Chapter 115: Unconventional Applications of Power
Reed Richards and Baron Mordo had just exited the law enforcement building and were about to enter their vehicle when a one-armed man emerged from behind the landscaping.
This man was none other than Anthony.
He observed the building from behind a street billboard, memorizing every detail before snorting and turning away.
As night fell, Anthony reappeared before the law enforcement building, a stern expression on his face as he strode inside.
"Stop! This area is restricted!"
SNIKT!
Adamantium bone claws extended. However, Anthony didn't kill the guard outright. Instead, he sliced through the guard's sidearm and knocked him unconscious with a single punch.
Anthony wasn't reckless. Given the current situation, a killing spree would only eliminate any possibility of peaceful resolution.
"Sir, freeze, or I'll shoot!"
Anthony ignored the warning and continued forward. The pressure unnerved the guard, and as Anthony drew closer, he instinctively pulled the trigger.
Anthony glanced down at his chest. Bullets, pushed out by regenerating tissue, clinked as they hit the floor.
"What the fuck?"
Anthony ignored him, ripped off the guard's badge, and headed straight for the elevator.
DING!
The elevator doors opened, and Anthony descended underground.
Determining Ryan's location was simple: observe where Reed Richards and Baron Mordo had gone.
Anthony had seen them take the elevator during the day, and it hadn't ascended, indicating Ryan must be held below ground.
He incapacitated every guard he encountered and finally located Ryan in a detention cell.
SNIKT!
The Adamantium bone claws easily severed the electronic lock.
After releasing Cassie and Ryan, Anthony said, "Boss, I found out today that the Illuminati departed for Western Europe. I suspect they're going after Wanda."
Ryan hummed thoughtfully. "Wanda probably went to Sokovia to find her alternate self."
There was indeed another Wanda in this world—one with two children. But this Wanda wasn't in Sokovia.
"Boss, what should we do now?"
"We're going after her."
Ryan desperately needed Wanda. He needed her to open a multiversal portal and retrieve the genetic samples from Celestial Island's laboratory to heal his body.
He also needed the Darkhold that Wanda possessed to understand the true nature of the death energy within him.
Anthony frowned. "Boss, we don't have any identification documents."
Ryan smiled faintly. "We don't need them. Just get us to the airport."
The three quickly arrived at the international terminal. As they purchased tickets, Cassie glanced at Ryan nervously. He gave her a reassuring look.
When their turn came, Cassie handed the ticket agent a tourist brochure she'd just taken from a display rack.
The ticket agent actually accepted the brochure and examined it carefully, even standing to verify Ryan in his wheelchair.
STAMP, STAMP, STAMP!
The agent stamped the brochure directly, then handed it back to Cassie with a smile. "Have a pleasant journey, all three of you."
Cassie awkwardly accepted the brochure. "Thank you."
To everyone else, the brochure in Cassie's hand appeared to be legitimate travel documentation. Although the security monitors showed no such persons, staff members perceived their information as valid.
Moreover, no one was seeing their true appearances. Instead, they saw an elderly grandfather, his middle-aged son, and a young granddaughter.
That's right—Ryan in the wheelchair appeared as the white-haired grandfather, Anthony pushing the wheelchair as the dutiful middle-aged son, and Cassie as the playful young granddaughter.
They passed through security, boarded the plane, and were escorted to first class by the flight attendant.
Since the tickets were illusory anyway, they might as well choose premium seats.
After they settled in, Cassie whispered excitedly, "That was incredible!"
Ryan smiled silently, then quietly extended his power to Cassie.
Cassie simply blinked—and the next moment, she found herself on a sun-drenched beach.
Children played in the sand, colorful surfboards dotted the distant waves, and she could hear wind, seagulls, and surf.
Cassie spun around in shock to find Ryan sitting on a beach lounge chair, sipping a tropical drink.
"Wow, how did you do that?"
The scene before her was so vivid that Cassie couldn't distinguish it from reality. It was as if she'd returned to Celestial Island, and everything that had happened over the past two days seemed like a dream.
Ryan smiled faintly. "It's just an illusion."
They returned to the aircraft cabin.
Cassie said wistfully, "I wish it were real."
Perhaps only the Reality Stone could make illusions permanent.
The cabin doors sealed, and the aircraft entered the main runway. After communicating with air traffic control, it began accelerating. After brief turbulence, it climbed skyward.
As Ryan's flight departed, a large armed tactical team suddenly swarmed the airport and conducted a thorough search.
Naturally, they found no trace of Ryan's group.
"Sir, I just checked with ticketing staff and security personnel. They both said they never saw those three individuals, but surveillance footage clearly shows they boarded the plane."
"Didn't they notify the aircraft to return?"
"We've sent multiple calls, but there's no response from the flight crew."
Ryan had used illusions to block the perception of the captain and co-pilot in the cockpit, so they couldn't hear communications from ground control.
Ryan discovered that using dark energy for remote viewing and then applying illusions to it was remarkably synergistic.
The aircraft safely crossed the Atlantic and landed in Sokovia, Western Europe.
"Boss, there's an inspection checkpoint."
Anthony noticed the situation outside before they'd even left the jetway.
Ryan whispered, "Keep moving."
This time, he didn't use illusions to alter their appearances. He'd noticed the inspectors were equipped with certain scanning instruments that analyzed every passing passenger.
So Ryan activated his illusions to maximum effect, completely blocking everyone's perception.
To them, Ryan's group simply didn't exist.
An alarm sounded as they passed through the security gate, but no one took it seriously. This was typical European bureaucratic complacency—they simply assumed the system was malfunctioning.
They hailed a taxi and headed straight to Sokovia Police Headquarters, intending to investigate Wanda and the Illuminati's whereabouts through the police database.
Using illusions, Ryan's group easily entered the data control center at police headquarters.
Anthony stood guard at the door while Cassie searched the computer system, quickly locating the information Ryan needed.
"Found it. There's a customs entry form for Illuminati members using diplomatic clearance, but there's no more specific tracking information."
"What about surveillance? Can you track the Illuminati's movements?"
Cassie replied, eyes fixed on the screen. "I can try, but the surveillance system here is pretty outdated. I don't know if—wait. A hotel downtown!"
"This is from three minutes ago. Illuminati members requested police evacuate the surrounding area. Law enforcement officers reported to dispatch, and it was just logged in the system."
Not expecting such easy progress, Cassie and Ryan immediately left police headquarters and headed for the scene.
Arriving near the downtown hotel, Anthony unloaded Ryan's wheelchair from the taxi trunk, helped him into it, and asked, "Boss, what's our move? Should we help Wanda?"
"Let's observe first."
A police cordon had been established outside the hotel, keeping civilians back.
Anthony walked ahead while Cassie pushed the wheelchair, and they quickly maneuvered through the barrier using Ryan's illusions.
In his wheelchair, Ryan closed his eyes and guided dark energy into the hotel, where he observed Illuminati members searching floor by floor.
The energy circled the building and located Wanda in a fourth-floor guest room.
Wanda was now suspended cross-legged in mid-air, surrounded by crimson mandalas of chaos magic. A black book inscribed with eldritch runes floated before her—clearly she was casting some kind of spell.
Curious about the Darkhold's contents, Ryan controlled the dark energy to drift closer and peek at the pages.
Wanda, still maintaining her spell, suddenly opened her eyes. "Who's there?!"
Crimson light emanated from Wanda's body, revealing the dark energy as it passed through.
"Death energy!" Wanda exclaimed, about to speak again when she heard noise outside the room.
"Hmph. You're asking for it!"
Wanda dismissed the book, and twin spheres of chaos magic ignited in her hands.
Outside, Ryan immediately retracted the dark energy, his expression thoughtful.
BOOM!
A surge of destructive energy erupted from the fourth floor of the hotel, shattering a large section of windows and sending onlookers screaming and retreating.
"The fight's started!"
Cassie and Anthony simultaneously turned toward the hotel, but Ryan had no interest in watching the battle. His mind was preoccupied with the mystical inscriptions he'd just glimpsed in the Darkhold.
They appeared to be abstract patterns, but once Ryan memorized them, they resonated with the death energy, and inexplicable knowledge naturally materialized in his consciousness.
"So this is how magic transmits information?"
Symbols or patterns seemed to be a form of encrypted transmission of mystical knowledge. To ordinary people, they looked like meaningless scribbles, but those attuned to magical forces could instantly comprehend the obscure meanings.
"Fascinating."
Ryan attempted to use the methods from the inscriptions to control death energy. At first, his application was clumsy—the slightest mistake caused his power to dissipate.
Once the energy dissipated, he had to start over.
After several attempts, he finally succeeded. The energy flowed smoothly, and suddenly, a sphere of pale blue flames appeared before Ryan.
"Ah!"
People around him were startled by the sudden appearance of the ghostly flames. Ryan immediately withdrew his death energy, and the pale flames vanished. A faint smile played across his lips.
"Ryan, what was that just—"
Ryan didn't respond, only saying calmly, "They're coming out."
As soon as he finished speaking, a hotel wall suddenly exploded outward, and the Scarlet Witch, wreathed in chaos magic, flew through the breach.
Her hands released waves of crimson power, and four Master sorcerers—also wrapped in chaos magic—emerged. These four mystics were clearly under Wanda's mental domination.
CRACK! SNAP!
Several Eldritch Whips lashed out from inside the building, wrapping around the four enthralled sorcerers, attempting to pull them back.
"Back off!" Wanda shouted, casually unleashing a burst of chaos magic. With another BOOM, an entire section of the hotel wall shattered.
Bricks and debris rained down onto the plaza below, and as the dust cleared, more Masters of the Mystic Arts leaped from the hotel, surrounding Wanda where she'd landed in the square.
End of Chapter 115
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