Anomaly Point (Part 1)

"Umbrella Corporation is one thing, but this too—this world is getting more and more interesting." Looking at the massive ring of light before him, about ten meters in diameter, like countless crystalline shards of transparent glass flickering with strange radiance, Shen Fei let out a helpless bitter laugh.

Though it was his first time seeing such a thing, Shen Fei still recognized what it was—an Anomaly Point, from Primeval. If it were just the ring of light, he couldn't be certain, but combined with the dinosaurs imprisoned in the underground base below, there was no mistake.

"So that's how it is—Umbrella Corporation's zombie dinosaurs might have come from this." Zombie dinosaurs had appeared in Raccoon City. At first, Shen Fei thought they were just genetic creations of Umbrella Corporation, but the appearance of this Anomaly Point made him realize he might have been wrong.

"From what I recall, an Anomaly Point leads to another world. Judging by the military base here, this Anomaly Point must have existed for a long time. Maybe this base, or even the entire island, was built because of it." The more Shen Fei thought about it, the more plausible his reasoning seemed—there was no reason to build an artificial island here for no cause.

"Room." After a moment's thought, Shen Fei walked directly to the vicinity of the Anomaly Point, activated the Op-Op Fruit's ability, and simultaneously employed his magical powers.

Half an hour later, Shen Fei withdrew the Op-Op Fruit's ability and clasped his hands together. A massive golden three-dimensional magic circle appeared directly around the Anomaly Point, enveloping it. As the golden magic circle shrank, the Anomaly Point gradually diminished as well, until both vanished simultaneously.

"Such a troublesome thing can't be allowed to exist." Just as Shen Fei muttered to himself, he suddenly felt his surroundings shift. He immediately moved his feet, dodging swiftly to the side, and then spotted a figure clad in a yellow Daoist robe, even the head concealed beneath a yellow hood, appearing near where he had stood.

"Sorcerer Supreme." Seeing this person, Shen Fei immediately raised one hand before his chest in a respectful salute.

Though Shen Fei appeared calm on the surface, his heart was churning with unease. Why had the Ancient One appeared? He had no idea what to expect.

Over the years, he had used Portals and Mirror Dimension magic not infrequently, and it often seemed like he was up to no good. Shen Fei worried the Ancient One had come to take back his Sling Ring.

Having studied at Kamar-Taj, Shen Fei knew well that using magic on Earth without the Ancient One's notice was impossible. The magical barriers of the three Holy Temples covered the entire planet—they were defenses against dimensional invasions, but also a monitoring net for magical energy on Earth.

In short, if the Ancient One wanted to, any magical fluctuation anywhere on Earth could not escape her detection.

Of course, under normal circumstances, the Ancient One wouldn't bother with such things—just as a nation's highest leader wouldn't concern themselves with every crime in a small village. If she did, she'd be run ragged.

That was why Shen Fei dared to use Portals and the Mirror Dimension.

"Do you know what that is?" The Ancient One walked to Shen Fei's side and spoke softly.

Though she didn't specify, Shen Fei understood what she meant.

"It looks like a portal, seemingly leading to another world." Shen Fei couldn't claim to know about the Anomaly Point itself, but he could explain what it was. For a Kamar-Taj mage skilled in opening Portals, analyzing the nature of an Anomaly Point with magic wasn't too difficult.

"Take a look at this." After Shen Fei finished speaking, the Ancient One suddenly produced a magic book and handed it to him.

"This..." Seeing the name on the magic book, Shen Fei was momentarily stunned. After a brief silence, he still accepted it.

The Book of Cagliostro—that was the name of this magic tome, and the only one Shen Fei had never read at Kamar-Taj. Knowing he would eventually leave, he had not only studied many magic books during his time there but also copied numerous texts into his computer for later study.

In particular, he had memorized spells that Doctor Strange would later use, such as Images of Ikonn, the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak, and so on.

After all, he didn't have Strange's photographic memory.

The Ancient One hadn't stopped him. In fact, many of the magic books at Kamar-Taj were also available online—like The Lesser Key of Solomon, the Grand Grimoire, and the Dictionnaire Infernal.

But this Book of Cagliostro was one he had never touched, because it was a book about time magic. The magic books at Kamar-Taj were chained to the library shelves with iron chains enchanted by the Ancient One. Don't underestimate those chains—any book the Ancient One didn't want read was impossible to remove.

This further convinced Shen Fei that the Ancient One's death was intentional. Otherwise, Kaecilius could never have found the ritual magic circle to summon dark power from the Book of Cagliostro.

Seeing the Ancient One beside him show no reaction, Shen Fei began reading the Book of Cagliostro. He had always been intensely curious about this tome.

Kaecilius wanted to save his wife—he didn't need to go through all that trouble. He could have simply used the Time Stone to rewind time, but he never did.

"This..." When Shen Fei reached the middle of the Book of Cagliostro and saw the two central pages stuck together, he immediately understood—the Ancient One didn't want him to see the dark summoning ritual. After a brief pause, he continued flipping through.

"I'm not stealing Doctor Strange's job, am I?" The Book of Cagliostro wasn't very thick, and since the Ancient One didn't rush him, Shen Fei closed his eyes to reflect after finishing it.

As for the Time Stone, it would be a lie to say Shen Fei didn't covet it—after all, it was one of the six Infinity Stones. But considering the trouble that came with the Infinity Stones, no matter how much he desired it, he had to let it go.

"Thank you, Sorcerer Supreme." He had to admit, the Book of Cagliostro was incredibly profound. Even just having read it once, Shen Fei felt he had gained a deeper understanding of Kamar-Taj's magical system.

"No need for thanks. Just close such things whenever you encounter them in the future." After speaking, the Ancient One immediately dispelled the Mirror Dimension and vanished.

"So this is time." After the Ancient One disappeared, Shen Fei looked at his watch, which had barely moved, and let out a sigh of emotion.

Truly the Ancient One—even without using the Eye of Agamotto, she could employ a time-stopping ability. He had wasted considerable time in the Mirror Dimension reading the Book of Cagliostro.

"That's nothing—when the Ancient One died, she supposedly froze all of New York."

As for the greatest help the Book of Cagliostro gave Shen Fei, it wasn't learning time magic. For him now, knowing time magic was useless because he couldn't use it.

To use time magic, one of two conditions was necessary: first, possessing the Eye of Agamotto—the simplest method, essentially allowing one to toy with time at will.

Second, having power as formidable as the Ancient One's, using sheer force to drive time magic. Of course, time magic activated this way was incomparable to using the Eye of Agamotto.

"One more job on my plate. At least she only said to close them when I encounter them, not to scour the world for these Anomaly Points." After finishing the book, Shen Fei finally understood why the Ancient One had let him read it.

It was because the Anomaly Points were caused by the Eye of Agamotto—or more precisely, by the Time Stone.

Time couldn't be toyed with carelessly. The main reason the Ancient One hadn't used the Time Stone to save Kaecilius's wife was this. Generally, dimensions had their own restorative properties. Ordinary use, like the time magic in the Book of Cagliostro—such as the time stop the Ancient One had just used—would naturally recover over time.

But the Eye of Agamotto was different. That was the Time Stone, and every Infinity Stone possessed infinite energy.

Currently, on Earth, only the Ancient One and Shen Fei could close Anomaly Points. Kamar-Taj had many mages, but they were all too weak to manage it.

Shen Fei could close Anomaly Points not because his magical power was immense, but because he possessed both the Op-Op Fruit's ability and magical strength.

"I'll take it one step at a time. The impact of Anomaly Points isn't too severe anyway—the news barely mentions such things, which shows the government's efficiency isn't bad." Most Anomaly Points appeared for extremely brief periods, vanishing before anyone noticed, and the vast majority occurred over the ocean—after all, most of Earth's surface was water.

With these thoughts in mind, Shen Fei began looting the military base: tanks, helicopters, fighter jets, armored vehicles, missiles, various firearms, and ammunition.

Plus all kinds of research equipment.

With so much stuff, after exhausting all the Pym Particles in stock, Shen Fei had no choice but to reluctantly stop.

PS: Sorry, my computer crashed and I lost everything. Spitting blood.