Wanda In Black Silk Stockings, Ch 37.2

She closed her eyes, adjusted her breathing, and drained her cup of tea. 

After completing these actions, she sat cross-legged with her hands resting naturally on her legs. 

Buzz!!!

As her eyes slowly closed, gold light began to swirl, and the Eye of Agamotto at her chest levitated. 

Moments later, a blinding light burst forth from the Eye of Agamotto. 

"Pff!" 

At that moment, Ancient One suddenly coughed up a mouthful of crimson blood. 

Even the ancient tea table in front of her was stained by the blood. 

She widened her eyes, a look of worry on her face as she murmured, "I can't see Hode's future…" 

Just now, she had tried using the Time Stone to glimpse the future. 

Yet, no trace of Hode existed on the timeline, neither in the past nor the future. 

This left only two possibilities: the first being that Hode had transcended the timeline, and the second being that there was some special restriction hiding him. 

But whether these two possibilities were good or bad for this world remained uncertain. 

Because Hode now seemed to exist solely in the present! 

No matter what happened, it was entirely impossible to make predictions. 

Fatigue shone in Ancient One's eyes. 

"I hope everything is well." 

"My time is running out…" 

---

**New York, in the garden of a mansion.** 

[Ding! You have caught Ancient One's attention and successfully passed the test!] 

[Reward: Darkhold (Fragment)] 

"It was indeed a test." 

Upon hearing the notification, Hode felt no surprise. 

When Stephen and Wong suddenly appeared and said they couldn't unravel the spell, he had already guessed that it was highly likely Ancient One had sent them to test him. 

Because even if they couldn't solve the spell, they would have sought out Ancient One first. 

The fact they came to him only left one possibility: the incident that happened at the Sanctum Library last time. 

With Ancient One's character, it was only a matter of time before she would send someone to test him. 

"Ancient One, huh? She must be starting to take notice of me." 

Hode muttered to himself as he watched the falling leaves in the distance. 

He didn't feel intimidated by Ancient One; his current strength was already on par with hers. 

In a prolonged fight, she might not even match him. 

However, he held no grudge against Ancient One, after all, she was devoted to protecting the Earth. 

There was no need to go looking for trouble, especially since they were on the same side. 

"As long as she doesn't come looking for trouble with me." 

Hode shook his head; he was aiming for a laid-back and enjoyable life. 

The reason he wanted to grow stronger was simply to maintain some self-protection. 

Besides, where would he go to have fun if the Earth was gone? 

He surely wouldn't go looking for that purple sweet potato monster to play with, would he? 

"Wanda, what are you doing?"

Hode pulled himself back to the moment and looked at Wanda in the living room. 

At that moment, Wanda was lounging on the sofa, swinging her delicate white feet, making it hard to look away. The dark color of the sofa accentuated her pale skin, and her exposed toes were a soft pink, incredibly beautiful. Even someone like him, who wasn't particularly a foot enthusiast, couldn't help but steal a few extra glances.

"Don't look at my feet with that creepy gaze," Wanda said, though she didn't get up, knowing exactly what Hode was staring at.

"Well, you can't blame me; you're the one who started it!" Hode replied, looking utterly innocent.

"Creep! You're even interested in feet!" Wanda curled her toes at him, "Things really are changing."

"I'm interested in you from head to toe," Hode laughed, adding, "And feet and legs can do a lot of things."

Just then, before he could continue teasing Wanda, her phone on the table suddenly rang.

"Shh, it's the base phone." After making a gesture for silence, Wanda answered.

Before long, her expression turned extremely serious. "What?!"

"Understood, I'll head to the rescue immediately." With that, Wanda quickly scrambled to her feet.

"Who was it?" Hode walked over to her side.

Wanda took a deep breath, her face tense. "There's been an incident in North Manhattan."