Chapter 71: You Might As Well Shoulder This Blame (Please Vote for Recommendations)

"Uh, I just changed a pie filling, Master, I’m innocent! You can’t blame me now for something that might happen in the future!" Mumu Mei protested her innocence.

The Ancient One stood with hands on her hips. "Sorry, Sorcerer Mumu Mei. I warned you repeatedly not to meddle with the boundaries of space and time. That can create branching timelines, paradoxes, even permanent time loops that could destroy our world. But you never listened."

"Uh… I don’t understand a word you just said."

"You brat! It’s not that you’re going to do it—you’ve already done it! I just didn’t realize until now that the troublemaker was you!" The Ancient One’s voice rang out, strong and furious.

"Ah!"

Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to do? Or… what have I already done? At that moment, Mumu Mei was utterly bewildered.

"Hmph! If I die now, and my spirit knows of it in the afterlife, I’ll make sure to come back and haunt you," she grumbled, feeling utterly embarrassed.

According to the original story, Mumu Mei was supposed to follow Doctor Strange’s path, take the Ancient One’s place after her death, and become the Sorcerer Supreme. If she could survive Dormammu’s onslaught, she’d be free to soar, enjoying endless glory.

But now the script had been completely thrown into chaos!

Across from her, the Ancient One pressed a hand to her forehead, clearly suffering from a headache. "I never imagined I’d see the day I’d have to deceive my past self…" After muttering to herself, she seemed to make up her mind. "Mumu Mei, listen carefully. Since I failed in my duel against Kaecilius, Dormammu’s arrival is now inevitable."

"What about Mephisto…?"

"Forget about him for now. He’s a schemer lurking in the shadows, only daring to trip me up from behind. He never faces anyone directly. The real threat is Dormammu."

"Uh, please continue," Mumu Mei nodded. Since the Ancient One was still alive, she decided to play along for now and act humble.

"As you are now, your chances against Dormammu are zero. The Dread Lord Dormammu rules over dozens of star systems in this universe. To put it in terms you’ll understand, he’s at the absolute pinnacle, on par with a Skyfather."

Wait, so that means if Thanos didn’t have all six Infinity Stones, he’d be utterly crushed by Dormammu?

"Even if…" Mumu Mei glanced down at the mystical artifact hanging from her neck.

The Ancient One said with utter certainty, "You’re thinking of using the Eye of Agamotto? Not a bad idea. But to wield that artifact, you need immense mental strength, magical power, and incredible resilience of the soul. You’re not there yet! If Dormammu focused his strength on destroying your soul, you’d be obliterated in three strikes at most, unable to ever activate the Eye again."

Mumu Mei’s face went completely pale.

All those Marvel heroes in the original story were chosen ones, their powers growing at astonishing rates. Doctor Strange was called ‘a born sorcerer’, and just like that, he could use the Time Stone indefinitely, stalling Dormammu until he was forced to yield.

It was like being a struggling student pitted against a true academic prodigy—utterly outmatched!

Doctor Strange, the monster who aced the toughest medical school in America without even trying…

Tony Stark, the freak genius who could understand and apply alien technology just by thinking…

Even the Hulk, when not transformed, had multiple PhDs.

There are three types of people in the world: men, women, and PhDs (regardless of gender)!

The Ancient One sighed. "I don’t know how far you’ll get. My foresight only extends to the moment I choose to end my life—I can’t see your future. Your fate is a fog. But as the former Sorcerer Supreme who has guarded this world for a thousand years, I’ll do what I can to help you. First, I’ll pass on as much of my magical power to you as possible…"

There were countless strange and mysterious arts in the mystical realm.

The Ancient One didn’t simply walk toward death. As a previous Sorcerer Supreme, a master of nearly every form of magic, she began to demonstrate a dazzling array of spells to Mumu Mei.

When Christine and Nick finished the surgery—stanching the bleeding and stitching up every damaged organ—the Ancient One should have faced a barrage of questions: Who was the patient? How was she injured?

It wasn’t something you could brush away with a lie.

Normally, you’d need to present an American social security number or a passport. Otherwise, after the emergency, the police would come knocking.

If the patient had a gunshot wound, medical protocol required the hospital to notify the police immediately.

But the Ancient One… she was practically a ghost in the system. An immortal being over a thousand years old—was she supposed to produce a passport issued a millennium ago?

Even if she claimed to be from Nepal, there’d still be no explanation for her lack of an entry record.

Though she was extremely weak, the Ancient One steadily performed a series of hypnotic spells. With a voice full of mesmerizing power, she said, "I am an ordinary housewife, bitten by a stray dog. It’s not life-threatening—the wounds are on my leg and arm. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Nick and the assisting nurse replied in monotone, their expressions blank, completely hypnotized.

Only Christine remained wide-eyed in shock.

"Are you sure you don’t want to hypnotize her? It would be better for her to forget all of this," the Ancient One asked weakly.

Mumu Mei glanced at Christine. She knew she had to make a choice. Hypnosis was an easy solution, but then one ‘night shift nurse’ would vanish from her life. And as the bearer of Doctor Strange’s fate, she felt an inexplicable connection to Christine.

Was it that this world’s former Stephen, now Mumu Mei, once deeply loved this ex-girlfriend?

Or was it Mumu Mei’s own fascination with superheroes?

She couldn’t say for sure.

In front of both Christine and the Ancient One, Mumu Mei declared solemnly, "Christine knows that I went to Kamar-Taj in Nepal to become a sorcerer and join the mystical war. And she’s someone very special to me. I can lie to the whole world, but she’s the one person I never want to deceive."

In that moment, Christine was so moved she nearly burst into tears. If the Ancient One hadn’t been present, she might have thrown herself at Mumu Mei for a passionate kiss, in true American fashion.

"Thank you for trusting me," Christine managed, holding back her emotions. Then she turned to the Ancient One. "But… at the very least, we need medical records. Unless you hypnotize the entire hospital, there’s no way to conceal the use of the operating room and supplies."

Mumu Mei was about to reply when, out of the corner of her eye, she caught a system notification showing the number of Fate Shards available. "Balance, can you exchange one Fate Shard for a legal female British citizen identity in this world?"

"Yes, it only costs one Fate Shard," the Balance System replied.