Strange's Happy Life (Part 2)

Schiller sat in his office, flipping through reports while dialing a number on his phone. After dialing, he held the phone to his ear and rang for a long time before it was finally answered. First, there was a series of explosions, then the sound of something falling, followed by Strange's exclamation.

"Hey Stephen, what are you doing? Why haven't those two medical records I asked for last night arrived yet?"

"Oh, wait! I forgot!" Before Strange could finish speaking, he cried out in pain, "Ouch!"

He pulled the silk ribbon wrapped around his face and looked at the person opposite him, saying, "Wang, I said I'd wait a moment, I need to take a call, I..."

Before he could finish explaining, Schiller roared from the other end of the phone, "Forgot?! You've forgotten four times this week! Those three medical records I asked for yesterday, you just said you forgot. I've paid you so much, can't you..."

Just as Strange was about to explain, the ribbon flying in mid-air slapped his face again, making him yell. The Master Wong opposite him said, "You must concentrate, or the power of magic will not obey your commands."

"I was trying to concentrate too!" Strange yelled into the phone. "There's nothing to see in that patient's case in room 2! Didn't I tell you yesterday? His symptoms are all made up, all to pick up that nurse named Fina..."

Strange dodged to the left, quickly speaking into the phone, "I'm in a bit of trouble here, oh damn! Get out of the way..."

As he spoke, he bent down again to dodge the sweeping ribbon, then switched the phone to his other hand, using his free right hand to shield his face, and said, "I'll give you those two medical records when I get back tonight. I need to..."

With that, he swung his arm sharply and finally caught the fluttering ribbon. He breathed a sigh of relief and said, "... Solve some trouble."

As soon as he finished speaking, the ribbon in his hand shot out with a "whoosh," circled the Chandelier in a wide arc, and then, with Catapult Start, he grabbed the Chandelier and hurled it at Strange.

Strange screamed and flew backward, clutching his head. As the phone hit the ground, Schiller's threatening voice came through. "Listen, no matter how badly you're doing in your extracurricular classes, you have to finish your work on time, or I'll dock your pay!"

Hearing the busy tone on the phone, Strange helplessly covered his eyes and said, "I regret it. I want to drop out of school now, is that okay?"

He lay on the ground, utterly dejected, and said, "This is something no human can learn. How am I supposed to explain things to a ribbon and make it obey me?"

The Master Wong opposite him remained calm and said, "The power of magic lies in belief; you must learn to persevere."

The next afternoon, as Strange was engrossed in writing, Schiller walked in with a cup of coffee and asked, "You've been taking classes for a week now, how's it going?"

Strange said nothing, but first sighed deeply. He looked up and sized Schiller up and down several times. Schiller followed his gaze and looked at himself, saying, "What's wrong? Is there something wrong with me?"

"You can use magic too, right? Can I ask how long you've been learning?"

"Who told you that was magic?" Schiller retorted, seeing Strange glaring at him. "I'm a Mutant," Schiller said. "This ability is innate; I don't need to learn it."

Strange's eyes widened in shock and anger. "Then you let me learn magic! You actually... you damned..."

Schiller shrugged. This was his usual line: to ordinary people and Mutant, he was a wizard; to wizards, he was an ordinary person and Mutant. After all, the two sides couldn't possibly exchange testimonies.

Strange covered his forehead and said, "I should have known better. How could such a powerful ability be so easy to learn?"

"Can you believe it? This past week, I've been battling a floating ribbon!"

Strange was so angry he laughed. He said, "I really Thank you that damn ribbon. It makes me feel like the patients here are actually quite easy to deal with!"

"Ribbons?" Schiller asked, somewhat puzzled. "Didn't they teach you to draw circles or anything like that?"

"Drawing circles? What are those?"

"It's a magic portal."

Strange scoffed and said, "Who knows when that will be? Right now, I'm being completely beaten by that ribbon. I can't even catch it, let alone control it."

"I really hope you can learn the technique of that magical portal soon."

"Why?"

"That way you can send me the completed medical records directly through the portal."

Strange rolled his eyes and continued, "That fat sorcerer said the Sorcerer Supreme thinks I'm very talented. What the hell? I don't know what kind of talent it takes to fight a ribbon..."

"Didn't he tell you any techniques or anything? Like calming down and focusing on controlling it..."

"Of course I taught you, but if I can't calm down when a ribbon is slapping me twice a second, is that still my fault?"

"So you're just going to keep going like this, like a ribbon?"

"What else can we do? Wang told me that beginner mages who want to improve their concentration all have to go through this stage."

Strange picked up his pen again and began to write, saying as he wrote, "According to him, magic is not created out of thin air, but is created by borrowing some higher power. Therefore, every mage apprentice must first train his control when he enters the field, so as not to lose control of the borrowed power."

"What's the principle behind that ribbon?"

Strange paused for a moment, then said, "I heard it's also borrowed power, but it's relatively weak, and it's specifically for beginners to train with."

"Actually, I've been thinking that since this ability can be learned, it proves that it's no different from the medical knowledge I learned before, and that it should all be learned through induction, summarization, and refinement..."

Without a doubt, Strange is a top student. After suffering a few days of setbacks, he has begun to think about ways to improve his efficiency.

Ancient One was very good at judging people. Strange's talent lay in his excellent learning ability and high receptiveness to magic. He quickly accepted his status as a magic apprentice and planned to make progress in his magical career.

Schiller, resting his chin on his hand, said, "In that case, have you considered a more convenient way?"

"A more convenient way? What do you mean?"

"Since this power is borrowed, you can have a good talk with your creditor and tell him not to be so irritable."

Strange said helplessly, "The problem now is that I can't even hold onto that ribbon. You have to learn the basics first, control the ribbon to stop, and then you'll have a chance to communicate with the forces behind it."

"Have you ever thought that there are actually many ways to stop that ribbon?"

"For example?"

"Like this." Schiller took a blue gun out of the drawer.

The next day, the fat Master Wong stood aside, watching Strange roll up his sleeves, holding a strange-looking blue pistol in one hand, and slowly say to a ribbon frozen solid, "Listen, if you're still this irritable, you're not worth the price at all..."

Seeing Strange acting like Strange collecting protection money, the Master Wong was speechless. He tried to dissuade him, saying, "Stephen, a mage's concentration is very important. You can't do this..."

Before he could finish speaking, Ancient One appeared behind him. Ancient One's tone was quite light, even a little surprised. She said, "It seems that he is more talented than I thought."

Wang's eyes widened, Ancient One stroked her chin, saying, "I was worried that his temper was too good and might cause Kamar-Taj and Earth to suffer, but now it seems that he's not so bad."

Wang stared intently at the Sorcerer Supreme. Ancient One smiled and said, "Concentration is indeed very important, and so is faith, but those are all secondary. Before you can control magic, you must first acquire it. That is the true essence of magic."

After watching Strange play shooting games with the Cold Gun and the ribbon for hours, the Ancient One was even more satisfied. She said, "It seems he has good patience too. Sometimes it's like that. Some stingy people are very difficult to deal with. If you don't have enough patience, it's hard to get them to take the bait."

When the ribbon finally reached a compromise and the two sides began negotiations, Ancient One was even more certain that she hadn't misjudged him. She said, "Clearly, he's very experienced. Whether it's moderately raising prices or using a strategy of retreating to advance, he's very skilled at it..."

Indeed, Strange's social engagements during this period were not in vain. He dealt with important figures from all over the world every day, chatting and laughing with them in various settings, and quietly making deals. He was even present when Stark negotiated with other major powers.

The various mysterious forces in the universe have different personalities, and most of them are evil. But evil as it may be, when it comes to scheming and fighting, it is ultimately up to humanity.

Having participated in top-level human negotiations, Strange, though he may not have experienced it firsthand, was already quite adept at handling such basic situations.

Wang, standing nearby, sighed. He had a feeling that the next Sorcerer Supreme's style would definitely go completely off track.

After subduing the erratic beginner ribbon with the Cold Gun, Strange's way of thinking changed. He suddenly realized that magic was not superior to technology; they were just two different paths.

These two paths overlap to some extent; for example, both the Cold Gun and the freeze magic can freeze something. However, they can also counter or complement each other. For instance, the Cold Gun can subdue an unruly ribbon, while the freeze magic can replenish the energy of the Cold Gun and the Freeze Ray out of thin air.

After observing human economics for several days, a bold idea gradually took shape in Strange's mind.

In the Stark Tower's laboratory, Stark looked Strange up and down, and said sarcastically, "Guess what the least welcome profession is in my lab?"

Strange didn't care at all. With a wave of his hand, a ribbon flew out and circled around Stark, almost causing him to tumble.

"What the hell is this?" Stark turned his head, looking at the ribbon that was darting around on the ceiling.

Strange spread his hands and said, "See? This is my magic."

"Heh." Stark gave him a fake smile, then reached out and a mech instantly covered his entire body. The movement was so fast that Strange didn't even have time to react before a fist stopped between his eyes. Stark's voice came from the mech:

"See that? That's my fist."

Strange flicked his wrist, turned his head away, and said, "Listen, I have a plan. Here's what happened: a guy who called himself the Sorcerer Supreme approached me and asked me to learn magic from him, but I discovered that magic is actually..."

Half an hour later, the two stood in front of the experimental table. Stark crossed his arms and said, "You mean, you plan to have me use the power of magic to modify the mechs, and then in turn create mechs that can counter magic, so that you can borrow more magic?"

"So it's like..." Stark put his hand on his philtrum and touched his nose with his index finger, saying, "If I understand correctly, you plan to borrow money from others, then use that money to buy a gun, and finally point the gun at your creditor to force him to lend you more money?"

"Putting aside whether it's technically feasible, aren't you being a bit unethical?"

"So, is it technically feasible?"

Stark turned around, rummaged through a stack of documents beside him, and said, "It's actually quite strange. The power in this ribbon seems to be different from the Schiller showed me."

"I haven't yet deciphered his power, so I can't fully apply it to my mecha, but this..."

Stark frowned and thought for a moment before saying, "According to your theory, this power was borrowed from someone else. Since he can project power onto a ribbon, can he also project it onto my mech?"

Strange shrugged and said, "Theoretically, it's possible, but such power is very difficult for ordinary people to control."

"So how did you control it?"

"Because I am not an ordinary person, I am a genius."

Stark glared at Strange, and Strange glared back. After a moment, Strange said, "Okay, actually I used the Cold Gun..."

"Use technology to subdue magic, and then use magic to modify technology?" Stark stroked his chin thoughtfully and said, "What do you think? I'll set a trap, make him project his power onto my mech, then refuse to pay back the money, keeping the power for himself, how about that?"

"That's what I mean. Once you've harnessed this power and built even stronger mechs, I'll provide the manpower, you provide the guns, and we'll borrow more money..."

The two exchanged a glance. Stark looked at Strange and said disdainfully, "You're so shameless."

"So, are you going to do it or not?"

"I'm wicked too, so I'll do it."

The cover has changed!