Chapter 354: Is The Creator Trustworthy?

"Creator, do you know what you're saying?"

"Kill Eternity." The Creator repeated again.

"The demise of this Seventh Multiverse and the rebirth of the Eighth Multiverse were not complete, which led to the weakening of many cosmic beings."

"Sorcerer Lucas, perhaps you can correct this error."

"No." Lucas shook his head, refusing.

"This would cause countless Universes, countless civilizations, and countless living beings to face annihilation."

The Creator chuckled, with an inexplicable meaning. "That's why I said, Sorcerer Lucas, you wouldn't do something like the Celestials."

"You are human, you have human morality. You can see the inherent meaning of every person and every civilization, and not just measure their value by a single standard."

"Thank you for your compliment, Creator." Lucas smiled.

"But not only that, I simply understand a principle: almost all trolley problems in the real world have great evil behind them."

"The Celestials believe that without new Celestials, the Universe would fall into darkness, and thus they brazenly use living Planets as breeding grounds for new Celestials."

"The truth is, the birth of new Gods only requires energy, and it doesn't necessarily have to come at the cost of destroying a living Planet."

"The Celestials do this simply because they don't see life as life."

Hearing this, the Creator's starlight flickered, and he praised, "Sorcerer Lucas indeed possesses great wisdom."

Tony interjected at this point, "Alright, you two don't need to flatter each other."

"Back to the main topic, since this Creator hopes Lucas will stay, how will the issue of mutual trust between him and Eternity be resolved?"

The Creator said somewhat innocently, "Didn't I just say? Kill Eternity."

Tony scoffed, "A joke is fine once, but too many times is excessive."

The Creator slowly shook his head. "I'm not joking."

He said earnestly, "Kill this generation of Eternity, and the newborn Eternity will not know Sorcerer Lucas's origin."

Tony shook his head. "What about the Multiverse? Should we let it end prematurely? We are not executioners."

"Forget it, no need for your bad ideas. Let's use some traditional methods instead."

"Strengthen communication and exchange, engage in more cooperation, and seek common interests."

"That would be best."

The Creator paused, then continued, "If needed, I can mediate."

Lucas smiled. "Then let's try it first. Thank you, Creator."

"You're welcome, I just hope Sorcerer Lucas doesn't delay our transaction." The Creator hinted, teasing Lucas about his frequent absences from work over the past half-year.

"Don't worry, the average efficiency won't decrease." Lucas waved his hand, dispelling the Creator's projection.

Seeing this, Tony gave Lucas a look, and Lucas nodded.

Pouring a glass of red wine, drinking it to moisten his throat, Tony asked, "Are his words credible? Is there some conspiracy?"

Lucas slowly shook his head. He casually opened a portal, retrieved a coconut, opened it, poured it into a glass, shook it for a while, and drank it.

Fresh coconut water mixed with red wine, sweetness blended with fruit aroma.

"The Creator has his own plans, but his target isn't me, it's the Elder Gods. He wants to quickly promote the Elder Gods to power."

"Perhaps, they are the suitable candidate for the Ninth Eternity in his mind."

...

On Earth-404, in a New York bookstore lounge, two individuals, both cloaked in red capes, sat facing each other.

One was Strange, and the other was Chthon.

Beside Chthon sat a beautiful woman in emerald green—Gaea.

"Where is the owner of this place?" Gaea asked.

Strange shrugged, "Sorry, I don't know. Perhaps he went out."

"Then do you know when he will return?"

"I don't know that either."

Gaea hummed softly and said nothing more.

Minutes ticked by.

Seeing that Gaea had no intention of leaving, as if she planned to wait indefinitely, Strange said with some helplessness, "Madam, Lucas sometimes goes out for a long time. Why don't you leave your contact information? When he returns, I will tell him to contact you."

Hearing this, Gaea smiled faintly. "Thank you for your kindness, Strange. But it's not necessary. This matter is too important, so I'd rather wait here."

"You know me?" Strange was surprised.

He swore on his male dignity that this was the first time he had met the person before him.

Gaea hummed lightly, "I've met Stephen Strange from two other Universes, and you look very much like him."

Strange nodded thoughtfully, understanding that the two were not ordinary people, but friends Lucas knew in other Universes.

Moreover, the Stephen Strange from other Universes seemed to be extraordinary, like that black-cloaked Strange.

With a thought, Strange asked, "How should I address you?"

"Gaea."

"Gaea, can you tell me stories about the other Stephen Strange you know?"

Gaea pondered for a moment and said, "Some I can, some I cannot."

Strange said excitedly, "Then tell me the ones you can."

"The more you know, the more constraints you will have." Chthon, who had been silent, suddenly spoke, his voice as cold as a bucket of cold water, extinguishing the excitement in Strange's heart.

"Strange of this Universe, if you wish to become a legendary sorcerer, you should focus more on yourself, rather than on the variants of the Multiverse."

"Why?" Strange asked, puzzled.

Chthon merely gave a cold glance at Lucas divine book lying beside him before retracting his gaze, ignoring him.

Gaea gave an awkward smile. "He hasn't conversed with anyone in a long time, so he's not very good at talking. However, Strange, you can trust his accomplishments in the field of magic."

Strange hummed, no longer asking Gaea about the other Stephen Strange from other Universes.

The atmosphere became somewhat stiff, and silence began to spread.

A long time later.

Click!

Pushing open the lounge door, Lucas's gaze swept around, and his brow involuntarily twitched.

Gently closing the door to ensure the conversation inside wouldn't disturb readers outside, Lucas smiled and greeted, "Gaea, long time no see. Chthon, long time no see. Strange."

Gaea smiled faintly in response. "Sorcerer Lucas, it's only been a year or two since we last met."

Chthon, on the other hand, merely nodded with an indifferent expression as a reply.

Although a cooperative relationship had been established, meeting Lucas offline still made Chthon instinctively uneasy.

After greeting the group, Lucas walked gracefully to the counter, took out tea leaves and a tea set, and then boiled a pot of water.

Warming the cups, adding the tea, awakening the tea, brewing, and pouring—the entire set of movements flowed smoothly, but a mistake occurred at the final step of serving the tea.

Gaea waved her hand, refusing, "Sorcerer Lucas, I am not here for tea this time. I have an important matter to ask of you."

Lucas said with a smile, "A cup of tea won't delay anything."

"Just one cup?" Gaea confirmed.

"Just one cup. I'm not that old geezer who likes to play tricks on people." Lucas said without batting an eyelid, completely shifting the blame for tricking Gaea last time onto the male Ancient One.

After drinking a cup of tea, Gaea held the cup on her lap and said, "Sorcerer Lucas, have you heard about Logos helping the Dark Celestials defeat the Beyonders?"

Lucas nodded with some helplessness.

Several people had already told him about this, and everyone's opening line was the same.

Seeing this, Gaea began to explain the impact of Logos's actions on the Multiverse, finally concluding, "We must stop Logos and the Dark Celestials, otherwise the Multiverse will be in danger."

Lucas's expression was serious. "I didn't realize the Multiverse was in such a precarious state. Gaea, what do you need me to do? Please speak directly."

Gaea looked at Lucas with some apology. "I have gathered the surviving Elder Gods and plan to ambush Logos and the Dark Celestials. However, we are still missing a combatant who can contend with Logos."

"Logos has already replaced the Living Tribunal and become the new order of the Multiverse, becoming incredibly powerful."

"I know fighting him is extremely dangerous, but besides you, Lucas, we really can't find anyone else."

Lucas chuckled. "Gaea, concerning the safety of the Multiverse, why would I begrudge my own life?"

"Sorcerer Lucas, your righteousness is profound." Gaea stood up and bowed.

Lucas's expression was solemn, his gaze unwavering.

After the bow, Gaea said, "There's no time to lose, Sorcerer Lucas, let us depart now."

Lucas nodded. "Alright."

"Teacher…"

Strange, standing nearby, tried to speak, but Lucas interrupted him, "Don't try to persuade me."

"No…"

Strange tried to speak again, but Lucas interrupted him once more, "My mind is made up. Do not try to persuade me further, or our master-disciple relationship ends here."

Interrupted twice in a row, Strange stopped being polite and blurted out his intention, "I want to apply for a transfer to the New York Sanctum."

"Absolutely not." Lucas's face darkened.

"As the Sorcerer Supreme, how can I pull strings for my own disciple? What would other sorcerers think of me?"

"Teacher, you didn't say that before…"

"Did I? My apologies, I'm getting old, and my memory isn't what it used to be."

Lucas asked, "Didn't I tell you to rest for at least ten days and not return to Kamar-Taj or come to the bookstore to find me?"

"Teacher, maybe ten days have already passed?"

"Is that so?"

Lucas took out his phone, connected to the internet to update the time, and after glancing at it, he cleared his throat. "I've been busy running around for the safety of the Multiverse lately, and the flow of time in the domains I've been in has been erratic. I misunderstood you."

"But it's still no. I have other arrangements for your posting, unless you can give me a convincing reason."

Strange said, "I'm more accustomed to New York's climate and dietary habits."

Lucas refused, "You'll train for a while longer, and your physical quality will far surpass that of ordinary people. These won't be problems."

Strange said again, "I'm more adapted to New York's language, culture, and customs."

Lucas refused again, "The place I've arranged for you has language, culture, and customs identical to New York's."

After a long silence, Strange said, "It's close to home here."

Lucas: "?"

After a brief moment, Lucas understood. It was likely that Strange and Christine had reconciled.

"Alright."

Lucas said, rubbing his temples with a slight headache, "You'll report to Sorcerer Drumm tomorrow."

He had originally planned to send Strange to Earth-65 after a while, where he could learn from the male Ancient One and also help ease some of the male Ancient One's pressure in defending against the chaotic extra-dimensional creatures.

But now it seemed he would just have to make the male Ancient One suffer a little longer.

"Gaea, I apologize for the wait."