A Community of Shared Destiny

What?

What was going on?

The Cosmic Source Will?

Speaking of which, what exactly was the Cosmic Source Will of the Marvel universe? O-A-A, or the Living Tribunal?

Jerking to a sudden stop, Li Congxin whipped around and looked toward the spot where he had bought bottled water earlier. Before receiving that system prompt, the last place he had passed was that water stall. Now that a Cosmic Source Will had suddenly appeared, the stall naturally became his prime suspect.

Yet when he looked over, that place was actually... completely empty!

All at once, Li Congxin felt a chill rise from his heels and shoot straight to the crown of his head.

Wasn't this supposed to be a science-fiction world? What kind of supernatural nonsense was this sudden eerie phenomenon?

Even the art style had changed, for goodness' sake!

Looking at the sky, which had gone completely dark, and the streets, which were growing increasingly deserted, Li Congxin completely lost the mood to run home. He decisively waved down a taxi by the roadside, beginning his first cab ride since crossing over.

After getting into the taxi, Li Congxin finally composed himself and began seriously considering what had just happened.

First of all, one thing was certain: he had already been targeted by some powerful being. There was no doubt about that.

And since the other party had been identified by the system as the Cosmic Source Will, its status had to be at least on the level of the Living Tribunal. It might even be that ineffable supreme existence, O-A-A!

Anything one level lower—even the Celestial Gods or the Celestials—would certainly not be able to bear such a title.

By that logic, the other party should have observed his existence from somewhere in the distant universe, just like Heimdall of Asgard. That was why the other party could see him, while he absolutely could not see them.

But if that was the case, it still failed to explain the sudden disappearance of the drink stall.

Still, although there were parts he couldn't explain, this was already the only reasonable explanation. Otherwise, could the Cosmic Source Will really have been that kindly old man selling water?

Shaking his head, Li Congxin decided to stop thinking about this headache-inducing problem.

The other party probably harbored no ill will toward him. Otherwise, given their status, a single thought would likely have been enough to make an ant like him vanish from the world.

Once he relaxed, Li Congxin noticed that the Black driver behind the wheel was occasionally glancing at him with a strange look.

Speaking of which, this Black driver couldn't be gay, could he?

Li Congxin shuddered violently, then asked with a frown, "Why aren't you focusing on driving? Why do you keep looking at me? Never seen Superman before?"

Received 3 Impression Points from Jerome Arnold!

"I'm looking to see where you can pull out money to pay the fare!"

Li Congxin had been able to pull out a student ID at the Masquerade Ball and use it to needle Tony, so naturally he had somewhere to hide money on him. In silence, he pulled his wallet from a pocket sewn into the small of his back beneath the bright-red cape, took out ten dollars, and placed it on the ledge below the car window.

When he got home, Li Congxin had just turned on his computer and was about to continue writing when someone suddenly knocked on the door.

When he opened it, the visitors turned out to be none other than Old Pi and his daughter.

After inviting the two inside, Li Congxin noticed that Old Pi wore a benevolent smile the entire time, his eyes filled with approval as he looked at him.

Thinking of how the movie's Second-Generation Ant-Man, Scott, had been manipulated by him in every way, Li Congxin couldn't help but raise his guard.

This rotten old man was seriously devious!

Old Pi seemed completely unaware of what Li Congxin was thinking. After sitting down on the sofa, he asked directly, "Clark, are you interested in quantum mechanics?"

Quantum mechanics?

Li Congxin was greatly surprised. "Are you planning to teach me quantum mechanics personally?"

"Not just quantum mechanics." The corners of Old Pi's mouth lifted slightly, apparently quite pleased by Li Congxin's pleasantly surprised reaction. "I can even give you the more precious Pym Particles as well. In return, I hope that after you master all my knowledge, you'll help me rescue Janet."

Li Congxin sat down too and asked, "Why do you think I can do it?"

"I can only believe that because you are my only hope." Old Pi shook his head. "After all, you are the only person who has entered the Quantum Realm and managed to come back out. In a sense, you are the person who understands the Quantum Realm best. You just can't yet figure out exactly what you saw there."

All right, Li Congxin had to admit that. Even if the part of his memory lost in the Quantum Realm were fully restored, he still couldn't honestly tell anyone what he had seen. He couldn't exactly say, "After entering the Quantum Realm, stay away from tardigrades, turn left after seeing three points of light, then go straight..."

Just imagining that scene was enough to make him feel awkward.

At this point, Hope finally spoke. "Also, you don't need to worry that we harbor any ill will toward you. We want to rescue my mother from the Quantum Realm, and you are our greatest hope. Our interests are aligned."

Li Congxin nodded slightly. "A community of shared destiny?"

"That's exactly what I mean. You summed it up more brilliantly than I did." Hope blinked and spoke playfully.

On the other side, Old Pi made the decision directly. "Then starting tomorrow, I'll set aside two hours every day to teach you about quantum mechanics. You should stop writing that novel of yours. It's wasting your time."

"No!" Hearing that he wasn't allowed to write his novel, Li Congxin immediately panicked and said, "No one can stop me from writing novels. If I have to choose, I'd rather give up the chance to study quantum mechanics from you!"

Learning quantum mechanics—and learning it from Old Pi at that—was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, like having Dugu Qiubai teach you swordsmanship in a martial-arts novel. It was the kind of blessing that fell from the heavens.

However, if it meant giving up writing novels, that was something Li Congxin absolutely could not accept.

Writing books was currently the only way he could quickly accumulate Impression Points, and the number of Impression Points directly affected the extent to which his cheat could be developed.

Between a good teacher and a cheat at his side, which should he choose?

Regardless, Li Congxin would choose the latter without hesitation.

Seeing how firm Li Congxin's attitude was, Old Pi frowned slightly, but still took the initiative to back down. "You can keep writing if you want, but you must set aside two hours every day to study quantum mechanics with me. As for where you find the time, that's your problem."

Seeing Old Pi give way, Li Congxin couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief. He immediately made an OK gesture toward him, agreeing to the arrangement.

After seeing Old Pi and Hope off, Li Congxin impatiently opened the system interface. His eyes lit up when he saw the "Random BGM Draw Card" in the item bar.

As for what kind of existence the "Cosmic Source Will" actually was, or what consequences might result from attracting its attention, with Li Congxin's current strength, it was useless to even think about it.

It would be more practical to see what surprises this "Random BGM Draw Card" could bring him first!

Thanks to the book friend A Tortoise for the 100 Qidian Coins reward!