Let me show you a new way Chapter 178

“Ancient One, it’s been a long time,” Lin Dong said, bowing slightly to her.

Lin Dong was clad in a loose, dark blue mage robe, more decorative than practical, with a golden belt adorned with the Ankh symbol wrapped around his waist.

This was his new look after officially becoming the Sorcerer Supreme, largely inspired by Doctor Fate’s design, though without the tight suit and golden helmet.

They stood atop the Eiffel Tower in France, the wind howling around them, yet not stirring their robes.

Compared to their last encounter during the great war to protect the Infinity Stones, the Ancient One had visibly aged. Her brow was etched with many more wrinkles, and her entire being exuded an aura of decay.

She was dying!

The Ancient One had completely severed her connection with the Dark Dimension; her lifespan was dwindling, inching closer to death.

The Ancient One had long prepared for death, even subtly anticipating it. Not long after relinquishing the title of Sorcerer Supreme to Lin Dong, she vanished from the world, so completely that even Lin Dong couldn’t find her.

But recently, the long-missing Ancient One had contacted him again, hoping to talk. Lin Dong didn’t refuse, opening a portal and heading to France. There, he found the Ancient One, late at night, on top of the Eiffel Tower, letting the wind blow through her hair.

“I’m dying!” the Ancient One stated directly, without any pretense, frankly revealing her condition.

“I don’t have much time left. I will die, completely. I don’t cling to this world, but before I die, I hope to go to more places!” the Ancient One told Lin Dong.

During her period of disappearance, the Ancient One had traveled freely across the globe, visiting places she had never seen and experiencing modern high-tech marvels she had never indulged in.

However, as a sorceress, she soon grew tired of it. After all, what truly interested her as a sorceress was exploring the unknown. But as an old hag who had lived for a thousand years, there truly wasn’t much on Earth that could pique her interest.

“Do you have a way to travel to outer space?” the Ancient One asked.

“Cough… outer space…” Lin Dong couldn’t help but cough, feeling that the Ancient One might have discovered something.

Earth’s teleportation spells had limitations. Ordinary sorcerers on Earth could perform long-distance teleportation, but it wasn’t always successful, and the casting time was particularly long.

Skilled sorcerers could teleport within a continent, with a basic guarantee of success every time.

Only truly powerful sorcerers could teleport freely to every corner of the Earth; distance was no longer an issue, and the casting time was almost negligible.

But even so…

It was only on Earth…

The Earth was protected by the three Sanctums and Kamar-Taj, established by the first Sorcerer Supreme, Agamotto. These three movable magical structures formed a vast net, enveloping the entire Earth. On one hand, it reduced the chance of extra-dimensional beings accidentally falling in, and on the other, it allowed sorcerers to use this net for teleportation.

If one left the coverage of this net, a sorcerer’s teleportation abilities would be greatly weakened. Some ordinary sorcerers might not even be able to open a portal, while powerful sorcerers could use their own perception to open a portal, but the distance would still be greatly reduced.

As the saying goes, ‘every profession has its specialty.’ As the strongest Earthling in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Ancient One had always deeply researched knowledge and spells to prevent extra-dimensional beings. She truly had no way to reach outer space.

Of course, theoretically, given three to five years, she might indeed be able to conjure up a solo space-flight spell or something similar, but the Ancient One truly didn’t have much time now.

The Ancient One hoped to leave Earth and wander in outer space in her final moments, to see things she had never seen before. The invasion of the Dark Elves and the appearance of the Chitauri had intensified her curiosity.

So Lin Dong thought for a moment, then opened a spatial gate high in the sky and invited the Ancient One to enter.

On the other side of the gate was a vast plain. Lin Dong looked at the sky, then pulled a spaceship from his ring.

Yes, a spaceship.

The spaceship wasn’t particularly large, about a hundred meters long. Compared to the giant spaceships in sci-fi movies, it was relatively small.

The spaceship was wide and entirely black. Its center housed the control panel and living/entertainment area, while the rear was where the power system was located, featuring a warp drive. Additionally, it had wing-like balance fins extending from both sides, equipped with a weapon system and auxiliary propulsion.

The Ancient One frowned, as if something felt off.

Then she floated up, hovering in the air without touching the ground, observing the spaceship from top to bottom, and only then did she notice something amiss.

“Hmm, why does this spaceship look a bit like a bat?” the Ancient One asked curiously.

“Uh… a bat? Hmm… How would I know? This spaceship wasn’t designed by me. Maybe it’s the designer’s quirk!” Lin Dong scratched his head awkwardly.

“Cough, I have another spaceship. If you don’t like this black one, then take a look at this,” Lin Dong said, pulling out another spaceship from his ring.

This spaceship had a more conventional appearance, predominantly red with blue accents as decorative patterns. Inside, the control panel featured unique transparent crystal buttons, exuding a peculiar alien-magical style.

However, this spaceship was considerably smaller than the previous one. Besides the engine and control panel, it only had a single hibernation pod; all other systems like weapons, artificial gravity, entertainment area, and exercise equipment were absent.

“What does this ‘S’ stand for?” the Ancient One asked, pointing curiously at a symbol on the spaceship.

“Hmm, that’s not an S. That symbol, on this spaceship’s home planet, represents hope!” Lin Dong explained to the Ancient One.

These two spaceships were Lin Dong’s spoils from the DC world. One was a spaceship built by Batman, incorporating many alien black technologies. As an ordinary human, Batman had added many things that ordinary people would need inside.

The other spaceship was a single-person space-flight vehicle replicated by Superman in his Fortress of Solitude. Besides being scaled up significantly to accommodate the passenger’s size, this spaceship was essentially similar to the infant spaceship Superman used to arrive on Earth.

As Superman, Clark didn’t really need a weapon system or food. The advantage of this spaceship was its extreme stealth and speed, but if he were unlucky enough to be caught, it would be a 100% disaster.

“So, which one do you want?” Lin Dong asked grandly, waving his hand.

Though he had pilfered these two spaceships as well.