Chương 131: Chapter 131: Social Death 

The next morning, inside the Grand Library of Kamar-Taj. 

Stephen Strange stared in utter exasperation at the endless rows of bookshelves filled entirely with freshly printed, newly bound books. 

He looked down at the handwritten reading list the Ancient One had provided him, then back up at the shelves. 

Why didn't she mention that every single text in this library is written entirely in Chinese?! 

Great. I finally found the mystical sanctuary to cure my hands, but apparently, the very first prerequisite is achieving complete fluency in Mandarin. 

"Okay, rationally, I can simply utilize a highly advanced translation engine on my phone to slowly read the texts," Stephen muttered to himself. "But first, I actually have to locate the specific books on this list." 

And there lay the immediate, insurmountable problem. The Ancient One's reading list was written perfectly in English, but the spines of the freshly printed books were entirely in Chinese characters. He had absolutely no idea where to even begin looking. 

Glancing across the library, he spotted the solitary figure of the Chief Librarian sitting behind a massive desk. Stephen's eyes lit up. He quickly walked over. 

Approaching the desk, Stephen noticed the librarian was intensely focused, rapidly writing in a thick notebook. Stephen hesitated for a moment, then gently tapped on the wooden desk to get his attention. 

"Uh, excuse me. Hello. I'm trying to locate a few specific foundational texts, but I'm completely unable to read the titles." 

Wong looked up slowly, an expression of profound, tired annoyance on his face. He put his pen down and accepted the small slip of paper Stephen offered. 

After glancing at the list for two seconds, Wong stood up to retrieve the books. 

While he waited, Stephen curiously glanced down at the thick notebook Wong had been so intensely focused on. 

Just as he tried to read a sentence, a massive, incredibly heavy stack of books was violently slammed onto the desk right next to him, making him jump. 

Wong offered Stephen an incredibly flat, emotionless stare, then calmly closed his notebook. "This is premium, paid content." 

Stephen awkwardly took a step back. "Oh. My apologies. I was under the impression that the collective knowledge of Kamar-Taj was freely accessible to all disciples." 

Looking at the towering stack of books Wong had just retrieved for him, Stephen's brow twitched. The sheer volume reminded him of his grueling years in medical school. It appeared his immediate future was going to be incredibly intellectually demanding. 

He looked back at Wong, who had already resumed aggressively writing in his notebook. Realizing he would likely need to rely heavily on this librarian to navigate the Chinese texts, Stephen decided to attempt to build some rapport. 

"Thank you for finding these. May I ask your name?" Stephen smiled politely. 

Wong paused, looking up at him blankly. "Wong." 

Stephen nodded, waiting for the rest of the name. Instead, Wong simply looked back down and continued writing. 

"Uh... just Wong? Like Adele? Or Aristotle? Drake? Bono? Eminem?" Stephen asked awkwardly, genuinely confused by the single-name moniker. 

Wong offered him a slow, highly judgmental blink, then completely ignored him and returned to his work. 

"Alright then. It appears your transcription project is highly critical," Stephen sighed, feeling incredibly awkward. He decided to try a different approach. "So, purely out of curiosity... exactly how much does it cost to access this 'paid content'?" 

Wong shook his head without looking up. "No amount of money will suffice." 

"Why not? You literally just stated it was paid content. Doesn't that imply a financial transaction?" 

Wong paused, considering his answer. "It is an exclusive, highly classified, private commission." 

"Alright, understood," Stephen relented. At least he had a stable Wi-Fi connection in the sanctuary; he could just utilize a translation app to painstakingly slog through the texts. 

Just as he grabbed the massive stack of books and turned to leave, his eyes caught sight of a man casually strolling into the library wearing a perfectly tailored, incredibly expensive business suit. 

Stephen stopped dead in his tracks, staring in genuine disbelief. 

Every single disciple he had encountered in Kamar-Taj wore traditional, highly ascetic robes or martial arts uniforms. Seeing an Armani suit here was completely jarring. 

"Tony Stark?!" Stephen blurted out. 

Tony, casually sipping a glass of fresh watermelon juice, pulled his expensive sunglasses down and handed them to a hovering Iron Legion drone (S.A.T.U.R.D.A.Y.). He squinted, carefully examining the raggedly dressed man holding a massive stack of books. 

Stephen smiled confidently. As a world-renowned neurosurgeon, he had previously moved in the same elite, ultra-wealthy social circles as Stark. In fact, Stark had recently requested his medical expertise. 

"Who are you?" Tony asked, genuinely failing to recognize the unkempt, bearded man. 

Stephen frowned deeply. "You literally formally requested a medical consultation with me a few months ago! You wanted to know if I had the surgical capability to safely extract the remaining shrapnel near your heart! By the way... has your condition improved?" 

Stephen suddenly noticed that the distinct, glowing blue light of the Arc Reactor was completely missing from beneath Tony's shirt! 

Completely abandoning all social boundaries and entirely forgetting the massive stack of magical texts in his arms, Stephen practically lunged forward, aggressively reaching out to inspect Tony's chest! 

Seeing this filthy, wild-eyed, bearded stranger suddenly aggressively lunge forward and attempt to physically grope his chest, Tony panicked. He dropped his watermelon juice on the floor and scrambled backward in sheer terror. 

"Hey! Back off! I vividly remember you now! Do not touch me!" Tony yelled, aggressively shoving Stephen away. 

During the struggle, Tony accidentally swatted Stephen's severely damaged hands. 

A sharp jolt of agonizing pain shot up Stephen's arms, causing him to instinctively recoil and drop his hands. However, during the brief physical contact, he had clearly felt the solid, perfectly healthy flesh of Tony's chest. 

He was completely healed! The shrapnel was gone! 

Stephen froze. He knew for an absolute fact that Tony Stark hadn't undergone any high-profile, miraculous cardiothoracic surgery in the public eye recently. Furthermore, Iron Man had been conspicuously absent from the New York skyline for weeks. He had apparently been hiding here! 

Which means... the surgical miracle likely occurred here, utilizing this magic! 

A profound realization washed over Stephen. He looked down at his own trembling, ruined hands, and a massive, genuinely manic, slightly unhinged smile spread across his face. 

Initially, he had come to Kamar-Taj desperately seeking a miracle cure. And now, he possessed absolute, undeniable proof that miraculous healing was truly possible! 

Tony stared at the raggedly dressed man, who was currently staring at his own hands with a highly disturbing, incredibly creepy, manic grin. Tony practically dove behind S.A.T.U.R.D.A.Y. for protection. 

Sitting a few feet away, Wong watched the entire interaction unfold in absolute, stunned silence. 

Good lord. The billionaires and elite doctors of the Western world have some incredibly bizarre, highly inappropriate fetishes. 

Watching Stephen's highly disturbing, ecstatic grin, Wong made a solemn, absolute vow to maintain a minimum safe distance of fifty feet from this specific disciple at all times. 

"Tony? Is everything alright?" 

Having just woken up from a nap, Luke had mentally checked the contract tether to locate Stephen and decided to stroll into the library. The absolute microsecond he walked through the door, he was greeted by this incredibly bizarre, highly concerning tableau. 

Tony peeked out from behind his drone, pointing an accusing finger at Stephen. "This absolute lunatic literally just aggressively lunged at me and tried to grope my chest!" 

Luke stared at Stephen in profound, utter astonishment. 

Wait. In the original timeline, Stephen was romantically obsessed with Christine Palmer, his brilliant female colleague. Has his fundamental sexual orientation been permanently altered by the multiverse trip?! Does he suddenly have a highly aggressive, physical attraction to Tony Stark?! 

Looking at the incredibly creepy, ecstatic smile still plastered on Stephen's face, Luke's eye twitched violently. Should I also start maintaining a safe distance from him? 

A terrifying realization suddenly struck Luke. Oh god. I physically grabbed his shoulder and pinned him to a chair yesterday. And earlier today, I physically interacted with him in my true form! 

I AM UNCLEAN! 

Having reached this highly illogical, utterly paranoid conclusion, Luke's expression turned absolutely deadpan as he glared at Stephen. 

"Wait, this is a massive misunderstanding!" Stephen finally realized exactly how horrific the situation looked. Seeing the cold, murderous intent rapidly forming in Luke's eyes, a profound sense of impending doom washed over him. 

"Silence. Get out of this library. Go to the main courtyard. You will sprint exactly ten laps around Kamar-Taj while loudly shouting, 'I am a massive pervert!'" Luke commanded instantly via the mental contract tether. 

Stephen's mouth instantly snapped shut against his will! His eyes widened in sheer, unadulterated, mind-boggling terror as his physical body once again completely betrayed him. He aggressively turned around and sprinted out of the library! 

"Whoa... you guys are genuinely engaging in some hardcore Master-Servant roleplay!" Tony stared in absolute disbelief as Stephen obediently sprinted away. He slowly turned his head to look at Luke, his expression radiating pure, unadulterated judgment. 

"Wait! That is also a massive misunderstanding! Yesterday, when I finalized the magical contract with him to supply energy, I temporarily utilized the 'Absolute Master-Servant' protocol as a disciplinary measure! I simply used it to issue a command!" Luke desperately defended himself. 

"Ah, yes. Using a Master-Servant contract to force a man to run laps. Incredibly kinky," Tony smirked confidently. 

"SHUT UP!" 

A few highly stressful minutes later, Tony had finally been forced to calm down and accept Luke's explanation. They were currently sitting at a quiet table in the library. 

"So, you're saying he fundamentally misunderstood the situation because he was desperately trying to confirm if my medical condition had been miraculously cured by magic?" Tony asked, nodding slowly as the pieces fell into place. 

Luke nodded, confirming the theory. 

Tony listened to the faint, echoing shouts of "I AM A MASSIVE PERVERT!" drifting in from the distant courtyard, and his eyebrow twitched. "So... we completely, massively misinterpreted his intentions?" 

Tony looked down at his chest, his expression becoming highly awkward. 

Since returning from Asgard, he had deliberately maintained an incredibly low public profile. He hadn't officially announced the successful removal of the shrapnel to the global press. Therefore, it was entirely logical that a world-class surgeon would aggressively try to physically verify the impossible recovery. 

Luke also realized the error, feeling a sudden, intense wave of profound embarrassment. 

"We should probably cancel the order immediately," Tony suggested nervously. 

Luke nodded frantically and instantly mentally severed the active command via the contract tether. 

The two of them sat in incredibly awkward silence for roughly ten agonizing minutes. Finally, a completely exhausted, profoundly traumatized Stephen Strange slowly trudged back into the library. He slumped into the chair opposite them, staring at the two billionaires with completely hollow, dead, emotionally vacant eyes. 

"Uh... I sincerely apologize for the massive misunderstanding, Doctor," Tony offered an incredibly strained, highly apologetic smile. 

"Exactly. Don't worry about it too much! You only managed to complete one lap before I canceled it. Assuming you sprinted fast enough, practically none of the sorcerers likely got a clear look at your face!" Luke offered a highly unconvincing attempt at comfort. 

"Are you absolutely certain about that?" Stephen asked, a tiny, desperate shred of hope returning to his dead eyes. Both men nodded vigorously. 

At that exact moment, the two men sitting at the adjacent table began talking loudly. 

"Hey, Master Hamir! Did you see the video someone just uploaded to the Kamar-Taj internal group chat?! Some random new disciple was literally sprinting laps around the main courtyard while screaming 'I am a massive pervert!' at the top of his lungs! It's absolutely hilarious!" 

"Is that so? Goodness, the younger generation certainly enjoys incredibly intense, highly public humiliation rituals these days. Back in my time..." 

Hearing the conversation, Stephen slowly lowered his head, the tiny spark of hope instantly violently extinguished. 

Luke panicked and aggressively elbowed Tony in the ribs. 

"Right! Absolutely!" Tony instantly understood. "S.A.T.U.R.D.A.Y.! Immediately execute a global, highly aggressive scrub of all internet servers and localized intranets! Permanently delete every single video file regarding Sorcerer Stephen's courtyard run!" 

"Understood, Boss. Executing global data wipe," S.A.T.U.R.D.A.Y. acknowledged efficiently. "However, should I maintain a highly encrypted, localized backup file for our personal archives?" 

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Tony roared, violently glaring at the drone. 

"Confirmed. All files permanently deleted. However, I cannot absolutely guarantee that individuals haven't already locally downl—" 

Before the drone could finish the sentence, Luke summoned two Shadow Ninjas who violently grabbed the drone and forcefully dragged it out of the library. 

Silence finally descended upon the table. 

Stephen slowly raised his head, silently wiping a single, tragic tear from the corner of his eye. 

Seeing the brilliant, arrogant neurosurgeon utterly broken and weeping, both Tony and Luke felt an incredibly intense, highly uncomfortable surge of genuine guilt. 

After a long, suffocatingly awkward silence, Wong approached their table, carrying a massive stack of freshly printed English manuscripts. He unceremoniously dropped them in front of Tony. 

"The invoice has been sent to your primary accounts. Please wire the funds. I am returning to my desk," Wong stated efficiently. He shot Stephen an incredibly terrified, highly suspicious glance, and practically sprinted back to the safety of his librarian desk. 

Tony stared at the massive stack of translated texts, offering another incredibly awkward, strained chuckle. 

"I apologize again for the confusion, Doctor. I originally came to the library to collect these specifically translated texts. You see, due to the actions of a highly inconsiderate individual, all the foundational magical texts in this sanctuary were recently permanently converted into standardized Chinese. Therefore, I was forced to employ Wong to translate them back into English." 1

Tony desperately attempted to break the awkward tension by aggressively throwing Luke under the bus. 

"Uh, actually, to be entirely factually accurate, the original, ancient texts were entirely written in classical, highly obscure Sanskrit! I personally found that incredibly tedious and inefficient. Therefore, I simply translated the entire library into Chinese. It's a significantly more practical, globally recognized language!" Luke defended his actions. 

"Wait... YOU are the reason every single book in this library is completely unreadable?!" Stephen suddenly snapped, his eyes glaring furiously at Luke. No wonder they were all freshly printed! 

Seeing a spark of genuine, righteous anger returning to Stephen's eyes, Tony aggressively piled onto the criticism. "Exactly! Simply for his own personal convenience, he selfishly converted the entire repository of ancient mystical knowledge into literally the most incredibly difficult, complex language on the planet to learn!" 

Luke shrugged helplessly. "If you guys are going to constantly complain about it, I can simply order the Ancient One to restore the original, ancient Sanskrit versions. Good luck deciphering those." 

"Absolutely not!" Tony scoffed dismissively. "I have already successfully utilized my vast wealth to secure perfect English translations. Why would I ever need the useless Sanskrit originals?" 

Tony turned to Stephen, his tone softening. "If you actually need to study the foundational magical theory, I can easily share my English copies with you. I've already finished reviewing the majority of them." 

Stephen nodded silently, accepting the peace offering. Honestly, he recognized that he was partially to blame for the initial incident; aggressively lunging at a billionaire and physically groping his chest without any verbal context was undeniably inappropriate behavior. He was just going to have to swallow the profound humiliation. 

Seeing that Stephen was slowly returning to a stable emotional state—though still clearly somewhat depressed—Luke decided to offer a final peace offering. 

"Also... I suppose I'll go ahead and formally execute the protocol to permanently convert your 'Absolute Master-Servant' pact into a standard 'Equal-Exchange' pact right now." 

Without waiting for Stephen's response, Luke mentally triggered the runic sequence. Stephen instantly felt the oppressive, controlling magical restrictions vanish from his mind; the contract would never again allow Luke to dictate his physical actions. 

Stephen exhaled a massive sigh of profound relief. He was finally safe from being magically compelled to perform absurd, humiliating acts. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down completely. 

He had survived a catastrophic, life-altering car crash that shattered his body and his career. His mental fortitude was significantly higher than most. A minor incident of severe, highly public social death wasn't going to break him! At worst, he would simply wear a surgical mask whenever he left his room for the next few weeks! 

Seeing Stephen finally fully recover his composure, Luke and Tony both relaxed. Luke waved his hand, and several Shadow Ninjas immediately materialized, placing a massive platter of exquisite, highly elaborate pastries on the table. 

"So, out of curiosity, how long did it actually take you to successfully open the portal and escape the Mirror Dimension yesterday?" Luke asked, genuinely interested in Stephen's progress. 

Stephen took a bite of a delicate pastry. Almost instantly, a profound, inexplicable wave of absolute joy and deep relaxation flooded his senses, completely washing away the lingering trauma of his courtyard run. 

He smiled genuinely for the first time all day. "It only took roughly thirty minutes. The primary difficulty was actively sensing and establishing a stable connection to the ambient cosmic energy. However, the moment I successfully established the connection, I instantly manifested the portal and stepped through." 

Luke nodded approvingly. Stephen had effortlessly demonstrated his terrifying innate talent. In the original MCU timeline, even after Stephen successfully channeled energy, he struggled for weeks to actually stabilize a portal. Now, he had achieved it on his very first attempt. 

As expected of a true genius. Once you show them the doorway, they'll kick it open and conquer the world on their own. 

Tony stared at Stephen in profound astonishment. He just took a single bite of a pastry, and his severe emotional depression instantly vanished?! Did Luke spike the food with highly illegal, magical antidepressants?! 

Stephen noticed Tony's highly suspicious, dissecting glare and paused, slightly confused. He turned to Tony. 

"Are you also currently formally training as a disciple of Kamar-Taj? Have you successfully mastered the Sling Ring portals?" 

Tony shook his head. "While the Ancient One has formally granted me unrestricted access to study Kamar-Taj's mystical theories, she hasn't provided me with a Sling Ring. Initially, she explicitly stated that while she wouldn't hinder my research, she also understood I had absolutely no intention of formally joining their ascetic order. Therefore, she withheld the practical tools." 

Tony frowned slightly, a hint of his signature arrogance returning. "Honestly, I strongly suspect she's secretly terrified that my unparalleled intellect will allow me to master magic so rapidly that I'll accidentally usurp her position as Sorcerer Supreme." 

"Are you genuinely not offended by her refusal to properly arm you?" Stephen asked, highly curious. 

"Initially, I was slightly annoyed," Tony admitted. "However, recently, I discovered an incredibly fascinating, highly disruptive concept. Magical energy can be actively stored, stabilized, and violently discharged utilizing purely physical, technological conduits. Therefore, I have formulated a highly ambitious, potentially revolutionary hypothesis." 

"I can imagine. That is indeed a profound realization," Stephen nodded in genuine respect, his scientific mind immediately grasping the implications. 

Luke sat back, silently observing the two brilliant, highly arrogant geniuses easily finding common ground. 

It's actually highly amusing to watch the ultimate representative of Technological Advancement and the future ultimate representative of Mystical Arts having a casual, respectful conversation without immediately trying to kill each other. 

Realizing he, as a complete academic failure, had absolutely nothing valuable to contribute to their highly complex discussion regarding the theoretical integration of quantum physics and extra-dimensional magical arrays, Luke decided to simply remain silent and focus entirely on devouring the plate of snacks. 

Observing Stephen happily reaching for another of the God of Cookery's spiritually enhanced pastries, Luke smirked. 

This stuff is genuinely incredibly effective at mood stabilization. I should probably contact the God of Wealth and establish a massive, long-term bulk order.