The club was so quiet that only Mycroft's breathing could be heard. Although his breathing was very light, it was obvious here. The sound bounced off the room's walls and back to their ears.
Mycroft said nothing. Outside the Diogenes Club, MI6 and MI5 had coordinated to ensure no one was around. Time passed minute by minute.
John let out a long breath and looked up at the ceiling.
"A grown-up John Wick, can I understand it that way?" His voice betrayed no emotion.
Mycroft nodded slightly.
John's thoughts churned. Even he couldn't help but be shocked by such news. Another self—no, to be precise, another version of himself.
"In the magical world, there are potions and transfiguration that can change one's appearance," John frowned, staring into Mycroft's eyes as he activated Legilimency.
Mycroft shook his head. "He has a similar appearance to you, but with a beard."
"I believe you already know I'm not lying. That person has been in contact with MI6," Mycroft said calmly, unconcerned about being subjected to Legilimency. "And he provided a lot of help to MI6."
"So now you're betraying him?" John asked. "Betraying allies isn't your style."
"To be precise," Mycroft raised an eyebrow, his fingers touching each other, "not an ally."
"The appearance of Miracle Children is his contribution."
John asked in a condensed voice, "Where is that person?"
"This is why I'm telling you," Mycroft said lightly. "He disappeared from the most secure base a hundred meters underground, leaving only this behind."
Mycroft reached into his chest pocket and pulled out a pencil stained with blood.
"A pencil," Mycroft's eyes showed churning emotions, which he quickly suppressed. "Just one pencil, killed fifty fully armed elite soldiers, and disappeared from the base."
"I don't think he's a wizard. His actions are more like..." Mycroft paused, "another you."
John raised his hand, and the pencil flew to his palm. His gaze lingered on it.
"You want me to find him?"
"No, you need to find him," Mycroft said. "When he saw your parents, you should have seen the emotion in those eyes."
"What kind of loneliness that was," Mycroft sighed. "He emerged from darkness, still bearing bloodstains and wounds, yet rescued those people from certain death."
That was a person with terrifying willpower. Such was Mycroft's assessment of him.
John left the Diogenes Club. He now had an extra pencil in his hand. The lead would break with the slightest pressure.
He returned to Privet Drive and opened a drawer in the attic. Inside were neatly arranged pencils of the same brand as this one. John placed this pencil inside, his thoughts churning.
He murmured, "Multiverse."
Last time he had seen another Tony and Ant-Man from a future without himself. This time, someone who seemed to be a multiversal version of himself had appeared.
John recalled Mycroft's words. "Loneliness?"
That John Wick was different from himself—he was aging, he was growing up. Looking up at his reflection in the glass, that young face differed greatly from the person Mycroft described.
"Are you my future? Or another kind of life?"
Slowly closing the drawer, John felt somewhat disturbed by the appearance of another self. That other self had disappeared. He might be somewhere in this world, or he might have truly vanished.
John exhaled. A multiversal self. What a troublesome matter.
"What reason brought him here?"
John frowned. That period was neither the Convergence nor any space-time tunnel opening. Why would another version of himself appear? Or was he, like the future Tony, using a time machine to come here? Did he know the future Tony? What was his purpose in coming to this universe?
More importantly, John's brow twitched. "Does that mean if he hadn't been there, my parents might have died?"
His expression changed. As the Wizard King, he had used powerful magic. That magic could protect wizards and also safeguard his own relatives. First Ariana, then his parents. That magic couldn't fail, unless it had been blocked like during the Hell Lord incident?
Various questions swirled in his mind. John became very irritated.
New York welcomed a special guest. How special exactly? Consider his white hair, white beard, and one eye. The old man was enthusiastically introduced to the nursing home.
"This is Shady Acres Care Center, absolutely able to provide comprehensive perfect service for your elderly life."
A woman in caregiver clothes introduced the facility to the old man. The old man looked confused but still nodded as he listened. So this special guest officially moved in.
All of this was witnessed by the Ancient One. She stood with her hands behind her back, somewhat unexpected yet reasonable. Looking up at two ravens flying to the building in the sky, the Ancient One said to herself, "Odin."
Then she looked at the old man. Who could imagine that the protector of the Nine Realms, the All-Father Odin, would become an old man who had lost his memory and divine power. This thing couldn't bind Odin; breaking free was just a matter of time.
The nursing home caregiver had brought another resident here. After seeing Odin to his room, her previously smiling face fell, becoming worried.
A female nurse asked worriedly, "Director, we've been getting fewer and fewer people lately. Can we still hold on?"
The director forced an encouraging smile. "It's okay, we can make it."
This nursing home had some problems, but even so, it couldn't last more than a few years. Loki hadn't investigated properly before sending his father here. One had to say it was truly filial piety.
John's research into dimensional magic had originally been defensive, but now he needed to accelerate his pace. Having observed the Rainbow Bridge's operation up close, John began trying to replicate a complete version.
This thing could be summoned without relying on the massive Rainbow Bridge device, but it also required some harsh conditions. For example, Thor's future weapon would have the ability to summon the Rainbow Bridge. Odin's weapon could also summon the Rainbow Bridge.
The difference from Asgard's Rainbow Bridge was simply that they used different energy sources. The Rainbow Bridge guarded by Heimdall used energy from Asgard itself, while others used weapon characteristics combined with magic to produce traversal abilities equivalent to Asgard's Rainbow Bridge.
"Magical summoning," John concluded. So he began practicing.
Although he didn't have Asgardian artifacts, John had the Space Stone—limited edition. He raised his right hand, silver covering his arm. Four gems of different colors emitted strange fluctuations on the back of his hand. The blue gem lit up.
He swept his hand, and a blue light blade cut through the air, tearing open a spatial passage.
"Not like this." John grasped the passage and squeezed, causing the space to shatter and disappear.
He adjusted and raised his finger again. Slowly pointing forward. The Space Stone and magical power alternately produced rainbow-colored light. As John increased output, rainbow light burst from his right hand, instantly carrying destructive force through the wall and into the garden, plowing a hundred-meter furrow.
"No, not like this either."
John raised an eyebrow, closed his eyes, and this time opened his right hand downward.
"Add a little darkness."
His eyes opened, black energy flowing through his pupils. Then the ground beneath his feet began to show scorched, mysterious patterns as if burned.
Suddenly, a massive rainbow beam fell from the sky, enveloping John. Carried by this force, John disappeared.
In the distant Arctic, a polar bear mother and cub were foraging. The massive rainbow beam crashed down, the ice surface shattered, and John fell into the water.
After a while, he burst out of the water. Dripping wet, the cold Arctic wind blew. John looked at the frightened, fleeing polar bears, wondering if this counted as success.
Looking at the broken ice surface, this had been a large ice floe, now split into pieces. Soon these ice layers would drift away and melt.
"Might as well finish the good deed."
John moved his hands, and the Casket of Ancient Winters appeared. Massive cold currents rushed into the water, freezing the originally broken ice layers and continuously expanding outward.
This led to an unsolved mystery for this year's Arctic expedition team. Why did the Arctic suddenly gain dozens of kilometers of ice?
After John continuously adjusted the proportions of magical power, darkness, and spatial force, he could finally teleport home. The top of Silver Hand Manor broke open, with John standing inside as mysterious golden runes scattered beneath his feet.
"Adding some runes makes it much gentler."
The silver faded, and the Rainbow Bridge dissipated. John sensed the anti-theft charm in the manor reacting. Someone was coming.
It was Harry.
[Chapter Complete]
***
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