Manhattan, 13th Street.
This was a commercial street only a few minutes’ drive from Stark Industries Tower.
Of course, Leon hadn’t come here to look for Tony Stark.
He was here to buy clothes for Otto.
Otto’s otherworldly clothing style looked rather strange in a modern city.
Unfortunately, it was already late at night, and most of the stores had closed.
Only a few scattered twenty-four-hour shops still had their lights on.
“Maybe I’ll come tomorrow.”
Leon looked around but couldn’t find any clothing stores that were still open.
He was preparing to grab some late-night food and head back.
Suddenly, he sensed what was happening on Rui’s side.
He could share his senses with his puppets, although he could also block them whenever he wanted.
After ordering Muzan and the Twelve Kizuki to rapidly gather Wish Points, Leon had left them to act freely while blocking their sensory connection except when it involved familiar Marvel characters.
The reason was simple.
He didn’t want to witness the brutal way the Ghosts operated, but at the same time, he was worried their actions might attract superheroes and cause the situation to spiral out of control.
It seemed that the major events of the Marvel Universe only began happening frequently after Iron Man appeared.
But that didn’t mean the powerful figures of Marvel only came into existence after Iron Man.
As a crossroads of the universe, Earth contained far too many secrets.
It was home to countless powerful beings.
No amount of caution was excessive.
More importantly, the emotions of powerful individuals could provide him with far more Wish Points.
If he encountered familiar Marvel characters, he could act, fabricate stories, and learn from Mysterio’s approach of becoming a director—attracting attention and provoking powerful emotions such as empathy, anger, a sense of justice, and more.
Therefore, the moment Blade entered Rui’s nest, Leon knew about it.
He had begun thinking about what kind of story he could create and what information he could reveal to provoke an even stronger reaction from Blade.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go according to plan.
Just as Leon was arranging the script in his mind, an unexpected guest interrupted his thoughts.
A whip suddenly lashed out from the darkness, surrounded by golden light.
Leon instinctively tilted his body while thinking, allowing the whip to pass by him and smash into the ground.
The impact cracked the pavement.
Leon glanced toward the attacker hidden in the darkness.
What he saw was…
A pair of bright eyes.
Sorry.
The other party was simply too dark.
He was wearing a low-key-colored linen monk’s robe, almost completely blending into the darkness.
All Leon could see was that pair of bright eyes.
But even without seeing the attacker’s appearance clearly, Leon had already guessed his identity.
Without hesitation, he maximized his lung capacity and took a deep breath.
The surrounding air gathered into a stream and was inhaled into his abdomen.
Then, carried along by his bloodstream, it spread throughout his limbs and transformed into energy carrying the attribute of the sun.
“Sun Breathing, Fourth Form: Burning Bones, Summer Sun!”
Boom!
Flames erupted from the blade, illuminating the darkness.
Leon gripped the Sun-Blade that had appeared from thin air.
Using the momentum from his sideways movement, he swung with all his strength.
A blazing wheel of fire resembling the sun itself carved through the air, the intense heat causing the surrounding air to distort and scorch.
The attacker flicked his right hand.
The whip rapidly retracted and connected into one piece, transforming into a long staff that he raised horizontally in front of himself.
“Clang!”
The blade struck the staff, producing a heavy metallic ring.
Using the light from the flames, Leon finally got a clear look at his opponent’s face.
Just as he had imagined.
A man with a short buzz cut, dressed in monk’s robes.
A mystic from Kamar-Taj.
The future senior fellow disciple of Doctor Strange—
Karl Amadeus Mordo!
And the staff in his hands was none other than the Staff of the Living Tribunal.
The two men held their weapons against each other, struggling for dominance.
Neither could gain the upper hand.
Just as they were preparing to withdraw their weapons and use different techniques or magic to fight—
Two hands suddenly grasped their weapons.
“That’s enough.”
The voice was calm and composed.
Leon felt his heart jolt.
He looked up in shock.
A bald woman wearing a pale yellow monk’s robe was standing beside them, smiling at the two men.
The Ancient One!
Although Leon had known from the beginning that the Ancient One would eventually come looking for him…
Although Mordo’s appearance had already made him realize that the Ancient One was nearby…
The moment he actually saw her, Leon almost blurted out her name.
Fortunately, after making so many preparations beforehand, he managed not to reveal any flaws in front of the Sorcerer Supreme.
“Sorcerer Supreme!”
Mordo immediately withdrew his weapon and respectfully bowed to the Ancient One.
Leon also pulled back his blade.
He pretended not to recognize either of them and watched the two cautiously.
The Ancient One first gave Mordo a slight nod.
Only then did she turn her attention toward Leon.
“Young man, there’s no need to be afraid.
I mean you no harm.”
Hearing this, Leon finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Looks like my plan worked.
The number of puppets he possessed would inevitably continue to increase.
The plays he directed—and the influence they created—would grow larger and larger as well.
As the Sorcerer Supreme, the Ancient One could observe the past, future, and even parallel universes.
There was no doubt she would eventually notice him.
Although the system could use mysterious means to prevent the Ancient One from discovering the connection between Leon and his puppets through time observation or similar methods, Leon intended to follow Mysterio’s path and become a director.
That meant he would inevitably interact frequently with his puppets.
He might even play important roles in the very dramas he directed.
Once that happened, even if the Ancient One couldn’t directly discover the truth, she could still deduce certain things through reasoning.
Therefore, testing him was inevitable.
But how could he avoid exposing himself and prevent the Ancient One from treating him like some pest from an alien dimension that needed to be eliminated?
The answer was—
A hero.
Leon had established a rule for himself.
No matter how tempting the rewards became, his only connection with puppets playing villains would be through the system’s remote communication and control.
The only time he would personally come into contact with them would be as the hero who eliminated them.
Even if he indirectly provided information, he would always stand on the side of justice.
That way, whether the Ancient One observed the future or used some other method, even if she noticed something suspicious, what she would see was only the superhero—
Leon Veyron.
Of course, Leon had already passed the age of childish hero fantasies.
He wasn’t overflowing with a sense of justice either.
Asking him to play a righteous champion simply wasn’t something he could pull off.
Doing so might actually become the very flaw that exposed him.
Fortunately, he wasn’t an evil person.
So he simply played himself.
A dark hero who didn’t strictly follow the law but had his own personal understanding of good and evil.
The Ancient One’s current attitude proved that his future self had indeed strictly followed the rules he had established.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t merely be testing him.
She would have attacked directly.
“Who are you?”
Although Leon had relaxed internally, his expression remained unchanged.
He continued watching them cautiously.
“We’re mystics from Kamar-Taj…”
Mordo paused.
“Hmm.
You probably won’t understand what that means.”
“Let’s put it another way.”
“We’re superheroes who secretly protect the safety of Earth!”
“Hmm.
I understand now.”
Leon nodded.
He still didn’t lower his guard.
Instead, he sarcastically asked,
“So, as great superheroes, attacking me in the middle of the night is also part of your mission to protect world peace?”
“There were simply some things I was uncertain about, so I attacked to test you.”
Mordo folded the Staff of the Living Tribunal back into its compact form.
Then he apologized to Leon.
“The power within you possesses the radiance of the sun.
You couldn’t possibly be an ally of those dark creatures.”
“I’m very sorry.”