Chương 140: Chapter 140: S.P.E.A.R. Intervenes 

Returning to the primary teleportation chamber in Kamar-Taj, Stephen immediately ordered the remaining garrison sorcerers to permanently seal the portal leading to the New York Sanctum. 

As the sorcerers manipulated the brass rings on the massive globe, the glowing portal violently sputtered and completely vanished. 

Stephen exhaled a massive sigh of relief. The absolute, impenetrable magical defense grid surrounding Kamar-Taj itself had already been fully activated. Without the explicit, magical authorization of a Senior Master actively managing the internal grid, absolutely no one—not even the Ancient One or Dormammu—could simply open a portal directly into the sanctuary from the outside. They were temporarily safe. 

However, mere moments after they secured the perimeter, the massive, holographic globe hovering in the center of the chamber suddenly violently shuddered, glowing an aggressive, alarming red! 

"The New York Sanctum has been completely destroyed!" 

The sorcerers actively monitoring the console frantically shouted toward Stephen, their voices thick with absolute panic. 

Stephen snapped his head up, staring at the holographic Earth. Where there were previously three bright, golden anchor points representing the Sanctums, there was now only one solitary, desperately glowing point remaining over Hong Kong. 

The invisible planetary defense grid, which had previously provided an absolute, impenetrable sense of absolute security, was now functionally equivalent to a massively shattered window. While the 'glass' was technically still barely in the frame, preventing the massive Dimensional Lords from physically stepping through, the massive, gaping holes allowed them to easily peek inside and slip their demonic familiars through the cracks. 

"Do not panic! Remain absolutely focused!" Stephen commanded authoritatively, desperately attempting to stabilize the morale of the terrified novices. "We only need to successfully defend the final anchor point! As long as the Hong Kong Sanctum stands, the primary grid remains operational! Once Lord Luke and the Ancient One successfully conclude their engagement, Kamar-Taj can easily rebuild the fallen Sanctums!" 

Stephen quickly turned to the lead sorcerer. "Where exactly is the rest of our deployment force?" 

"Master Lucian aggressively deployed the absolute entirety of our remaining combat-capable personnel directly to the Hong Kong Sanctum to establish an absolute defensive perimeter," the sorcerer reported. 

Stephen nodded firmly. "Understood. I'm heading to Hong Kong immediately." 

Meanwhile, halfway across the world, on a street outside the Hong Kong Sanctum... 

Tony Stark, wearing his expensive Armani suit, was casually leaning against the hood of a heavily modified, aggressively styled police cruiser (Barricade in vehicle mode). Tony frowned deeply as he cautiously sniffed the highly questionable, incredibly pungent street food he was holding. 

"I am formally requesting that if you absolutely must consume that highly volatile, biohazardous material... you do not consume it while making physical contact with my chassis," the police cruiser suddenly spoke, its suspension vibrating slightly in profound disgust. 

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Relax. While it undeniably smells like an open sewer on a hot day, it actually tastes incredible. But I suppose you highly advanced mechanical lifeforms are tragically incapable of appreciating complex, organic culinary arts." 

"Even if I eventually acquire the biological capability to process organic matter, I swear upon the Matrix of Leadership that I will absolutely never allow that specific substance to enter my intake manifold," Barricade grumbled aggressively. 

"Your loss," Tony shrugged casually. 

Stephen finally emerged from the Hong Kong Sanctum, looking exhausted but determined. He walked over to Tony. "Is the perimeter secure?" 

"Absolutely," Tony nodded confidently. "Megatron proactively established highly secure, encrypted communications with the local, highly classified government organization here. They efficiently executed a massive, highly covert localized civilian evacuation protocol. The entire district is completely empty. Furthermore... they strongly indicated they might provide some aggressive, highly advanced tactical support." 

"That's excellent news," Stephen nodded in relief. He suddenly sniffed the air, his nose wrinkling in profound disgust. 

"Good lord. What in the world are you holding? Why does it smell like localized biological warfare?!" 

Tony smirked, looking at Stephen's thoroughly disgusted expression. He casually held up the container. 

"Stinky Tofu. The absolute pinnacle of deceptive culinary engineering. It smells like a war crime, but it tastes like absolute heaven. You want to try a piece?" 

"Absolutely not! Keep that radioactive biohazard as far away from me as physically possible!" Stephen backed away rapidly. 

"Oh, come on! Don't be so closed-minded! You literally cannot judge it until you actually taste it!" Tony, highly amused by Stephen's aggressive rejection, stepped forward, holding a piece of tofu threateningly. 

"Get away from me!" Stephen yelled, attempting to maintain a safe distance. However, seeing Tony's sadistic, highly unhinged smirk, Stephen's self-preservation instincts kicked in. 

Tony immediately signaled his hovering Iron Legion drones. S.A.T.U.R.D.A.Y. and S.U.N.D.A.Y. instantly swooped down, gently but firmly grabbing Stephen by the arms and pinning him in place! 

"No! Stop! Stay back!" Stephen yelled, watching Tony slowly approach with the incredibly foul-smelling tofu. Desperate, Stephen rapidly focused his mind, aggressively channeling dark energy into his hands, intending to execute a localized, non-lethal magical burst to violently break the drones' grip. 

However, the absolute microsecond Stephen began actively channeling the dark energy, the advanced, highly complex runic arrays Tony had meticulously etched directly into the drones' armor plating violently flared to life! 

Instantly, the dark energy Stephen was attempting to condense was aggressively, violently siphoned away and completely absorbed by the drones' magical batteries! 

"Holy sh—!" Stephen gasped in absolute, mind-boggling shock, completely forgetting about the impending culinary threat. 

Taking absolute advantage of Stephen's open mouth and utter confusion, Tony expertly, violently shoved the piece of Stinky Tofu directly into his mouth! 

Stephen's eyes watered instantly. A powerful, overwhelming urge to violently vomit surged through him. 

Tony immediately clamped his hand firmly over Stephen's mouth. "CHEW IT! DON'T SPIT IT OUT! JUST CHEW IT!" 

Stephen struggled violently. How can I possibly chew something that smells like a decomposing corpse?! 

However... as the tofu broke apart in his mouth... a rich, complex, incredibly savory flavor profile violently exploded across his palate! 

Stephen's frantic struggling instantly ceased. 

Sensing the resistance fade, Tony cautiously removed his hand and signaled the drones to release him. 

Stephen chewed thoughtfully for a few seconds, his tightly furrowed brow slowly relaxing into an expression of genuine, profound surprise. 

"It's... actually not terrible?" 

"I literally told you! You have to trust my unparalleled, highly refined culinary palate," Tony smirked triumphantly. He generously handed the rest of the container to Stephen, then casually leaned back against Barricade. 

He honestly had no idea why there were so many incredible, highly diverse street food vendors located directly outside a mystical Sanctum, but he absolutely wasn't complaining. Chinese street food was a terrifyingly addictive experience. 

Just as Stephen leaned back against the police cruiser, happily munching on the remaining tofu to replenish his depleted energy... a massive, sparking Sling Ring portal suddenly, violently tore open directly in the middle of the empty street! 

Kaecilius confidently stepped out of the portal, immediately followed by hundreds of his highly corrupted, supernaturally augmented berserkers. 

Kaecilius looked around the completely deserted street, his eyes locking onto the two men casually leaning against a car eating snacks. He paused, highly confused. 

"I honestly fully anticipated an absolute, suicidal final stand by hundreds of Kamar-Taj sorcerers. This is incredibly underwhelming." 

Tony smirked dismissively, casually tossing his empty food container into a nearby trash can. "Please. Against a pathetic, heavily-eyelinered amateur like you? I'm absolutely confident I could effortlessly handle this entire situation completely solo." 

S.A.T.U.R.D.A.Y. and S.U.N.D.A.Y. smoothly flew over and hovered menacingly on either side of Tony, striking highly aggressive, cinematic combat poses. 

Kaecilius scoffed, completely unimpressed by the arrogant billionaire and his pathetic, flying toys. "I literally do not have the time or the patience to entertain your arrogant delusions." 

He casually waved his mutated arm. The hundreds of corrupted berserkers immediately let out a terrifying, collective roar and aggressively charged directly toward Tony and Stephen! 

"Uh... Tony? Do we actually have a highly coordinated, tactical plan for this?!" Stephen asked, panic slightly returning as he watched the massive, superhuman horde closing the distance rapidly. However, seeing Tony's completely relaxed, highly confident demeanor, Stephen forced himself to remain calm. 

"A plan?" Tony glanced at him, a highly sadistic smile spreading across his face. "The plan is absolute, overwhelming, technologically superior firepower." 

The exact microsecond Tony finished speaking, the windows of the surrounding high-rise apartment buildings violently burst open simultaneously! 

Dozens of highly trained, heavily armored operatives wearing specialized, high-tech tactical gear instantly appeared in the windows. They were wielding bizarre, highly advanced, glowing energy rifles! 

Without a shred of hesitation, they aggressively pulled the triggers! 

A continuous, absolutely devastating barrage of glowing, hyper-accelerated energy projectiles violently erupted from the rifles, raining down upon the street like a localized meteor shower! 

The absolute microsecond the projectiles impacted the street, they violently detonated! 

A massive, continuous chain reaction of terrifyingly powerful, highly concentrated energy explosions violently engulfed the entire street, completely swallowing the charging horde of corrupted berserkers in an apocalyptic sea of fire and concussive force! The sheer, aggressive kinetic backblast generated localized hurricane-force winds, aggressively blowing Stephen and Tony's hair back. 

"Who... who the hell are they?!" Stephen yelled over the deafening roar of continuous explosions, staring in absolute, mind-boggling shock at the terrifying display of concentrated firepower. 

If they possess this level of localized, apocalyptic firepower, the berserkers will be completely, instantly vaporized! Why exactly are we wasting time studying ancient magical texts when we could just aggressively deploy RPGs and execute magical exorcisms via superior firepower?! 

Tony patted the stunned Stephen on the shoulder, a massive, highly arrogant grin on his face. "Asgardian-derived, magically augmented advanced technology, kid." 

Tony felt an incredibly profound sense of absolute, smug satisfaction seeing Stephen's utterly astounded expression. You think your ancient, glowing magical circles are the absolute pinnacle of power? Welcome to the terrifying reality of highly funded, technologically augmented military superiority! 

"Those highly trained operatives belong to S.P.E.A.R. (The Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division - China branch). They recently engaged in a massive, highly lucrative technological exchange with the Asgardian delegation via Lord Luke's new Trade Hub. They rapidly reverse-engineered Asgardian energy-weaponry principles and aggressively integrated them into their standard tactical loadouts," Tony explained proudly over the explosions. 

As the massive, apocalyptic explosions finally subsided and the smoke slowly cleared, the street resembled a heavily cratered lunar landscape. 

The hundreds of supernaturally durable, corrupted berserkers had been completely, absolutely obliterated. Not even ash remained. 

The only entity left standing was Kaecilius. He was currently crouched low to the ground, surrounded by dozens of highly concentrated, rapidly deteriorating magical defensive shields. 

A moment ago, he had been confidently commanding an army of hundreds. Now, he was entirely, utterly alone. The sudden, absolute annihilation of his forces left him completely stunned. 

Looking at the heavily cratered street and glancing nervously up at the dozens of glowing energy rifles still aimed directly at his head, Kaecilius instantly realized his tactical situation was completely unrecoverable. He frantically raised his hand, desperately attempting to draw a portal and flee! 

However, before he could even complete the first somatic gesture, a massive, devastatingly powerful bolt of pitch-black energy violently plummeted from the sky! 

BOOM! 

The dark energy bolt violently slammed directly into Kaecilius, instantly shattering his remaining shields and violently launching him tumbling across the ruined street! 

Megatron, currently fully transformed into his massive, terrifyingly imposing, five-meter-tall robotic true form, plummeted from the sky and landed heavily beside Kaecilius. With absolute, casual brutality, he reached down and violently grabbed the heavily injured sorcerer in his massive, metallic fist. 

"I have you now, you pathetic, irrelevant insect," Megatron rumbled menacingly, his optical sensors glowing a highly aggressive crimson as he stared down at his captive. 

Blackout, Megatron's massive, heavily armed lieutenant, landed heavily behind him. 

Megatron's wrist compartment slid open, deploying a highly advanced, localized stasis-cuff that instantly snapped around Kaecilius's wrists, violently neutralizing his ability to cast. Megatron casually ripped the Sling Ring off Kaecilius's finger and tossed it over his shoulder to Blackout. 

"Maintain absolute visual and physical lock on the prisoner." 

"Understood, Lord Megatron," Blackout rumbled. 

Seeing their commanding officer arrive, the police cruiser Stephen had been leaning against instantly engaged its transformation sequence, violently throwing Stephen to the ground. 

"Commander," Barricade reported respectfully, standing beside Megatron. 

"It appears the primary hostile target has been successfully secured?" a calm, highly authoritative voice called out from a nearby rooftop. 

Before Megatron could respond, Tony's suit aggressively deployed its repulsors, carrying him up to the rooftop to meet the operatives. "Exactly. It appears that primitive, unaugmented magic is ultimately utterly incapable of defeating the absolute, overwhelming power of advanced technology." 

Captain Yang, leading the S.P.E.A.R. tactical squad, smiled politely at Tony's arrogant assessment. "Technology and magic are fundamentally merely different, highly complex methodologies for actively manipulating and directing cosmic energy. Neither is inherently superior; they are entirely equal expressions of power." 

"You sound incredibly experienced in this specific theoretical field," Tony noted, raising an eyebrow. Luke had previously voiced an incredibly similar sentiment regarding the equality of magic and technology. 

"We have certainly acquired a significant amount of highly valuable, localized experience recently," Captain Yang smiled, glancing down at the captured Kaecilius and the recovering Stephen. 

Following the immediate, massive success of Luke's interstellar Trade Hub, the Chinese government had prioritized it with absolute, unprecedented bureaucratic urgency, immediately deploying their premier economic expert (the God of Wealth) to manage operations. 

Through highly aggressive, incredibly lucrative interstellar trading, they had successfully acquired massive quantities of highly advanced, extra-dimensional technology and foundational magical texts from the Nine Realms. 

By aggressively analyzing and reverse-engineering these alien texts, they had successfully discovered the final, missing theoretical components required to complete their highly classified 'God-Maker' superhuman augmentation program! Furthermore, it drastically accelerated their overall technological progression and vastly expanded their understanding of the multiverse. 

"So, how exactly do we intend to process the prisoner?" Captain Yang asked, turning back to Tony. 

Tony glanced down at Kaecilius, considering the political implications. 

"He is fundamentally a highly dangerous traitor to the Kamar-Taj order. I believe it is entirely appropriate to formally surrender custody of him directly to Kamar-Taj for trial. Do you have any objections to that protocol?" 

Captain Yang smiled. "We hold profound, genuine respect for Kamar-Taj; they have successfully, silently defended this planet against catastrophic extra-dimensional threats for thousands of years. Surrendering the traitor to their jurisdiction is perfectly acceptable. However..." 

Captain Yang paused, his expression turning highly serious as he pointed down at the few remaining, scattered fragments of corrupted, demonic flesh littering the cratered street. 

"Several millennia ago, our ancient ancestors meticulously constructed a massive, continent-spanning Feng Shui barrier that permanently, effectively banished these specific extra-dimensional entities from manifesting within our sovereign borders. This recent terrorist incident represents a massive, highly unacceptable breach of our ancient, localized peace. Naturally, we are not actively blaming Kamar-Taj for the breach. However, moving forward, we strongly desire to establish a significantly tighter, formally integrated alliance with Kamar-Taj. Should a similar catastrophic event occur in the future, we require the capability to rapidly, efficiently coordinate a joint tactical response." 

Captain Yang's smile widened slightly. Luke had previously explicitly informed them that Kamar-Taj was a terrifyingly powerful, highly ancient mystical organization. If S.P.E.A.R. could successfully establish a formal, diplomatic alliance, they could potentially secure access to highly advanced, localized magical training. If they could actively integrate magical instruction into their 'God-Maker' program... they could theoretically produce an entire legion of elite, magically augmented super-soldiers! The tactical implications were absolutely staggering. 

While S.P.E.A.R. had already acquired extensive foundational magical texts from the Nine Realms via the Trade Hub, their top scientists were currently completely unable to decipher exactly how to biologically synthesize or refine raw 'mana.' Establishing an exchange program with Kamar-Taj was the perfect, highly logical solution. 

Tony stared at the smiling Captain Yang and shrugged casually. "I hold absolutely zero administrative authority within Kamar-Taj. However, I can introduce you to someone who might have some influence." 

Tony turned and looked down at the street. Stephen Strange was currently standing directly over the highly restrained, helpless Kaecilius, violently, aggressively slapping him repeatedly across the face! 

"Hey, Doc! You want to come up here for a second? The Captain has a formal diplomatic proposal for you," Tony yelled down. 

Stephen delivered two final, incredibly violent slaps to Kaecilius's face, his own hands stinging painfully from the impact. 

"If you intend to continue inflicting localized physical trauma, I highly recommend utilizing a solid object to maximize kinetic transfer and minimize personal injury," Blackout offered helpfully, observing the beating. 

Stephen, fueled by profound, righteous fury over Mordo's murder, had genuinely injured his own hands slapping the densely armored sorcerer. 

Hearing Blackout's highly logical advice, Stephen's eyes lit up. He immediately spotted a heavy, discarded wooden rolling pin near a destroyed food cart. He aggressively moved to retrieve it. 

"Hey! We have business up here!" Tony called down again, slightly impatient. 

"Consider yourself incredibly lucky," Stephen spat violently at Kaecilius before turning and striding toward the rooftop to meet the S.P.E.A.R. commander. 

Kaecilius stared after Stephen, profoundly, utterly confused. 

His face was currently throbbing with intense, highly localized pain. He was absolutely certain he was the one actively being physically beaten... so why in the world did the doctor look significantly more furious and in pain than he did? 

However, philosophical questions were currently irrelevant. Ignoring the pain, Kaecilius desperately attempted to covertly channel a localized burst of dark energy to shatter the stasis cuffs. 

But against the terrifying, overwhelming physical strength of the Decepticons, his efforts were completely, pathetically useless. 

Realizing he was entirely trapped and completely outmatched, Kaecilius desperately, frantically transmitted an emergency, maximum-priority mental distress signal directly to Dormammu! 

Meanwhile, deep within the chaotic expanse of Luke's Dark Dimension... 

Dormammu, currently locked in a tense, highly aggressive standoff with Luke and the Ancient One, received the frantic distress signal. 

His colossal, burning face twisted into a mask of pure, absolute disgust. You pathetic, entirely useless failure! You couldn't even destroy a single undefended Sanctum with an army of thousands?! 

However... 

Dormammu's burning eyes narrowed, and a terrifying, highly sadistic, cosmic smile slowly spread across his face. 

He stared at the highly cautious, deeply entrenched Luke and the Ancient One. 

It is incredibly fortunate that I anticipated his inevitable, pathetic failure and actively installed a catastrophic, highly volatile secondary fail-safe directly into his corrupted arm.