The return was silent.
Ian abruptly opened his eyes.
Ian habitually looked at the alarm clock on his desk. Nothing had changed; the return time was still precisely accurate. He wasn't surprised that Digital Tony could calculate the moment of his departure.
"I've disappeared in that world so many times. That guy is a super-intellect that can calculate souls it would be weirder if he couldn't figure out this kind of thing."
Ian looked at the box in his hand.
The demon's head was still inside.
It hadn't been swapped.
The creature just seemed to be trembling continuously, as if suffering from claustrophobia.
"You... we're back again?"
It clearly sensed its surroundings and quickly continued to speak with extreme nervousness. "Don't worry, I won't tell. I won't expose you as a Dimension Lord who keeps a herd of souls and then splits off a so-called savior to ruthlessly toy with those souls!"
"Even if the King of Hell showed up, I wouldn't say a word!"
While inside the box, it had clearly spent a long time contemplating life. Perhaps the dark environment had indeed awakened some literary talent in the Bull-Headed Demon.
"Too bad it still can't compare to my world-shattering talent."
Ian closed the metal box again, shutting the Bull-Headed Demon's head inside. He thought that if the creature were kept in there longer, it might stew up more creative ideas that he could plagiarize and use.
"It seems I'm a little bit naughty."
Reflecting briefly on his experiences in the Nightmare World.
The boy had an idea.
"I need to prepare in advance for touching Sentry!" Ian walked to his desk. After passing Batman's suit, he felt his wisdom, already ingenious, had grown a bit more strategic.
He wondered if Batman's original suit would have a better effect?
Too bad Batman wasn't a girl.
Forget it.
He wouldn't try.
Bruce Wayne had body odor.
And he wasn't lacking in strategy anyway.
As Ian thought, he picked up his phone and dialed a number.
"Beep beep beep~"
As a minor, he now indeed possessed a mobile phone, courtesy of an unconditional gift from Mr. Batman. Ian didn't intend to be overly cautious about it. A phone with free service that could also be used as a brick—Ian naturally adhered to the principle of "use it or lose it."
After all, the person was Batman. If Batman wanted to monitor someone, whether they threw the phone away or performed any number of flashy operations, it would all be useless effort. If he pretended he had no secrets in his daily life, then Batman could never know any of his secrets. This was Ian's strategy for dealing with Batman.
"Beep beep beep~"
Another round of ringing.
During the patient wait.
The call Ian placed was finally answered.
"Mr. Leonard Hofstadter, it's me."
Ian spoke first.
"Ah?"
The person on the other end of the line was clearly taken aback.
The sound of *Halo* game effects and Sheldon's distinctive scream could be heard through the receiver.
"What kind of person calls you at this hour! Leonard! Are you secretly colluding with the mob!" Sheldon's voice was full of shock and alarm.
The sound of hurried running emerged.
It seemed Leonard had moved outside the apartment door.
"It's quiet now. That was just my pet groundhog... Who is this, please?" Leonard didn't recognize Ian's voice, as they had only met once.
Ian didn't blame him.
"I'm Ian the capitalist. We met at the gym entrance." Ian patiently spoke. The next moment, a sudden realization sounded on the other end of the phone.
"Homelander's Creator! I remember! I have a friend who really wants to read your The Boys comic too!" Leonard's exclamation made Ian raise an eyebrow.
He truly lived up to his reputation as a theoretical physicist.
He could even sense his new 'Ancestor-Man' alter ego through quantum entanglement.
"Yes, that's me."
Ian mentally gave a thumbs-up.
He hoped the quantum entanglement effect would also prompt the man to thank him soon.
"Uh, Ian, right? Is there something you need me for? If it's about the job, we are still considering it. Um, yes, still considering."
Leonard's voice sounded a little guilty.
"It's fine, no rush. We have plenty of time. I just wanted to ask you about comics today. Have you heard of the comic The Incredible Hulk?"
"I wanted to ask about the publishing company for this comic, or other stories in the same universe." Ian's so-called contingency plan was, of course, about Sentry.
Sentry's corpse was clearly a done deal, but if he ran into the same situation as Homelander, he'd be ruined. So, whether it was useful or not, Ian had to ensure Sentry's character existed in this world.
"Do you need some new inspiration for your comic creation? Okay, wait for me." Leonard didn't sound confused; instead, he rushed off, full of understanding.
The sound of hurried footsteps was accompanied by Sheldon's complaints. Leonard yelled "shut up," and the world went silent. He seemed to have run back into his room, breathing heavily as if he had just completed a marathon. Ian believed the other party's apartment must be huge, otherwise, why would he be panting so heavily? It seemed his setting for the Batman story was also very reasonable.
"I own a collection of this niche comic. It only ran for a few issues. I felt as pitiful as the Hulk... Okay, please don't mind my rambling."
Leonard was rustling through things on the other end of the line.
"The publishing company is United Comics... I think they do have other works. Let me check for you." As he spoke, the sound of keyboard clicks could be heard from Leonard's end.
"Found it. This company is unlucky. I checked for you on the [Outsiders Should Read Outsider Comics Website]. They only published three comics: The Incredible Hulk, Invincible Thor, and The Human Torch. All of them abruptly failed for various reasons, and even the comic artists died in accidents."
"That is truly wicked!"
The sound of Leonard gasping for air sounded like an asthma attack was imminent.
"Okay, thank you, Leonard. I have inspiration now. You truly are a real superhero." Ian pondered. The information was similar to what he had found on Google.
When the dial tone sounded.
Leonard instinctively touched his head—thankfully, it was still attached. As a reader of The Boys, the seasoned geek felt the context of certain lines was a bit too intense.
"After learning about Homelander, I'm almost afraid to look Superman in the eye." Leonard and his friends had more than once debated whether Superman could blast the moon with his heat vision.
The appearance of Homelander.
Would inevitably spread this debate to a wider audience—for no other reason than the comic artist boy actually drew the brainstorm of blasting the moon!
Although it was only the beginning of the story.
The epic famous scene, the improved version of the 'Moon Fang Heaven Slash,' brought enormous shock to the seasoned geek. Leonard dared not imagine how spectacular Superman's expression would be if he ever saw The Boys.
"And that character named Deep... he must be modeled after Aquaman. Aquaman doesn't have a good temper." Leonard was genuinely willing to bet again.
He firmly believed that the more popular The Boys became after its release, the higher the probability he would see the Justice League reunite in the news to collectively trash the comic artist boy. In this world of constant strife, God might always protect America, but He might not be able to protect the audaciously daring comic artist.
"At least his guts weren't big enough to draw Batman."
This was where Leonard felt Ian still retained a shred of sense. After all, the mental state required to draw The Boys, in his opinion, somewhat qualified the boy for Arkham Asylum.
How long could a little boy survive in there?