You Are the Best Among Us

"Rat-a-tat-tat-tat—"

Under a barrage of gunfire, Ben emptied his magazine, blasting the Lizard Monsters until they littered the floor.

Inside the diamond-glittering Osborn Tower, the stench of blood and rot seeped into every corner, enough to make anyone retch.

Fortunately,

"I don't need to breathe!"

His hands returned to normal. Just as he was about to head back to Connors's laboratory to retrieve the vial, a golden arc of sparks flared up behind him.

Kamar-Taj?

The Sorcerer Supreme?

Ben froze for a moment.

An image of a bald head immediately popped into his mind.

Everyone knew there were two extremely famous bald people in the Marvel Universe, one Black and one white. The former was Nick Fury, the man everyone wanted to stomp on, known in the streets as Mother F*cker Man.

As for the other—

Ben looked at the thin mage wrapped in yellow robes, and his guard rose instinctively.

Ancient One, the Sorcerer Supreme.

She possessed immensely powerful magic. The greatest mage on Earth's mystical side, she had long led the mages of the Sanctum Sanctorum in protecting Earth from enemies of other dimensions.

There was a saying that if either the Sorcerer Supreme or Odin had still been alive, Thanos would never have dared set foot in the Nine Realms or on Earth.

Seeing Ancient One appear so suddenly, Ben became extremely wary. He did not know why she was here, but he knew he did not belong in this universe—and he knew his existence could bring unpredictable changes to it.

Perhaps Ancient One had come to eliminate him, an uncontrollable variable.

But if that was truly the case, he could not simply sit back and wait to die.

Though Ben knew full well how powerful she was, he still prepared himself for a fight.

Fortunately, she did not seem to have come with hostile intentions.

"Good evening, Parker."

Ancient One stepped out of the Teleportation Array and lifted the hood of her robe, revealing a gaunt face.

She wore a smile. Though her cheeks were hollow from her thinness, she did not appear unhealthy. It was not the frailty of illness, but the detached air of someone tempered by ascetic practice.

Ancient One made Ben feel as though he were facing a calm lake.

"I mean you no harm, Parker," she said.

At the same time, she extended a hand from beneath her robes and offered him a vial.

"Your serum."

Ancient One's display of goodwill eased Ben's tension. If possible, he did not want to fight someone powerful enough to traverse the Multiverse.

"Ancient One."

He did not bother pretending not to know her. Since she had called him by name and come looking for him, she obviously knew more than nothing.

Sure enough, Ancient One was not surprised that Ben knew of her.

"I have been watching you for a long time, Parker," Ancient One said.

As she spoke, she raised her head and looked into Osborn Tower. The crystalline stone formations, as though frozen in ice, had nearly left the building riddled with holes. Fortunately, Ben had restrained himself; the reconstructed molecules were confined to the inside of the tower, leaving no visible abnormalities outside.

"A truly marvelous ability," she praised.

Reconstructing molecules was practically the power of a god. Of course, while it was powerful, it was not enough to concern her.

What Ancient One truly feared was the even greater power within Ben's watch. And even setting the watch aside, Ben possessed terrifying potential.

Ben looked up as well. With a thought, the structures of the crystals he had created instantly collapsed and disintegrated. In an instant, every crystal shattered as though struck by a terrible force of destruction, turning into tiny glittering particles that drifted down.

Like a rain of starlight.

"Ancient One, what did you come to see me about?"

Ancient One withdrew her gaze from the breathtaking scene and said softly, "If you don't mind, would you like to talk somewhere else?"

She turned aside, revealing the passage through the portal. Beyond the glowing circle lay an ancient-looking room.

Ben nodded and went with Ancient One to Kamar-Taj.

The moment he stepped into Kamar-Taj, tranquil magic washed over him. The fragrance in the room diluted the bloody smell on Ben's body. Ancient One invited him to sit, but with his current body, sitting on that tiny cattail fan was no easy task.

Ancient One leisurely poured him a cup of tea before saying,

"I believe you have also seen that the Multiverse is in crisis."

"A Multiverse Crisis?"

Ben had wanted to say, What the hell does the Multiverse have to do with me? But then Doctor Animo's crazed face appeared in his mind.

"You mean Doctor Animo?"

Ancient One nodded.

"Originally, from what I observed, this universe would not face a Multiverse Crisis anytime soon. But now, everything has changed." With a worried expression, she pointed a slender finger at the Little Broken Watch on Ben's left chest. "This thing—you call it Noah's Ark. Its appearance prematurely broke the barriers of the Multiverse, making a Multiverse Crisis that should not have occurred so soon likely to arrive early."

"Not only that, it has also made the barriers between universes more fragile."

Ben instinctively looked at his chest. Based on Ancient One's explanation, he finally understood why the Little Broken Watch had gone dormant for so long back then.

Its energy had probably been exhausted traveling through universes with different worldviews.

"According to you, will people like Animo continue appearing in the future?" Ben said as he tried to pick up the teacup for a sip. But his fingers were too thick; picking it up was like trying to lift a tiny miniature object, and he had to be especially careful not to crush it.

"Yes."

Ancient One nodded.

"Then is there any way to stop it?" Now Ben understood where Animo had come from.

Ancient One shook her head. "The Multiverse Crisis began because of it, so only it can stop it."

In truth, Ancient One was lying.

Other than stopping them one by one, there was a better solution: erase Ben and the Little Broken Watch outright, and return everything to its proper course.

However...

Remembering the endings she had seen along the timeline, Ancient One wisely dismissed that idea.

What she wanted was to protect this dimension, not provoke the person before her into taking every dimension and timeline down with him.

Alien X, Clock King... They were far too powerful.

That was not power she could contend with, not even with the Time Stone.

After a moment of silence, Ancient One said, "I hope you can remain at Kamar-Taj and become the new Sorcerer Supreme."

"Huh? The Sorcerer Supreme?"

"Me?"

Ben pointed at himself, his face full of confusion.