40 Chapter 37: Space base in the making

***Third-person P.O.V., Still in the past but a week later

All the masters associated with Kamar taj were gathered today as it's been decades since the ancient one called a meeting with this much seriousness.

Obviously, there were exceptions to this but those didn't attend because someone needed to guard key positions of the temple around the globe at all times.

Ancient One nodded to all the people present before taking the seat herself.

"I believe it's time we begin." One of the masters started," But before we begin to discuss the main topic of interest, I must propose that we share any unusual findings that we discovered since we last met like this."

"Please" Ancient One merely smiled politely.

"Since sorcerer supreme has given her seal of approval, I would like to begin first." Another master said who shared Chinese lineage.

Others nodded.

"Things are unusual since last week. The number of demonic beasts entering the realm has dwindled and those that entered have suffered from weakness in strength like they were breathing poisonous air the longer they reside in our realm." He reported.

"It's an interesting bit of news and we must look into this matter and assign someone to find out if this phenomenon is permanent or if it isn't then what we must do to make it a permanent one." Another master on the table said and her assistant quickly noted it down.

"It's not just demonic beasts that have encountered this phenomenon, any beings entering from Dormammu plane of influence also faced similar problems." He was responsible for dealing with any problems arising from that plane.

"Devils too. " Replied the master responsible for dealing with them.

"Does the barrier between various planes of influence get stronger suddenly?" A master asked in wonder.

"As far as I know, nothing of the sort." The master responsible for maintaining surveillance on world boundaries replied with a shrug.

"I think we are already on the main issue." Ancient one smiled softly.

"Do you mean to say it's related to what you felt a week ago?" The female master asked.

"The timing matches perfectly." Ancient One strongly replied.

"Indeed it does but are you implying that it could affect universal boundaries between various planes of existence?" The Chinese master asked.

"The infinity stone was influenced. What do you think?" Ancient one said as she turned to look at him with raised eyebrows.

"Even Dormammu or Mephisto do not possess such powers. It's most likely the change is related to what I sensed." Ancient one looked concerned which surprised many of the masters since they have never seen her worried.

"How is this possible that power like came to life so suddenly one day? Something like this can't happen which astronomical changes." The master responsible for observing the world's boundaries shook his head in denial.

"That's the most worrying thing." Ancient one said with dark lines on her forehead.

"Since ancient times scholars in mystic arts wondered why is that our plane or realm doesn't have omnipotent beings like other realms have. What makes our realm so different than the rest?" Ancient one asked all her fellow practitioners.

They chose to remain silent since they also don't know the answers to these questions like those ancient scholars.

"It is said that the older you get, the wiser you become but the younger you are, the more daring you are."

"A young disciple once gave a possible answer to this question. It was more of a question, to be honest. What if our realm is not different as we thought it is? What if our realm also had a being of such capacity or still have?"

"Not many believed him that time because if what he said is true then either the Dormammu like being of our realm died or is in the slumber of some sort."

"As we know, the only way to kill Dormammu or beings like him is to destroy his whole realm of existence. They can't be killed as long as their home realm remains in existence. How is it possible that the being from our realm died?" Ancient one finished her tale with that.

"Are you saying that what you felt last week was the awakening of such a being?" The female master asked with skepticism.

Ancient One only nodded her head.

"It still doesn't explain why even infinity stones were affected. As you pointed out earlier, Neither Dormammu nor Mephisto could influence them rather they could be influenced by them so how can this being is affecting the stones if he is similar to Dormammu of our realm?" Another master asked.

"Why are Mephisto and Dormammu so obsessed with our world when there are an infinite number of planes that they could focus on and successfully conquer?" Ancient One asked a question rather than answering.

"Because..... because they think it is worth it wasting so much effort to conquer our world." The assistant standing behind her master hesitantly replied.

"I fear that I have to reply to the young lady. " Ancient one said," They were on to something, and know that something has woken up which is why hostile beings from various planes are finding it difficult to survive in our realm."

"I'm still unclear on what is it but whatever it is, it is capable of exerting power over the singularities. I have a theory that Mephisto and Dormammu knew about its state in the past and they saw an opportunity in its weakness. They likely wanted its ability to impact singularities." She said.

"And now the prey has woken up." The master responsible for worldly affairs spoke in a grave tone.

"What are the implications of this on us?" He asked.

"That is unclear since it didn't act until now and we can't judge someone as a threat without knowing anything about them. But we must be wary more than ever. These are tough times." Ancient One stood up.

"We protected this planet from outsider beings for centuries but now we could be facing an enemy from inside. I tried my best to pinpoint any source of information about it and until now it isn't much but it's still more than enough to shake my mind."

"While it is possible to use the time stone against the adversary, it would realize the change in the time I can't look into the possible future about it as it could make it aware of me." Ancient one summarised.

"What are your orders then?"

"Keep an eye on Mephisto and Dormammu, I fear that they might attack in desperation seeing their prey slowly growing stronger by the day. And stay alert at all times, I am sure this will be the perfect time for rogue elements to create chaos."

****Meanwhile with Kar-el.

"What do you think?" Kar-el's hologram asked Serena who was sitting across the table in the chairman's seat in her office.

"The asteroid belt would be the best solution in my opinion. I don't think the moon or any planet close to the earth would be completely secure from surveillance." She was referring to the ring of asteroids revolving around the sun between earth and mars.

Most people only know about the wall of the asteroid between mars and later planets because it's much thicker and denser but there is a belt between earth and mars too.

We were discussing where to shift our base outside of the earth and this asteroid belt seemed like the best option.

First and foremost, even if earthlings want to, they can't observe these asteroids more than once in decades because to observe an object in space you must meet one of the two requirements.

Either that object could create a light of its own or it reflects light towards you from a source because without the light coming your way, you can't observe that thing.

Astroids can't create a light of their own and while they do reflect light coming from the sun, it doesn't reflect it to the earth in most cases because of orbital issues.

It's why even if an asteroid was about to hit earth tomorrow, chances are that scientists will never know until it's too late because it wasn't reflecting light towards us.

Second of all, Asteroids could be a very rich source of raw materials for our base as well as the spaceship that I had been planning to make.

"Are you thinking of still keeping a low profile unless necessary?" Serena asked.

"I can't keep it hidden from all but yeah, I don't plan to make it public any time soon since it will be more problematic than helpful. When these people can discriminate based on where they were born or what they think, It's clear that they would not be forthcoming to the idea of an alien living among them." Kar-el shrugged.

"Then we have another reason to choose the asteroid belt. We can use it as nuclear deterrence if you want to make a statement while also hiding your strength." Serena proposed.

"Are you suggesting that we use asteroids as a threat if things are not going to our plan?" Kar-el asked.

"Exactly. Every nuclear power used its nukes as a threat to protect their interest, why can't we use the same principle. I'm sure the threat of hundreds of asteroids striking the earth could be a compelling reason to not make things tougher for us." Serena laughed.

*****†******†******†*******†******†******

In the last chapter, I asked a quiz question and the answer to it is this: Kar-el used the life equation as an instrument to make changes to his autonomy but to do that he had to re-create his body to the core. Now destroying something is an easy process as you just need enough force to break things apart but creation is a different matter.

Matter can't be created, only converted into different forms. Even life equation can't do it nor can infinity stones. Since kar-el needed to re-make his body, he used the energy released by the sun in the process of fusion of elements and converted that energy into matter used to make his body with the help of life equation.

While he could do it inside a nuclear plant too, the sun is a much safer place since not many beings can withstand staying so close to it.

Today's quiz question: Ancient one talked about a being similar to Dormammu could once live in the MCU plane of existence, do you think it's possible and if yes then who was it?