The Death Knell

More than ten seconds passed, and after Thanos came to his senses and threw aside the stone altar he was holding, the store door finally opened.

Standing at the door was a middle-aged man. He was dressed a bit like Elvis Presley, wearing a white suit with large lapels and long pointed leather shoes. However, his hair style was not the same as Elvis Presley's airplane head, but like a hedgehog's pointy head. They stood up like thorns and pierced towards the sky one by one.

He was a little impatient at first, but after seeing the black and yellow armor outside the door, he showed a surprised expression, smiled, made a seal and saluted:

"I thought it was the rich guys who wanted to come to my store to buy a few bottles of holy water before going to space, but I didn't expect that the Supreme Mage actually came. It's really a rare visitor."

"You have a villa in a community like this. In fact, you are also one of the rich people. Excuse me."

Giving a bottle of wine as a gift for the visit, Su Ming also made a triangular handprint representing Emperor Weishan and went through the motions. Then he walked into the store and introduced to his teammates with a smile as he walked:

"This is the person I'm looking for, Ian McNee, known as the shop owner in the wizarding world, an archmage and billionaire."

"Haha, hello, Captain Marvel, Ms. Hela, and oh, Thanos from the Dark Quadrant, well, an even rarer team combination. Okay, please stop making jokes about billionaires, the Supreme Mage, this building The house may be worth that price, but I won't sell it, so I don't have hundreds of dollars in my pocket now, otherwise I will definitely buy a spaceship and go for a ride. Didn't Master Gu Yi tell you? I’m someone who likes to keep up with trends.”

Su Ming didn't speak, just nodded and smiled, the same expression as Master Gu Yi's habitual expression.

Isn’t Ian’s trend likely to have stopped in the 1980s? This Elvis nightclub-style dress has revealed that he, like most mages, just thinks he is fashionable.

His shop is a magic props shop. Here you can see many weird things that rich people like, such as that kind of box that people lie in and then the magician uses a chainsaw to cut open it? There is one here, again made of gold.

Escape magic water tanks made entirely of crystal, magic gloves made of dragon skin, and various miscellaneous but valuable gadgets at first glance were piled everywhere in the store.

Of course, there is not a single magic item visible on the surface, and the rare materials are all made into ordinary props, but this place is still very important, and it is a very important sealing node on the earth.

After passing through the somewhat messy shelves, and what appeared to be bacon and dried vegetables hanging from the ceiling, Ian led everyone to a corner of the store, where there was a gorgeous small round table with gemstones and a leather sofa. Hair, decorated with Middle Eastern-inspired blankets and cushions.

"Please sit down, Master Supreme. Today should be a busy day for you and Captain Marvel. How can you have time to visit my shop?"

He was obviously a little confused. You must know that for Americans, today is the departure day of the cosmic voyage.

Moreover, since Deathstroke took over the position of Supreme Mage, he has never looked for him. Could it be that there is something wrong with the sealed object? It shouldn't be.

"Speak quickly, I like it, Ian. I need you to open the secret vault and use one of the things in it." Deathstroke directly said what he meant, because Ian can be regarded as most of his own people, at least they have the same position in front of the overall situation. .

To put it simply, he is also a believer of Emperor Weishan, and his ancestors also had Supreme Mage, and many people died in battle to protect the earth.

Originally, Emperor Weishan had a secret arrangement. Didn't Ancient One feel that his end was approaching and wanted to retire? Ian McNee was their predetermined candidate for the next Supreme Mage.

It was not Monaco, nor Mordo, nor Strange, who was not born at that time, but the hedgehog head in front of him.

In terms of family tradition, he is absolutely reliable; in terms of magic power, he is equally powerful; except for his somewhat unambitious personality and lack of ambition, he can be said to be the best candidate of the year.

After all, the Supreme Mage only needs to squat inside Kama Taj to form a deterrent force, so why be ambitious?

But then the death knell appeared, and Master Gu Yi handed the position to Su Ming, and Ian was embarrassed to lose.

Originally, it would have been okay if Ian himself didn't know, but the key was that Emperor Weishan told him before he even wrote a word about it.

Earlier, Emperor Weishan came to him in a dream and said: 'We have decided that you will be the next supreme mage. You will take over when Gu Yi retires.'

Ian passionately vowed to fight for the rest of his life to protect the earth, and he would not hesitate to sacrifice his life for the sake of the Three Saints.

He then began to exercise and was prepared to pay the cost of casting salvation-level magic at any time. Not only was he preparing to move to Nepal, he even wrote the textbooks for teaching students. At the same time, he also told the news that he would become the Supreme Mage in a few years. , told all his friends and relatives in the magic world, because this can be regarded as a glorious ancestor.

As a result, within a few years, one night, Ao Shutu sent a little blue bird to tell him: "Well, we have indeed replaced the Supreme Mage, but it is a pity that it is not you."

Thinking about that scene, Su Ming felt sour. Not only did a lot of preparations he made go to waste, but he also had to face the ridicule and criticism of relatives and friends for a long time in the future. It was not just social. Death is so simple, even the ancestors lose their face.

To be honest, if it had been anyone else, I'm afraid they would have turned black on the spot and turned to Ember Trisolaris or simply Sithorn.

But Ian didn't. His life was a hymn of loyalty. He calmly accepted Emperor Weishan's decision and continued to huddle in Haimen and fulfill his family responsibilities.

Sounds like a nice guy? Probably, but if he becomes the Sorcerer Supreme, he may not perform as well as Doctor Strange in the MCU.

He worshiped Emperor Weishan extremely fervently, but he didn't really want to protect human beings. He just wanted to follow the will of the Three Saints and protect the earth, the birthplace of magic. In his eyes, ordinary people couldn't even be counted as numbers. They are all chips that can be sacrificed for God’s wishes.

Ancient One's ideas in this regard were different from his, so that year, she chose Deathstroke from another world as her successor, because Deathstroke's views were most similar to hers.

That is - people can sacrifice for other people, even if the person involved is 'sacrificed' without knowing it, but for what god's wish are they sacrificed? Forget it then.

After Su Ming took over, he had never been to Haimen, even if he knew about the existence of Ian as a 'competitor'.

Just for this reason.

Although both of them followed Emperor Weishan, Ian was not the mage of Kama Taj, and there was no affiliation between the two parties. The specific details and concepts were indeed not in the same pot as his own.

Don't look at him. From opening the door to receiving guests, he was polite and spoke like a breath of fresh air. Now he is pouring tea and preparing snacks.

But what he respected was the identity of the Supreme Mage, not Deathstroke himself. What he saw in his eyes was not a man, but the spokesperson of Emperor Weishan marked in black and yellow. That's all. Ao Shutu Sect If a little blue bird comes down to deliver a message, he will entertain him in the same way.

Tea? dessert? greeting? They are all dedicated to the Three Saints.

So Su Ming thinks, come to his place, sit on the soft antique sofa, drink tea and chat?

The two faced each other, and the other was very enthusiastic, but he always looked at the position above and behind him in a vague way, as if he was looking forward to the arrival of Emperor Weishan.

It would be better to sit cross-legged on the floor of Monaco's house and smell the stench emanating from countless rabbit cages.