Chapter 178: Hope

"This is impossible!"

Doctor Strange stood up, walked over to Jack, and stared at him closely as he carefully examined him over.

"Hey, don't get too close."

Jack backed away, feeling a bit disgusted, and pushed away Doctor Strange who had approached him.

"Sorry, but... this is just too incredible."

Doctor Strange realized that his behavior was somewhat rude and awkwardly chuckled, although his face still showed amazement.

"Your teacher, the Ancient One, is much calmer than you."

Jack took two steps back, creating distance between them, and said,

"I do have some special abilities, but how does it help you?"

When hearing this, Doctor Strange paused for a moment.

Then the excitement on his face quickly faded, and his eyes became lifeless again.

"Yeah, what's the use now? It's all too late."

Doctor Strange looked at Jack with complicated and sighed,

"If I had met you earlier, maybe this universe wouldn't have been destroyed because of my arrogance."

"Perhaps it's not too late now."

Jack's lips curled up into a mysterious smile, and after a while, he began to observe the surroundings before speaking.

"There's still hope."

"What?"

Doctor Strange was momentarily confused, not understanding the meaning of Jack's words.

"I said, there's still hope."

Jack pointed around and said,

"Although it's in collapses, there's still a possibility of saving, but only if I'm here."

After confirming that he hadn't misheard, Doctor Strange suddenly widened his eyes.

"You... you... you're serious?"

He glanced at the Watcher, who simply nodded, which improved his trust even more.

"Only one way to find out if it's true!"

Jack didn't waste time with any words.

He opened his hands and, in the next moment, two indigo energy beams poured from his palms, merging into the crumbling crystal wall of this universe.

In just an instant, Doctor Strange, who was desperately holding this universe together from total destruction, felt something different.

The power that seemed to be causing the universe to rot seemed to... shrinking.

No, more precisely, it was eliminated.

It was being eliminated by the energy injected by Jack.

"This... this..."

Doctor Strange was already shocked, and he could feel this dying universe resurrecting and regaining energy.

It was something he had been trying for all along.

And now, someone had effortlessly accomplished what he had been trying so hard to achieve.

How could he not be excited?

To say it was effortless might be an exaggeration; at least Jack felt it was somewhat troublesome.

He was trying to stop this universe from falling apart, but he also noticed a problem.

"It seems I underestimated the situation."

Jack slowly lowered his hands and stopped channeling the energy.

When seeing Jack's hesitation, Doctor Strange becomes anxious and hurriedly asks,

"What's wrong? Why did you stop?"

"For now, all I can do is keep things as they are."

Jack shook his head and explained,

"To completely restore your universe, my power is enough, but there are a few things missing."

"What things?"

Doctor Strange anxiously asked,

"What is missing? I'll find them!"

"The Infinity Stones!"

Jack explained, "To fully restore your universe to its original state, we need the power of all six Infinity Stones. Each stone represents a specific law of the universe. Only by using all six stones together can we repair this universe."

"The Infinity Stones?"

Doctor Strange paused for a moment and asked,

"Can we use the Infinity Stones from other universes?"

His universe had already fallen apart to this point, so the Infinity Stones couldn't have gotten away.

Apart from the Time Stone he carried with him, the rest had long turned into nothingness.

That was why he asked this question.

"No problem."

Jack thought for a moment and nodded. However, as soon as he finished speaking, Doctor Strange turned to the Watcher.

"I'm joining."

The Watcher remained silent.

Well, he didn't expect it to go so smoothly. It seems the decision to bring Jack here was not wrong.

With Doctor Strange on board, things would be easier.

The Watcher brought Jack back to his Universe.

"Now I wait for news."

Jack asked,

"So, what exactly is the plan?"

"It's simple!"

The Watcher said,

"I will create a team and have Doctor Strange lead them to confront Ultron. Your task is to kill Ultron at a critical moment."

Jack agreed, thinking that it was a good plan. He would act as a distraction while there were people behind him.

When he turned around, the Watcher was nowhere to be seen. Without wasting any time, Jack returned home.

The Watcher mentioned forming a team, but who knows how long that would take.

It was better to go back home for now.

When Jack arrived home, it was already evening.

Chloe was preparing dinner, Wanda and Pietro were in the living room, arguing over the TV remote.

One wanted to watch a drama, while the other wanted to watch the news. They were quite engrossed in their little battle.

They were really caught up in their little fight.

When seeing Jack return, Wanda's eyes lit up, and she immediately gave up her claim to the remote control, rushing into his arms like a swallow returning to its nest.

"Wanda..."

Jack helplessly patted her head.

This girl was becoming less and less shy. He began to worry about whether or not they would be able to keep their promise to each other.

Pietro was already used to this and didn't find it surprising.

However, seeing this scene was still a bit awkward for him. He didn't even bother with the TV anymore and went into the kitchen to help.

Soon, Chloe prepared a delicious dinner. Ever since Jack shared his cooking skills with Chloe's system, her culinary skills were not far behind his.

However, just as they were sitting down to eat, the Watcher showed up awkwardly and ruined the peaceful atmosphere.

A spatial portal appeared in the living room, and in the next second, the Watcher's body appeared two meters away.

"I am ready."

The Watcher glanced at the confused Wanda with a puzzling expression.

"Let's eat first. We'll talk after dinner."

Of course, Jack couldn't give up dinner time. He even invited the Watcher to stay and have a meal together.

The Watcher politely declined and said he would return in half an hour.

After he left, Wanda asked with some concern,

"What's happening? Where are you going?"

"Nothing much, just some trouble I need to take care of."

Jack smiled reassuringly, then raised a finger and said,

"You can't come with me."

This made Wanda feel a bit sad.

She pouted unhappily, knowing that she couldn't change Jack's decision. All she could do was sulk and finish her dinner.

After a while, dinner ended, and Jack got up and left, instructing Wanda and Pietro to behave at home.

The Watcher appeared exactly on time and walked into the spatial portal that Jack opened.

In a flash, Jack found himself in a bar. It looked familiar, and some of the people inside seemed familiar too.

"Ah, quite a few friends here."

...

https://www.patreon.com/Abyssuit

You can find up to 35 advance chapters at my patreon.

<quillbot-extension-portal></quillbot-extension-portal>