Preparing for the Return Trip

"Whoa!" Lin Yi was surprised.

Strange had some tricks up his sleeve. Lin Yi had thought all he had done these past two days was drag Spider-Man through hell, but he had actually come up with something?

When Lin Yi had told him last night to think of a way home, he had not held out much hope. He had not expected Strange to come through this time.

"Tell me more." Lin Yi was interested.

Strange wasted no time and took out something resembling a Compass.

"The Ancient One of this universe gave me this. She said that as long as we know the coordinates of our original universe, we can teleport there using the Jump Compass."

Earlier that day, Strange had been thinking that since the Ancient One had sent them here with a Magic Circle when they first came over, she must have had a way.

Then the Ancient One of this universe should have been able to use the same trick.

When he went to ask her that day, things turned out exactly as he had imagined. The Ancient One had even handed him this device and taught him how to activate it.

"That simple?" Lin Yi asked. It felt far too easy. The Ancient One had gone to all that trouble to send them here, and it had seemed to take a lot out of her.

Strange answered as though it were obvious. "In theory, getting here was simple too. It basically required three components: a Guiding Teleportation Array, Teleportation Coordinates, and energy."

"To someone who doesn't understand it, that would naturally sound impossible. But for the Ancient One, the hardest part was probably the coordinates."

No, Lin Yi thought the energy supply was the real challenge. He had seen the objects placed beside the Magic Circle to power it, and they had looked expensive at a glance. He just did not know why the Ancient One had not borrowed the Time Stone's energy for the teleportation. In some respects, that thing's energy was practically limitless.

"Wow, impressive, impressive!" Lin Yi clapped exaggeratedly.

"So, Doctor Strange, do you know the coordinates of our universe?"

Strange's smile froze. "Don't you?" he asked tentatively.

"I do, but I have a question." Of course Lin Yi knew his own universe's coordinates.

The Lost Library he had visited back then had not been within the universe's dimension. Since Lin Yi had been able to open a Portal back from the library himself, he naturally knew the coordinates.

"When we came here, the Ancient One warned us to be careful of anyone or anything familiar. Remember?" Lin Yi brought up her warning again, then pointed at the Compass. "Are you sure there's no trick or scheme hidden in this thing?"

Strange nodded. "Of course I remember."

"The Ancient One of this universe is different in some ways, but the device should be fine." Strange looked at the Compass in his hand.

He was not stupid. The Magic Circle inscribed inside the Compass was practically a miniature version of the Ancient One's array that had brought them here. He had checked it more than once and found nothing unusual.

"Have you used Teleportation Magic since coming here?" Lin Yi suddenly changed the subject.

He had not forgotten how his Teleportation Magic had suddenly failed when he tried to visit Morgan that day.

"I have..." Strange frowned. "But my Sling Ring broke for no apparent reason while I was in the Dark Dimension. The Ancient One rescued me afterward. You know that part."

"Do you suspect the Ancient One of something?" Strange asked in return, inspecting the Compass in his hand again.

"I understand your concerns. I've checked this Compass more than once. There's nothing wrong with its Magic or its functionality."

Lin Yi narrowed his eyes slightly, using Super Vision to look through the entire Compass. Sure enough, he found nothing unusual.

He took the Compass, and his Sixth Sense gave no warning either. After a moment of silence, Lin Yi handed it back to Strange.

If the device was fine, did that mean the person was the problem?

No, Lin Yi did not actually think the Ancient One was behind this, but he had not had any contact with the Ancient One of this universe.

There were too many abnormal things about this universe. Staying suspicious was the right choice.

Now was not the time to dig through the bundle of Magic knowledge he had tossed into a forgotten corner of his memory.

As for why he could not open Portals, he would have to set that aside for now and ask the Ancient One in his own universe once he returned.

"Maybe I'm overthinking it..." Lin Yi said.

"Since we have this thing, we can get ready to head back."

Strange paused, then exchanged a look with Peter.

"Tony has agreed to give us the isolation technology and the matching equipment," Lin Yi added.

"There's just one little condition, which I agreed to. That doesn't really have much to do with you two."

"Tomorrow afternoon, we'll go to Morgan Tower... Stark Tower together. Once we get the equipment, we'll head back immediately."

The name had slipped out from habit. Strange and Spider-Man had no idea what Morgan Tower was.

"Great!" Strange smiled again, while Spider-Man let out a whoop and flopped onto the couch.

In the three days since they arrived, they had watched the show, taken a beating, and run for their lives. Traveling between universes was so damn fun.

The next day, all three slept until noon.

They had spent several days running around. Despite the twists and turns, things had gone reasonably smoothly, and the outcome was good too.

After eating, the three headed toward Stark Tower, full of energy.

When Lin Yi saw Morgan again, the excited smile on her face left him rather puzzled.

He had thought Morgan would be dejected about leaving Daddy and the place she lived to go to another universe.

She might throw a tantrum, or she might accept it without a word, but he had never expected her to be this excited.

He had no idea how that old geezer Tony had persuaded Morgan. Still, although nothing seemed out of the ordinary, Lin Yi noticed a hint of apprehension and worry hidden in her eyes.

He cast Tony a questioning look. Tony shook his head and shrugged, then patted Lin Yi on the shoulder. "Morgan is stronger than you think. Don't worry."

"Mr... Stark, good afternoon." Peter scratched his head and greeted him a little awkwardly.

His first impression of this universe's Tony was how old he looked.

Strange offered a polite greeting as well. Tony merely nodded and said, "Sorcerer."

He did not seem interested in much conversation.

His attitude was a little cold, but Lin Yi understood what was on Tony's mind.

He was about to send his daughter to another universe. How good could her father's mood possibly be?

"You two wait here. Lin Yi, come with me."

After the brief greetings, Tony led Lin Yi into the room next door.

Inside the room were two briefcases and a palm-sized storage device.

"This is what you wanted." Tony walked over to the table and opened the two briefcases.

"The two briefcases contain finished Cosmic Virus Isolators. Put one on a satellite, or anything else, really. As long as it reaches low orbit, it can project a shield around Blue Star."

"Of course, one is a backup."

Lin Yi glanced inside the briefcases at the fist-sized, diamond-shaped devices. Lights glimmered on them, and they clearly had Reactors installed.

He had expected the device to be large, but it had turned out to be this small.

"The storage device contains the isolation technology you need. Give it to the me in your universe when you get back. Barring any surprises, you'll be able to manufacture finished units yourselves within a week at most."

"Also, this..." Tony paused, took another object from his pocket, and handed it to Lin Yi.