, Shiller first found a shop and exchanged the Universal Coins given to him by Thanos for gold. It seemed that due to the recent wars, the value of gold had risen somewhat. Fortunately, Shiller had brought some himself beforehand, which was enough to exchange for equipment for the two of them.

Shiller first replenished the energy for his standard issue handgun, then bought a laser sword from the Skrull Empire, which looked similar to the ones in Star Wars but was slightly shorter, resembling a longer dagger. Then he bought another shield, which seemed to be Kree Empire technology, but the markings had been cleanly washed off.

Constantine also picked out a laser gun. His flame-blasting Gatling gun had decent firepower but wasn't suited for space combat. And because he'd run out of medicine, he didn't have the energy to enchant bullets, so using a laser gun was quicker and more convenient.

This was also one of the reasons Shiller chose him as a teammate: although being a magician had a high upper limit, once you run out of energy, you're done for. While guns have limited destructive power, at least they maintain a baseline—he can still deal some damage even if he can't cast magic.

Constantine also bought a hand crossbow, rumored to be crafted by Dwarves from the nine kingdoms, though it was probably a fake. Even as a counterfeit, the quality was good, plus it had an automatic crossbow arrow recovery function, allowing him to reuse a single enchanted arrow repeatedly, saving more than with bullets.

He also replaced his shield and life support system because once these things suffer a fatal blow, their quality becomes unreliable, so it's safer to replace them.

After touring the weapon market with Shiller, Shiller followed Constantine to browse the magic market. There are still quite a few magical creatures in the cosmos, so this market was equally diverse.

Though they called it a magic material market, to Shiller it looked more like a seasoning market. All kinds of chaotic materials were placed in little baskets, covering the entire counter. Every vendor had this setup, and from a distance, it truly looked like a produce market.

Constantine was evidently familiar with this place, deftly picking out various materials and powders, even some live organisms in jars, and stuffing them all into his box.

Shiller stood in front of a small stall and picked up a glass jar, which contained some slug-like creatures. He casually asked, "What is this for?"

After glancing at it, Constantine said, "All creatures with mucus are basically raw materials for ointments, providing stickiness for easy application."

"Why not use chemical materials?"

"No magical affinity." Constantine scooped something resembling green beans with a shovel, saying, "Every material you see here can absorb and retain magic energy well, whereas chemically synthesized compounds don't have a special symbolic meaning in the Magic Domain, making them hard to work effectively."

Shiller nodded, put down the jar, and picked up another jar of what looked like chili peppers, intending to examine it carefully. But out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a figure.

Shiller turned his head inconspicuously, pretending to be interested in a trinket on a nearby shelf. Through the gaps in the shelf, his gaze locked onto the figure. He gently nudged Constantine with his elbow.

Constantine didn't stop what he was doing but turned to look in the direction Shiller was observing. In the next second, he squinted because not far from them, a black-robed figure was catching some strange, glowing green liquid in a cup, which looked very much like Doctor Strange from the Prime Universe.

"What's that stuff for?" Shiller asked in a low voice.

"It's sap from a god tree revered by some tribe, with attributes of vitality and healing, typically used to make healing potions." Constantine paused and then said, "If he doesn't come over to buy the mucus slugs you were looking at earlier, it means he's suffering from internal injuries; if he does, then he probably needs a balm for external wounds."

"He's coming over," Shiller said, pulling Constantine aside. Fortunately, the place was crowded, with many people around, so they didn't stand out. They moved to another stall and pretended to browse.

"He must be injured, and seriously," Constantine continued. "Otherwise, he wouldn't have needed to come here; he could've detoured back, and perhaps doesn't even have the strength to fly or go through a teleportation portal."

"Injured that badly?"

"For a magician, it's not considered heavy. A single healing magic spell could cure it, or at most two potions. If he came here to buy materials, he must be out of supplies."

"Who's chasing him?" Shiller muttered softly to himself. In his view, people from Marvel surely wouldn't go that far; even if they found him, they'd probably just knock him out and take him back. But it shouldn't be Batman's side either because his mission is to find Doctor Strange. If Doctor Strange had already been found, Batman would have notified him to return. Since he hadn't received any notification, it meant Batman's side didn't have a clue either.

Constantine suddenly paused. Noticing his movement, Shiller looked over in his direction and saw several people dressed in uniforms rushing into the market.

"Interstellar Security Committee," Constantine said in a low voice, "Your colleagues have arrived."

"So they locked down this planet not to find us." Shiller dug around in a bin of dried small eyeballs with a spatula and then said, "He might have been injured by these agents."

Shiller thought about it and figured it made sense. After all, Doctor Strange had caused such a commotion with the great caper, and the victim, a Cosmic Elder, was quite distinguished in the cosmos. The Interstellar Security Committee had to pay attention to the case; otherwise, it would be a huge embarrassment.

As for finding the two of them, even if they knew they held two gemstones, The Avengers probably wouldn't ask Thanos for help. It's not that they didn't want to go, but what would they say?

"You, go eliminate Shiller and his companion?"

Thanos indicated he had no plans for a date with Death recently.

So, it was a better choice for The Avengers to secretly send someone over. Such a large-scale operation could only be to catch Doctor Strange.

Thinking of this, Shiller gave Constantine a quick look. The two moved swiftly through a throng of stalls, coming face to face with the uniformed agents. Shiller directly approached one and blocked him, saying, "Damn it, what are you doing?!"

The agent froze as Shiller blocked him. Come on, they're police, for crying out loud. People in the black market usually scatter like mice at the sight of cats, so why was there someone willingly walking into their doom?

But before he could draw his gun, Shiller had already flashed his ID. Once the ID and the standard issue gun came into view, the agent immediately realized there might have been a mix-up and hurried to call over his team leader.

"Lord Thanos sent me to secretly track Doctor Strange. He's in this market right now, and I was very close. With your search, haven't you just alerted him?"

The other party was also a highly humanoid creature, just with green skin. He said awkwardly, "Well... we are also carrying out orders. Did the Lord Executive Chief start working on this case so early?"

"By the time you react, everything will be cold." Shiller said irritably, "Have you already locked down the market?"

"Yes, no creatures can enter or leave this planet now. Since you've almost caught up with him, you must know his physical characteristics. How about we cooperate?"

Shiller impatiently waved his hand and said, "This guy is too cunning. If I'm not mistaken, he's already escaped from you once, hasn't he? Cornering him won't do anyone any good."

"Alright then, what do you suggest?"

"The most important thing is to lower his guard. This is my partner, his name is Constantine. Later, I'll have him disguise himself as a criminal, and you pretend to catch him, create some commotion in the market. I'll take the opportunity to follow Doctor Strange. If we really catch him, I will surely commend you before Lord Thanos."

"That would be great. You have no idea how troublesome this guy is. He took a shot from a cannon and still injured five or six of us. To be honest, we don't want to engage with the Supreme Magician head-on. If it weren't for the top brass's death order, who would want to fight such a Noble Master!"

The two parties discussed and agreed on the plan. Constantine put on a mask to cover his face and ran to a small stall not far from where Doctor Strange was. He started fighting the agents with a newly bought laser gun. In a moment, lasers flew wildly, and stall owners screamed and ran away.

"Catch that damn fugitive!" the captain shouted loudly, "This guy is a vicious killer, he absolutely cannot be allowed to escape!!!"

Shiller quietly returned to his original position. He saw that Doctor Strange, dressed in a black robe, probably planned to run initially, but seeing the agents chasing others, he halted his actions.

It seemed that Main Universe Doctor Strange was also at the end of his rope, possibly even struggling to teleport. Otherwise, upon noticing the police, he would have immediately teleported away. The lockdown by the Interstellar Security Committee couldn't stop a human from using a teleportation portal. He hadn't done so, indicating it would cost him a great sacrifice.

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