The others whispered a few words with the one in the center, quickly reaching a consensus. In the empty theater, the old man spoke again.
"So, Leo, are you willing to share what we grant you? Do you have such foresight to prevent a dreadful future?"
Leo gradually calmed down, spreading his hands: "But who knows about the future?"
"With great science."
"With silent mathematics."
"With unvoiced truth."
"With hidden arts."
"With mysterious magic."
Each of the five people on stage answered one sentence, as if their minds were connected, and the final summary was still made by the person in the center: "Every problem has an answer, every equation must have a solution, this is the world."
Leo slowly sighed, looking at his translucent hands, stars moving within his flesh, in the dark night sky.
"Then what can I do?"
The man in the center stared into his eyes, speaking very seriously: "The world needs you to step forward at critical moments, Leonid."
"......"
Seeing that he still didn't quite understand, the old man in the red robe added: "We advance mankind, we protect mankind, we are safety officers, we are protectors, we are... Holy Shield!"
Leonid turned his head to look at Howard in the audience seats, the little mustache was nodding while giving a thumbs up.
He thought for a moment and lifted his head to look at the high platform: "Alright, I can join you, if it's for the world, I can certainly step forward. How should I address you? Should I call you Master according to ancient customs?"
The leading old man smiled, not a hearty laugh, but still very kind.
"I am Isaac Newton, some called me Sir, others called me Master, but you don't need that, you can call me brother, we are the Holy Shield Brotherhood!"
Everyone stood up and applauded, welcoming a young new member to join, everyone had smiles on their faces.
Leo somewhat embarrassedly waved his hand, greeting everyone, the heroes protecting Earth, how great they were, he was very honored to travel with them.
................
At the same time, on the distant other side of Earth, Su Ming was making preparations.
He was no longer in New York, but first teleported to Kama Taiji, then flew to the Imperial Capital, and through past friendships, quickly met the person he wanted to see.
"This morning I was wondering why magpies were calling, just now I heard an old friend visiting, turns out to be Mr. Wilson. It's been a long time, and I've missed you dearly. Seeing you today, you're still as impressive as ever, hahaha..."
A squint-eyed man in a suit welcomed Su Ming into the office with a smiling face.
The office was located underground, its interior lights were snow white, squeezing their black shadows together in front of the door.
Everything inside was of old styles that Su Ming had only seen in war films, such as the cloth sofa covered with a white sofa cover, the old-fashioned rotary phone, and the white ceramic teacups on the table.
He actually liked these old items, but the magpie thing—forget it, where in this underground defense could there be magpies?
"Please."
"Please."
Su Ming, dressed in a luxurious suit, smiled walking into the office, sitting on the sofa, crossed his legs casually.
"Mr. Zheng is the same, still spirited and charming as in the past."
"Haha, not at all, how could I match your handsome and robust appearance." The squint-eyed man also sat down, not at the desk but beside Su Ming: "Come, serve the tea."
"There's nothing to it, you're the big leader now in a prominent position." Su Ming politely pulled out a cigar to give to Zheng Xian.
"Ah, what big leader, just an office director, not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning, haha." Zheng Xian was still all smiles, took the cigar, and directly pulled out a dagger from his suit to carve with: "I wonder where Mr. Wilson is making a fortune these days?"
"Sigh, just making a living, recently took over Kama Taiji, now barely Supreme Mage, truly ashamed." Su Ming shook his head in embarrassment as if he didn't have the face to meet anyone.
Zheng Xian choking while lighting the cigar—what the hell?
Just a few days without gathering intelligence on the Magic Realm, how did it change so dramatically?
Back when Little Devils attempted a landing, Mr. Wilson provided money and supplies, considered an international friend.
And upon first meeting Deathstroke, Zheng Xian felt he was facing a sea of blood with corpses, unable to see through him, hence declined Su Ming's offer to stay and fight the devils together.
Proven fact, the devils had no ability to land, instead went to wreak havoc on the American Colony in the South Seas. But today upon seeing him, the one once considered a Super Soldier had become Master of Sorcerers?
The world has gone mad.
Zheng Xian couldn't pinpoint the other party's intentions. He thought the other was just planning to take advantage of past ties to pursue some business in the Celestial Dynasty.
But now, representing Kama Taiji? The problem wasn't on the same level.
"Serve the fine tea."
To buy time and think, he called out to his life secretary outside again.
"Oh, no need for anything too fine, just casually brew the leaves from the mother tree of Wuyi Mountain's Da Hong Pao." Su Ming jovially added, courteously helping Zheng Xian light the cigar.
Zheng Xian coughed even more severely, as if his lungs were going to fall out, drink casually? Was this not drink till the very top?
Even as the top leader of 'the relevant department,' he couldn't afford that.
"Please sit, I'll go out to find that tea for you."
Zheng Xian's eyes, merely slits, concealed any trace of his thoughts, and he was always smiling with a deep mind.
Su Ming likely guessed it too—he wasn't going out to find tea leaves since that's what subordinates do.
That old fellow should be calling Kunlun, Kama Taiji currently can't connect phone lines up there, construction on the snowy mountain is difficult, it will take a few years.
But Kunlun has more people, greater power, Warriors are more frequently in contact with ordinary society, naturally making them easier to reach.
Soon after, Zheng Xian came back, somehow borrowing some tea leaves, letting his subordinates brew them.
"Actually found it? I must be lucky today, thank you, Director Zheng."
"Don't say that, we're all family. Though Kama Taiji isn't in direct contact with our government, our friendships in the Magic Realm are deep and longstanding."
It seemed Zheng Xian confirmed Su Ming's identity, now elevating the chat to diplomatic levels?
Within the Celestial Dynasty's secret forces, there wasn't a single warlock, not without reason, mostly due to Zheng Xian's rigid rules.
Everyone knew that the future Avengers Alliance civil war arose from the registration faction versus anti-registration faction.
And in the Celestial Dynasty, there's only one registration path, since the Ming Dynasty when Zheng Xian took over the Holy Spear from Zhang Heng, everyone had to register.
Not only true name, age, gender, height, weight, blood type, hair color, there's also place of origin, address, ancestral records up to eight generations back, personal learning experience, effects of superpowers, personal weaknesses and flaws.
All this must be recorded, stored in a database, accessible for Zheng Xian to view anytime, even to change one's codename one has to submit a written application first.
Who could handle that?