Chapter 306: Doctor Strange and Ancient One

"Since when did you start drinking cheap wine, Stephen?"

Kamar-Taj, Wong walked towards Doctor Strange who was sitting in a chair.

"Since I got here."

Doctor Strange turned around and said, "When I have something on my mind, I hope to solve it with some alcohol, especially low-quality alcohol. Although I now have mastered the secrets of magic, it seems that it cannot solve most problems."

"At least it helped you get rid of the beholder, didn't it?"

Wang put his hands behind his back and said to Doctor Strange: "You saved New York."

"That's not my credit. That was Spider-Man and Ant-Man. I know my own strength. That's not a monster I can deal with."

The king shook his head. "Never underestimate yourself, Stephen. You have magical talent that no one else can match."

Stephen did not continue talking about this topic, but asked Wang: "Why don't you rest so late?"

"I got up and wanted to go to the mage toilet."

As he spoke, he looked at Doctor Strange's right hand.

Doctor Strange gently turned his hand over so that he couldn't see what he was holding.

Although he knew that this would not be able to hide it from the king, he still did it subconsciously.

"uh-huh."

When Wang saw the Eye of Agamotto in Doctor Strange's hand, he did not expose it directly, but said to him: "I suggest you better not do anything stupid, Stephen."

He turned around and said, "I'm going to make a pot of good tea so we can have a good chat at night. You know, in China, we call this a candlelight chat."

Looking at Wang's leaving back, Doctor Strange called him.

"king!"

"what?"

“Is fate really unchangeable?”

"I do not know."

The king turned around. "But you already have an answer to this, don't you?"

Doctor Strange said nothing.

He thought about everything he had experienced in the Eye Demon's illusion.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't save Christine.

Do not!
This is an illusion created by the opponent based on his own weaknesses.

You can definitely change yourself.

Two time points.

One was that he was in a car accident, which resulted in comminuted fractures of both hands, and then because of his stupidity and arrogance, he caused the death of Christine.

At another point in time, he had an argument with Christine in the car, which directly led to her death.

If you want to change your destiny, when should you start?
Watching Wang's leaving back, he came up with an idea.

He put the Eye of Agamotto around his neck and made a hand gesture.

The green light emitted an even stronger light, gradually engulfing him.

"I'll take you there, Strange."

Standing before him was the dead Christine.

He looked around in shock and found that he had traveled to the past.

The night when I had a fight with Christine.

Take a deep breath and force yourself to calm down.

"You look beautiful today, Christine."

"is it?"

Christine looked at him suspiciously, "Are you okay, Strange?"

She thought that the other party was hit too hard by the car accident and now had mental problems.

Otherwise why say these inexplicable words.

"Hey, listen, Strange, I promise that your hand will heal. All you need to do now is to remain patient and have faith in the current level of medical technology."

Christine tried to persuade the other party.

"No, that's not important to me anymore. I mean, I don't really care if it heals or not, because there are more important things in my life."

"Uh"

Christine was stunned for a few seconds, then looked at the other person again.

"I'm glad you say that, Strange."

She said it from the bottom of her heart.

"I'll take you home."

She offers to take Strange home.

In the speeding car, Christine was in a good mood.

She was happy that her boyfriend had finally come out of his depression.

"You seem a little different today."

Christine said to him.

"Yes, I had a dream."

Strange smiled and said, "A very long dream."

Christine asked curiously, "About what?"

"I dreamed that I was in trouble, that I was already in it, and that I was going to get deeper and deeper into it."

"Without a paddle, without a boat, not even a pair of tiny inflatable floating 'arm life preservers,' the forces of darkness were bearing down on me."

Christine shrugged. "That was a really pessimistic dream."

"Yes, it's very pessimistic, but I still have a chance to make up for it all, and what makes me feel good is that I can swim back to the shore and be ready to go again, and I can even return to the shore many times."

He said to Christine, then closed his eyes and murmured to himself, "Now I am making up for this regret. Although I have made many mistakes, having the opportunity to correct them is the greatest happiness for me."

"You will succeed, Strange."

Christine turned around with a smile and replied to him.

The next second, dazzling lights illuminated the entire cab.

As Strange looked on in disbelief, a truck came crashing towards him.

Then he lost consciousness.

After an unknown amount of time, he woke up from his coma.

My head hurt, and it felt like it was going to split open at any moment.

"Christine"

After he recovered, he immediately looked for Christine in the driver's seat.

Lifting his slightly heavy arms, he found himself still in the truck, still sitting there.

The engine idled with a low, pounding roar.

The “broken crayon” — the pickup truck that struck his car — came to rest in the beam of his headlights.

In the driver's seat was Christine, whose face was covered in blood.

There was a piece of glass shard stuck in the other person's heart.

"No! No! No!"

He looked at Christine helplessly, who was once again in danger of death, and fell into great pain.

He wanted to tell himself it was just a dream.

A long journey after falling asleep, a long night, and low haze.

He tried to hypnotize himself that what he saw was not real.

But the bloody reality told him that this was reality and he had messed up again!

"No, I still have a chance to change!"

As he said this, he immediately controlled the Eye of Agamotto and adjusted the time to before departure again.

"I'll take you there, Strange."

Time goes back to the starting point, and Christine said to Strange.

Taking a deep breath, Strange calmed his uneasy heart.

"You look beautiful today, Christine."

"is it?"

Christine looked at him suspiciously, "Are you okay, Strange?"

"Yes, my attitude towards life has changed a bit. From now on, can I treat you to a steak? I suddenly miss that taste a little bit."

Since a car accident is bound to happen tonight, the two of them should not drive the car.

He didn't believe that he couldn't avoid the car accident like this.

"of course can."

Christine looked at him and smiled.

"I'm glad to see this change you've made, Strange."

In the restaurant near the hospital, Strange looked at his hands awkwardly.

Not only could he not hold a scalpel now, he couldn't even cut a steak.

Seeing her boyfriend's embarrassment, Christine took the initiative to serve his steak.

"I guess this thing is different from a scalpel."

She showed Strange the knife and fork in her hand and said, "I can do this for you."

"Thank you!"

Strange smiled and thanked the other party.

Just as Christine was cutting steak for him, she didn't notice a car losing control and crashing towards them.

"Oh!"

The out-of-control car smashed the glass and hit Christine directly.

"No!" Having lost Christine again, he fell to his knees in pain.

"I still have a chance!"

He stood up and reversed time again.

This time he didn't let Christine drive, nor did he go to a restaurant on the side of the road. Instead, he asked her to stay with him in the hospital.

There won't be any danger this way, right?

As a result, Christine did not get into a car accident this time, but was kidnapped by a robber who broke in to rob her of medicine.

The other party claimed that he just wanted to get the medicine to save his son and did not want to hurt anyone.

Christine was moved by the robbers and took the initiative to replace another hostage.

But when the other party was surrounded by the police, he accidentally pulled the trigger in excitement and directly pierced Christine's heart.

Returning to Kamar-Taj, Strange, holding the Eye of Agamotto, felt mixed emotions.

No, it's not time to give up yet.

There is another time point.

Strange immediately rubbed his hands together and went back to another time point - before the time when he had the car accident.

This time it was Peter who stood in front of him.

"We haven't seen each other for a long time."

Strange, who had just finished surgery and was wearing surgical gown, looked at Peter who greeted him.

He looked around and confirmed that he was back to the night of the accident.

This time he saw it clearly, and Peter glanced at his hands as he greeted him.

Strange didn't want to show anything strange. He walked up to Peter and said, "Come to think of it, I don't have your contact information yet. Maybe to avoid embarrassing situations, I think we can exchange contact information."

He remembered that at this time, he planned to exchange contact information with Peter.

"of course can."

Peter nodded and pulled out his phone.

"Does Doctor Strange like playing with his phone?"

Peter suddenly asked him.

"Uh no, it's just that sometimes I like to use my phone to look at CT medical records. You know, I'm a little pressed for time."

He continued to answer Peter according to his previous memory.

"That's good."

Peter nodded. "I don't think it's safe to read CT scans while driving, especially when it's raining heavily outside, am I right, doctor?"

"of course."

Strange nodded, hesitated and asked him, "If I don't drive tonight, Peter, do you think those established things will still happen?"

Peter seemed not to have expected him to ask this and was stunned for a moment.

"What is a done deal, Doctor Strange?"

“Things that change your life.”

"Who knows? But fate likes to play tricks on people. It's like a cat, and humans are like mice. When mice meet cats, they are doomed."

Peter said something that made him think.

"Good luck, Doctor Strange."

After saying this, Peter turned and left.

And Strange stood there, watching his back as he left.

He took out his cell phone and called the organizer of the meeting directly to cancel the meeting for tonight.

"Boom!"

There was a loud thunder outside, and the window shook slightly.

Looking at the heavy rain outside, he breathed a sigh of relief.

It turned out not to be his guess. Peter must know his fate.

Also, driving in the rain is indeed a dangerous thing.

This time, since he did not drive the Lamborghini on the winding mountain road on a rainy day, there was no car accident.

He was cautious over the next few days, but life was uneventful.

He always thought that there must be some other accident that caused his hand to be shattered and fractured.

For example, a medical accident or having your fingers pinched by the door when opening it.

But fortunately this did not happen.

Two weeks later, Strange was in the hospital office, holding a cup of coffee given to him by Christine.

His eyes accidentally caught the TV in the corridor outside.

The TV was broadcasting the latest accident, and there were many patients, doctors and nurses around.

"We have received the latest news on the fire at the shopping mall. The fire has caused more than ten deaths, including Dr. Christine Palmer of New York Presbyterian Hospital, who was an emergency and trauma specialist."

Watching the news on TV in shock, Strange's coffee cup slipped from his hands and shattered to the ground.

"No!"

Reluctantly, he restarted time again and went back to the time when he met Peter.

This time he still did not choose to drive to the meeting and continued to stay in the hospital.

A week later, due to a medical device accident, his hands were destroyed and Christine died.

Come again!

"Pfft!"

After trying countless times, Strange knelt down in front of the deformed car and screamed in pain, "No! Why?!"

"Buzz!"

In mid-air, a portal opened.

Master Ancient One slowly emerged from inside.

"Good evening, Strange, is your car broken down?"

Strange, who was kneeling on the ground, raised his head and looked at the wizard who was telling a hellish joke.

The car broke down? Why didn't you just say you couldn't park here?

"Why are you here, mage?"

"I'm here to help you, Strange."

The Ancient One's feet landed on the ground. "You are confused now, Strange."

"Yes, I am a little confused. I am now a mouse being played by the cat of fate."

Master Ancient One said slowly: "You want to be a changer, but fate will resist those who want to change it in an 'interesting way'. Sometimes fate is hard to change."

"Strange, this is where everything starts, the beginning of your journey. The death of Dr. Christine Palmer made you lose heart and seek answers from magic. Then you and I met. This is a fate that cannot be changed."

Strange stood up, "Then help me change this node, Master."

"I'm sorry, I can't, and no one can do it. Her death is an absolute time node."

"absolute?"

Strange shook his head. "It's not the comminuted fractures of my hands, but the absolute time point of Christine's death?"

Master Ancient One still spoke in a rational tone: "Yes, your hands can be saved, but you cannot save Dr. Palmer's death, because you got one thing wrong, Strange. That is, the damage to your hands is not inextricably linked to your becoming the Sorcerer Supreme and defeating the Eye Demon."

"It was just a simple accident."

"There are countless accidents in this universe. Why is it that my accident is normal, but Christine's accident is destined?"

He held the Eye of Agamotto and walked forward angrily to question Master Ancient One.

"Everything is destined to happen, Strange. You are now changing the laws of the universe and risking the safety of the entire universe. You can't succeed."

Strange shook his head. "Nothing is impossible. This is what you taught me. The reason I can't do it now is that my power is not strong enough. I need more power."

Master Ancient One placed his hand on his shoulder and gently persuaded his proudest disciple, "No, you can't. Even the greatest magician in history can't do it, Strange."

"How do you know it's impossible? You said that the magic you know is only the smallest part of the entire universe. I am creating a paradox in my own way."

Strange took a step back, letting the other's hand move from his shoulder.

"Don't torture yourself. You'll only cause yourself more pain."

Master Gu Yi was still trying to persuade his beloved disciple earnestly.

"No! I won't give up."

"This will only lead you down a path of darkness and destruction, Stephen."

Strange was no longer prepared to listen to the Ancient One. He activated the Eye of Agamotto, preparing to restart time again.

Seeing that his disciple was stubborn and refused to change his ways, Master Gu Yi stopped trying to persuade him.

Her eyes became sharper. "Don't do that, Stephen. Otherwise, I will be rude."

Strange looked up at his master, "No, you won't do that to me, Master."

"You can try to see if I will stop you!"

As he spoke, Master Ancient One immediately created two glowing fans in his hands and assumed a fighting stance.

Their eyes met, and Strange's gaze made Ancient One feel a little strange.

He slowly lowered his head, and the Eye of Agamotto hanging on his chest emitted an even brighter green light.

"It depends on whether you can find me!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately activated the power of the Time Stone and prepared to jump to another time.

Master Gu Yi, knowing what his disciple was going to do, immediately swung his fan.

A powerful beam of magic burst out from the fan and rushed towards Strange.

At this time, Strange has entered the river of time.

"boom!"

The blinding light spread outward with the explosion.

When the dust and light cleared from where Strange had been standing, everything became empty.

(End of this chapter)