A safe house 450 meters deep in the Himalayas.
The moment Vivian's psychic-wave scan swept across everyone's minds like blades.
Pietro Maximoff could not help but frown deeply, his expression turning ugly. His eyes briefly darkened in a daze before returning to normal, but it felt as though a knife had scraped through his brain. Shaking his head in discomfort, he produced faint, blurry afterimages.
Wanda Maximoff beside him did not fare much better. Her beautiful brows furrowed tightly, though her reaction was milder than her brother Pietro Maximoff's. She felt herself sway for an instant, as if her mind had been torn, before recovering.
Nick Fury's expression changed sharply. His will was firm and his mind unyielding; faced with psychic probing of this intensity, he showed no major abnormality. Only his temples ached slightly, and the consequences Loki had caused while wielding the Mind Scepter immediately flashed through his mind.
Nick Fury exchanged a grim look with Stephen Strange, and both saw the tense shock in the other's eyes.
Who... was using psychic waves to scan living beings?
Bzzzz—
The Mind Scepter in a corner received the psychic waves and began to tremble incessantly, blazing with light.
"Get behind me!" Stephen Strange's eyes narrowed. Keenly noticing the abnormal movement from the Mind Scepter set aside nearby, he formed hand seals in advance and shouted at them.
Nick Fury, Pietro Maximoff, and Wanda Maximoff hurried behind Stephen Strange.
The next moment.
Boom—
The agitated Mind Scepter in the corner exploded, erupting with intense light and a shockwave that blasted through the cramped safe house in every direction.
Stephen Strange rapidly thrust both hands out, unfolding a magical defensive formation and an energy-channeling formation. He shielded everyone from the sudden impact and diverted the released energy into another space.
The force