Chapter 114: I Strongly Suggest You Listen to Me
The Illuminati roster included Reed Richards, Professor Charles Xavier, and Blackagar Boltagon.
Which meant there was a strong possibility this world also contained the other three members of the Fantastic Four, mutants, Inhumans, and countless other powered individuals.
If it weren't for his current condition, Ryan would have loved to stay and study these people extensively.
The next morning, Anthony skipped breakfast and headed out for reconnaissance.
It was already past 9 a.m. when Cassie woke up. She saw Ryan's face contorted in pain.
She quickly retrieved the nerve blocker from their luggage, accessed the catheter port at the back of his neck, and administered the injection.
"Ryan, Ryan, are you okay?"
"Much better."
The drug was effective, but the duration was far too short for Ryan's enhanced physiology.
He'd been experimenting with the dark energy when the nerve blocker suddenly wore off. The pain hit like touching a live wire—overwhelming and all-consuming.
Cassie glanced at her watch and said dejectedly, "One dose only lasts about twenty-four hours, and we only made less than fifty yesterday. God..."
Ryan smiled weakly. "The effects will diminish with each dose. Maybe we'll find a permanent solution within a month or two."
Cassie put away the nerve blocker and was about to prepare breakfast when she heard footsteps outside, followed by knocking.
Cassie moved toward the door when Ryan, from his wheelchair, suddenly called out, "Cassie, don't resist."
"What?"
Cassie didn't understand what Ryan meant when the apartment door suddenly burst open from outside.
A heavily armed tactical team stormed in.
"Don't move!"
"Hands up! Get on the ground!"
"I said get down! Did you hear me?!"
Cassie understood immediately and obediently raised her hands, moving against the wall.
Ryan, in his wheelchair, said dryly, "Are you blind? I'm paralyzed. How exactly do you expect me to lie down?"
Two armed operatives, weapons raised, approached Ryan without lowering their guard. They signaled another to restrain Ryan's arms and legs with zip ties.
Caution was understandable, but doing this to a paralyzed man was excessive.
Elsewhere, someone moved to frisk Cassie. Ryan's eyes hardened. "I strongly suggest you don't touch her, or you'll regret it."
The operative ignored Ryan's warning and continued reaching for Cassie.
Just as he was about to make contact, his vision suddenly shifted—and everything went dark.
Other team members noticed the operative's blank stare. Confused, one patted his shoulder. "Hey, Mick, what's wrong with you?"
BANG, BANG, BANG!
The operative who'd been about to frisk Cassie suddenly turned his submachine gun on his colleagues like a madman and, without hesitation, pulled the trigger.
"What the fuck! Mick, what are you doing?!"
To everyone else, he appeared insane. But to Mick, all his colleagues had transformed into grotesque monsters.
He emptied his magazine one shot after another. When his submachine gun ran dry, he switched to his sidearm.
When his pistol ran out of ammunition, he drew his tactical knife.
The apartment descended into chaos.
"Jesus Christ! Mick's lost it!"
"Fire! Shoot him!"
Within seconds, two operatives lay dead at Mick's hands. He then drove his tactical knife through a colleague's throat.
BANG!
A bullet pierced Mick's temple, and the frenzied operative finally dropped.
"What the hell was that about?"
The next moment, every remaining operative's eyes turned toward Ryan, who sat calmly in his wheelchair.
"Shit. You did that!"
Six or seven firearms trained on Ryan. He remained impassive, eyelids drooping, showing no inclination to speak.
Guns? He wasn't afraid of missiles.
"Damn it. Take them both in!"
The incident had cost several lives. Although Ryan was suspected, there was no evidence. They couldn't do anything to him immediately.
They could only bring both captives back for questioning.
However, after what just happened, no one dared touch Cassie. They simply aimed their weapons at her and signaled for her to walk out on her own.
In the elevator, Ryan—who'd been silent throughout—suddenly said, "Don't be afraid, Cassie. If they hurt you, I'll make every single one of these people pay the price."
Under normal circumstances, Ryan's threat would have been laughable to these armed professionals. But now no one was laughing.
Something inexplicable and terrifying had just occurred, and they couldn't help but believe him.
After leaving the hotel, Ryan was loaded into an armored vehicle. An operative with a badge on his tactical vest removed his balaclava and stared at Ryan.
Ryan looked back. "Illuminati send you?"
The operative rested his hand on his sidearm, clearly on guard against Ryan.
Seeing Ryan initiate conversation, he scoffed, "You'll find out soon enough."
Ryan wasn't surprised by the Illuminati's use of government resources. The fact they'd arrived so quickly suggested they hadn't captured Wanda, which was why they were targeting him instead.
Ryan chuckled. "I strongly suggest you treat us well. If we're wronged, my associate will likely do something... unpleasant."
The operative replied dismissively, "You'd better pray he doesn't try. The Illuminati won't show the same restraint we do."
"The Illuminati. This gets more interesting by the minute."
The convoy arrived at a high-rise government building. Ryan and Cassie were escorted inside by the tactical team, then taken down an elevator to a subterranean detention facility.
Ryan and Cassie were placed in separate cells.
Cassie, seated against the wall, called through the barrier, "Ryan, why are they holding us here?"
"What else? They're waiting for someone with authority to make decisions."
Dark magic was forbidden in this world, and Wanda had immediately been targeted by this universe's Sorcerer Supreme, Master Karl Mordo.
The Scarlet Witch, wielding the Darkhold's power, was no amateur. She'd immediately shown Baron Mordo what true chaos magic could accomplish.
Even in the Mirror Dimension, Wanda could easily overpower multiple master sorcerers.
Naturally, they'd failed to apprehend her.
Investigation revealed that several individuals had arrived with Wanda—traced from the hospital and pharmaceutical facility to the hotel.
They were fortunate Anthony wasn't present. Otherwise, none of the tactical team would have survived.
Ryan released dark energy through the wall to 'observe' the building, confirming it was a standard law enforcement facility.
Then he 'saw' several individuals enter from outside and board the elevator.
One wore traditional Master of the Mystic Arts robes. Another wore a blue bodysuit with a '4' logo on the chest.
"Reed Richards and Baron Mordo."
Ryan recognized them instantly.
Dark energy followed them into the elevator. Baron Mordo, who'd been conversing with Reed, suddenly tensed, his expression turning nervous.
"What's wrong?" Reed asked, immediately noticing something amiss.
Mordo glanced around cautiously. "Death energy. I can sense the emanations of death itself. It's right here with us."
Not only were Reed Richards and Baron Mordo shocked—Ryan himself was equally stunned.
Death energy? What the hell? Had he been kissed by Lady Death herself?
The Lady Death Ryan was thinking of wasn't Hela from Asgard, nor was she any lesser death deity. He meant Death—one of the five cosmic abstracts, the embodiment of mortality and supreme arbiter of all endings.
Looking back now, Ryan felt genuinely confused.
The inexplicable appearance of death energy within his body—if he'd been conscious, he surely would have sensed it. But he hadn't noticed anything until Arishem appeared, suggesting the death energy hadn't been present initially.
Celestials wielded primordial cosmic energy, a completely different force from death energy. Ryan also channeled cosmic energy, so where had the death energy come from?
Ryan couldn't figure it out. Perhaps only someone who truly understood cosmic metaphysics could provide a reasonable answer.
Moments after retracting the death energy, Reed Richards and Baron Mordo arrived at the detention level and appeared before Ryan and Cassie's cells.
"Hello, friends from another universe. I'm Reed Richards, and this is Master Mordo. We're here simply to learn where your witch companion has gone."
Cassie stood up. "Sir, we don't know that witch well. If you want to capture her, go ahead. Why are you holding us too?"
"Because you're from another universe. That makes you inherently dangerous to our reality."
Mordo approached Ryan's cell, crouching outside the energy barrier to study Ryan in his wheelchair. "I heard one of the operatives who came to detain you went berserk. So you're a sorcerer, correct?"
Mordo had clearly sensed the death energy in the elevator earlier. He suspected it was Ryan, so he started probing.
Ryan, from his wheelchair, smiled faintly. "I thought sorcerers needed to cast spells with hand gestures? How can I cast anything in my current state?"
"Perhaps you have alternative methods."
"If that's what you think, I can't change your mind."
Mordo: "..."
Reed interjected, "Can we discuss your purpose for being here?"
"I was kidnapped by that woman with magic powers," Cassie said truthfully.
Ryan: "Same here."
Reed and Mordo exchanged glances. "Perhaps we should have Professor Xavier come down. Maybe he can extract the truth from their minds."
Due to the dark magic employed by the previous Sorcerer Supreme—Doctor Strange—Earth had lost its mystical protection, and the barriers between dimensions had become dangerously weak.
Multiversal incursion events occurred frequently, and Ryan's group's arrival wasn't an isolated incident. Therefore, the Illuminati treated such incidents with extreme seriousness.
Cassie might not know who Professor Xavier was, but she knew telepathic interrogation wasn't good.
She said urgently, "Sir, look at me—I'm just a defenseless young woman. My friend is immobile and needs a wheelchair. We're not threats to anyone."
Reed shook his head. "The Illuminati will decide how to handle you. Neither of you goes anywhere until that decision is made."
"Medicine! My friend needs his medication once a day. Give it back to us!"
Through Cassie's persistence, Ryan's nerve blocker was finally returned.
End of Chapter 114
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