After hearing this, Strange was speechless.
He spread his hands and ranted crazily, "Good heavens, the frequency of Earth's destruction is too high! The World Cup is held once every four years, yet Earth is destroyed three times a year?!"
As he spoke, he looked at Homelander and gave him a thumbs up.
"Homelander, I finally understand why you have been sparing no effort to promote the space migration plan."
"This damn Earth is simply not suitable for human survival!"
"I take back my previous prejudices against you. From today on, I am your most loyal believer!"
"Hurry up and build a spaceship to take us away; I can't stay in this shitty place for another day."
Upon hearing this, Homelander immediately stepped forward, patted Strange on the shoulder, and adopted a moved posture of "a kindred spirit is hard to find."
"I am deeply gratified that you can understand my painstaking efforts, Stephen. The path of a hero is always lonely."
Listening to the two of them singing in harmony, the Ancient One really couldn't stand it any longer.
"Earth is not an ordinary blue planet; it is the nexus of multiverse reality and cannot be easily abandoned."
She shook her head helplessly, interrupting their mutual admiration.
"Moreover, even if Vought had the ability to organize the migration of all humanity, finding a new habitat and relocating billions of people would take a long time."
"But the threat of Dormammu is right before our eyes..."
Upon hearing this, Homelander asked curiously, "What exactly is the strength of this Dormammu? If you compare him with Odin of Asgard?"
The Ancient One pondered for a moment and gave an objective evaluation.
"If Dormammu were to leave the Dark Dimension and enter our dimension, his strength might not be as great as Odin's."
"However, within the Dark Dimension, he is an invincible existence. He possesses endless energy, endless life, and can easily manipulate the reality within that dimension."
"So the best way to defeat him is to trick him into coming out?" Homelander's mind turned.
Upon hearing his words, the Ancient One added, "Dormammu is cautious by nature. He always incites fanatical followers to destroy defenses from the inside and pull the target World into darkness, but his true form never actively steps a single step out of the Dark Dimension."
After hearing this, Homelander curled his lips and gave a pithy evaluation.
"Strength is average, but he's a coward. Got it."
The Ancient One ignored Homelander's crude assessment and turned to look at Strange.
"Now that the London Sanctum has been destroyed, the Guardian of the New York Sanctum has also sacrificed himself." The Ancient One's tone was sincere. "The New York Sanctum needs a new Guardian to stabilize the magic circle. Stephen, I hope you will take over this position."
Upon hearing this, Strange immediately shook his head in refusal.
"No, no, no. Master, I am a Doctor who saves people; I am not an executioner who kills."
"And I've already killed two people today... I can't..."
"You have no choice, Stephen." The Ancient One interrupted him. "When darkness descends, no one can remain aloof. Your performance just now proved that you possess the power to protect this place."
"And..." the Ancient One added meaningfully, "If Earth is swallowed by the Dark Dimension, everything you want to save will turn into nothingness."
This sentence perfectly struck Strange's weak spot.
After a moment of silence, Strange nodded and agreed.
Homelander was somewhat surprised.
This kid took the bait just like that?
In his memory, Strange was supposed to sternly refuse first, and then wait for the Ancient One to be fatally wounded, leave her body, and give him one last ideological education lesson before he would truly understand the meaning of guardianship.
It seems Christine's death had quite a significant impact on him.
Seeing that Strange had agreed, the Ancient One finally revealed a satisfied smile.
"It seems everything has returned to the trajectory you envisioned." Homelander shrugged and smiled at the Ancient One. "You wouldn't be planning to exit the stage now, would you, Master?"
Facing Homelander's teasing, the Ancient One only calmly replied, "Protecting Earth from dimensional erosion is my mission, and I will spend my life fulfilling it."
Homelander rolled his eyes; this old nun sure was stubborn.
Knowing the plot well, he did not expose the Ancient One's little schemes.
"What do you plan to do next?" Homelander cut to the chase.
"After Kaecilius escapes, he will definitely gather the zealots and make a comeback." The Ancient One's face was solemn. "We need to gather mages to guard the two Sanctums well and rebuild the London Sanctum as soon as possible."
"There is no such thing as being on guard for a thousand days against a thief." Homelander sneered. "Blindly defending will always lead to an oversight one day. We must take the initiative and find them first."
"A mage has ten thousand ways to hide if they want to." The Ancient One shook her head.
Homelander smiled and said, "There is an old saying: 'God is fair, evil will be punished.' As long as he is still active on Earth, and as long as he is still breathing Earth's air, he cannot escape the Skynet."
"But just in case, the first step we must take is to evacuate the civilians around the remaining two Sanctums."
"I will pull Kaecilius and Dormammu's zealots into the Mirror Dimension." The Ancient One frowned. "Ordinary people won't be affected, so there is no need to make a big fuss."
Homelander shook his head, his tone firm. "You cannot always cover every detail, Mage. There is no room for error when it comes to people's lives!"
This sentence deeply touched Strange.
As a top surgeon, he knew exactly how much weight this sentence carried.
On the operating table, a one percent mistake means one hundred percent death.
Notification! Gained special popularity value + 5000! (From Stephen Strange)
"The areas where the two Sanctums are located are densely populated, and evacuation is not easy. What do you plan to do?" the Ancient One asked.
"Of course, it means holding a press conference." Homelander spread his hands as a matter of course. "Explain everything. Once people understand the truth, they will naturally cooperate with our work."
"Another press conference?" The Ancient One had a rare expression of speechlessness. "You really love holding press conferences..."
Then she added, with a worried tone, "The lineage of mages has been hidden in the shadows for thousands of years. Rashly exposing the existence of magic and dimensions to the eyes of ordinary people will trigger unpredictable panic..."
"The times have changed, Master." Homelander interrupted her and pointed outside the Sanctum door. "Look outside! Alien fleets, Superheroes, mutant monsters... supernatural phenomena have long become a part of people's lives."
"The public is not as fragile as you think! Keeping them in the dark like fools is not protection; it is arrogance."
"The truth will bring panic, but the truth can also bring faith and power."
It can also bring popularity value. Doing good deeds secretly is the same as not doing them at all. Do I look like someone who works for free?!
Homelander silently added to himself.
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