American comics: Starting with Luke the Maker

Bruce looked in astonishment at the sharp scalpel that had pierced his chest. The armor on his body was as flimsy as paper in the face of the scalpel's sharpness, offering no protection whatsoever.

Intense pain, like a landslide or tsunami, instantly erupted within his mental world. His already unstable mental world, under the assault of this blade, showed signs of impending doom and collapse.

Bruce felt as if his soul was being sliced through like butter by Stephen's scalpel. The tearing pain, even for someone accustomed to enduring suffering, made him groan involuntarily. In this world, all his defenses were meaningless.

Young Wayne cried out in agony along with Bruce. He shouted "No!" with almost furious despair, then staggered and fell to his knees. Although Stephen's scalpel had cut into Bruce, it also cut into him, who was one with Bruce, and in turn, affected the stability of this mental world.

"You're a madman! You'll kill us!" Young Wayne raised his head, his youthful face twisted as he shouted at Stephen, who was concentrating on wielding the scalpel to perform the surgery.

The Red Death, the Merciless, the Dawnbreaker, and the other members of the Dark Knights, who had been materialized, all sensed the danger at this moment. They abandoned their opponents and rushed towards Stephen.

The blood-splattered scalpel moved nimbly within Bruce's body, and several cracks instantly appeared around him and Bruce. These seemingly transparent and fragile cracks were like insurmountable chasms, blocking the Red Death and the others.

Young Wayne's body suddenly hunched over, and he coughed up black blood onto the ground in large mouthfuls. The abyssal corruption contained in the blood began to spread rapidly, covering Young Wayne's body with a layer of black.

Young Wayne felt his connection to this world becoming increasingly faint, which meant that he was being forcibly severed from Bruce, the main entity, by some kind of force.

It was hard to say whether this was a good thing or a bad thing for him. But what was certain was that his plan to usurp Bruce's main personality, his cuckoo's nest scheme, had its chances of success reduced to almost zero by Stephen's disruption.

And before, success had been within easy reach. He had already gained the power in this mental world to confront and even suppress Bruce. As long as it continued, Bruce's main personality would be suppressed in the deepest part of his mind, just like his dark side had been before. All he could do then was to be a bystander, just like before.

Now everything was ruined!

Time seemed to have passed for a long time, yet it seemed like only a moment. The pain of the soul being torn apart suddenly disappeared, and Bruce even felt a sense of lightness, as if he had shed all his burdens.

All the pressure and burdens that his heart had been carrying were cleared away at this moment, and he even felt a sense of carefree relaxation. He hadn't felt this way in a very, very long time.

Stephen pulled the scalpel out of him, spun it in his palm, and it disappeared instantly.

"Fortunately, I made it in time," Stephen said, a rare hint of fatigue on his face, but his tone was much more relaxed and gentle.

"What happened?" Bruce, as if reborn, looked at his hands, then at the partially stabilized mental world, and finally focused his gaze on Stephen, who was standing in front of him. He was certain that Stephen had done something to his mind.

"A personality separation surgery. You can also think of it as a simple soul surgery. You may not know, but before I became a sorcerer, I was a leading authority in the field of surgery. Many dignitaries would hold money just so I could save their lives.

It's a pity that I was doing well as a doctor, but Luke tricked me into going to Kamar-Taj and becoming a sorcerer. But my skills haven't declined," Stephen said, his eyes shining brightly despite his fatigue.

Although he wasn't as powerful as his teacher, the Ancient One, he had his own unique path and talent in psionic energy. After combining the characteristics of psionic energy with his teacher's path, he picked up his old profession again.

It's just that his surgical skills used to be aimed at the physical human body, but now his skills are more focused on the human mind and soul!

There was no other way. Although psionic energy was a good thing, like other energies, it also had its side effects. As Kamar-Taj, which jointly studied psionic energy with Hebron, only he and Wang and a few others could keep up with those researchers from Hebron.

Under Luke's plan, Hebron could produce all kinds of items and drugs to control, guide, soothe, and solve the side effects of psionic energy. Stephen Strange, on the other hand, picked up his former profession again and started performing surgeries. The colorful scalpel in his hand was specially forged for him by Luke according to his requirements.

The sorcerers of Kamar-Taj who practiced psionic energy had almost all been Stephen's patients. Any hidden dangers, loss of control, or contamination caused by psionic energy could be safely resolved under Stephen's scalpel. With the addition of those drugs and equipment from Hebron, the mental state of the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj was surprisingly healthy.

It was precisely because of this soul surgery technique that Kamar-Taj, which seemed to be splitting apart due to psionic energy, was strangely glued together again. Although it was still divided into various factions, it didn't have the precarious, divisive, and seemingly about to break up look it had before. Even his ambitious senior brother Mordo had become much quieter and calmer.

It can be said that Stephen, after smashing the rice bowls of many psychotherapists, coated their profession with a dazzling halo.

"You performed soul surgery on me?" Bruce immediately felt a little uneasy and couldn't help but become suspicious. After all, any changes to the mind and soul were worth being vigilant and suspicious about.

"Don't worry, I'm not a black-hearted doctor. I didn't tamper with your soul or mental personality. I just removed some hidden dangers. You are still you. If the personality doesn't change, people who have undergone this kind of surgery will generally return to normal after a period of time. But you may be a bit special, so I had to take some once-and-for-all measures." Stephen pointed to the young Wayne, who was covered in black abyssal power: "I permanently separated your dark side. Even if I formulate a recovery plan for you, it will take a long time to adjust and recover. Actually, I don't think it's necessary to recover, but your ideas may be different from before on some things."(End of chapter)