First Encounter with a Super Antihero

After a night had passed, Lu Qi walked out of his room with a yawn.

To make sure he could buy Ninja Soldiers right on time last night, he had kept setting alarms for himself, waking up every so often to purchase more Ninja Soldiers.

He remembered how he used to pull all-nighters at internet cafés and still go to class the next day full of energy.

"I'm getting old." Lu Qi patted his aching lower back and shuffled out like an old man on a stroll.

As he walked, Lu Qi recalled the process of exploring the system last night.

After a night of experimentation, Lu Qi had become much more familiar with Dark Space and Dark Energy.

Never mind the process—just the results.

Lu Qi discovered that the size of Dark Space depended on the number of Dark Energy Crystals.

If there were ten units of Dark Energy Crystals, then Dark Space would be nearly ten cubic meters in size.

The Dark Energy Lu Qi had used before had been stored within those ten cubic meters of Dark Space.

This Dark Energy had all escaped during the mining of Dark Energy Crystals, and its amount was tied to how quickly the Ninja Soldiers mined the Dark Energy Crystals.

Using the system's units, each Ninja Soldier could provide Lu Qi with 0.1 Energy recovery per second, which was far faster than the rate at which Energy Crystals were mined.

After a night of work, Lu Qi now had thirty-one Ninja Soldiers. If he were to make himself a status panel, it would look like this.

[Lu Qi

Number of Ninja Soldiers: 31

Energy Crystal Mining Speed: 3.1/minute

Energy Recovery Speed: 3.1/second

Current Number of Energy Crystals: 9]

(Author's note from much later: You don't need to remember this panel or these numbers. I stopped using them later on because the protagonist became absurdly overpowered.)

Yawning all the way to the cafeteria, Lu Qi grabbed two steamed buns and washed them down with a bowl of porridge.

"Not even some pickled vegetables?" Lu Qi left the cafeteria in disgust.

"Are you dissatisfied with our meals?"

A yellow-robed figure appeared before Lu Qi. The Ancient One stood there quietly.

"It's fine. As breakfast goes, it definitely passes." Lu Qi gave his evaluation seriously. "Of course, it would be even better with some pickled long beans or something."

The Ancient One nodded seriously. "Then I'll have someone buy some from Hong Kong."

Lu Qi was still yawning when he heard that, and his jaw nearly dislocated. "What's gotten into you today?"

Her tone had clearly not changed, yet Lu Qi felt that the Ancient One had somehow become different today.

"Did Murphy possess you?" Lu Qi carefully took two steps back. Nearly thirty Ninja Soldiers appeared around the two of them, drawing the attention of quite a few sorcerers.

The Ancient One shook her head helplessly. A spell formation flashed in her hand, and all the surrounding Ninja Soldiers were sent back to the Shadow World.

"Yesterday, I completely purged Dormammu's power from my body. I no longer need to suppress the side effects brought by that energy, so I can relax my mind a little."

The Ancient One placed one hand on her hip as Dark Energy gathered in her other hand.

"Besides, the energy you provide is now enough to sustain my daily use."

Lu Qi sensed it and found that his Energy had indeed fully recovered.

He had thirty-one Ninja Soldiers, and each one could provide 0.1 Energy recovery per second. That meant 3.1 Energy recovery per second.

Lu Qi tried using Shadow Form to walk forward some distance, consuming a little Energy. He found that it recovered at exactly 0.1 per second, which meant the Ancient One consumed three Energy per second.

That was 10,800 points in an hour. In a day...

Damn, the big shot was terrifying!

He had not expected the Ancient One to require so much Energy just to extend her life by one day. He had no idea how terrifying the consumption would be if she actually fought.

Lu Qi estimated that he would need at least a thousand Ninja Soldiers before he could barely support the big shot in fighting without holding back.

Just thinking about that number made Lu Qi's liver ache.

"I came to tell you something else. You may leave this place now."

Lu Qi:?

He could leave already? Hadn't she said she needed to observe him for a few days?

"I captured you before to make sure you posed no threat to this world. Yesterday, I also checked the timeline and found that you had not done anything strange, so naturally I can let you go."

The Ancient One looked at Lu Qi. "Of course, you are from another world and know about our timeline. I will next guide Stephen here to succeed as Sorcerer Supreme, and you may affect his development. I suggest you find somewhere else to stay."

Well, damn. This was kicking the donkey away after it had finished grinding the grain.

Still, Lu Qi had not expected the Ancient One to think about retiring even after gaining a stable and harmless supply of Dark Energy. He just did not know what kind of retirement she had in mind. Hopefully she would not go and get herself killed again.

After saying that, the Ancient One disappeared directly, while Lu Qi was teleported to Kamar-Taj's teleportation area.

Kamar-Taj's teleportation area had three portals, each leading to Kamar-Taj's Sanctums in Hong Kong, London, and the Big Apple. They allowed rapid support for the various Sanctums, making them comparable to Asgard's Bifrost. Yet in the movies, Kamar-Taj's people always arrived after the incident had happened, which reminded him of the military in the Marvel World.

Looking at the three portals, Lu Qi did not recognize the symbols beside them. Having just arrived in this world, he had no idea where to go, so he simply made a decision and picked one at random.

Wherever he drew was where he would live. This was the choice of Steins;Gate!

After choosing a portal that looked pleasing to the eye, Lu Qi took a large step through it and arrived directly at another corner of Earth.

Walking out of the portal room, he first saw rows upon rows of magical artifacts. It seemed he had arrived at the New York Sanctum.

Lu Qi looked around and found Doctor Strange's future Cloak of Levitation, but the Cloak of Levitation clearly did not give him any face and did not react at all.

Lu Qi knocked on the glass, trying to get the cloak inside to respond, when a voice came from behind him.

"It does not favor you, so you will not receive its blessing."

Daniel stood behind him. Judging by his cautious manner, however, it was as if Lu Qi were some terrifying monster.

Having become prone to messing with things the moment he relaxed, Lu Qi awkwardly wiped the glass and pretended nothing had happened.

Daniel did not mind. Instead, he looked around at the magical artifacts and explained,

"Magical artifacts also choose their masters. Only those they choose can become their masters."

Daniel came to Lu Qi's side and looked at the Cloak of Levitation inside. The cloak was quite willing to give its caretaker some face, reacting slightly before using one corner to wipe the glass.

Well, damn. It was copying his movements.

Lu Qi looked at where the cloak had wiped. Wasn't that exactly where he had just wiped?

Daniel smiled. Seeing that the cloak was giving him face, he decided to clean it properly next time.

Lu Qi shook his head. "Looks like we weren't meant to be. Forget it, I'll go out and take a look around."

Lu Qi walked out of the Sanctum and glanced at the address plaque beside it: 177A Bleecker Street, Manhattan, Big Apple.

He memorized the location so he would not be unable to find the way back to Kamar-Taj later, then headed out along Brick Street.

The moment he stepped out of Brick Street, a burst of noise flooded his ears. Looking at the crowds on the street, Lu Qi felt as if he had just traveled here from the primitive age.

Shaking off that illusion, Lu Qi slowly strolled along the street.

The Big Apple really was prosperous. The streets were packed with people, but most of them were walking while talking on the phone, making Lu Qi feel that they were all highly successful corporate drones.

Strange. Why were there no aliens or superpowered people fighting? Was this even Marvel?

Lu Qi walked for who knew how long without finding anything strange, leaving him somewhat disappointed.

After watching those movies, he had thought the Big Apple had alien invasions and supervillains appearing every day.

As he walked, he eventually reached an area where there were fewer pedestrians. The streets were filled with gangsters with strange tattoos on their bodies, idly playing with two knives in their hands.

Lu Qi looked at the graffiti on a wall that read, "Welcome to Hell's Kitchen!" Then he looked around.

Was this the most chaotic area in the Big Apple?

The gangsters around him all minded their own business. No one came over to pick a fight, and no one suddenly pulled out a gun and shot someone. Lu Qi was deeply disappointed. He had thought Hell's Kitchen would be much more chaotic. Didn't people say that several truckloads of corpses had to be hauled out of Hell's Kitchen every day?

Looking at the surroundings, which were not only peaceful but excessively quiet, Lu Qi shook his head. That was it?

A rapid burst of gunfire suddenly reached Lu Qi's ears. The quiet street instantly became noisy as a group of people who had seemingly appeared from nowhere ran toward a certain place while cursing, carrying all kinds of firearms.

There was a show to watch. Lu Qi's eyes lit up as he entered an alley, where several Ninja Soldiers appeared and formed a sedan chair.

Lu Qi sat down, and the Ninja Soldiers climbed up the wall as if walking on level ground, heading for the rooftop.

When watching a show, naturally the higher the seat, the better!

Looking at the Ninja Soldiers carrying his chair, Lu Qi felt that each of these guys was basically a bootleg Spider-Man. If he equipped them with web shooters, would they not become bargain-bin Little Spiders?

He had no idea how to equip the Ninja Soldiers with gear, but Lu Qi put that thought aside for now. Watching the show was more important.

After reaching the rooftop, Lu Qi lay beside the edge and watched the spectacle below.

It looked like two gangs fighting over territory. Without any tactics at all, they had directly charged in and started shooting at each other.

This was much more entertaining than quite a few domestic gunfight movies. At first, both sides were using little pistols and going pew pew pew, but gradually they brought out AKs, shotguns, and the like.

By the end, they had even pulled out rocket launchers!

Seeing Stark written on the box, Lu Qi could not help feeling a little expectant.

A rocket made by Stark definitely would not be simple. He just did not know who those people below were to have gotten their hands on something like that.

One person took out the rocket launcher, loaded it, and fired directly at the area where the opposing side was clustered.

Trailing white smoke, the rocket accurately struck its target under everyone's gaze. Layer after layer of steel pellets burst from it and scattered in every direction.

Watching the intact people below turn into blood-soaked figures beneath countless steel pellets, Lu Qi sucked in a breath. As expected of Stark. This weapon made very little noise. If used for an ambush, the enemy might die before they even realized what had happened.

After marveling at how much black technology Marvel had, Lu Qi saw that the winner had already been decided below and began backing away.

Watching a show was one thing, but getting dragged into trouble was another. Lu Qi did not want to become someone else's entertainment.

The moment he retreated, the rooftop door was suddenly pushed open, and a burly man carrying an anti-materiel sniper rifle walked up.

"The Punisher!?" Lu Qi cried out in surprise when he saw the man's attire.

Frank had spent the last two days setting up a sizable gang, but according to his investigation, the gang's members were all very cautious, and their boss had remained hidden behind the scenes.

So he had provoked another gang into attacking this gang's territory, hoping to force the boss to show himself.

He had just discovered in the shadows that the gang boss had appeared, so he picked up his sniper rifle and prepared to head for the predetermined sniping position to kill that scum.

Yet he discovered someone already waiting here, and that person had even called out his codename.

An ambush! Frank's first reaction was that some gang wanted to kill him to establish its reputation. As for someone seeking revenge?

Hmph. Every time he dealt with a gang, he killed every single member. There was no possibility of anyone coming for revenge.

Many thoughts flashed through his mind, but his hands did not stop moving.

He raised his silenced M16, and bullets flew toward Lu Qi one after another.

Lu Qi was no ordinary person either. Seeing the Punisher attack immediately, he reacted. Though the Punisher had not said a single word before attacking, which left him a little caught off guard, he was still above Dormammu, after all.

Ninja Soldiers appeared one after another in front of Lu Qi, swiftly slashing apart the bullets with their blades. However, they did not launch an attack and merely guarded Lu Qi.

"Ninjas? Are you with the Hand?" Seeing this, the Punisher ducked behind cover and shouted.

Looking at the Shadow Ninjas guarding his side, Lu Qi had not expected to be mistaken for one of the Hand. Still, both sides were ninjas, so they really were easy to confuse.

But he also knew that Punisher was not easy to talk to, so he simply threw out a "No" before sneaking away.

The Punisher was not his idol anyway. Lu Qi had only watched his show because he had not gotten enough after finishing the Avengers movies. He was not the type to grovel the moment he saw a superhero.

"Bad luck." Lu Qi shook his head. He had not expected to run into a super antihero right after coming out to have fun. Still, the Big Apple really was impressive. It deserved to be called the center of the universe. He took back what he had said earlier.

Lu Qi simply left Hell's Kitchen and headed toward a more crowded place.