I Became Spider-Man's Cousin in Anime Crossover

Chapter 152 Gu 1: How about we change the successor?

Meanwhile, in Riley's universe...

After returning safely, Riley kept his promise and went to the New York Sanctum immediately. Without any hesitation or reluctance, he readily returned the Time Stone he had borrowed.

This added a touch of admiration and appreciation to the Ancient One's gaze towards Riley.

Following Riley's request and out of personal curiosity, the Ancient One cast a spell to observe the three insects' new life trajectories. Even the well-informed Ancient One couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and curiously scrutinize Riley.

His appearance was strikingly similar to that of Elder Jinchi upon seeing the brocade cassock. Even Riley, who was usually as composed as a rock, couldn't help but shrink back, fearing he had caused some trouble, and asked somewhat guiltily.

"W-what happened? Did I do something wrong that triggered a new crisis?"

"No, rather, you've done an excellent job... Would you be interested in officially joining my side and becoming the next Sorcerer Supreme?"

"What? How can that be? Wasn't it already decided that Strange would be the next Sorcerer Supreme? And you still say he's the best among you?"

"There's no way around it, comparisons are odious... Besides, Stephen is still practicing medicine, there's plenty of time to find a replacement, right?"

It was obvious from her words that after seeing the foolish things Strange did in parallel universes, and after comparing Strange to Riley, the Ancient One began to doubt whether she had misjudged him and whether she had truly made the right choice.

So much so that the Ancient One, who had only joked about it occasionally, is now really serious about having Riley inherit her mantle!

However, Riley was not as naive as Strange. He knew that behind the seemingly glamorous Sorcerer Supreme lay a constant stream of messes that were enough to overwhelm anyone.

Otherwise, the Ancient One, the Sorcerer Supreme, wouldn't have resorted to such an absurd act of publicly falling to her death after only briefly training Strange, retiring and running away at lightning speed without even putting on a show.

"Oh dear... well... ah! I suddenly remembered I forgot to turn off the gas stove, and it's still heating water! I have to go back right away, I'll be going now!"

Therefore, facing the Ancient One's enthusiastic and expectant gaze.

Even without the Spider-Sense, Riley could sense something was terribly wrong. He made up a reason to respond, then decisively turned around and ran out of the New York Sanctuary without looking back.

"Boiling water with a gas stove... How can this kid even say that? This isn't his hometown; we don't have the habit of boiling water and drinking hot water here."

Fortunately, the Ancient One had no intention of forcing Riley to leave, and allowed him to leave the New York Sanctum.

After the gate closed, the Ancient One finally smiled and grumbled at Riley's excuse, saying how unrealistic it was.

His smile gradually faded, and his brows furrowed.

I don't know if it's just my imagination...

The Ancient One always felt that after this kid went out, he was covered in a powerful aura.

The feeling was like that of the Sorcerer Supreme being watched by the Vishanti. It made the Ancient One realize that Riley had been chosen by a god to be his representative on earth.

But this aura didn't match any of the gods that the Ancient One knew...

Instead, he's more like that prankster Asgardian...?

Even the usually confident Ancient One couldn't help but show a look of confusion and bewilderment.

No, is that right?

When did the Asgardians become so powerful?

Even his brother, Thor, who had fully awakened the power of Thor, couldn't do that, right?

When the Ancient One fell into deep thought and began to doubt whether she was getting old and making a mistake in her judgment.

Riley, who had already left the New York Sanctuary, still felt uneasy and continued running.

By the time they turned around, the outline of the New York Sanctum was completely out of sight, and the Ancient One had not come after them.

Riley slowly stopped walking, then patted his chest and breathed a sigh of relief.

Whew, that was close! I almost got dragged into the water... uh... by the Sorcerer Supreme. Luckily, I was quick-witted!

Of course, this sudden multiverse crisis came to a perfect end the moment Riley returned the Time Stone.

Having finally freed up some time, Riley opened the system's storage space and gazed at the sixteen talismans lying quietly inside, lost in thought.

[The twelve charms that Shendu "delivered to your door," plus the four charms belonging to this universe that Riley had previously obtained, make a total of sixteen.]

To be honest, Riley originally thought it would take a long time to collect all twelve talismans.

At least, judging from the pace of the original story, it will take at least half a year. Then, the remaining half a year will be spent dealing with the eight demons who have broken through the seal.

I never imagined that the Holy Lord himself could act as the courier, delivering the service directly to the recipient.

And as a result, new problems have arisen one after another.

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Riley dared to unleash the full power of the twelve talismans because this universe lacks both righteous and evil influences.

But when he moved to his own merged universe, Riley had to be more restrained.

After all, even after being upgraded, the Black Hand trio was still no match for Riley.

But this should serve as a wake-up call for Riley, making him realize that if the righteous side becomes too powerful, the villainous side will be strengthened to some extent due to the law of yin and yang balance.

On this basis, if Riley were to continue as before, pulling out the twelve charms and instantly transforming into a beef-averse Superman whenever indecisive, what would happen?

It probably won't be long before Riley, through the machinations of the Dark Qi, runs into an unexpected and formidable enemy.

For example, Thanos, who teamed up with Dormammu to invade Earth with the six Infinity Stones. Or even the Tiger Talisman unexpectedly activating, causing Riley to switch sides and join the villains...

Although it sounds absurd, it does seem like something that dark energy could do.

After all, Uncle Long, who had already collected almost all the talismans, was affected by the dark energy and separated into Evil Dragon. He then personally gave all the talismans he had stored in District 13 to Shendu.

In the final chapter of the Eight Great Demons arc, he was possessed by Shendu, found the Book of Time, and forcibly altered the fate of the entire world.

In a sense, aren't Shendu's two resurrections also a manifestation of the dark forces being unable to play along, flipping the table on the spot, and forcibly arranging a plot-driven death?

Therefore, after a brief moment of thought, Riley, considering the bigger picture and resisting the extremely tempting thought of "I don't eat beef," decided to store all the talismans in the system space.

Furthermore, unless encountering a situation that Spider-Man cannot handle, he tries to avoid using the power of the talisman.

To avoid being outmaneuvered by the dark forces that you can't afford to mess with, and ending up losing your life in a ditch without even realizing it!