Chapter 534: Chapter 534: The Only Candidate

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"Heh. Only I can do it. What a grand hat you’re trying to place on my head."

As a former corporate beast of burden, Henry had long since developed immunity to this kind of managerial PUA.

The only thing he could do now was avoid reacting like some hot-blooded youngster and openly showing displeasure.

A truly mature adult understood the art of smiling obedience while quietly doing the opposite.

Nod politely in public.

Do nothing in private.

If asked later: busy, forgot, didn’t know.

No recording, no proof.

Anyone who’d been burned a few times and still felt pain wouldn’t keep stepping into the same trap forever.

Side note:

This trick worked equally well against bosses and younger coworkers.

The real competition at work wasn’t who was fiercer or more intimidating.

It was who had thicker skin and less shame.

You needed to collect your salary—

And vent your frustration too.

If all you did was vent and storm out quitting every time, how many jobs did you think there were to quit?

Wanda seemed to have expected exactly this attitude from Henry. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

She didn’t continue persuading him.

Instead, she asked:

"Have you read the Bible? Whether you believe in religion or not."

As the most widely distributed book in the world, with copies placed in nightstands across hotels throughout America and Europe, Henry had of course read it.

Mostly as Western fantasy pseudo-history.

Pretty entertaining, honestly.

"I have. So?"

Wanda said:

"Genesis 18:26.

And the Lord said: If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sake."

"18:29.

Abraham spoke again:

What if forty are found there?

And the Lord said:

I will not destroy it for the sake of forty."

"18:30.

Abraham said:

Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: perhaps thirty shall be found there.

And the Lord said:

I will not do it, if I find thirty there."

"18:32.

Abraham said:

Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: perhaps ten shall be found there.

And the Lord said:

I will not destroy it for ten’s sake."

Then she looked directly at Henry.

"So tell me, Henry.

"If there are only one or two people in this world you truly want to protect—

Would you still be willing to save the world?

"Or do you believe the Void’s destruction is far less severe than God’s destruction of Sodom?"

Well.

The whole if the world ends, can you really stay uninvolved? argument definitely had persuasive power.

"You know the current casualty numbers in New York?" Wanda asked again.

Henry shook his head.

Wanda answered seriously:

"According to Professor X, roughly one hundred thousand minds have disappeared.

"That means at least one hundred thousand lives are already gone.

"If today you flee New York with those you care about—

Where do you run next?

"Do you keep running until civilization itself collapses?"

Henry replied:

"That self-proclaimed guardian of Earth you mentioned—the Sorcerer Supreme.

"If he acts, any enemy should crumble like rotten wood and broken tiles.

"No need for a weakling like me.

"At least be lazy with some dignity.

"His own responsibilities, and with a few words he wants to throw them onto others.

"There are nearly six billion people on Earth.

Yet he specifically needs me—the alien?"

Since he had already admitted his extraterrestrial identity in front of mutants before, whether Quicksilver had told Wanda or not hardly mattered.

He no longer cared.

Besides, even if the grand Marvel era hadn’t fully begun, there were still figures on the board.

The Sorcerer Supreme was alive.

Odin, guardian of the Nine Realms, was still alive too.

When the sky fell, shouldn’t the tall ones hold it up first?

Why drag him into it?

Let those people do their jobs for once.

Instead of endlessly talking about duty, greatness, and responsibility while doing nothing.

Wanda looked surprised.

"Do you misunderstand what the Sorcerer Supreme is?

"He is merely the inheritor and guardian of the magical dimensions, protecting Earth from metaphysical threats.

"Within the rules, yes, he can be considered supreme.

"He can even influence or temporarily alter those rules to a degree.

"But if the enemy possesses overwhelming brute force—

He still has to be given the chance to cast magic first."

Henry blinked, genuinely thrown off.

Then asked awkwardly:

"From the way you described it earlier, Sorcerer Supreme sounds like a title passed down.

"So who is the current Sorcerer Supreme?"

"Ancient One.

"A wise and powerful elder over five hundred years old."

"He can’t solve the Sentry?"

"If he could," Wanda said flatly, "why would we come looking for you?"

...Fair enough.

Henry had been treating the Ancient One like some supreme Daoist saint.

Invincible.

Unbeatable.

But in reality...

Apparently not.

Thinking seriously about it, whether comics or films, Dormammu of the Dark Dimension had always been the Ancient One’s greatest enemy.

The fact Dormammu still existed and remained dangerous meant the Sorcerer Supreme clearly had limits.

Don’t feed him nonsense like:

He preserved balance.

He kept Dormammu around as a battery.

If someone truly knew everything, couldn’t they find a path where they got everything they wanted while steamrolling all opposition?

Consult the Long Aotian Strategy Manual.

So no, the Ancient One wasn’t omnipotent.

Compared with ordinary humans, yes, he was terrifyingly powerful.

But above every mountain stood another.

The Sorcerer Supreme was still only the Sorcerer Supreme.

Then what about the guardians of the Nine Realms?

The Asgardians claimed Earth fell under their jurisdiction.

Aliens invade and they do nothing.

A catastrophe severe enough that even the Sorcerer Supreme was mobilized—and still they did nothing?

Did Asgard only act if Earth was literally exploding?

Then again, considering comic Sentry once ripped apart Ares with his bare hands...

Whether Odin or Thor came, there was a good chance they’d just donate themselves to the casualty count.

No wonder the so-called guardians of the Nine Realms were pretending to be dead.

Unfortunately, from Henry’s position of official ignorance, he shouldn’t be questioning why the Norse gods weren’t intervening.

He could only consider whether he should.

With a long, weary sigh, Henry finally asked:

"You never thought of asking Genosha for help?

"Magneto is more reliable than I am.

"And mutants are full of talent.

"You seriously can’t find a suitable tank?"

He was one step away from shouting:

Go get Wolverine. Go get Colossus. Why me?

Wanda answered:

"Do you know how long it would take to reach Genosha, gather the necessary forces, and return to the East Coast?

"At least a day.

"There is no proper airport on Genosha.

"So we’d need to transfer from a nearby American military base.

"The nearest is Djibouti in North Africa.

"After that, Saudi Arabia.

"From there, helicopters would be required to land on Genosha."

"Unless we used the X-Men’s Blackbird jet with vertical takeoff and landing."

She gave a dry smile.

"And thanks to Mystique’s hardline political stance, if the Blackbird flew to Genosha now, the U.S. military would immediately suspect mutants were planning unrest."

"Even now, no one fully understands how powerful the Void is.

"All we know is that with a wave of his hand, life vanishes across entire districts."

"In other words—

The number I mentioned earlier has continued increasing all day.

Even now.

Even tonight."

"When tomorrow comes and the U.S. military launches its planned assault—

Can you imagine what the death toll will become?"

"They haven’t even considered evacuating New York civilians.

"They blindly believe they can handle everything."

Henry replied coldly:

"People never admit they’ve run into a wall until they’ve smashed their heads bloody against it.

"Maybe letting the U.S. military deeply understand that super-soldier serum doesn’t only produce Captain America...

Would be a good thing."

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