In the open space in front of the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters building, many people had gathered. The surviving members of Hydra were surrounded by the crowd.
Now everything had settled. The Helicarriers had been destroyed, Alexander Pierce had been captured, and the surviving agents had their belongings confiscated while being held at gunpoint.
"Mr. Superman, I have a question."
Seeing Superman look at him, Pierce continued, "If the person closest to you were controlled by an American and imprisoned somewhere you couldn't find, waiting to be executed, what would you do?"
"There is no 'if'."
Pierce smiled. "It's just a hypothetical question, a topic of discussion. It won't really happen, but I hope Mr. Superman will answer it."
Karl remained silent for a long time before finally looking up.
"To kill someone, I need less than one ten-millionth of a second. To destroy the Earth or the solar system, I need less than a second… which means roughly one second is enough."
Everyone looked at Karl after hearing this. Karl glanced at Pierce and continued,
"As for a galaxy, it would take about ten minutes for it to disappear. So don't try to threaten me with people. Without her restraint, I won't show mercy."
Karl's tone was extremely calm, but everyone present felt a chill run through their hearts. They had not expected that the Superman who had saved them could be so terrifyingly powerful. At that moment, they felt even more grateful toward the person who could restrain him.
Pierce's smile disappeared. As he was taken away by Fury and the others, he looked at the Hydra members on the ground and realized that Karl had a weakness.
But Pierce and everyone else also realized that this answer was not only Karl's weakness—it was also his limiter. Without her, things would turn out exactly as Karl had said.
"Karl, do you have any way to contact you?"
At that moment, Steve walked over to Karl.
"I never carry a phone. You can find me at 177A Bleecker Street, Manhattan."
He gave a signal to Steve, Natasha, and Fury, then rose into the sky, indicating that the matters here no longer required his involvement. Fury could handle the rest.
Kamar-Taj Library
After Karl left, Di Wan came to the library.
Usually only Haydn stayed in the library, and occasionally Mordo would visit, but there were never many people. Today, however, the library was completely empty.
Di Wan took a book from the shelf, sat down at the table, and had just opened it when she heard footsteps.
Curious, she turned around and saw Kaecilius.
"Uncle Ka, long time no see."
Di Wan called Kaecilius "Uncle Ka" because he always gave her the impression of being very old. He never joked with others and she had never seen him practicing or reading like everyone else, yet he seemed unusually persistent.
Kaecilius walked to her and sat down across the table, silently staring at her.
"What's wrong?"
Di Wan was startled by the way he looked at her.
After a long pause, Kaecilius finally spoke.
"I was there this morning."
"What?"
Di Wan didn't understand what he meant.
"Gu Yi… she has been hiding many things from us."
He stopped speaking and simply looked at Di Wan, as if waiting for her reaction.
"Do you know what the mark on Gu Yi's forehead is?" Kaecilius asked. Di Wan didn't answer, only frowned slightly.
"Everyone who comes here comes for healing. Some seek to heal physical wounds, while others seek to heal emotional ones."
He stood up, walked to the innermost bookshelf, and took out a book.
"My wife and child both died. I once thought about killing myself, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I hated myself for not having the power to save them…"
Kaecilius fell silent for a moment.
"My son died before my wife. At that time, my only reason for living was my wife. Later… my wife also died of a terminal illness. I became completely destitute. I started drinking heavily and wandered aimlessly through the streets every day."
Di Wan couldn't see his expression because he was standing with his back to her, holding the book.
"Just when I thought I was going to die, Mordo came to me and told me that any problem could be solved…"
Kaecilius turned around. His eyes were red, and his face was filled with the anger of betrayal.
"I've been here for almost ten years. I studied magic day and night, but what I want has never changed. I just want to see my wife and child again."
His bloodshot eyes stared at Di Wan, frightening her. Beneath the table, she quietly made a hand gesture with both hands.
"But it's useless. No matter how much you study the spells here, you still can't achieve it… No one can escape the constraints of time. Do you know that after I came here, I felt even more desperate than before? I placed all my hope here, yet I still failed."
He walked back and sat across from her, placing the book on the table. Slowly flipping it open, he continued,
"This morning, before Gu Yi left, I was there as well. Many people don't know what Kamar-Taj is really guarding against. They only know that we are defending against enemies from the Dark Dimension, but no one has ever told you who those enemies are."
His hand stopped turning the pages. He looked at Di Wan and pushed the book toward her.
"Dormammu. Many people have read this book. It's too profound. I can barely understand some of it."
Di Wan saw the illustration on the page—it was the same mark that appeared on Gu Yi's forehead. She had never read this book before. Her understanding of magic was not deep enough yet. She could use magic flexibly, but there were still many concepts she didn't fully understand.
"Gu Yi once told me that learning this technique is extremely dangerous. No one who practices it can leave alive."
Kaecilius sat down again.
Di Wan frowned.
"This book is about time and Dormammu. It contains many strange spells."
Recognizing these words and trying to piece them together, she still couldn't fully understand the contents. At best, she could only imagine a vague picture of what it meant.
"Gu Yi has never taught us the spells in this book. No one knows why she has lived for so long. Only after seeing this book this morning did I realize that she has been lying to us all along."
When Kaecilius finished that sentence, his voice almost turned into a roar.
"You're wrong."
Kaecilius looked at Di Wan with a hoarse voice. Hearing her words, he didn't understand why she still couldn't see the truth.
Di Wan continued,
"Everyone who comes here comes to heal—including you and me. You lost your wife and child, and that's tragic, but who can you blame for it? Gu Yi treats everyone here the same. She never forbids anyone from reading the books here. She warned you about the danger of this technique, which means you haven't yet reached the level required to use it."
"What does she have to gain by deceiving you? Money? Or something else? Your twisted mindset is your own illness. Even Gu Yi cannot cure it. Death cannot be reversed. Even if the dead were brought back… would they still truly be themselves?"
Kaecilius stared at Di Wan with wide eyes and slowly collapsed into the chair, sitting there in silence for a long time.
"All I want in this life is to see my wife and child again. In fact… Gu Yi can do it…"
Di Wan couldn't hear the whisper behind her clearly. She only saw Kaecilius suddenly becoming dispirited, sitting there as if trapped in a difficult decision.
She picked up the book from the table and returned it to the shelf, no longer disturbing him. These were problems he had to resolve himself—no one else could do it for him.
"Did something happen?"
Karl had just returned and saw Di Wan sitting in the pavilion where the two of them often rested. Her mood seemed low, and her eyes were blankly staring into the distance.
When Di Wan saw Karl return, she turned around, took his hand, and pulled him to sit beside her.
If Di Wan didn't want to say anything, Karl wouldn't ask again. He understood her well—if she wanted to talk, she would say it herself. If she didn't, he would never force her.
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