Chương 136: Chapter 136: The Time Stone Acquired 

Luke had initially intended to physically escort the exhausted Chinese medical experts back through the portal, but Tony and Stephen immediately cornered them, intensely curious about the intersection of quantum physics, advanced robotics, and mystical spiritual repair protocols. 

Deciding to leave the geniuses to their highly complex, interdisciplinary networking, Luke strolled back into the VIP hospital room. 

Wong was currently sitting cross-legged on the hospital bed, his eyes closed, deeply engaged in a focused, highly restorative meditation. 

"How are you feeling? Are there any lingering spiritual fractures or residual corruption?" Luke asked, walking over to the bed. 

Wong slowly opened his eyes, examining his own physical hands before turning to Luke. "No. The spiritual repair was absolutely flawless. In fact... I actually feel as though my astral form is significantly denser and more robust than it was prior to the injury." 

Luke analyzed Wong's physical body, noticing that the intense, highly restorative spiritual energy was passively bleeding into his physical shell, slightly enhancing his baseline biological durability. 

Luke nodded slowly. The Chinese experts hadn't held back. To ensure the absolute, flawless success of the operation, they had utilized incredibly rare, highly potent heavenly resources. The sheer volume of restorative energy they had pumped into Wong's soul was not only sufficient to repair the catastrophic damage, but it had essentially acted as a massive, high-tier spiritual upgrade. 

"Well, it appears you managed to turn a catastrophic near-death experience into a highly lucrative spiritual advancement," Luke chuckled. 

Wong smiled faintly in agreement. However, his expression quickly darkened with anxiety. "What about Mordo? I saw him sustain a devastating, point-blank strike to the chest before I lost consciousness." 

Luke looked at Wong's desperate, hopeful expression and sighed heavily, slowly shaking his head. 

Wong's face fell completely. He closed his eyes, a profound wave of grief washing over him. 

"Exactly what happened in London?" Luke asked, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. 

He was incredibly confused. In the localized temporal projection the Ancient One had previously shown him, Wong, Mordo, and Stephen had all actively engaged Kaecilius and Dormammu in Hong Kong together. But now, the timeline had violently fractured: Mordo was dead, Wong had nearly died, and Stephen hadn't even been properly trained yet! This timeline was diverging wildly from the 'script.' 

Wong frowned deeply, his fists clenching as he recalled the horrific ambush. "I received Mordo's highly urgent, maximum-priority distress signal. I immediately mobilized every single available Senior Master in Kamar-Taj and we utilized a mass portal to deploy directly to the London Sanctum. Based on Dr. Strange's tactical intelligence, we bypassed the secondary vaults and deployed directly into the main entrance foyer. The absolute microsecond we arrived, we witnessed Kaecilius brutally striking Mordo down." 

Wong took a shaky breath. "But Kaecilius wasn't operating alone. He had actively utilized Dormammu's forbidden dark magic to violently corrupt dozens of innocent civilians, forcibly transforming them into supernaturally durable, mindless berserkers. Because they weren't technically demons, our macro-level detection arrays completely failed to register their presence. They were incredibly fast and highly resilient to standard physical damage. They effectively pinned down dozens of our Senior Masters." 

"Furthermore... Kaecilius had maliciously anticipated our reinforcement strategy. He had aggressively charged a massive, highly concentrated sphere of corrupted dark energy and suspended it near the ceiling. While we were distracted by the berserkers, he violently detonated the sphere directly in the center of our formation. We absorbed the absolute, unmitigated kinetic and magical force of the blast wave at point-blank range. We were nearly entirely wiped out." 

Luke frowned, analyzing Wong's specific injuries. Wong's deep, penetrating abdominal wound and the severe, localized spiritual corruption were definitively not the result of a generic, concussive blast wave. 

Wong noticed Luke's analytical gaze. "In the microsecond before the detonation, I managed to successfully conjure a maximum-density, multi-layered defensive mandala, barely shielding myself from the primary shockwave. However, Kaecilius, protected by Dormammu's energy, actively utilized the chaotic aftermath to ruthlessly execute the incapacitated Masters. I aggressively intercepted him to buy time for the wounded to evacuate. We fought in brutal close-quarters combat until a secondary wave of Kamar-Taj reinforcements finally arrived, forcing Kaecilius to tactically retreat." 

Seeing Wong's profound, survivor's guilt, Luke walked over and patted his shoulder. "You performed flawlessly under impossible circumstances, Wong. Your sacrifice bought Stephen the critical seconds he needed to rapidly evacuate the survivors to this facility and surgically stabilize them. You saved countless lives today." 

Wong exhaled a long, shaky breath and offered a weak smile. "I'm just glad Stephen was there." 

"Absolutely," Luke nodded. "Now, focus entirely on your recovery. The defense of Kamar-Taj and the remaining Sanctums is entirely in my and the Ancient One's hands." 

Leaving Wong to rest, Luke exited the hospital room. Noting that Tony, Stephen, and the Chinese experts were still deeply engrossed in their highly technical discussion down the hall, Luke simply drew a Sling Ring portal and stepped through to Kamar-Taj. 

Arriving in the Ancient One's pavilion, he found her sitting exactly where he had left her, staring blankly at the Eye of Agamotto. 

"Wong is completely stabilized and recovering," Luke announced, walking over to the table. "However... Mordo is officially confirmed dead." 

The Ancient One slowly broke her trance, looking up at Luke with a profound, quiet sorrow in her eyes. "That is a truly tragic, devastating loss." 

"It is," Luke agreed firmly. "But mourning won't stop Dormammu. What is our immediate tactical strategy?" 

The Ancient One stared at him blankly for a moment. 

Luke sighed in profound exasperation. "Are you honestly telling me you're still desperately clinging to the highly flawed, totally inaccurate 'script' the Time Stone provided you?" 

He leaned forward, looking directly into her ancient eyes. "You have been thoroughly, completely manipulated by the fundamental unpredictability of time. The timeline has completely shattered. Are you going to sit here paralyzed by indecision, or are you going to adapt?" 

The Ancient One slowly lowered her gaze, staring intensely at the glowing emerald Eye resting on the table. After a long, heavy silence, she slowly pushed the relic across the wooden table directly toward Luke. 

"You are entirely correct. I placed absolute, blind faith in the temporal projections. I became highly complacent, allowing the illusion of predetermined destiny to dictate my tactical decisions. I arrogantly assumed I could meticulously steer reality toward the optimal outcome. However... the timeline has violently asserted its absolute unpredictability. I no longer require its deceptive comfort." 

She looked up at Luke, her expression calm, resolute, and completely stripped of her previous, infallible confidence. 

"I firmly believe I am no longer psychologically fit to bear the absolute, terrifying burden of wielding the Time Stone. If a fundamentally flawed, arrogant individual retains control of this absolute cosmic power, the consequences could be infinitely more catastrophic." 

Luke stared at the Eye of Agamotto, then back at the Ancient One. "And you genuinely believe I am responsible enough to wield absolute control over time itself?" 

The Ancient One offered a faint, highly amused smile. "Since we have collectively decided to aggressively violently shatter the predetermined script, we require a chaotic, overwhelming, absolute variable. Your localized, hyper-concentrated dark energy fundamentally suppresses and disrupts the Time Stone's temporal flow. I am absolutely confident you are the only entity currently capable of physically dominating the relic and preventing it from manipulating you." 

Luke chuckled dryly. "Well, that's certainly one way to look at it." 

He had already successfully acquired several Infinity Stones—the Tesseract, the Reality Stone, and the Mind Stone. However, every single Stone possessed a localized, highly arrogant, semi-sentient cosmic ego; they frequently violently resisted his attempts to utilize them. 

Honestly, once I finally assemble all six of these arrogant, glowing rocks, I should just utilize the Reality Stone to permanently transform them into highly subservient, magical anime maids. That would solve the attitude problem. 

Staring at the intricate, incredibly complex, multi-layered magical containment device housing the Time Stone, Luke casually reached out and placed his hand directly over the Eye. 

Instantly, the Time Stone violently flared! A massive, chaotic surge of temporal energy aggressively erupted, desperately attempting to violently repel Luke's hand! 

However, Luke simply scoffed. He violently unleashed a massive, overwhelming torrent of pure, unadulterated dark energy! 

The dark energy aggressively flooded the containment device, violently corroding and shattering the intricate magical seals! In a fraction of a second, the heavy brass casing violently burst open! 

Luke casually snatched the glowing, emerald Time Stone directly from the wreckage. 

Feeling the Stone immediately completely surrender and go entirely dormant the absolute microsecond it was enveloped by his terrifying dark energy, Luke sighed. 

They're all the exact same. Absolute cosmic cowards. 

He casually tossed the Time Stone into his pocket, allowing it to mingle with the Space, Reality, and Mind Stones safely secured within his Dark Dimension inventory. 

Suddenly remembering a critical tactical vulnerability, Luke turned to the Ancient One. 

"Wait. If the planetary defense grid was originally established and actively maintained utilizing the Time Stone... does removing the Stone cause the entire grid to collapse and instantly allow the Dimensional Lords to invade?" 

The Ancient One shook her head, slightly amused. "The Time Stone significantly amplifies and stabilizes the grid, but it is not the foundational power source. The grid is fundamentally anchored by the three Sanctums. Even if only a single Sanctum remains operational, the grid is sufficiently robust to absolutely repel the physical manifestation of any primary Dimensional Lord—including Dormammu." 

"However," she clarified, her tone becoming serious, "while the grid is strong enough to repel the 'Lords,' it is not absolutely impermeable. You can conceptualize the grid as a massive, cosmic sieve. It effortlessly blocks massive boulders—the Lords—from passing through. However, every time a Sanctum falls, the microscopic 'holes' in the sieve expand significantly. This allows increasingly large quantities of 'sand'—the Lords' localized avatars, demonic familiars, and corrupted energy—to actively slip through and infiltrate the material plane." 

Luke nodded slowly, fully grasping the tactical situation. With the London Sanctum completely destroyed, the 'holes' in the sieve were currently massively expanded. The global infiltration rate of extra-dimensional demons would skyrocket immediately. 

"So, given the current breach, can Kamar-Taj actually manage the massive influx of demonic incursions globally while simultaneously defending the remaining Sanctums?" Luke asked. 

The Ancient One smiled serenely. "Normally, it would be a catastrophic logistical nightmare. However... Galacta is currently experiencing an absolute, all-you-can-eat cosmic buffet." 

Luke chuckled, realizing his cosmic hamster was currently single-handedly acting as Earth's premier demonic pest control. 

Meanwhile, aggressively soaring through the upper atmosphere above Europe... 

Galacta suddenly paused mid-flight, violently sneezing. She sniffed, looking around suspiciously. 

Was someone just talking about me? 

She casually pulled out a highly advanced Stark Industries smartphone, checking the specialized 'Demonic Incursion Tracker' app Tony had designed for her, which was actively linked to the Kamar-Taj global monitoring network. 

Spotting a massive, localized cluster of red blips over Paris, her eyes lit up with absolute, profound joy! 

She instantly accelerated toward the coordinates, eager to begin the feast. 

Tied securely to her utility belt, a small, glowing, ethereal sphere containing the soul of the sophisticated demon she had punched earlier bobbed happily. 

Back at Kamar-Taj. 

The entire sanctuary was on absolute, high-alert martial law. Every single capable combat sorcerer had been permanently deployed to heavily fortify the New York and Hong Kong Sanctums. Furthermore, Mordo's magical armory had aggressively distributed the entire stockpiled arsenal of enchanted weaponry to the intermediate disciples, significantly boosting their baseline combat effectiveness. 

Consequently, Kamar-Taj itself was practically a ghost town. 

Luke strolled down the completely deserted main street, glancing sadly at his empty, highly profitable food stalls. 

After finalizing their defensive strategy yesterday, the Ancient One had explicitly requested Luke to personally remain within Kamar-Taj to act as the ultimate, absolute final line of defense for the sanctuary itself. 

Meanwhile, she had permanently relocated to the primary teleportation nexus. She was patiently waiting. The absolute microsecond Kaecilius attempted to utilize the nexus to launch a coordinated strike against the remaining Sanctums, she intended to violently drag him and his entire army directly into the Mirror Dimension and personally introduce him to a world of absolute, agonizing pain. 

Looking at the empty streets, Luke decided to take a more proactive approach. He casually levitated high into the air above the sanctuary. 

With a massive wave of his hand, hundreds of pitch-black, highly agile Nightbat Ninjas violently erupted from his shadow! The Nightbats rapidly dispersed, silently perching on the rooftops, watchtowers, and blind spots surrounding the entire Kamar-Taj perimeter, establishing an absolute, impenetrable network of visual and magical surveillance. 

If that pathetic traitor Kaecilius even attempts to sneak within five miles of this sanctuary, I will personally introduce him to the absolute, terrifying depths of the Dark Dimension. 

While Luke and the Ancient One were heavily fortified and patiently waiting for an attack... 

Kaecilius was currently sitting comfortably inside a random, abandoned church in Europe, aggressively scrolling through a stolen smartphone with a look of profound, absolute confusion on his corrupted face. 

Yesterday, he had successfully executed a brilliant, highly coordinated terrorist assault. He had completely destroyed the London Sanctum, effectively crippling the primary planetary defense grid! Logically, this massive breach should have instantly triggered a catastrophic, global influx of extra-dimensional demons, plunging the entire planet into absolute, terrifying chaos! Kamar-Taj should currently be desperately, hopelessly overextended, attempting to contain the global demonic incursions while simultaneously defending the remaining Sanctums! 

However, reality was incredibly disappointing. 

It had been twenty-four hours. He had obsessively monitored global news networks, social media, and emergency police scanners. 

There was absolutely zero chaos. No demonic rampages. No apocalyptic panics. 

In fact, the only highly anomalous news report was a bizarre, viral video of a "massive, highly aggressive purple shooting star rapidly zigzagging across the European skyline." 

Kaecilius lowered the phone, his brow furrowed in deep frustration. He aggressively initiated a localized mental link with Dormammu. 

"Great Dormammu. I humbly seek your infinite wisdom." 

A few moments later, the terrifying, echoing voice rumbled in his mind. "Report your progress." 

"I successfully annihilated the London Sanctum. However... the planet has absolutely not descended into the predicted chaos. Furthermore, our localized monitoring arrays indicate that Kamar-Taj has not deployed massive forces to contain any global incursions." 

There was a long, heavy silence from the Dark Dimension. 

"It appears our initial strategy requires adjustment," Dormammu finally replied, a hint of deep irritation in his voice. "If the Sorcerer Supreme and her pathetic Dimensional Lord ally refuse to overextend their forces... can you successfully mobilize your remaining zealots and simultaneously destroy the final two Sanctums?" 

Kaecilius hesitated, recalling the brutal, highly unexpected resistance he had faced in London. 

"Great Lord... I currently lack the sufficient manpower. The Kamar-Taj sorcerers have completely abandoned their traditional, highly predictable Eldritch combat magic! They are currently heavily armed with incredibly lethal, highly enchanted melee and ranged weaponry! They completely bypassed the magical resistance of my corrupted zealots by simply utilizing overwhelming physical force! If I hadn't successfully detonated the dark energy sphere, I likely would have been overwhelmed." 

Hearing Kaecilius admit vulnerability, Dormammu felt a massive surge of profound, cosmic annoyance. 

Actively attempting to violently force pure dark energy through the highly restrictive Kamar-Taj defense grid to empower Kaecilius was incredibly taxing and highly inefficient! Supplying even more energy was incredibly irritating. 

However, Dormammu was a master strategist. He recognized that Kaecilius was currently his most valuable asset on the board. Kaecilius had successfully executed a flawless, devastating strike right under the Ancient One's nose, crippling a third of the planetary defenses! If Kaecilius could simply destroy one more Sanctum, the grid would be irreparably shattered! 

Furthermore, Dormammu had secretly embedded a highly volatile, highly catastrophic secondary fail-safe directly into Kaecilius's newly forged, mutated arm. If Kaecilius ultimately failed to physically destroy the Sanctums, Dormammu could simply remotely detonate him, utilizing the resulting apocalyptic dark energy explosion to shatter the grid anyway! 

Deciding the investment was absolutely necessary, Dormammu gritted his teeth and aggressively forced another massive, highly concentrated torrent of tens of millions of Dark Energy Points directly through the dimensional barrier and into Kaecilius! 

This massive influx of raw power was more than sufficient to allow Kaecilius to violently corrupt and augment thousands of new, incredibly powerful berserkers! With an overwhelming numerical advantage, he would absolutely crush the remaining Kamar-Taj defenders! 

This strategy is now absolutely flawless! Dormammu concluded confidently. 

As he monitored the energy transfer, Dormammu's cosmic perception suddenly snagged on something incredibly intriguing. 

He sensed a localized, highly stable Dark Dimension permanently anchored directly adjacent to the material plane. 

This must be the domain of that pathetic, arrogant novice Dimensional Lord who allied with the Ancient One! 

Dormammu's colossal form slowly, aggressively drifted toward Luke's localized dimension. 

He knew perfectly well that simply passively throwing corrupted energy at the planetary shield wouldn't successfully draw the Ancient One or the novice Lord out of their highly fortified defensive positions. 

However, according to Kaecilius's intelligence reports, this specific novice dimension possessed a permanent, highly stable Sling Ring portal connecting directly to the heart of Kamar-Taj! 

If Dormammu could successfully execute a massive, overwhelming invasion and completely conquer this pathetic little dimension... he could literally bypass the planetary defense grid entirely and launch a massive invasion force directly into the absolute center of Kamar-Taj! 

This is the perfect, absolute checkmate! I will force them out of hiding and slaughter them both! 

As for directly invading the material plane himself? Dormammu wasn't an idiot. The Ancient One possessed the Time Stone. If he physically entered reality, he would be subjected to the absolute, linear laws of time. They had been locked in a tense, century-long stalemate precisely because she refused to enter his dimension, and he refused to enter hers. 

But this time, by conquering the novice's dimension, he would shatter the stalemate entirely! 

Driven by absolute cosmic arrogance and the promise of ultimate victory, Dormammu aggressively mobilized a massive portion of his infinite essence and violently charged directly toward Luke's Dark Dimension! 

Meanwhile, back in Kamar-Taj... 

Luke was currently hovering lazily above the courtyard, holding two glowing Infinity Stones (the Space and Reality Stones) in one hand, casually rolling them around exactly like a pair of traditional Chinese Baoding stress balls. 

You arrogant little rocks. I'm going to aggressively roll you around until you submit and let me use your power! 

Down below, the Ancient One was sitting peacefully in the primary teleportation nexus. Although she no longer possessed the ultimate safety net of the Time Stone, she didn't look even remotely anxious or regretful. 

She took a slow, highly satisfying sip of her excellent tea and smiled serenely. 

"It has been several centuries since I engaged in a high-stakes, absolute-risk combat scenario without perfectly reading the strategy guide first. I must admit... the sheer, absolute unpredictability of reality is incredibly exhilarating."