After finishing their discussion, Karl and Strange returned to Kamar-Taj together.
Two days passed.
Strange came to find Karl and informed him that he had gathered the necessary people. They could now discuss the matter concerning the First Firmament.
Karl naturally had no objections.
However, the process was unusually troublesome.
Strange acted extremely secretive. He even made Karl sign a series of magical contracts before preparing the Portal.
"Where exactly are you taking me? Why all the secrecy?"
"Is there really an organization like this on Earth?"
Karl asked curiously.
"This is our secret organization, so naturally, our defenses must be thorough."
"The fewer people who know certain secrets, the better."
"I hope you can understand."
Strange patiently explained.
In truth, had the person standing before him not been Karl, Strange might not even have bothered offering an explanation.
"Since you put it that way, I suppose I will follow your rules."
Karl answered calmly.
"Thank you for understanding."
Strange nodded.
He spent quite some time manipulating the Portal in front of them.
He entered a variety of complicated runes, making even Karl curious.
Just where were they going?
How far away was this place?
Were they traveling to some hidden treasure vault?
After waiting for a long while, the golden Portal before them finally lit up.
"After you."
Strange gestured toward it.
Karl stepped straight through.
After passing through the Portal, Karl appeared inside an enormous conference room.
A massive round table stood in its center, surrounded by six chairs.
Karl looked around curiously.
Strange soon emerged behind him.
"Where is this?"
Karl asked while examining the room.
"Our conference room."
Strange's answer was brief and direct.
"Your conference room?"
"What organization did you join?"
Karl asked curiously.
"Actually, I am one of this organization's founders."
"This is the greatest organization on Earth."
Strange spoke proudly.
"Oh?"
"What organization is it?"
Karl asked.
"We call ourselves the Illuminati."
Strange declared with great pride.
"Huh?"
"So that is all this was about."
"It is that little organization you formed with Iron Man."
Karl shook his head.
He knew about the Illuminati.
Its six members were Iron Man, Strange, Black Bolt—the leader of the Inhumans—Professor X, Mister Fantastic, and Namor, the King of Atlantis.
Together, they formed the Illuminati.
They constantly operated from the shadows and maintained absolute secrecy.
They worked together to confront enormous crises that threatened Earth.
Even their own families were unaware of the Illuminati's existence.
It was undoubtedly one of the most secretive organizations on Earth.
Karl simply did not understand why Strange had brought him to the Illuminati's headquarters.
He did not agree with the Illuminati's principles.
To protect the Main Universe, these people had once slaughtered the inhabitants of another Parallel Universe.
The Avengers in Karl's universe could still be considered conventional superheroes.
The members of the Main Universe, however, were far more hardened and pragmatic.
Sometimes, the things they did did not resemble the actions of superheroes at all.
These thoughts flashed through Karl's mind.
"Unless I remember incorrectly, the Illuminati has always been extremely secretive."
"Supposedly, no one outside the organization even knows where you meet."
"So why did you bring me here?"
Strange shook his head.
"You are correct, but the situation is exceptional."
"Given the scale of this crisis, I believe the others will understand."
"Besides, you are also a Sorcerer Supreme. You can hardly be considered an outsider."
Strange explained.
Karl shook his head.
That was merely Strange twisting the logic to suit himself.
The Illuminati did not have a seat reserved for the Sorcerer Supreme.
It had a seat reserved for a sorcerer named Strange.
"I am rather interested in meeting the leader of the Inhumans and the King of Atlantis."
Karl said.
To be honest, he truly was curious.
Atlantis hardly required an explanation. Almost everyone had heard legends about a civilization living beneath the sea.
Marvel's Atlanteans could be considered a variant branch of humanity. After living underwater for an extremely long time, they had evolved the ability to survive beneath the ocean.
Namor was their king.
As for the Inhumans, they were essentially a lesser imitation of mutants.
They had originally been part of humanity as well.
Thousands of years ago, during the war between the Kree and the Skrulls, the Kree arrived on Earth and genetically modified human beings.
Those experiments created the Inhumans.
Later, for reasons that remained unclear, the Kree abandoned their experiments on the Inhumans.
The Inhumans continued developing independently and eventually formed their own society.
They generally lived in Attilan, a city located on the far side of the Moon.
Black Bolt was their leader.
They could be regarded as a weaker version of mutants.
Inhumans also existed in Karl's universe.
However, those Inhumans had not formed a separate race or civilization. They lived among ordinary humans and were extremely few in number.
In the Main Universe, however, the Inhumans had developed much further.
They had already formed their own small society, which could effectively be considered a minor kingdom.
The factions of the Main Universe were simply far too complicated.
Even Karl was beginning to find it difficult to keep track of them all.
Karl waved his hand.
A chair immediately appeared beneath him, while several cushions flew over and arranged themselves behind his back.
They did not have to wait long.
The doors to the conference room opened, and several people entered.
Strange had clearly informed the other members about Karl in advance.
None of them appeared surprised by his presence.
Instead, they nodded politely to Karl as they entered.
Karl curiously examined them in return.
His attention was primarily focused on Namor and Black Bolt.
Aside from their unusual clothing, neither of them looked particularly different from ordinary humans.
Once everyone had taken their seats, Strange finally spoke.
"Now that everyone is here, let us begin the meeting."
"I have already given you a general overview."
"Now, Master Karl will explain the specific details of the situation."
"This is undoubtedly the greatest crisis we have ever faced."
Strange spoke with an extremely serious expression.
"Karl, you may begin."
Strange nodded toward him.
Karl returned the nod.
"Since Strange has already given you an overview, I will explain the details."
"The First Firmament is a multiversal-level entity comparable to the Five Great Gods."
"However, the extent of its power does not end there."
"You should already know that the Celestials are also its creations."
"That means it can easily create large numbers of Celestial-level beings and send them against us."
After hearing Karl's explanation, the expressions of every Illuminati member became grave.
Even without considering an actual multiversal entity, the Celestials alone were already a threat that demanded the utmost caution.
The Illuminati did not possess enough power to treat beings like that lightly.
(End of Chapter)
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