Luke and the ninjas quickly wiped out all the enemies. He looked over the dimension. It would later merge directly with his own dimension, adding to its reserves for him to gradually mine. This was also why the system mined so quickly.
The enemy had escaped, but so be it. They couldn't come back anyway.
Luke piled all the enemy equipment together, looking with some regret at the gear that was clearly anything but ordinary.
After all, equipment that let creatures survive in dark energy without being assimilated certainly wasn't ordinary.
However, the dark energy in Luke's Shadow Realm was purer than the energy in other dark dimensions. This equipment would be assimilated once transported there, unless the ninjas kept holding it.
Luke had also tried having the ninjas fight with guns, but inside the Dark Realm, bullets were assimilated and vanished the moment they left the barrel.
He had just tested this equipment, and the result was the same. He had even tried a damaged cannon, but it had been assimilated too.
Luke shook his head, planning to simply let the equipment be merged into the Shadow World along with the dimension.
Mordo walked over. "Why not put it in Kamar-Taj and bring it out when you need it?"
Luke thought about it. That did seem feasible, so he had the Shadow Ninjas haul it to Kamar-Taj.
As long as the Shadow Ninjas held it, the equipment wouldn't be assimilated by the dark energy. That was how he had preserved the notebook containing the coordinates before.
Mordo was delighted as he watched the Shadow Ninjas haul pile after pile of magical equipment to Kamar-Taj.
Luke wouldn't normally use it anyway, so they could borrow the equipment to study magic from another world. He was quite interested in that kind of pew-pew ranged magic.
Back in his own dimension, Luke directed the Shadow World to swallow the opposing dimension whole, digesting it into a part of itself. Seeing the mineable energy rise to over a million, Luke excitedly clenched his fist. Now he could strengthen himself again!
Luke returned to the Material World with Mordo. Watching a group of mages happily crowd around a pile of unfamiliar magical equipment to study it, he felt somewhat helpless.
Ancient One suddenly appeared beside Luke.
"How was it? Working with the mages?"
"Pretty good," Luke said with a smile. It was the truth. Mordo and the others might have only blocked a few cannon shots today, but that was because there were so few of them.
The Mage Corps he had ambushed had numbered at least a hundred, yet they hadn't been as effective as Mordo's dozen or so people. Once Kamar-Taj sent more mages into the Shadow World, the magic acquired from other worlds could also turn these melee mages into true mages. Both sides could grow stronger. It really was a triple win, with Luke winning twice.
"But at this rate, Kamar-Taj might become my backyard someday," Luke told Ancient One.
"When you become an existence like Dormammu, will you still care about a little Kamar-Taj? Perhaps that would benefit Kamar-Taj even more."
"As long as you don't endanger Earth." Ancient One turned her gaze on him. Luke shook his head. By then, he would probably be off building up the Shadow World. Why would he bother with this place?
Still, that was a very distant goal.
"Have you finished adapting all those things?"
"Not yet." Ancient One covered her forehead in some distress.
"The Sorcerers Supreme throughout the ages collected over five thousand spells. That used to make me very happy, but this time, it's given me something of a headache."
"There are probably still over thirty-seven hundred spells left to adapt."
Ancient One made a rough calculation.
"Then you've still got plenty to keep you busy." Luke marveled at the number of spells Kamar-Taj had.
Ancient One shook her head helplessly too. She had the deepest understanding of magic in all of Kamar-Taj, so she was the only one who could do this.
"Enough talking. I'll get back to work. I have to finish all this before Stephen gets here."
With that, Ancient One vanished. Luke marveled at how unpredictably the powerhouse came and went, said goodbye to Mordo, and headed home himself.
Looking at the newly added Troll Soldier, Luke checked its energy mining and recovery rates. They were actually equivalent to those of fifty Ninja Soldiers, meaning he could convert all the troop types into Ninja Soldiers for his calculations. That gave him a mining rate of nearly 1,360 points per minute and a recovery rate of 1,360 points.
Those were the rates after Luke had brought his Ninja Soldier count up to 1,000.
After calculating that he would have to wait until the next day to level up, Luke started slacking off.
When he woke up the next day, Luke saw that his energy had just passed 500,000 and immediately leveled up.
Now his physique had doubled, along with his mining and recovery rates. That was enough for his needs.
Seeing that the dimension still had 800,000 mineable energy left, Luke decided to spend that energy on some powerful troop types first. Ensuring he could fight other dark dimensions was the most important thing.
The system also displayed a notification. Luke opened it and immediately found it unreasonable!
He actually needed 5,000 Ninja Soldiers to strengthen himself again now!
Although he knew growth would become harder and harder, Luke hadn't expected to need 5,000 Ninja Soldiers for his very next level.
He sighed, lamenting how hard life was, but there was nothing he could do. He could only keep going.
He called Tony and asked where Pepper was so he could send the Shadow Ninjas over. Now that their strength had doubled, those AIM cyborgs might not even be able to get near Pepper when the time came.
After visiting Pepper and leaving ten Shadow Ninjas with her, Luke went to Stark's house to take a few photos to update his blog and check how Tony Stark's phone was coming along.
"Luke, take a look. Are you happy with this phone?" Tony Stark looked at Luke and handed him a phone.
Luke was somewhat shocked as he looked at the device, which resembled the phones from around 2020 in his previous life. Tony Stark certainly lived up to his name, having built this thing so quickly.
"Can you bring the manufacturing cost down?" Luke tried it out. It felt even smoother than the phone he'd had in his previous life, prompting him to ask curiously.
"Yours is a special edition. The version for ordinary people will definitely be much less powerful, and we can bring the cost down too."
"Marketing says this phone will definitely be a huge hit. They say it might eventually make more money than even commercial reactors. Since I used your great idea, I've been thinking about giving you some shares in the Stark Group."
Tony spoke earnestly to Luke.
"Why does this feel like you're putting your affairs in order? Just giving away shares like that?" Luke said helplessly.
"Don't underestimate that idea of yours. Marketing says the whole world won't be able to say no to this phone." Tony folded his arms across his chest, looking as though he was absolutely right.
If marketing departments could predict a product's prospects that accurately, no company in the world would ever flop.
Luke thought for a moment. "Why don't you just set up a new company specifically to make this phone and give me some shares in that? Keep your Stark Group shares."
Tony nodded and called Pepper right in front of him to discuss it.
"Tony, if there's ever something you really can't handle, you have to tell me, okay?" Luke said earnestly.
It had nothing to do with the plot. It was simply because Tony was his close buddy now.
"How about I leave a couple of ninjas for you to study? I recently got a new troop type."
"What new troop type?" Tony asked curiously.
Luke simply took Tony out to the beach and summoned a Troll Soldier.
"My God, this guy is built!" Tony saw that he wasn't even half as tall as the Troll Soldier, and his waist wasn't even as thick as the big fellow's arm.
"Troll Soldier, go lift that." Luke pointed to a rock. The Troll Soldier walked over and easily lifted the rock, which measured a little over ten cubic meters.
"My God, this guy definitely has twenty tons of strength!" Tony made a rough estimate as he looked at the Troll Soldier.
"About that. Want a bodyguard like this? You'd definitely turn heads going out with him!" Luke draped an arm over Tony's shoulders, but Tony refused.
"I believe technology can easily accomplish this, which means my armor can too. I'm just a little shocked, that's all." Tony turned to Luke as he spoke.
"He gives me the same feeling I got watching videos of the Hulk. Speaking of which, General Ross recently ordered two sonic weapons from me. He kept pestering me for them, so I just gave him some old stock. He's probably going after the Hulk again."
"Oh, really?" It looked like the Hulk's plot was about to begin too. Luke decided to have the ninjas keep a close watch on Doctor Samuel when he got home. It would be best to keep the Leader and Abomination from appearing, or the damage they caused in New York would be too great.
As for the plot? To hell with it. As long as he was strong enough, he could deal with the Chitauri and Thanos all by himself. Besides, Ancient One wasn't going to die. When the time came, he could bring her along to fight. Who was afraid of whom?
As for Ross, he was the one choosing to act anyway. As long as there were no civilian casualties, Luke couldn't be bothered to interfere.
"Let me know if you need anything."
After hanging out with Tony for a while, Luke could only take the Troll Soldier home.
Before you continue