The village chief of the starter village

Remembering his original agreement with Ancient One, Luke simply drew a portal and returned to Kamar-Taj.

He made his way to Ancient One's tea room and happened to see a sorcerer asking her permission to leave.

Most of these sorcerers had come here with goals of their own. Once those goals were accomplished, some stayed to continue their studies, while others left.

"Pangborn, are you certain you want to leave?" Ancient One glanced at Luke, motioned for him to wait, and addressed the man before her.

Pangborn nodded. "Sorcerer Supreme, I have restored my body, but my talent won't support studying any more magic."

Ancient One nodded. "Well, since that's what you've decided, go."

Pangborn gave Ancient One a disciple's bow and left.

"The name Pangborn sounds pretty familiar," Luke said after Pangborn left.

The name had sounded familiar when he heard it just now. Perhaps he was a supporting character from some movie.

"Complete spinal cord injuries at C7 and C8. Paralyzed from the chest down, with both hands paralyzed as well," Ancient One said, imitating someone's tone.

"Oh, that guy." Luke remembered. This Pangborn was the retired sorcerer in Doctor Strange who had guided Stephen to Kamar-Taj to heal his injuries.

What surprised Luke more, though, was how Ancient One now always wore a faint smile. She even joked with people now.

"What do your disciples think of the change in you?" Luke followed Ancient One into the tea room.

"Well, most aren't quite used to it. Mordo and the like even think something went wrong with my magical practice."

As she spoke, Ancient One picked up a teacup and poured herself some tea.

"You're here to find a way to keep growing, aren't you?"

"Being able to observe time sure is convenient," Luke said enviously. If he could observe time, would he still need to rob gangs? He could just buy scratch cards. Forget lottery tickets, though.

"But time can deceive you sometimes too, can't it?" Ancient One took a sip of tea, drew a portal, and took out a thick book, which she handed to Luke.

"Though it clearly didn't deceive me about why you came here."

Luke accepted the book, and a system notification automatically appeared.

Dark Dimension detected. Please choose whether to extract its Dark Energy Crystals.

"Dark Crystals are the foundation that sustains a Dark Dimension's existence, and they cannot be created by human effort. So you can only seek them in other Dark Dimensions, absorbing their Dark Crystals to develop your own Dark Dimension," Ancient One explained to Luke.

"That book contains coordinates for some Dark Dimensions. You can use it to locate them and seize the Dark Energy Crystals within."

Luke remembered that the Dark Dimensions had originally been a single whole before splitting apart, and Dormammu occupied the largest fragment.

"Maybe Dormammu wants to conquer Earth because of books like these. That way, he could unite all the Dark Dimensions."

Luke looked through the coordinates and spoke as though joking.

"Perhaps. Dormammu has now become one with the Dark Dimension. Only by continuing to grow the Dark Dimension can it become stronger." Sitting at the table, Ancient One poured Luke a cup of tea.

"Whew, this thing's a real hot potato, then. If Dormammu's followers find out, they'll definitely come to steal it."

Luke looked at the book in his hands, but had no intention of giving it up.

The system could only mine one dimension at a time, so after exhausting one batch of ore, he would still need this book to locate other Dark Dimensions. That meant he had to protect it carefully.

He waved a Ninja Soldier over to take the book into the Shadow World. Although dark energy was highly corrosive, having a Ninja Soldier hold an item could prevent that and keep it well protected inside.

Watching him, Ancient One couldn't help reminding him, "Most of the entries in that book are ownerless fragments of Dark Dimensions, but quite a few already have masters. If you seize their dark energy on a large scale, you may end up fighting those fellows."

Luke looked through the rows of coordinates, then at Ancient One in front of him, and casually chose one. With a powerhouse right beside him, as long as they weren't on Dormammu's level, couldn't she beat them down one after another?

Remaining Dark Energy Crystals available for mining: 10,324

Seeing that he could keep raising his limit again, Luke comfortably drank a cup of tea.

"Speaking of which, when are you planning to have Stephen come here, and when are you planning to retire?"

Ancient One glanced at him. "Don't worry, I won't step down by dying anymore. As for when I'll retire, that depends on when Stephen has his accident. After retirement, I'd like to chat with some old friends, then study at another magical sanctuary."

Luke nodded. Although most people said that after Ancient One died, her soul had gone to follow Eternity and she hadn't truly died, by the rules of the Material World, she was dead.

If this powerhouse didn't die, fighting Thanos later might be a little easier. But they would have to lock Star-Lord up first.

Before transmigrating, Luke had watched Infinity War, but only up to Thanos successfully performing the Snap. He had no idea how the Avengers would turn things around in the end.

It's settled. When that fight comes, I'm definitely not leaving. He didn't want anyone else deciding his life with a coin toss.

When the time came, he would have the Ninja Soldiers knock Star-Lord unconscious and send him away first, lest one punch from him produce another movie.

After obtaining the coordinates, Luke left to find Mordo for another friendly spar. Seventy-four Ninja Soldiers overwhelmed Mordo outright. With magic, he could block a blow or two, but he still took a beating.

Satisfied with the growth in his strength, Luke nodded and returned to his dump.

However, after passing through the Spark Door, Luke discovered a fellow with a somewhat receding hairline sitting on his favorite couch, playing his favorite game.

"I didn't expect a famous agent to play this game of mine."

Luke appeared soundlessly beside Coulson. Coulson's expression betrayed nothing, but inwardly, his mind was reeling.

What was that just now? A portal? What kind of advanced technology was it, and what was on the other side?

Coulson stopped playing the game in which he had been slaughtering everyone. Not wanting that beautiful record to suffer, Luke took the controller and continued playing, only to get slaughtered himself almost immediately while his teammates bombarded him with question marks.

"I helped you climb a few divisions," Coulson said amiably.

Luke glanced at Coulson beside him. He really lived up to his reputation as Marvel's starter village chief. Countless transmigrators met this man first, but his luck hadn't been great-Ancient One had beaten him to it.

Feeling the friendliness radiating from Coulson and looking at the few extra divisions on his account, Luke felt he wasn't all that angry anymore.

He had been furious to see someone sneaking into his home, but now his anger seemed to have faded.

He handed the controller to Coulson, who smiled, accepted it, and resumed playing, casually pressing a button on his cuff.

As he slaughtered opponents and enjoyed his teammates' praise, Coulson suddenly said, "So you're a member of the famous 'Shadow Army.' Are you its commander?"

"I'm the only person in the Shadow Army, so of course I'm the commander." Watching the game, Luke couldn't help marveling that agents really could do everything. Maybe he should have Fury assign a few people specifically to carry him up the ranks?

Coulson froze for a moment and was shot dead by an opponent. Ignoring the opponent's frantic teabagging, he silently memorized their ID, planning to pay them a visit later.

Luke felt deeply disappointed as the score went from thirty-something kills and zero deaths to one death. A Ninja Soldier quietly appeared behind Coulson, placing a gleaming katana against his neck.

"Oh, who's this?" Looking at the Ninja Soldier who had appeared without a sound, Coulson already had a guess.

"My subordinate. Incidentally, they're the 'Shadow Army,'" Luke said as though introducing a prized treasure.

Ninja Soldiers emerged from the shadows one after another, and soon countless Ninja Soldiers filled the cramped room.

"So you really are the only person." Coulson's expression remained unchanged, and he even cracked a joke. "Then why did you have them kill people?"

"I'm basically undocumented. I'd just arrived, with no money and nowhere to stay." Luke spread his hands helplessly. "You saw it just now. The big shot wouldn't let me stay at her place and sent me back."

"Oh, would you like us to arrange identification documents for you?" Coulson ignored the latter part of his reply. That statement was clearly some sort of trap. If he asked about it, the person with portal technology might well have him assassinated.

Luke nodded. That's exactly what I was waiting for!

He currently lived in Hell's Kitchen, where he didn't need identification. As long as he paid on time, the people here didn't care who he was.

Besides, without identification, he couldn't even have an account of his own. He was still ordering takeout with some unlucky person's phone and paying cash on delivery.

"Sure. How much will it cost? Don't make it too expensive." A Ninja Soldier opened a small room, and a pile of cash tumbled out, though most of it was in small bills.

A coin rolled to Coulson's feet, and he took the opportunity to put down the controller. The match had ended, and of his team's hundred-plus kills, more than fifty were Coulson's. A crowd of players was furiously typing "cheater" in public chat.

Coulson stood up. "Then I'll head back and arrange your identification documents."

Coulson left Luke's home, and Luke made no move against him, even having the Ninja Soldiers clear a path.

Watching the Ninja Soldiers sink into the shadows, Coulson silently cursed the Special Operations Team for not arriving yet. He opened the front door and went down the stairs, only to discover people in elite tactical gear lying all along the staircase.

He turned back and saw Luke standing in the doorway, pairs of red eyes emerging from the shadows behind him.

Luke returned to the living room. He wasn't afraid of S.H.I.E.L.D. coming after him. After all, he had only ordered the Ninja Soldiers to knock those people unconscious, not kill them.

If S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't stupid, it should recognize his friendly signal and soon deliver his identification documents.

He turned back and picked up the controller to keep playing, only to discover a message on his screen: "Significant fluctuations in your match performance have been detected. Your account has been banned."

"Fuck!"

"So you're saying he didn't kill anyone, just knocked them unconscious?" Coulson was reporting on his visit to Fury, whose eye gleamed as he plotted like an old fox.

Someone who could silently knock out an entire S.H.I.E.L.D. Special Operations Team was no weakling.

Although this particular team wasn't ranked especially high within the agency, knocking every member unconscious still required some skill.

Taking out the files on this incident, Fury repeatedly scanned the key information with his single eye.

"You were used as pawns this time. Next, the party with the real grievance should show up to deal with Luke. You can lend a hand and earn a favor. As for identification, since he has these abilities but hasn't been causing indiscriminate trouble, give him a... security consultant's ID for now."

Luke was currently waiting gloomily for the result of his appeal. Otherwise, he couldn't even play his game.

He exchanged all the ore mined during this period for Ninja Soldiers through the system, bringing his total to nearly ninety.

And judging by how idle games usually worked, reaching a hundred would unlock the next troop type. It would also let him strengthen the Ninja Soldiers further, multiplying their power several times over.

His mood had eased a little, but suddenly he had a bad feeling.

He turned toward the window. A rocket was flying straight at him.