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The portal Kevin created led to Kamar Taj.
However, Ancient One was not in Kamar Taj. According to Yondu, the guardian of New York Sanctum was on vacation today, and Ancient One went to help substitute.
That's what he said.
Kevin then arrived at New York Sanctum and saw Ancient One drinking tea on the Sanctum's rooftop.
"Have you returned feeling relaxed?"
Seeing Kevin return, Ancient One gently beckoned, and a cup of tea appeared on the table next to her.
She was signaling Kevin to sit beside her.
Kevin took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled.
He sat opposite Ancient One:
"Fighting Ego, then fighting Ultron, that's far from relaxing."
"At least you got what you wanted, isn't that enough?"
Ancient One was referring to Ultron's body.
As a 'local specialty' of the Marvel World, Ultron's body could indeed help Kevin a lot. If the technology on Ultron's body could be reverse-engineered, Vought managed by Kevin would truly be unrivaled in the The Boys world.
Even if those groups competed, how could they compete with Kevin's black technology?
But now Kevin was looking for Ancient One not to discuss these things.
He unceremoniously sat next to Ancient One, meeting her gaze:
"I've met Odin."
"Oh, is he doing well?"
"He's alright... I heard Odin say that you mentioned me to him?"
"Is there a problem? Although Odin and I aren't exactly friends, at this age, it seems quite normal to occasionally visit, see an old acquaintance, and chat about recent events, doesn't it?"
Ancient One smiled and drank her tea, as if things were exactly as she said.
Her going to chat with Odin and mentioning Kevin was truly just ordinary small talk.
Kevin also wanted to believe that, after all, he didn't feel there was anything about him that Ancient One would value to make him a candidate for the next Sorcerer Supreme.
That was too absurd.
But Kevin knew that Ancient One was not someone who would truly engage in casual small talk.
"...Then what did you say about me? That I'm a visitor from another world? Or..."
"My most accomplished disciple right now, how does that title sound to you?"
Kevin was still searching for a topic, but Ancient One directly stated the answer.
The most accomplished disciple.
This sounded incredibly unbelievable. Kevin didn't think he could live up to Ancient One's title.
He even thought Ancient One was joking for a moment.
"...This joke... isn't particularly funny, actually."
Ancient One said nothing.
"...You're joking, right?"
Kevin confirmed again, but Ancient One just smiled, quietly looking at him.
The smile on Kevin's face completely vanished. He took another deep breath, trying to calm himself down:
"So my guess was correct? You want me to... become the next Sorcerer Supreme?"
"Evidently."
"Why me? You should know I'm not from this world. I might leave at any time and never return. I don't have the qualifications to be the Sorcerer Supreme at all. The person who will truly become the Sorcerer Supreme is..."
"Stephen Strange, I know. He was the one I had chosen, and he is indeed suitable to be the Sorcerer Supreme, but you know, and I know, that he will also do some... troublesome things in the future."
Ancient One paused mid-sentence. She seemed to know what Strange would do in the future, but before that, there truly wasn't a more excellent mage than Strange.
So Ancient One could only choose Strange, until Kevin appeared.
While Kevin was still pondering Ancient One's words, Ancient One turned to him again and said:
"Actually, when you said that sentence, you already had the qualification to become the Sorcerer Supreme."
"Which one?"
"'I'm not qualified to be the Sorcerer Supreme'—that one. You clearly know what potential you possess and what power you will have in the future, yet you still believe you won't become the Sorcerer Supreme. This alone qualifies you."
How powerful Kevin would be in the future, Kevin himself could see.
As long as he kept investing skill points in the skill tree, after the second job change, the third job change, and even countless future job changes.
He would become stronger and stronger, more and more like a deity.
At that time, the position of a Sorcerer Supreme would be nothing at all.
But Kevin still felt he was not qualified to sit in that position.
The reason was that the position of Sorcerer Supreme did not represent strength, but a responsibility.
The Sorcerer Supreme must protect the Earth in the Marvel World, protecting it from invasions from multiple dimensions. This is a heavy responsibility.
Kevin didn't feel he could bear such a responsibility.
Ancient One should also understand that he was not suitable to bear such a responsibility.
"I still don't understand, why me... Why did you choose me from the very beginning? Did I do something?"
Kevin was very confused.
He hadn't thought much about it before, but now recalling his initial meeting with Ancient One, Kevin knew that Ancient One probably had similar thoughts from the very beginning.
Even the moment Kevin arrived in this world and met Ancient One, she already had the idea of having Kevin inherit the Sorcerer Supreme's position.
But Kevin couldn't understand why Ancient One would do this.
Kevin looked directly into Ancient One's eyes, hoping to get an answer from her.
Ancient One did not answer directly, but suddenly asked Kevin in return:
"You should know that I can see the future?"
"Yes."
"Then aren't you curious what kind of future I've seen?"
"...You mean, your choice of me is related to the future you've seen?"
Kevin asked.
He had guessed the reason for Ancient One's friendliness towards him before—it was because she had seen some future concerning him, but it had never been confirmed.
Now, Ancient One's words were equivalent to confirming Kevin's conjecture.
But what Kevin never expected was that the truth was far more absurd than he imagined.
"That's right," Ancient One replied, "If you understand me, you should know that the future I see is just one possibility of the future, like a branch extending from a river.
"Our world is like a boat, drifting downstream on the river. The boat might continue down the main channel, or it might cross a tributary and head to a different destination.
"The current changes in an instant, and the future is constantly changing. Some people might be heroes who save the world one moment, and then become villains who destroy the world the next... But you are different."
Ancient One finally got to the point.
She turned to Kevin and said softly:
"In all the futures I've seen, you have never harmed this world, and even in many timelines, you have protected this world, never changing.
"I don't care what kind of person you are in other universes, but in the universe where I exist now, you will never become a villain. This is why I chose you."
"That's impossible, I'm not that kind of person!"
As soon as Ancient One finished speaking, Kevin immediately denied it.
He didn't believe that the person Ancient One spoke of was him.
Everything Kevin was doing now had his own purpose: saving the world, saving plot characters, killing certain Bosses—all to gain skill points and turn them into nourishment to make himself stronger.
He wouldn't do things like self-sacrifice for others, because he simply wasn't that kind of person.
So if in the future, harming this world could bring Kevin a large number of skill points, he might hesitate for a moment and then do it.
This possibility was not non-existent, but it certainly couldn't be described as 'zero'.
But now, according to Ancient One, Kevin's future was to become a great saint protecting the world, without even a hint of turning bad.
This was simply a fantasy.
Kevin felt that Ancient One must be getting muddled in her old age, otherwise how could she come to such an outrageous conclusion?
"I know that the current you will not become the person I spoke of, because you have no attachment to this world at all, but I still believe in the future I have seen."
Ancient One also admitted that the Kevin she currently knew was not the same as the Kevin she saw in the future.
At least, the current Kevin had very little emotional connection to this world; he seemed to have never taken some people in this world seriously.
Ancient One also had some doubts whether she had seen it wrong.
But no matter how many times she looked at the future, the outcome was always similar, so Ancient One could only choose to believe in Kevin.
Believing that he would become the person she saw in the future.
Ancient One's conviction left Kevin speechless for a moment. He parted his lips slightly, and after a while, he said:
"...I can't possibly become the Sorcerer Supreme, because I'm not even sure if I'll come back after leaving here."
"Let's just say that."
Ancient One's gaze shifted from Kevin, and she continued to drink tea, moving on to another topic:
"Aren't you going to take out the Reality Stone from your body? Wait a moment, I'll help you take it out."
...Ancient One was unwilling to continue the conversation, and Kevin had no way to press it. He held it in for a while, and finally could only choose to skip the topic, thanking Ancient One stiffly:
"...Then I'll trouble you."
"You're welcome."
Ancient One smiled at Kevin.
...
With Ancient One's help, the aether was extracted from Kevin's body with almost no effort.
Ancient One had also prepared a special container, allowing the aether to transform back into the Reality Stone and return it to Kevin.
After regaining the Reality Stone, Kevin did not stay in Kamar Taj.
Ever since he learned that Ancient One intended to train him to become the next Sorcerer Supreme, Kevin felt that something was off everywhere, as if he had a 'there are always troublemakers trying to harm me' mentality.
He didn't dare to stay in Kamar Taj any longer, fearing that Ancient One would really conscript him to be the Sorcerer Supreme there. Kevin immediately reunited with the Guardians of the Galaxy and began collecting materials to make the Infinity Stone Crusher.
Thor contacted the leader of the dwarf race, confirmed that the Infinity Stone Crusher could be made, and gave Thor the corresponding material list. Everyone could collect based on this list.
With the help of the Guardians of the Galaxy in space, the Infinity Stone Crusher was made with little effort.
It was as simple as what Gamora and Tony did in one episode of 'what if'.
After one scene, the Infinity Stone Crusher was completed.
There was nothing more to say about what happened next. Everyone brought almost all the Infinity Stones they knew of.
Thor brought the cosmic cube hidden inside Asgard, broke it to take out the Space Stone inside, and was the first to throw it into the crusher.
Next was Kevin, who threw in the Reality Stone, followed by the Mind and Soul Stones.
As a side note, the Reality Stone had been returned to the Collector by Kevin before this, but before the Collector could play with it for a few days, Thor brought the Asgardians and took the Reality Stone deposited with the Collector back, handing it over to Kevin again.
Well, anyway, the Reality Stone was returned, so it wasn't a breach of contract.
All four stones were crushed, and Kevin gained twelve skill points; each Infinity Stone provided him with three skill points.
Not many, but not few either, after all, these were just the Infinity Stones within one universe.
The Marvel World still had so many universes; all the Infinity Stones combined would be enough to fully max out Kevin's skill tree.
As long as Kevin could find a way to travel between the multiverse.
Finally, two Infinity Stones remained.
One was on Xandar, which required Asgard to talk to Xandar and have them hand over the stored power stone.
The other, the Time Stone, could not be moved yet.
Because Ancient One needed to use it to protect the multiverse, at least until Strange grew up, the Time Stone could not be crushed.
Of course, if Kevin was willing to accept the position of Sorcerer Supreme, Ancient One could give him the Time Stone.
Anyway, at that time, Kevin would be the guardian of the Time Stone, and whatever he wanted to do with the Time Stone would be irrelevant to Ancient One, because she would have retired by then.
But... Kevin didn't want to be tied to this world.
Just three skill points, if he didn't want them, then so be it. It was no big deal.
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