Marvel: Little Genius - Chapter: 390 (Patreon)

Although Dr. Pym had undertaken many missions as the first Ant-Man, this was his first time entering the microscopic realm.

The bizarre and surreal sights, various microorganisms, and tiny particles, at the moment they are reduced to the nanometer scale, appeared like an alien world from a science fiction movie. The gigantic forms and menacing visages instilled fear in anyone who beheld them.

"Scott never mentioned that the scenery here would be so magnificent; this place is like a wonderland on Earth!" Dr. Pym exclaimed as he looked at the unprecedented views before him.

"I guess Scott must have been scared out of his wits the first time he entered the quantum realm; certainly, he couldn't have leisurely appreciated this beauty like we do," Mark replied, manipulating the positioning navigation device in his hand.

"So, can you locate the coordinates left by Janet?" Dr. Pym shifted his attention back to the device in Mark's hands after being captivated by the scenery.

"No problem. I am recalibrating the positioning, and in a dozen seconds, we'll be able to lock onto Mrs. Van Dyne's location," Mark confirmed.

Beep, beep, beep!

Before long, under Mark's skillful operation, the positioning navigation device emitted a successful signal lock notification. "Location confirmed; we can proceed."

"Good," Dr. Pym nodded, continuing to shrink the shuttle as they advanced toward location.

"Warning, the shuttle has entered the quantum realm and is about to enter the even more dangerous quantum void. Please prepare yourselves!"

Mark and Dr. Pym progressed rapidly, and in the blink of an eye, they were ready to enter quantum void. However, this time was relative to the quantum realm; in the real world, Hope and Scott had already anxiously waited for over forty minutes.

If Mark and Dr. Pym couldn't find Janet and begin their return in the remaining half of the time, they would be trapped. In the quantum realm, where all universal rules and laws were overturned, even Mark's spatial magic would be of no use.

Just as the shuttle issued the warning, Mark and Dr. Pym entered a completely dark environment. This wasn't the quantum void yet, but because of the extremely tiny scale of the space they now occupied, even photons couldn't fit in such a minuscule subspace, leaving their external surroundings in complete darkness.

However, this was also good news, indicating they were heading in the right direction. By passing through this dark space and further reducing their scale, they would be able to enter the mysterious and unknown quantum void.

Finally, after traversing the eternal darkness, a beam of light illuminated the shuttle, and this was their destination: the quantum void and the place where Janet was trapped.

The light in the quantum void is not exactly what humans perceive as [light] in the conventional sense, because Mark has not been able to obtain any information and data about the quantum void through informatized vision.

However, through the analysis of various precise modules of the nanobots within his body that had already been quantized, Mark knew that the light here was actually high-intensity energy that directly stimulated the human soul, much like when regular people wear virtual reality devices for virtual exploration. Even though the eyes couldn't see, the images were transmitted directly to the visual center through brainwaves.

Finally arriving in the quantum void, a space full of the unknown, and landing only to immediately gain crucial information about this place, Mark felt an immense excitement. He hadn't experienced this kind of thrill from exploring the unknown in a long time.

Planning to open the hatch and quickly search for Janet's whereabouts while also collecting data about the quantum realm and samples of this energy, Mark turned to Dr. Pym, only to find that Dr. Pym's condition was just as he had anticipated before departing. Due to the deterioration of his body and mind, he was no longer able to resist the erosion of the quantum realm and had fallen into a state of dizziness.

Mark knew that in the original storyline, Dr. Pym happened to encounter his wife because Janet had spent years in the quantum realm, undergoing transformation with the quantum energy, which granted her some extraordinary abilities and allowed her to regain her senses.

In the current situation, although Dr. Pym's willpower had faltered prematurely, Mark's presence meant that their positioning and navigation device had a more accurate range. Mark was confident he could quickly find Janet and provide treatment for Dr. Pym.

With no time for excessive consideration or hesitation, Mark opened the hatch and began searching for Janet's whereabouts based on the tracking signal on the positioning navigation device.

"If only I had informational vision assistance, I could directly trace Mrs. Van Dyne's location based on the spatial signal fluctuations."

Mark had already searched the area back and forth according to the location indicated by the positioning navigation device several times but still hadn't been able to find the source of the signal. He wasn't sure if the visual perception of the quantum realm was inherently distorted or if there was a problem with the positioning navigation device.

"I can't believe it. In the original storyline, Dr. Pym could find his wife just by wandering around casually, but I've been walking around for ages and haven't seen a trace..."

Mark didn't know how to comment on the predicament he found himself in. He never expected that at a critical moment, he would go from being lucky to being a complete novice.

"No, I can't keep searching aimlessly like this. If we take too much time, Dr. Pym's mental willpower will be completely eroded by the energy in the quantum realm."

Unable to find any trace of Janet, Mark could only retrace his steps. He was worried that if this continued, Dr. Pym would lose consciousness and become a vegetable.

According to his speculation, Janet's method of awakening Dr. Pym should involve harnessing the energy within herself to neutralize the energy that was eroding Dr. Pym's will, forming a protective barrier that would allow him to adapt to the environment of the quantum void in a short time.

This is similar to the theory that Ava's foster father Bill Foster originally wanted to cure Ava's phasing ability, both involving guiding the intrusive energy out using externally sourced energy.

The difference is that Ava's issue was in her physical body, whereas Dr. Pym's issue is in his mind. If Mark were to guide Dr. Pym's soul out in the quantum void, it wouldn't be able to extract the energy like in Ava's case. Instead, it would expose Dr. Pym's soul to the energy in the quantum realm, causing even more severe damage.

Furthermore, Mark couldn't currently communicate through the quantum realm's barriers to the dimensions in the multiverse, so he couldn't replenish his magic. Once he depleted his remaining magical reserves here, he would lose his magical abilities altogether.

"Perhaps I can try actively guiding the quantum energy into my body using the communication method of magic. I can attempt to initiate and control the flow of the quantum energy, maybe achieving the same effect as Mrs. Van Dyne," Mark thought uncertainly about a solution to their current predicament.

At this point, he had returned to the shuttle's side and entered the cabin. Dr. Pym in the pilot's seat had a visibly distressed complexion, a result of the excruciating pain caused by the quantum energy's erosion.

Mark didn't have any thoughts of backing down; he had mentally prepared himself for the risks before entering the quantum realm. After making the decision, he immediately began trying not to resist the erosion of his mental willpower by quantum energy. He actively communicated and guided it, setting it on a path that followed the route of his magical operations.

"It's actually working!" Mark hadn't anticipated that the seemingly dangerous energy would become remarkably gentle and obedient after he actively guided it into himself, completely devoid of its previous wild nature.

However, Mark also noticed that even though he had full control over these absorbed and harnessed energy, they still attempted to seep into his soul. He could only divert a portion of his mental focus to control the direction of these energies while simultaneously beginning the treatment for Dr. Pym.

Channeling a small portion of the energy into his palms, Mark covered both sides of Dr. Pym's temples. By controlling these energies, he cleared and expelled the energy that had eroded Dr. Pym's willpower.

Before long, Dr. Pym's trembling body settled down, and the expression of pain on his face eased. After dispersing the last trace of the intrusive energy from his soul and constructing a temporary energy shield, Mark stopped his actions and carefully observed Dr. Pym's condition.

"Why am I asleep, Mark?" Slowly opening his eyes and seeing Mark's worried expression from the co-pilot's seat, Dr. Pym asked in confusion.

"You didn't fall asleep; you were rendered unconscious by the intrusion of energy in the quantum realm. But it's okay; you're all right now. Let's hurry and find your wife, Mrs. Van Dyne. I tried searching on my own earlier, but perhaps we just didn't have the luck. It seems like you'll need to take matters into your own hands."

"Yes! I want to personally bring Janet back home," Dr. Pym's tone was resolute. Although he had just awakened from unconsciousness and was still relatively weak, he decisively took the positioning navigation device from Mark's hand, opened the hatch, and left the shuttle.

Mark was ready to follow Dr. Pym's lead and collect more information and data about the quantum void in the process. However, before he could step out of the hatch, he noticed that Dr. Pym had already returned to the ship with Janet.

"Do we really need to get this mystical?" Mark couldn't help but complain in his mind. "I'm Mark Stark, a firm believer in science. Why does it always have to be unexplainable things, even beyond the realm of probability, that challenge my worldview?"

Unfortunately, regardless of Mark's inner complaints, the results were right before his eyes. Dr. Pym had just left the ship, walked a short distance, and coincidentally met Janet, who had followed her intuition. They exchanged smiles, shared a long-awaited embrace, and then together, as a couple, returned, appearing directly in front of Mark, who had prepared to follow Dr. Pym's lead.

"It's truly incredible, Mark! I had just left the shuttle not long ago, and I encountered Janet, who followed her instincts. You were right; sometimes completing a task requires considering luck and fate," Dr. Pym excitedly shared his joy with Mark, completely unaware that his words felt like a direct arrow piercing Mark's heart.

"Don't rub it in! I know I'm a novice in the quantum realm, but this is absolutely because the rules here are too chaotic. Otherwise, how could something so unscientific happen!" Mark muttered earnestly in his heart. However, to maintain his persona, he simply said, "Congratulations, Dr. Pym, on reuniting with Mrs. Van Dyne!"

At this moment, Janet, who had been leaning affectionately on Dr. Pym's shoulder, spoke up to explain to both of them: "It's not luck or mysticism, but rather, I am no longer the same as I was thirty years ago.

In this place, the quantum realm, it changes a person. Adapting to the environment here is just one part of it, but there's another part I call evolution.

After enduring a test of my willpower and being influenced by the energy of the quantum realm for an extended period, I developed some extraordinary abilities. With the help of these abilities, I left information about myself in Scott's mind and established contact with all of you.

Today is no different. My sixth sense told me to move in a certain direction, and at the end of that path, I would find a way home. Sure enough, I met you, Hank, and we can now go home together as a family, reuniting with Hope!"

"Sorry to interrupt, Mrs. Van Dyne. Although I also hope to reunite you with your family as soon as possible, while we still have a bit of spare time before we reach the limit for our return journey, could you allow me to stay here a little longer? I hope to collect more information about this mysterious realm and gather some energy as a special souvenir to bring back to the real world."

Although Mark didn't enjoy disrupting the atmosphere like this, he felt he couldn't worry about it too much now. Just a moment ago, as he attempted to let the energy he had tamed penetrate into his soul, he received an interesting result...

Not only did his soul not get eroded by the energy as expected, but these energies, which had been circulating in his magical circuit, seamlessly blended into his soul like drops of water into a lake.

And when this entire process was complete, he astonishingly discovered that a part of his soul had manifested as physical matter. This alone was enough to excite and thrill Mark.

For this reason, he reluctantly interrupted Dr. Pym and Janet's family reunion plan, hoping to fully utilize this journey to gather more experimental data.

The Third Magic, originally a virtual concept fabricated by game designers, might actually be realized in the Marvel Universe.

"An immortal perpetual motion machine, I can already see hope within reach. After this, whether it's the limit of humanity or the domain of the divine, let me explore it with my own soul..."