Strange's breathing quickened.
"No mass, unaffected by gravity, and retains complete consciousness and self-awareness..."
Homelander waved at the two ghosts floating in mid-air.
"Welcome to the Astral Dimension, you two."
"This is what you claimed did not exist... the soul."
Tony was still flailing in mid-air.
Strange instinctively took a deep breath, even though he didn't need to breathe right now.
"Is the end of science... really theology?" The materialist worldview he had built over many years developed a long, narrow crack at this moment.
"Alright, trial time is over. If you want to experience more, please purchase a VIP subscription."
Homelander watched their reactions and felt it was about time.
He raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
The two spirits were instantly pulled back into their physical bodies by a powerful suction force.
"Hoo—!"
Both men gasped for air, their legs went weak, and they nearly fell over.
"Fine, Anthony. You win." Tony glared at Homelander, still shaken.
"You proved the existence of the soul, but how does this help us solve Cyberpsychosis? Are we supposed to slap his soul out of his body when he has an episode?"
Homelander shook his head and said, "I'm just pointing out the direction; solving the specific problems is your job."
"If I, the boss, have to do everything, what do I need you for?"
At this moment, Stephen also came to his senses, his eyes exceptionally bright.
"Soul... there really is a soul..." Stephen muttered incessantly; he seemed to have developed an unusual obsession with the word "soul."
Homelander watched Stephen's reaction and struck while the iron was hot.
"Do you want to learn?" Homelander dangled the bait. "Become my disciple, and I will teach you."
Stephen's eyes lit up immediately. Without a moment's hesitation, he spoke impatiently:
"I do! I would very much like to become your disciple, Teacher Homelander!"
His tone was filled with an unusually urgent desire.
[Notification! Received special popularity value +10000! (From Stephen Strange)]
As the notification sounded, a flash of surprise crossed Homelander's mind.
Is he really that desperate? No bargaining phase, and he even triggered special popularity value directly?
It seems he really is a natural-born professional mage.
"Very good." Homelander nodded and set the time. "Then go back and prepare today."
"Tomorrow at 10 AM, come to 177A Bleecker Street, Greenwich Village, Manhattan. I will be waiting for you there."
Stephen nodded vigorously and turned to look at Tony.
"Stark, I'll leave the finishing work in the lab to you; I need to take care of some personal matters."
After saying this, Stephen took off his white lab coat and left the laboratory in high spirits, his steps as light as a child's.
After Stephen left, Tony walked up to Homelander and cleared his throat, pretending to be calm.
"Uh, hmm, Anthony, although I don't want to be any disciple of yours."
"But I am very interested in the principles behind it. Once I crack the formula for the soul, perhaps the next Nobel Prize winner will be me again."
"If the price is becoming your student, it's not entirely unbearable..."
Homelander looked at Tony's tsundere appearance and couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"Haha, forget it, Tony." Homelander ruthlessly shattered his fantasy. "Learning magic requires talent and faith. Your brain is filled with scientific formulas; you won't be able to learn a thing."
Seeing the undisguised disappointment on Tony's face, Homelander decided to give him a little treat.
"Here, there's a new project for you to play with."
As he spoke, he tossed a fist-sized metal block toward Tony.
Tony caught it instinctively.
Although he hadn't performed any specific instrument tests yet, relying on a top genius's keen intuition for materials, Tony sensed something unusual about this object the moment he touched it.
Tony's expression turned serious as he stared at the object in his hand, examining it over and over.
"What is this?"
"It's called Lunar Titanium Alloy," Homelander replied.
"What's the production volume of this stuff?" Tony asked the important question.
"Plenty to go around." Homelander smiled. "I discovered a super-large vein on the far side of the Moon."
"And I've already had Skynet establish a mining Base. It's a complete one-stop shop for mining and refining."
Tony perked up immediately, magic and everything else forgotten; this was the field he was truly interested in.
"Alright, play with it as you like. If you don't have enough material, just ask Skynet for more."
Seeing Tony revitalized, Homelander prepared to leave as well.
Just as Homelander turned his back, Tony suddenly called out to him.
"Hey, Anthony."
Homelander stopped and looked back.
Tony toyed with the Lunar Titanium Alloy in his hands, putting aside his usual playfulness, his tone revealing a rare seriousness.
"Stephen is a rare genius, but he's also a poor, unlucky bastard."
"But... his personality is very paranoid. Since you're taking him as a disciple, if you're going to teach him dangerous things, keep an eye on him."
Hearing this, Homelander keenly sensed some unusual information hidden in Tony's words.
Recalling Strange's unusually excited state just now, as well as the sudden burst of special popularity value.
He casually asked one more question.
"How is he a poor, unlucky bastard? The car accident was serious, but wasn't his hand healed through implants? He didn't go bankrupt or end up on the streets either."
Tony was silent for a moment, then sighed and said, "When he had the car accident, his girlfriend was in the car too. The Doctors couldn't save her..."
"His girlfriend died?" Homelander blurted out in surprise.
Tony nodded and continued:
"In the time we've spent together, I could tell he had deep feelings for his girlfriend. Stephen often used crazy work to numb himself."
"Just now, you showed him the existence of the soul... perhaps it gave him some dangerous hope."
"I've watched quite a few supernatural horror movies; usually, people who mess with souls don't end up well..."
Meanwhile, Homelander's mind was rapidly recalling the plot of "Doctor Strange" from his past life.
He remembered clearly that in the original plot, when Doctor Strange had the car accident, he was the only one in the car.
His girlfriend, Christine Palmer, was not only fine but later helped perform surgery on him at the hospital, saving his life.
How did Christine end up dying in the car accident here?
Could it be that his own intervention triggered a so-called butterfly effect?
No wonder Strange was so obsessed with the word "soul" earlier.
No wonder he was so desperate to learn magic.
He wouldn't be trying to pull his dead lover back from the underworld, would he?
The expression on Homelander's face shifted a few times before finally returning to calm.
"I see." Homelander nodded at Tony. "I'll keep an eye on him."
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